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Posted

I use effects, and I am really good with creating great sounds and stuff with friends, but recently theres been talk of just having people come over and starting to jam. I use alot of spacey phaser/modulation/delay, etc to get my sounds, and i KNOW they can sound great in a jam, so I was wondering:

 

do you guys have any tips on how I would go about playing notes that fit in with the jam? So they arent just random ones that sound out of place? Do I find the key and play in a scale of that key? OR something? I dont know how to find a key, etc.

 

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

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Posted

Sounds like you need to learn some scales Alex.

 

Minor & Major Pentatonic Scales are absolutely essential for jamming.

 

Start to learn the other modes of the major scale after you've mastered these.

 

As to what key you need to play in that is usually determined by the FIRST chord of a piece (and nearly always by the LAST note of a piece - but in a jam situation, by then it won't matter much ;))

 

As far as all those phasy/delay effects are concerned they are a really good way to NOT be heard in ensemble playing. I've heard many guitarists who sound like mush on stage due to over use of effects - I bet they sounded real good in their bedroom though! :D

 

I'm not saying don't use effects - just be aware of the dangers of over-use.

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Posted

Originally posted by Alexbiscuit

I use alot of spacey phaser/modulation/delay, etc to get my sounds, and i KNOW they can sound great in a jam, so I was wondering:


do you guys have any tips on how I would go about playing notes that fit in with the jam? So they arent just random ones that sound out of place? Do I find the key and play in a scale of that key? OR something? I dont know how to find a key, etc.


Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

ditto Bill on the note thing

 

As for effects, I used to use them all the time, but eventually, I came to desire a completely stripped down sound, just me and my guitar, maybe an overdriven amp. I found that effects got in the way of my playing because rather than trying to put everything into what I was playing, I was worried about what I had to step on and where it was on the floor, etc.

 

Again, I'm not saying don't use effects. Some of my favorite players use effects (hendrix) a lot. But, like Bill said, be careful. it's really easy to let the effect mask your inexperience, and to let the effect take over your playing. I have a friend who goes through bouts of guitar playing. he plays for like 5 or 6 months, gets frustrated, stops, picks it back up a few months later, stops, etc. But, he loves effect pedals. At last count, he something like 48 pedals, including three wah pedals (different settings on each), and three Big Muffs (different versions, or modded). he gets off on buying a pedal and fooling around with it for hours. Why? Because he would rather sound good by clicking on a pedal rather than learning to play.

 

Effects are cool, but try to use them only to enhance your playing. Don't use them instead of learning to play. :)

 

later

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