Ambience and Time Travel by Music 

There are sometimes we listen to music by ourselves. Sometimes in a group…sometimes at a party or an outdoor gathering or wherever at particular instances. 

What does the world sound like without music? It sounds like everything that you hear except music itself. Sometimes that’s good other times it is almost horrible. 

It just seems to be that music is basically one of the most important things in life. No wonder certain people are so passionate about music itself and what their favorite bands and composers are. 

Music is close to being transcendental if it is something that moves you and something you prefer to listen to. It has the power to calm and move and also to take you to other places beyond the static ticking of the seconds on a clock. You can lose yourself all to easily to the certain sounds that you hear. 

Words and numbers can put restraining edicts on you, but music resembles a type of liberating quality. Music can play and dance around time with it’s different beats and time signatures and places of harmony and melody where it puts them. 

Even if music is recorded and put on a cd or in an mp3 player it has the same presence of a clock because what is sent out is sound though what propels it is not as physical. 

It has always been interesting to me that sometimes when you walk into a place such as a hotel, supermarket, or club that you feel immediately aware of the environment by the music that plays when you first walk in that place. If you would walk in with no music, all that you would hear is people talking either in a murmur or loudly such as a social kind of commotion. But it is like an anesthetic when you just walk in and the music is playing. If it is something you like you immediately feel a  good vibration of the place but if it is  a song or tune you dislike then it can set you in a defensive way and might even direct you to leave. Though they maybe examples of coincidences some will take it as a cue to enter or leave a place. It seems that there is a lot of music that falls into the middle category where you neither dislike or like it but it will do for that time that you are in that particular place and that is a good thing because if all music fell in to a category of either intense dislike or intensely preferable there would be no middle ground and that could be a jarring thing to have to go through. 

Sometimes it’s music that is unfamiliar but non-intrusive that can be of great comfort in certain situations. The sound waves are considered to be actually physical by some estimation although it does not move at the speed of light. 

I think that what a lot of these kind of instances relate to is the theory about time travel. 

It at least poses a theory I would think. And what I am trying to say is that just as time shifts for people when listening to music as does a good time, it differentiates itself from the ticking of a clock which if accurate gives the sound of the measure of true seconds. 

Another example is sitting in silence. We can also lose track of time in the type of silence we experience, but music seems to move, it has motion even if is ambient or relaxation music, there still is a rate in which the music or sound moves. It poses that time travel exists at least in a concept even if it is occurring in our heads. Light also moves a distance but all laws of physical energies and things has proved to be able to be manipulated. 

Even though a song is crafted from a start to finish and there are many changes of notes and sounds in a song, the changes are manipulations of sound until it is finished and it is put on a medium such as  a cd or computer. Mantras may be example of sound that does not change it’s note but the note can be changed anytime. 

Whether you are traveling through time with your favorite song or going in your mind and trying to travel through time, you will have to admit that music is usually the best antidote.

 

Ambient and Progressive 

Ambient Rock and Progressive Rock Music Albums 

This is an attempt of a comparison between ambient rock music album and progressive rock music album. 

They may seem in some ways perhaps different but they both share at least one thing in common in that for one, they are a fusion of more than one style of a kind of music and style, two, they are pioneers in the frontiers of making music that is not easily categorized,nor  is easy to define although they are given the names ambient rock music and progressive rock music. 

They seem like two different avenues stretching through a town not necessarily crossing but in and around the same vicinity. 

A lot of albums are sort of amazing in that there is a theme usually or at least a progression from the beginning to the end of each album. A lot of times we can hear a song we like but may be in the dark of truly lies on the rest of the album. A lot of progressive rock albums are full of themes or they have some kind of concept or rather their entire album might be conceptual. It seems to follow the music and the usual kind of prowess of their instruments and technique and music theory that provides the ammunition to make an album a conceptual album from it’s beginning to it’s end. At least their might be themes within each song wether or not the entire album is conceptual. 

Ambient Rock might also vary between having an album a conceptual album or wether the songs are more of a collection of individual songs and sounds. Where as Ambient rock music might focus on sound and ambience and atmosphere, progressive rock might focus more on the actual notes and as well chords that are played. 

An ambient music artist might be the main decision maker in a band though it is very difficult to see behind the scene of an ambient rock music album. 

Sometimes, both ambient, ambient rock and progressive as well as progressive rock make a bit of instrumental music. Concerning this, ambient rock and progressive rock music are considered instrumental music artists all in the category of both ambient and progressive rock. 

Ambient rock and progressive rock that is also instrumental are some of the exciting and interesting of instrumental rock music. At least they have an arsenal of music, music theory and the instruments to assist them thus then depending on their technical skills for their instruments and the songwriting ability that each possesses. 

Though their are some similarities including ambient and progressive rock music there are also some differences. In some ways they may seem to have nothing to do with each other. In fact they are two streams which seem to begin close but veer away far from one another. What keeps things fresh and where they seem to be similar is in their novel approaches when they try and do things in their own way but differently as in new ambient rock music and new ambient rock artists. When a good progressive rock music album comes out and is inventive it is always a great listen but they both seem to depend on something and that may be to keep coming up with new approaches and a different and new way of creating their songs and albums. 

The similarity between new ambient rock music, ambient rock music and progressive rock music is the skill and boldness in finding new ways to make music and new ways to create their sounds. 

Once a kind of array of sounds exists both for ambient and progressive rock music, sometimes it’s hard to veer away from it, because it is a signature or brand if you will for each kind of music. There are exceptions, but that is one thing keeps a band or artist bonded to their created kind of sound. That being the case, still in terms of songwriting there is also a bounded phenomena but in both case their are exceptions where a band can and does break free of any not needed constraints.

Alien Music 

On mountain landscapes with green glowing rivers. In an atmosphere of green and blue skies you can hear thumping in the distance and loud wails through park homes of truck sized spaceships. I a hill to about 5 miles away there are the shouts of play and happiness from white glowing suited aliens jumping around a pool playing their flute music. 

Though…what is alien music? A lot of times people are interested and fascinated to imagine what the music would be of  another race of life form and their music supposing they are a civilized-to an extent- species. 

In film there are a lot of attempts to come up with the alien races music in different settings and will play the kind of music that they would think they would make. 

There is the famous tones from ‘Close Encounters’ that come up with simple yet intentionally intelligent sound that emanated form the spacecraft signaling they're arrival and even conveying an intent by the friendly type of notes that they chose. 

Who can forget the 1920’s style music that was playing in the Star Wars bar scene when the crew was looking for their comrades before trying to escape. 

With every sci-fi movie that has aliens in their film there are always a good try at emulating music that has yet to be heard. You could only wonder, I suppose. 

The most interesting part of all would be what kind of instruments that they would have. The instruments that we have today all evolved over time and changed and progressed with more skilled craftsmanship in wood working, iron working and experimentation, but even with experimentation, the notes of the scale we use was always derived from the same seven or eight notes in a scale. However instruments in Africa and some other countries have been used with semi-tones or notes that are in between the normal scale that we usually use. 

A good amount of the time, the music used in films with aliens is sometimes intentionally odd or borrows on the synth laden computer music similar to that of Kraftwerk. There are sometimes wails of people singing the wide variety of a scale and sometimes moans as something that calls out from a distance. 

Maybe alien music would be like synth music. Perhaps there would be an instrument it keys made of some unknown material that was a resemblance of a keyboard or a xylophone. 

Would there be percussive instruments? Stringed of any sort? One thing is, is that it would most likely be found using the same scale that we use, even if it used semi-tones. Just as high tech satellites have found colors outside are color spectrum that is universal to us, maybe there would be some notes that we have not discovered yet. It seems impossible to come up with a note outside our scale, but if a new color can be detected, what about a new note? 

Would aliens be using music anyway? Perhaps they communicate telepathically or use a language that leaves them without a desire for music. Though, would it not be something amazing one day, if we had communications with an intelligent life-form and they could share with us their music. I think that would be one of the biggest steps in evolution that there could be. We play them everything form Classical to Chinese, to Jazz and Rock and Roll and they play their type of music. So music lessons would become more interesting and expand dramatically. There could be the first alien Rock band. Perhaps one of the aliens would be a musical genius and play to thousands of earthlings and aliens together. 

But whatever alien music would sound like, it is a good exercise to expand our imagination when making music for fellow earthlings and increasing our capacity to invent new sounds and new music.

Art Rock Commentary 

Somewhere out of big bubbling sea of hits and so called Pop of the late 60’s started a kind of music in the background just starting to seep it’s way into Rock culture and to an extent the mainstream. 

Art Rock as it was when it began was not exactly widely known to the general masses, but it was a sort of treat for those who knew where to find it, although some Art Rock bands were easy to find on the Radar speaking of bands like Pink Floyd.  

Pink Floyd would be always known as an Art Rock band form the start to their last album. There are sometimes a convergence in differentiating Art Rock from Progressive Rock bands. A band like Pink Floyd seemed to remain Art Rock without needing to be one if it did not so choose but remained an Art Rock band anyway. 

Bands like Yes and Genesis seemed to be qualified as Art rock bands right from there start. Genesis is a band that could teeter between Art and Progressive Rock but may be more likened to have chosen the Art Rock course despite their musicianship which could be putting them in either category…but theirs is a reason why Art Rock is truly a delight. 

It is something that hangs on the borders of Popular music and really fills a gap in listening to music that Pop music simply cannot fill. 

Art rock stretches the ears and the mind to places that mainstream and contemporary pop cannot do alone. It’s like literally viewing a Dali painting or sometimes Geiger sometimes Warhol or anywhere in between compared to paintings from a classical period or ordinary pictures of people or landscapes…The ears can only take too much as well as the eyes before it craves what cannot normally be there. 

So for many Art Rock fills that gap that the senses are missing. 

Rush could be an art rock band, but is mostly thought of as Progressive. Here and then again there is a fine line between Art and Progressive rock though they much to do with each other…However Progressive Rock is likened mostly Harder Rock, with increased drumming and a leaning from Hard Rock to Heavy Metal as another type of Progressive Rock Music. 

Art Rock might not be considered all the time to the Heavier style of music but can placid and tranquil. 

Art Rock makes a declaration most of the time. What it says is something like: This is not normal, this may not be what you want to hear, or to some it is This is exactly what you want to hear and you might not thought anyone would have said it. To a lot of music fans Art Rock is a definite breath of fresh air like alternative music was for some in the early 90’s. 

It is the color that is not always on the palate…It is the flavor that is least available compared to the majority of music. I would guess that the culture of the 60’s from which it began until now had an effect on Art Rock and it’s music. It is decisively contemporary and modern if it be futuristic or overtly dream orientated. 

Art rock seem to play and hint along the scope of ones Psyche and mind-scape. It is for that reason perhaps that drug-use is sometimes thought of an accessory to Art Rock like it would be to Psychedelic Rock but I don’t think that is truly necessary. The music itself should provide otherworldly feeling that one derives from it. 

To get a glimpse of Metaphysical music in written form you might want to click here. 

If you would like to read more on Pink Floyd click here.

Electric Guitars and Their Sound 

Nothing quite fills in a band and their songs sound like the electric guitar. The range of notes is perfect from the Low E to the high E on the 24th fret. In a band, all instruments are important. The drum fills the beat while adding it’s own musicality to the song. The Bass holds down the notes of the song and puts a backing sound that pulls drums and the rest of the band together and can move a song with it’s own harmony. But the guitar put’s it together also. It is the staple of the band like the violin is to an orchestra. Though you can not really argue over which instrument is the most important. The guitar adds a majority of the melody and harmony of each song barring the vocalist which is usually considered the solo of the instruments. 

The electric guitar was first created in the 1920’s and started to go more into mass production with the invention of the solid body from the late1940-s into the 1950’s. Once used with the amplifier and the electric guitar was becoming more widely used in a lot of Rock and Roll bands and was in Blues and also Jazz respectively. The amplified electric guitar had it’s own sound and it could get that feeling of Rock so that it was used increasingly in the 1950’s and 1960’s. 

The Drums, The Bass, any other instrument and the Electric guitar had all seemed to compliment each other almost perfectly. Where many instruments filled an orchestra, the orchestra of the Rock era were bass, drums, and electric guitar and as well vocalists. 

Somehow the electric guitar is for the most part more noticeable. The way it looks even, sleek and enamoring, the perfect fit usually to the body and the exact right length, not to big or small. The sound penetrates through the rest of the music of the band. In between the Bass clef and suited perfectly in the Treble cleft with notes low or soaringly high. A majority of chords are easy to play once mastered because of the strings follow in 4ths except the G to B interval. But the sound through the amp is like no other that being said that the amp is a good quality one. 

With effects the guitar becomes the most versatile rivaling the synthesizer. If one really wanted they could play the most outlandish and unique, bizarre music they could with some of the effects processors that are there, inventing new sounds for hours on end. 

Still with all of the amazing effects out there more guitarists are content to play either a clean or dirty sound with just minimal effects as one reason might be that they can overshadow ones playing abilities that they want to highlight as well as the sake of the melody and harmony of the song. 

What is it though about it’s sound? Especially with distortion in good amp? The wire strings and range make it perfect for the sound of the electric guitar. It is unlike any other instrument. It does not always need to be at the front of the song though. It is also perfect for accentuating parts and adding nuances in the right places. You can pick it, pluck it, strum it or play long sustaining notes. With equalization you can really dive into the different sounds it makes. With use of different delays: short, slap-back, long it gives it a new character and with each effect and each experimentation that you make it’s like crafting a new instrument. These days if you get the right gear you can create almost any sound you like with perhaps an exception to the digital and analog sounds of the keyboard and synthesizer unless your guitar is hooked up to midi pick-ups and has access to a synthesizer’s module. 

Maybe the electric guitar is most used in Rock, some Pop, Heavy Metal and is not used in todays radio marketplace as much as it used to. Though there are enough recordings with it so far. It would be a real loss if the electric guitar was used less and less frequently. There should always be enough room for it and the possibilities with musicianship, tone, and effects use, there is still a lot of uncharted territory for making songs and music with the electric guitar.

Experimental Music 

Experimental music, a title that can mean anything in particular. So therefore the name Experimental Music. From someone clanging on spoons to hitting a plastic bat with a whip…some of these kinds of images lend the name to experimental music.’ 

However, most interesting is the experimentation with sound and rhythm in a format that is music or gets the name music and not simply sounds or noise. 

People in experimental music are trying to push the boundaries of music in all it’s forms: Rock, New Age, Jazz, Classical and Contemporary. 

It is not just the experiment in sound. It is also the experimentation in notes, music, musicality forcing the question on the listener: What is Music. 

Just like the evolution of Art from the 1900’s on. There have been those expanding the boundaries of Music mainly for the beginning of the twentieth century and onward. 

Gustav Holst’s ‘The Planets’ was in it’s a way an experimental the of music though it did not leave the confines of musicality and melody and harmony. 

American composers were more experimental up until modern times. Experimental music does not need to be atonal or noise all the time. 

You can more easily find experimental music in Rock, Art Rock and sometimes progressive music and more in Contemporary music. It seems that there a lot of musicians who love the experimental take. It belies the artists sense of freedom. Experimental music seems to love freedom and yearn to be free, not wanting to be restricted by the rules of weel known music theory and foundations laid by past classics. 

There are more experimental bands now then there were before. Though the alternative movement of the 1980’s seemed to be highly experimental sometimes you have bands more into the mainstream that are able to push their experimental agenda on it’s fans and sometimes it is met with success and appreciation. To play experimental music if you are up and coming or if for that matter are well established is a kind of risk not everyone is willing to take. Bandslike Pink Floyd and Radiohead are able to make experimental music that so far is accepted by most of their fans and credibility can pay off big for an experimental album or song if it overall goes well with the listeners. It is kind of gamble when the band or musicians tinker with sounds and toys and chord structures to have put out as a cd or distributed in some way and send out to the masses. Some are hits and others fall below the radar but there are always fans who dig and treasure the experimental artist or band, some solely because it is not a mainstream smash. 

There are always a bunch of fans even be they a small minority who appreciate the experimental music of others. Though what might be experimental for some may not too experimental for other people. In Art Rock, in it’s experiments the premise seems to be to have the listener in awe or with questions of what he or she had just listened to. Experimental music seems to have the purpose of not conforming to traditional music and to push the imagination of what is possible for the music. Though some people may recoil from experimental music, it is that missing element which can drive music to new destinations. What may be annoying to some is what is harmonious and inspiring to others. If all music simply followed the formulas of the past and never ventured into new territory, music would be too predictable and formulaic. It is the experimenting in music which offers new principles and new ideas for future music like the bad kid in the classroom for whom without we could not see better and different tendencies around us. 

It is actually a good thing for music to have experimental artists, to show something new either in sound or in music itself. As time progresses and more experimental music is played in the future. There can be a way paved for all future artists and bands and their listeners.

Free Music 

There are a lot of things given for free or discount, especially on the internet. What goes better with technology than music after all? Though I don’t think you would find any type of business giving their entire inventory for free…Because they would be penniless. So, How about they charge something that would normally be ten dollars and giving it away for a penny? That way you could not say it was not free. However, they still would not be in business. 

It is sad and almost a phenomena that music is the most likely, usually, to be ripped off, shared and payed pennies per song or album more than any trade, business, or service on the web. Some might think that art should be free. Yet would they expect to pay a penny for an art poster? Or would they expect a painting to be given for free to them…People like this seem to not understand that there is a person, a human being that is crafting the art, the music and if that person is not able to make a living of any kind then there are no funds to make the art. I understand giving away some songs for free if the musician or artist is willing to do so. But in most cases you should not expect someone to give their catalog for free or getting a penny a song which is just about the same. 

SO, maybe to many, musicians are a dime a dozen and it’s ok to get their songs for free or it’s ok to pay them a penny a song. But within this heresy might be a musician who might be good in a majority’s eyes, and their currently marketing themselves in this environment. Unless luck plays a role, many very good musicians and artists can be lost in this non-level playing field and barely scrape by to survive. Music, it so happens, is the easiest thing to cheapen and get for free more than anything else on the web, mostly. Because the music is a file. You will not get that picture you like for free because it won’t transmit to your computer at least just yet. However, we have always listened to songs on the radio for free so maybe for some you expect it to be for free from all those years of radio. However, artists were at least getting payed for radio use but rarely by the consumer, but in a way they were. 

What I don’t understand is that when some one wants a song or get’s it in a file, do they understand that the file contains bytes…And that means there is something there, some content. Someone or some of a group of people had to craft that otherwise there would not be a file, nothing, nothing there. Instead of sitting in silence…be a human being and pay that amount for the person who made it so you don’t need to sit in silence. 

Paying for music is not new, it is not revolutionary. Up until the internet had crafted mp3’s, from the early twentieth century until the mid-to late 90’s people payed for records, cd’s and tapes and expected to. With the internet and computers a lot of people on top and not so, saw an opportunity to rip-off and share and try to control because music is not physical, not as tangible a product as a brick or a bar of soap, they wanted it for free though they did not make or create it. 

There are and were many terrible stories about artists being ripped off who made smash hits from the 50’s until now. They did not have it easy and maybe the people who steal songs or feel excused by paying a penny for someones song or album feel it is their right to…But there is a principle with this and it is giving value to the music that you appreciate or treasure. It is a way of taking notice and acknowledging that you have derived benefit tom there work and respect one enough to give your appreciation to the music that has contributed to your life and well being in how much of a degree that it has. Air is free too, but air does not have melody or notes and the psychological benefit that music can. So please be wise with your decision and lend your truth and support to your favorite or preferred musician and this would be my plea as well to heads of music empires to expect that they would give more than a penny for music as you would give more than a penny to any other work of art…a poster a sculpture. 

To hear an essay on 90’s music click here or to GET some free samples of music and hear new music click here with availability to pay for new music click here.

Guitar Realm 

My first guitar was about $200. Sometimes $200 is a lot for certain things but I would guess that most guitarists know that it’s not and know where I am going with this.  

You walk into a local guitar shop and they maybe have anywhere from eight to twenty guitars on the wall…Hopefully, usually, there is a kind of homey comforting feeling in those small guitar shops. Sometimes they have effects on the floor other times there might be just what looks like a handful under a glass enclosure. There are fewer basses if they have them. Maybe a small selection of acoustic guitars and for the more equipped stores you may find classical guitars. There are usually basically two types of smaller guitar stores: one will have mostly premier instruments and maybe amplifiers, the other is more a village landmark and their stuff is basic to average in the type of gear they have. I don’t pass judgement on what equipment one is able to afford, however the ones with the more nicer stuff is just a different vibe from my part altogether and you feel like you’re going form a an old car to a new and nicer one so to speak. The guitars and other equipment that is of higher value is usually more costly because ,when you do buy one sooner or later, you know the way it feels and plays is in a class of it’s own. You can see the workmanship the way it feels…it is put together better and suddenly you play and find out: “Hey, I am not that bad after all” -sometimes. Playing on a professional instrument compared with a cheap one is like flying compared to riding a bicycle. I hope that everyone has their chance to be playing one if they have only played the cheaper ones. I find this to be the same with all instruments, electric and acoustic. There is nothing like your first professional guitar. As well, there is not much else like your first professional amplifier either. I once played on stage and the night before, my $1300+ guitar was stolen. I wound up then playing with a $150 guitar that night and it actually worked pretty well except there was a degradation in the sound somewhat. 

If you do not have an access to a good ma and pa guitar shop, some like the mega stores. I do admit I think it’s kind of neat to walk into a big huge store with bright lights shining and see 50 plus guitars on the wall and a mound of amps with it’s very own effect showcase. There is something to be said about it. Not only can you find deals on lesser expensive guitars and gear to have something, something to have to get going with, but also you may find the better type of guitars there too. It maybe harder to find a real good amp at times, but 

i think usually the big stores mix up the low to high end gear. The one thing is that you will probably find better effects units at a mega store. Also there are probably a wider selection of synthesizers. It is up to the consumer. Trying to find the right guitar is like navigating on a mountain trail to find the right campground site. You may have to govern some difficult terrain to find the right one or ones depending. 

Anything a guitar player wants in a guitar is virtually out there. I tend to like the heavy woods and a solid body, but it’s very cool to play some of the high-end hollow bodies. You can hear the sound fill up the space and come out although a problem with hollow bodies on stage is they have a tendency to cause feedback and sometimes a lot of it. 

You have guitars now with gadgets as a part of the guitar. I have only played on a few of them, but while technology gets better there has to be some pretty good ones now a days. 

Who knows maybe someday everyone will play guitars suped up with sorts of effects built in them and midi devices installed. 

If you would like to read about a guitar orientated (but not only) bad like Rush check this out. If you would also like to hear some music with guitars intermeshed with other instruments cheek out this.

The Guitar and It’s Music 

One of the first things an aspiring guitarist will do when he or she gets their first guitar is to hold it. To feel how it is against his trunk of his or her body and especially how it feels in one’s hands. Maybe it’s heavy or maybe it’s light like a hollow body or an acoustic. For everyone it is kind of the same for that first time embracing a thick block of wood and feeling the strings wondering maybe that one is going to be a good guitarist and musician or maybe it could be me holding it that will be a notable guitar player and be able to succeed doing it for real for a living. It is a big aspiration and learning it and making it both can take a toll though few rewards can be more desirable in this world. 

Guitars are mainly chosen for an overall reason of playability usually foremost and the sound from the pick-ups is usually secondary even though it can make a big difference. It seems many musicians feel that they can fix the sound with a good amp and effects but options are always available to change the pick-ups. There can be a lot of reasons why some will go for an axe with hum bucking pick-ups over single coil and there are more configurations these days with splitting the signal in a hum bucker or single coil. For certain, everyone wants the best sound, it’s just at least initially most will go far how the instrument plays if they have to make a choice with knowing they can always change pick-ups. 

The sound of the guitar in recording of many famous albums have changed over time. Similar to how over all production and the sounds of the last sixty years or so has also changed. 

Notice the brittle and brassy sound of guitar in the 1950’s before there were enough ways of creating solid distortion, though that is luck or fate because that clean sound suited the music rather well. In all a good part of the guitar sounds were similar sounding. Coming up to the sixties most bands used distortion a bit more during guitar solos in particular and sometimes in verses and choruses depending on the music. By the late Sixties there was increase in using distortion among bands that were beginning to lead to the Heavy Metal era which arguably began in the early Seventies. In the Seventies the bands that were of Hard Rock and Metal began perfecting the Heavy Metal guitar sound which carried up until modern times. Just as there were experiments with other guitar effects in the Sixties so were there in the Seventies among experimental and Art Rock bands. 

The guitar was becoming like a synthesizer. Most common uses were distortion, delay, chorus, flanger and reverb. These main staples of guitar effects would be a precursor to more advanced effects mainly coming as well to the public in the 1980’s and would become more intense and variegated until current time. 

The use of metal wires into the amplifiers and also direct boxes created un almost endless palate of sounds that were able to be created by the electric guitar. Though it is interesting that it seems a majority of songs with guitar players did not use a majority of special effects and the ones that could make outlandish sounds though there were a minority. Some of the best known and widely heard guitarists usually relied on the fundamental kinds of effects mainly delay, chorus, flanger and reverb. There were exceptions…Jimi Hendrix could be one as well as Yes and ELP. In the Eighties certainly Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and some of the elite who were focused mostly on the guitar as it’s main voice for their band and projects. 

The guitar had become very versatile. Then there are the acoustic guitars. The acoustic guitar is as irreplaceable as the electric or any other instrument. If the acoustic guitar was steel stringed it was used on Rock and Pop recordings and Folk and Bluegrass more than as a solo instrument even though it is possible for it be used as  one. There are a significant amount of albums using acoustic steel string guitars then is usually noticed perhaps because it is a staple especially in backing tracks even if it is played on Hard Rock albums. 

It can be surprising the amount steel string acoustics are really used. 

One guitar that is a great instrument perhaps not as widely used these days as the electric and steel string acoustic is almost a different kind of guitar that is the Classical nylon stringed guitar. 

The nylon string guitar has been mainly used for Spanish guitar songs, Latin and Classical music. The only difference in playability in this guitar is one has to use his fingers for everything. One needs to grow their nails on their picking hand and the technique of picking as well as the way scales and chords are played takes a lot of practicing and it is much more difficult to play fast using only your fingers but skilled players do just that. The sound of the nylon string is usually beautiful being able to hear more of the guitars body and is an especially unique instrument. 

Guitars are heard a lot these days probably because of their versatility and the range of notes fits in well with most songs that can be played. There is ample room for more guitar music these days for Classical, Steel String and Electric with it’s variety of techniques and effects it has to feel in the void in most modern music.

Heavy Metal Music Exploration 

It can be arguably said that Heavy Metal music started at the end of the 1960’s. John Lennon had said that “Helter Skelter” was the first Heavy Metal song written by none other than the Beatles. In 1969 Led Zeppelin came out with Zeppelin II a good argument for it being Heavy Metal along with their first release ‘Led Zeppelin’. Black Sabbath was not too far away and have many that claim them to be the very first Heavy Metal band or the Fathers of Heavy Metal. 

The Heavy Metal movement which relatively started in the early seventies was known by the instruments of heavily distorted guitars a big cumbersome bass and the pounding drums not to mention each bands vocalist which put an emphasis on the style of their singer not to mention the prowess and ability of vocal range and circus-like technical ability of guitar players as well as drummers. 

For the most well known bands, the technical abilities helped give Heavy Metal more credence though it might not have needed as mush based on the newness and originality of how the songs were structured and made. 

Heavy Metal did churn though the Seventies, bands flexed there muscle even through that period. Punk Rock came along and offered more of a brazen and simple style of music and it seemed for a while that these two kinds of music opposed each other each tried to put the other one out. 

Punk did not last too long during that phase in between the late Seventies to early Eighties, however it made an impression on the Pop and Rock genre for some years. Though in the early eighties Metal started to progress and evolve more. Bands that were in the background started to come out a bit more and many of Heavy Metals’ staples were created to give Metal a more authoritative presence and voice with the likes of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, the new line up of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, The Scorpions and more just to name some of them. 

There style not only of the sound of the guitars and operatic-like singing but of the melodies were totally original and made real music sometimes borrowing from classical influences and blues also. 

Though wether Heavy Metal was really started in the 70’s or 80’s is really up to the opinion of the listener. Bands like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath in the 70’s could be making a strong argument they are the true pioneers of Metal. Though even if that is so, it certainly got a new type of sound in the 80’s from the main bands in that time making Metal more Heavy. 

In the mid to late eighties Heavy Metal received a makeover. There was anew kind of metal: Glam and more Pop sided metal than before. There were more bands coming out and did not seem to care of their more Pop orientated leanings. Still coming out from some years-a few- before was Thrash Metal and metal bands that were intent on keeping their music as heavy as possible. Coming in-between the metal of the early eighties and thrash metal was  band known as Metallica that changed the game around with their metal masterpieces and finally know by the third Master of Puppets which was a breakthrough album that attracted audiences from the full spectrum of metal and even Hard Rock too. 

Heavy Metal has garnished a wide variety of fans. It’s similar to a niche music but something about it keeps it going and attracts a large audience. It is almost similar to Blues where sometimes the same kind of chords are being played and the same scale is used on the instruments yet something about it pulls you back and becomes refreshing though you have heard the same style before. However most bands are proud of their own style to set them apart from other metal bands and a lot of bands show their creativity in the way the music is made and deriving from both Blues and Classical music to show they have the dexterity to do so. 

Heavy Metal has not gone away…It may seem far in the background similar to the Blues music movement. Though it has survived about four decades and is still being found. The fans of Metal rarely go away. The fact that the bands and their fans are connected from an unbreakable bond of the musics feel and originality.