TALES FROM NERDVILLE by Joe Bonamassa
SWELL TIME
One of the most expressive tools for electric guitar players is the use of the volume swell. An essential element in the arsenals of such legendary players as Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan, Walter Trout, and, of course, Jeff Beck, a volume swell is produced by raising the volume of the guitar from zero to “on” after picking a string.
SWELL TIME
One of the most expressive tools for electric guitar players is the use of the volume swell. An essential element in the arsenals of such legendary players as Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan, Walter Trout, and, of course, Jeff Beck, a volume swell is produced by raising the volume of the guitar from zero to “on” after picking a string.
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MusicTranscript
00:00What's up ladies and gentlemen, Joe Bonamassa here for Guitar World Magazine.
00:13Today we're going to talk about volume swells.
00:15Now I would like to explain this using the front pickup, but I will demonstrate what
00:21happens when a guitar sits around for too long.
00:25So we're going to talk about volume swells, and I'm going to use the only pickup that's
00:29working in a right now.
00:33And I use these a lot.
00:35I really like them.
00:36I think they're very emotive.
00:37I learned from, to me, the best was Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan, and even Walter Trout
00:44was really stellar at it.
00:47And a lot of people have done a Jeff Beck, and you know, there's a bunch of people.
00:51But when you bring the dynamics down in a band, so if you're playing in C minor, you'll
00:57get the crowd going if you play something like this.
01:27So, what you can do, and the technique is, is every time you use your thumb, and every
01:42time you pick down, it's a counteraction.
01:46So your little finger is linked to the volume control.
01:50So down, down, up.
01:52So you see my thumb, down, up, down, up, you know.
01:55And you just find the sweet spot on every guitar is different.
01:59You find the sweet spot, so.
02:15And you just kind of practice until you find this, you know, this place where you can either
02:21do single or no.
02:34And just watch the fans come up to you and say, hey, you know that part that sounds like
02:38a cello?
02:39I really like that.
02:40That was my favorite part of the night.
02:41You're like, but I play other stuff too.
02:44But that's my volume technique.
02:46And a little pro tip on the setup, it's nice to have a delay, nice to have a reverb on
02:52it.
02:53I know this is dry, I'm pretty honest.
02:55But if you put a little effect on it, and you can really get some cool sounds with the
03:04volume control and these kind of volume sweeps.