How to get good at wah?

[zachoff]

Anyone have some pointers on how to get good at wah? I took it out of the lineup because I suck at it but it'd be fun to use.

[ZombieSpacebat]

What exactly do you mean "good at wah"? Is there a particular style you are aiming for, maybe you could link us some examples of wah sounds you like? Also. are we talking auto wah or expression pedal wah (crybaby etc)?

[Col Pruse]

practice?

[zachoff]

Originally Posted by Col Pruse

practice?

Well yeah, but there's a difference between wanking around with it and actually having a point to your practice.

Obvious example would be Sleep - Dragonaut but really just looking for general ideas to get started. Oh, and it's a Crybaby.

[93Jazz+]

I think the only way your really going to get there is by good ol fashioned practice. When I first started using a wah.. I played up and down the major scale accenting the notes as I played them. Then moving to doubles and triples on every note.. then every second, then every third.. I found it a good way to build my coordination of foot control with note accents.

After that .. it's just figuring out how you want your passages to sound. For me, the big hurdle was getting the coordination to feel like 2nd nature.

not sure if this is what your looking for.. hope it helps

[depalm]

There's no right or wrong, no rules to follow.
Just play a lot and get used to it.
You'll end up to developing your own "voice".

[cheapbasslovin]

Originally Posted by 93Jazz+

I think the only way your really going to get there is by good ol fashioned practice. When I first started using a wah.. I played up and down the major scale accenting the notes as I played them. Then moving to doubles and triples on every note.. then every second, then every third.. I found it a good way to build my coordination of foot control with note accents.

After that .. it's just figuring out how you want your passages to sound. For me, the big hurdle was getting the coordination to feel like 2nd nature.

not sure if this is what your looking for.. hope it helps

Kinda sucks but +1.

Also what sounds good practicing by yourself won't always jive when you get with a band. You'll probably need to practice in a mix to see what fits and how.

[b-bottom]

are you sure that Dragonaut isn't played with an envelope filter? That's what I always assumed anyway

[paganjack]

yeah just practice it! There are a lot of ways to use a wah. Either up/down on each note, a more gradual sweep, or my personal favorite, using it as a stationary bandpass filter. Figure out what you like best and just try it out!

[depalm]

Listen to Hendrix, Stevie Wonder and Miles Davis. They made great tracks playing wha.

[Happynoj]

Find tracks that you like that use wah pedals, then work out when the original player is sweeping it, and do the same. Once you can play a few songs by other people, you'll start to work out how you can use it in your own music.

[St Drogo]

Well, what you have to keep in mind is that a wah pedal is almost an instrument on its own. Instead of just turning it on or off, you actually play it. It adds another dimension to your sound that you have live control over. So approach it from that angle, maybe you'll find what you're looking for.

I personally like it when people use it very expressively (it is an expressionpedal after all), where it really adds to the feeling of the line they're playing. Like some Hendrix solos, for example. But you could also use it more rhythmically, like in funk. It all depends on what you want to do with it.

[depalm]

Some people use to leave it on a position that boost some nice freq and play with stopped.
As I said there's no right or wrong.

[ampegfuzz]

Originally Posted by b-bottom

are you sure that Dragonaut isn't played with an envelope filter? That's what I always assumed anyway

I heard it was a bass balls. could be wrong but read nowhere it was a wah like a morley or CB.

[Stick_Player]

Some people use to leave it on a position that boost some nice freq and play with stopped.

That's accounts for about 90% of how I use it. Find a musical tone and leave it. Occasionally I rock it back-n-forth for that "Shaft" sound. I do only use it with the Melody-side of the Chapman Stick, though.

[Valerus]

Originally Posted by zachoff

Well yeah, but there's a difference between wanking around with it and actually having a point to your practice.

Obvious example would be Sleep - Dragonaut but really just looking for general ideas to get started. Oh, and it's a Crybaby.

Great example. Al's playing on that song made me buy a second Crybaby

[b-bottom]

Originally Posted by ampegfuzz

I heard it was a bass balls. could be wrong but read nowhere it was a wah like a morley or CB.

Yea that's what I kind of figured too

[bigchiefbc]

I thought the consensus was that Dragonaut was a Mutron.


Wikipedia agrees:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Cisneros

"Musitronics Mu-tron auto-wah, used with Sleep, can be heard distinctly on the song "Dragonaut"."

[SamanthaCay]

This is my wah bliss. I’m using it to accent certain frequencies wile doing my best to keep my movements sudle by placing them between the notes. This is also how I typically use it and I use it quite often.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al3Q7DWl0n0

[depalm]

Originally Posted by buchananbass

This is my wah bliss. I’m using it to accent certain frequencies wile doing my best to keep my movements sudle by placing them between the notes. This is also how I typically use it and I use it quite often.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al3Q7DWl0n0

Like it!