d u c t i o n …

An Intro

to the
E lectric
Guita
r
 Who Are We?

Kenny
Ben

Guitarists
, FCBC Y
outh serv
ice @ Sin
gapore E
xpo

Gig s , ja m m in g s e s s io n s ,
h o p s , c o m p e ti ti o n s e tc .
works
 SYF Competition, Guitar
Kenny Ensemble

Music Background
• Grade 8 piano, O lev music, guitar ensemble
• Guitar since 15, self-taught

Experience
• Church guitarist, one of two band i/cs in
Youth Band since Nov 2005
• Played two gigs with “Resolve”
Youth Band, FCBC
• Won two competitions with “L’pos”
• Conducted/conducting other music
workshops

Gigs with Resolved

L’pos
 Benster Benster & Glenn Ong at 98.7FM gig

Music Background:
Formal music training: grade 2 piano & 4 years of playing
Euphonium in ACS (Barker) Concert Band.
Guitar: self-taught by playing along to my favourite cd’s &
reading tabs.
Experience:
Church guitarist since 1996. Currently Asst. Band Coordinator
of FCBC Youth Music. Benster w vARnish @
Youth Park
Lead guitarist of ‘vARnish’ (1999-2000). Performed at Hard
Rock Café & 98.7FM’s Localpalooza gig at Youth Park.

Lead guitarist/Band leader of ‘Delay’ (2000-2001). Performed

at the Singapore River Million Dollar Duck Race, Aubrey’s
Pub, Mr B’s pub, Temasek Poly Noize gig.
Benster w vARnish
@ HRC

Benster with Delay @ The S’pore River Duck Race

 Introduction
The electric guitar can be used for a wide
range of music: punk, metal, blues, jazz…
Each of you would have a different
preference in music.
In this session we focus on introducing the
available options & resources for you as a
springboard to learn on your own in the
future.
Gearing Up to Rock
 Gearing Up to Rock
The Anatomy Of An Electric Guitar
 Gearing Up to Rock
l a r g u i t a r t ypes
The most popu

Fender Fender Ibanez Gibson Les Paul Reed Gretsch

Telecaster Stratocaster ‘Shred Paul Smith Hollowbody
Guitar’

Meow?
 Neck Construction
by Benjamin Oh

Bolt-on necks vs Set necks.

Bolt-on necks: screwed onto the guitar body.
- Pioneered by Fender in the late 1940’s, the beginning of mass-produced
electric guitars.
- Necks can be easily taken off and put back again, and even swapped.
Egs: Fenders, ‘Ibanez super strats’

Set necks (or Glued-in necks): glued into the body.

- Old-school, traditional way of attaching a neck to a body.
- More labour-intensive to build – seen as more ‘high-class’.
- A set neck cannot be taken off the guitar easily without serious damage.
Egs: Most Gibson electrics, Most Paul Reed Smith guitars, Gretsch.

There is no better or worse between the 2 types. Both are different and have their
own unique characteristics:
- Bolt-on necks - brighter and punchier sounding than set necks, and give a
snappier response.
- Set necks - warmer and thicker sounding than bolt-on necks, and give a
smoother response.
 Scale Length
By Benjamin Oh

Scale length: the length of the guitar’s fingerboard.

Common scale lengths:
Gibson scale (24.75 inch) – lower string tension, easier to bend
strings, fatter tone, more forgiving to the player’s mistakes.
Eg. Most Gibson guitars and their clones/replicas.

Fender scale (25.5 inch) – higher string tension - harder to bend

strings. But you’ll get more clarity and articulation, and your mistakes will
be heard more clearly.
Eg. Fenders, Ibanez ‘Shred guitars’, Gretsch..

PRS scale (25.0 inch) – a nice balance/compromise between the 2

traditional scale lengths.
Eg. Paul Reed Smith guitars.
 Fingerboard Radius By Benjamin Oh
Fingerboard radius: the radius of the fingerboard’s curvature.

Common fingerboard radii:

Vintage Fender radius (7.25 inch) – very rounded, nice to hold chords, but hard to
bend strings, bent notes will ‘choke out’ if the guitar’s action (string height) is set
low. Requires good technique to play well.
Eg. Vintage Fenders (1950-1969) and their reissues

Modern Fender radius (9.5 inch) – flatter, easier to bend strings with.
Eg. Modern Fenders from the 70’s onwards.

Gibson radius (12 inch) – even flatter, and more comfortable to bend strings with.
This in my opinion is the most comfortable radius and a good compromise
between feel and playability.
Eg. All Gibsons and their clones/replicas, and many custom guitars.

Modern ‘super Strat radius’ (14-16 inch) – very flat, easiest to bend strings with
and to play fast stuff on. Bent notes will almost never choke out even with super
low action. Excellent for ‘Shred’. However, some players feel that such flat radii
sacrifice ‘feel’.
Eg. Ibanez, Jackson, ESP ‘Shred’ guitars
 Body Construction By Benjamin Oh

Solid Body
Made of solid wood. This is the quintessential method of electric guitar construction.
Solid body guitars are punchy and focused sounding.
Eg. Fender Strats & Teles, Gibson Les Paul, PRS solid bodies, Ibanez ‘Shred Guitars’.

Semi Hollow
A solid body guitar that has hollow chambers carved into the body, and topped with
another piece of wood. Semi-hollows have a more airy, hollow sound, while still
retaining most of the punch of a solid body.
Eg. Gibson ES-335, Fender Thinline Tele, Hamer Artist.

Fully Hollow
Fully-hollow body electric guitars are constructed much like an acoustic guitar, using
several flat or semi-flat panels of wood. They almost always have violin-style ‘F’
holes carved into their tops. These have a very open, full sound and are generally
used for clean or lightly overdriven sounds, as a fully hollowbodied guitar tends to
feedback when played at high volumes or with distortion. They lack the punch of
a solid body, but are much fuller sounding.
Eg. Gibson ES-175, Gibson L-5, Gretsch White Falcon, PRS Hollowbody.
 Guitar Pickups
from www.sweetwater.com

Single coil pickups

The first electric guitars used single-coil pickups, which have only one coil of wire It
may have a single magnet, a single magnet with screws for adjustable pole
pieces, or a separate magnet for each string. Regardless of the number and
arrangement of magnets, it is a single coil pickup if it has only one coil of wire.

Unfortunately, a coil of wire is a very efficient antenna, and will "pluck"

electromagnetic radiation out of the air - most notably sixty-cycle hum from
building wiring, electrical noise from fluorescent lighting, and computer monitors.
In short, single-coil pickups are susceptible to hum.

The single coil sound

Single coil pickups have a thin, clean and transparent sound.

Single coil pickups are common on Fender guitars such as the Stratocaster and
Telecaster, commonly used for rock, country and pop.

Some of the most notable users of the Fender Strat single coil sound include Jimi
Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Famous Telecaster players
include Bruce Springsteen, Buck Owens and Johnny Paycheck.
 Guitar Pickups
from www.sweetwater.com
Humbucker pickups

In the 1950s Ted McCarty, president of Gibson, assigned Walt Fuller and Seth Lover the task of
designing a pickup that would not be prone to "humming" in the presence of transformers,
rheostats and other electrical interference. Lover began work in 1954 and a year later
developed a pickup that utilized two coils to cancel or "buck" the hum - the "humbucker“.

A humbucker uses two coils and either two magnets (or sets of magnets), or pole pieces at
opposite ends of a single magnet.

It is incorrect to say that the two coils are "out-of-phase." Electrical coils by themselves are "in-
phase" when wound the same direction. However, pickups are "in-phase" when the signal
generated in one pickup adds to the signal generated in the other, instead of subtracting from it.
The two coils are wound with opposing electrical polarities, but the magnetic polarity for each
coil is reversed. This means that each coil carries two signals; the string vibration signal, which
is reinforced, producing a thick, meaty sound and the noise signal, which is cancelled.

The Humbucker sound

The Humbucker was featured on the Les Paul Goldtop Standard and the three-pickup Les Paul
Custom in 1957. The warm, smooth, double coil sound of the Gibson Les Paul is a favorite for
rock, blues, pop, and jazz.

Famous players whose sound is associated with the double coil "humbucker" sound include Jimmy
Page, Joe Perry, John Lennon, BB King, Wes Montgomery, and Chet Atkins.

Many guitars have a combination of single and double coil pickups, or a double coil pickup with a
switch to turn one of the coils off to offer the player a choice between single and double coils.
 Guitar Bridges
by Benjamin Oh

There are two main types of bridges for guitars;

the tremolo bridge and stoptail bridge.
Tremolo bridge (or whammy bar): allows you to
"dive" or bend all the strings at once, (good for
Metal) but can throw strings out of tune.
The classic tremolo bridge design is the Fender
tremolo, designed in 1953 for the Stratocaster.
It uses a pivoting knife edge design & goes out
of tune if used too hard.
A modern tremolo is the Floyd Rose, introduced in
the late 70’s/early 80’s, & popular among
‘Shred’ guitars. A Floyd Rose features a locking Fender
nut and saddles, and stays in tune very well in Tremolo
spite of hard use. However, it requires a lot of Bridge
effort to set up and maintain. Floyd Rose
Bridge
The stoptail bridge has the most stable tuning.
Because it is fixed into the body it promotes
more sustain than a tremolo bridge, which Stoptail Bridge
'floats' above the body. Stoptail bridges are
found on many Gibson models, as well as other
guitar makes.
 Guitar Woods
• The woods used in an electric guitar contribute to a major part of the
guitar’s sound. It is a topic that we feel is a little too time-consuming
to discuss in detail here, so we shall leave you with some links to
find out more about it.

• http://www.suhrguitars.com/wood.aspx
• http://www.andersonguitars.com/toneLibInfo.html
 Guitar Amps By Benjamin Oh

3 common kinds of electric guitar amplifiers

Tube Amp
Such amps use vacuum tube technology - technology used from the early 1900’s -1970’s to
power almost every electrical appliance. While made obsolete by transistors and ICs, these
amps are regarded as the most refined and high-end technology in guitar amps. Tube amps
sound warmer and more ‘organic’ than solid-state amps, and have a ‘vintage’ feel and
response that appeals to many players, but are more expensive and delicate.
For more info on how tube amps work, visit http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tube_Amp

Solid State Amp

Such amps run on modern transistor technology - more efficient and cheaper to produce than
vacuum tube technology. Solid State amps are reliable and tougher than tube amps, but
seasoned players feel that they lose out in terms of sound. However, I feel that most good
solid state amps sound perfectly fine and are very useable.

Hybrid Amp
A hybrid amp is one that runs on a mix of tube and solid state technology. These usually have a
solid state power section and a tube preamp section. Cost-wise and sound-wise, they sit
between tube amps and solid-state amps.
 Guitar Strings
A beginning guitarist can be overwhelmed with the number of brands & gauges
(thickness) of strings available on the market.

• 9-gauge electric guitar string sets are recommended for beginners. Majority of
electric guitars come from the factory strung & setup with such strings. This gauge
offers comfortable playability & is thick enough to provide decent tone.

• Once you’ve gotten used to 9-gauge strings, & if you feel you want a little
something extra in your tone, you can try moving up to 10-gauge for a little beefier
tone. They will have tighter tension & will require more strength to bend. You can
go even higher to 11 or 12 gauge strings if you’re really strong.

• Every time you change string gauge, you’ll have to adjust your guitar’s truss rod &
reset the intonation & height of the bridge, to compensate for the change in string
tension. Otherwise your guitar will end up out of adjustment & playing badly. This
setup work is better left to a qualified guitar repairman, & costs about $30-50.

• Recommended strings to get: D’Addario XL Nickel Wound Electric Guitar strings

from Davis Guitar, or Curt Mangan Nickel Wound Electric Guitar Strings from
Guitar 77. These shops are located at Peninsula Shopping Centre/Excelsior Hotel.
These cost around $5.50 a pack & are the best value for money strings you can
buy.
 Guitar Picks
• Electric guitar playing generally requires a thicker, harder guitar pick than acoustic
guitar playing.

• The minimum pick thickness we recommend is 0.88 inch

• Buy a bunch of different picks of different thicknesses, shapes & materials, & see
which one you like best. Picks are the cheapest way to change your guitar tone &
feel.

• Bigger picks are easier to hold, but smaller picks give you more precision in your
picking, & are recommended for lead guitar.

• To get an idea of the different thicknesses, shapes & materials of picks that are on
the market, visit http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?page=products/picks&cat=6

This is the standard pick shape. This is a small teardrop pick. I like This is a jazz shape pick. A good
Good for all-round playing.
this for fast lead solos, very precise. balance between the other two.
The picks shown here cost $1.50 for 3 at Davis Guitar.
 Guitar Effects!
Individual Pedals or Multi Effects?

Drive effects:
Overdrive, Distortion, Fuzz
Reverb effects

Delay effects
Modulation effects:
chorus, flange,
phaser, tremolo..

Multi-effects
 Guitar Effects!
Individual Pedals are pedals that are sold seperately. You can mix and match different
brands and customize your very own pedalboard.

Multi Effects are all-in-one units that contain a wide range of different effects in one unit.
 Guitar Effects!
Overdrive & Distortion
-These effects produce the sound of an overdriven amplifier pushed beyond its clean
tolerance into its clipping (distorted) region.

-There is an enormous array of pedals available today, tailored for different genres of music.
The original pedals were aimed at a natural overdrive sound, and are still popular. Other
pedals are tailored to heavy rock, metal, blues, grunge, retro, and so on.

- Overdrive  soft clipping, where gain is reduced beyond the clipping point.
- Distortion  hard clipping, where the level is fixed beyond the clipping point. Distortion is
a little harder sound, good for rock, while overdrive gives a more natural sound.

Classic Overdrive pedals: Ibanez Tube Screamer,

Boss OD3 overdrive.

Classic Distortion pedals: Proco RAT,

Boss DS1 Distortion, Boss MT2 Metal Zone
Delay
Guitar Effects!
• An echo effect that replays what you have played one or
more times after a period of time. It's something like the
echoes you might hear shouting against a canyon wall.

• The original delays, like the legendary Echoplex, were

tape machines running a loop of tape that recorded your
playing. The sound was replayed through one or more
replay heads positioned further around the loop, then
ultimately erased, ready for the next recording. These
units suffered mechanical problems like broken tapes,
gear failure & head alignment, and they were quite noisy
as well.

• Modern delays like the Boss DD6 are digital, where your
playing is stored in memory, and retrieved at some later
time.

Delay is widely used by many players. One of the greatest

exponents of delay in rock and pop music today is U2’s
The Edge.

Popular delay pedals: Boss DD6, Line6 DL4, Akai Headrush

 Guitar Effects!
Reverb
• Reverb is the sound you hear in a room with hard surfaces (such as your
bathroom) where sound bounces around the room for a while after the
initial sound stops. Reverb takes a lot of computing power to reproduce.

• Reverb is actually made up of a very large number of repeats, with

varying levels and tones over time. Reverbs usually offer you a choice of
different settings to simulate different environments such as different
sized rooms and halls, studio effects such as plate, chamber and reverse
reverbs, and sometimes emulations of guitar spring reverbs.

• Most good guitar amps have built-in reverb, and if your amp does not
come with reverb, there are many reverb pedals available on the market,
eg. Digitech Digiverb, Boss RV-5, EH Holy Grail.
 Guitar Effects!
Modulation Effects: A brief summary
Chorus: mixes your original guitar signal with a slightly higher pitched & delayed
signal, & sounds similar to that of a 12-string or being underwater. This sound was
popularized by Andy Summers of The Police, and was a mainstay for many 80’s
rock/pop songs. Popular Chorus pedals are the Boss CE2 and CE5, EH Small
Clone and Voodoo Lab Analog Chorus.

Flanger: similar to a chorus, a flanger is more extreme and makes your guitar sound
like a jet plane flying past. This sound was popularized by Eddie Van Halen in the
song ‘Eruption’. Popular Flangers include the MXR Flanger, Ibanez Flanger and
Boss Flanger.

Phaser: oscillates your original signal in another frequency spectrum, giving a swirly,
chewy kind of sound. This sound was often used in alternative/grunge songs of
the 90’s, such as those by the Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden and
Radiohead. Popular Phasers: Boss PH2, MXR Phase 90, EH Small Stone.

Tremolo: modulates the guitar volume, like rapidly turning the volume control up and
down. It can go from a gentle swell to a violent stuttering machine-gun sound.
Popular Tremolos: Boss TR2, Voodoo Lab Tremolo.
 Guitar Effects!
Multi Effects are all-in one units that contain a wide range of effects under
one roof. Up till recently, most multi-effects pedals produced inferior
effects and sound quality when compared to individual pedals.

A couple of years ago, Line6 created the POD, which gives highly realistic
simulations of vintage amps and classic effects.

We highly recommend the latest version, the Line 6 POD XT Live (

www.line6.com/podxtlive) as we have literally tried ‘em all and find this
simply the best sounding, most user-friendly multi effects pedal, period.
E--0--------------------------------------
B--1--------------------------------------
G--0--------------------------------------
D--2--------------------------------------
A--3--------------------------------------
Reading
E--0--------------------------------------
Tablature
 Reading Tablature
Guitar notation, scores for the guitar
Free tablature is all over the Internet
A good way to learn new songs & pick up
new skills
No knowledge of theory required
Some tablature database websites:
http://www.guitartabs.cc/
http://www.olga.net/
http://www.guitartabs.net/
http://www.mxtabs.net/
 Reading Tablature
rm: Twinkle
‘C’ chord in tab fo L ittle Sta
r
E--0---------------3--3--5--5--3-------
B--1---------1--1------------------------
G--0--------------------------------------
D--2--------------------------------------
A--3--------------------------------------
E--0--------------------------------------

Numbers: which fret to press. Lines: which string(s) to pluck/strum.

Read from left to right. Unfortunately, timing not indicated.

 Guitar Techniques…

We introduce the various rhythm & lead

electric guitar techniques from this slide
onwards.
It will seem a little overwhelming, but do
take the time to use this introduction to the
various techniques as a starting point to
research on the Internet, & practice on
your own.
Rhythm Guitar Techniques
Malcom Young from AC/DC
 Rhythm: Power Chords
Power Chords
– Open feel, sounds great with distortion
– Drives the song mainly through the strumming
– Used for rock/punk/metal..

• Very easy to play – one fingering for a

dozen chords.

• Audio
 Rhythm: Power Chords
• 6th string power chord pattern

• 5th string power chord pattern

• ‘Cut and paste’ these patterns to get

different chords. See notes for more.
 Rhythm: Palm Muting
• By resting our palm on the bridge we can
obtain a ‘chunky’ sound.

• Mute the strings, but not

so much that the notes
cannot be heard

• Audio
 Rhythm: LH Muting
• We can also mute the
strings with the left hand.

• The notes cannot be

heard; this method is
primarily for the percussive
sound, and to choke off the
notes.

• Audio
 Rhythm - Chords
The electric guitarist can colour a song with
unusual chords.
It is important to expand your repertoire of
chords.
Suggested websites:
– http://www.guitarnotes.com/guitar/notes2/ultimate11.shtml
– http://www.guitarchordsmagic.com/
– http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/chords/
Lead Guitar Techniques

The amazing Steve Vai

 Lead : The Tongue
Your tongue can help
develop speed and
versatility in playing
solos.
IN G
ID D
It also coats yourT K
JU S
strings with a layer of
saliva, which prevents it
from rusting.

Strings are also tasty.

 Lead: Alternate Picking
• Pick the strings in both
directions continuously.
• Versatile technique, able to
play at high speeds
• Audio
• Tips:
Keep fingers close to fretboard
for speed
Use the tip of the pick only
Practice!
 Lead: Palm Muting
• By resting our palm on the bridge we can
mute the sound while playing a solo.

• Varying between the

softer muted sound &
normal picking makes
the solo more expressive
• Audio
 Lead: Vibrato
• Vibrato means ‘shaking’.
• When picking a note, vibrate
the fretting hand left & right
(up-down for a more obvious
effect) as you press down on
the fret.
• Gives more expression to the
note: causes the sound to
‘swell’ due to the very slight
variation in pitch.
• Video
 Lead: Slides
After picking a note, slide your
finger to another fret without
picking again.

Causes note to transit

smoothly.
 Lead: Bending the Strings
Bending the strings causes
the note to sound sharper.
Moves from one note to
another (one or two frets
higher) smoothly.
Tips
– Use two fingers to bend.
– Avoid under & over bending.

• Audio + Video
 Hammer-Ons
• Playing a note, then, without
re-picking, playing another
note on a higher fret on the
same string.
• By pressing on a higher fret
hard after picking the previous
note, a note will sound.
• Transits from one note to
another smoothly.
 Lead: Pull Offs
• The opposite of Hammer-ons.

• Suppose you are pressing on

to two frets on the same string.
• When you release a plucked note pluck
the string as you release your finger.
• Audio
Lead: Pull-Offs, Hammer-Ons

Pull-offs & Hammer-ons are usually combined.

Examples:
– Thrill (audio + video)
Alternate between two notes close to one
another quickly.

– Legato playing (video)

Playing notes with minimum picking, smooth
flow between notes.
 Lead: Tapping
• By pressing down hard on the string
without picking notes can sound out.
• Tapping on the fretboard using both hands
can give impressive and interesting
effects.
• Video
 Lead: Sweeping
Not ,but sweeping, or raking the pick
down and up the strings quickly.
Used to play consecutive notes of a chord
after one another quickly.
E.g. E------------12--15--12-------------
B-------13-----------------13---------
G--12--------------------------12-----
D----------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------
• Video
 Lead: Knowing Your Fretboard
• So far we’ve covered on how to play, but
not what to play.
• You can either buy guitar books, borrow
books from the Esplanade library, or read
tablature from the Internet.
• If you want to try to improvise some
melodies on your own you need to know
your scales. (see notes)
Practice, Practice, Practice
As a practicing guitarist, I am of the
firm belief that no one else can make
you a better player. It is up to each of
us as individuals to stand out among
others. There is no method, gimmick,
book or video which has the ability to
make you play better or worse. Being
a quality player means continually
practicing and playing with the intent
of improving, never giving up and
often sacrificing much in the process.

Fretboard Logic, Bill Edwards

 Practice, Practice, Practice
Recommended websites:
• Free Guitar Lessons! www.bluenote.com
This is a great site for learning! They provide midi backing tracks too for you to
practice with too.
• Chops from hell: www.chopsfromhell.com
Focuses on flashy but practical exercises. Has video and mp3s for its 300+
lessons.
• Ultimate Guitar: www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/
Plenty of lessons, divided neatly into the various techniques
• Harmony Central: www.harmony-central.com
Lots of links, and also hosts a database with reviews on all kinds of guitar gear.
• Luthermusic Classads: www.luthermusic.com
THE place to find good 2nd hand deals on guitars and stuff.
• SOFT music forum: www.soft.com.sg
This is where local musicians and gearheads hang out and discuss about guitars.

There is more out there, feel free to explore!

 The End
Questions
Feel free to contact us at:
Ben: benjammed@hotmail.com (MSN)
blog: http://misterbenster.blogspot.com

Kenny: kennygohweizhi@yahoo.com.sg
kennygohweizhi@hotmail.com (MSN)
blog: http://kennygoh.blogspot.com