Singing Guide: The Ventures
Vocal technique, exercises, tips and relevant resources
If you're a fan of surf music, you're probably familiar with the iconic sound of The Ventures. This American instrumental rock band started in the late 50s and went on to release over 200 albums, making them one of the most successful instrumental acts ever. While many instrumental guitarists worked with intricate fingerpicking melodies to create their sound, The Ventures had a different approach, focusing instead on creating a unique style with lead guitar riffs, double-stops, and use of reverb and tremolo.
To learn to play like The Ventures, it's essential that you have already an intermediate level of guitar playing. You should be comfortable playing chords and have a good sense of rhythm. Below are my three practical suggestions for studying the unique technique of The Ventures.
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Study the distinctive riffs and solos that make The Ventures sound so iconic. Some of their most well-known songs are "Walk Don't Run", "Hawaii Five-0", "Pipeline", "Wipe Out", and "Perfidia". Listen to these songs and focus on the lead guitar parts. Try to play along with the songs, pay special attention to The Ventures' use of reverb and tremolo. Furthermore, watch guitar covers of their music and try to mirror the techniques that the artists who play their songs are using.
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Practice using the first and second fingers in your picking hand (rather than your thumb) to create a clean sound. It's important to practice your hand positioning with slow fingerpicking exercises, as the dexterity required for this picking style can take some time to master. You can use the "Cruise On" song to work on this skill, it emphasizes the use of fingers to play lead riffs.
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Develop finger synchronization. The Ventures often used double-stops in their guitar solos, so it's important to work on synchronizing your fingers to play these parts. Use websites like Pitch Training: Interactive vocal warm-ups to train your ear for these kinds of riffs.
Singing Carrots provide valuable tools to advance your guitar learning:
- Use the Vocal range test to determine your vocal range and discover which songs suit your voice range.
- For those interested, we have a comprehensive Educational singing course that covers singing theory and other practical tips that will help you sing and perform songs like The Ventures.
We hope this article has given you all the necessary tools to start your journey to play like The Ventures.