In this three part lesson, Michael Angelo Batio takes us through how to harmonize the A harmonic minor scale, applying the Phrygian and Aolean Modes, and some thoughts on his approach to writing songs.
MICHAEL ANGELO BATIO: Harmonizing the A harmonic scale
One aspect of guitar playing that can make the difference between a mediocre sound and an incredible sound is the issue of sustain. There is nothing more frustrating than to hear another guitarist get these notes that seem to ring out for ever maintaining a lot of body, only to learn that your own rig produces notes that die off after just a few short seconds. It is at about this point that a lot of guys run out to their local guitar shop looking for a sustainer pedal or other device, only to find out that the improvements to the duration that notes ring out are minimal at best through the use of many conventional products on the market.
So, how does one solve this problem with sustain? After a bit of analysis of the problem, a lot of guitarists learn that a guitar with a through neck design, rather than a bolt on neck, can significantly improve the duration of sustain. But, still the improvements don’t seem to get the overall sound where it needs to be–especially when it comes to getting the note to fade out into a nice hollow sounding harmonic. It is at about this point when you are left wondering if you have to have a team of guitar techs to really reach those longer duration sustained notes.
Something you should stop to realize is that the idea behind getting longer sustain is a simple matter of physics. As long as the guitar string vibrates, the note will continue to sustain. And that was the insight behind a little device called an Ebow. As you hold the Ebow over a string, it would continue to vibrate the string by way of electromagnetic influences on the string. And though the Ebow made it possible to dramatically increase the sustain of a note, the fact that it was a hand held device makes the Ebow a little impractical to use. What was needed was a hands free device that could give you lots of sustain. That device is known as a sustainiac and you’re going to love what it is able to do to help your sound. The following two videos demonstrate the sustainiac in action.
JACKSON DK2S WITH SUSTAINIAC DEMO
FERNANDES SUSTAINER DEMO
Of course, if you are a real gear head, you can always modify your own electric guitar to incorporate a sustainiac system. It’s not something I would do myself, because I am a klutz with tools and electronics. But, for those of you who are more mechanically and electronically inclined, it might prove to be a rewarding DYI project to modify an old electric guitar in your arsenal in order to have the luxury of a sustainiac system on board.
Did you buy a guitar with a Floyd Rose tremolo only to find yourself cursing into the wind when it came time to change your strings? Okay, don’t panic! Owning a guitar with a real tremolo system can take a little getting used to. And because I get a lot of questions on how to set up a Floyd, I did some searching to find a decent video to help you understand more clearly how to approach this problem.
FLOYD ROSE TREMOLO SET UP
So, if you were worried about buying a guitar with a Floyd Rose trem system, because you thought it was going to be a lot of hastle to set up, you were right! But, despite the extra time and effort it takes to set up a professional trem system, it is important to be able to be aware of how gadgets like this work, if you plan to move forward with your playing. The first few times you set one of these trems up, it will seem like a bear. But, I assure you, once you’ve done it a number of times, it becomes lots easier.
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Eventually, the bug is going to bite and you are going to want to enhance your guitar sound with pitch shifting and harmonizer effects. Of course, if you are a normal human being, you won’t likely be able to afford an Eventide Harmonizer. But, even if you don’t have a ton to spend on effects, you can still get your hands on a decent pedal or rack that can give you pitch shifting and harmonizer capabilities for a reasonable price. What is a harmonizer?
Okay, now that you know what a harmonizer is, let’s check out one that I think sounds a bit smoother than the last one we heard.
BOSS GT10 HARMONIZER DEMOS
Here are a couple more demos of the Boss GT10 unit in action.
Another Boss product that you can use to do harmonizer type of effects is the Harmonist pedal.
BOSS HARMONIST PEDAL
DigiTech has also released a number of harmonizers over the years, and this next product might be just what the doctor ordered to help your rig out.
DIGITECH HARMONY MAN
This next video demonstrates how to use pitch shifting with other effects to produce some interesting sounds.
PITCH SHIFTING WITH DELAY AND VOLUME SWELL EFFECTS
I hope this little demonstration about harmonizers and pitch shifters has been helpful. This is one of those types of effects that can dramatically change your overall sound if used properly. Also, be sure to check out many different types of harmonizers and pitch shifters before purchasing one. Although technology in this area has improved dramatically, the truth is that a lot of harmonizers on the market are simply not very good. So, you really have to watch what you get.
In this lesson, we will be covering a few ideas in the area of slide guitar. To start us off, Keni Lee Burgess gives us a brief history behind Resonator type guitars and what to look out for when purchasing one.
KENI LEE BURGESS: Resonator Guitars & bottleneck slides
Next, Keni offers up some helpful tips to those who are interested in getting into slide playing.
KENI LEE BURGESS: Tips to get you started
Now that we know what we are dealing with, Keni takes us through the paces by teaching us how to play an actual song using a slide.
KENI LEE BURGESS: Lesson on how to play bottleneck slide
Finally, we have an example from Sonny Landreth involving playing electric slide with other effects that I felt would be a nice addition to this lesson.
SONNY LANDRETH: Slide Lesson & Plays Next To Kindred Spirit
The nice thing about learning to play slide is that it gives you a perfect excuse to mess around in alternate tunings. This is generally due to the fact that a lot of songs played using a slide are composed in open chord tunings, which differ from the A440 standard tuning. Playing in these tunings forces you to pay attention to your theory in order to really learn your way around the neck again. And slide guitar is another way to introduce a little variety into your playing from time to time.
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Choosing the right distortion pedal for your rig can make the difference between a mediocre and an absolutely fabulous playing experience. But, with hundreds of distortion pedals out on the market, where do you begin? If you are into older rock, a classic distortion pedal to check out is the Electro Harmonix Big Muff pedal.
THE ELECTRO-HARMONIX BIG MUFF
Though I love EH pedals, I was not as impressed with the Big Muff as I had imagined I would be. But, if you just want a basic pedal to get you started in working on defining your distorted sound, the Big Muff is not a bad pedal to start out with.
If you just need a decent distortion pedal that gives you a lot of flexibility, the Boss MT2 Metal Zone might be right up your alley.
THE BOSS MT2 METAL ZONE
You really can dial in a lot of different distortion sounds with this pedal. I sometimes use an MT2 through a Lexicon PCM-81 effects rack to get an almost violin sound. Which is kind of ironic, because the cost of the MT2 is around $90 and the cost of a Lexicon PCM-81 is close to $2000 new. So, sometimes the best sounds come from mixing cheap and expensive gear together. You never know what is going to give you precisely what you need.
Now, if you are really into the sound of players like Joe Satriani, you can begin to approach his signature sound with the new Vox Saturator pedal.
THE VOX SATURATOR
Though I think the Saturator pedal is likely going to find its way into my pedal chain in the near future, the Ibanez Jemini distortion pedal seems to give more of the control I’m personally looking for in my own playing.
THE IBANEZ JAMINI
Of course, you should really go out and check out a lot of different distortion pedals before deciding which one belongs in your rig. When trying out distortion pedals in the music store, I recommend running a distortion pedal through an Equalizer Pedal as well as a decent sounding reverb pedal. Often, pedal demos online tend to present a pedals raw sound, but in reality, that sort of demo is really pretty useless. Knowing how a pedal is going to work along with other effects is typically a far better way to gage its performance and whether or not it is right for your rig. So, don’t be shy and make those sales reps down at the music store really work their butts off to prove to you that they have helped you to find the right distortion pedal for the job.
Neoclassical rock guitar virtuoso, Corey Bray, is a featured artist on the Roadie Rage network. www.roadierage.com
