Newsletter Vol. 1 # 40 – February 16, 2002

Dear Guitar Player,

Welcome to Guitar Noise News for February 16, 2002.

This past week we received this cool email:

My name’s Carlos, I’m from Costa Rica, and I just want to tell you my experience with “Making Jam.” First, I want you to know that I really like your article, and the web site: guitar noise. It has been really important to me and my guitar!!

Well, when I first had the idea of starting a band I didn’t play any instrument at all. Then, all by myself I learned to play guitar. After a lot of practice every day I can now play guitar, and make it sound good!!

One of my friends (Billy) plays drums, and he’s really good, so we decided to play together, but we needed some musicians ‘cuz we like to play reggae-roots music, so I talked to some friends and they introduced me most of the guys of my band, by the way it’s called: Mozambique. Right now we only need a guy that plays sax, and a trumpet, but we have around 17 songs, they’re easy to play but sound really great. When we started, it was only my acoustic guitar, and minor percussion, and now we have drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, and custom percussion.

Once in a while we play in bars around San José (Costa Rica’s capital) and soon we will have our own record. Sometimes it is really hard, but we like music and that’s the key to being together and playing the best we can every time.

Please write me anytime and tell me your comments, and how we can improve and have success!!

I have been hearing for a while now that someday someone who learned guitar through this site may become famous. That is why it is so cool to receive email like this.

If you are serious about making jam be sure to check out Dan’s lesson on the ingredients of a jam. And keep those stories coming.

In this newsletter:

• News
• New Guitar and Bass Lessons
• Acoustic Guitar Tip
• Recommended Books
• CD Reviews
• New Links
• Email of the Week

You can recycle this newsletter by passing it on to a friend you think might benefit from Guitar Noise.

News and Announcements

Reviews
I am sure most of you know that Guitar Noise also reviews music. If you have your own music recorded you can send us a copy and we will review it. Then you and your potential fans can read about it on our site and in this newsletter.

Currently we are improving our method of reviewing CDs so artists can get their work reviewed quicker and more fairly. Also, this past week I redesigned the Reviews page to encourage people to spend more time looking around and maybe discover something they like. To send us your work check out our Instructions for Music Submission.

Guitar and Bass Lessons

Favorite Songs
The Other Side Column # 11
by Laura Lasley (15 Feb 2002)
There are so many great songs out there that it’s hard to choose. It depends on what instrument you’re playing at the time, and what mood you are in. My favorite song is usually the one I’m currently working on. When you’ve sweated to figure out how to twist your fingers into the chords required you have entered a love/hate relationship with the song.

Playing the Guitar while Singing
Songwriting # 35
by A-J Charron (15 Feb 2002)
A lot of bands have a lead vocalist who also plays an instrument. You listen to a live album from them and you hear the instrument performed to perfection and wonder how they do it. You’ve tried to sing while playing your guitar and have discovered that it’s not an easy thing to do.

Guitar Tips

This week our tip comes to us courtesy of Guitar Man Acoustic Guitar Tips.

Guitar Shopping
If you’re looking to buy a guitar that sounds/plays better than your present guitar, it’s best to take your present guitar with you to the store to do a comparison providing the store isn’t an environment that your guitar might get stolen or damaged by too many people in a tight spot. Also take your capo. Some sales personnel will be skeptical of letting you use just any capo because it might scratch something but I’ve never had one refuse me the use of my Kyser.

The reasons I’m suggesting this is because background noise and room acoustics can really deceive your sense of hearing. What sounds good or bad at the store may be different when you get home. Another lesson I learned when hanging around audio buffs and picking out stereos is “louder sounds better”. If you’re doing an A/B comparison of two audio sources, try to make sure the two are the same volume because your human tendency is to think the louder one sounds better when you’re overlooking other subtle differences. It’s easier to control this with stereos and electric guitars but take it into consideration with acoustic guitars as well. If the new guitar initially sounds louder when you strum it and you think it sounds better than your current guitar, also take into consideration how it sounds when playing individual notes on the mid to high frets. Make sure the guitar sounds good at the volumes at which you play.

Make sure the new guitar you’re looking at will do all the things you like such as capo adjustments and lower tunings without buzzes. Check intonation. Compare the neck on the new guitar for width and curvature on the back. If you’re playing this new guitar and you notice there’s certain “spots” you miss when playing your fav tunes, then there’s probably a difference somewhere. Go back to your old guitar and see what it is.

If I would have known this advice several years ago, there would presently be one less guitar in my collection. (The one I don’t tell anyone about.)

Gman ( o )==#

For more tips visit Guitar Man Acoustic Guitar Tips.

Recommended Reading

This past week I spent a bit of time looking over some of the books we have sold in the past. One thing I discovered is that we have more than a few do-it-yourself-ers out there. We have sold quite a few books on how to make your own guitar. One of the more popular of this group is the following book by Jim Williams. Most of the Amazon reviews suggest that this book is not for the absolute beginner. But if you are up for the challenge of constructing your own guitar I recommend you try this book or others like it listed on guitar books page.

The Guitar Maker’s Manual
by Jim Williams
Written by one of Australia’s foremost luthiers, this manual is a straightforward, profusely illustrated guide to constructing nylon-string classical and steel-string guitars. Includes a useful section on creating the jigs necessary to make the job easier and more accurate, along with full size template diagrams to assist in cutting out and marking the body shape and soundboard bracing patterns. A Guitar Maker’s Manual lists all of the materials needed, where to get them and what problems to look out for during the construction.

CD Reviews

The Flower Kings – The Rainmaker
Receiving a new Flower Kings CD is one of the things that make this reviewing job so fun! This band is one of the best to have come out in a long time.

Platypus – Ice Cycles
Platypus is a commercial Progressive band. Not into orchestral arrangements, but rather into simpler, plain, yet good, arrangements.

New Sites

• HansFahlingWorkshops.com – HansFahlingWorkshops.com offers free features such as solo transcriptions for jazz guitar and other instruments. It also introduces Live-Video Lessons by internet with guitarist/music educator, Hans Fahling.
• Singer Song – Original, independent music artists! Singers/Songwriters Resources!
• Superior Music – Rules of the Jam 1 – A great set of rules – useful and honest

Email of the Week

Acoustic or Electric?
I want to learn how to play guitar and I want to play electric. Which guitar is better to learn on? Electric or Acoustic? If you could answer this question i would apreciate it greatly. Thank you.

David’s Response
We get this question a lot at Guitar Noise and I think that everyone who answers it has different opinions.

There are a lot of similarities between the electric and acoustic guitar; they each have advantages and disadvantages to the beginner. It is easier to learn to fingerpick on an acoustic. Barre chords and power chords are easier to learn on an electric. Because of the nature of the acoustic guitar, most people learn how to strum them but rarely take the time to explore the many styles and sounds that it is capable of. Because of the nature of the electric guitar, many beginners learn power chords and then little else. And when the acoustic player gets his first electric, he tends to play it like an acoustic. And vice versa.

Which is “better?” Since you say right off the bat that you want to learn electric, I would tell you that electric is better for you. Is this necessarily true? No. But since this is where your interests currently lie, it is true for you.

What you learn from the guitar, or anything, is usually a combination of what you want and whether or not what you discover on the way interests you enough to take a detour. If you really want to learn a riff or a solo and you learn it, will you also take the time to figure out how you can use what you learn in another song or in a different style? Only if it interests you to do so.

It used to be that people started out with acoustic guitars mostly because it was expensive to get an electric guitar (and an amplifier and everything else that you’d need). That is not the case these days. If you want to play electric and you can get yourself a good set up, then by all means do so.

Because here’s the fun thing – if you choose the electric guitar now, there’s no reason why you won’t find yourself with an acoustic guitar somewhere down the road. I’d almost guarantee that this will happen.

I hope that this helps more than it confuses. If you want to discuss specific questions concening either (or both) guitar, please feel free to write me directly anytime. I look forward to hearing from you.

Peace

David Hodge

All the best,

Paul Hackett
Executive Producer