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Mediant chord (iii)
The mediant chord: iii The mediant chord not used that often in the major keys for songwriting and is found more often in the minor keys. This doesn’t mean that we should avoid it completely and I find that the iii chord can add some interesting colour, especially in a bridge. iii rarely moves to V and generally leads to the chords vi, ii and IV.…
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Breakdown
In music, the word “breakdown” could mean one of several things. An instrumental or percussion section or interlude during a song (the term, used in this way, is popular with the kids these days). An analysis or classification of something; division into parts, categories, processes, etc. (a lesson breaking down a song in easily digestible parts) A killer Tom Petty song with a cool lead guitar…
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Pitch
Pitch is the sound that a note makes. Not all musical instruments make notes with a clear pitch; percussion instruments are often distinguished by whether they do or do not have a particular pitch. A sound or note of definite pitch is one of which it is possible or relatively easy to discern the pitch.…
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Overdrive
Some distortion effects provide an “overdrive” effect. Either by using a vacuum tube, or by using simulated tube modeling techniques, the top of the wave form is compressed, thus giving a smoother distorted signal than regular distortion effects. When an overdrive effect is used at a high setting, the sound’s waveform can become clipped, which…
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Octave
An octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. In other words, an octave is the same note at a higher or lower pitch.
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Guitar Effects
What are effects?? Effects can be anything used to alter the pure sound of an instrument or voice. In early days outdoor theaters were designed in such a way that would give the voices or the music the most dynamic range of volume possible. This way a larger crowd could enjoy the music without amplification that did not…
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Phase Shifter
A Phase Shifter creates a complex frequency response containing many regularly-spaced “notches” in an incoming signal by combining it with a copy of itself out of phase, and shifting the phase relationship cyclically. The phasing effect creates a “whooshing” sound that is reminiscent of the sound of a flying jet. This effect dominates the sound…
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Delay
Delay is probably one of the most valuable effects. It is the building block that many other effects such as reverb, flange and chorus are built from. A delay is basically what the name says. It is a delay of the original signal of the guitar that plays at a set time after the original notes or chord…
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Power Attenuator
A Power Attenuator enables a player to obtain power-tube distortion independently of listening volume. A power attenuator is a dummy load placed between the guitar amplifier’s power tubes and the guitar speaker, or a power-supply based circuit to reduce the plate voltage on the power tubes. This is essentially a commercially packaged version of what…
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Neo-Classicism
Neo-Classicism can be defined as the new classical movement. This movement started in the early 1920s and continued to be a leading musical movement throughout the century. This trend is still popular today. Neo-Classicism is a movement which incorporated the music of the Classical era, in terms of clarity of texture and objectivity. This trend…