THE QUIET ROOM SAM BELL - ACOUSTIC 101 PART 1http://www.guitarinteractivemagazine.com^139
the next few issues I’m going to be taking a look at Rhythm Gui-
tar from an Acoustic perspective. I’ve made my living as an Electric
Guitarist, however there have been times that I have been hired to play
Acoustic. There’s a lot to learn from playing Acoustic Guitar as an Electric
Guitarist. Just because it has 6 strings and looks similar doesn’t mean it’s the
same instrument! Over the next handful of columns I am going to be going
through the basics of approaching Acoustic guitar, these lessons can be trans-
lated directly to the Electric Guitar as well. The Acoustic Guitar is of course
an Acoustic Instrument, there are lots of subtle ways of playing the Acoustic
Guitar that change the overall sound. Keeping these lessons in mind when
playing electric, we can expand our tonal capabilities on our stringed instru-
ments!
In this first part I want to discuss Pick Hand Control. Like we’ve discovered
on the Electric Guitar in this Rhythm Column, there’s a lot we can do with
our picking that can affect the Tone, Dynamic, Texture and Rhythm of any
given Guitar Part.
Pick Type:
First of, the Pick you use really affects how the Acoustic Guitar Sounds. For
most Strumming and single note playing, a thinner pick is often the go to
solution. With a thinner pick, the edge glides past the strings much more
smoothly. The thinness of the pick will also bring out an upper mid range to
the attack of the string. Thicker picks give more of a rounded sound, howev-
er they can get caught up a lot easier and can be scratchier sounding overall.
»
SAM BELL -
ACOUSTIC 101:
PART 1
Welcome to the very first instalment of Sam Bell’s
new column exclusively for the Acoustic Guitar:
Acoustic 101IN