If you've been following Guitar Chalk for any length of time, you'll notice we always put a banner photo at the top of all our articles.
90 percent of the time those banner photos come to us from a Flickr account run by a fella from Belgium, under the profile … Read More
Particularly in western music (pop, rock, the "post-grunge" era) chord progressions are quite simple.
Here's what I mean by simple:
Chord progressions follow or harmonize with bass lines which are often straightforward and easy to decipher. Even in songs that might sound complicated, with tricky rhythms or lengthy melody lines, bass lines … Read More
Typically, lead guitar players (at least the good ones) don't simply run through an entire scale and try to pass it off as their own solo.
The reason is that scales are structural.
They are a static construct.
In other words, they're templates and not finished products. Thus, using them … Read More
Per our publishing policy we no longer "review" products in the strictest sense of the word.
However, we do leave room in that policy for roundups and recommendations where we assess and recommend multiple products that fall under the same umbrella. For most of these roundups we simply avoid products we can't … Read More
In the early months of 2017 our small(ish) church of roughly 200 regular attenders set about planting a second congregation in a neighboring town.
One of our most significant tasks was to procure, setup and maintain a second sound system that would accommodate a pastor and a worship team. We needed to … Read More
Keyboardist Laura Hall and I perform live, improvised music (for better or worse) for the CW show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”
It’s all about styles and variety, like other house bands, which means we're attempting to bring the widest swath possible in an improvised format.
Unlike other house bands, Laura … Read More
All sound waves go through some kind of medium to get to your ears.
When you're talking about a guitar rig, each sound wave or "signal" will go through a number of manipulations before it actually hits open air where you can hear it.
Nearly all of those instances have … Read More
Pedalboards will never get old.
No matter how much we tinker, adjust, reset and agonize over them, they're never boring. They're also never quite right.
In every sense, a pedalboard is the stylistic and creative imprint of the electric guitarist who works it. Put together methodically over time, with attention … Read More
The mark of a professional, in any context, is a distinct comfort with the task at hand.
If you're not comfortable with your tools - if they make you nervous, uncertain or uneasy - than your trade still has mastery over you.
For guitarists, the most immediate and obvious tool … Read More
It's not accurate to say that tube amps aren't good for metal. I also wouldn't concede that solid state amps are never good for blues, jazz or mellow rock.
There's too much overlap to paint in such broad strokes.
Plus, I've always thought solid state amps were unfairly stereotyped.
They're … Read More
