— Daily Journal Entry 013 —
If you are a guitarist, you’ve heard of (and probably at some point used) a “wah” pedal. Or, “crybaby,” as they are also called, because… well… I guess that’s what it sounds like its doing to the sound… “Wah, Wah… Whee, Whee…” and so forth… and so on…
They definitely add an interesting element to a note, or notes, being played on the electric guitar. I say, electric guitar, because that would be how they are normally paired, with a regular electric guitar. Think Fender Stratocaster, or Telecaster. However, it would certainly be interesting to hear it used with an electric acoustic guitar. I’m sure its been done by someone and I’ve just never heard. It doesn’t really seem the most practical, but hey… Ya never know…
At any rate, it took me a bit to realize (because I learned, somewhat how to use it on my own) that it’s supposed to be used rhythmically in your playing. It doesn’t have to be used that way, but it is definitely noticeable if you are not using it rhythmically in an instance where you should be. So, the idea is to move your foot up and down in sync with the beat of the song. You move your foot up and the treble level goes down. You move foot down and the treble increases. Nothing happens to the volume in this process. And, of course, you have to be careful when moving your foot down to not “stomp” hard enough as to turn the pedal off.
If you are really good as using this type of pedal (I’m ok… sometimes…), this means you’re able to frequently switch between the rhythmic use of it to emphasizing a specific note, or phrase that might last longer than the surrounding notes, or measures.
Try using one in conjunction with a delay pedal. Now, it really starts to get interesting…
Until Next Time,
Featured Image: Photo of my VOX Wah Pedal. Having fun with sepia tones. View on Flikr.
Note: These “Daily Journal Entries” are part of a mini blog within the main blog where I make every effort to publish a 250+ word post per day on top of the regular, longer posts. The idea is to just create a daily habit of publishing written content. And also, to try and become a better overall writer… We’ll see…
