A guitar effects pedal is a device that you hook up in between
the electric guitar and the amplifier. Its purpose is to add a
switchable sound effect to your playing. It is probably worth getting
the terminology out of the way first: although there are pedals that
sweep forwards and backwards, like a wah-wah pedal or a volume pedal,
most effects pedals are just on/off devices - they have a simple
foot-switch to either engage or bypass the effect. The use of pedals can
be quite subtle, especially in the way they are combined to produce
endless varieties of sounds.
The first and most obvious kind of pedal is called an overdrive or distortion pedal. This is the sound of rock, and most amplifiers already have this sound built in. However, sometimes the amp's own distortion is not all that great, especially for cheaper amps, and some very old-fashioned amplifiers do not distort at all unless you turn them up to ear-bleeding concert volumes. Hence the purpose of the pedal. Overdrive and distortion are essentially different amounts of the same thing - the former is basically lighter and less severe than the latter.
Another popular electric guitar effects pedal is the reverb or delay pedal. These can add either a soft ambiance or a hard echo to your sound, either making it sound like you are playing in a large hall or providing spacey, out of this world echo repeats. This is a very common choice for making a sound seem more professional and produced.
There are so many other kinds of guitar effects pedal, like the aforementioned wah-wah pedal, which produces voice-like sounds when you move the foot-rocker, phasers, flangers and univibes for swirly, hippy or sci-fi sounds, and more. A common choice for beginners is a multi-effects box, which is a digital unit that contains decent approximations of all the popular effects, giving you a good idea of what each sounds like and where you would use it.
But of course, learning about guitar pedal effects it´s not the only thing you will need to learn about guitars, music theory, harmony are very important too. Learning about piano chords might be helpful as it´s usually easier to learn harmony with the piano rather than with the guitar.
It is also important to learn about different skills that you will have to do by yourself, skills like knowing how to change electric and acoustic guitar strings is a must for every guitar student.
The first and most obvious kind of pedal is called an overdrive or distortion pedal. This is the sound of rock, and most amplifiers already have this sound built in. However, sometimes the amp's own distortion is not all that great, especially for cheaper amps, and some very old-fashioned amplifiers do not distort at all unless you turn them up to ear-bleeding concert volumes. Hence the purpose of the pedal. Overdrive and distortion are essentially different amounts of the same thing - the former is basically lighter and less severe than the latter.
Another popular electric guitar effects pedal is the reverb or delay pedal. These can add either a soft ambiance or a hard echo to your sound, either making it sound like you are playing in a large hall or providing spacey, out of this world echo repeats. This is a very common choice for making a sound seem more professional and produced.
There are so many other kinds of guitar effects pedal, like the aforementioned wah-wah pedal, which produces voice-like sounds when you move the foot-rocker, phasers, flangers and univibes for swirly, hippy or sci-fi sounds, and more. A common choice for beginners is a multi-effects box, which is a digital unit that contains decent approximations of all the popular effects, giving you a good idea of what each sounds like and where you would use it.
But of course, learning about guitar pedal effects it´s not the only thing you will need to learn about guitars, music theory, harmony are very important too. Learning about piano chords might be helpful as it´s usually easier to learn harmony with the piano rather than with the guitar.
It is also important to learn about different skills that you will have to do by yourself, skills like knowing how to change electric and acoustic guitar strings is a must for every guitar student.
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