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How best to teach guitarist the basics of amps and effects
A bandmate of mine knows electric guitar pretty well, but has a lot to learn about amps and effects -- virtual or otherwise.
How would you recommend he learn? I'm tempted to recommend he learn with Garageband on iOS, except he doesn't have a guitar I/O to it.
Any recommendations? Articles, YouTubes, lending him some gears, software, whatever.
Thanks
Comments
I'm no expert in playing electric guitars (nor acoustic guitars), but I do believe teaching him one-on-one would be best. Putting myself in my 20-year-old self's shoes, I believe articles, Youtube, lending gear, software, etc can certainly help, but sometimes it's best to teach someone how to use music gear in person. I know I learned better in uni than I did trying to read articles online. (My days in uni were pre-Youtube, but still at the boom of music software coming into its own on PC/Mac in the 2000s, lol.)
If he has no guitar I/O to GB on iOS, does he at least have a guitar I/O to GB on a Mac? (Does he have a Mac laptop/desktop?) Conversely, do you have a guitar I/O he could borrow that can hook up to his iPad/iPhone?
And of course, once he learns the basics of whatever he needs to learn, then move onto more intermediate territory, and then advanced. And make sure he practices daily for at least 15 minutes a day. (I practice scales and arpeggios on piano 15 minutes a day daily to keep my fingers nimble on the piano.)
Again, I'm no expert in playing guitar, just piano. But, I have helped tutor others in various classes during spare time back when I was in uni. I had nothing better to do once I completed my own assignments, lol.
Can he borrow amps from other guitarist for a while or do a temporary swap with his own? That’s enormously helpful as no amount of advice can beat twiddling knobs and figuring what you like or don’t like.
As for effects, that’s a huge subject. Again, if he can borrow a few pedals that will teach way more than any YouTube video or virtual effects.
At the end of the day it’s about finding your own way with the instrument.
Without some form of I/O it's going to be difficult.
If I was just trying to teach someone about effects and didn't have any way to connect a guitar to an iPad I would get an app like Riffler that has guitar samples, chowdsp's BYOD and something to host both apps. I'd set the Riffler sound to dry and let my student load in different effects and sweep the knobs to see how they shape the sound.
Didn’t know about riffler, thanks!
The best way is for him to spend real time with people that know about these things…jamming, taking lessons, going to small clubs. There is no substitute for being in a room with gear that sounds good in the hands of someone that know more than you do.
Tough one man; I’m not an expert or teacher ; just an [ex] shredder (
)
I mean if he’s already a guitarist I would imagine he/she is acoustic crossing over to electric ?
I think there are two main paths to approach
A. Digital - physical Modeling , plugins etc
b. Analog - physical gear, amps, pedals, cabs, racks and stacks
Now - it goes without saying - analog is the base and basis for digital. With that said digital is now the way the electric guitar has evolved , and while I fought and wrestled with the idea, I finally accepted it only makes sense as a natural evolution of an electric instrument in the digital age.
So I would first ask this guitarist what do they want to invest in?
Analog is limited and expensive ; digital is limitless and affordable….it is what it is
If you explain the basics (Google it if you don’t know yourself, something like “basics+ electric guitar”) of how analog works , give her/him the choice of what they want to put their time and money into because it’s a huge difference … for example you mentioned fractal: you can spend $3k and have the ultimate digital physical modeler and fx which is even setup like a stack and rack, or you can spend $30 on a plug in and have an awesome sounding emulation on your iPad (GigFast Lite ; shout out to @ArteraDSP for their awesome work)….
Or you can spend $300 on a little combo amp that you’ll eventually need to grow out of, or you can spend $3k on a stack if you know what pieces/brand you prefer…knowing down the line you may want to also add pedals and/or rack fx which will go into the hundreds but more likely thousands . Not to mention the cost for tubes, cables, and then mounting/housing the stuff + power costs, ofc
again; I always have to approach things with economy in mind - and for me I believe you have to decide what you want (intention) and balance that with what you have (resources) available ….
[i like your first suggestion with the FM3 still tbh; it’s the perfect balance of digital, analog(hybrid) approach…and it is essentially an axe Fx lite with also a mini pedal foot switch…and you can get a used one for like $700. Then you only have to worry about a powered cab (of which there are a few I could recommend).]
Anyway I hope that helps start you off because looking back on where I started to where the industry has gone, it’s a different world completely from 20 years ago, and I would appreciate it if someone told me about the economics coupled with the facts/info
First recommendation is for him continue learning how to use the gear he already has. Surely he has some kind of amp already if he is in a band with you?
What effects gear does he already have? He should on focus on learning how to use those.
"Learning a lot" about effects is not required for all guitarists. Quite a few great guitarists known for plugging straight into amp (no pedals), or using one drive/boost pedal in front of an amp and no other pedals.
Thx for all the ideas, folks.
FYI, he has a Boss ME-80. I don't know if he has a home amp or how's he's hearing his playing, I should ask.
We play into a PA system at church. IIRC, he started with acoustic rhythm, and is moving more into electric riffs and leads.
I don't know the Boss ME-80, other than to say it has a bunch of effects and some modest amp modeling and cabs.
He's got a fine multi-FX/amp modeler in the ME-80.
I don't know what your guitarists knowledge of FX but if he watches this ME-80 video, and understands everything Kerry is saying, I would say he already knows the effects basics. If on the other hand there is something he doesn't understand and/or confuses him, that would identify his learning opportunity.
Thanks!
He has a Fender Mustang amp.
I'll probably drop by his house with a distortion pedal, and OD pedal, my Eventide H9 for other effects, and talk through a few things. The Mustang itself has presets and the web site shows their signal chains, so that amp itself will provide instructional value.
IMHO, unless you see the guitar signal chain with real separate pedals, or laid out virtually, or on a big MFX floorboard, it's hard to initially grok this stuff.
Well as others have said, no way anybody is going to grok all this stuff in one day anyway. Most of us first learned what is a distortion pedal, what is an overdrive, what is a delay, etc. first, then got into the finer points of each type of effect over time.
Maybe have him get a copy of Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer. It was a very good read for me when I was a raw beginner. That book had all the info needed for a person thinking about taking up guitar as an instrument - what acoustic and electric guitars are, what pickups are, what different types of effects are, the basics of playing chords, basics for playing lead, etc.
There's nothing like strapping a guitar around your neck and playing in front of a real amp.
I like your idea of bringing hardware pedals for him to play with.
But he has a ME-80, has he learned how to use it? Maybe you can explain the signal path and how the effects affect it.
My first big dive into effects and amp models was the Digitech RP-1000, released a looong time ago.
IMHO, the layout and the UI was reasonably good, and helped to guide my understanding of a typical signal chain.
Dunno if the ME-80 will do that for my bandmate or not.
Still unclear on what are the perceived areas of improvement in how this guitarist is using his ME-80.
Is he just playing too loud?
Is his tone too muddy or too icepick bright?
What are the issues that sparked the desire to educate this person?
Generally, the feedback he has gotten is he’s doing OK. He’s on stage using just the ME80 though it’s not clear to me how often he has any kind of amp model in that. It’s going straight to the FOH.
He just straight up says he doesn’t know squat about FX and amp models. So I want to help him.