...Take a look at your guitar strings. Are they in good shape? Are they silver and shiny? Are six strings there? If it's been several months since you put new strings on your guitar, or if you answered no to any of these questions, it’s time for a string change. Guitar strings on the guitar are just like knees on a baby’s jeans: they wear out easy, and should become a regular part of your guitar care routine. Even the oils in your fingers deteriorate the string. Some people fret over the techniques of replacing their own guitar strings. String changes can be stress-free; it takes little practice, should take only a few minutes per string, and will provide a bright, clear sound from your guitar. Anyone who knows how to play the guitar should know how to perform their own string changes on a basic electric guitar. Many music stores offer restringing for a fee, which can add up quickly if you have a number of guitars to maintain. And the need for a string change can happen at any time, not just when it is convenient to run to a store to have them do it for you. To begin, collect all of the tools you will need. These include a wire cutter or pair of pliers capable of cutting wire, a thick bath towel to protect your instrument’s finish while on your working surface, and a new set of strings. You will need a tuner for when you have your strings on, so you can tune them. To remove fingerprints and oils from the fret board and off of the finished areas, you will want to use...
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...------------------------------------------------- Guitar From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). Guitar | A classical guitar (nylon string) | String instrument | Classification | String instrument | Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.322 (Compositechordophone) | Playing range | (a standard tuned guitar) | Related instruments | * Bowed and plucked string instruments | The guitar is a popular musical instrument classified as a string instrument with anywhere from 4 to 18 strings, usually having 6. The sound is projected either acoustically or through electrical amplification (for an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar, respectively). It is typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the right hand while fretting (or pressing against the fret) the strings with the left hand. The guitar is a type of chordophone, traditionally constructed from wood and strung with either gut, nylon or steel strings and distinguished from other chordophones by its construction and tuning. The modern guitar was preceded by the gittern, thevihuela, the four-course Renaissance guitar, and the five-course baroque guitar, all of which contributed to the development of the modern six-string instrument. There are three main types of modern acoustic guitar: the classical guitar (nylon-string guitar), the steel-string acoustic guitar, and the archtop guitar. The tone of an acoustic guitar is produced by the strings' vibration, amplified by the...
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...tutorial: * Guitar chord charts and how to read them * Guitar chord fingering If you want to learn how to play guitar chords, the first thing you need to do is learn how to decipherguitar chord charts. A guitar chord chart is a list of chord diagrams. A chord diagram is a visual representation of a guitar chord. Here's an example of a guitar chord diagram: Let me explain to you how to read this guitar chord diagram: You see six lines going from left to right and six lines going from top to bottom. The lines going from top to bottom represent the guitar strings. The line most to the left represents the thickest string of the guitar (the low E string). The line most to the right represents the skinniest string of the guitar (the high E string). The lines in between represent strings A, D, G and B. The lines going from left to right represent the frets. The top line is the nut of the guitar (see picture above), the second line is the first fret, the third line the second fret, ... The black dots on the guitar chord diagram represent the fingers. A black dot means you have to place a finger there (between the two frets) and push the string down. The chart doesn't tell you which fingers you have to use, but most of the time it's obvious what finger goes where. The white dots represent an open string. In our example above the white dots above string G and E mean that those strings have to be played open (so without fretting them). Strings that don't...
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...Therapy Today Vol. IV (2) April 2003 Essential Guitar Skill Development Considerations for the Contemporary Music Therapist Robert E. Krout Abstract This article considers some guitar skills which might be considered “essential” for the contemporary music therapist. After some overall observations, 10 such essential areas are briefly outlined and described. Sample recommendations for clinician development are made in each area. They include a knowledge of open chords in various different positions for voice leading, barre chords, interesting strumming patterns with rhythmic emphasis, varied fingerpicking patterns, major and minor pentatonic scales for improvising, familiarity with guitars of various types (steel-string, classical, electric), blues/rock/jazz chord extensions and progressions, use of right (strum) hand rhythms, use of non-chord tones, and chord embellishments/left (chording) hand techniques. An emphasis is placed on the continuing guitar skill development of the clinician. 1 Krout, R. E. (2003) Essential Guitar Skill Development Considerations for the Contemporary Music Therapist. Music Therapy Today (online), available at http://musictherapyworld.net Introduction The guitar continues to be a mainstay for music therapists in their work with clients demonstrating a wide variety of needs, abilities, and interests (Kennedy, 2001). The versatility, portability, and musical integrity of the guitar allows clinicians to adapt it uses to music of a wide...
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...backdrop of the guitar, yet there are some earlier string instruments which were identified with later guitars either in physical shape or playing system (Dobney). Realize that during the fifteenth century, a guitar-like instrument was created in Spain called the vihuela or “viola da mano”, which was played by a higher society. In addition, a comparable instrument, yet with an alternate tuning, was created which went on to be called the guiterra or ghiterne, which was played by the average society. Around 1550, the two had instruments converged into one, It had eight strings, and...
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...Sound is created by vibrations of an object pushing air particles closer and further apart, formally known as compression and rarefaction. Shown to the left is a diagram of a sound wave; the high concentrated areas of particles are the compression regions which also are the areas of high air pressure. In contrast to this, the low concentrated areas of particles are known as rarefaction and here is where the lowest air pressure occurs and the wave is at its lowest point. The wavelength (also known as the period of a graph) of a sound wave is the relationship between the initial frequency and the speed of sound. It is represented by this equation: When a frequency (rate of which a sound source vibrates) is higher it will generate a shorter wavelength because the sound source is vibrating at a faster speed. Meaning more complete back and forth vibrations are occurring in a quicker amount of time, whereas when the frequency is lower the wavelength is longer. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz.) and to distinguish the frequency you need to know how many vibrations occur in an exact amount of time, for example if an object’s particles vibrate 256 times in one second, then the frequency is 256 Hz. The frequency that an instrument creates is based on the length of how far the vibration can travel. Meaning for an instrument to produce different pitches and sounds, instruments need ways to change the vibrating length. For a pipe instrument like a clarinet there are holes on...
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...Playing Guitar: A Beginner’s Guide by Darrin Koltow www.MaximumMusician.com Copyright © 2002 Darrin Koltow Playing Guitar: A Beginner’s Guide Page 2 Contents Contents......................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 4 Also on MaximumMusician.com ..................................................................................... 5 Also at MaximumMusician.com................................................................................... 5 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 6 About the Author ......................................................................................................... 6 Practicing ....................................................................................................................... 7 How to Hold the Guitar ................................................................................................... 8 Tablature and Chord Diagrams....................................................................................... 9 Tablature..................................................................................................................... 9 Resources ...........................................................................
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...History: Bowl harps was the first string guitar that came before the modern guitar (mid 1900s). The history of guitar can be from back in times 4,000 years ago. The guitar's history goes back to 15th century Malaga in Spain. It was develop by a Spanish black man, who gave just four strings to the guitar he made. Thereafter, the instrument went through the Baroque and Classical periods before evolving into the six-stringed, modern-day guitar. The word guitar comes from the Portuguese word 'guitarra' came from the Greek word 'kitharra' that refers to the Greek island of love and poetry. The guitar does have an advantage over its predecessors, the electronic guitars. Construction: Guitar Body: The body of an acoustic guitar is comprised of two main parts: The front, or soundboard, and the back and sides. Acoustic guitar soundboards are usually made of spruce or cedar. The soundboard may be solid or laminated. The back and sides are made out of a variety of materials, including mahogany, rosewood or, in some cases, synthetic composites. Guitar Necks: Guitar necks are made from a variety of materials, including the following woods bubinga, maple and mahogany. Sometimes the necks are made of graphite, aluminum or carbon fiber. Fret boards: Fret boards can be made of a number of woods. The most common are rosewood, maple or ebony. In some cases, they are made of carbon fiber or synthetic composite materials. Frets: Frets are the rounded metal strips in the fret board that determine...
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...The Parts of the Guitar There are three main types of guitars, the steel-string acoustic, the nylon string or classical guitar, and the electric guitar. Bracing your hand gives your hand the needed stability to accurately switch between strings. Although there are many different ways to brace, placing your pinky on the soundboard right below the first string is the most common way. You don't need to press hard. Proper Right Hand Technique Hold the pick between your thumb and first finger. The thumb and pick should form a 90 degree angle. The pick should be sticking out from underneath the thumb a 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch. Body Bridge Frets Headstock Pick Guard Sound Hole Neck or Fretboard Tuning Keys Estimated Time to Learn These Concepts - 1 Week E A D G B E E A D G B E 4 5 6 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 Proper Left Hand Technique Hold your thumb on the back of the fingerboard on the upper side of the neck. Be careful not to put your thumb on top of the neck. Your wrist should be low with some air space between your palm and the neck of the guitar. Your four fingers should be evenly spaced. Notice how the middle two fingers are coming straight onto the fretboard. Your first and fourth fingers are curved slightly toward the frets. The Names of the Strings The six strings of a guitar are numbered from first to sixth starting on the thinnest string and counting up to the thickest string. The strings also have letter names that correspond ...
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...how a song is played in guitar. Reading tabs is easy, you won't have to go through this lesson twice. Guitars usually have six strings (there are 7 string and 12 string guitars also, we'll ignore them now). The first thing you have to know is the name of the six strings. The top string is the thickest string, and it is called the 6th string or E-string because it plays E note at open fret(when you don't hold down any frets and just pick the string), assuming standard tuning. The next string is called 5th string or A string for similar reasons. The other string in order are 4th or D string, 3rd or G string, 2nd or B stringand 1st or e-string (thinnest string). As the 1st and 6th string are both E notes, we distinguish the 1st string by writing it in a smaller case "e". Now we are ready to move to tabs. The first thing you will notice about tabs is that there are six lines. They represent the six strings of the guitar. They look like this: e ------------------------ B ------------------------ G ------------------------ D ------------------------ A ------------------------ E ------------------------ I have written the string names (the note each string plays when you don't hold down any frets) on the left, this may not be given in all tabs. If it is not given, you have to assume that it is the same as I have written. Note that the top string of your guitar (the 6th or E string) is written at the bottom of the tab, and the bottom string (1st of e string) is written at the top...
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...“pipes”. 2. FIDDLE (VIOLIN) – Any violin may be informally called a fiddle, regardless of the kind of music being played with it, it is considered to be the predecessor of today’s violin. The instrument arrived late in the 17th century, and is first mentioned in 1680 in a document from Newbattle Abbey in Midlothian, Lessones For Ye Violin. Like the violin, it tended to have four strings, but came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Another family of instruments which contributed to the development of the modern fiddle are the viols, which are held between the legs and played vertically, and have fretted fingerboards. 3. GUITAR – The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four, seven, eight, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen and eighteen string guitars also exist. Traditionally guitars have usually been constructed of combinations of various woods and strung with animal gut, or more recently, with either nylon or steel strings. Guitars are made and repaired by luthiers. There are many brands of guitars, but some commonly known...
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...discrete Fourier change, a scientific method for separating confused signs into more straightforward capacities and known as DFT. He utilized advanced hardware to demonstrate the harmony as a progression of numbers, several thousands every second, and after that connected a DFT to change over the harmony into many more straightforward capacities, every speaking to a solitary sound recurrence. Mr. Brown knew there is no such thing as an unadulterated tone: Each instrument emanates one sound for the note played and after that sounds that are products of that note's recurrence, as the string vibrates back on itself. Of his many frequencies, some were foundation commotion and some- -the ones he needed to uncover -were the notes the Beatles struck. The teacher began making reasoning’s. The loudest notes were likely Mr. McCartney's bass. The most reduced must be the first note played, since a string can create waves along half or 33% of its length, however not twice its length. Yet regardless of how...
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...Clarinet- has a single-reed mouthpiece, a straight cylindrical tube with an almost cylindrical bore, and a flared bell. Bass clarinet- is straight-bodied, with a small upturned silver-colored metal bell and a curved metal neck. Early examples varied in shape, some having a doubled body making them look similar to bassoons. Flute- The flute is a family of a musical instrument in the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening. Flute- The flute is a family of a musical instrument in the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening. Bassoon- The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor clefs, and occasionally the treble Bassoon- The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor clefs, and occasionally the treble Piccolo- is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments Piccolo- is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments Saxophone- The saxophone is a family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. French horn-is...
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...Test An electric guitar is a guitar that uses a pickup to convert the vibration of its strings into electrical impulses. The most common guitar pickup uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker. Since the output of an electric guitar is an electric signal, the signal may easily be altered using electronic circuits to add "color" to the sound. Often the signal is modified using effects such as reverb and distortion. Invented in 1931, the electric guitar became a necessity as jazz musicians sought to amplify their sound in the big band format. During the 1950s and 1960s, the electric guitar became the most important instrument in pop music.[1] It has evolved into a stringed musical instrument that is capable of a multitude of sounds and styles. It served as a major component in the development of rock and roll and many other genres of music. ------------------------------------------------- History Various experiments at electrically amplifying the vibrations of a string instrument date back to the early part of the twentieth century. Patents from the 1910s show telephone transmitters adapted and placed inside violins and banjos to amplify the sound. Hobbyists in the 1920s used carbon button microphones attached to the bridge, however these detected vibration from the bridge on top of the instrument, resulting in a weak signal.[2] With...
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...national media, and starting from this point, the Mariachis became not only a symbol of professional artistic culture for Mexico but also for the world. Mariachis have a unique musical ensemble, most of their instruments are European, considering their influence from the Spanish culture. Their primary instruments include; the harp, the guitar, the “vihuela”, the “Guitarrón”, the trumpets and the violin. The harp, derived from the classical harp, has a large resonance box on which nylon strings are drawn. The strings mark the bass and the sharp strings sustain the harmony with chords. The “vihuela”, is a Mariachi authentic instrument created by the natives “cocas”. It is a small guitar that creates a high sound. It has a V-shaped back and five leather strings. It is played along with the guitar to create the rhythm and the harmonic foundation of Mariachi sound. The trumpets give musical strength and a more vibrant sound to the songs, while the violins blend with the sounds of the other instruments. The “guitarron” is a guitar similar to the vihuela, but larger in size. This is the most important element since it creates a big deep sound with six strings, forming the bass of the...
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