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CREATIVE ELECTRIC GUITAR TECHNIQUES

- Joe Venable, Dave Campbell, Aaron Baird I. Realize the integral importance of heart attitudes in effectively serving your team A. In general, wrong heart attitudes are a much greater hindrance to effective service as a worship team electric guitarist than lack of technical virtuosity. Questions (not exhaustive--just a few to get you thinking...) 1. What is my motivation for growing as an electric guitarist--is it to direct more attention to myself, or to enable me to more effectively serve my team? Am I playing to impress others, or to please God? Is my playing a distraction from the worship of God, or an invitation to it?

B.

2. 3.

II.

Understand something of the various roles that the electric guitar can effectively play in a worship context: A. Silent Role: (Ex. How Firm a Foundation on PDIs Everlasting has an electric guitar tacet until the last verse.) Complementary Role: The electric guitar has a marvelous potential, with its wide array of available sounds, to add color, nuances, spice, extra punch, or rhythmic diversity within this supportive role. Care must be exercised to avoid unnecessarily duplicating other instruments parts (either tonally or rhythmically) or muddying up the overall sound by overplaying or playing something inappropriate to the style or arrangement. (Ex. I Love the Cross on PDIs Everlasting, the electric guitar provides extra punch during the choruses and instrumental bridge.) Integral Role: primary in the arrangement, providing a strong rhythmic hook or a repeated recognizable melodic theme. (Ex. King of Grace from PDIs CD by the same name) Substitute Role: with the advent of MIDI, synthesis, and the improvement of guitar MIDI controllers, the possibility exists of the guitar actually substituting for other instruments that may be lacking in the ensemble for one reason or another. (Ex. Who Else? by Jeff Beck.)
Creative Electric Guitar Techniques Joe Venable, Dave Campbell, Aaron Baird PDI Worship Conference - A Passion for the Glory of God 2000 Copyright 2000 PDI Ministries 7881 Beechcraft Ave., Suite B, Gaithersburg, MD 20879

B.

C.

D.

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Creative Electric Guitar Techniques Joe Venable, Dave Campbell, Aaron Baird PDI Worship Conference - A Passion for the Glory of God 2000 Copyright 2000 PDI Ministries 7881 Beechcraft Ave., Suite B, Gaithersburg, MD 20879

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III.

Grow in your effectiveness as an electric guitarist: A. As a part of the worship team 1. Before rehearsal (personal preparation) a. b. Establish and maintain a regular personal practice time to rehearse and add to your worship teams song repertoire. Learn guitar parts from the CD. This improves ear training, and stimulates growth in creativity and technique. If you are unable to figure out parts by ear, get help from a more experienced guitarist. Expand upon the CD arrangement: spend time thinking creatively about songs in your teams repertoire. Experiment, but remember to seek feedback from your leader and team members. The eyes have it: two helps to facilitate your alertness and sensitivity to your worship leader 1) 2) Memorizing songs. This will enable you to follow the worship leader more closely. Look ma, no eyes! Train yourself to play by feel and not by sight.

c.

d.

e. f.

Seek out musicians who have strengths where youre weak. Try to find some time to jam with other members of your worship team outside of a structured rehearsal setting.

2.

During rehearsal a. b. c. Seek to serve the leader of the rehearsal by listening closely, responding cheerfully, and refraining from noodling. Actively listen to what the other instruments are playing and endeavor to complement them both tonally and rhythmically. Work out who fills when, who solos, when to lay out, etc.

B.

Personal Growth 1. Listen, listen, listen! Expose your ears to a variety of styles with quality (guitar and/or overall) musicianship to enhance your own abilities. (See recommended discography section below. It includes both worship CDs and instrumental recordings by non-Christian artists. While this demonstrates the principle of common grace, if youre a student at home, please make sure you run all planned CD purchases by your parents.)
Creative Electric Guitar Techniques Joe Venable, Dave Campbell, Aaron Baird PDI Worship Conference - A Passion for the Glory of God 2000 Copyright 2000 PDI Ministries 7881 Beechcraft Ave., Suite B, Gaithersburg, MD 20879

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2.

Consider private lessons. Due to our inherent sinful tendency towards laziness, were likely to grow more quickly when we are being pushed externally and held accountable for assignments.

C.

Harmonically 1. Improve your knowledge and application of harmony in general and guitar chord patterns in particular a. The greater your knowledge of these elements, the more creative tools you have available as vehicles of harmonic expression. Buy the highly recommended Fretboard Logic series listed under point IV. below. Another self-study technique is listening and copying harmonically rich music (whether guitar or otherwise) Find a mentor.

b. c. d. 2.

Techniques and examples a. b. c. d. Open chords: King of Grace intro/chorus Bar Chords: For Your Glory Alone (entire) Power chords: Join All the Glorious Names" chorus Simplified chording on three or four strings 1) 2) e. Im Calling Out verse Your Name is Holy verse/bridge

Voicings with open strings for continuity and dissonance 1) 2) 3) 4) Let Everything that has Breath Everlasting Breathe For the Cross chorus

f.

Repeated patterns over chord sequences 1) 2) Im Calling Out intro/chorus Shout to the Lord chorus

g.

Inversions 1) 2) Great is Your Faithfulness verse I Bow Down chorus

Creative Electric Guitar Techniques Joe Venable, Dave Campbell, Aaron Baird PDI Worship Conference - A Passion for the Glory of God 2000 Copyright 2000 PDI Ministries 7881 Beechcraft Ave., Suite B, Gaithersburg, MD 20879

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h.

Chord Substitutions: adding and altering higher degrees can add harmonic color and richness. Heres a few ideas for experimentation (there are many others!): 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Major>>add 2, 4, 6, maj 7, maj 9, maj 6/9 Minor>>min 7, add 2, 4, min 9 Diminished>>dim 7, min 7b5 Augmented>>aug 7, aug 13, (Dominant) 7ths>>9ths, 13ths, sometimes aug, aug 7, +/- 9ths, flat 5ths, etc.

D.

Melodically 1. The scope of melodic playing encompasses a. Entire melodies or melodic fragments 1) 2) b. Let Your Joy Come Down interlude A Debtor to Mercy interlude

Single-note (melodic) accompaniment styles 1) 2) You are Faithful chorus Lord Most High chorus

c.

Improvisation (although improvisation is not restricted to a melodic approach--it can be chordal, rhythmic, even percussive--melody is certainly an important component)

2.

Grow in your knowledge and application of phrasing a. Phrasing is playing melodic lines in coherent musical statements (phrases), separated by silences. (Think of song melodies with breathing spaces.) Playing continuously, even with technical brilliance, communicates little to the listener. A good sense of phrasing helps even limited knowledge and technique go a long way. Practice taking an actual melody and use it as a basis for improvisation.

b.

c.

Creative Electric Guitar Techniques Joe Venable, Dave Campbell, Aaron Baird PDI Worship Conference - A Passion for the Glory of God 2000 Copyright 2000 PDI Ministries 7881 Beechcraft Ave., Suite B, Gaithersburg, MD 20879

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3.

Techniques and examples a. Scale Resources 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) b. c. d. Pentatonic: My First Love Diatonic/Modal: My First Love Whole-tone Diminished Synthetic Chromatic

Arpeggios (1, 2, and 3 octaves, across and/or along the neck) Diatonic triads along the neck Double-stops 1) 2) 3) 4) Octaves: Let Everything that has Breath worship break Thirds/Tenths: early Rock n Roll a la Chuck Berry Sixths and/or inversions along the neck Playing a melodic idea on one string against an adjacent open string--Your Love is Higher intro/interludes, Your Name is Holy intro/chorus

e. f.

Natural and False Harmonics Expressive Techniques 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) Vibrato Slurring Bending Hammer-ons Pull-offs Tapping--You are Faithful intro, Lord Most High verse Whammy bar

E.

Rhythmically 1. Accuracy: a. b. c. Tempo. Temptation is to speed up during fast passages. Try practicing with a metronome. When mirroring another part rhythmically. Kicks, accents, etc. Can add much to a tight sound when not done sloppily.

2.

Diversity: from verse to chorus, or verse to verse. Use rhythmically different strum and/or picking patterns when accompanying. In
Creative Electric Guitar Techniques Joe Venable, Dave Campbell, Aaron Baird PDI Worship Conference - A Passion for the Glory of God 2000 Copyright 2000 PDI Ministries 7881 Beechcraft Ave., Suite B, Gaithersburg, MD 20879

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3.

melodic and/or improvisational playing, rhythmic variation produces both effective phrasing and musical variety. Downbeat vs. upbeat rhythmic feels: in a 4-beat meter, for example, pop and rock arrangements typically have a downbeat feel (emphasize beats 1 and 3), whereas gospel and reggae styles are usually more upbeat in their approach (emphasize beats 2 and 4).

F.

In your picking and strumming techniques 1. Picking techniques: a. b. c. The rest stroke, the simplest and most effective for most single-note lines Sweep picking for arpeggiated chord treatments Alternate picking 1) 2) d. Single-note, for greater speed Imitating finger-picking styles with a flat pick

Palm muting 1) 2) For a muted sound To deaden adjacent strings when bending or pulling notes on the fretboard

e. f. g. h. 2.

Trills using the side of the pick Scraping sounds Plucking with other fingers on the picking hand Chops: building speed the slow and steady way

Strumming techniques a. b. c. Downstrokes Upstrokes Combinations

Creative Electric Guitar Techniques Joe Venable, Dave Campbell, Aaron Baird PDI Worship Conference - A Passion for the Glory of God 2000 Copyright 2000 PDI Ministries 7881 Beechcraft Ave., Suite B, Gaithersburg, MD 20879

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G.

Tonally 1. Instruments, amplification, and effects a. Instruments generally fall into two categories, dependent upon the pickup styles, i.e., single or double coil 1) 2) Single coil produces a thinner/brighter clean sound and a more brittle and edgy dirty or distorted sound. Double coil produces a generally warmer clean sound and a more sustained and smoother dirty or distorted sound. Since the differences can be very subjective, having the ability to change from single coil to double coil with split coils if possible, gives you the best of both worlds.

3)

b.

Amplification methods vary from going direct to miking an amplifier. 1) 2) Direct sounds lack color and warmth, but produce low stage volume. When going direct, consider a tube preamp of some kind to color the sound. They often come with two or three channels for different clean/crunch settings and are reasonably priced. When using an amplifier, consider using a smaller amp with maybe 1 10 or 12 speaker. This gives less overall stage volume without sacrificing a full sound. A dynamic microphone (Shure SM57 or SM58) a little offcenter from the cone of the speaker and about 6 to 8 inches away works well. Set the volume at 2 or 3 on the dial. You may want to try an amp simulator, i.e., the POD or SansAmp, etc. Some of these devices are very practical in that they can have an abundance of very genuine sounds. Some also have built in effects.

3)

4)

c.

Effects pedals, boxes, units, etc. 1) Effects are used to color the sound of your instrument. The following effects are listed in the order in which they generally should be used:

Creative Electric Guitar Techniques Joe Venable, Dave Campbell, Aaron Baird PDI Worship Conference - A Passion for the Glory of God 2000 Copyright 2000 PDI Ministries 7881 Beechcraft Ave., Suite B, Gaithersburg, MD 20879

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a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

Compression Captures the sound and releases it more consistently than if played straight through. Often removes some of the attack and adds some sustain. Most compressors have level, sustain and attack settings. Chorus and Flanger These types of effects fall into the enhanced category. They generally add some type of additional voicing to the sound and some sweeping of frequencies. They generally have level, feedback, depth, and rate parameters. Tremolo This is primarily a volume modulation type of effect. Speed and mix are the primary controls. Some advanced controls can include wave type and different interval widths. Can be accomplished in a limited way with a volume pedal. Delay Often referred to as echo. Includes level (amount of affected sound mixed with dry sound), delay time (time distance between repeated sound), and feedback (how many times it repeats) parameters. Reverb Room simulation is another name for reverb. Most reverbs fall into categories of rooms, halls, and plates. The standard parameters are reverb time and level or mix.

2)

Manual techniques and/or devices: a) b) c) d) Swells Created by using a volume pedal. EBow (electronic bow) Used to simulate a violin bow. Very useful. Bottleneck or slide guitar. Wah Its back in style again

H.

Playing in tune: Do whatever it takes to stay in tune. Options include regularly changing your strings, getting your instrument set up by a professional, buying a better instrument, etc. An electronic tuner with a bypass function is a practical necessity when playing in any live situation.

Creative Electric Guitar Techniques Joe Venable, Dave Campbell, Aaron Baird PDI Worship Conference - A Passion for the Glory of God 2000 Copyright 2000 PDI Ministries 7881 Beechcraft Ave., Suite B, Gaithersburg, MD 20879

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IV.

Recommended Discography A. B. C. D. E. Lift a Shout, Everlasting, and King of Grace, PDI Music Worship Together Live Volume 1: King of Love, Worship Together, Stoneleigh Band The Heart of Worship and The Friendship and the Fear, Matt Redman Cutting Edge, Delirious? I Just Want to Thank You, Vineyard Musics Touching the Fathers Heart series (in fact, most of the Vineyard CDs model excellent electric guitar playing) Hungry: Falling on my Knees, Vineyard Songs UK Guitarland, Tim Pierce, www.prarecords.com Who Else?, Jeff Beck Stressfest, Steve Morse Band Black Diamond, The Rippingtons

F. G. H. I. J. V. Books A.

Fretboard Logic I, II, and III: Chords, scales, techniques, and a wealth of useful guitaristic and general musical information for the serious guitarist. Available from Bill Edwards Music Publishing, 305 St. Augustine Avenue, FL 33617-7229, 813-985-2689 or via the net at www.billedwards.com. Berklee Series: A Modern Method for Guitar, Vols. 1, 2, and 3: Another outstanding reference set for building sight-reading skills, chords, scales, arpeggios, left and right-hand exercises, chord substitutions, improvisation, etc. Very systematic, jazz-oriented treatment of a great number of useful topics. Warning: with the exception of the chord material, these books follow a traditional sight-reading approach in their exercises and overall presentation. Available from stock or by order from most music stores. Guitar presents 87 Superstar Guitar Sounds on a Stompbox Budget: basic primer on electric guitar effects; explains how each type of effect affects the overall sound and gives tips on placement in the signal chain. Takes 87 famous guitar solo pieces by a variety of big-name artists and shows how to use less-expensive and readily-available stomp boxes to emulate these classic tones. Could probably be profitably used by multi-FX users as well. Available from stock or by order from most music storesI got a copy from Musicians Friend mail order. Again, if youre a student, make sure you talk this purchase over with your parents.
Creative Electric Guitar Techniques Joe Venable, Dave Campbell, Aaron Baird PDI Worship Conference - A Passion for the Glory of God 2000 Copyright 2000 PDI Ministries 7881 Beechcraft Ave., Suite B, Gaithersburg, MD 20879

B.

C.

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