The Modern Guitarist's Handbook

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T HE

M ODERN G UITARIST ’ S

H ANDBOOK

R OBBIE H AMMOND



The Modern Guitarist’s Handbook

ii

© 2004 Robbie Hammond

Book design, cover and layout by Robbie Hammond

Photography and digital photo manipulation by Robbie Hammond

Software used to create the contents of this book:

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Photoshop

Emagic Logic

OpenOffice.orgQuarkXpress Passport

Sibelius

Steinberg WaveLab



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iv



Preface Page ix

A Brief History Of Music Page xi

Section 1 - GuitarThe Guitar

Guitar Diagrams Page 3

Buying A Guitar Page 5

Guitar Characteristics Page 6 Changing Strings & Cleaning The Fretboard Page 6

The Truss Rod, Nut & Bridge Page 8

Electrics Page 10

Strings Page 10

Tuning Your Guitar Page 11

Metronomes Page 12

Basics The Basics / Reading This Book Page 13

Notation Page 14

The Notes on the Fretboard Page 25

Octave Points Page 26

Technique

Posture Page 29

Plectrum Page 29

Left Hand Techniques Page 30

Right Hand Technique Page 31

Basic Accessories Page 34

Warming Up Page 35

Scales

Why Bother Learning Scales? Page 39

The CAGED System Page 41

CAGED Major Scales Page 42


v

Contents



Three Notes Per String Shapes Page 47

Major Pentatonic Scale Page 50

Minor Pentatonic Scale Page 55

Modes of the Major Scale Page 60 Harmonic Minor Scale Page 67

Melodic Minor Scale Page 74

Other Scales (Blues, Chromatic, Whole Tone, etc) Page 80

Chords

Triads Page 89

CAGED Major Chords Page 91

CAGED Minor Chords Page 94

Bar Chords Page 96

Other Chords Page 98

Harmonised Scales Page 99

Inversions Page 100

Arpeggios

Major Arpeggios Page 103

Minor Arpeggios Page 105

Deconstructing Popular Music

How to Decipher a Popular Song Page 109

Section 2 - Songwriting Introduction Page 115

Terminology Page 115

Building Blocks Page 116

Song Structure Page 117

Songwriting Techniques Page 117

Chord Progressions Page 118

Lyrics Page 120

Writing Melodies Page 124

Inspiration Vs. Perspiration Page 124


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Contents

Section 3 - Music Technology Basics Page 129

Recording Guitar Page 133 MIDI Page 137

Audio Editors Page 139

Sequencers Page 143

Effects Page 145

Sound Carrier Formats Page 149

Computers Page 153

Publishing Your Music on the Web Page 155

Section 4 - Music Business Overview Copyright Page 159

Record Companies Page 162

Publishing Companies Page 164

Other Industry Organisations Page 166

Personnel Page 168

Demos Page 171

AppendicesGuitar Heroes Page 177

Further Listening Page 181

Web Links Page 184

Blank Diagrams & Manuscript Paper (to Photocopy) Page 188

Index Page 191

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viii



The purpose of this book is to provide the beginning to intermediate guitar player with a usefulreference source for musical information relevant in the modern day world, that goes beyond the

scope of traditional guitar reference books, by covering a wide range of topics that may not be

directly guitar related.

I hope that any beginning guitarist will be able to pick this book up and teach themselves to a

fairly high standard through its use. However, this is not what this book is specifically aimed at:

I am writing this more to provide guitarists of any level with a definitive guide to their instrument

and beyond, into the worlds of songwriting and how to deal with practical issues such as

copyright.

The emphasis in this book is more of a general reference book than a comprehensive tuitionbook. Apologies if I do not go into enough depth on certain topics, but the world of music is vast,

and to condense it all into one book would be impossible. If there are topics that I have skimmed

over that you feel you are interested in, I have provided some recommendations for further

listening, and some useful internet links at the back of the book.

Each section of this handbook is supposed to be self sufficient, but it may be necessary to refer

to other parts of the book for more information on certain topics.


ix

Preface





Before getting stuck into the technical details of playing guitar, I believe it may be helpful to sitback and consider music in a more general sense; namely its history, and its philosophy.

What Is Music?

Music has been an integral part of human civilization for millennia, and yet even today we can

have trouble defining exactly what it is. Is music simply a series of sounds that are pleasing to

our ears? Is bird song strictly speaking, ‘song’? Is music written down, or improvised? Can a

series of random notes generated by a computer seriously be considered as musical? Is John

Cage’s 4’37” (a recording of 4 minutes and 37 seconds of silence), music? These are just some

of the tough philosophical questions that has surrounded the art for at least the last century.

Music is a very powerful and affecting art. When we watch films and television, directors use

music at particularly emotive points to heighten our senses, whether in the purpose of adding

excitement, tension (think the ‘Jaws’ theme), tenderness, or sadness. Often when a scary

moment occurs, it is the musical cue that makes us jump, rather than what is on the screen.

When we see a beautiful scene in the natural world, we sometimes wonder why it has less

emotional impact than we expected - could it be that whenever we have seen the specific scene

before on television, it has been accompanied by music?

Music is prolific. Today, in the 21st century, as never before, music has percolated through to

every aspect of modern life. Music is on television, on the radio, in pubs, in advertisements,in greetings cards, in children’s toys, in games, in shops, and we can carry our entire record

collections (via MP3 players) in our pockets. Until the early 20th century, Western music was

largely the reserve of the church and the upper classes. Technology has driven forward music to

the masses more than could have been imagined just 100 years ago. The last century has seen

the invention of the radio, the television, the vinyl record, stereo, the magnetic cassette tape, the

Compact Disc, the computer, the synthesizer, MIDI, the electric guitar, the four-track recorder, and

the MP3 player, to name only a few inventions that have forever changed the way we perceive

music.

Music is intangible. We can feel the vibrations of the sounds if they are loud and low enough,but we cannot reach out and touch music, we cannot see it , smell it or taste it. Imagine that time

is not, as we perceive, start to end, but rather exists as one single instant. The very concept of

what music is would disappear - we need a start, a middle and an end to assess and understand

a piece of music. Unlike a painting, we cannot look at a song as it sits still and appreciate its

beauty.

Whatever music really is, we all have our own views of what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’. The

reasons behind these opinions may be part of our upbringing, or is it something inherent in our

genes? We may judge a piece of music to be ‘bad’ if it evokes a memory of a time or place

when we had a bad experience, and vice versa with 'good' music. If we have been brought up

listening to Balinese music, is there any reason why we should expect a dominant seventh chord


xi

A Brief History Of Music



to ‘resolve’ to a tonic? It is certainly difficult, and takes some maturity to admit that despite the

strengths of our own convictions and emotions, there is no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, or ‘good’ and ‘bad’,

when it comes to music.

A (Very) Brief History of Modern Music

1709 Statute of Anne enshrines copyright in UK law. Generally seen to be the world’s

first law expressly relating to copyright.

1877 Thomas Edison invents the phonograph, the first machine able to not only record

sound, but to play it back as well.

1887 Emile Berliner obtains a patent for his ‘gramophone’, introducing the possibility of

mass production of recorded sound.

1929 Harold Nyquist publishes the maths that is to be used as the basis for all digital

audio processing (The Nyquist Theorem).1931 Alan Blumlein applies for a patent on ‘binaural sound’, or what is to become known

as stereo.

1947 Les Paul releases the first record that used multi-track recording, on Capitol

Records.

1948 Columbia introduces the 33 1/3 rpm vinyl record.

1952 The first UK singles chart was published by the New Musical Express.

1954 Les Paul commissions Ampex to build the first ever eight track tape recorder, kick

starting the practice of multi-track recording.

1954 Elvis Presley records his first hit record, ‘That's All Right’.

1957 Stereo recordings begin to replace mono records as the standard in the music

industry.

1958 The first UK albums chart was published by the New Musical Express.

1965 Pre-recorded cassette tapes released into the market.

1966 ‘Pet Sounds’ by the Beach Boys released.

1967 ‘Are You Experienced?’ by Jimi Hendrix released.

1967 ‘Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band’ by the Beatles released.

1973 ‘Dark Side of The Moon’ by Pink Floyd released.

1977 ‘Never Mind The Bollocks...’ by the Sex Pistols released.

1978 ‘Ambient 1/Music For Airports’ by Brian Eno released.

1979 Sony releases the Walkman, and thus changes the way we listen to music forever.

1979 Sony and Philips develop the Compact Disc.1980 John Lennon shot dead.

1981 MTV launches with the words “Ladies and Gentlemen, Rock and Roll”, followed by

the video for the Buggles’ ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’.

1982 ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson released.

1987 ‘Joshua Tree’ by U2 released.

1988 Copyright Designs and Patents Act passed in the UK.

1988 ‘It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back’ by Public Enemy released.

1989 Steinberg release the first version of the Cubase sequencer software, for the Atari

ST.

1991 ‘Nevermind’ by Nirvana released.1992 Emagic release the first version of the Logic software sequencer.


xii



A Brief History of Music

1995 MP3 format emerges.

1995 ‘The Bends’ by Radiohead released.

1999 Napster arrives to give the music industry a rude awakening.

2001 Napster taken offline after legal action by artists and record companies.

2001 Apple launches the iPod.2003 Napster relaunched in the US as a legal download service.

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xiv



SECTION 1:

GUITAR




2



Guitar Diagrams

Electric Guitars

T h i s picture

shows a semi-hollow body Fender Telecaster electric guitar. Although the locations of various

pickups, volume and tone controls and pickup switches vary from guitar to guitar, these are

the basic features of all electric guitars. However, most electric guitars do not have an ‘f’ hole(named after its shape), and are referred to as ‘solid body’ guitars


3

The Guitar



Acoustic Guitars

This shows an acoustic guitar, which is much the same in principle as an electric, but has a fully

hollow body where the vibrations made by the strings reverberate, and then exit through the

sound hole, creating a louder acoustic sound than a solid body guitar.

Most guitars have dots (or some other symbol) on the fretboard to mark out a quick referencemap of the frets. The single dots are usually placed on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 15th, 17th, 19th,


4



The Guitar

and 21st frets. Double dots are placed on the 12th and 24th (if it is a 24 fret guitar) to mark the

octave. Some guitars have double dots on the fifth fret.

Buying a guitarWhen you are buying a guitar there are many factors to be taken into consideration, beyond the

primary budget concerns. Guitars vary widely in quality and sound even when bought brand new,

and for this reason it is wise to try out any guitar before paying any money for it (mail order guitar

shops are not a good idea in my opinion - even if they are cheaper, you are far more likely to end

up with a guitar that you are not happy with).

However, if you are buying a new guitar from a reputable dealer, you are more than likely to

receive at least a year's warranty against any defects of workmanship in the guitar, and cantherefore be less concerned about checking every last square inch of the guitar's surface and

electronics.

If you are intending to purchase a second hand instrument, even from a friend, it is wise to check

the guitar for problems such as:

Fret buzz - Although all guitars buzz to a certain degree, older guitars may have unacceptable

levels of fret buzz, especially on the heavier strings, and the higher frets.

‘Dead areas’ - Try bending notes all over the neck to ensure there are no dead areas (where a

small chip or nick in the metal of the fret cuts out the note).

Dead pickups - If buying an electric, flick the pickup switch and play the guitar at all positions

(plugged into an amplifier) to make sure there are no loose connections, or pickups that do not

work.

Jack Plug - Make sure that the jack plug fits fairly tightly into the socket, and that it doesn't move

if you gently wiggle it around (or create a buzz if plugged into an amplifier).

Tuners - Ensure that the tuners are not too stiff or loose to turn.

Nut - Check that the nut is not worn away.

Neck Join - Inspect the area where the neck is joined to the body closely, as this is a common

area where serious damage has occurred, look for any cracks in the wood or paint work, any

signs of extra drill holes, or anything out of the ordinary.

Truss Rod - If possible, check that it is possible to adjust the truss rod.

5



Guitar Characteristics

Before continuing with this section, it is worth briefly describing the difference between Gibson/

Epiphone, and Fender/Squier. Epiphone and Squier are both companies that are owned bythe parent companies of Gibson and Fender respectively. They cater to the budget end of the

market, and whilst their products are generally of good quality compared to other makes in their

price range, they do not compare to the quality of a genuine Gibson or Fender product. Although

genuine Fender guitars start at a cheaper price than their Gibson counterparts, for a good quality

guitar that is likely to last a lifetime, a budget of £500 would be a good starting point for a new

instrument. What follows is a brief description of the 3 most famous types of electric guitar:

Gibson/Epiphone Les Paul - Les Paul guitars are named after their inventor, and generally have

a thick mahogany body, 2 humbucker pickups (with separate volume and tone controls), and a

rosewood fingerboard.

Fender/Squier Stratocaster - Probably the guitar that immediately comes to mind when electric

guitars are mentioned, Stratocasters are versatile, durable guitars that have been around since

1954. They usually have an alder/ash body, with a maple or rosewood fingerboard, 3 single coil

pickups, and a tremolo bar.

Fender/Squier Telecaster - The original solid body Fender electric guitar that was developed

from the less well known Fender Broadcaster in 1951. Telecasters have a simple but effective

design, usually with an alder/ash body, maple fingerboard, and 2 single coil pickups.

Changing Strings and Cleaning FretboardsThere are many different methods that people employ to change strings, and there are also

several variations on types of string posts that are fitted onto guitars, including less conventional

systems such as the Floyd-Rose tremolo. By far the most common is the basic post with a hole

cut through the middle, as shown in Figure 1:

Figure 1 Figure 2

Figure 2 shows the second most common string post, with a slot through the middle, and a hole

pointing vertically downwards in the centre of the post.

When old strings have been taken off the guitar, it is always a good idea to clean the fretboard to


6



The Guitar

wipe away any residual sweat that has accumulated there. This is best done with a soft cloth and

some kind of linseed oil/guitar cleaning fluid - or can be done on the cheap if you use hot breath

over the frets, and then wipe away the condensation.

You may also want to put some graphite in the slots in the nut. This should help the strings passthrough the slot without becoming caught, and causing tuning problems further down the line.

This can be easily done with an ordinary pencil (see Figure 3).

Figure 3

To change the strings on a guitar with posts in the style of Figure 1, follow these steps

1. Feed the strings through the bridge of the guitar (how this is done will vary depending on the

model of your guitar).

1a 1b 1c

2. Wind the strings around the outside of the post (1a) between 2-4 times, depending on the

thickness of the string - more winds for thin strings, less for thick strings.

3. Feed the end of the string through the hole in the post (1b), making sure that it goes over thebits of the string that have previously been wound.

4. Pull the string tight through the hole, and bend it at a right angle away from the hole (1c). This

helps stop the string from slipping.

5. Tighten the string until it is in tune.

6. Cut the end of the string off with wire cutters, leaving around 0.5 centimetres poking from the

hole.

To change the strings on a guitar with posts in the style of Figure 2, follow these steps:

7



1. Feed the strings through the bridge of the guitar (how this is done will vary depending on the

model of your guitar).

2a 2b

2. Line the string up against the post that it is to be inserted in, and cut it off at the distance of

approximately 1½ string posts from that post (2a).

3. Insert the end of the string as far as it will go into the vertical hole in the post (2b).

2c 2d

4. Push the string downwards, bending it away from the body, whilst keeping it in the hole (2c).

5. Bend the string at a right angle in the clockwise direction (2d), and tighten the string until it is in

tune.

The Truss Rod, Nut, and BridgePerhaps the three most important elements in any guitar are the truss rod, nut and bridge - since

a faulty one of any of these can be the cause of expensive repairs (a badly adjusted or otherwise

faulty truss rod can on its own destroy an otherwise perfectly good guitar). Therefore generally

speaking, adjustments, repairs or replacements to these should be left to a qualified luthier.


8



The Guitar

However, should you choose to ignore that word of warning, this part should help you.

Truss Rod Tips:

The truss rod is a rod of metal that goes through a guitar’s neck and stops the wood in the neckfrom succumbing to the pressure exerted upon it by the strings. It can be adjusted to prevent

buzz, and to stop the neck from bending and making a bow shape.

Figure 4: The location of a truss rod

The truss rod is usually accessible from one of two places - from the top or the bottom of the

neck. Sometimes it is covered by a small plate (as in Figure 5b), which can easily be unscrewed.

For some guitars, it might be necessary to remove the stratchplate to access the truss rod (see

Figure 6).

Figure 5a Figure 5b

9



Figure 6

To tighten the truss rod, turn the screwdriver/adjusting tool clockwise. This lowers the action of

the strings, and pulls the head downwards, increasing neck strain.

To loosen the truss rod, turn the screwdriver/adjusting tool anti-clockwise. This raises the action

of the strings, pushing the head upwards.

ElectricsThe basic electrical components in most electric guitars include the pickups, volume and tone

knobs, a pickup switch, and the output jack socket. When something goes wrong with the

electrics, more likely than not, this is due to a loose connection from one of the wires inside the

guitar. The most common problem is when the thin strip of metal that connects to the jack plughas been pushed away from the centre over several years of use - to fix this, simply push it back

towards the centre. Most problems can be solved with a screwdriver, solder, and a soldering iron.

If you know about electrics, then a cursory glance should tell you what is wrong most of the time

- if not, it is probably best not to play around with the electrics inside your guitar.

StringsThere are six strings on the a normal guitar, and these can be named one of two ways; using

either letters or numbers.

The letters below represent the notes of the open strings. The small ‘e’ represents the thinnest

string, and it is two octaves above the low E string. The numbers count from the thinnest string

to the thickest string.

E A D G B e

6 5 4 3 2 1


10

The 1 string is also sometimes

referred to as the ‘top’ string. The

6 string is sometimes referred to

as the ‘bottom’ string. This is to dowith the pitches of the strings.





Automatic

Electronic Tuner - using an electronic tuner is a very easy and quick method of tuning your

guitar. Most tuners available today have built in microphones to help tune acoustic guitars.

MetronomesMetronomes are perhaps the most important practising tool you could buy, and are an essential

purchase if you want to play seriously. Metronomes keep your playing and practising in time, by

providing a click that sounds at every beat of a specified tempo. Anyone who plays jazz will tell

you that music is all about the timing, and that pretty much applies to all forms of music.

If you intend to record your playing in any setting that is not completely live, you are more thanlikely to be asked to play along to a click track. Not being able to do this (by not practising with a

metronome) means you risk getting turfed out from the studio!


12



Reading This Book

This chapter will deal with how to read the basic notations that are presented within this book,

from notation, to tablature and diagrams.

Diagrams All of the graphical guitar diagrams within this book use a ‘vertical neck’ format, and to illustrate

the positions of the fingers, I have used a ‘capsule’ graphic. You will notice that the capsules

will generally have two numbers – the top number is used to represent the degree of the chord

or scale, and the bottom number represents the recommended fingering (which is intended to

show the easiest way of fingering the specific chord/scale, but is not a rule by any means – use a

fingering best for you.)

The diagrams used in this book (and superimposed upon a guitar neck)

Tablature

Guitar tablature (or tab for short) is fairly simple; it is generally placed beneath notation on apage, and has 6 lines, on which numbers represent the frets on which should be played. The


13

The Basics



major flaw with guitar tablature is that it does not account for timing - it can tell a player which

note to play, but not when to play it or how long it should be played for.

Guitar Tablature

NotationNotation, or sight reading, is difficult to master. However, with the right amount of effort put in,

there are many benefits to the guitarist. Even putting in 10 minutes of effort a day, if done every

day, should result in significant advances over time. A good way to practice is to work through

sight reading pieces with a friend who is at a similar level.

The Notes On The Stave

On a stave with a treble clef, the notes are arranged as follows:

Although not used for the six string guitar, for reference purposes, here are the notes as arranged

on a bass clef stave:

Ledger Lines

To cover the full pitch register of a guitar, the Treble clef needs extra lines beyond the five in the

normal stave. Thus lines are added above and below the stave whenever they are needed, and


14



The Basics

these are called ledger lines:

The above piece of notation shows some extra ledger lines - and also the pitch register of a

normally tuned, 21 fret, six string guitar. The lowest note is the first, the open 6 string (E), andthe highest is the second note, the 21st fret of the 1st string (C#).

Note Values

The notes on the stave are today mostly referred to as fractions, although it is worth being aware

of the classical names of the notes, since they are still used to some extent in the UK.

It is easiest to think of the notes on the stave as fractions: as can be seen below, the length of the

notes are progressively halved, from the whole note down to the 32nd note.

Each of these have values relating to the number of beats they represent:

Whole Note = 4 BeatsHalf Note = 2 Beats

Quarter Note = 1 Beat

Eighth Note = 1/2 Beat

Sixteenth Note = 1/4 Beat

32nd Note = 1/8 Note

Rests

Each of the above notes have rest symbols of equivalent values, to indicate silence in a passage

of music;

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Dotted Notes

To compensate for the fact that all notes deal with even numbered length values, by adding a dot

after the note or rest, half of that note’s value is added onto the note.

Hence, a dotted whole note would have the value of 6 beats (4 + 2), a half note would have the

value of 3 beats (2 + 1), a quarter note would have a value of 1 1/2 beats (1 + 1/2), and so on.

Dotted Notes

Dotted Rests

Tuplets

Notes can also have timing values that don’t easily subdivide into even numbers, such as 3, 5,

and 7. These groupings of odd numbered notes as a whole, are called tuplets.

If you want to divide a beat into three parts of equal length, this is called a triplet, and is notatedas shown here:

Other odd numbered divisions are shown similarly:


16



The Basics

Time Signatures

The two numbers often seen after a clef are called the time signature. Each number represents

the following:

Top Number = The number of beats in a bar

Bottom Number = The value of the beats

Hence a 4/4 time signature would mean that there are 4 beats, each with the value of a quarter

note (or crotchet). For a simple comparison, here are a few examples in different time signatures:

In the above example, there are 4 quarter notes in the first bar, 1 half note and 2 quarter notes in

the second bar, and a whole note rest in the third bar. ALL BARS IN A 4/4 TIME SIGNATURE MUST ADD

UP TO 1 WHOLE NOTE, WHETHER IT IS MADE UP OF NOTES, RESTS, OR BOTH.

In the second example, there are 2 quarter notes in the first bar, 1 half note in the second bar,

and a half note rest in the third bar. ALL BARS IN A 2/4 TIME SIGNATURE MUST ADD UP TO 1 HALF NOTE,

WHETHER IT IS MADE UP OF NOTES, RESTS, OR BOTH.

In the last example, there are 6 eighth notes in the first bar, 3 quarter notes in the second bar,

and a dotted half note rest in the third bar. ALL BARS IN A 6/8 TIME SIGNATURE MUST ADD UP TO 6

EIGHTH NOTES, WHETHER IT IS MADE UP OF NOTES, RESTS, OR BOTH.

A 6/8 time signature has the same values, but not the same emphases as a 3/4 time signature.

17



Commonly Seen Time Signatures:

A B C D E

The above examples show some of the more common time signatures seen in popular and

classical music. By far the most widely used is the 4/4 time signature, which is also represented

by the ‘c’ in B (this ‘c’ stands for Common time), and it is generally safe to assume that if there is

no time signature shown on a piece of music, the time signature will be 4/4.

Less Commonly Seen Time Signatures:

F G H I J

These are a few less common time signatures, although the use of signatures such as 5/4, 7/4,

and 9/4 are relatively common in some jazz music. These can take some time to get used toplaying. The ‘c’ with the vertical line through it in G, is called ‘cut time’ and is the same as a 2/2

time signature.

Tempo

The tempo refers to the speed of a piece of music. The tempo is defined as the number of beats

per minute (bpm) in a piece of music. On a sheet of music it is usually represented by the

following symbol, which is placed at the top of the sheet:

= 110

This means that in one minute, there will be 110 beats, with the value of a crotchet. Other notes

can also be used in this place to denote the tempo.

= 55

This shows a minim, of which there would be 55 in a minute. Because there are 2 crotchets

for every minim, both of these tempo markings essentially represent the same tempo of 110

crotchets per minute. The use of different note values allows a very wide number of tempos to be

represented without having to resort to using decimals or fractions.


18



The Basics

Accidentals

An ‘accidental’ is the word used to refer to Sharps, Flats, and Naturals. Accidentals are placed

before notes to alter their pitch.

# Sharp: Raises the pitch of a note by a semitone

b Flat: Lowers the pitch of a note by a semitone

§ Natural: Returns the pitch of a note to its original value (no sharps or flats)

Sharps and flats are used to describe key signatures at the beginning of a piece of music, and

are also used to change the value of individual notes.

Normal use of accidentals

In the above example, the bar is in the key of C Major (which has no sharps or flats). The first

note is A, which is in the key of C, so that is fine. The second note is Eb, which is not, so it needs

a b symbol. The third note is C itself, which is fine.

The fourth note is also Eb, even though there is no b symbol in front of it - the sharp is applied

to all of the E notes in the bar. Hence to get a natural E note, the fifth note requires a § (natural)

sign in front of it.

Key Signatures

A key signature is a marking placed at the beginning of a line of measures on a sheet of music,

which tells the reader what key the piece of music is in, and therefore which scale to play in.Key signatures can change any number of times within a piece of music, so it is important to pay

attention to this area of the stave.

19



In the previous piece of notation, the three sharps indicate that we are in the key of A major. In

the key of A major there are 3 sharp notes;

F# C# G#This means that every F, C, or G in the piece of music will be sharp (and without a # symbol in

front of them), unless there is a § (natural) symbol before it. This saves unnecessarily writing out

large numbers of sharps or flats in keys where there are a large number of accidentals.

· Sharps and flats should not generally be mixed in the same key - use either sharps or flats.

· Accidentals must be placed on the same line/space on the stave as the note it relates to.

Reading Notation

The circle of fifths is a diagram which shows how key signatures go upwards and downwards in

perfect fifths.

The number of sharps or flats in a key signature increases as the interval of a perfect fifth is

added or subtracted from any note.

In the diagram opposite (The Circle of Fifths), going up a fifth from C gives the key of G, with one

sharp note (F#), which is the major 7th of G. Similarly, going down a fifth from C gives the key of

F, which has one flat (Bb), which is a perfect fourth of F.


20



The Basics

The Circle of Fifths

Deciphering the keys

The sharps and flats in key signatures are arranged in a specific sequence to aid quick reading.

There are several ways to work out the key signature of a piece without counting up or down

fifths from C (although eventually you will be able to recognise them instantly).

The order of sharps placed in sharp key signatures goes as follows:

F C G D A E B

An easy way to remember this is through a mnemonic - either use the one overleaf, or make up

21



one of your own:

Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle

And this can be reversed to remember the order of flats within a flat key signature:

B E A D G C F

Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles’s Father

To work out the key signature in seconds:

For Sharp Keys:

Look at the last sharp in the row, and go up a semitone to get the key signature.

For Flat Keys:

Look at the second to last flat in the row, and that is the key signature (except for F which

only has one flat).

Putting It Together

Counting the notes

When you see the notes on a stave, and are playing to a metronome, the best way to keep in

time with the beat is to count out the note values to yourself. This provides you with a sense of

where you are in the bar, and after a while, can help internalise the values of the notes so that

you can see a minim, for example, and know its inherent value without needing to think about it.

The diagrams below show how to count the most common notes used on the stave:

Semibreve:


22



The Basics

Minim:

Crotchet:

Quaver:

Semi-Quaver:

Triplet:

Quintuplet:

23



Mixing Things Up

Play on the blue notes, rest on the red notes.

The notes on the stave vs. the notes on the guitar

The diagram opposite shows the notes on the guitar in relation to the notes on the stave. The

diagram shows the notes on all frets on a guitar; after the twelfth fret, they repeat from the first

fret again.


24



The Basics

The notes on the fretboard

25





The Basics

27




28






30

And not pivoted to angle away from the string it is aiming for:

< >

...\... or .../...

This is because most of the force that you put into playing that string is effectively lost through

minimal plectrum resistance.

Different Grips

People hold plectrums in different ways, but the two most common grips are shown here:

There is no real right or wrong grip - choose the grip that you feel is comfortable, and that holds

the plectrum fairly tight.

Left-hand TechniquesHammer on

This is where a finger from the left-hand taps, or 'hammers' a note that is not played by the right-

hand.

Pull off

This is the opposite of hammering on, where you pull your finger away from the string so that it

sounds a note.Bend

This is literally when you bend a string up to produce a note of a higher pitch. There are also

techniques such as a pre-bend, where the string is bent up to a note before the string is plucked

- to do this accurately takes practice, as you should instinctively know how far to bend the string

without hearing the note being played.

Slide

Moving one finger from one note to another on the same string, without taking your finger off the

fretboard.

Finger muting

When you use the fingers on your left hand to dampen the sound of the strings. Is very useful inmuting single strings, as opposed to palm muting.










34

This is a simple technique that should be easy to grasp once you recognise the sound of palm

muting.

Basic AccessoriesSlide

Generally made from glass or copper, a slide is a hollow tube that fits over either the middle or

ring finger. Slide guitar is difficult to master, but following these principles should make thingsslightly easier:

· With a slide, the correct tone should be produced almost directly above the metal strip of the fret

- not behind it.

· Try to mute the strings you are not playing with your right hand.

· Play over open tunings (DADF# Ad, DGDGBd, CGCGCe, EBEG#Be, etc).

· Use a soft, elasticated hair band over the first fret to dampen the string area behind where you

are playing.

· Practise playing scales across strings, and up and down the neck, whilst ensuring you can only

hear one note at a time.

· Practise playing two notes at a time.

Capo

Literally meaning 'head', the capo can be moved to any fret and provides a higher register of

playing. Capos are inexpensive and widely used. They are very effective when used to double

track rhythm guitar parts.

E-Bow

An E-Bow is a device held above the guitar strings in the right hand. It produces a magnetic field

that causes the strings to continuously vibrate, creating ‘infinite sustain’, and a violin/keyboard-

esque sound.



35

Technique

Warming UpPlaying the guitar, as with all physical activities, requires your muscles to ‘warm up’ before you

are able to perform to your full potential. The time taken to warm up could generally be aroundhalf an hour, but it is a good time to practice theory, scales, arpeggios and so on, so extending a

warm up session into a ‘proper’ practice session of anywhere between 1 and 8 hours is a good

idea.

It is very important to warm up using a metronome, and you should ideally use one for practising

almost every other aspect of your playing. Another good idea is to tap either your right or left foot

in time with the metronome, as physically 'feeling' the rhythm, or tempo is very important. Try the

following exercises to help discover which helps the most:

Tap your either foot on every beat of the bar:

Tap your foot on every other beat (1 & 3)

Tap your foot on every other beat (2 & 4)

This can be tried with your guitar and a metronome, or anywhere, simply by listening to any song

and tapping your foot along with the rhythm - see if you can identify the time signature of the

song at the same time (for more information on time signatures, see page 17).

A general principle for warming up is to start with a slow tempo that feels comfortable, and then

slowly edge up the speed as the practice session continues. A good system might include

playing at one speed for the first half hour, then taking a 5 minute break, adding between 5-10

beats per minute (bpm), playing for 20 minutes at this speed, then taking another break, and

increasing the speed again, then repeating this procedure.





37

Technique

Remember to keep a consistent 'Up Down' strumming pattern throughout.

2. Left hand warm up – Finger Stretch

A good exercise to prepare the muscles in the fingers on the left hand for playing is to slowly

stretch them along the fretboard. This is a very useful warm up exercise, in that it can alsoincrease the amount of notes within the range of your fingers by preparing them for making big

stretches.

For this exercise, follow these exercises to a metronome, and continue the patterns as far down

the neck as possible:

Take care with stretching exercises, and play them slowly at first, or you may risk straining the

muscles you are attempting to warm up. Once you are used to the 1 fret gap between your

fingers, try increasing the gap to 2 frets.

Play the next exercises forwards and backwards up the whole length of the fretboard (as this is

only a warm up exercise, and has no key signature as such, ignore the fact that sharps and flats

have been mixed up):




38

The next exercise should help to warm up your alternate picking skills:

Play this fully forwards and backwards as many times as you like.















Major Scales

45

THE E MAJOR SCALE SHAPE

The E major chord shape can be made out by combining the capsules: R2, 54, R4, 33, 52, R2.





Three Notes Per String Scales

47

Three Notes Per String Major Scale ShapesThree notes per string shapes are the more comprehensive scales that guitarists use. When put

together they cover the whole neck, and give the player a greater number of notes under their fingers. They can also be the basis of a lot of useful warm up exercises. There are 7 of these

shapes.

SHAPE 1 SHAPE 2 SHAPE 3







The Pentatonic ScalesPentatonic refers to a scale with five tones. As with the CAGED major scale shapes, there are

five shapes of the pentatonic scale (which can be arranged into the CAGED system). Pentatonicscales can be either major or minor.

The minor pentatonic scales are immensely popular in modern popular music, especially within

blues, rock, and pop.

Major Pentatonics

The major pentatonics are extremely useful when improvising over a major key, as the ‘awkward’

degrees of the scale, the 4th and 7th, are not played within this scale, hence reducing the

likelihood of hitting a ‘wrong’ note.

SHAPE 1 (OR THE E SHAPE)


50



Major Pentatonics

SHAPE 2 (OR THE D SHAPE)

51









Minor Pentatonics

The Minor Pentatonics

Minor pentatonics form the base of most rock and blues guitar playing, and are very easy to

remember and to improvise riffs over. The minor pentatonics can be played over a major key, by

using the relative minor scale. This gives a slightly different flavour to the song being played.

SHAPE 1 (OR THE E SHAPE)

55







SHAPE 4 (OR THE A SHAPE)


58







Modes of the Major Scale

D ORIAN The Dorian mode is a minor scale, as it features a flat 3 and a flat 7. The Dorian mode is very

common in rock music. The formula is:

T s T T T s T or R 2 b3 4 5 6 b7

61





Modes of the Major Scale

L YDIAN The Lydian mode is a major scale, and its distinctive feature is that it has an augmented 4th note.

The formula is:

T T T s T T s or R 2 3 #4 5 6 7

63









The Harmonic Minor Scale

The Harmonic Minor ScaleThe harmonic minor scale is an unusual scale, and has a kind of Egyptian sound, given to it by the

tone and a half interval between the flat 6th and major 7th. For the shapes within this section, the

modes of the harmonic minor are next to the shapes.

SHAPE 1 (HARMONIC MINOR)

67



SHAPE 2 LOCRIAN NATURAL 6


68




SHAPE 3 IONIAN SHARP 5

69



SHAPE 4 DORIAN SHARP 4


70




SHAPE 5 PHRYGIAN DOMINANT

71



SHAPE 6 LYDIAN SHARP 2


72




SHAPE 7 MODE 7

73



The Melodic Minor ScaleThe melodic minor scale is used mostly in jazz music. The only difference between the melodic

minor and the major scale is the flat 3.

SHAPE 1 (MELODIC MINOR)


74



The Melodic Minor Scale

SHAPE 2 DORIAN FLAT 2

75



SHAPE 3 LYDIAN AUGMENTED


76




SHAPE 4 LYDIAN FLAT 7

77



SHAPE 5 MIXOLYDIAN FLAT 6


78




SHAPE 6 LOCRIAN SHARP 2

79



SHAPE 7 ALTERED


80



The Blues Scale

Other Scales

The Blues ScaleThe blues scale is a form of the minor pentatonic, with a flat 5th added in as a passing note for

improvisation.

SHAPE 1 SHAPE 2

81



SHAPE 3 SHAPE 4


82



The Blues Scale

SHAPE 5

83



THE CHROMATIC SCALE

The chromatic scale is a scale that has all 12 notes in it. The numbers represent the fingering, and

the arrow indicates that you should slide the fourth finger up one fret to reach the third octave.


84



Other Scales

THE DIMINISHED SCALE

85



THE WHOLE TONE SCALE


86



Other Scales

THE AUGMENTED SCALE

87




88



After the previous section on scales, you should be well primed to grasp the theory behindchords. Where this book differs from a ‘Chord Book’ is in the fact that, whilst I will lay out the

basic shapes for the primary chords, I will not deluge you with tons of chord shapes that you will

never use. Hopefully though, the information I provide will give you the tools to find new chord

shapes of your own, without the need to refer back to check the exact shape.

TriadsTriads are basically groups of three different notes; most commonly the root, 3rd and 5th. Any

grouping of two different notes are technically intervals. On the stave, triads look like this:

Triads are made up of thirds (both major and minor), for example, in the C major triad above,there are the notes C, E, and G. The distance between C and E is a major third, and the

distance between E and G is a minor third. The same is true of all major triads.

For contrast, a minor triad of C would have the notes C, Eb, and G. The distance from C to Eb is

a minor third, and Eb to G is a major third.

Naming Conventions

1 When a chord has no major or minor indication after it, but a number: 7, 9, 11, or 13 then

it is assumed that the chord has a major third, and a dominant (flat) 7th.2 A ‘sus’ chord has no gender; the 2nd, or 4th replaces the 3rd.

3 An ‘add’ chord simply adds the specified note.


89

Chords




90

To make a C major chord on a guitar, it is usual to use more than three notes in the chord. Thus

a C major chord may be represented on the stave as so:

In this illustration, the only notes being played are C, E, and G, but there are two instances of C

and E in different octaves. This covers a wider frequency area than using just three notes, andmakes the sound of the chord fuller and louder.

Building On Triads

When other notes within a scale are added to a triad, we get variations upon the basic major and

minor chords, including: sus chords, aug chords, major 7ths, 11ths, and many more.

If notes are continually added at intervals of thirds (see below), we begin to see more complex

chords, which become increasingly difficult to play with only four fingers and six strings. To

compensate for this, we can use different inversions.

As can be seen in the above diagram, the C Major 9, when played on the tab, is missing one

note (G), which is the perfect fifth of C. This does not change the chord immensely, since the

sound of a perfect 5th can be said to be implied in the tonic.



CAGED Major Chords

Open Chords: The CAGED Major ChordsIn the following diagrams, where the root is an open string, the O is coloured red. Where the 7th

is an open string, the O is coloured blue. Do not play the open strings marked X.

C MAJOR C MAJOR 7 C DOMINANT 7 (C7)

A MAJOR A MAJOR 7 A DOMINANT 7 (A7)

91



G MAJOR G MAJOR 7 G DOMINANT 7 (G7)

E MAJOR E MAJOR 7 E DOMINANT 7 (E7)


92



CAGED Major Chords

D MAJOR D MAJOR 7 D DOMINANT 7 (D7)

93



Open Chords: The CAGED Minor Chords

C MINOR C MINOR 7 C MINOR MAJOR 7

A MINOR A MINOR 7 A MINOR MAJOR 7


94



CAGED Minor Chords

G MINOR G MINOR 7 G MINOR MAJOR 7

E MINOR E MINOR 7 E MINOR MAJOR 7

95



D MINOR D MINOR 7 D MINOR MAJOR 7

Bar ChordsBar Chords are chords that can be moved up, down, and all around the neck of the guitar, and

hence unlock a mighty array of chords within your fingertips. They are all based around the

CAGED open chords, with the only simple difference being that you use your fingers to bar wherethe open strings should be.

On the opposite page I have included the five basic CAGED shapes as bar chords; it is easy

enough to work out other shapes based on the 7th chords above, and the information provided

in the next section on other chords. The capsules coloured grey, with an X should not be heard

when playing the chord.


96



Bar Chords

C SHAPE A SHAPE G SHAPE

E SHAPE D SHAPE

97




98

Other ChordsI have not included shapes for the following chords, so this is where you have to use your brain.

All of the shapes are simple to work out when based on the above chord shapes. Simply findthe degree of the chord to be changed, and match it with the top number of the corresponding

CAGED bar shape, and change the fingering accordingly. There are blank neck diagrams at the

back of the book so you can write the chords you discover down.

Sus(pended) Chords

Often mistakenly called ‘sustained’ chords, there are two types of sus chord; the sus2 and thesus4. The 2nd or 4th are suspended over the 3rd - ie, they replace the 3rd in the chord, makingthe gender of the chord indeterminate.

Aug(mented) Chords

Augmented chords are represented either by ‘aug’ or by a ‘+’ symbol. They are made up of the

root, 3rd, and a #5th.

Add Chords

‘Add’ chords are simply chords that have had other notes from the scale placed on ‘top’ of the

chord. Often there are chords such as Gadd9, and other numbers above 7. This just indicates

that the note to be added is over an octave higher than the root note. The only numbers that are

used above 7 are 9, 11, and 13, as these are degrees of the scale that are not included in most

chords. For quick reference, the following are an octave above their first occurrence as:

9 = 2nd

11 = 4th

13 = 6th

Minor 7 b5 Chords

‘Minor 7b5’ (or half diminished) chords are represented by either ‘m7

b5’ or by a ‘

ø

’ symbol.They are made up of a root, b3, b5, and b7.

Diminished Chords

‘Diminished’ chords are represented by either ‘dim’ or by a ‘°’ symbol. They are made up of a

root, b3, and b5.

A diminished 7th chord is represented by either ‘dim7’ or by a ‘°7’ symbol. It is made up of aroot, b3, b5, and bb7.



Harmonised Scales

99

The Harmonised ScalesBy adding together the thirds of each note within a scale, we get something called the

harmonised scale, which is basically a scale made up of chords. This can be seen in thediagram below - a C major scale is on the top row, whilst the 3rds of each note within the scale

have been compiled to make the C harmonised scale on the bottom row.

All of the notes in the chords above come from the C major scale.

The pattern of chords within a harmonised scale is the same for all major keys, but is slightly

different for the harmonic and melodic minor scales. The order of the pattern also changes in

tandem with changes in modes.

Degree/

Mode

I II III IV V VI VII

Ionian Major 7 Minor 7 Minor 7 Major 7 Dominant 7 Minor 7 Minor 7b5Dorian Minor 7 Minor 7 Major 7 Dominant 7 Minor 7 Minor 7b5 Major 7

Phrygian Minor 7 Major 7 Dominant 7 Minor 7 Minor 7b5 Major 7 Minor 7

Lydian Major 7 Dominant 7 Minor 7 Minor 7b5 Major 7 Minor 7 Minor 7

Mixolydian Dominant 7 Minor 7 Minor 7b5 Major 7 Minor 7 Minor 7 Major 7

Aeolian Minor 7 Minor 7b5 Major 7 Minor 7 Minor 7 Major 7 Dominant 7

Locrian Minor 7b5 Major 7 Minor 7 Minor 7 Major 7 Dominant 7 Minor 7




100

Harmonised Harmonic Minor

The basic harmonised harmonic minor scale is:

Degree/Scale


Harmonic

Minor

Minor

(Major 7)Minor 7b5 Major 7#5 Minor 7 Dominant 7 Major 7 Diminished

Harmonised Melodic Minor

The basic harmonised harmonic minor scale is:

Degree/

Scale


Melodic

Minor

Minor

(Major 7)

Minor 7 Major 7#5 Dominant 7 Dominant 7 Minor 7b5 Minor 7b5

InversionsInversions are simply chords where the order of the notes within the chord has been changed.

All of the chords in the above stave are C major. However, the

second chord has the 3rd degree of the scale as the bass note. This is called the 1st inversion.

The third chord has the 5th degree of the scale as the bass note. This is called the 2ndinversion.

Slash Chords

Inversions are usually expressed through using slash chords. The letter on the left of the slash

is the name of the chord being played, and the letter to the right is the bass note.

A/C# F/C Bb/GbThe first of these, A/C# (or ‘A over C#’) represents the chord of A major, with a C# (major 3rd)played as the bass note. This is a 1st inversion chord.



Inversions

101

The second, F/C represents the chord of F major, with a C (perfect 5th) played as the bass note.

This is a 2nd inversion chord.

The third, Bb/Gb represents the chord of Bb major, with a Gb (minor 6th) played as the bass note.

For illustration purposes, I have included a possible fingering for each of these chords. The bass

note is coloured yellow.

A/C# F/C Bb/Gb




102



Arpeggios are in some sense, chords as scales. A basic major arpeggio plays the root, 3rd and5th individually across a chord shape.

Major ArpeggiosC MAJOR SHAPE C MAJOR 7 SHAPE C DOMINANT 7 SHAPE

A MAJOR SHAPE A MAJOR 7 SHAPE A DOMINANT 7 SHAPE


103

Arpeggios



G MAJOR SHAPE G MAJOR 7 SHAPE G DOMINANT 7 SHAPE

E MAJOR SHAPE E MAJOR 7 SHAPE E DOMINANT 7 SHAPE


104



Arpeggios

D MAJOR SHAPE D MAJOR 7 SHAPE D DOMINANT 7 SHAPE

Minor Arpeggios

C MINOR SHAPE C MINOR 7 SHAPE C MINOR (MAJOR 7)

105



A MINOR SHAPE A MINOR 7 SHAPE A MINOR (MAJOR 7)

G MINOR SHAPE G MINOR 7 SHAPE G MINOR (MAJOR 7)


106



Arpeggios

E MINOR SHAPE E MINOR 7 SHAPE E MINOR (MAJOR 7)

D MINOR SHAPE D MINOR 7 SHAPE D MINOR (MAJOR 7)

107



Minor 7b5 Arpeggio Shapes

C M7b5 SHAPE A M7b5 SHAPE G M7b5 SHAPE

E M7b5 SHAPE D M7

b5 SHAPE


108



One of the activities you will most likely spend a lot of time on whilst playing the guitar, isdeciphering the chord structures, solos, and melodies behind your favourite songs. Although

when still learning this can tend to be very much a trial and error method, there are several

techniques and pointers that should make doing this far easier, and more enjoyable.

Tip Number 1

Two Major Chords

If you spot two major chords being used within the song that are one tone apart, it is very likely

that these are the 4th and 5th degrees of the scale that the song is based around. Once the 4th

and 5th are known, it is a simple matter of counting downwards to the tonic.

Remember: T T s T T T s or - - - °

Key:

= Major

- = Minor

° = Diminished

Tip Number 2

Use your EQ!

Most home stereos and hi-fi’s have some basic EQ functionality - even if it is only a treble and a

bass dial/slider. Using these it is possible to aid your ears to hear instruments that may be buried

in the mix.

For Guitars:

Fortunately, the guitar generally occupies the middle ground in frequency range. However,solos and acoustic guitars can occupy more high frequencies than normal rhythm playing. To

emphasise these high frequencies, simply turn down the bass, and turn up the treble.

For Bass Lines:

Bass lines often follow the same basic progression as the chords do. Therefore by turning down

the treble, and turning up the bass, it becomes easier to hear the bass line, which can help to

discover a song's chord progression.


109




Tip Number 3

Maintain your Balance!

Thanks to the invention of stereo (two channel) sound,it is possible to almost isolate instruments playing in

only one channel. Some songs ‘hard pan’ the guitars

to one speaker, meaning, for instance that it can only

be heard in the right speaker, and not the left. If this

is the case, it can be far easier to decipher a piece of

music by using your balance controls on your hi-fi to eliminate the speaker that the guitar is not

playing in.

Tip Number 4

Invert the phase

This will generally need a computer and software, although there are other ways of achieving

this effect (for instance by plugging headphones in half way into a headphones socket). By

reversing the phase, certain frequencies within the song are cancelled out, leaving only the bare

bones of the song. The result you get largely depends on how the song was mixed in the studio,

but various effects include isolating the guitar effects channel, isolating the reverb on a voice, or

(hopefully) isolating the lead guitar.

1. Using a software sound editor (such as WaveLab, Audacity, or Peak), open a stereo sound file.

2. Select either the left or right channel only (it doesn’t matter which) with the cursor.

3. Look for a function in the program such as ‘invert phase’ or similar, and activate it.

4. Choose ‘Save As’ from the file menu.

5. It doesn’t matter what format the file is saved in, as long as it is saved as a MONO file.

6. Play back the saved file, and find out the results!

Tip Number 5

Cheat!

If you are trying to work out a fast guitar solo, and it is too fast to clearly hear all of the notes,

the logical option would be to slow it down. There are several ways of doing this; some guitar

effects units come with the ability to record around 30 seconds of music, and slow it down without

altering its pitch, but again, by far the best method is to use a computer.

The most important thing to bear in mind when changing the speed of a piece of music is to

retain its original pitch. Most software sound editors have the ability to do this, although the

quality of the results varies widely. Experimentation with your particular sound editing program is

the best way of getting decent results.


110

A large amount of the music made

shortly after the invention of multi-track

recording, and introduction of stereo

sound equipment in the 1960s usedhard panning far more than today. For

evidence of this, listen to any stereo

recordings from this time by the Beatles

and Jimi Hendrix, for example.




111




112



113

SECTION 2:

SONGWRITING




114



IntroductionSongwriting is a craft, and something that can take a long time to become competent in, and

as such can seem daunting at first. But as with all crafts, it becomes easier with time, patience

and most of all, practice. By learning musical theory, you can give yourself a tremendous

headstart in this area. Most of the classic and successful songs we hear today adhere to certain

‘rules’, although there are countless examples that break them outright - one of the great things

about music. However, by learning these songwriting ‘rules’, you give yourself a passport to

understanding them, and once they are understood, they become far easier to use, break, and

break with great effect.

As you progress, you may find it useful to keep a ‘hook book’ - a book or folder that contains

some favourite lyrical and melodic lines that you have written. Whether this includes whole

songs, single lines, or just a single phrase, it is good to have a hard copy record of the best of

your work, safe from PC crashes or any other mishaps that might befall the originals. Plus, by

combining the best bits from some of your average songs, you may come up with a great song.

TerminologyThere are many specialist terms used in songwriting, and it would be useful to deal with the most

common ones straight off.

Tessitura Tessitura is a word that refers to the general pitch range of a voice/instrument

within a song. It is important to have a varied tessitura within a song, and not

to stick within a narrow pitch range.

Melody A variety of musical sounds that alternate over a certain time scale.

Hook The phrase usually found in a chorus that makes people remember the

song. A hook can be lyrical or melodic.

Rhythm The origins of the word ‘rhythm’ come from the concept of ‘to flow’, as in astream. Could be expressed as “the measured beat or pulse which marks

the character and expression of the music” (Webster’s Revised Unabridged

Dictionary, 1913).

Song Structure The structure of a song, in terms of the mixture of the elements of verse,

bridge, chorus and middle eight.

Lyrics The words that are put to songs.

Metre Usually referring to the inherent rhythm in the words used as lyrics.

Harmony Two juxtaposed voices/instruments that differ in pitch and quality.

A Capella Without instrumental accompaniment. Often used to describe singing solo

(singing ‘a capella’).


115

Songwriting




116

Building BlocksIntro(duction)

An intro will often last around eight bars, and generally comprises an instrumental arrangement

of the verse. The intro is also a good place to introduce an instrumental melody that hints at the

hook that arrives in the chorus.

Verse

The verse will often centre around a lyrical idea rather than a melodic one, as its main purpose is

to set the listener up for what is to come in the chorus. A verse usually lasts around eight bars,

although some very long verses may last for sixteen bars or more. The chord progressions are

usually only four bars long, and are repeated. The lyrics tend to change with each new verse.

Bridge

The short section that sometimes appears between the verse and the chorus, to increase the

listener's anticipation for the chorus. The lyrics tend to stay the same throughout, although there

might be slight variations. Confusingly, Americans use ‘bridge’ to describe the middle eight. The

bridge is usually fairly short - between 4 - 8 bars.

Chorus

The big pay-off; what the song has been building towards throughout the intro, verse and bridge.

The big hook of the song is almost always included in the chorus. A chorus generally lasts eight

bars, with one four bar chord progression that is played through twice.

There may be slight alterations in the lyric, but different choruses generally tend to have the same

lyrics throughout.

Middle Eight

The section added to include a bit of melodic variation towards the middle/end of a song. There

may be different lyrics, or more commonly, an instrumental solo. Called the middle eight becausethere are usually eight bars.

Outro

There are generally two ways to finish a song; with a bang or a whimper - neither is necessarily

better than the other, as they serve different purposes for different songs and styles of music.

The whimper option usually involves repeating the chorus until the song is faded out. The bang

option involves building the song up to a climax with the final chorus and finishing off with a quick

transition from loudness to silence.



117

Songwriting

Song StructureWhen constructing a song, these building blocks need to be put into a specific order. There are a

number of structures that are more common than others, for the simple reason that they are moreeffective in delivering a balanced mixture of anticipation (verse), and reward (chorus).

Some of the more common basic structures are shown below:

Verse - Chorus

A progression of one verse, one chorus, another verse and chorus. After this there might be a

middle eight and another one of two choruses until the end.

Verse - Bridge - Chorus

The inclusion of a bridge between the verse and chorus can add to the anticipation and

consequent pay-off promised by the chorus.

Verse - Verse - Chorus

If the verse is particularly short, or there is a lot to say lyrically in a particular song, it may have a

double verse to begin the song, followed by a chorus, and then a single verse and chorus.

Verse - Chorus - Variation

Although less common, the ‘variation’ can be included to take the song in a completely new

melodic or rhythmic direction, and may well last longer than eight bars.

These are simply guidelines, and within each of these basic structures there is a lot of scope

for variation and improvisation with the form of the song. It may help to listen to some of your

favourite songs, identify their structure, and write it down - this can help to instinctively identify

which sections might aid in the construction of your own songs.

Songwriting TechniquesKey Changes

Changing the key of a song at a poignant moment can have a vastly beneficial effect by

heightening the emotions of the listener. Usually raising the key signature by a tone, or by a

perfect 5th can have this effect.

Variation in tessitura at key moments

Often the vocals in the verse of a song will have a mid-range tessitura. By raising the tessitura in




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the chorus, the singer heightens the intensity of the song and the emotions in the listener.

Building a Crescendo

By slowly building up the song throughout the intro, first verse and bridge, the song should reacha climax at the chorus. Three elements have a key influence in the building of a crescendo -

volume, velocity and instrumentation.

Volume: Volume can be built up in two ways; either through control over your instruments

whilst playing them, or at the mixing desk. By subtly increasing the volume up

to the desired climax, a greater pay-off can be reached at that point, as slowly

building up anticipation without the listener necessarily realising it is the goal.

Velocity: Increasing the velocity (speed - ie from quarter notes to eighth notes) of, for

example strumming, in the build up to a chorus can be very effective.

Instrumentation: A very common technique is to add more instruments as the song goes on -

having one rhythm guitar in the verse and two or more in the chorus is a

favourite technique of many songwriters.

Chord ProgressionsMost songs are written within one key signature, and there are a number of specific chord

progressions that songwriters follow in whichever key they are writing in.

The 12 Bar Blues

There are three chords that probably appear in more songs than any others: I, IV, and V. The

'12 Bar Blues' is made up entirely of these chords. The 12 bar blues is, as its name suggests,

a very popular chord progression within blues music. It is also a good progression to practise

improvisation over. The formula for the 12 bar blues can vary from source to source, but

generally, the progression below is a good appropriation of it:

To illustrate how this works, below is a 12 bar blues in the key of G major:



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Songwriting

The dominant seventh chord introduces tension into the progression, which is at first not fully

resolved (D7 > C, or V7 > IV), but on the third beat of the twelfth bar is introduced again, to be

resolved when the tonic G major chord is played again in the first bar.

The slashes in the diagram mean that the guitarist may use any rhythmic pattern that they feel is

appropriate.

Other Common Chord Progressions

Chord progressions vary within each genre of music, so the best way to discover common chord

progressions within your favourite genre is to listen to them, write down the chords within them,

work out the key (use the harmonised scale charts to help you), and then substitute the degrees

of the scale for the chord names.

Some of the more popular progressions in popular music are shown below - try mixing and

matching them in your songs:

I - VI - IV - V

I - IV - V

I - IV - V - VI

I - V - IV - VI

VI - IV - I - V

II - IV - I - V

I - VI - V - IV

Below there are some of the stronger chords to write songs with, loosely in order of their

frequency within different songs:

I IV V(7) VI II bVII III




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LyricsThe importance of lyrics in contemporary popular music is arguably almost as high as the music

itself. Although there may not be any profound meaning behind the vast majority of lyrics topopular songs, the simple fact is that this does not seem to matter to the vast majority of people.

However, if a listener can relate to some catchy, easily singable lyrics, it can enhance the song

immeasurably.

Rhyme

Rhyming is used extensively in lyric writing for the reason that it makes lyrics very easy to

remember for the listener. There are almost infinite varieties of rhyme schemes, but the simpler

ones are widespread, especially in pop music. Some examples of popular rhyme schemes are

shown below.

Rhyme Scheme Example

aaaa The King had a table

For knights that were able,

Had a steed in a stable,

And spoke of Babel

aabb The King had a table

For knights that were able

To save a princess

Who was in distress

abab The King had a table

In his largest room

For knights that were able

To fight off doom

abcb The King had a table

In his largest room

That was so big and coldIt felt like a tomb

Of course not all verses or choruses have four lines, but these schemes can easily be adapted

for any number of lines.

Metre

Metre is basically the measure of the syllables within a line of words. It is very important that

lyrics have a regular metre (more important than in poetry), as lyrics have to fit to a constant

rhythm.



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Songwriting

Examples: \ / \ / \ / \

The cat jumped over the mat

/ \ / \ / \

The hat sat on the cat

Speech generally has an upwards (/) and downwards (\) motion in its emphases. Thus metre

is about more than the number of syllables within one line. Although the two lines above do not

have the same number of syllables (7 and 6), they rhythmically fit because they both end with a

downwards emphasis.

Generally the best way to test the metre of a lyric is to read it out, bearing in mind that it should

be simple and singable.

The ‘Shape’ of the Words - Guttural Sounds & Plosives

Almost every word in the English language sounds different. Although this may be a very obvious

statement, when writing songs, it is important to bear this in mind. Certain letters can make

words hard to sing, or may provide the wrong sound for the intended mood of the song.

Letters such as ‘g’ and ‘k’ are guttural (formed in the throat), and as such, are harder to sing

smoothly than letters such as ‘s’ and ‘r’. Also, 'plosives' such as 'b' and 'p' make big ejections of

air from the mouth, and cause 'pops' when recorded on a microphone without a pop shield.

Subject Matter

For the most part, the listener must be able to directly relate to what is being sung in a song. It

is no coincidence that most of the songs ever written have been about love. Love is perhaps the

one unifying feeling that every human on the planet can feel or has felt, and hence can easily

identify with the protagonist in a love song.

Conversational Tone

Some of the best lyricists in the world have a knack for writing lyrics as if they were a

conversation. By creating the impression that the singer is talking directly to the listener, a feeling

of intimacy can be struck up instantly.

Imagery

The use of fresh and original images can mark a good song out from a bad one. Imagery is the

use of descriptive words to paint an image in the listener’s mind.

Example: Sitting here under the blue sky

Looking out on the green sea

The underlined words above paint certain images within a listener’s mind. Images such as thesea and the sky are very common because everyone knows what they look like and can easily




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form a picture in their mind as a result.

Metaphor

A metaphor is a description of something that is not meant literally. This may be explained moreclearly through example.

Examples: I am a tree

She is a raindrop

In this example, I do not intend to say that I actually am a tree, and she is a raindrop. This is

clearly a metaphor, because people are not trees or raindrops, but by saying that we are, we

forcefully assume their qualities in the mind of the listener. This lyric may mean to state that ‘I’ (a

tree) am in some way dependent upon ‘she’ (a raindrop) to keep me ‘alive’ (whether it is meant

emotionally or physically). This is a more advanced lyrical technique than simply saying 'I needyou', which may have more power, but leaves nothing to the imagination of a listener.

Simile

A simile is similar to a metaphor, except with the difference that a simile uses ‘like’ or ‘as’ to

compare qualities rather than assume them.

Examples: I am like a tree

She is like a raindrop

She falls as a leaf

The first two lines are essentially saying the same thing as in the metaphor example, but this

time perhaps implying that ‘I’ am only like a tree in one or two ways. The third line is simply an

example of how similes might otherwise be phrased.

Adjectives

Adjectives are descriptive words that go with other words. When used well, adjectives can

greatly add to the effect of a lyric.

Examples: I sat with an old manHe frowned angrily

A glassy breeze blew through my hair

The first line is a simple descriptive adjective, placed before a noun, and is the most common

type of adjective (other examples include: ‘blue room’, ‘shiny steel’ and ‘wet surface’). The

second line shows a slightly different example where the adjective ‘angrily’ follows the verb

‘frowned’.

The third line has taken a more unconventional approach, by taking the noun ‘glass’ and turned

it into an adjective. This is not necessarily meant to say that there was actually glass on thebreeze, but the juxtaposition of images may bring to mind a cold, icy, chilling wind in the mind of



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the listener, without actually saying it outright. Using original adjectives can mark your lyrics out

from those in other songs.

Assonance

Assonance essentially refers to words that do not quite rhyme. Words that sound alike, but do

not rhyme are said to ‘share assonance’.

Example: I talked to Wilfred Owen

Whilst he was writing a poem

The words ‘Owen’ and ‘poem’ both have the ‘owe’ sound in common, but as they end with

different sounds, ‘m’ and ‘n’, although they sound very similar, they do not rhyme. However, the

use of assonance can be just as effective as the use of words that fully rhyme.

Allegory

Allegory is more of a technique used to write a whole song rather than to add something to it.

Basically an extended metaphor, allegory is a way to tell a story, without saying exactly what you

mean - giving it two meanings, literal and symbolic.

This can add greatly to the originality of what you are saying in your lyrics, and is most commonly

used for commenting upon social and political events and situations.

Famous examples of allegory include George Orwell’s book ‘Animal Farm’, and John Bunyan’s

‘Pilgrim’s Progress’.

Alliteration

Alliteration is the method of using repetition of the first letters of words.

Examples: The sea slunk softly by

The fiery fox felt free

The use of alliteration can help to make effective and memorable lyrics, especially when using

groups of three.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a complex word used to describe very simple words like ‘pop’. Basically, words

that sound like the sounds they describe are onomatopoeic.

Examples: The rock splashed into the water

The window pane cracked

Onomatopoeia can have a big impact in lyrics when used at key points.




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Writing MelodiesThere are three important factors to bear in mind when writing

melodies: repetition, range, and rhythm. A very commontechnique for vocal lines is to write the vocal melody in the

relative minor key if the song is in a major key.

Repetition: To be easily memorable, it is essential that there is a good amount of repetition of

melodic phrases throughout the song. For example there may be a two bar melody

in an eight bar verse, that is repeated four times.

Range: To avoid boring the listener, there should be some variation in tessitura; usually the

chorus will occupy a higher pitch range than the verse, as the chorus should

essentially heighten the senses and the emotions of the listener.

Rhythm: A song that has a verse and chorus where the rhythm of the lyrics are continuous

quarter notes, is not likely to be very interesting. Altering the rhythm of the melody

and using syncopation can add greatly to a song.

Inspiration Vs PerspirationWhilst it may seem that professional songwriters have an easy time coming up with new ideas,

and effortlessly come up with original hit songs, most of the time this is not the case. David

Byrne (of Talking Heads) once likened the process of songwriting to waiting for a bus; if you sit

there waiting for a bus, eventually one will come, and you can get on it - if you are not there

waiting for the bus, it is not going to come and get you. Creativity is largely the same; if you

are sitting down playing your instrument, waiting for inspiration, you are far more likely to come

across an idea (at least a musical one) than you are when doing the shopping.

However, even the best songwriters suffer from writer’s block, so if you hit that wall, here are a

few tips to try and get back on the songwriting ‘road’.

Read a newspaper

Newspapers can be a gold mine of ideas, from the serious headlines on the front page, to the

‘and finally...’ items further back in the paper.

Read a book

Countless songs have been based on, or gained their inspiration from, books. Examples include

‘Big Brother’ by Stevie Wonder (‘1984’ - George Orwell), and ‘The Ground Beneath Her Feet’ by

U2 (‘The Ground Beneath Her Feet’ - Salman Rushdie).

Collaborate

For a great example of melodic

rhythm and phrasing in a

song, listen to the vocal line

in ‘What’s Happening Brother’by Marvin Gaye (Track 2 on

‘What’s Going On’).



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Songwriting

Some of the best new ideas are brought about through collaboration. Whether you collaborate

with another musician or not, is not necessarily the point - another person’s input always has the

potential to be better than a single person’s point of view. Brian Eno was never a ‘musician’ in a

traditional sense, but has performed on and produced many albums, including ‘The Joshua Tree’,which has sold over 10 million copies.

Pick up a new instrument

New instruments put a different pattern of notes under your fingers. It is highly unlikely that you

would write the same song with a piano as you would with a guitar. Thus new instruments have

the potential to breed new ideas.

Listen to a new genre of music

Some of the best, and most commercially successful songs of all time have famously mixed

together two or more different genres of music. Artists such as David Bowie, Philip Glass and

Björk have infused their music with many different styles of music, and have benefited hugely

from doing so.

Use some new chords and progressions

The substitution of a slightly different chord in a song can make a big difference in the sound of asong. Although the difference may seem small between a I, IV, V progression and a I, IVsus4, Vprogression, it can make all the difference between a pedestrian song, and one that stands out.

Also, don’t be afraid of making up chords - if it sounds good, essentially it doesn’t matter. You

can work out what chord you have come across by looking at the intervals between the notes.

Make a list of words

If you want to write a song about something in particular, it can be helpful to draw up a list of key

words that you relate to that subject, either off the top of your head, or with the aid of a dictionary

or thesaurus. This can help to set the mood for the piece, or condense what you would like to

say into some effective lyrics.

Don’t be afraid to use a rhyming dictionary

Personally, I would use this as a last resort, as it can detract from the personal element that is

necessarily involved in songwriting. However, if you’re stuck trying to find a word that rhymes

with a word like ‘orange’, rhyming dictionaries can provide an invaluable asset.




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127

SECTION 3:

MUSIC

TECHNOLOGY




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Music technology deals with sound. Whilst this seems a very obvious statement, it is essentialto examine exactly what sound is before continuing. Just as understanding notation is essential

to gain a full understanding of the music we listen to, understanding what you are looking at on a

computer screen is essential to effectively working with digital audio.

Sound is made up of 3 factors: amplitude, frequency, and timbre.

Amplitude

As I am sure you will know, amplitude refers to how loud a sound is. In most audio equipment,

amplitude is measured in decibels (dB). There is no absolute value for a decibel, as it is

essentially a ratio between two different power levels – but unless you are particularly interestedin the mathematics of the logarithmic functions of the human ear, that's really all you need to bear

in mind about exactly what a decibel is for the moment.

In Figure 1, a sound's amplitude is represented by the distance between the peak and the trough

of the wave.

Figure 1: A cycle of a sine wave.

Frequency

The frequency of a sound determines its pitch. Frequency is commonly measured by the number

of complete cycles (such as the one shown in Figure 1) a sound wave completes per second.This is expressed in Hertz (Hz) and kilohertz (kHz).


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Basics




130

The higher the number of or cycles per second, the higher the pitch of the sound. Thus bird

song may have a high frequency, and a jet engine may have a low frequency. The human ear is

capable of hearing any sound within the range of 20 Hz - 20 kHz (20,000 Hz). The A note above

middle C is at 440 Hz, and is often used as a reference pitch for tuning instruments.

Timbre

The timbre of a sound can also be referred to as colour and tone. Timbre is the quality of a

sound; the factor that enables a person to distinguish a note played on a flute from a note played

on a guitar, for instance.

A Brief look at what happens when music technology encounters a sound

Both home and studio equipment today are moving rapidly towards the digital domain. Thusfor a proper examination of contemporary music technology, we must first take a look at what

happens when a digital device encounters a sound - as a sound is an analogue signal.

For a digital device to record and play back music, two components are essential:

1. Analogue to Digital converter (or: A/D converter, or ADC)

2. Digital to Analogue converter (or: D/A converter, or DAC)

These components convert an analogue voltage into binary code (lots of 0s and 1s), and then

back again. Every computer that has a soundcard has both of these built into the soundcard

(provided there are audio in and audio out sockets).

Conversion to digital:

Sample

In this context a sample is a snapshot of an incoming sound's voltage (analogue signal).

Bit Resolution/Bit Depth (Y-Axis)

Bit resolution describes the digital measurement of amplitude for a sample. Generally, the higher the number of the bit resolution/depth, the greater the quality of the sound sampled. Compact

Discs use a resolution of 16 bits, and at a 16 bit resolution there are 65,536 different levels at

which the ADC can measure the amplitude.



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Music Technology Basics

Sample Rate/Frequency (X-Axis)

The sample rate refers to how many times a 'snapshot' of the bit depth is taken per second. A

Swedish scientist called Harry Nyquist determined that to arrive at a faithful reproduction of anoriginal sound, the sample rate should be equal to, or greater than twice the frequency sampled.

This is commonly referred to as the Nyquist Theorem.

Because of the idea behind the Nyquist Theorem, when the first mass distributed consumer

digital audio format was decided upon (the CD), the sample rate was set at 44.1 kHz – just over

twice the 20 kHz that the human ear can detect.

However even at 44.1 kHz, it is still possible to detect a degradation of quality, mainly because

any harmonic frequencies that are above 44.1 kHz are cut off. Although we cannot hear these

high frequencies, their presence has an effect upon lower frequencies, and as they are cut off,sounds change. This is why higher end studios now tend to have 192 kHz recording facilities.

The 'Graph'

In digital audio applications, sound is generally represented as a wave along an x and y axis.

The x axis represents amplitude/level, whilst the y axis represents time. Level can be expressed

as either decibels, a percentage, or a decimal. Time can be expressed in minutes (m), seconds

(s), milliseconds (ms), as a timecode (in SMPTE), in samples, or as a representation of a file's

increasing size over time.




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There are 3 ways you can record your guitar:

· Direct Input (DI),

· Microphone (Mic)

· Line In

Direct InputFirstly, I'll deal with DI'ing because it's the most simple (and self explanatory). To DI, simply plug

your guitar straight into the recording device and press the red button...

Advantages:

Arguably should get the 'purest', unprocessed guitar sound.

Disadvantages:

Most recording equipment is not designed to record guitar directly.

MicrophoneUsing a microphone can be the most effective method for a 'live' sound, as a properly miked

amplifier, or acoustic guitar can sound great.

However, microphones are poor substitutes for a human ear, and therefore a vast array of

microphones have been produced for performing different tasks. The ubiquitous Shure SM57 is

the microphone of choice for many guitarists when it comes to recording and playing live.

Different Mics for Different Tykes

There are many different types of microphone available on the market:

Dynamic

Condenser

Large Diaphragm Condenser

Ribbon

Valve (Tube)

PZM


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Recording Guitar




134

However, the important ones for guitarists are dynamic and condenser microphones.

Dynamic

Dynamic mics are used largely for instruments with high sound pressure levels (SPLs), such asbass drums, and in live situations. They are cheap, with relatively simple designs, and can be

plugged directly into just about anything with a XLR to ¼" cable. The frequency response of

dynamic microphones is generally in the mid to low areas.

Condenser

Condenser mics tend to be a lot more fragile and expensive than dynamic mics, and are mostly

used in the studio for these reasons. Condenser mics have a pre-amp, and need some form of

external power - provided either through phantom power (provided through the XLR cable from

a mixing desk), or by an internal battery. Condensers give a more balanced frequency responsethan dynamic mics, and are able to pick up higher frequencies. They are easily identified,

because they are mostly silver in colour.

Microphone Placement

Electric Guitar Amplifiers

When placing microphones in front of speaker cabinets, the route towards finding the right

placement is always going to be a mixture of trial and error. Each individual amplifier may have

its own 'sweet spot' where the microphone sounds best when placed in front of it.

Generally, starting off by placing a mic at a right angle to the speaker, and moving it to different

positions in front of the speaker cone, maybe starting at the middle and moving outwards along

its radius should be a good method to begin with. How far you place the microphone from the

speaker depends on how 'up front' you want the sound to be. If you want the sound to be fairly

bass heavy and distorted, placing the mic 1 inch or less should give that result; although the

guitar sound may be a bit indistinct.

The further you place the mic from the speaker cabinet, the more of a room's reverb will be

captured in the recorded signal – which may be good or bad depending on your intended sound.

If you have a multi-speaker cabinet, and more than one microphone, it may be worth

experimenting by placing them in front of different speakers, and using faders to mix in the

two signals together. If the two mics are not matched (the same

model), you may want to make one the master and add another to

pick up some different frequencies. For example using an SM57

for the dominant signal, and adding in some signal from an AKG

C1000 condenser mic should add in a few higher frequencies and

produce a more rounded sound.

If using more than one

microphone, be aware of

potential phase problems.

See page 140 for more

information.



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Recording Guitar

Acoustic Guitars

Condenser microphones are usually best for recording an acoustic guitar, due to their ability to

pick up the higher frequency harmonics and reverberations, and the fact that most recording

acoustic guitars want a faithful and accurate representation of the original sound. Placing the micat a right angle in front of the sound hole will obviously produce a very bass heavy sound, as this

is where all of the air exits the guitar. So experimenting with placing the mic at a 45° angle to

the sound hole, facing either from the bridge or neck towards the sound hole should help to get

a good quality signal. If you have more than one microphone, you might want to try miking the

guitar neck as well, to get the sound of finger movements, and maybe put two microphones on

the sound hole.

Line InLine in input is similar to using a Direct Input, except that there is a device between the guitar and

the recording device. This may be anything from an amplifier or pre-amp, to a compressor, EQ

unit, or a guitar effects pedal. Most of the time using a line in rather than a DI will produce better

results, because the 'box' that the guitar goes though is more likely to be designed to process a

guitar signal directly than, say a multi track cassette recorder. There is the added benefit of being

able to customise the sound of the guitar early in the recording chain.




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What is MIDI and why should I care?

MIDI is an acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, and refers to a system that

allows MIDI enabled instruments to communicate purely digital information between each other,

or to a sound bank or computer. A computer or sound bank unit, can then translate this digital

information into sound.

MIDI enabled instruments are mostly piano style keyboards, which either have their own bank of

sounds, or are purely controller keyboards. It is possible to buy MIDI enabled guitars, or buy an

add-on such as a Roland GK-2A, which translates string vibrations into MIDI data, but guitar MIDI

data will never be as accurate as MIDI data can be for a keyboard set up.

MIDI Keyboards

At the most basic level, MIDI keyboards send on/off instructions through a MIDI cable. The

default position, 0 (off) is changed whenever a key is pressed, to 1 (on), and then returns to 0

when the key is released. Thus a series of 0s and 1s are sent through a cable to the receiving

device.

However, MIDI is capable of transmitting a lot more data than simply when a note is played, and

for how long it is played. Information such as volume, how hard a key is pressed (velocity), and

pitch bend, are some examples of the other information that can be sent through a MIDI cable.

The Advantages of MIDI

MIDI has multiple advantages over recorded audio:

Very easy to edit Notes can be dragged around, made longer or shorter, louder or quieter, with

the click of a mouse.

Quantization Notes can be moved automatically to make them exactly in time with a

pre-defined grid of timing (ie 8ths, 16ths, 24ths, etc).

End quantization Notes can be automatically lengthened or shortened to finish at exactly theright time.

Transposition Entire MIDI songs can be transposed into different keys within an instant.

Tempo alignment A piece of MIDI music can be sped up or slowed down automatically with no

change in pitch or quality of sound.

Multi-timbral A MIDI keyboard can sound like any instrument you choose, provided you

have the appropriate synthesizer.

File size File sizes are considerably smaller than for recorded audio.

The Disadvantages of MIDI

Despite all of the above, MIDI does have some drawbacks:


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MIDI




138

Sound There are no embedded sounds in MIDI files, so they cannot easily be transferred

between recording setups without altering the sound.

Bandwidth Slow data transfer speeds.

Instruments The sounds of some instruments are very hard to synthesise - a synthetic guitar willnever sound close to the real thing.

Feel When quantized and edited, a MIDI file may lack the human element, and sound

robotic.



What is an Audio Editor?

The function of audio editors is fairly straight forward; they digitally edit audio files. Audio editors

are part of the reason why analogue tape recording is slowly going out of fashion - what might

take hours to do on a tape deck can now be done in seconds with the aid of an audio editor.

Audio editors currently available on the market include WaveLab, Sound Forge, Peak, and the

free editor Audacity.

Possible UsesRecording And Playing Back

All audio editors have the ability to record and play back sound from an internal or external sound

source.

Encoding Audio Files/Coverting Audio Files

When saving recorded sounds, you are usually given several options of how to save it:

File Format Whether to save in an uncompressed (wav, aiff, etc), or compressed (mp3,aac, etc) format.

Sample Rate What sample rate to save at. Sounds should generally be saved at the

sample rate they were recorded in - most likely 44.1 kHz.

Bit Depth What bit depth to save at. Sounds should generally be saved in the bit depth

they were recorded in - most likely 16 bit.

Mono/Stereo Whether to save the file as a mono or stereo sound.

EQ(ualisation)

Changing the levels of bass, middle and treble in recordings. Can consist of a graphic curve, or aseries of control knobs.

Fade In/Out

Selecting usually either the beginning or end of a song, and choosing to fade it in or out. Can

give either a linear diagonal line, or a curved line of fading.

Delete Unwanted Sections

Unwanted sections of sound files can be easily deleted. Choosing ‘snap to zero crossing’ in the

audio editor can reduce the chance of loud clicks when audio is deleted.


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Audio Editors




140

Normalisation

Normalising a song is a way of making the difference between the loud and quiet parts of a sound

file smaller. This can be useful if you have a very quiet verse followed by a very loud chorus.

Inverting Phase

When using more than one microphone to record a signal, it is possible, or even likely, that you

will come across phase problems. This is when the sound being recorded reaches the two

microphones at different times, causing the sound pressure on one microphone to decrease

as it is increasing on the other microphone. This causes the signal to go out of phase, with the

result that some frequencies are cancelled out. The simple solution is to place the microphones

the same distance away from the source of the sound that is being recorded.

However, if recording say, the front and back of a speaker cabinet at the same time, the phase islikely to be around 180 degrees out, and the way to solve this problem is by inverting the phase

of one of the signals from the microphones.

A signal may also become out of phase, when, for example, a cable for the left speaker is

plugged into the right speaker, and vice versa. If a signal has been recorded out of phase, the

solution is to select the contents of one channel of the stereo signal, and invert the phase.

Reversing A Sound

Self explanatory - can be a good effect to apply to a whole, or part of, a guitar solo. Can also

add a fresh angle to a guitar solo to reverse it, learn to play the reversed version, record that, andreverse the new solo, to get an unorthodox guitar sound.

Time Stretching

Time stretching an audio file is kind of like the opposite of stretching an elastic band - if you

stretch it out it gets longer, but pluck it as you stretch it, and you’ll see that the pitch gets higher

the longer it is stretched. When you stretch an audio file, the pitch gets lower as it is stretched

longer. Conversely, if you speed up an audio file, the pitch will get higher.

Most audio editors today will be able to perform time stretches without a change in pitch, but thequality of the result varies widely depending on what sound is being stretched, how much it is

being stretched, and what program it is being stretched by (naturally the more expensive editors

yield better results).

Reducing Hiss/Pops/Clicks

Audio editors are sometimes able to identify hiss, clicks and pops, using various methods, and

can have some success in cleaning up bad recordings.



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Audio Editors

Effects

There are an infinitesimal number of built in effects and external plug-ins available on the market

that audio editors can take advantage of. For more information on effects, turn to page 145.

Mastering

Mastering is the name given to the final touches put to a recording before it is finished. It

includes using compression on a whole track, adding any final EQ, and other general editing.

A typical audio editor (WaveLab)




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What is a Sequencer?

A sequencer is a piece of software or hardware that can record, store, arrange, and play back

audio information. Originally this meant MIDI data, but as technology has evolved, sequencers

have added much to their functionality, and now can handle both audio and MIDI information,

along with other features including basic audio editing, effects inserts, and virtual instruments, to

name but a few.

Sequencers are useful tools for both composing and recording songs. The multi-track feature

has made it possible for anyone to become a one man band with their home PC. All professional

studios have some kind of sequencer at their heart. Common sequencers in use at present

include Cubase, Logic, Apple's free GarageBand, and at the professional end of the market, Pro

Tools.

What is the difference between an audio editor and a sequencer?

A sequencer performs many functions that audio editors do not. Some of these are listed below:

Multi-track Recording and Editing

A sequencer allows you to record several instruments at once, a function unavailable in most

audio editors. With today’s technology, it is possible to have hundreds of instruments all playingsimultaneously from one song file.

Mixing

The multi-track function makes it possible to mix each instrument channel separately, individually

changing the EQ, effects, and volume levels for each instrument.

Bars, Beats, Tempo

Sequencers generally work in bars and beats, as opposed to audio editors, which work inseconds and minutes. Sequencers also have built in metronomes, or click tracks, which are

indispensable for keeping time when recording an instrument.

Automation

The ability to ‘tell’ the sequencer when to raise or lower the volume, turn on or off an effect, or

alter a parameter within an effect. This can be done by either ‘drawing’ on the automation using

lines to represent the change in the variable factor over time, or by setting the sequencer to

record how you move the dials and sliders whilst the song is playing.


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MIDI Editing

The ability to manipulate MIDI data in many ways. This can include quantization, transposition,

tempo changes, velocity adjustment and many other functions, which vary slightly from sequencer

to sequencer.

Virtual Instruments

Most software sequencers either come with, or make the provision for virtual instruments, which

are basically banks of sounds, or synthesised frequencies, which are triggered by MIDI events.

Thus with a MIDI keyboard connected to a computer, you are able to make the sound of almost

any instrument emerge from your computer speakers at the touch of a key on the MIDI keyboard

(provided that you have the plug-in required for the desired instrument).

Compose Music to Film

Most sequencers make some provision for writing music to moving pictures, whether they are

provided by a movie file (.avi, or .mov formats usually), or by an external video machine.

A (slightly crowded) Logic sequencer window.



An effect can be classified as anything which alters an original signal that is put through it.

When applying more than one effect, remember that the order in which they are put within the

‘chain’ is very important. Applying a delay after applying reverb would not be likely to come up

with good results - much of this is common sense, but if you get a bad guitar sound with more

than one effect, it may be worth altering the order in which the effects are applied.

Amplifier Modelling

Available in some electric guitar pedals and computer plug-ins. Alters the signal according to the

frequency bias in some classic amplifier models.

Auto Tune

Used mainly as a sequencer plug-in, auto tune can detect the pitch of a voice or instrument and

alter it, either automatically by aligning it with a specified scale, or by manually dragging it around,

much like MIDI data. Currently only useful for single voice instruments and passages; the

detection of chords is not yet fully developed.

Chorus

Found in almost all guitar effects units and sequencers, chorus effectively makes one voice of aninstrument sound like two or more. It does this by adding a very slight delay, and doubling up the

original voice with other voices that differ very slightly in pitch.

Compression

Compression is very useful for recording vocals, drums and acoustic guitars. Essentially,

compression levels out any peaks or dips in the volume of a recording. It also has the effect of

‘warming up’, and making a vocal sound seem ‘close’ and intimate, because it emphasises the

breathing, and other ‘mouth sounds’ that occur in between singing.

De-Esser

Used mainly for recording vocals, but also sometimes used on the snare drum or hi-hat. Literally

‘de-esses’ a sound by toning down the ‘s’ sound in a vocal that can sometimes seem over-

emphasised.

Delay & Stereo Delay

Delay is a very widely used plug-in. Delay repeats, after a specified time period, a certain

amount of a signal that passes through it. The delay generally gets quieter each time it repeats

the signal - this is called the decay. Stereo delay can set a different time between delays on the


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left and right channels, resulting in the echo ‘bouncing’ between the speakers.

Distortion

Very familiar to guitarists, distortion is simply what happens when an amplifier is turned up tooloud (hence ‘overdrive’). Digital distortion, as a rule, sounds bad, so if distortion is to be used, it

is best to use a real guitar amplifier. Distortion also acts as a kind of compression.

EQ

Not usually seen as an effect as such, but EQ can alter any signal significantly. Can be added at

pretty much any stage in an effects chain, but is best used as the first link in a chain.

Flange

Flanging is essentially the extreme end of the chorus and phase effects.

Microphone Modelling

Very similar to amplifier modelling, microphone modelling usually involves taking the frequency

bias of several classic microphones, and changing the signal accordingly.

Noise Gate

A noise gate will stop any sound under a specified volume level from ‘passing through’. Can be

useful for recording overdriven guitars, to eliminate the background hum when the guitar is notplaying.

Octave Pedal

Very much like a wah-wah pedal in construction, an octave pedal ‘slides’ a note up or down

through a certain number of octaves as the foot changes its position. Can sound like the effect of

slide guitar playing.

Phase

Phasing resides in the gap between chorus and flanging, and slowly moves a signal in and out of

phase.

Pitch Shift

Changes the pitch of a signal within a specified number of cents, semitones, or tones.

Reverb

Reverb is used in a huge number of recordings, and applied to most instruments. Adding a largeamount of reverb to a signal can make it sound like it was recorded in a big space. Usually



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added at the very end of an effects chain.

Stereo Enhancer

Uses phase tricks to fool the ear into thinking the stereo signal is ‘wider’ than it actually is.

Time Stretch

Lengthens, or shortens a recording.

Tremolo

Makes a signal cycle between its normal pitch, and a lower pitch.

Vibrato

Makes a signal cycle between its normal pitch, and a higher pitch.

Wah-Wah

Literally makes a signal produce a ‘wah wah’ sound. Can be automated, but is best used as a

manual pedal.




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Vinyl

12 inch vinyl records were introduced by Columbia in 1948, at 33 1/3 rpm, and had 23 minutes of

playing time on each side. It took ten more years before stereo vinyl records became available

on the market.

Some argue that vinyl’s audio quality is better than that of a CD, because the analogue signal is

not compressed, as it is on a CD.

Cassette Tape

Pre-recorded cassette tapes were released into the market in 1965. Cassette tapes work byrunning a magnetic strip past a ‘head’, which reads the strip. There are four channels on a

cassette tape: 2 channels on each side - a normal four track recorder makes use of all four of the

channels by making the tape single-sided.

CD (Compact Disc)

The CD was developed by Philips and Sony in 1979, and was the first digital format to gain

widespread consumer acceptance. It is able to store up to 700 megabytes of data, or up to 80

minutes of audio. The CD brought far better audio quality and durability than cassette tapes, and

greater portability than the vinyl record.

Originally CDs did not have copy protection, but since the spread of cheap CD recorders into

the home PC market, and the widespread piracy encouraged by Napster in 1999, some record

companies have begun to put copy protection onto their products, making it at best very difficult

to use the CDs on a computer. CDs with copy protection are not legally allowed to use the

‘Compact Disc Digital Audio’ logo, because they are not compatible with all CD playing devices.

DAT (Digital Audio Tape)

Sony introduced the DAT in 1987. It is similar to a cassette tape, but significantly smaller. As aconsumer format it never took off, but as a studio aid it became popular, as it had the potential to

record at a slightly higher sample rate (48kHz, 16 bit) than Compact Disc, and was far cheaper

than recordable CD technology at the time.

MiniDisc

The MiniDisc was developed by Sony in 1991 and is essentially a small CD inside a hard plastic

casing. It uses a lossy compression encoding to fit the same amount of music onto it as a CD,

but consequently does not provide as good quality sound as a CD. It never took off as a format

to replace CDs because of lack of support from record companies, but its flexibility and compact

size made it popular as a portable, recordable format.


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ADAT (Alesis Digital Audio Tape)

Introduced by the Alesis Corporation in 1993, and used in some studios, but largely out dated

today. It provided 8 channels of CD quality recording on an S-VHS tape (same in appearance as

a VHS tape).

MP3/MPEG Layer 3 (Motion Picture Experts Group, Layer 3)

The MP3 format began to appear on the internet as early as 1995, but did not fully take off until

the launch of the file sharing program Napster in 1999. By compressing audio in a lossy way,

MP3 files are able to reproduce ‘CD quality’ sound in files a tenth the size of the audio files on a

CD.

However, the so called ‘CD quality’ files are often easily discernable from the sound quality on a

real CD. MP3 is now being succeeded by formats such as AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) andWMA (Windows Media Audio), which are being widely used by legal download services.

Future Formats

SACD (Super Audio Compact Disc)

Developed by Sony and Philips, the SACD uses DSD (Direct Stream Digital), which records at

only 1 bit, but at a sample rate of 2822.4 kHz - 64 times that of a CD. A SACD is essentially

the same as a DVD, but with a different format of data contained within it. SACDs can contain

information for two channels of sound, or 5.1 channels for surround sound. Hybrid SACDs

contain an extra layer that makes it possible to play them on an ordinary CD player - although

there is no difference in quality from an ordinary CD when not played on an SACD player.

The SACD format has been made with the purpose of making the disc impossible to copy or

pirate. Whilst this has positive points, there is also a down side, in that it destroys the possibility

of music bought on SACDs being converted for use in portable MP3 players, and limits (at least

for the foreseeable future) SACD writing to a very small number of professional studios.

DVD-A (Digital Versatile Disc Audio)

Competing for the same higher end of the consumer audio market as the SACD is the DVD-A, aformat which can hold up to 24 bit, 192 kHz recordings in stereo, and up to 24 bit, 96 kHz for 5.1

surround sound. DVDs can hold up to 4.7 gigabytes of information. DVD-As have the advantage

that they are compatible with most new mid-range DVD video players, and can also store video

information playable on any DVD player. Single layer DVDs have a storage capacity of 4.7

Gigabytes (GB).

Blu-Ray Disc

These discs are currently in development by a large coalition of technology firms, and have a

potential capacity of up to 54 GB.



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Advanced Optical Disc (AOD)

The AOD is currently in development as a competitor to the Blu-Ray disc, and has a capacity of

15 GB.

Compressed Formats

Whilst technology is allowing the higher end of the audio market to move sound quality upwards

at a rapid pace, the trend of most of the consumer market is to move downwards in quality. This

compromise between quality and practicality has driven the consumer recorded audio market

since the development of recorded sound itself. Whether high street music stores will be extinct

in 20 years is impossible to tell, but the huge popularity of portable MP3 players that can store a

whole record collection, and the slowly increasing number of legal download services suggests

that CDs (or their whatever their physical successor is) may eventually be doomed to the fate of

vinyl - oversized, impractical, but collectible.




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Buying a Personal Computer

If you are considering buying a computer to aid in making music, there are several things that

should be taken into account. Whether you are buying a Windows or an Apple computer, there

are 6 important factors to consider, which will all affect the sound capabilities of the computer.

1. Sound Card

Does the computer come with a sound card?

Unless bought from a specialist music PC shop, it is likely that the sound card will be unsuitable

for recording music. ‘Onboard’ sound cards (cards built into the motherboard) are especially bad,

both at playing back and recording sound. It is therefore worth budgeting at least £100 extra for

a half decent sound card.

What sample rate and bit depth can the card record at?

Clearly the higher both of these are, the better, but it should be able to record at 16 bit, 44.1 kHz

at the very least.

2. RAM (Random Access Memory)

Compare the amount of RAM with other machines in the same price bracket. When a program

is running, it uses up RAM - the more RAM available, the more programs you will be able to run.Some programs use up more RAM than others, so it is good to have as much RAM as possible.

3. Processor

The speed of the processor determines how many calculations the computer can perform at any

one time. It is worth paying more for a powerful processor, since they can perform more tasks,

and run programs faster.

4. Operating System

The operating system is the basis for all operations on a computer. Windows XP and Mac OS

X are two examples of operating systems. It is worth researching the operating system of the

computer before you buy, to ensure that it is not about to be succeeded by a newer and better

operating system that might be expensive to upgrade to.

5. Hard Drive Speed

The speed of the hard drive is very important when recording audio, as it determines how much

information can be written to the hard drive at any one time. The higher the speed, the more

information (and hence higher sampling rates) can be recorded. For audio, the speed should be

at least 7,200 rpm. It is generally best to have two hard drives, one to run programs from, and


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Computers



one to record audio on to.

6. Monitor

The last concern, but monitor type can be important. Some audio applications need to operateon at least a 1024x768 screen resolution, so check that the monitor is capable of this. A 17 inch

monitor should give a good working space for most audio applications.

If you are recording guitar, it is probably best to buy a computer with a TFT (Thin Film Transistor),

or LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen, as CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitors have a large

electromagnet inside that can interfere with the pickups on your guitar and cause a loud hum.

Mac or PC?

When considering buying a personal computer for recording purposes, the first question thatoccurs to many people is whether an Apple Mac or a Windows PC is the most suitable for

their purposes. The most important thing to bear in mind is that there is no overall ‘best’ music

computer, all computers have their own pros and cons. Having said that, I will have a brief look

at some of the pros and cons of both machines:

Apple Mac

Pros

· Reliable.

· Easy to use.

· Apple computers are geared towards the creative industries.

· Operating system upgrades are relatively cheap.

Cons

· Can be more expensive.

· Smaller range of hardware and software.

Windows PC

Pros

· Cheap.· Easier to customise.

· Wide range of hardware and software.

Cons

· Can be unreliable.

· Too much choice?

· Less user friendly than Apple computers.

· Operating system upgrades can be expensive.


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Computers

Publishing Your Music On The WebIf you want to publish your music on the internet, there are many opportunities to do so. Firstly

there are plenty of unsigned music websites that will host your song for free (just type ‘unsigned’and ‘upload’ into a search engine). Secondly you could enter your song into songwriting contests

across the internet. Thirdly, you could construct your own website and post the songs on that.

Your own website

Making your own website means you have full creative control over what people see when they

want to download your song - no adverts, pop-ups or other nuisances. Also it is very simple to

create a webpage, and this can be done through specialist programs such as DreamWeaver and

FrontPage, or with most recent word processing applications.

Look on the website of your ISP (Internet Service Provider) to find out how to upload the pages

once you are finished - most ISPs provide you with webspace free of charge.

Converting your song to a compressed format such as MP3 or WMV will make it much quicker

to upload onto the internet server, and quicker to download for anyone accessing your website.

Generally 3-4 MB should be the largest file size to upload.

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SECTION 4:

MUSIC

BUSINESS




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CopyrightThe entire music business is centred around the concept of copyright. This is a fundamental

principle which states that the author of an original work has the right to assert their ownership of

that work, and essentially, earn money from its use.

The Law

Copyright is part of a wider area in law which is referred to as intellectual property (IP).

Intellectual property laws are concerned with protecting artistic and creative ‘property’. Likephysical property, intellectual property can be stolen, but in a very different way to say, shoplifting.

A primary concern with intellectual property is plagiarism - the practice of taking the work of

others and claiming it as your own creation.

The three areas of intellectual property law are: copyright, patents and trademarks.

Copyright law protects several different kinds of intellectual property. These include:

· Original musical works

· Sound recordings

· Original literary works - including lyrics· Films and videos

There are several things that copyright law specifically does not protect:

· Ideas - The law may protect how an idea is expressed, but not the idea itself.

· Names and titles - The name or title given to a song or album cannot be copyrighted.

Technically speaking, the name of a band cannot be copyrighted either. If the band name is

associated with an original design or logo, then the name can be protected as part of the design

or logo. Band names can be protected through trademark law, although trademark registrationcurrently costs £200, which is not refundable if your application is turned down, and only covers

protection within the UK. A band may be forced to change their name if it is decided that their

name will cause confusion with another band that has been using the name for a longer period of

time within a particular geographical area.

When a published work is under copyright, this is usually stated somewhere on the work with the

following information:

Copyright Statement that the work is under copyright protection. Can be represented

by a © symbol.Author The person who created the work that is under copyright.


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Date The year in which the work was created, and/or last modified.

For example “© John Smith, 1987”. Although stating this alone does not guarantee any

protection under law, it informs those who come across the work that someone has claimed the

work as their own creation.

The Copyright Designs and Patents Act (CDPA) 1988 gives an author the right to do all of the

following with his or her copyrighted work:

To copy the work

To issue copies of the work to the public

To perform, show or play the work in public

To broadcast the work or include it in a cable programme service

To make an adaptation of the work or do any of the above in relation to an adaptation

As we shall see later in the chapter, these rights are bought and sold by different participants in a

musician’s career.

An author also has certain moral rights, such as the right to be identified as the author of

their work, and the right to object to derogatory treatment of their work. These rights are not

assignable, and thus cannot be bought or sold, but may be waived .

Signing Away Your Rights

To begin earning money from your songs, you are almost certainly going to have to sign away

some of your rights. Unless you have your own recording and publishing company, or are a

major artist, the record companies and publishing companies are going to want ownership of

copyrights in return for promoting your songs. How the copyrights to your songs are likely to be

divided are as follows:

Record Companies

· Buy copyrights to the sound recordings of songs.

Publishing Companies

· Hold the copyrights to the songs themselves.

· Hold the rights to print a musical score of a song.

Infringement of Copyright in Original Songs

Despite the many myths that are circulated, there is no definite measure of what constitutes aninfringement of copyright in music. Infringement of copyright is usually only alleged when there



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Copyright

is a substantive element of a song that has been copied from another song. Although that is a

rather fuzzy definition, the plaintiff generally must be certain that their song has been plagiarised

before launching a claim, because going to court can be very costly, and usually there is very little

reward for doing so.

Past examples of artists getting taken to court over copyright infringement in songs have

included:

Robbie Williams

Proven to have lifted lyrics in 'Jesus In A Camper Van' from a Loudon Wainwright III song called

'I Am The Way'. In the subsequent court case, the judge found that Williams had taken the main

theme of 'I Am The Way', and used lyrics very similar to those used in the Wainwright song.

Although Loudon Wainwright III consented to its use in the song, he did not own the copyrightto the song - his publishers Ludlow Music did. Ludlow Music sued and gained financial

compensation, and demanded that the song be excluded from all future pressings of Robbie

Williams’s “I’ve Been Expecting You” album.

This was a borderline case, as it centred around only two lines of lyrics, but since they were used

during the chorus in 'Jesus In A Camper Van', it was successfully argued that they constituted a

substantial part of the song.

The Verve

The song 'Bittersweet Symphony' by The Verve contained a loop from an instrumental version of the Rolling Stones song 'The Last Time'. After an ensuing court case, The Verve were forced to

pay 100% of the royalties from 'Bittersweet Symphony' to the Rolling Stones.

Duration of Copyright

Copyright is a perishable asset - it expires after a specific time period. This time period varies

depending on the nature of the work in question. Terms of protection for authors are as follows:

Original musical works The life of the author, and for a further 70 years from the end of the

calendar year of their death.Sound recordings 50 years from the end of the calendar year of the release of the

recording.

Original literary works The life of the author, and for a further 70 years from the end of the

calendar year of their death.

Films and videos The life of the author, and for a further 70 years from the end of the

calendar year of their death.

These are the current terms of protection for the United Kingdom and most of the European

Union. Elsewhere though, terms can differ - for example in the United States, sound recordings

have protection of the life of the author plus 95 years. In collaborative efforts, copyright lasts for the life plus the relevant number of years after the death of the last living author.





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Record Companies

pursue the artist to return the monies owed.

Advances are very similar to student loans. The payments are made in specific instalments.

These payments are used for food, drink, and textbooks (studio time, instruments, promo videos).

Repayments are only taken when you begin earning money, and are not demanded when you arenot earning money.

Record Contracts

Record contracts have progressed a long way since the 1950s. After countless artists getting

ripped off by their record companies throughout the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, a number of high profile

court cases have turned the tide, and there are now some basic templates that most contracts

stick to, that present a fairer deal for the artist. However, this is not to say that all, or even most

contracts offered today are balanced and fair - just that they are generally slightly fairer than in

the 1950s.

When being offered any contract, consider these things:

· It is a very good idea to read all clauses of the contract thoroughly.

· If at all possible, never sign a contract without first getting it checked over by a lawyer.

· Verbal contracts can be legally binding.

· The offering party is not being philanthropic by offering you a contract - they always want

something from you in return.

A standard contract for a new artist might contain the following terms:

· Royalty of 18-30% of Published Dealer Price (PDP) on each record sold (after advance is recouped).

· No obligation on behalf of the record company to release your material.

· Advance to be paid to artist (varies depending on size of record company and desirability of

band).

· Record company owns copyright to sound recordings.

· Cost of studio time, producer’s salary, half the cost of promo videos taken from artist’s royalties.

· Creative control - usually an obligation on the artist to produce ‘commercially viable’ material.

· Term of contract of 3-5 years, with options for the record company to continue or cancel the

contract at each review period (usually on a yearly basis).

· Territory - may cover just the UK, just the European Union, or the whole world (or anycombination of different countries).

· Minimum commitment - the artist must produce a set number of singles and albums within the

term of the contract.

· Overseas royalties - may be paid at source or on receipts. Argue for at source, because

this guarantees the artist a better royalty rate. Receipts is calculated on the money a company

receives from an overseas company (after they have deducted their share of the money). At

source means royalties are calculated before any deductions are made.

The primary contract term to negotiate is the reversion of rights, which guarantees that after a

specified time period, the copyrights in the sound recordings revert to the artist. Usually a periodof 10-15 years before reversion is a reasonable demand on behalf of the artist. This is important




164

because if you become successful, these copyrights will be worth a lot of money further down the

line. Also, it is nice to own the music that you have made.

Publishing CompaniesMusic publishing companies today are very different to book publishers. Although the majority of

their business used to be printing, distributing and selling sheet music, over the last century this

function has become all but obsolete. Music publishers make money from owning the copyrights

to actual songs themselves - the music and lyrics, but they do not own copyrights to the recorded

version of a song (as seen above, that is where record companies come in).

With the right catalogue of songs, music publishing can be a very lucrative business, as there

are very little overhead costs, and many streams of income from different sources. Owningthe copyright to the song itself means that every time a song is bought, broadcast, covered, or

adapted, money is earned by the publisher.

It can be very advantageous to pursue a publishing contract before looking for a record contract,

as publishers are generally more able to help develop a new act and may even help them in

finding a record contract. The roles of a music publishing company include:

· Acquire a catalogue of music from new artists, or from existing catalogues.

· Issue licences to companies or individuals who want to use the music.

· Actively seek income streams for the music in their catalogue from use in film, television,

adverts, computer games, etc.· Negotiate a sub-publishing deal for overseas administration and/or promotion.

· Register songs with the appropriate collection agencies (see MCPS and PRS below)

· Possibly organise collaborations between composers (dependent on the composer’s contract)

· Possibly find a record contract for a composer (dependent on the composer’s contract)

When music is used in advertisements, films and computer games (synchronisation), the

publisher usually charges a one off fee to the company for the licence to use a piece of music.

The fee charged is largely dependent on the level of exposure the song is likely to receive - an

television advert to be played once at midnight is likely be charged much less than a prime time

advert that runs for a week. Although these negotiations are done by the publishing company,because of their moral rights, the artist retains the right to turn down any product associations

that they feel might devalue the musical integrity of their work.

In the UK, the money owed to publishers through reproduction and performance is collected by

two different collection societies:

Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS)

Collects mechanical royalties (mechanical is an old term referring to when records were

mechanically manufactured) whenever a song is copied/reproduced. Examples of this include:



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Publishing Companies

· Record companies manufacturing albums.

· Use of a song in a computer game.

· Use of a song in a film or video.

· A song being bought from a music download service.

Performing Right Society (PRS)

Collects performance royalties, which are generated whenever a song is played or performed in

public. PRS gets its income from:

· Owners of pubs, clubs, shops, and other public venues that play music.

· Television and radio broadcasters.

· Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

· Overseas performances.

For venues such as pubs, clubs and shops, PRS will usually issue a blanket licence, allowing

them to play the music they choose. From large broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV and Capital

Radio, PRS require a record to be kept of what songs are used in any broadcast, so that accurate

payments can be made to the correct artists.

PRS pays 50% of the money it receives to the publisher, and the other 50% directly to the

composer. Since 1997, PRS has also been collecting income for composers and publishers from

mobile phone ringtone and download services.

Publishing Contracts

Publishing contracts are an often neglected side of the discussion about promoting an artist’s

music. This is unjustified, because publishing companies work just as hard as record companies

in promoting their artists, it is just that most of their work goes on behind the scenes, as they

largely do not sell anything directly to the consumer.

Publishing contracts are only available to those artists that write their own songs. If an artist

performs solely songs written by professional songwriters, it is the professional songwriters that

have publishing contracts, and benefit from the associated royalty payments. To clarify this, see

the table below:

Writes songs Performs and records songs Income streams

Artist #1 Yes Yes Record and publishing contracts

Artist #2 No Yes Record contract

Composer Yes No Publishing contract

In this scenario, Artist #1 has the best deal, as they are receiving income from both record

companies and publishing companies. The composer has the second best deal, and Artist #2

has the worst deal, as they only receive income from the record company.

The terms in a publishing contract are similar in some ways to those contained within a record




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contract. A publishing contract will specify terms including the following:

· Artist/publisher royalty split - far more favourable than in a record contract, can range from 65-

75% in favour of a new artist.

· Exclusivity - which songs does the deal cover? Past songs as well as future songs?· Copyright term - how long before reversion of rights, if publisher allows it. Again, 10-15 years is

a fair period for them to hold the copyrights.

· Territory.

· Term - Sign for no more than 3-5 years.

· Minimum commitment.

· Overseas royalties.

· Advance - usually smaller than the advances offered by record companies, but can help to tide

over a struggling composer.

Some publishing companies have their own recording studios, but most of the time the onus is onthe writer to find facilities to record their material.

Standard Royalty Rates & New Income Streams

MCPS and PRS have a specific set of rules regarding sales of music, and new technology is

fast affecting the way they do business. New income streams include mobile phone ringtones,

‘ringback’ tones, and digital download services.

MCPS currently takes a standard royalty rate of 8.5% on audio only products, such as CDs,

SACDs, and MiniDiscs. This gets paid to the publisher after an administration fee of around

8% is deducted. The publisher then takes their share and passes the rest on to the composer.

If there is more than one composer (as is the case with most albums), the money gets split

accordingly.

The royalty rates taken for all types of mobile phone ringtones are currently as follows:

MCPS One off fee of £500 + The greater of 10% of gross revenue, or 10p per file

PRS Minimum annual fee of £860 + The greater of 5% of gross revenue, or 5p per file

Music downloads from online music services are covered by a joint MCPS-PRS agreement called

a Joint Online Licence (JOL). Royalties are taken from 8% of gross revenue (increasing to 12%

on 1/1/2005). Webcasts, audio streaming, and commercial internet radio are covered by the

same agreement.

Other Prominent Industry OrganisationsAmerican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)

www.ascap.com

An American collection society equivalent to PRS. Faced opposition from the 1940s onwards

http://www.ascap.com/

http://www.ascap.com/



167

Other Industry Organisations

from BMI, as radio stations became unsatisfied with high ASCAP royalty demands, and ASCAP’s

outdated attitudes towards new music.

Association of Independent Music (AIM)

www.musicindie.org

Industry body that represents and promotes the interests of UK independent record labels. The

website advertises jobs, and offers further information on their roles within the industry.

British Academy of Composers and Songwriters

www.britishacademy.com

Organisation that provides many services for songwriters and composers who become members.

This includes songwriting workshops, access to legal and business advice, a listing on their

website, and a database of songwriters looking for collaborators.

British Phonographic Industry (BPI)

www.bpi.co.uk

Industry body that represents the interests of UK record labels, both large and small. Provides

support to its members, as well as lobbying the government, and conducting research on the

industry. Offers a free weekly email newsletter service, and some free industry advice on its

website.

Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI)

www.bmi.com

Another American collection society equivalent to PRS. Competes with ASCAP to represent

composers and music publishers.

Bureau International des Sociétés Gérant les Droits d'Enregistrement et de Reproduction

Mécanique (BIEM)

www.biem.org

The international organisation that represents mechanical rights societies worldwide. It is based

in France and currently represents 44 societies from 42 countries - including MCPS and the HarryFox Agency.

Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs - und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte (GEMA)

www.gema.de

A German collection society equivalent to the MCPS.

Harry Fox Agency, Incorporated (HFA)

www.harryfox.com

An American collection society, equivalent to MCPS.

http://www.musicindie.org/

http://www.britishacademy.com/

http://www.bpi.co.uk/

http://www.bmi.com/

http://www.biem.org/

http://www.gema.de/

http://www.harryfox.com/

http://www.harryfox.com/

http://www.gema.de/

http://www.biem.org/

http://www.bmi.com/


http://www.britishacademy.com/

http://www.musicindie.org/




168

Impala

www.impalasite.org

Represents, promotes, and defends the interests of European independent music companies- both record labels and music publishers. Website offers a range of information about its aims,

and the European music market as a whole.

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)

www.ifpi.org

The global organisation representing record companies. Its functions include forwarding the

interests of the record industry worldwide, and combating piracy. Almost all legitimately produced

CDs and DVDs (and all SACDs) have a very small IFPI number on the inner rim of the data side

of the disc. These are called Source Identification (SID) Codes. There may be 2 SID Codeson any one disc; a Laser Beam Recorder (LBM) code, which identifies the manufacturing plant

where the master disc was made, and one that can identify the manufacturing plant in which the

master was replicated.

Music Publishers Association (MPA)

www.mpaonline.org.uk

The industry body that represents the interests of UK music publishing companies. The website

offers a wide range of information for both members and non-members.

Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)www.riaa.com

The American equivalent of the BPI.

Video Performance Limited (VPL)

www.musicmall.co.uk

A UK collection society, the video equivalent to PPL. Collects royalties for music videos that are

played on television channels, especially MTV, VH1, and other dedicated broadcasters of music

video.

PersonnelIn your musical life you are likely to come across many different individuals, with different roles.

With some of these individuals, it may not seem entirely clear what service they provide, or what

service they should provide. The following guide should help, and is vaguely based in the order

of when you are likely to meet them during a career in music.

http://www.impalasite.org/

http://www.ifpi.org/

http://www.mpaonline.org.uk/

http://www.riaa.com/

http://www.musicmall.co.uk/

http://www.musicmall.co.uk/

http://www.riaa.com/

http://www.mpaonline.org.uk/


http://www.impalasite.org/



169

Personnell

Manager

When looking for a manager, there are several important factors to consider:

· Trust They must be trustworthy, as they are in a position open to abuse.· Objectivity They must be able to criticise as well as praise your band.

· Experience Have they got any experience managing music acts?

· Contacts What contacts do they have in the music industry? The higher up the

contacts, the better.

· Track Record Which act(s) did they manage, where are they now, and why did they

part company?

· Area of Speciality What genre of music do they specialise in? Do they specialise in just

getting a band signed, or are they in it for the long haul?

· What’s in it for them? A new band cannot generally afford to pay a manager anything

resembling a decent wage, so what is their motivation?

The roles of an artist manager may include the following:

· Promoting the artist

· Getting the artist a record contract

· Organise tours, work with promoters

· Giving advice on financial matters (tour budgets, taxes, etc)

· Putting a team together (lawyer, accountant, etc)

· Contract negotiations

A manager will usually earn commission on a band’s earnings of somewhere in the region of

15-20% of all gross earnings. This means that they earn the 15-20% on the amount of money

earned before deductions are made. However, there should be some exclusions to this, where

the costs should be deducted before calculating a manager’s income, and these include:

· Recording costs.

· Any advances or royalties paid to producers.

· Any record label payments to the band for tour support.

The term of their contract should be determined based on either a number of years, or a number

of albums. This should be somewhere in the region of five years, or 3-4 albums, although anunproven manager should be given a shorter contract. The artist/band should have the right to

terminate the contract if certain targets (ie getting a record contract) are not met within a specified

time period.

After the contract has ended, the manager may demand a stake in any future earnings that the

artist makes as a result of his efforts. These payments should be slowly phased out over a time,

with the inclusion of a ‘sunset clause’ in the contract.




170

Accountant

The accountant need not necessarily be a professional, but must be extremely trustworthy, and

obviously good with numbers. Bands with more than one songwriter can come across some

complex royalty payments that need to be handled competently and objectively.

Lawyer

It is very important that when you get to the stage where you need to hire a lawyer, you make

your choice wisely. Any lawyer can say they are a music lawyer, but the truth is that music law is

very different from many other areas of the law, and so a specialist lawyer trained in music law is

essential. As well as representing you in court, looking over contracts, and advising you on legal

issues, lawyers that work in music law are likely to have contacts within the industry, and may

consequently be able to pass on your demo to their friends in the industry - if they believe it is of

a high enough standard.

Artist & Repertoire (A & R) Man

These are the people from record companies that go around the bars and clubs looking for new

bands to sign. Becoming an increasingly rare breed as record companies slow down the signing

of new bands, and it is largely a thankless task unless they are lucky enough to sign an artist

that goes on to become very successful very quickly. Extremely unlikely to turn up randomly at

your gig, A & R men are largely motivated by word of mouth. Without meaning to be sexist, they

generally are men.

Producer

Producers perform many roles within the studio environment. They are responsible for making a

recording sound good - although they are not responsible for the quality of the songs themselves.

A producer can help an artist with musical aspects of a recording including:

· Composition.

· Instrumentation - which instruments should be used in a song, and when they should be used.

· Assembling and structuring ideas.

· Selecting which songs should be recorded.· Record identity - getting the ‘right’ overall sound in an album to make it sound distinctive.

In the studio, professional producers also have many non-musical roles. These include:

· A supervisory role - organising what is being recorded, when and how.

· Co-ordination - organising and co-ordinating with engineers, the band and session players.

· Release forms - getting session players to sign release forms stating that they have received a

fee for playing and waive any claim to the copyright in their input to the music’s creation.

· Budget - organising the costs of recording the sessions, and ensuring the album/recording is

delivered on time and on budget.



171

Demos

Plugger

A record company employee responsible for trying to get your songs played on radio and

television. Usually they will also accompany an artist to television performance recordings (ie Top

of the Pops).

DemosThe art of the successful demo is under appreciated by many artists. Innumerable bands and

solo artists simply produce tapes or CDs of their half finished songs, and mail them out to any

address they find in the Music Week directory. This is a fundamental mistake, and you are

probably more likely to win the national lottery than to get a record deal with this approach.

The harsh reality is that most demos sent out randomly to companies will end up in the bin,

unlistened to. This method of sending out material is called unsolicited mail - which we are all

familiar with from receiving junk mail through our letter boxes, and spam in our email accounts

(think about how much time you spend reading them).

So what do you have to do to get recognised? There is no guaranteed method, but the following

tips will give you a significant advantage over the acts that ignore them:

DO:

Do Your Research

· Find out which companies specialise in your genre of music.

· If not, are they looking to diversify their portfolio?

Phone up a company before sending anything

· Be polite and personable, but assertive.

· Ask to be put through to their A & R department.

· Take down the names of people you speak to, and make sure they know your name.· Ask if they are looking for new artists.

· Tell them the name of your band, and ask if they would be interested in receiving a demo.

· Phone to follow up after you have sent your demo, ask if they have received it, or listened to it.

Send a finished product

· Make sure the songs send out are finished . Relying on stressed A & R personnel to ‘hear

through’ your bad recording/unfinished song, is not a recommended strategy.

· Get feedback on songs from impartial observers if possible.

· Send prototype demos to magazines that can professionally and impartially analyse them.

Magazines with these sections include Sound On Sound, Computer Music, and Future Music.




172

Make your CD stand out

Putting a little effort into the design and packaging can go a long way towards getting a demo

listened to.

Invite them to free gigs

Of course, only if you are extremely confident of your live performances, and are playing

reputable venues with a capacity of at least 500 people.

Make the first 30 seconds brilliant

If you’re lucky, an A & R employee might listen to your CD for 30 seconds before throwing it away.

It is therefore important to make the first 30 seconds of a song immediately grabbing - 5 minute

intros are definitely out.

Identify your product

Put the name of the artist/band and contact details on the CD itself as well as the case.

It is likely that a CD will lose its case among the thousands of other CDs in an A & R office, and

so even if you are the best band in the world, if they do not know who you are and how to contact

you, they will not waste time trying to find out.

DO NOT:

Send out a tape

· Tapes are bad quality, antiquated technology, inconvenient, and they look bad.

· CD burners are so cheap that there is no real excuse for sending anything but a CD.

Send An Unlabelled CD-R

· See ‘Identify your product’ above.

Send a bad recording

A home PC and some half decent microphones can produce almost professional sounding results

if enough effort is put into it.

Send an album

· Put at most 3 tracks on a demo CD, and at least 2.

· If they like the first track, they will want an impression of how your other songs sound.

· They almost certainly do not have the time or inclination to listen to a whole album.



173

Demos

Send a 15 Minute track

As is the general rule for pop songs, the optimal song time is 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

Make the last 3 minutes boring

· If your first 30 seconds were brilliant, do not make the rest of the song an anti-climax.

· Reserve the very best bits for the chorus and outro.




174



175

SECTION 5:

APPENDICES




176



This section contains a brief list of some of the twentieth century’s best and most individualcontemporary guitarists. It can pretty much be guaranteed that further investigation into their

playing styles and technique will be very rewarding.

Adrian Belewwww.adrianbelew.net

Belew began his life as a drummer, but eventually moved onto guitar. Has a very distinctive style,

and has played guitar for King Crimson, Talking Heads, and David Bowie.

Andy Summerswww.andysummers.com

Summers spent the 1970s doing much session guitar playing, but achieved fame through playing

guitar for The Police throughout the 1980s. Has worked with Herbie Hancock, Robert Fripp, and

Neil Sedaka.

BB Kingwww.bbking.com

BB King’s distinctive style earned him much acclaim in the blues world, and also has had much

crossover appeal - sprouting from his 1969 cover of ‘The Thrill Is Gone’.

Chuck Berrywww.chuckberry.com

Best known for songs such as ‘Maybelline’, ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, ‘Johnny B Goode’ and ‘No

Particular Place To Go’, Berry has a much imitated blues style.

David Gilmour www.pinkfloyd.co.uk

Pink Floyd’s replacement for Syd Barrett, Gilmour has a very lyrical playing style, and utilises

many effects in his playing - in his words, to make up for his ‘slow hands’. Perhaps best known

for his solos in the Pink Floyd songs ‘Comfortably Numb’, and ‘Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)’.

Dick Dalewww.dickdale.com

Brought to popular attention again in the 1990s by the use of the song ‘Miserlou’ in Quentin

Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’, Dale brought the sound of surf guitar to the 1960s. His style influenced

other legendary guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix.


177

Guitar Heroes

http://www.adrianbelew.net/

http://www.andysummers.com/

http://www.bbking.com/

http://www.chuckberry.com/

http://www.pinkfloyd.co.uk/

http://www.dickdale.com/

http://www.dickdale.com/

http://www.pinkfloyd.co.uk/

http://www.chuckberry.com/

http://www.bbking.com/

http://www.andysummers.com/

http://www.adrianbelew.net/




178

Eddie Van Halenwww.van-halen.com

Leader of the rock band Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen brought the technique of finger tapping tothe masses. He broke new ground with his appearance on Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ album,

which became a highly successful crossover hit. Classically trained, Eddie Van Halen and his

virtuoso guitar performances arguably embodied the type of music that prompted the early 1990s

backlash of grunge, which substituted technically accomplished guitar solos with loud, sloppy

guitars and raw emotion.

The Edgewww.u2.com

Whilst not necessarily known for his versatility, U2 guitarist The Edge has achieved a distinctivesound through extensive and innovative use of effects. Pioneered use of the ‘Infinite Guitar’ (a

guitar with infinite sustain) in tracks such as ‘With Or Without You’.

Gary “Mantis” Lucaswww.garylucas.com

Lucas has played as both a solo artist, and in bands such as Gods And Monsters and Captain

Beefheart And His Magic Band, he is perhaps one of the most under-appreciated guitarists in this

list.

Jimi Hendrixwww.jimi-hendrix.com

Hendrix’s contribution to the world of guitar playing can hardly be exaggerated. He has strongly

influenced countless guitarists, and inspired many to pick up the instrument in the first place. His

sound is as unmistakeable as it is impossible to replicate.

John Lee Hooker www.virginrecords.com/hooker

Like BB King, Hooker gained massive crossover appeal as a blues guitarist, and recorded over

100 albums in his career. His sound went on to influence guitarists such as Keith Richards of the

Rolling Stones.

Mark Knopfler www.mark-knopfler.com

The guitarist with the band Dire Straits, Knopfler is famous for his exclusive use of finger-picking

in his electric guitar playing.

http://www.van-halen.com/

http://www.u2.com/

http://www.garylucas.com/

http://www.jimi-hendrix.com/

http://www.virginrecords.com/hooker

http://www.mark-knopfler.com/

http://www.mark-knopfler.com/

http://www.virginrecords.com/hooker

http://www.jimi-hendrix.com/

http://www.garylucas.com/

http://www.u2.com/

http://www.van-halen.com/



179

Guitar Heroes

Mick Ronsonwww.mickronson.com

A classically trained musician, Ronson was famous primarily for his guitar work on six David

Bowie albums, most notably ‘Ziggy Stardust’. Ronson also worked with Bob Dylan and VanMorrison, amongst others.

Nile Rodgerswww.nilerodgers.com

Rodgers rose to fame as the guitarist for disco band Chic, and went on to become a highly

successful guitarist, writer and producer, working with Duran Duran, Sister Sledge and Madonna,

amongst others.

Pat Methenywww.patmethenygroup.com

One of the very few crossover successes from the world of jazz guitar. Metheny has made many

collaborative efforts over the years including working with Charlie Haden, John Scofield and

Herbie Hancock.

Robert Frippwww.disciplineglobalmobile.com

Legendary guitarist, and founder member of King Crimson, Fripp has been one of the mostpioneering and innovative guitarists of the Twentieth century. Fripp has worked with Brian Eno,

David Bowie and David Byrne.

Slashwww.slashonline.com

Slash’s playing style has undoubtedly influenced many rock guitarists as a result of his work with

Guns N’ Roses.

http://www.mickronson.com/

http://www.nilerodgers.com/

http://www.patmethenygroup.com/

http://www.disciplineglobalmobile.com/

http://www.slashonline.com/

http://www.slashonline.com/

http://www.disciplineglobalmobile.com/

http://www.patmethenygroup.com/

http://www.nilerodgers.com/

http://www.mickronson.com/




180



It can be daunting looking into new genres of music, especially when you have no previousexposure to them. Whilst music is, of course, subjective, there are a number of widely accepted

classics in most genres, so although this guide is purely my opinion, I have tried to provide a

(slightly) objective guide to some essential listening. Remember that it is important to not just

listen to guitar music, as that massively limits your perspective on what is achievable in music -

most innovative guitarists are always on the lookout for new ideas.

Rock/Pop

The Joshua Tree - U2

Regarded by some as the best rock album of all time, U2’s fifth studio album embraced the

sounds of America, and made them the biggest rock band in the world.

Stand out track: Where The Streets Have No Name

Remain In Light - Talking Heads

Very experimental, and critically acclaimed as their best album, this mixed the influences and

philosophies of African music with rock music, and Talking Heads’ trademark funk/pop sound.

Produced by Brian Eno, with some virtuoso guitar performances by Adrian Belew.

Stand out track: The Great Curve

Scary Monsters - David Bowie

Highly experimental, with perhaps the best vocal tracks Bowie has ever laid down. Includesguitar performances from Pete Townshend, Carlos Alomar and Robert Fripp.

Stand out track: Ashes To Ashes

Thriller - Michael Jackson

The best selling studio album of all time, and there is a very good reason for that. Produced by

Quincy Jones, with appearances by Eddie Van Halen and Paul McCartney.

Stand out track: Billie Jean

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

Not as commercially successful as either ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ or ‘The Wall’, but arguably far more artistically successful. Career best guitar performances by David Gilmour.

Stand out track: Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part One)

Blues

Much early blues was not recorded onto albums as such, but a decent blues collection should

contain some or all of the following artists:

· BB King

· Bo Diddley· Buddy Guy


181

Further Listening




182

· Elmore James

· Eric Clapton

· Howlin’ Wolf

· John Lee Hooker

· John Mayall· Mississippi Fred McDowell

· Muddy Waters

· Robert Johnson

Jazz

Kind of Blue - Miles Davis

This has been one of the most enduring jazz records of all time, very popular with musicians,

critics, and the general public. Perhaps the perfect introductory record for those unfamiliar with

jazz music.Stand out track: So What

Some other legendary artists worth investigating include:

· Art Blakey

· Billie Holiday

· Charles Mingus

· Charlie Parker

· Count Basie

· Duke Ellington

· Herbie Hancock

· John Coltrane

· Louis Armstrong

· Ornette Coleman

· Thelonious Monk

Classical

The amount of high quality classical music available is so vast, it is impossible to narrow down

to specific CDs which you should listen to. This can be a daunting prospect when approaching

classical music, but doing some research into specific composers will pay off, and buying aclassical CD guide book can also help. Alternatively, check out the Gramophone magazine

website (www.gramophone.co.uk), which has a free, extensive, searchable archive of past

reviews.

Modern classical music has broken down the barriers between ‘proper’ music and popular music.

Not only are there an increasing number of orchestral versions of popular albums available for

sale, but minimalist classical composers such as Philip Glass and Harold Budd have actively

embraced developments in popular music. The influence of the minimalist classical works of

John Cage, Steve Reich, and Glass have proved to be highly influential on many contemporary

dance acts.



183

Further Listening

Others

Ambient 1/Music For Airports - Brian Eno

Regarded by many as the first real ambient album, Eno described the loose, improvisational

music as ‘wallpaper music’.Stand out track: 1/1

Glassworks - Philip Glass

Perhaps one of the most accessible of minimalist composers, Glass has a unique sound, and has

provided the soundtracks to many popular films - he won a Grammy for his soundtrack to ‘The

Truman Show’. This album gives a good introductory impression of his work.

Stand out track: Opening

Innervisions - Stevie Wonder

Probably his best album, and in my opinion, one of the best albums ever recorded. Great songs,great instrumentation, great performances.

Stand out track: Golden Lady

What’s Going On - Marvin Gaye

A concept album bemoaning the state of the nation and addressing environmental issues through

the use of music. Great vocal performances, especially considering it was recorded in just over a

week.

Stand out track: What’s Going On




184



The following links should point you in the direction of some helpful or useful resources availableto musicians on the internet. Some sites have further industry information, as well as advice on

how to get jobs within the music business.

Software

Antares - Creators of Auto-Tune, and many other VST plugins.

www.antarestech.com

Audacity - Free sound editor for Mac, PC and Linux.

audacity.sourceforge.net

Bias - Creators of the Peak sound editor for Mac.

www.bias-inc.com

Celemony - Creators of Melodyne auto tuning sequencer.

www.celemony.com

Emagic - Creators of the Logic sequencer software.

www.emagic.de

Propellerhead - Creators of Reason, ReCycle and ReBirth software.www.propellerheads.se

Steinberg - Creators of the Cubase and Nuendo sequencer software, and WaveLab.

www.steinberg.net

Industry Organisations

British Association of Record Dealers (BARD) - Representative body for retail outlets.

www.bardltd.org

British Music Rights - Pressure group for songwriters, composers, and publishers.

www.bmr.org

British Phonographic Industry (BPI) - Representative body for UK record companies.

www.bpi.co.uk

Intellectual Property - Government advice for UK copyright and IP issues.

www.intellectual-property.gov.uk

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) - Global record industry body.www.ifpi.org


185

Web Links

http://www.antarestech.com/

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

http://www.bias-inc.com/

http://www.celemony.com/

http://www.emagic.de/

http://www.propellerheads.se/

http://www.steinberg.net/

http://www.bardltd.org/

http://www.bmr.org/


http://www.intellectual-property.gov.uk/



http://www.intellectual-property.gov.uk/


http://www.bmr.org/

http://www.bardltd.org/

http://www.steinberg.net/

http://www.propellerheads.se/

http://www.emagic.de/

http://www.celemony.com/

http://www.bias-inc.com/

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

http://www.antarestech.com/





187

Web Links

Others

Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) - Government department responsible for

music.

www.culture.gov.uk

Her Majesty’s Stationary Office (HMSO) - Access to all parliamentary bills and legislation.

www.hmso.gov.uk

Harmony Central - Web forum for musicians.

www.harmony-central.com

Pro Music - Industry source for information about online music.

www.pro-music.org

Music Week - The primary source for music business news and analysis.

www.musicweek.com

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) - Contains some

official reports on the music industry.

www.unesco.org

http://www.culture.gov.uk/

http://www.hmso.gov.uk/

http://www.harmony-central.com/

http://www.pro-music.org/

http://www.musicweek.com/

http://www.unesco.org/

http://www.unesco.org/

http://www.musicweek.com/

http://www.pro-music.org/

http://www.harmony-central.com/

http://www.hmso.gov.uk/

http://www.culture.gov.uk/




188



189

Blank Diagrams and Manuscript (to Photocopy)




190



12 bar blues......................................................................... 118

a capella .............................................................................. 115

accidentals .......................................................................... 19

accountants ......................................................................... 170

add chords........................................................................... 98

adjectives ............................................................................ 122

Advanced Optical Disc (AOD) ............................................. 151

advances ............................................................................. 162

Aeolian scale ....................................................................... 65

Alesis Digital Audio Tape (ADAT) ........................................150

allegory................................................................................ 123alliteration ............................................................................ 123

Altered scale........................................................................ 80

alternate picking .................................................................. 32

amplifier modelling .............................................................. 145

amplitude............................................................................. 129

Artist & Repertoire (A & R) ..................................................170

assonance........................................................................... 123

audio editors ........................................................................ 139

augmented chords............................................................... 98

augmented scale ................................................................. 87auto tune ............................................................................. 145

automation........................................................................... 143

bar chords ........................................................................... 96

bit depth............................................................................... 130, 139

Blu-Ray Disc........................................................................ 150

blues scale .......................................................................... 81

bridge .................................................................................. 116

capo..................................................................................... 34cassette tapes ..................................................................... 149

chorus.................................................................................. 116

chorus (effect)...................................................................... 145

chromatic scale ................................................................... 84

circle of fifths ....................................................................... 21

Compact Disc (CD) .............................................................. 149

compressed formats ............................................................ 151

compression ........................................................................ 145

condenser microphone........................................................ 134

copyright.............................................................................. 159-162

crescendo............................................................................ 118


191

Index




192

de-esser .............................................................................. 145

delay.................................................................................... 145

demos.................................................................................. 171-173

Digital Audio Tape (DAT) ..................................................... 149

Digital Versatile Disc Audio (DVD-A) ................................... 150diminished chords ............................................................... 98

diminished scale.................................................................. 85

direct input (DI) .................................................................... 133

distortion.............................................................................. 146

Dorian #4 scale.................................................................... 70

Dorian b2 scale.................................................................... 75

Dorian scale ........................................................................ 61

dotted notes/rests ................................................................ 15

dynamic microphone ........................................................... 134

E-bow .................................................................................. 34

effects.................................................................................. 145

EQ ....................................................................................... 139, 146

file format............................................................................. 139

finger picking ....................................................................... 32

flange................................................................................... 146

frequency............................................................................. 129, 131

hard drive speed.................................................................. 153Harmonic minor scale..........................................................67

harmonised scales .............................................................. 99

harmony .............................................................................. 115

hook..................................................................................... 115

imagery................................................................................ 121

inspiration ............................................................................ 124

intervals ............................................................................... 39

intro ..................................................................................... 116

inversions ............................................................................ 100

Ionian #5 scale .................................................................... 69Ionian scale ......................................................................... 60

key changes ........................................................................ 117

key signatures ..................................................................... 19

lawyers ................................................................................ 170

left hand techniques ............................................................ 30

line in ................................................................................... 135

Locrian #2............................................................................ 79

Locrian §6 scale................................................................... 68Locrian scale ....................................................................... 66



193

Index

Lydian #2 ............................................................................. 72

Lydian augmented scale...................................................... 76

Lydian b7 scale .................................................................... 77

Lydian scale......................................................................... 63

lyrics .................................................................................... 115, 120-123

managers ............................................................................ 169

Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) ..............164

Melodic minor scale............................................................. 74

melody................................................................................. 115

metaphor ............................................................................. 122

metre ................................................................................... 115, 120

microphone modelling ......................................................... 146

microphone placement ........................................................ 134

middle eight ......................................................................... 116MiniDisc............................................................................... 149

minor 7b5 chords ................................................................. 98

Mixolydian b6 scale ............................................................. 78

Mixolydian scale .................................................................. 64

Mode 7 scale ....................................................................... 73

monitor ................................................................................ 154

MP3 ..................................................................................... 150

Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) .........................137

noise gate............................................................................ 146

normalisation ....................................................................... 140

note values .......................................................................... 15

Nyquist Theorem ................................................................. 131

octave pedal ........................................................................ 146

octave shapes ..................................................................... 26

onomatopoeia...................................................................... 123

operating systems ............................................................... 153

outro .................................................................................... 116

Performing Right Society (PRS) ..........................................165phase................................................................................... 140, 146

Phrygian dominant scale ..................................................... 71

Phrygian scale..................................................................... 62

pitch shift ............................................................................. 146

plectrum............................................................................... 29

posture ................................................................................ 29

processor ............................................................................. 153

producers ............................................................................ 170

publishing companies.......................................................... 164

publishing contracts............................................................. 165




194

Random Access Memory (RAM) .........................................153

range ................................................................................... 124

record companies................................................................ 162

record contracts................................................................... 163

repetition.............................................................................. 124rests..................................................................................... 15

reverb .................................................................................. 146

rhyme................................................................................... 120

rhythm.................................................................................. 115, 124

right hand technique............................................................ 31

royalties ............................................................................... 166

sample rate.......................................................................... 131, 139

sequencers.......................................................................... 143

simile ................................................................................... 122slash chords ........................................................................ 100

slide ..................................................................................... 34

sound cards......................................................................... 153

stereo delay......................................................................... 145

stereo enhancer .................................................................. 147

Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) .................................... 150

suspended chords ............................................................... 98

tempo .................................................................................. 18

tessitura............................................................................... 115, 117, 124

timbre................................................................................... 130time signatures .................................................................... 17

time stretch.......................................................................... 140, 147

tremolo ................................................................................ 147

triads.................................................................................... 89

tuplets.................................................................................. 16

verse.................................................................................... 116

vibrato.................................................................................. 147

vinyl ..................................................................................... 149

virtual instruments ............................................................... 144

wah-wah .............................................................................. 147

whole tone scale.................................................................. 86



195

Index







This book contains a wide variety of information for today’s

learning guitarist. Directly related guitar topics are dealt

with, including:

Buying a guitar

Changing strings

Sight reading overview

Comprehensive scale, chord and arpeggio shapes

Technique improvement tips

The book also deals with a number of wider issues that the

modern guitarist faces, including:

Songwriting advice

T HE M ODERN G UITARIST ’ S H ANDBOOK

Featuring many

Documents

The Modern Guitarist's Handbook