Guitar Tricks Blog

The guitar acclimates to its environment. Sudden variations can stress it out and cause a host of physical damage such as warping, cracking, and chemical deterioration. When it comes to the guitar and weather, the rule of thumb is not to expose your instrument to any climate conditions that throw you yourself out of whack.

The sullen, bodaciously-inked Lewis, who made a name for himself as one of heavy metal's all-time top vocalists and purveyors of angst, is trying a new genre on for size—namely, country. 

Whether you're cruising down a stretch of coastal highway to Joni Mitchell, or humming an Irish lullaby to a fussy baby, or squeezing out an extra mile or two while running to Green Day, or perusing the Sunday paper over scones and Schubert, music has a unique ability to affect how we feel. So how is it exactly that music has such a potent effect on our psyches?

Slide guitar refers to the technique of using a tube on one finger to slide along the strings. With slide guitar you play the strings, not the frets, gliding up and down the fretboard without lifting off the strings, which creates continuous transitions in pitch.

The accepted method of tuning (EADGBE, from lowest to highest string) is known as standard tuning. Alternate tunings are deviations on the tried-and-true standard tuning.