Classical Strings
Classical Strings
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Classical Guitar Playing - What Exactly Is It?
Classical guitar playing is what is participated in when using a classical guitar. This kind of guitar has no electronics and no pick-ups. In general it has six strings although there are some classical guitars which have twelve strings. The thinner strings known as the trebles are made from nylon and the bass strings are nylon with brass wire wrapped around them.
As far as construction is concerned the classical guitar is hollow and shaped like a pear. Its is made from wood, usually two or three different types, the cheap and nasty varieties being built with a plywood top, whilst those worth buying are made from woods such as rosewood.
The resonance produced by the classical guitar does not rely on an amplifier or any other sound effects. It comes direct from the hollow part of the instrument through the sound hole as the strings resound over it.
Most players of classical guitars remain seated whilst playing. The other main difference which sets this type of guitar apart from others is the kind of playing involved. Classical guitar playing can be characterized by the style of music played which is usually considered to be of value due to the length of time it has been around, compared to the many pop tunes which come and go in the blink of an eye.
The strings are usually plucked using the thumb and fingers of the right hand when learning to play this kind of instrument. This means you will have no use for a pick. Strumming of the classical guitar is only used as a special effect.
When learning to play a classical guitar you will probably practice sight reading sheet music along with discovering technical concepts and how they should be applied. Rather than trying to learn on your own, it's best to have a classical guitar teacher and although it may take you quite some time to become skillful, you are sure to enjoy the learning process. It is important that you choose a teacher whose style suits your personality as many of them teach in different ways, some formal and some informal. Whatever style you choose to learn to play the classical guitar, you are certain to find this a worthwhile pastime until you have developed your talents to the full.
Classical guitar playing - what exactly is it?
Well one thing is for sure. It's not about jumping around on a stage screaming out to your audience whilst thrashing away at your guitar. That's electric guitar playing and brilliantly talented as it is, it's a whole different story.
Can I put electric guitar strings on a classical guitar ?
First and foremost, you cannot put electric guitar strings on a classical on account that the string has to be tied at the bridge.
This is one thing that you can't do with an electric string and, the ball end would damage the bridge eventually. Mind you, I tried it and the sound socks..... I used pliers to tie the knot.
Bass Violin
Bass Violin
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The Bradivarius Violin Pick Up
For almost a year I had been simply playing into a microphone to amplify my violin. Before that, I used a Yamaha Electric Violin and amplifier, or a clip on microphone positioned over the f-holes.
The electric violin had an acceptable sound, but it was harder to play in tune than an acoustic violin. It lacks the helping factor of the resonant body of a violin.
The clip on mike had a very narrow sweet spot on the pre amp. On one side was insufficient volume. On the other was a killer feedback squeal.
To eliminate these two problems I had accepted the problem of not having a strong presence on stage when the other instruments were plugged in direct to the sound board. Even using maximum bow pressure and getting on top of the mike was not enough unless the other musicians backed off, and I couldn’t count on that.
I got the Bradivarius while looking for a sound reinforcement solution for one of my students who plays with other retirees in a pop/dance type band. Seeing that the pickup needed to be fitted to a violin individually by a luthier, I put it on my violin to test it. I was hoping to solve my problem, too.
Initially I tried my new set up at home, plugging in to the Yamaha violin amp. It had a good, strong violin sound across all the strings, even and full.
When my student tried out my Bradivarius equipped fiddle at her practice, her volume was immediately on even standing with all the other musicians. That included clarinet, saxophone, electric guitar and a drum set.
The next day I had an opportunity to use the Bradivarius at two concerts. The first was outdoors at the St. Petersburg Folk Festival. The other players were two plugged in guitars and a harmonica going straight into a microphone. In spite of sound problems that were beyond our control, the violin could easily be heard on stage as well as out in the audience.
Later that day I played indoors with The Crystal Beach String Band. There was no difficulty getting a balanced sound with the other plugged in string instruments, including guitar, autoharp, mandolin, banjo and bass.
Here is what a colleague, Ken Brooks of www.strumhollow.com, wrote in an e-mail:
Hey Elan,
I really enjoyed your playing. I think I learnt new things just watching you. That pick up sounded good. Great job! Ken
To sum up my experience with the Bradivarius violin pick up, I wholeheartedly recommend it as a simple and elegant solution to violin sound reinforcement needs. It’s so easy to use and reliable, I just love it.
Can a string quartet consist of a violin, viola, cello, and bass?
Are there any quartets that have been composed for this arrangement of instruments?
Yes a string quartet can consist of violin viola cello and bass
The term quartet simply refers to the number of players present. A Cello quartet would simply be an ensemble of 4 cellos.
They TYPICAL string quartets written by composers such as Beethoven and Bach would consist of 2 Violins (Violin 1 and Violin 2), viola, and cello. And the TYPICAL Quintets are where you would find bass. These ensembles would also contain a 1st violin, 2nd violin, viola, cello, and bass.
You can absolutely have a quartet containing violin, viola, cello, and bass. There are 4 players so it meets the standards, however as I said it is not typical. Plus with this arrangement of instruments, it will be very bottom heavy. The Cello and Bass would play and read extrememly similar parts if not the same parts (an octave apart). They would drown out the violin and viola.
Strings Electric
Strings Electric
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What To Look For When Shopping For An Electric Guitar
The electric guitar has long been used in many popular styles of music, including almost all genres of rock and roll, country music, jazz, blues, ambient and even contemporary classical music. It uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into electrical current, which is then amplified.
The electric guitar can be played either solo or with other instruments. It has been used in numerous genres of popular music, as well as classical music.
Different types of electric guitars
There are various types of this popular instrument available in the market. While shopping for an electric guitar for one's personal use, the decision should be carefully taken about which one will be the right choice and make. The types include:
Solid body
These guitars have holes for neither sound nor an internal cavity to accommodate vibration, such as those used to amplify string vibrations in acoustic guitars. They are generally made of hardwood with a lacquer coating and have 6 steel strings.
Hollow body
These guitars have a hollow body and electronic pickups mounted on its body. The hollow body vibrates and the pickups convert a combination of string and body vibration into an electrical signal.
Electric-acoustic
In these guitars the pickups do not produce a signal directly from the vibration of the strings, but rather from the vibration of the guitar top or body. So,these are also called acoustic guitars.
Seven-string
Seven string electric guitars were popularized in the 1980s.
Eight string
Eight string guitars are rare, but not unused.
Twelve string
Twelve string instruments feature six pairs of strings, usually with each pair tuned to the same note.
Apart from these there are few other types of these popular makes available in the market which are bought according to their requirement.
Selecting the right kind of electric guitar
The primary reason for buying a guitar will be playing it. But one would also look for something whose resale value will increase in time. Craftsmanship is an important element in the future value of this instrument.
Areas that require special skills, such as binding, finishing, hand shaping and inlaid work, are forever expensive and will enhance the value of guitars in the future.
Thus things to look for while buying an electric guitar will be
Good Tone Wood
Although the sound of a good guitar would seem to come entirely from the pickup, the type of wood has an important influence on tone and sustenance.
Noise free instrument
The pickups on guitars and basses should be shielded from extraneous electronic sources that can cause humming and buzzing. And they should be covered in wax or epoxy to prevent micro phonic feedback.
Checking out the Neck Joint
The neck joint should be tight and rigid so that none of the string vibration is transferred to the neck.
Testing the sustenance
An electric guitar with greater rigidity and weight, such as a solid body, will sustain longer than one with less rigidity, such as a hollow body.
Checking out the bridge
The bridge maintains intonation and action of string height. Adjusting the truss rod or changing string gauge can change intonation or action.
The Truss rod
An adjustable truss rod can correct any changes in neck curvature.
These are the basic and most important factors to be considered. But, there are various other factors to be considered while shopping for an electric version. And while buying one should remember that a good guitar is for a lifetime.
What electric guitar strings are good for me?
I play metal, and i play at least an hour everyday, and i want strings that will last for a while. At least more that 3 months.
What strings should i get?
If you play an hour every day and want the strings to stay crisp for 3 months, then I would suggest using a coated set which last 3-5 times longer than uncoated strings. Black Diamond, Cleartone, DR Strings, Elixir, Ernie Ball and GHS all offer coated electric strings. I do want to mention that most metal players like stainless steel which is the brightest of all electric guitar strings and GHS is the only one to offer stainless steel coated electric guitar strings with their Infinity series.
Vibrato Arm
Vibrato Arm
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Guitar - Overcoming Parrot-fashion Learning
In this fast paced modern world, people rarely have time to make themselves a proper meal, let alone delve into a 500 page book on guitar theory. It's understandable, then, that the majority of beginner guitarists turn to the tab sites and jamming along to their favourite bands as their quick-fix source of learning. People are naturally comfortable with what they know and love.
This in itself is not a negative thing, and should indeed be encouraged from time to time, as it's important to extract some creative ideas externally. However, too many guitarists take it too far, sacrificing any personal creative development, bent on becoming the next Steve Vai or Kirk Hammett.
Now, I'm not exactly an inverted snob when it comes to guitar, but I do strongly believe in unique talent, and that we all have it in us, somewhere.
There are two types of learning when it comes to guitar:
1) Being told what to play and how to play it
2) Knowing what you CAN play, and how you CAN play it
The two need clearly distinguishing.
When one listens to a track, or reads a tab, they are essentially being told what to play. There is potentially no creativity involved in this process whatsoever, as the guitarist merely "copies" what they see and hear, including the actual techniques used (bends, hammer ons, slides etc.). In fact, a guitarist is often congratulated all the more if they can replicate their favourite songs as close to the original as possible.
It's time to be honest - with enough time and practice, ANYONE can learn to merely replicate. If the score is written down, and you have an ear for music, you can be your guitar heroes, minus their individual style (we'll get onto this in a minute). However, if you're aim is purely to replicate as accurately as possible, where do you fit into the creative expression of the music?
You see, if you shy away from creating your own music, the part of the brain associated with this cognitive process becomes redundant, and it becomes more and more difficult to really apply that creative instinct as the ideas form in your head.
Knowing what you CAN play, and how you CAN play it is about having knowledge of the specific playing techniques in their raw form, so then you can decide when and how to incorporate a certain type of bend, pull-off, vibrato, tapping phrase etc.
It's also about knowing how to create and build chords and scale patterns based around the type of phrasing you want to express. Specifics.
At the end of the day, in my opinion, it is far more rewarding to spend a week really getting to grips with the "hammer-on" technique, rather than spending two weeks learning X guitar solo from X song. If you arm yourself with enough knowledge of all the playing techniques and foundation theory out there, you will be ready to build solos and phrases how you want... Naturally, without any other guide to obstruct or distract you, you'll be free to explore the raw techniques you've learned in the context of your own unique creativity.
So, instead of "I need to bend X string up a whole step", it'll be "what options do I have to link this note to the next note in the sequence" - you may choose a bend, or you may feel the need to express it in a completely different way! Let you make the creative decisions based on the raw techniques you're armed with!
Once you start dropping yourself in a little more at the deep end, you start to pick up the theory almost automatically, in your own way. Without being told, you begin to see relationships between certain strings and fret positions on your guitar. You begin to expand out of your "boxed in" scales because you want more breathing space to apply your own creativity. You finally begin to realise that there is no "right" or "wrong" answer when it comes to creative guitar writing and playing... there is only your expression Vs someone else's expression.
People may say "I just want to learn a song so I have something to play on guitar that everyone knows" - nothing wrong with that at all, but do not by any means let that take up the majority of your playing time.
Spend more time getting to know and exploring your guitar's fretboard. Get to know the countless options you have to make your scales sound more alive and dynamic. Get to know how chords and scales work together so you'll never have to blindly guess where to plonk your fingers.
These are your foundations. As raw techniques and theory, they don't teach you WHAT to play - they simply give you the foundations on which to build your own musical expression. Master this concept, and you will never want to "parrot" your guitar heros again. Who knows, one day, people will want to replicate you, and hopefully you'll give them some sound advice
Enjoy it... it's your music.
How do I stop my Gibson guitar case from pressing down on my SG's vibrato arm?
So I have a Gibson SG. It's nice, really nice. But the factory case presses down very deeply on the vibrato arm when it's closed. I can't seem to take off the arm with a screwdriver. Any thoughts?
I mean, this is just poor design. The Fender vibrato arm comes off in seconds, and Fender cases give enough room for its vibrato arm anyway. Ugh.
I've always hated this about Gibsons. I've got an '74 SG with a Vibrola system, and the cases doesn't do this. The new ones...uh, that's a different story. And unfortunately, the newer Fender cases require you to remove the arm as well (but at least you can get it off with tools).
Sometimes, you can get away with swinging the arm around where it points to the butt end of the guitar. But, it sounds like either modifying the foam in the case or having a custom case made is going to be your answer.
Greetings from Austin, TX
Ken


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