Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Learn Country Guitar - Three Tips to create expert Bass Parts

Traditional country songs all feature strong bass parts, in fact many tunes were recorded with two bass parts, a string bass (upright bass) that duplicated and reinforced the galvanic bass.

Sometimes the galvanic bass was played with a pick to give more definition. Playing with a pick created a brighter sound which produced an audible 'click' a split second before the actual note.

Bass Guitar Parts

On the other hand, some country report producers beloved the galvanic bass player to use a felt pick. Felt picks are normally used for playing ukuleles, any way when used on an galvanic bass can produce a sound similar to that of an upright bass.

Learn Country Guitar - Three Tips to create expert Bass Parts

Often a guitar player finds himself or herself in a situation where there isn't a backing band to help them present their material, that's when it's handy to be able to generate your own bass part on the guitar.

Here's three tips to help you generate great sounding bass parts on your guitar.

1. Tonic note on first beat

The most leading thing to remember when creating a bass part is to play the tonic note on the first beat. This is an very basic idea, but one that must not be overlooked.

The tonic note is the same name as the chord e.g., if you were playing a 'D' chord the tonic note would be 'D'.

Here is how you would apply this principle, let's say you have a rhythm guitar part that consisted of the following 8 bars:

D/// | D/// | G/// |G/// |A7/// | A7/// | D/// |D/// ||

Simply replace the first strum in each bar with a bass note the same name as the chord, in the instance of A7, use the note 'A'.

Regardless of the chord type e.g., whether it is a major, minor or seventh chord etc., you still play the tonic note i.e., a bass note the same letter name as the chord itself.

2. Learn to generate alternating bass parts

The next step is to generate an alternating bass part, this is done by playing the tonic note on beat one of the bar then playing the fifth of the chord on the third beat.

Again, using 'D' chord as an example: the tonic would be 'D' and the fifth note (the alternating note) would be 'A'.

D, E, F#, G, A

1, 2, 3 , 4, 5

Notice how I had to make the third note F# because the key of D contains two sharps F# and C#.

Using this idea you can really generate professional bass parts for any major, minor or dominant seventh chord.

Here's another example this time using A7: the tonic would be 'A' and the fifth note (the alternating note) would be 'E'.

A, B, C#, D, E

1, 2, 3 , 4, 5

3. Bass patterns in 3/4 time

Country songs in 3/4 time require extra treatment, there's two ways to can advent this challenge.

(a) use exclusively the 'tonic only' on the first beat bass part approach.

(b) when there are two bars of the same chord use alternating bass and when there is only one bar of a chord use 'tonic' on the first beat.

Even if you do play with a bass player the octave inequity between the pitch of the notes on a guitar and bass guitar will make inevitable your bass parts won't get in the way of the bass player, in fact it will sound great especially if you palm mute your bass part on the guitar.

Learn Country Guitar - Three Tips to create expert Bass Parts

Guitars - Types, Playing Styles, and Maintenance

Guitars tend to be among the best-selling instruments on the shop due to their unbelievable versatility. A guitar can just as indubitably be played by rock 'n roll musicians as by pop bands. It is also featured in flamenco, jazz, and classical music.

The oldest version of this instrument is the nylon string or acoustic guitar. This type does not use amplification to project sound. In expanding to that, it may have steel strings. There are several varieties of acoustic guitars together with the Renaissance, the Baroque, and the Flamenco. This sort of equipment is beloved in blues music and country music.

Bass Guitar Parts

A classical guitar is regularly played by picking with the fingers or fingernails. It is suitable for performing almost any type of music. Often music for it is transcribed from other instrument such as classical piano. Andres Segovia is one of the most preponderant classical guitarists of all time.

Guitars - Types, Playing Styles, and Maintenance

The galvanic guitar is different from a classical one because it requires amplification to generate sound. Players use a pick to assault the strings. Pickups turn vibrations into a current. That current is increased by an amplifier (commonly referred to as an amp). The signal is then increased through a speaker.

This galvanic form was first used by jazz musicians to increase their volume during the big band and swing era. Jazz guitar is still played today. Pat Metheny is one of the most preponderant modern jazz guitarists and has paired with some of the most innovative musicians of the 21st century to generate avant-garde, improvised music. Examples of citizen he has worked with comprise Roy Haynes and Charlie Haden.

Since the 1980s, modern rock 'n roll musicians have tended to a use solid galvanic guitar. This means that the sound generated is consistently the same from one instrument to the next unless modified by pedals. In heavy metal bands of that time, it was tasteless to connect two guitars to each other to symbolize the volume of noise for which the players were striving.

As other formula of expressing themselves, guitarists in rock 'n roll bands often relied upon the use of unusually shaped equipment. Along with strange shapes, designers were also known to paint the gear in unconventional ways. The modern guitar has become so expressive that modern museums have even featured galleries devoted to its history.

New musicians--even those who are self-taught--must learn the essentials of maintenance for this sensitive equipment. Indeed, problems with these items are impossible to avoid. Whole books have been written dedicated to covering the subject. However, here are incorporate basic tips to help with care for both the classical and galvanic guitar:

  • Keep an galvanic guitar polished- Be sure to buy proper polish as well as a nice polishing cloth to keep the instrument in good shape. Take note that some musicians avoid polishing the neck unless it is lacquered.
  • Change the strings as necessary- This is helpful for both galvanic and acoustic varieties. Musicians should turn strings regularly so that they do not break during a performance. Of course some rock 'n roll guitarists consider breaking a string to be part of the ritual of rock 'n roll expression.

With permissible care a potential guitar should last for years. For more data on maintenance, it may be wise to browse books dedicated to your particular instrument of choice.

Guitars - Types, Playing Styles, and Maintenance