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For musical tips regarding guitar, percussion, keyboards, PA, recording, and much more, see SOUNDADVICE, our archive of FAQ at www.guitarsam.com/soad/soundadvice.htm Do you have a special tip or trick? Email it to us! We'll publish our favorites, and give you credit for submitting it! kevin@guitarsam.com
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for WRITING TABLATURE This tip has combined credit to Bob Houlston www.houlston.freeserve.co.uk and Guitar News Weekly at www.guitarsite.com/ and tip author Howard.Wright@ed.ac.uk Bob reports that this article solved his problems with achieving the correct alignment when writing tablature. The solution is to use the Courier font with Word and IE5 HTML, and to view at full screen. Also, Bob Houlston is seeking the correct title for a piece available at www.houlston.freeserve.co.uk/studyinamajor.htm If anyone can help, please contact him at bob@houlston.freeserve.co.uk
--Dear Edly: I'm having trouble reading/playing a piece that's way over my head. In Beethoven's Sonata in C# minor, in the 19th measure of the 1st movement, there's a G that's marked G#. Since G is already sharp in this key, do I actually play a G## (an A)? Later, in the 27th measure, there's a double sharp on an F. Since F is already sharp in this key, does that make it an F### (a G#)? Still later, in the 35th measure, there's an F marked with a # AND a natural??!! What does that mean on top of the fact that the F should ALREADY be sharp!?!?! Maybe I should go back to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"..... Now here's a question that involves not only music theory, but the theory of sound itself. I've always wondered why there's a half-step between B and C and E and F. Notes an octave apart vibrate at speeds in intervals of 2X. Do notes in a major scale have regularly spaced vibration speeds? And do the half-steps correspond to those regular spacings? If the vibrations of the notes from one half-step to the next are not the same as the differences between two notes that are a whole step apart, why does it sound "right" when you play a scale? I know that question is a little "out there", but I once heard an explanation of music and musical instruments explained in mathematical terms, and I almost understood it. --Edly answers: Here's the short answer, without the sheet music in front of me. G# is G#. Fx (double sharp) is G (natural). The natural in "F# natural" would be there to cancel a previous Fx, so you'd play F#. Again, without the music in front of me, I'd guess that in the first case, there had been a G nat just before the G#, and the composer (or editor) wanted to make sure that the player played #. And G# is always G# and Fx (double sharp) is always G (natural) regardless of key signature. Your second question: There are two levels here. You're right about the 1:2 ratio of an octave. Half steps are all equal (in equal temperment, which Western music theoretically uses--I won't get into the "why theoretically" aspect). That's the first level. The second is the major scale itself. The major scale's pattern of whole-steps and half-steps is what makes it sound like a major scale, just like a four sided polygon with sides of equal length and all right angles is, by definition, a square. So, the notes in a major scale are irregularly spaced according to the pattern of w w h w w w h. ("Regularly spaced," or symmetrical scales, such as the whole-tone scale--w w w w w w or diminished--w h w h w h w h, disorient the ear due to their symmetry, and make it hard to hear just which note is the tonic. Try it, and you'll hear what I mean.) In other words, the major scale sounds "right" because it IS. If you play a natural minor scale--w h w w h w w, it sounds "right"--for a natural minor scales because it IS.
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Richard
Hunter...Harmonica
Q+A
If you have questions about harmonica playing technique, use of different keys, bending, blowing, maintaining and so on, send them to us at kevin@guitarsam.com, and we'll have harmonica virtuoso Richard Hunter provide an expert answer for you. --A reader asks: Recently I acquired a Victory harmonica, made in Shanghai, China. On one side, the inscription is in English, and on the other side it is in Chinese. The metal casing does not fit tight, and the sound comes from the side openings. Any info on this harmonica would be appreciated. --Richard answers: The Victory is an inexpensive (or, more bluntly, cheap, in every sense of the word) harmonica. It's not suitable for any kind of serious performance use. As a mass-produced novelty item, it's also not likely to be of much interest to serious collectors. For more information on the value of the instrument -- and I recommend that you not get your hopes up -- check Harley's Harps, which deals in collectible harmonicas. There's a link to Harley's Harps at my website at http://www.hunterharp.com/ Thanks!
Chip
Wilson...Guitar
Tech-Talk
Musician/luthier Chip Wilson lives in New Orleans, LA. Chip worked with Borys Guitars when master archtop builder James L. D'Aquisto served as a consultant, before opening his own business, Better Guitars. Better Guitars served as an authorized repair shop for most of the top US guitar manufacturers. Chip recently wrote a book review for Guitarmaker, the quarterly publication of ASIA. Chip is now primarily a performer in New Orleans, typically playing 25 to 30 gigs per month, as a soloist, sideman, and with his own band A Jumpin' Somethin'. His 1999 release "A Jumpin' Somethin" was nominated for Best Traditional Jazz CD By A Louisiana Artist by Offbeat Magazine, the most widely distributed Louisiana music publication. Chip is currently working on a new CD for release in 2000. "A Jumpin' Somethin" can be obtained online at www.louisianamusicfactory.com, or by contacting Chip at jumpinsomethin@aol.com
HOME FRETBOARD CARE Guitar owners often tell me about the various things they do to “take care” of their guitar fingerboards. “I got this Arkansas sharpening stone, I hone ‘em down with that thing“. "I rub lemon oil into it every month". Occasionally, people actually ask me what I do to take care of my guitar fingerboards. First, if there is any question about the actual function of the truss rod, or the condition of the frets and related playability, leave that to someone you trust in a repair shop. Some of my most frustrating repair jobs have involved instruments that were “fixed up” by their owners. Assuming, however, that everything is looking and playing well, and that you as an owner are just looking to do some maintenance (and I encourage that), here is some advice. Much of what I do is based on what I was taught by Roger Borys and Jimmy D’Aquisto.
When I polish up a fingerboard, here is what I do. To eliminate scratches, little dings from slide guitar playing, finger gunge (technical term) and light playing wear, I will take a small piece of 400 grit sandpaper, spread a little oil (a few drops) on it, and then lightly sand the frets across the fretboard. Then a little piece of 500 or 600 grit paper, and then a piece of 0000 steel wool, all with a bit of oil as a lubricant, and to pick up dirt and dust. Take a soft cloth, clean the surrounding finish, and carefully wipe down the fingerboard, getting any excess oil and residue off of it. If your sanding motion is up and down the fingerboard, you will leave minute scratches in the fret that will make it harder to bend strings smoothly. Try to get any crud from between the frets, but don’t lean into the wood too hard; you don’t want to change the basic level of the fingerboard. If you do this a couple of times a year, that’s enough. If you are a person who leaves a lot of finger gunge (it’s sweat and body oil soaked dirt, really) on the board, clean it more frequently than that. 0000 steel wool leaves the frets and the wood nicely polished. If you would like to polish the frets to a higher gleam, a small buffing wheel on a Dremel tool, carefully and judiciously used with some buffing compound, can bring up a higher polish. Make sure the strings are off and well away from the Dremel tool, and don’t overdo it: you don’t want to heat up the fret too much. It may loosen in the fret slot, especially on a refretted guitar. Beware of this procedure on a cheap, painted fretboard. The paint will certainly wear away in a few strokes. Uhhhh, oh, yeah…restring and play.
 I
have a new website: www.jumpinsomethin.com.
The first few pages are up, and it should be complete before
long. Guitar fanatics may enjoy seeing the upcoming photos
of some of the guitars I have built, as well as my
“collection”, which includes a few guitars I would
never build, but just like to play. Hope you enjoy it, and
feel free to get in touch via email: jumpinsomethin@aol.com
Monthly
Giveaway! If you're the first to email us with the correct answer to this musical question, you'll win your choice of an Akai GCF1 or an Akai KCF1. These are nifty little electronic keychain-style chord finders, for the guitar or keyboard. See the GCF1.
Send your correct answer to us at kevin@guitarsam.com Congratulations to Gregory Jepson of New York, for quickly providing the first correct answer to our question, which was:
Greg won an Akai GCF1, which is a nifty little electronic keychain-style chord finder. See the GCF1 at http://www.guitarsam.com/catalog2/akai.htm#gcf1 "Guaranteed to Thrill You!"
Play It Again Sam ships worldwide! If you're outside of the 48 connected states, send us your zip code, and the items you are interested in, and we'll report to you what the best shipping options are. Past issues of the GuitarSam eZine are available at: www.guitarsam.com/ezine/archive.htm "My guitar arrived today and I love it. Thanks for picking out a nice one. Doing business with you is always a pleasure. Great selection of inventory, great prices and great service. And I have no doubt that if I ever had a problem you would make it right. No problems yet!" Scott
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Tell us what you like, what you don't like, and send your thoughts to us at: kevin@guitarsam.com
Watch for our next issue of the GuitarSam eZine, due on July 5, 2000.
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For
more theory than you can shake a 12-stave manuscript book
at, see 
Richard
Hunter is the author of "Jazz Harp", from Oak Publications.
Richard's recorded works include "The Act of Being Free in
One Act", which is the first full-length CD of works for
unaccompanied harmonica ever recorded, and "The Second Act
of Free Being", a CD that takes solo harmonica to a new
level. Check 
Our
newest feature is Guitar TechTalk, with
Chip Wilson in New Orleans. If you have
a question about guitar building, repair, or maintenance,
send it to us at 
Before
I outline a quick polishing and lubricating procedure, here
are a couple of things to avoid. D’Aquisto felt that
lemon oil, or any other vegetable based oil, could literally
rot the wood as it decomposed while saturated into the wood
cells and pores of a fingerboard. He, interestingly, used to
use motor oil (yes, that’s right, he preferred
non-detergent {less additives}, and 30 or 40 weight oil was
fine with him). Frankly, it freaks people out when they see
their repairman put a bit of motor oil on their instrument.
I use clarinet bore oil, which is also a petroleum product
available in most music stores. I figure if it can help a
cylindrical, temperamental, tropical hardwood reed
instrument, with someone breathing heavily through it, it
will be just fine for a guitar fretboard. D’Aquisto,
and other luthiers, also warn against using silicone based
lubricants on guitars.Play It Again Sam...66 Main St...Montpelier VT 05602...Phone (802) 229-0295...Fax (802) 229-0755