Alternate Picking Hysteria
Alternate picking is an important technique to improve speed and accuracy in playing. And I’m really inconsistent about it. Problem is, the usual “finger gym” exercises are just so boring to play!
So my suggestion is to find a great song that’s fun to play, figure it out (write it down if you can), and use it as your exercise. Start slow, then try to get it up to speed.
Lately, I’m playing Hysteria by Muse. Excellent song! The intro bass part is great to play on guitar (see my transcription at right), and of course the guitar solo is a great finger gym exercise too. Alternate picking throughout.
Justin Sandercoe also has a great online lesson for Hysteria. Check it out.
Tone Cap Polarity Revisited
I’ve been asked a number of times whether the polarity makes any difference when connecting the common guitar tone cap, and I always answer No.
Electrolytic caps are polarized, and can fail or explode if you connect them up backwards. But we don’t use electrolytics for guitar tone – the caps we typically use (polyester film, paper-in-oil, etc) have no significant polarity.
Now, film and foil caps (like Orange Drops and Mallorys) do have an outside foil-wrapping which is used for shielding and is connected on one of the leads of the cap. Ceramic and silver mica caps aren’t built with an outside foil wrap.
Apparently, according to this article by Dirk Wacker in the new issue of Premier Guitar, it may actually make some difference to the sound which way you connect the outside foil of a cap.
I haven’t noticed it myself, but it obviously depends on the guitar, pickups, amp, wire, capacitors, and the ears 🙂
Caps aren’t typically marked for which is the outside foil end- and I don’t know of any way to tell which is which. So, in short, try your tone cap both ways and if you hear that one way sounds better than other, then go for it. If you don’t hear a difference, don’t worry about it!
Another Tone Cap Shootout
There are a variety of expensive “boutique” guitar tone capacitors out there, which I haven’t tried and didn’t include in my tone cap comparison project.
I just came across this audio comparison by “Kernel of Wisdom” which examines a bunch of the more expensive tone caps including a vintage bumblebee, modern bumblebee, Jensen Paper-In-Oil, Vitamin Q, and Luxe Grey Tiger.
Have a look and a listen!
Slow Down!
When learning a new song, it’s really helpful to be able to play along with the original track, and slow it down while preserving the original pitch.
Without special processing, if you just slow down audio playback, it’ll get lower in pitch (remember slowing down a spinning record and hearing it get low and slow?). And if you speed it up, it’ll raise the pitch (chipmunks!)
I use the tape deck in Native Instruments Guitar Rig, which is great. It lets you slow down the audio, independently change the pitch if you want, set loop points, and speed up/slow down the track.
Being able to control the pitch independently of speed is great for playing songs that are not tuned to standard A440, without having to retune your guitar. Some examples I like to play are Weezer’s Say It Ain’t So (which is tuned down a half step), and Police Every Breath You Take (which is tuned down about 70 cents).
Of course Guitar Rig models an entire rack of gear and effects, along with a nice looper, so it’s a pretty amazing tool for playing and learning.
I also found (but haven’t tried) some simpler standalone slow-downer tools like:
Guitar & Drum Trainer
The Amazing Slow Downer For Windows
Free online Shockwave app Slow Notes (which looks promising but didn’t work for me).
Update: my favorite tool is now the Amazing Slow Downer app in iPhone / iPad.
Korg Tuner Giveaways
As part of their 25th anniversary celebration in 2010, Korg USA is giving away a free tuner every Monday through Dec 27, 2010.
Click here to enter to win (no purchase necessary).
Full disclosure: I work for Korg R&D – so I’m not eligible to win one 🙂