As a fan of the electric guitar and an enthusiastic player of acoustic music, I would like to share some of the most fascinating aspects of the nylon string guitar to give you an idea of the beauty of this instrument as a stepping stone for beginner guitarists or as the subject of a lifelong devotion. Although a nylon string guitar fan can go on and on about the wonderful mellow sound and the potential for extracting new meaning from music, maybe we can focus on the more practical aspects of the nylon string acoustic like the different styles of music played on it and the advantages it can hold for an amateur or professional guitarist.
First let's talk about the types of guitars using nylon strings. Many experts say the flamenco guitar with its dry sound is more typical of what a guitar was like before the emergence of the sonorous and lyrical sound of the classical guitar which evolved in the first half of the twentieth century. The flamenco guitar has always been common in some areas of Spain, and it is simply the musical instrument used by a family or group of friends to play the local folk music. The classical guitar was developed to play the classical style compositions which became popular in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A descendent of the classical guitar is the basic nylon string acoustic guitar you see in music stores today.
The sound of the nylon string guitar is much more peaceful compared to the brighter sound of the steel string acoustic. Another major advantage of the nylon string guitar is that it provides musical accompaniment to songs without distracting attention from your vocals.
By the way - did you know that players of electric guitars or steel string acoustic instruments need to develop callouses on their left hand fingers? Nylon strings are generally a little kinder to your hands. You will find that your nylon string guitar is easy to tune and you can just pick your guitar up and play it at any time of day or night without disturbing anybody in the immediate environment. Also the wider fret board allows you to play chords and single notes without accidentally touching the wrong string.
Nylon string guitars are kinder to finger picking guitarists. Anybody can learn finger style guitar on nylon strings without running too much risk of breaking fingernails, plus you will be pleased at how your first finger picking efforts are rewarded by the more beginner-friendly tone of the nylon acoustic.
Now you have some idea of the attractive aspects of the nylon string acoustic guitar, I do hope you will find some time to devote to this beautiful and, in recent times, neglected instrument.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Learn To Play Guitar Fast
When you watch somebody play fast on the guitar do you always wonder if you could learn to do that? Let us look at what resources we need to increase our own guitar playing speed on a regular basis. The very first thing you are going toneed is a metronome. You can buy one from your local music store, steal one from a maiden aunt or download one for free on the internet. If you choose to steal one, then I am afraid you will not make much progress in your quest to play guitar fast because shortcuts just do not work. Most of us look for the quickest and most painless way to do things, and that is why most of us are not playing guitar at the speed of light.
Okay, you have your metronome and an attitude adjustment. You are ready to begin. The next thing you need is something to practice. It can be a solo passage from a song. It can be an exercise, like a series of arpeggios or a picking exercise. You need to choose your material carefully because you will need to know exactly how fast you want to play in terms of the settings on your metronome. You may or may not need to spend time learning your passage from scratch as some familiarity with the piece is necessary to start increasing how fast you play it. By familiarity I mean the muscles in your fingers, hands and arms need to beable to play your piece without hesitation. So that is the next thing you need. In order to play guitar fast you need to be able to play slowly.
The exercise you have chosen to play should not be too easy, but at the same time it should not have too many tricky bits. That is why you are using an exercise or an isolated passage rather than a song or long solo. Now you are starting to see the way ahead. If you have yourpractice passage ready, check it with your metronome. Make sure you know what your present speed is. The next thing is to take a metronome setting not too far above your present one and make that your goal.
Let us now talk about something you do not need. Muscular tension. You need to practice playing guitar fast without building a level of tension in the muscles that will work against your goal. In order to escape the possibility of too much tension you need to forget about time frames. You have your goal in the metronome setting. Leave the time open ended. The idea is not to actually PLAY guitar faster at sometime in the future, but to WORK A LITTLE BIT ON PLAYING FAST every day.
So if you choose a passage to practice in order to play fast, and playing speed will begin to increase. Once you have reached a level of skill on one exercise, choose another one with a couple more challenges. But remember to begin again from the beginning. Ascertain where you are now and decide on a realistic goal for your next step.
Okay, you have your metronome and an attitude adjustment. You are ready to begin. The next thing you need is something to practice. It can be a solo passage from a song. It can be an exercise, like a series of arpeggios or a picking exercise. You need to choose your material carefully because you will need to know exactly how fast you want to play in terms of the settings on your metronome. You may or may not need to spend time learning your passage from scratch as some familiarity with the piece is necessary to start increasing how fast you play it. By familiarity I mean the muscles in your fingers, hands and arms need to beable to play your piece without hesitation. So that is the next thing you need. In order to play guitar fast you need to be able to play slowly.
The exercise you have chosen to play should not be too easy, but at the same time it should not have too many tricky bits. That is why you are using an exercise or an isolated passage rather than a song or long solo. Now you are starting to see the way ahead. If you have yourpractice passage ready, check it with your metronome. Make sure you know what your present speed is. The next thing is to take a metronome setting not too far above your present one and make that your goal.
Let us now talk about something you do not need. Muscular tension. You need to practice playing guitar fast without building a level of tension in the muscles that will work against your goal. In order to escape the possibility of too much tension you need to forget about time frames. You have your goal in the metronome setting. Leave the time open ended. The idea is not to actually PLAY guitar faster at sometime in the future, but to WORK A LITTLE BIT ON PLAYING FAST every day.
So if you choose a passage to practice in order to play fast, and playing speed will begin to increase. Once you have reached a level of skill on one exercise, choose another one with a couple more challenges. But remember to begin again from the beginning. Ascertain where you are now and decide on a realistic goal for your next step.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
You Can Learn To Read Guitar Sheet Music
When you learn to read guitar sheet music it will be vital in expanding your guitar playing skills. Playing by ear will only get you so far and I am here to help take it to the next step.
I will show you some basic tips and tricks to help you learn to read guitar sheet music and hopefully that will make you a better and more versatile guitar player. I will now give you a list that will show you it is not hard to learn to read guitar sheet music.
Finding the right material
Finding the right material
Most guitar books will have some basic sheet music and songs in the front pages that are designed to help you learn to read guitar sheet music quickly. Once you have basic guitar knowledge it is relatively easy to learn to read guitar sheet music. Start in small sections, one chord at a time. Use your guitar and play the chord out loud until you know it sounds correct.
Setting your self up
Setting your self up
You will need to be in a small quite room where you will not be distracted by anything when you learn to read guitar sheet music. The only way to know when you get it right is if it sounds right and it can be difficult do that if you have screaming kids in the room with you or loud street noise outside. Concentration is key and this will make it easier to learn how to read guitar sheet music. If you are distracted you may find a whole day can bewasted trying to focus
Getting started
Remember what I said, be free from distraction! I cannot stress that enough. Now you're alone and it's quiet, find a music book with sheet music, try to pick something easy but also try to pick something you are familiar with. It makes it much easier to learn to read guitar sheet music if you are familiar with the tune. Make sure you are confident with one piece before you move on to the next.
Continue practicing
Continue to practice as much as you can, you will find that the better you get the more you will practice. When you enjoy something you will generally apply more time to it. Trying to learn to read guitar sheet music is easy as long as you practice! Once you have mastered reading sheet music then you can attempt towrite you own music and that is where the real fun begins! It is essential to make sure you are confident or you will only have to go back and learn to read guitar sheet music all over again.
Getting started
Remember what I said, be free from distraction! I cannot stress that enough. Now you're alone and it's quiet, find a music book with sheet music, try to pick something easy but also try to pick something you are familiar with. It makes it much easier to learn to read guitar sheet music if you are familiar with the tune. Make sure you are confident with one piece before you move on to the next.
Continue practicing
Continue to practice as much as you can, you will find that the better you get the more you will practice. When you enjoy something you will generally apply more time to it. Trying to learn to read guitar sheet music is easy as long as you practice! Once you have mastered reading sheet music then you can attempt towrite you own music and that is where the real fun begins! It is essential to make sure you are confident or you will only have to go back and learn to read guitar sheet music all over again.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Acoustic Guitar Lessons
These mini guitar lessons have been put together for the beginner acoustic guitar student who feels a need to play music but is a bit short on direction.
Lesson One- What kind of guitar are you going to buy?
Lesson One- What kind of guitar are you going to buy?
If you have a rough idea of what kind of music you want to play, the next step is to find yourself a guitar. Let's start with the basics - nylon string or steel string. A nylon string guitar was made to play classical and folk music. Acoustic guitars make their music by sending the vibration of the strings to the soundboard. The vibrations are then amplified in the body of the guitar. Nylon string guitars make a mellow tone; steel string guitars make a brighter, more metallic sound. One of the main things that will influence you in deciding what kind of sound you want is the guitar your favorite performer plays. If you are just starting out you will not need a top of the range guitar but it is best to get the nicest one in your price range. A cheap, poorly made guitar will be an uphill battle to play. A good instrument will make your practice sessions something to look forward to. Try different guitars. See how the neck feels. Check out if one neckfeels more comfortable to play than others. Another consideration is the distance of the strings from the fret board which is called the "action". Low action is easier to play but if you are planning on strumming enthusiastically or picking loudly the guitar may have a tendency to buzz.
Lesson Two - Go ahead and learn.
Lesson Two - Go ahead and learn.
The very first step toward learning to play acoustic guitar is to develop confidence and to overcome your natural reluctance try new things. Lack of money, lack of time, or lack of a good teacher are three big obstacles to your guitar learning progress. The other three big obstacles are all you. You may be your worst enemy. How do you react to a challenge? Challenges are your friends. If you find yourself getting frustrated, and not wanting to continue your practice, it might be time to downsize your goal, at least for a while. If you have two chords that you have trouble with, work on the first one alone for a while. Once you have improved a little, go to the next one.
Lesson Three - Daily Practice
As far as your daily practice goes look at starting with half an hour a day. If you can do more, great, you'll become a guitarist faster. The way you carry out your practice is crucial. Putting in the time isn't the only requirement. If you rush or try to fit too much in, then you're working against yourself. Err on the side of too little material at first. If you really are accomplishing what you set out to do in less than thirty minutes, then add a little more.
Lesson Three - Daily Practice
As far as your daily practice goes look at starting with half an hour a day. If you can do more, great, you'll become a guitarist faster. The way you carry out your practice is crucial. Putting in the time isn't the only requirement. If you rush or try to fit too much in, then you're working against yourself. Err on the side of too little material at first. If you really are accomplishing what you set out to do in less than thirty minutes, then add a little more.
Lesson Four - Tuning Your Guitar
You can find online guitar tuners to help you get your acoustic guitar in tune. Take a day or two of your practice time to get the knack of tuning. When you start to develop an ear for tuning, try tuning the guitar without the tuner.
Lesson Five - Holding Your Acoustic Guitar
Long hours of practice can take their toll. Learning how to sit and play your acoustic guitar is an art in itself. There are places on the internet that have illustrations showing you how to sit when you're playing, but it would be good to find somebody with a little experience to show you. But don't just go with the way one person plays. If he's self-taught, then you don't want to pick up his bad habits!
Lesson Five - Holding Your Acoustic Guitar
Long hours of practice can take their toll. Learning how to sit and play your acoustic guitar is an art in itself. There are places on the internet that have illustrations showing you how to sit when you're playing, but it would be good to find somebody with a little experience to show you. But don't just go with the way one person plays. If he's self-taught, then you don't want to pick up his bad habits!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Learn To Play Guitar Using Free Software
If you want to learn to play guitar for free there's plenty of software available to help you. This article will enable you to define for yourself how to approach learning the guitar and guide you in setting up the time and space necessary to make solid musical progress.
Imagine yourself sitting down to play the guitar. You want to play to your own musical standards and to make music that impresses your audience. You will play from beginning to end without a hitch. Your attention will be on the music, not nervously anticipating the bits that you can "scrape through" when you are alone in your room but could be your undoing in front of an audience.
To learn to play guitar with a high degree of fluency, the first free resource you will need is time. Even if you have a busy daily schedule you can find say, half an hour to set aside to learning guitar. Think about what you do during the day. After dinner for instance, do you sit staring mindlessly at the television? Could you get up a little earlier in the morning to play guitar? Failing to seriously think about when you are going to practice the guitar will make the other elements of your guitar education more difficult.
Once you have worked when you will practice the guitar each day, you can contemplate the basic needs behind learning music. You can see in your imagination how you want to play guitar, so how do you go about getting the music into your head and your fingers?
An essential piece of equipment you need by your side is your guitar tuner. With free guitar tuners available to download, there's no excuse not to be in tune. I recommend the AP Guitar Tuner. It has a great visual guide to make sure you get your guitar in tune with a minimum of fuss.
Whether you already read standard musical notation or you will be using guitar tablature, you need to go to your friendly neighborhood search engine and look for a free music notation program called TablEdit. Guitarists record arrangements of songs using this program and share it with other guitar players on the internet. You download the software in a zip file and install it on your computer.
Now go to your search engine again and type in the name of the song you want to learn followed by "tabledit". If your request is not too obscure, you will get a number of web pages where you can download your song. As an example, type "classical gas tabledit" into a search engine and you will be rewarded with over one-hundred-and-fifty results. The only drawback with the free version of the program is you can't edit and save the music you are learning.
Another free guitar notation program is called Powertab, so if you can't find a Tabledit file for the piece you want, try your search using "power tab".
Now sit down with yourself and let the notation program play the song. Get a good grip on how the song sounds. Then start to learn the notes in whatever size chunks you need. Break it into licks, bars, half bars, whatever, but don't ride over any bits that are difficult for you. The ultimate aim is to perform a series of small movements, each one leading to the next without unnecessary muscular tension.
If you have difficulty with any part of the song, play it slowly several times on your notation program until you can hear it in your head. Then try it slowly on the guitar.
Finally, if you can't find a TablEdit or Powertab arrangement of your song, the latest version or Apple's Quicktime has the ability to slow down any music without altering the pitch. All you need then is a sound file and a tab or sheet music of your piece and you're ready to rock!
Imagine yourself sitting down to play the guitar. You want to play to your own musical standards and to make music that impresses your audience. You will play from beginning to end without a hitch. Your attention will be on the music, not nervously anticipating the bits that you can "scrape through" when you are alone in your room but could be your undoing in front of an audience.
To learn to play guitar with a high degree of fluency, the first free resource you will need is time. Even if you have a busy daily schedule you can find say, half an hour to set aside to learning guitar. Think about what you do during the day. After dinner for instance, do you sit staring mindlessly at the television? Could you get up a little earlier in the morning to play guitar? Failing to seriously think about when you are going to practice the guitar will make the other elements of your guitar education more difficult.
Once you have worked when you will practice the guitar each day, you can contemplate the basic needs behind learning music. You can see in your imagination how you want to play guitar, so how do you go about getting the music into your head and your fingers?
An essential piece of equipment you need by your side is your guitar tuner. With free guitar tuners available to download, there's no excuse not to be in tune. I recommend the AP Guitar Tuner. It has a great visual guide to make sure you get your guitar in tune with a minimum of fuss.
Whether you already read standard musical notation or you will be using guitar tablature, you need to go to your friendly neighborhood search engine and look for a free music notation program called TablEdit. Guitarists record arrangements of songs using this program and share it with other guitar players on the internet. You download the software in a zip file and install it on your computer.
Now go to your search engine again and type in the name of the song you want to learn followed by "tabledit". If your request is not too obscure, you will get a number of web pages where you can download your song. As an example, type "classical gas tabledit" into a search engine and you will be rewarded with over one-hundred-and-fifty results. The only drawback with the free version of the program is you can't edit and save the music you are learning.
Another free guitar notation program is called Powertab, so if you can't find a Tabledit file for the piece you want, try your search using "power tab".
Now sit down with yourself and let the notation program play the song. Get a good grip on how the song sounds. Then start to learn the notes in whatever size chunks you need. Break it into licks, bars, half bars, whatever, but don't ride over any bits that are difficult for you. The ultimate aim is to perform a series of small movements, each one leading to the next without unnecessary muscular tension.
If you have difficulty with any part of the song, play it slowly several times on your notation program until you can hear it in your head. Then try it slowly on the guitar.
Finally, if you can't find a TablEdit or Powertab arrangement of your song, the latest version or Apple's Quicktime has the ability to slow down any music without altering the pitch. All you need then is a sound file and a tab or sheet music of your piece and you're ready to rock!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Archlute
Archlute adalah alat musik moyang gitar yang biasanya berdawai 14 pasang(atau bahkan lebih) :), banyak senarnya ya?, hehe.., lute biasa disebut sebagai kecapi dalam Bahasa Indonesia, asal-usul kecapi barat seperti ini akan saya bahas terpisah dalam artikel-artikel mendatang.
Archlute dikembangkan sekitar tahun 1600 M di Eropa, jaman-jaman musik renaisans. Sebenarnya ada berbagai macam model kecapi/lute seperti theorbo, juga tenor lute, juga lute arab/persia. Archlute ini lebih merupakan perpaduan antara theorbo dan tenor lute jaman barok. Bedanya kalau Archlute memiliki dawai 14 pasang, sementara lute jaman barok memiliki 11 atau 13 pasang. Ini lagu "Bach Prelude for Lute in D Minor BWV 1008", dimainkan oleh David Tayler.
Sumber tambahan/additional references: http://en.wikipedia.org, http://www.youtube.com
Monday, November 1, 2010
Laney Guitar Clinic 2010 - Kiko Loureiro
Pada hari kamis, tanggal 28 oktober 2010 kemarin diadakan acara Laney Guitar Clinic 2010 bersama Kiko Loureiro, di Yogyakarta. Ditengah suasana meletusnya gunung merapi, semuanya tetap semangat untuk belajar gitar, dibuktikan dengan penuh sesaknya pengunjung, luar biasa!!. :).
Acara ini lebih menjurus pada pembahasan amplifier Laney GH100L dan VH100R. Untuk amplifier Laney GH100L dikupas oleh Andri Franzy(Eks Power Slaves dan Boomerang), dan puncak acara-nya pembahasan amplifier Laney VH100R sekaligus klinik gitar oleh Kiko Loureiro.
Kiko Loureiro(http://www.kikoloureiro.com.br/) ini gitaris band Angra dari Brazil. Setelah main beberapa lagu awal dan menyapa fans bilang suka pada kunjungan pertamanya di Indonesia kali ini :), Kiko mulai membahas amplifier Laney VH100R ini. Sebagai penerjemah adalah mas Choky dari band Netral
Alasan Kiko memilih amplifier Laney:
- karena dia suka memainkan berbagai macam musik
- banyak sound dalam satu amplifier
- merk sudah lama
- gitaris-gitaris Rock N’ Roll banyak yg berasal dari Inggris, orang-orang Inggris banyak tahu cara membuat amplifier yg bagus
- sound clean tone-nya bagus
- distorsi bagus
- ada fitur2: Clean, Crunch, Distorsi, Channel
Bahasan berikutnya masalah channel, ada dua channel pada amplifier ini: yaitu lower dan upper channel
Lower Channel
- Crunch Sound --> untuk main blues, demo: Kiko main lagu “Hey Joe”-Jimmy Hendrix
- Clean Sound--> demo: Kiko main sound2 musik jazz, bossanova brazil
- Penting bagi gitaris untuk memainkan gitar dengan clean tone, mulai dari scales, dst. karena terdengar lebih jelas, juga untuk teknik tapping --> demo: Kiko main lagu “Ain’t no Sunshine When She’s Gone”-Bob Marley, dimainkan dengan teknik tapping
Upper channel
- Equalizer upper dan lower channel beda
- Efek loop, volume bisa beda, antara lower dan upper channel
- Distorsinya bisa sampai 10, tp Kiko hanya pakai 6
- Sound-nya distorsi lebih tebal mantap :)
- Kiko sempat main riff “Master of Puppets”-Metallica, demo distorsi
Sesi tanya jawab: (T: pertanyaan audiens, J: Jawaban Kiko)
1. T: Fav band, gitaris?
J: banyak tapi belajar pertama dari Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, pertama kali belajar lick/melodi dari Led Zeppelin
1. T: Fav band, gitaris?
J: banyak tapi belajar pertama dari Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, pertama kali belajar lick/melodi dari Led Zeppelin
2. T: Beda sebelum dan sesudah pakai Laney?
J:
- Setelah bermain 10 tahun, baru kontrak sama Laney, ganti-ganti amplifier sampai ketemu Laney. Dia suka amplifier2 buatan Inggris, menurutnya amplifier-amplifier buatan Amrik sound distorsinya tebal, untuk main rhythm bagus, tapi tone untuk soloingnya kurang clear
- Biasanya amplifier-amplifier yg distorsinya bagus, belum tentu clean tonenya bagus dan sebaliknya, tapi kalau amplifier yg ini, kedua-duanya bagus
- Untuk amplifier memang harus banyak dicoba
Request: Intro Hero of Sands, langsung dipenuhi
- Setelah bermain 10 tahun, baru kontrak sama Laney, ganti-ganti amplifier sampai ketemu Laney. Dia suka amplifier2 buatan Inggris, menurutnya amplifier-amplifier buatan Amrik sound distorsinya tebal, untuk main rhythm bagus, tapi tone untuk soloingnya kurang clear
- Biasanya amplifier-amplifier yg distorsinya bagus, belum tentu clean tonenya bagus dan sebaliknya, tapi kalau amplifier yg ini, kedua-duanya bagus
- Untuk amplifier memang harus banyak dicoba
Request: Intro Hero of Sands, langsung dipenuhi
3. T: apakah sama setting antara versi recording dan live?
J: beda. Waktu recording, setiap lagu beda settingnya, chorus, mic, efek equalizer. Tapi kalo live harus pake satu-satu. Pakai delay dan booster, clean tone pakai booster, pakai channel 1 pake clean+booster. Kalo pakai channel 2 distorsi dan booster, dan waktu live bisa pake compressor, tergantung tempat
4. T:Prinsip2 hidup yg membuat Kiko spt sekarang?
J: respek pada org lain, saling menghormati aja..
5. T: Pickups yg dipakai?
J: Seymour Duncan, pakai single coil yg dekat neck, dan hot rails yg dekat tremolo
6. T: Nasehat untuk musisi muda agar bisa sukses seperti Angra?
J: bagi Kiko arti sukses kalo bisa cari uang dari musik, dulu dia bikin demo pake kaset, 1 hari 6 jam selama 40 hari untuk bikin demo yang isinya 5 lagu. Dan berbulan-bulan meres otak untuk bikin album. Berjam-jam, berbulan-bulan bikin demo, berharap ada yg suka, pada demo itu. Penting untuk satu visi dengan teman-teman2 band, saling menghormati, karena proses peleburan ide tidak gampang. Basicnya masing-masing anggota band tanggung jawab sama instrumennya, latihan sebanyak mungkin, bikin lagu yg bagus. Jaga pertemanan, sama-sama punya impian sukses bareng
7. T: Rata2 berapa jam bermain tiap hari?, adakah bagian yg sering diulang?, pernah mengcopy permainan seseorang?
J: Diulang sebanyak mungkin sampai otot2nya terlatih dan otak gak mikir lagi, fokus latihan, dan pada apa yg dikerjakan, jari2 jgn terlalu jauh dari fretboard, main relaks, pakai pola 1-2-3-4, mainkan scales, pentatonik misalnya, dst. Trs dia ga mencopy permainan seorang gitaris, belajar saja, ambil intisari permainan banyak gitaris. Belajar dari banyak orang: Whammy Trick dari Jeff Beck, tapping dari Stanley Jordan, pentatonik dari Jimmy Page, Picking dari Steve Morse, Chords dari Alan Holdsworth,dst..
Demikianlah sekedar catatan penulis tentang Laney Guitar Clinic 2010 – Kiko Loureiro, semoga bermanfaat, sukses selalu untuk semua pihak yang terkait. Acaranya sukses dengan berbagai macam hadiah buat peserta yang hadir, mulai dari pick gitar, foto bareng, tanda tangan, dan merchandise lainnya, salut untuk penyelenggara, semoga sering mengadakan acara-acara semacam ini di masa mendatang.
Catatan Tambahan Penulis: foto dan video hasil dokumentasi saya sendiri yang saya upload di internet sudah saya kurangi kualitasnya karena memang harus disesuaikan dengan berbagai pertimbangan tentunya.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Tips belajar membaca not balok
Tulisan ini menjawab pertanyaan dari beberapa teman di fesbuk, yg menanyakan hal yg sama, btw saya tidak akan menuliskan seluruh teori not balok disini, karena memang banyak :), kalau saya tulis bisa jadi satu buku sendiri :), tetapi akan saya berikan beberapa tips saja untuk lebih mudah memahami simbol/notasi musik standar ini. Untuk teori tentang not balok dapat dibaca disini: http://www.teoria.com/tutorials/reading/index.htm , ketika sudah mulai paham, bisa mencoba beberapa tips yg saya berikan disini, untuk lebih mempercepat pemahaman:
-pelajari ketukan/ritme yg sederhana dulu, misal: tek-tek-tek-tek, tek-tek-tek-diam, tek-tek-diam-diam, dst. Atau ambil suatu lagu, ikuti suara snare drumnya: dalam hati, ucapkan, atau pake pulpen, kaki dst, hingga di otak kyk ada gambaran... langkah ketukan berikutnya dg tepat
-kenali simbol2/tanda2-nya: garis paranada, tanda kunci, birama, diam, harga not, tempo lambat/cepat, durasi not, ulang, natural, aksen, nada dasar dst. Not balok seperti huruf-huruf biasa itu, hanya saja artinya simbol-simbol suara/nada
-sedikit pelajari pembagian karena ada not 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 6/8 dst.
-kenali posisinya pada garis paranada(staff)-- 5 garis nih, misal C major mulai dari garis paling bawah, cara ngingatnya: 1. not yg ada di garis, 2. not yg ada diantara garis. Not yg ada di garis adalah: E-G-B-D-F, sementara not yg diantara garis: F-A-C-E, mudah ngingatnya pake kata2: Every Good Boy Does Fine(utk not yg terletak di garis) dan FACE(utk not yg terletak diantara garis)
-seperti membaca huruf biasa, selain membaca, coba tulis juga, dg menulis akan lebih mudah ingat
-untuk not2 yg terlalu tinggi/rendah diluar garis paranada memang agak sulit, karena kita musti bisa memperkirakan posisinya, ada tambah, kurang atau pembagian saja matematikanya :), atau sedikit hapalan, mudah2an ga rumit2 bgt.. :)
-baca2 buku musik atau materi ttg not balok di internet, pilih yg ada suaranya, sehingga kita benar2 paham, kebanyakan buku tentang not balok cuman tulisan saja, tanpa suara, makanya agak susah dipahami
-tentang tanda kres(#) dan mol(b) mayor, kalo susah hapalin aja :), bila ada tanda yg lebih banyak, balik lagi ke awal:
kres
1#, G = 1
2#, D = 1
3#, A = 1
4#, E = 1
5#, B = 1
6#, F# = 1
mol
1b, F = 1
2b, Bb = 1
3b, Eb = 1
4b, Ab = 1
5b, Db = 1
6b, Gb = 1
-akan lebih susah kalo sudah mulai praktek pake alat musik, karena posisi not tiap alat musik bisa beda ketika dituliskan pada garis paranada, tapi bisa dipelajari, dengan sabar dan tekun :)
-pelajari ketukan/ritme yg sederhana dulu, misal: tek-tek-tek-tek, tek-tek-tek-diam, tek-tek-diam-diam, dst. Atau ambil suatu lagu, ikuti suara snare drumnya: dalam hati, ucapkan, atau pake pulpen, kaki dst, hingga di otak kyk ada gambaran... langkah ketukan berikutnya dg tepat
-kenali simbol2/tanda2-nya: garis paranada, tanda kunci, birama, diam, harga not, tempo lambat/cepat, durasi not, ulang, natural, aksen, nada dasar dst. Not balok seperti huruf-huruf biasa itu, hanya saja artinya simbol-simbol suara/nada
-sedikit pelajari pembagian karena ada not 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 6/8 dst.
-kenali posisinya pada garis paranada(staff)-- 5 garis nih, misal C major mulai dari garis paling bawah, cara ngingatnya: 1. not yg ada di garis, 2. not yg ada diantara garis. Not yg ada di garis adalah: E-G-B-D-F, sementara not yg diantara garis: F-A-C-E, mudah ngingatnya pake kata2: Every Good Boy Does Fine(utk not yg terletak di garis) dan FACE(utk not yg terletak diantara garis)
-seperti membaca huruf biasa, selain membaca, coba tulis juga, dg menulis akan lebih mudah ingat
-untuk not2 yg terlalu tinggi/rendah diluar garis paranada memang agak sulit, karena kita musti bisa memperkirakan posisinya, ada tambah, kurang atau pembagian saja matematikanya :), atau sedikit hapalan, mudah2an ga rumit2 bgt.. :)
-baca2 buku musik atau materi ttg not balok di internet, pilih yg ada suaranya, sehingga kita benar2 paham, kebanyakan buku tentang not balok cuman tulisan saja, tanpa suara, makanya agak susah dipahami
-tentang tanda kres(#) dan mol(b) mayor, kalo susah hapalin aja :), bila ada tanda yg lebih banyak, balik lagi ke awal:
kres
1#, G = 1
2#, D = 1
3#, A = 1
4#, E = 1
5#, B = 1
6#, F# = 1
mol
1b, F = 1
2b, Bb = 1
3b, Eb = 1
4b, Ab = 1
5b, Db = 1
6b, Gb = 1
-akan lebih susah kalo sudah mulai praktek pake alat musik, karena posisi not tiap alat musik bisa beda ketika dituliskan pada garis paranada, tapi bisa dipelajari, dengan sabar dan tekun :)
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Passing Note (not penghubung)
Dalam menerapkan scale untuk soloing, kadang-kadang juga ada nada-nada yang diluar scale, ni yg kadang-kadang jadi hambatan kita juga, untuk menentukan seorang musisi memakai scale/tangga nada apa. Pernah baca/dengar dia pake mixolydian misalnya, waktu dicari ternyata "beda".. :). Nah adalagi konsep yg namanya passing note, passing note ini adalah nada diluar scale yg digunakan sebagai penghubung untuk "berpindah" ke scale atau bahkan chord berikutnya..
Pada skala C mayor diatonis (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C) misalnya, passing notesnya bisa C#, D#, F#, G#, A#
Selain sebagai penghubung, juga untuk dipakai untuk memperindah musik. Ni menurut saya sih, kalau kita sebut sebagai penghubung sepertinya terbatas hanya sebagai "jembatan" saja, lebih enak nyebutnya pakai "outside scale" saja.. :), karena kalau dimainkan memberi kesan "diluar".
Pada skala C mayor diatonis (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C) misalnya, passing notesnya bisa C#, D#, F#, G#, A#
Selain sebagai penghubung, juga untuk dipakai untuk memperindah musik. Ni menurut saya sih, kalau kita sebut sebagai penghubung sepertinya terbatas hanya sebagai "jembatan" saja, lebih enak nyebutnya pakai "outside scale" saja.. :), karena kalau dimainkan memberi kesan "diluar".
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Teknik Economy Picking -- advanced picking
Satu teknik tangan kanan lagi untuk meningkatkan kecepatan bermain gitar adalah Economy Picking
Economy picking: kombinasi antara alternate dan sweep picking
untuk menguasai teknik ini, kita pertama musti tau konsep alternate dan sweep picking
untuk menguasai teknik ini, kita pertama musti tau konsep alternate dan sweep picking
d = downstroke
u = upstroke
u = upstroke
1. alternate picking:
contoh:
d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u
E|------------------------
B|------------------------
G|-------------------0-0-0
D|-------------0-0-0------
A|-------0-0-0------------
E|-0-0-0------------------
2. sweep picking:
contoh:
d d d d d d u u u u u u
e|------------------12--12---------------------|
B|---------------13---------13-----------------|
G|-----------14-----------------14-------------|
D|--------14------------------------14---------|
A|-12-15-------------------------------15-12-|
E|-----------------------------------------------|
3. economy picking:
contoh:
d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d
E|------------------------
B|------------------------
G|-------------------0-0-0
D|-------------0-0-0------
A|-------0-0-0------------
E|-0-0-0------------------
u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u
E|-0-0-0------------------
B|-------0-0-0------------
G|-------------0-0-0------
D|-------------------0-0-0
A|------------------------
E|------------------------
dari contoh itu terlihat kalo economy picking memakai gerakan sweep(sapuan - sweep picking) ke bawah kalo dari senar E(atas-terbesar) sampai E(bawah-terkecil), pada tiap senar memakai alternate(down-up/up-down; alternate picking). dan dibalik keatas kalo dari senar E(terkecil) sampai E(terbesar).
d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d
E|------------------------
B|------------------------
G|-------------------0-0-0
D|-------------0-0-0------
A|-------0-0-0------------
E|-0-0-0------------------
u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u
E|-0-0-0------------------
B|-------0-0-0------------
G|-------------0-0-0------
D|-------------------0-0-0
A|------------------------
E|------------------------
dari contoh itu terlihat kalo economy picking memakai gerakan sweep(sapuan - sweep picking) ke bawah kalo dari senar E(atas-terbesar) sampai E(bawah-terkecil), pada tiap senar memakai alternate(down-up/up-down; alternate picking). dan dibalik keatas kalo dari senar E(terkecil) sampai E(terbesar).
Latihan dengan pola 3 notes per string sangat cocok untuk melatih kecepatan picking, masalahnya sekarang: gimana kalo notnya lebih dari 3 tiap senar??
untuk latihan dengan not yg lebih dari 3 bisa ditambah hammer on / pull off
contoh:
d u d H d u d H d u d H d u d H d u d H d u d H
d u d H d u d H d u d H d u d H d u d H d u d H
E|------------------------
B|------------------------
G|------------------------
G|------------------------
D|-----------------5-6-5-6
A|---------5-6-5-6--------
A|---------5-6-5-6--------
E|-5-6-5-6----------------
d u d P d u d P d u d P d u d P d u d P d u d P
d u d P d u d P d u d P d u d P d u d P d u d P
E|------------------------
B|------------------------
G|------------------------
D|-----------------6-5-6-5
A|---------6-5-6-5--------
E|-6-5-6-5----------------
Ga mesti pake pola arpeggio seperti contoh itu.., bisa pake pola2 lain, cuman arah pickingnya seperti itu. Latihan dengan pelan-pelan dulu, baru kecepatannya naik. Economy picking ini masuk teknik tangan kanan(right hand techniques) berguna untuk meningkatkan kecepatan, lebih cepat daripada alternate(masih ada perdebatan masalah ini) cuman musti kita buktikan saja mana yang terbaik bagi kita.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Guitar Workshop / Guitar Clinic Herman Li di Jogja
Guitar Workshop / Guitar Clinic: pada dasarnya adalah pertemuan informal dengan seorang musisi(gitaris), audiens bertanya gaya dan teknik dan juga cara untuk meningkatkan kemampuan mereka sendiri, musisi bisa menjalankan seluruh bagian, atau menunjukkan teknik-teknik tertentu. Pada 20 juli 2010 kemarin saya mengikuti Ibanez Guitar Clinic 2010 by Herman Li yg bertempat di Yogyakarta.
Ada sekitar 1500an audiens yg hadir pada acara ini. Herman Li membawakan beberapa lagu dan juga ada sesi tanya jawab yg merupakan bagian terpenting dari suatu acara guitar workshop. Sebagai penerjemah adalah Balawan yg juga gitaris ngetop di tanah air.
Herman Li(http://www.hermanli.com/) sendiri adalah gitaris grup metal Dragon Force yg terkenal dengan teknik Sweep Picking, Tapping(two handed), penggunaan Whammy Bar yg "gila-gilaan" dan yang khas, dia menggunakan semacam cincin yg berfungsi sebagai effect processor pada tangan kanannya, bermain gitar sejak usia 16 tahun, memasukkan efek-efek suara video game pada permainan gitarnya.
Herman Li memakai gitar Ibanez EGEN18 TVF(Herman Li signature model), efek gitarnya pake rocktron, laptop mac(software-software kurang bisa saya lihat jelas), midi controller, mixer, amps, dan tidak semua efek gitarnya dia bawa.. itupun kemarin sudah cukup "menggetarkan" acara, hehe...
Banyak hal yang ditanyakan pada acara kemarin, saya sendiri sempat bertanya tentang gitaris yg berpengaruh pada gaya permainannya, sempat disebut nama Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Eric Johnson dan yg terpenting dia belajar dari banyak gitaris/musisi juga. Saya juga bertanya tentang teknik sweep picking dan legato yang dijawab langsung dengan demo dan mendapat applause yg cukup meriah. Untuk melatih sweep picking dimulai dengan pelan dulu, kemudian temponya berkembang, semakin cepat atau bervariasi.
Herman sempat diminta Balawan untuk bawain lick gitaris lain, tapi dia bilang ga mau alasannya Dragon Force dan dia sendiri ga begitu suka cover lagu orang lain karena menurutnya tiap lagu punya soulnya sendiri-sendiri. Trs mslh headbang dia jg ga begitu suka melakukannya krn menjaga kontak mata dg audiens, jg utk kontrol permainan. Suka dengerin lagu "lembut" jg, biar ga pusing dengerin metal terus, hehe.., sempat nyebut eric johnson(http://www.ericjohnson.com/), dan guthrie govan(http://www.guthriegovan.co.uk/) juga yg didengarnya.
Herman sempat diminta Balawan untuk bawain lick gitaris lain, tapi dia bilang ga mau alasannya Dragon Force dan dia sendiri ga begitu suka cover lagu orang lain karena menurutnya tiap lagu punya soulnya sendiri-sendiri. Trs mslh headbang dia jg ga begitu suka melakukannya krn menjaga kontak mata dg audiens, jg utk kontrol permainan. Suka dengerin lagu "lembut" jg, biar ga pusing dengerin metal terus, hehe.., sempat nyebut eric johnson(http://www.ericjohnson.com/), dan guthrie govan(http://www.guthriegovan.co.uk/) juga yg didengarnya.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
10 scales Allan Holdsworth
Bagi yang belajar fusion Jazz/Progressive Rock tentu sudah tidak asing lagi dengan Allan Holdsworth, panutan sebagian besar gitaris dunia. Ini adalah 10 scale yg menurut Allan paling sering dipakai dan berguna. Saya tidak akan sok tahu untuk membahas ini satu persatu, masih sulit bagi saya untuk menerangkan scale-scale ini. Tergantung penangkapan masing-masing saja :), semoga berguna...
Daftar Pustaka/Notes/Additional Reference:
1992: REH Instructional: Allan Holdsworth (guitar instructional, reissued on dvd format in 2007)
1992: REH Instructional: Allan Holdsworth (guitar instructional, reissued on dvd format in 2007)
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Bermusik dari hati atau dari teori???
Ada orang mengatakan: "bermusiklah dari hati", sementara ada yg berbasis teori dengan segudang teori tentang scales misalnya...
Pernyataan "bermusiklah dari hati" sebenarnya mengandung pengertian totalitas dalam bermusik yakni ungkapan jiwa yg tertuang dalam nada, sementara yg berbasis teori cenderung mengumpulkan banyak teori untuk memanipulasi nada..:). Btw kalau saya sendiri sih: baik yg bermusik dari hati atau dari kelompok teoritis, asal enak didengar, sesuai dengan selera saya, ya itulah yg saya dengar, atau saya mainkan.
Catatan-catatan saya tentang scales pada dasarnya untuk melengkapi dasar-dasar teori tentang musik saja. Bagi saya sendiri scales ibarat alat untuk menghasilkan musik.
Baik dari hati atau teori sendiri, kecerdasan otak kita berperan besar untuk menerima atau menghasilkan musik.
Pernyataan "bermusiklah dari hati" sebenarnya mengandung pengertian totalitas dalam bermusik yakni ungkapan jiwa yg tertuang dalam nada, sementara yg berbasis teori cenderung mengumpulkan banyak teori untuk memanipulasi nada..:). Btw kalau saya sendiri sih: baik yg bermusik dari hati atau dari kelompok teoritis, asal enak didengar, sesuai dengan selera saya, ya itulah yg saya dengar, atau saya mainkan.
Catatan-catatan saya tentang scales pada dasarnya untuk melengkapi dasar-dasar teori tentang musik saja. Bagi saya sendiri scales ibarat alat untuk menghasilkan musik.
Baik dari hati atau teori sendiri, kecerdasan otak kita berperan besar untuk menerima atau menghasilkan musik.
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Memuaskan acara kemarin, salut kepada penyelenggara. Selain undangan gratis, saya juga dapat tanda tangan, poster, dan juga buku list product Ibanez yg meliputi gitar, bass, ampli dan efek gitar. Hal-hal seperti inilah yg perlu diperbanyak di tanah air kita untuk semakin memacu kreatifitas kita semua.