Guitar Techniques
< As important as it is to have a good song to play in the first place, proper use of guitar technique just adds an entirely new layer to a guitarists playing. You can play all the correct notes at the correct time, but that can sound pretty bland. Guitar playing is as much about variety as it is skill, and its important to get a feel for how certain notes can be played in the context of your song, even if its not by the book. Most of these types of techniques get labeled as “lead guitar techniques,” but the truth is that every guitarist should have these as part of their repertoire. There isn’t one technique mentioned here that can’t be found in a rhythm part in a number of different songs. Even if you only play rhythm guitar for a band, it is still important to have a firm grasp of how to use these techniques. Click here for our Ben Edwards - Jamorama Review Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs Pull-offs and Hammer-ons are basically the same tchnique. If you want to play two or more notes on the same string, rather than fretting and picking each one individually, the guitarist literally sounds each note with their fretting hand and skips picking the note each time. If the note is higher up the string, then the guitarist hammers-on the new note by fretting it with enough force to sound the new note. If the second note is further down the string then you perform a pull-off. To perform a pull-off you must use your fretting hand to to actually pluck the string, pulling you finger away to sound the note. These are very useful for rapid sequences of notes that are close together. Click here for our Review of Jamorama Bending Bending literally involves pushing a ringing string along a fret to change the pitch. Doing this changes the tension on the string, and allows a smooth transition from one note to the other. Instead of fretting the notes, the guitarist moves through the microtones of the transition and can be very effective in slower bends. You can also unbend a string back to the original note for the opposite effect. This is very popular technique with a lot of lead and rhythm riffs making use of it. This can be a tricky a technique to pick up because there is an audible component to it. You do need to be able to hear when the string has reached the pitch you want when bending. If you don’t hit it exactly, then the note will either sound flat or sharp depending on if you under or over bend the string. This can be a more frustrating technique to first learn, but it really makes a huge difference in your playing, and you will be very glad for the effort you put into it once you actually learn to bend the string properly.
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