How do I play rock music on an electric guitar?

Question

I recently purchased my first electric guitar, and I was wondering if it can play rock music like AC/DC or Bon Jovi with just an amp, or do I need to buy an effects pedal to get those sounds?

Answer 1

An Amp on Overdrive/distortion works for pretty much all rock/metal music

if you wanna play some, i dunno...Rage Against The Machine then a pedal would do good, but it's hardly essential for a starter

: )

Answer 2

Well... You can always do acoustic covers... But yeah, I think you should need some effects too...

Answer 3

From a musician:

You can typically get pretty decent sounds out of just an amp and a guitar, assuming the guitar is decent, and the amp has at least an overdrive or distortion effect (most new amps do). You may have to adjust the tone a little bit to get that sound you are looking for. AC/DC riffs aren't hard at all, mainly a couple of power chords are the actual riff. That would be a good thing to start off with if you like that kind of music. Once you get better you can start playing the solos, but you might wanna stick to the riffs until you get the feel for what you are doing.

So, you can likely get decent sounds with just an amp, though it may take some tweaking around and experimenting to find the right sound (but keep in mind if you get a good effects pedal or processor that won't break the bank it isn't a bad investment if you really wanna sound good).

Good luck with your playing.

Answer 4

It depends on your amp. Some amps have either a Gain or Overdrive button/Nob. That would cover the "Juh Juh" sounds aka Distortion. For other effects you would most likely need a pedal. If you need ideas go for BOSS pedals or a cheap multi-effects pedal if your just starting out. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

You can get amps that have effects built in. But yeah you probably need to use distortion at least.