I've never been a fan of disco polo music… bah, I wasn't even a fan of pop music. For the first rehearsal with the old wedding band, I came confident, your skills and equipment. After all, I've played more difficult and ambitious things- I thought. Dressed in heavy leather, shoes with a metal toe and equipped with a black guitar with humbacker pickups, I felt like I had confused the bands. The expression on the face of the rest of the band betrayed their thoughts - "It's gonna be hard" or "You'd better call an exorcist". But they gave me a chance, but at the very beginning they threw me "into the deep water", that is for the well-known wedding disco polo hit- "You're crazy". I didn't even have time to play the entire intro, to basista(who also had experience playing the electrician) took my guitar and through 30 minutes explained how simple it looks, typical disco beat. For the rest of the test, I honed this 'technique', humbly stating, that I still have a lot to learn.
For several years of playing in various bands, my skills have increased a bit and with a clear conscience I can say, that there is no one best way to play disco. It all depends on the atmosphere of the piece, on its pace or even on the number of refrain type elements, most, verse. In this article, I'm going to take a "workshop" track that is quite user-friendly and add a guitar track to it. I think, that it will be of great help to people, who are going to play at special events. Unfortunately, but without disco you won't play a real party ? I invite.
What will be used
Firstly: what a "quite user-friendly" track it is, which I want to present? Well, this is the song "Azure Eyes" by Magda Niewińska. The arrangement for this production was, of course, purchased legally for commercial purposes, so using it to record your demo is unlikely to be an option.
A Fender Stratocaster electric guitar with single coil pickups will also be used. The sound from it will be processed by VST plugins, simulating the operation of amplifiers, effect columns and cubes. I am not describing the details, because that is not the most important thing here.
How will it look like
The most common disco-style piece is 3 elements, which are differently arranged and of different lengths. They are the bridge(SONG), verse and chorus. It happens sometimes, that we will hear a more specific solo. I have cut out these three elements from my arrangement and I will play my guitar with them. I will introduce 9 different ways to play. First, a short description, and below it is a simple player with a specific sample loaded. I think, that I can say at the outset, that it is best to mix these techniques depending on the situation. If we do it sensitively, we will surely be appreciated by the team and guests (if they notice and hear at all, that we play :). As for the samples themselves, I was not trying to focus specifically on takes, so here and there there may be a mistake or a lapse from the rhythm. When recording a specific demo for a website, errors of this type must not take place. One last thing- the volume of the guitar is matched more or less like this, as if we were shooting it at a party. We begin.
Level 0 - single string
It might seem, that I did it for the laughs, but I did see people, who played like that. The point is, to plug in any guitar (even for PLN 199) into the mixer and play (in accordance with the chords and in tempo) single strings- the first notes of a chord. It will sound very weak, but it is a fact, that we will play. Why a guitar for PLN 199 is enough? Ba, even a guitar with one string is enough- preferably the thickest e. The most important is, that at least this one string somehow holds this tuning on the frets. We won't play full chords on a guitar of this quality, because probably every string will be out of tune.
Level 1 - full chords, FROM
The abbreviation DI means no simulations, effects and microphones. It is a signal plugged directly from the guitar to the interface or mixer. To play on a level 1, we already need to know the basic chords (they can also be bar stools, but it won't always sound nice). The trick is playing a full chord at the beginning of a bar or every two measures and holding it, until it goes silent or is changed. Level 1 it is not dynamic enough for a lively disco polo, but it will definitely make a better impression than the level 0.
Level 2 - full chords, FX
The only difference between the first level, the other is the use of effects and simulations. Hear it clearly, that the guitar sound has become more pleasant and interesting. Effects, which have been used and which are most commonly used to play disco is: chorus, reverb, delay i eq parametryczny. Everything, of course, in the right proportions, so as not to overdo it. From then on, the samples on the clean channel will be recorded with these effects.
Level 3 - split chords
So playing full chords, only one string at a time and in different combinations. The sample will explain what's going on. This way of playing suits many songs, also in other styles. Makes them so calm, sometimes a romantic atmosphere. We can safely afford, to tweak our delay and reverb.
Level 4 - standard beating
This is it, which I wrote about at the beginning. A very universal way to play disco. We mainly play with bar chords. Take turns one thump down and one thrust up. Thanks to this, the song acquires a more dynamic atmosphere. You only have to be careful with the delay effect, because we can turn into a fine mill. Standard beating requires a lot of dexterity from our left hand, and thicker strings put our endurance to the test.
Level 5 - standard chord and derivative chords
In addition to full chords, we can add derivatives of chords for differentiation. There are many courses on the Internet about what they look like. If we properly match the derivative of the chord, our sound will be much more interesting.
Level 6 - varied beating
The sixth level combines standard beat, derivative chords and varied strumming. It is already a higher driving school, because it requires a good feeling, precision and durability. This is done by varying the frequency of the strikes and randomly striking the different strings, everything happens faster and it is more tiring, of course. As for the channel clean, that's what i think, that in most disco poles this kind of sound will fit.
Level 7 - suppression
Intro to rock. The attenuation played on the clean channel is monotonous, I don't really like disco, but a less experienced guitarist can play the whole wedding like this (it is also a real-life example). The sound is muffled, so I don't hear too much bugs, but you can see that the guitarist is playing something.
Level 8 – overdrive
Disco polo tracks, in which you can turn on a tar-thick fuzz, there is very little. If there is one, that's what i think, that it is worth switching to this "dark side of the force". Of course, the level of distortion of the guitar signal can be adjusted, so in many issues a great solution will be the so-called. crunch and delicate solo inserts. Level 8 however, it means background playing with a strongly distorted signal. Someone will ask if people will escape from the room. I thought so before too. It turns out, that overdrive drives the song a lot and people feeling the rock atmosphere have even better fun ? Of course, we cannot overdo it with the volume. In the sample below, the verse is played using the palm mutting technique, and the chorus and bridge on open power chords. Thanks to this, in the quieter verse we don't drown out the vocals, and the strong chorus emphasizes its importance.
Level 9 – solo i riffy
It is still a strong sound, but requiring more skill. The point is, that we play solo inserts in various places in the piece (improvised or learned), interlacing them with a normal backing on a clean or distorted channel. Some wedding guitarists only play inserts, thus attracting the attention of the public. I admit, if someone has a lot of experience and skills, such a game is impressive. The solo inserts fit most tracks in a variety of styles, you only have to play them in the right scale and key.
Summary
There are certainly more ways to play disco, but I think, that if someone masters these, which I described above, it will surely handle any party. To, what we will have to learn is: fast, almost instinctively finding each chord, beating in different tempos and guitar scales. Sometimes it is worth turning on a foundation (no matter what style) and try your hand at the art of improvisation. Let's also work on the appropriate articulation and precision of playing.
