Indie Music and Guitar Techniques

We discussed earlier that indie music uses a lot of different sounds, and that's what makes the style so interesting. We can achieve these sounds by using a pedal.

Essential Pedal Sounds

On my board, the main kinds of sounds are:

• Overdrive or Distortion: This changes the amp from being clean to really rocky and big.
• Modulation: This warps the signal, allowing you to get those stranger, more experimental sounds. You can hear the wobble in the notes.
• Delay: This acts like an echo. Imagine going under a tunnel and shouting; the note repeats and carries on.

In indie music, it's very common for guitarists to turn them all on and just make some noise.

Multi-Effects vs. Individual Pedals

You can get pedals individually or as a multi-effects unit, which means multiple pedals in one. I like that option because it's easy to carry around and ready to go. However, you can also build your own boards by buying one sound at a time:

• Distortion: This might just be one box that you then plug into a modulation box, which is a different unit.
• It doesn't always have to come as one unit.

Of course, if you don't have this equipment, it's not the end of the world. These are just tools we can experiment with later on as you get deeper into your guitar playing.

Reinforcing Guitar Skills

Looking at Example One in Indie Part Two, we're not learning anything new; we're reinforcing the skills we've already picked up along this course.

Analyzing the Example

• We can see a mixture of rests, note lengths, and different notes on the neck.
• We're including the new D that we learnt on the B string, but taking a first look:
  • We have quarter notes alternating between fretted notes and rests.
  • We'll play the open B string going to C, but in between, we've got a quarter note rest.

Using Both Hands for Muting

Now is a great time to start using both hands when fretting notes. Here's how to do it:

• Lift up your finger from the note to stop it.
• Use your palm on the bridge to stop the note as well.
• You can also use other fingers if you're playing an open string.

What I'm doing here is applying no pressure; I'm just resting my hand on top of the string to stop the note.

Practice Exercise

Let's take some time to play with that.

• Play the open B string.
• Use a finger to stop the note.

Key Tip: Keep your finger resting and don't lift it up; otherwise, the note will come back. Very slightly, but it's noticeable.

Moving Through the Example

In Bar Two, we've got that new D note. We will:

• Use alternate picking, going from D to the first fret, then C to the open string.
• In Bar Three, we've got half notes and quarter notes. We know this now, and we're getting really familiar with it, so we'll blast through it.

Steps for this bar:

• Second fret: on the G string (which is A)
• Open B, back to that A on the G string
• Finish off with a whole note, open G

This is simple stuff for us, and we should be really comfortable with it.

Tempo Practice

Now, we're going to try and go from start to finish at a slightly slower tempo. Then you can build up to the tempo of the backing track.

Let's give it a go together:

Key Skills: Muting

The key skill we're practicing here is muting with both hands.

• I would like you to practice muting with your left hand, then with your right, and lastly, both together.
• Let's practice that on the low E string.

Getting Comfortable with Muting

Practice first with your left hand, then your right, and then both to achieve a really deadened sound. You can practice this in any spare time you have‚ maybe when you first pick up the guitar.

Final Tip: You only need to do it a handful of times to get it under your fingers, but it's a great technique to start working on.