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One of the defining sounds in Rock and Roll music is guitar distortion.  Do you know what guitar distortion sounds like?  Can you tell a distorted guitar from a non distorted guitar?  Here are a couple of audio examples that will help you become familiar with what a distorted guitar sounds like.

First, let’s listen to a “clean” guitar sound.  A clean guitar sound is simply a guitar’s natural sound before adding any special sound effects.  Here is an example: 

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Now, let’s listen to the same guitar part, but we will add some distortion.  There are many guitar distortion pedals available at your local guitar shop.  I am using the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer which is still very popular even though it has been around for a while.  Note the knob controls for Drive, Tone, and Level.  By changing these settings, you can get different distortion sounds from the same pedal.  

Here is the same guitar part I played earlier, only this time I am playing through the Tube Screamer.  Take a listen:

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Distortion is used a lot in guitar licks like this:

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Let’s add a bit more distortion.  Here are the new settings on the TS. 

This sounds a bit more fuzzy doesn’t it?

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Here is another guitar lick using these settings:

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Let’s crank it up even more.  I increased the tone to be higher so that it cuts a bit more. 

It should be pretty grungy.  Take a listen:

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After listening to these examples, you should have a good idea of what guitar distortion sounds like.  Next time you are listening to music on the radio or your favorite mp3 player, listen closely to the guitars.  Are they clean, slightly distorted, or full on distorted like some sort of crazy buzzsaw? 

Written by Robby Brewer Copyright © 2010
www.MyGuitarUniversity.com

When I went to grade school there were five different grades you could get on your report card.  These were represented by the letters A-D and of course F.  An A was the best grade you could get and obviously F was the worst grade you could get.

Interestingly, there are also standard guitar chords with the same names, A-D and F.  Do these chords also represent a progression from best to worst?  I decided to do some investigation into this intriguing hypothesis.

Since A was the best grade you could get in school, was A the best chord you could play on the guitar?  Let’s take a listen. 

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If you are just starting out playing guitar and have the need to purchase a guitar pick, you may have found that there are almost endless possibilities of these little plastic items for sale at your local guitar shop.  What the heck are these things, what is the difference, and which kind should you buy?

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