How to Use Volume Swells
If you’re looking to create some interesting sounds and textures within your guitar playing, volume swells are a great technique to start playing with. A volume swell creates a similar sound to that of a violin. These can be used to create moody or atmospheric sounds, and sound fantastic with huge amounts of ambient reverb and delay added.
The volume swell is essentially when you play something, single notes or chords, with the guitars volume set to zero, then you swell the volume in.
Many players prefer Strat style guitars for performing volume swells because the volume control is situated very close to where your picking hand rests. On a Gibson style guitar, the volume controls are always further away, but a swell is still possible. Check out the attached video for a full run down on the technique.
When doing single notes, you can, approach this a few ways:
- Pick the note, then roll up the volume
- Wrap your little finger around the volume pot so you can pick and roll the volume together
- Hammer on the note with your fretting hand, freeing up your picking hand to focus on the volume.
It also works great with chords.
Chords sound great when you mix it with a load of reverb and delay, you can get some ambient, pad like sounds from your guitar.
When you perform swells, you have control over the amount you swell the note in and the timing of the swell. So, you can either swell it in fast or slow, or you can choose to swell it in part of the way or all the way.
The possibilities are endless and this is a great technique for creating some new and interesting sounds inside your existing guitar playing repertoire.
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About the Author
This article on using volume swells for guitar was written by Leigh Fuge. Leigh is a professional guitarist and content creator and also works alongside musicteacher.com to create guitar focused, educational and entertainment content.
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