Acoustic & Electric Guitar

The simple answer is yes but it's complicated...

• Most music programs only allow electric guitars in their jazz bands, so this is why I prepare my students to be able to read music and know some more difficult chord shapes. Most band directors know absolutely nothing about guitar and bass so usually you're on your own in this scenario. Band directors typically spend all their time fixing the horn parts since that is what they understand best, so usually they leave the rhythm section instruments to fend for themselves.

• High schools will often let students play in the pit orchestra for their musicals, and most modern musicals have a guitar part for them. These parts are usually difficult since they're usually between 80-120 pages in length, and the parts are usually given out only a couple weeks before the first rehearsal starts. With almost every pit orchestra I've played guitar in, I don't have the part completely down until the shows start! A downside to this is that this is usually after school in the spring for a couple weeks only.

• If you're lucky, your high school might allow a guitar in the marching band. Bass is common to see, but I've only seen 3-4 shows where there was a guitar player. When I worked with Cedar Springs' marching band, I actually wrote the guitar player's part because he wanted to play and the band director didn't know what to do with him! Talk to your band director and make sure they know you're interested in advance, and maybe they'll let you play!

• It might be possible to take a guitar class or use a seminar period to go to the music room and practice

For mostly 1 genre guitarists, playing during the school day is pretty much impossible because guitar is not a string orchestra or concert band instrument, which is why I try to somewhat classical or jazz train my students so they have better odds of getting into the school jazz band, which is definitely the best option!

Here are a few things that you can do (in order of ease):

1. "Learn" either bass guitar or upright (classical) bass.

   • Bass and guitar are extremely similar, so the only learning curve is reading bass clef instead of treble clef

   • Play upright bass in the orchestra and maybe jazz band too (or do guitar or bass guitar)

2. Join choir

   • Singing and playing guitar is a decent skill to have, so by joining choir you are developing a skill you might need later anyway! I REGRET not joining my school choir!

3.  Become a multi-instrumentalist (like me) and learn either a classical string, brass, percussion, or woodwind instrument

   • You already know how to read notes so you will not be a complete beginner

   • If you pick percussion, trumpet, trombone, flute, or clarinet (and you sing in choir), then you could play in every single musical ensemble your school offers!

Now for the big question: should I stop taking guitar lessons if I learn a new instrument?

No! Here's why:

I teach woodwinds officially but I ALSO know basics of brass and percussion instruments as well (even though I might struggle to demonstrate things on those instruments, I've done my research), so I can still teach you about your instrument and music in general. MANY aspects of music translate across all instruments! More importantly, guitar is an easier full-life instrument to have! Most other instruments are MORE EXPENSIVE, or need to be rented, so by the time you graduate, you might not be able to play again without spending a lot of money! Guitars are great to keep and are not too expensive to buy (for most budgets compared to other categories). There is always something new to discover with guitars, MORE so than ANY other instrument!

Here is a list of possible bad noises and what to check for each. Happy troubleshooting!

• Constant, pitched hum when playing a single coil guitar

  • You may be experiencing 60 cycle hum: the noise produces from single coil pickups. This is "part of the tone". I will discuss this more in your lesson.

• Buzzing and string noise when playing some or all notes

  • Your guitar's frets may be too high in either 1 or more places
  • Your truss rod might not be in a good position
  • Your strings might be too close to the frets
  • Your strings could be rattling behind the nut
  • You might be playing too loud

• Temporary loud low pitched howl when playing a hollow instrument with an amp

  • You are creating unwanted feedback: when the sound of the guitar goes into the amp, then the amp sound goes into the guitar, which then goes in to the amp...
    • Try repositioning the amp, turning it down, or using an EQ to attenuate the frequency

• Noisy stompbox pedal

  • You might have the gain control and/or output level controls set very high, which could be a good thing
  • You might not be powering your pedals properly
  • You might have 2 pedals plugged in near each other with impedance incompatibility

• Poorly made pedalboard patch cables

  • If you soldering job or your screw-in job on your cables are not good enough, there can be noise and signal loss.

• Noisy amplifier

  • You might have the gain control and/or output level controls set very high, which could be a good thing
  • You might have a ground loop

1. (E) Standard EADGBE

   • This is DEFAULT 6 string guitar tuning that we will study and learn with during lessons. I have tried many tunings, and this is the best one. There's a reason why it's called standard! 

2. Drop D DADGBE

   • 5 strings are the same as Standard tuning for reference while playing. Tune the E string DOWN to D

   • This tuning is optimal for metal electric guitar playing

     • Drop tunings are the basis for lots of metal tunes you've heard. Drop D is the first, and will feel and sound the best with standard string gage sets. Many bands will start with Drop D tuning and then take all the strings down by a half step at a time and use heavier strings to get "heavier"

     • The DAD allows for single finger low power chords.

3. (E) All Fourths EADGCF

   • 4 strings are the same as Standard tuning for reference while playing. Tune the B & E strings UP to C & F

   • This tuning is optimal for lead electric guitar playing.

     • All P4 intervals between all of the strings allow for complete symmetry across the guitar neck. This allows for scalar patterns and small chord shapes to be movable anywhere you would like! I played in this tuning on electric guitars for about 2 years straight during college, but I switched back to standard tuning for ease of playing open position chords, as well as to take advantage of the M3 interval between the G and B string.

     • This is the only tuning I like where strings are tuned higher than standard tuning. Normal string sets are manufactured with standard tuning in mind, so tuning a string too high above standard will risk breaking the string much, much easier. The C and F strings are only a half step up, so it does not feel too abnormal, and you should be ok with your string tension

4. Open G DGDGBD

   • 3 strings are the same as Standard tuning for reference while playing. Tune the E,A, & E strings DOWN to D, G, & D

   • This tuning is optimum for rhythm and ambient acoustic and electric

     • Open tunings are called open because all of the open strings play a chord when played together. In this case, we are playing a G major chord. I like this open tuning better than others like Open C, E, or A because none of the strings are raised in pitch, only lowered

     • Great for slide playing and ambient parts

     • Use a capo to get a virtual Open Ab, A, Bb, B, C, etc. 

5. Dropped C CGDGBE

   • 4 strings are the same as Standard tuning for reference while playing. Tune the E & A strings DOWN to C & G

   • Notice how it is called Dropped, not drop. Very subtle, but very different!

   • This tuning is optimum for rhythm and lead electric guitar

     • CGD strings are all P5 intervals, which allows for 1 finger, 2 string low power chords, while still maintaining the high strings for small high chord voicings and soloing. Your low E string becomes a low C, so it may get very flabby. If you love this tuning, you will need a more custom set of strings.

Bonus - Drop A AEADGBE & Drop E EBEADGBE

• These are my favorite tunings for 7 and 8 string electric guitars. I use these tunings instead of standard tuning because many metal riffs written for these instruments are for drop tunings. I like leaving the normal 6 high strings tuned to standard so that I have all of my normal standard tuning notes in their correct places, with the added functionality of low, 1 finger, drop tuning power chords. Very useful!

This is not at all scientific, just my opinion. Gain staging is not included in this list.

1. Pickup position

2. Pickup type

3. Speaker/cabinet/headphone type

4. Power tube type/amp voicing

5. Wood combination

6. Scale length

7. Solidity of body

8. String type

9. Everything else!

ELECTRIC GUITAR PLAYERS: read this AFTER reading part 1 on the Instruments page!

The amplifier (or amp modeler) is the second most important part of your guitar tone besides your guitar itself. The following is a guide to how to get the best sound from your gear.

The actual speaker(s) you are hearing the sound come from are the most important part of the amplifier!

• Real guitar-voiced speakers want to project lots of midrange and treble, a helping of bass, and almost no resonance or presence. Modeling amp speakers can add too much bass, resonance, and presence, which can make the tone thin and harsh. Try plugging your headphone output of your digital amp product and plug it into your home theatre system with subwoofer for example. You might just increase the size, and the overall tone quality with better speakers. 

MIDRANGE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FREQUENCY RANGE for warm/fat/thick sounds, genre-specific tones, and volume.

• All great guitar sounds either have a decent helping of either low mids, high mids, or both, depending on the genre. Try boosting lots of midrange for a great solo tone! Avoid huge midrange cuts. Having a high level of midrange is almost always good. The only time you might want to turn it down would be in very large ensembles to avoid "mud", in which case you can turn up the treble to cut through and be heard.

Adjust to get the right amount of Treble and Bass for each playing scenario, then keep the level constant.

• A good rule of thumb is to turn bass up and treble down when practicing by yourself for a big satisfying practice tone that is not harsh and easy on the ears for longer, louder practice (especially when using headphones). As soon as other instruments join in for a performance, turn the treble up and the bass down to not interfere as much with the bass player and bass drum. Make sure you have a good amount of treble without sounding harsh for EVERY sound that you use with the band so that you are always heard by the audience, regardless of dynamics.

Reduce the level of Presence in your digital modeling product.

• Speakers for tube amps kick out very little to no actual presence, so check to see if the amp models are adding on too much presence artificially and reduce it. If you have an EQ control, try removing 10k and higher completely. I like dark guitar sounds, so I go for a high cut starting at 5k with my Helix almost every time.

Increase the "size" of your tone with Resonance.

• Most amps do not have resonance controls, but resonance can be increased by using larger diameter speakers, and by using bigger cabinets. A 4x12 cabinet (4 12" speakers in one large box) has more resonance that a 1x8 cabinet (a single 8" speaker in a small practice amp for example). "Huge" tones come not only from the amount of resonance, but also from the sound coming from a large area of space. 

Important terms before we get started:

• Headroom: The amount of dynamic range available before clipping occurs in the electronic and digital audio spectrums

  • The higher the power, the higher the headroom. 100W amplifiers are not that much louder than 25W amplifiers, but they have a larger dynamic range before they distort.

• Gain Staging: The process of adding and subtracting volume, compression, and clipping to an electronic or digital audio signal

  • Gain stages include compression, EQ, boost, overdrive, distortion,  and fuzz pedals, as well as the guitar volume control and the separate preamp channels of an amplifier.

1. Subtractive gain staging (no headroom)

• Popular in the rock and blues genres, or where great clean sounds aren't necessary
• This approach is best for folks without any pedals, single channel amps, low wattage amps, and amps turned up so loud that that (tube) power amp distortion is present.
• Set your gear up in the following order:
  1. Set your guitar volume to 10 on the bridge pickup, then dial in a great solo tone with plenty of sustain
  2. For the rhythm sound, turn the guitar volume down a little bit and/or change the pickup selector and/or use a coil tap or split (if applicable)
  3. For the clean sound, turn the volume down almost all the way. Coil tapping and/or changing pickup selection is also recommended
  4. To mute, turn the guitar down all the way

2. Additive gain staging (high headroom) 

• Popular in many genres, especially genres where "sterile" clean sounds are needed.
• This approach is best for folks who either:
  • Have multi-channel amplifiers
  • Need the most amount of dynamic range possible
  • Need the greatest amount of sounds out of 1 amp
  • Have several gain stages as pedals or built into their modeler

• To accomplish this, try the following:
  1. Set the amp gain very low and the master volume very high (almost too loud)
  2. Use the guitar volume control to mute, and turn it up around halfway for pp
  3. Turn the guitar volume up to 10 for p/mp
  4. Add gain stages to get from mp to ff

3. Edge of breakup (a little headroom)

• set the amp to the edge of breakup (when you play loud, it distorts, and is clean when playing quietly), then use the guitar volume control and a couple pedals. 
• My personal favorite method of gain staging. This method is the easiest for blending tube and pedal distortion together, and allows for the "best" tone, with some added versatility.
• Use a compressor to subtract level and keep everything clean for when you need a clean sound, instead of rolling the guitar volume control down too far
• Great for single channel amps