Extended/Prepared Guitar Techniques
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Topic: Extended/Prepared Guitar Techniques
Posted By: Captain Capricorn
Subject: Extended/Prepared Guitar Techniques
Date Posted: March 13 2009 at 18:42
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I'm extremely interested in extended & prepared guitar techniques, & after Weetabix posted a prepared technique in another thread, I figured it might be helpful if all of us axe nerds had a place to suggest & request some others... So...any interesting extended or prepared guitar techniques that you guys know of?
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Replies:
Posted By: Arsihsis
Date Posted: March 13 2009 at 18:52
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Fred Frith does some really interesting stuff with prepared guitar...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2WSeZZV6iQ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2WSeZZV6iQ ------------- 729 |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 13 2009 at 20:07
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Extended guitar, meaning? Extended range guitar? I have no idea. ------------- 
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Posted By: Captain Capricorn
Date Posted: March 13 2009 at 21:43
Extended guitar techniques are methods of playing that step outside of the realm of notation, such as picking below the bridge, picking above the nut, tapping, muting, microtones (notes that fall between a note & it's sharp), harmonics, knocking on the neck, bending the neck, bending below the bridge, etc.
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HughesJB4 wrote:Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: March 13 2009 at 22:01
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some I learned from Eddie; - sliding the outer edge of the right hand down the strings while rapidly pulling-off the low E with the left. Makes that staccato rumble, cool effect. - percussive slapping of strings with right hand [at 12th fret] while left does a smaller slap [at a lower fret] with first two or three fingers on fretboard. The motion in the right hand comes from the wrist and must be coordinated with rhythm of left hand slap. This is that technique he does for the 'Mean Street' opening. It is extremely difficult to do. and Randy Rhoads developed a variation to Eddie's basic two-handed hammer/pull where he double-times the hammer of the right index finger..this is heard at the end of the 'Flying High Again' solo I'm sur I'll think of others. Hendrix of course pioneered many of the tricks guitarists take for granted now, as divebombs, howls, many other things |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 14 2009 at 04:42
Well there you go, you just about listed everything in that post alone in terms of extended guitar techniques  Seriously though, I've been playing for a few years, I frequent one of the most popular guitar forum boards on the internet and have read tons of interviews of pro players, yet I've never heard anyone use the term "Extended guitar techniques". And yes, Mike's post below is right. Most of those techniques, except perhaps bending below the bridge and picking below the bridge which I've never seen notated before, are easily notated if you use the right computer programs, or even if you tab is out yourself on paper, it's not beyond notation. -------------
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Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: March 14 2009 at 05:22
I don't think that all of those techniques are "outside the realm of notation" ... tapping, muting, microtones, harmonics, bending ... those techniques can all be noted down. Might look a bit complicated in standard notation, but definitely not in guitar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablature - tabulature .  ------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 14 2009 at 05:34
Well I wouldn't call the "double timed tapping" an extended guitar technique at all. It's just tapping really. Think about it, whether it's the "rolling" taps of Eruption, the double timed taps of Randy Rhoads, or whether your using 8 finger tapping to play a classical piece, it's just tapping. It's nothing that can't be notated easily. -------------
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Posted By: Captain Capricorn
Date Posted: March 14 2009 at 07:46
I wasn't at all talking about guitar tabs - I'm talking about notes on a staff...maybe I should've said standard notation 
Tapping is an extended technique...scroll down to strings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_technique - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_technique
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Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: March 14 2009 at 07:54
^ "Extended" ... of course you can see it that way, but considering that tapping as been around for more than 30 years now, I don't consider it to be "extended" anymore. 
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Posted By: Captain Capricorn
Date Posted: March 14 2009 at 08:46
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I've been tinkering with prepared bass guitar a bit & have found an incredibly atmospheric, ambient tone that can be acheived by wedging a smooth, flat, plastic object (roughly 1 in. thick & 4-5 in. long) just above the neck pickup. Try it!
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Posted By: Captain Capricorn
Date Posted: March 14 2009 at 10:49
I'm a huge fan of this technique...I like to trade triplets between two strings while using it...gives a nice computer-like effect
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Posted By: Negoba
Date Posted: March 14 2009 at 10:57
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Jake E. Lee, Randy Rhoads successor, actually used a number of extended technique as he refused to use a tremolo bar. One of the cooler ones is to tremolo pick over the neck frets, hitting notes you might choose to tap.
The technique Atavachron and Cap are describing can be heard in the solo to "The Ballad" by Testament (Alex Skolnik)
Tommy Emmanuel has some stuff on youtube that will blow your mind in this regard. ------------- You are quite a fine person, and I am very fond of you. But you are only quite a little fellow, in a wide world, after all. |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: March 14 2009 at 22:50
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nothing 'prepared' here but I saw Steve Vai demonstrate his circular bend, much like a violinist's vibrato where the tip of the left index finger rotates in a small or medium circle on the note in a [normally] clockwise direction. The note is continuously bent circularly, not just pressed and toggled ..nothing special but it's an option (and it kinda hurts ) |
Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: March 15 2009 at 03:19
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^ doesn't make too much sense to me on a fretted instrument. As far as violinists are concerned, I remember them creating vibrato typically by leaving the finger firmly on the board while moving the hand back and forth. Through the movement of the hand the angle of the finger changes, resulting in slight changes of pitch as it rolls back and forth.
------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: March 15 2009 at 03:52
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yes, not hand-wringing, but a full circle which creates a slightly different bend sound than the typical up/down motion..not my favorite technique but it's OK |
Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: March 15 2009 at 04:03
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^ I didn't mean to criticise the use of the technique - I only meant that personally I wouldn't use vertical finger movements on a fretted instrument to create vibrato. I realize though that sometimes sound isn't everything - for example you can do bends by bending the neck which definitely looks cooler on stage than using the vibrato bar. By the same reasoning the circular bend may simply look more aesthetically pleasing and you might also prefer the slightly different sound even when a traditional approach would be more efficient. ------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: cobb2
Date Posted: March 15 2009 at 08:01
| Vibrato on the classical guitar is achieved by the same method as the other stringed instruments such as violin and cello, not by string bends. It adds emotion, not a change of note ie. making the instrument resemble the wobble in the human voice. So I guess this is not an extended method, but a very old and traditional method. |
Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: March 15 2009 at 09:24
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^ technically it's all vibrato though ... by applying pressure the tension of the string is increased, resulting in an increase of pitch. Vocalists can also use tremolo (modulation of volume/loudness), but you can't do that on a stringed instrument.
------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 15 2009 at 20:34
Odd that you deliberately wouldn't use a technique like that I must say. I use both 'normal' electric guitar vibrato and classical vibrato on my electric, because both sound very very different and have their uses. Being able to do classical vibrato well too opens up more possibilities in your playing, so why limit yourself by simply choosing not to use a technique? -------------
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Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: March 16 2009 at 06:32
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^ I just don't see much difference, sound-wise. I would simply rather concentrate on getting the typical electric guitar vibrato right than using a variety of different techniques. You can do both gentle and extreme vibrato with the standard technique. The difference in sound ... well, I guess it's in the imagination of the player a lot, because technically vibrato is simply a modulation of pitch - it doesn't really sound differently when you apply more pressure compared to bending the string to the side. Of course what can be different is the waveform of the modulation (so to speak). Again: I think those are valid techniques and some of my favorite guitarists are using them ... if you want to use them then by all means go ahead. I'm simply saying that I don't have much use for them. ------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: March 16 2009 at 14:44
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When it comes to playing the guitar the way it shouldn't ought to be played, you can't beat Fred Frith. http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=13152 - http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=13152 http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=15249 - http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=15249 ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: March 16 2009 at 19:52
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pretty cool; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyUL6flJgvU - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyUL6flJgvU |