Top Five Reasons You Should Use an Acoustic Guitar with Built-In Effects
Part of the joy of acoustic guitars is that you can play them anywhere. And when your acoustic guitar has effects built into it, a whole new world opens up sonically. I know this first-hand: As the proud owner of a Yamaha TransAcoustic guitar, I often use its built-in reverb and chorus effects, both onstage and in the studio. It’s inspiring, and it always delivers excellent results.
The way a TA guitar creates those effects is pretty amazing, as detailed in this blog posting. Inside the guitar is a small metal device called an actuator, which vibrates when the strings are played. These vibrations then resonate with the body of the guitar and the air around the sound hole; as a bonus, the resulting effects are sent out of the output jack as well, courtesy of the instrument’s piezo pickup. It’s ingenious, and it sounds great!
Here are five reasons for using an acoustic guitar that has its own built-in effects:
1. IT DELIVERS A GREAT VIBE
Whether I am just sitting on the couch noodling away or jamming with friends around a firepit, switching on the effects in my TA guitar causes an immediate sonic “vibe” to occur. The instrument creates its own lush atmosphere, with a sense of depth and space that literally makes you play differently.
A basic G chord on a regular guitar is simply not as much fun as a G chord played on a TA with a little added built-in reverb, chorus or both. I have many acoustic guitars in my collection, but my TA is the one I keep out all the time to pick up and play, not only because it’s a beautiful, well-crafted instrument with a solid sound, but because of the vibe it brings.
2. SIMPLICITY: NO AMP, NO PEDALS NEEDED
Keeping it simple is a great rule to live by when performing live. If your rig gets too complicated, things can happen that could derail you and the whole band. It’s happened to me more times than I would like to admit!
When your guitar has built-in effects, they’re always just a few knob twists away. Best of all, those knobs are right in front of you, on the guitar itself — no leaning over to try to sneak a peek at a rack-mounted effects processor or crouching down to try to make adjustments to a stomp box in low-light situations.
Having built-in effects streamlines the whole process and lets you focus on your performance, which allows for more creativity and spontaneity.
3. SPLIT PERSONALITY
TransAcoustic guitars let you dial in any combination of chorus or reverb, allowing you to get inspired anytime, anyplace. It’s far more stimulating than just playing a dry instrument because, in many ways, an effected guitar takes on a whole new personality.
For example, when you turn on the TA chorus, the sound gets a little louder and becomes reminiscent of a 12-string. The high notes sing differently, and with a capo, the upper register takes on an even brighter, more distinctive tonality.
The TA reverb provides an extra sense of depth that helps to meld notes together. You can choose between room and hall sounds or any blend of the two. The room setting is short and sweet, like you’re in a small space; the hall setting imparts a longer “tail” with a deeper sound.
I use a lot of open tunings (mostly DADGAD, open D and open G) on my TA acoustic. I find that the hall reverb works great with those tunings, especially when the guitar rings out. At those moments, the sonics light up like a candle!
4. IT’S A GREAT CREATIVE TOOL
At times, every composer gets stuck for ideas. When that happens, the fresh sound that comes from built-in guitar effects can help add that missing bit of inspiration. Suddenly, everything gets a little more lush, a little fuller … and before you know it, you have that missing chorus or bridge written and ready to go.
With my TA guitar, my mind goes into new places because the sound I’m hearing as I strum has extra depth, dimension and character. It makes playing acoustic guitar more fun.
5. IT’S GREAT FOR RECORDING
Since I record a lot of television music, I often double acoustic guitar parts to enhance the overall sonic picture that the listener will hear (unfortunately all too often through a tinny, and tiny, TV speaker). When using my TA guitar, I generally combine the DI output (the one coming from the quarter-inch jack) with the signal coming from a microphone positioned roughly four inches away from where the sound hole meets the fretboard. I record these on two separate tracks so I can blend them as needed when mixing. The cool thing about this is that whatever built-in effects I dial up come out of both the jack and from the air around the guitar.
On the first pass, I usually just add some TA reverb only, dialing in the desired amount while listening over headphones. (That way, I can hear it coming from both the DI output and the mic.) Once that’s recorded, I will immediately track a double of the part while all the nuances I just laid down are fresh in my mind. I’ll then do another pass, this time turning off the reverb and enabling the TA chorus effect instead; if necessary, I’ll double-track that pass too, sometimes with both reverb and chorus. Or I may keep one track totally dry and just use the natural sound of the guitar — it depends on the need of the cue.
While I could use pedals or plug-ins to get similar sounds, I prefer to use the effects in the guitar because I can feel and sense them coming out of the sound hole. Also, I’m usually under tight deadlines and have to work quite fast. By having effects in the guitar, I’m thinking about nothing but the performance and not about connecting a pedal or launching a plug-in.
So if you haven’t had the opportunity to play an acoustic guitar with built-in effects — especially a Yamaha TransAcoustic model — what are you waiting for?
Check out these related blog articles:
How Yamaha TransAcoustic Guitar Technology Works
Discover Yamaha TransAcoustic Guitars
Which TransAcoustic Guitar is Right for Me?
How to Record TransAcoustic Guitar Effects
“Breaking Amish” With My Yamaha FG-TA
MJ Ultra and the FG-TA TransAcoustic Guitar
Click here for more information about Yamaha TransAcoustic guitars.
The North Carolina Music Education Association conference gives us an opportunity to connect with all of you and to remind you that Yamaha is your partner in music education, not just through our great instruments and professional audio products but also with resources, support and professional development. We know how difficult this past year has been as we have navigated through these uncertain times, and we want to express our appreciation and gratitude for everyone involved in making this conference possible. We want to continue to hear about your programs and learn about you and your specific needs to see how Yamaha can partner with you to help.
To help the board understand the value of the capital expense, Gibb-Clark has invited its members to performances and provided updates on participation, competition results and equipment use. In fact, all the audiovisual equipment bought by the show choir has been used for the other choirs and musicals while the sound system has also been utilized at graduation. “It was an investment beyond the show choir,” Gibb-Clark says.
At Highland, each ensemble focuses on different musical genres and gives students different learning and performance opportunities. For example, the madrigals sing at the 
Cox has a dual role at Crosby, directing 6th, 7th and 8th grade choirs as well as teaching digital music classes that are part of the school’s overall STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics) program.
She’ll also use visual cues, perhaps requesting that students touch their noses when they can identify the first dynamic change or use 
They also participate in three to six formal evening concerts for family, some in collaboration with the high school choir from nearby 
Beyond just teaching the mechanics of singing, Cox strives to create a community where everyone values each other’s contributions. Each choir class elects several officers who help with taking attendance and mentoring new students. “Sometimes my strongest leaders are not necessarily the strongest musicians,” she says. “I’m looking not just for musical leaders but [also for] leaders in how to rehearse or … students who are really encouraging of their peers. … I try to find and identify one area in which they’re really strong and try to foster that area.”
In Cox’s digital music courses, students come from all parts of the school. Some have performing arts classes while others don’t. “It’s nice that they can get a different approach to the arts,” she says.
Joining a 22-year leader — Kevin Bennett — at the helm, Bock did not want to rock the boat. “Any time you go into a program as a second director, you don’t get a clean slate to just change it to whatever you want,” Bock says. “Kevin definitely established an amazing culture. But you always want to make the program feel a little bit more like your own. … It was really important for me to identify what my vision was — what do I bring to the table in this already established, successful program?”
“It was at the top of every single paper, but when I asked any student what the motto was, not a single [one] could have told me four years ago,” Bock says. “Now if you ask, they all can tell you what the motto is, and the students bring that to everything we do,” including during rehearsals, at performances or just walking onto the field.
Then, Bock created a leadership training program using developed techniques from authors and well-known music education advocates, 
With 250 students in a band program comprising four concert bands, four jazz bands, two woodwind choirs, a marching band (with about half of the students), two winter guards and a concert percussion ensemble, Bock believes that there are hands-on roles for at least 100 students.
When students resist change, Bock is comfortable with letting them stick to the status quo. For example, Bock had considered assigning low brass instruments to students for greater efficiency, not realizing that they felt a special tradition with picking out their own, almost like a “Harry Potter” wand-selection moment, she says.
Bock took over as head marching band director in 2020, and for the future, she hopes to build on the excitement of the Hawaii trip to get more students and parents involved in the program, perhaps by hosting a competition.
Traditional RPG systems have three fundamental components: describe, decide and roll. To begin, the description is given by the 
Using an RPG to deliver my violin content and curriculum through a world of wizards and mystery was just the escape that my students and I needed. As RPGs are built from the perspective of the GM, it’s easy to manage a classroom while delivering the story and teaching the lesson. Because the RPG community is so welcoming, I found an incredible wealth of resources that helped a GM novice like me build a world my students connect with and allow me to deliver my curriculum effectively. It is easy to do, and the results are among the most rewarding I’ve experienced in my teaching career.
I named the world Vitula, which is the medieval Latin name for the group of instruments that ultimately became the violin family. In building the framework for Vitula, I needed a fantasy realm that allowed me to be spontaneous, creative and flexible. I love manipulatives and designing sets for theater, so I constructed a world that required diorama components to describe it. By incorporating digital elements, I connected the experience of the classroom with our online students to illustrate that they are integral in our community.
The first two years (known as “books”) of the story are completed. Book 1, entitled “Which Side Are You On?,” introduces the conflicts, factions and varying perspectives of individuals within Vitula. Students interact with fictionalized versions of musical figures and locations, including Val di Fieme, Ole Bull, Il Canone and the wizard Orlandini (named after an Italian luthier).
credibly populate my world. I did not pick specific characters that already existed because I wanted the freedom to develop my own.
When all of this is achieved, the true power of the RPG is unleashed. By using an RPG in the classroom, I share about our real world and teach music in a way that builds wonder, respect and joy as well as increases skill level. It feels great to finally hear a beginning violinist plead, “Mr. Gamon, will you please teach me to play a scale?”
Switching flutes to French horns, on the other hand, works quite well. Here’s why:
Before you have flute students play horn in band, allow them to take a loaner home and try it out for a week or two. This will prevent them from feeling lost in the middle of a rehearsal. When the time comes, be direct with your class and mention the switch during announcements. This will keep classroom management in check and prevent any whisperings of “Why is Susan on the horn now?!”
Villanueva, who graduated with dual bachelor’s degrees in music education and jazz studies from 
Villanueva teaches all 600 students at Orange Grove. Each grade is divided into several classes that meet for 30 minutes per week for TK and 1st grade, 45 minutes for 2nd through 4th grades, and 90 minutes for 5th and 6th grades. During the 2020-2021 academic year when the entire school was virtual until April, he met with 6th graders twice per week.
Villanueva specifically wanted melodicas, a combination wind instrument and keyboard, for younger grades. “I got the idea of incorporating melodicas after seeing some videos of children in Japan,” he says. “Plus, it’s louder than electronic keyboards, so for performance purposes, it’s great to project. It’s also a good segue into 5th grade and 6th grade when students have to learn to use their air. Not only are they developing keyboard skills, but they’re also learning breathing skills.”
In past years, Orange Grove students participated in the 
Villanueva brings more and more new ideas to his classes because he is constantly learning through his recent master’s program as well as during freelance gigs, professional development classes such as Little Kids Rock educational events, and side work with the 
To help with YCCT’s launch, we selected an eclectic board of directors with a passion for children’s singing. Current board members include local public-school music teachers, Baylor music education faculty members, parents, choral musicians and community advocates. We also employ a business manager (CPA) and have an attorney who volunteers advice when called upon.
Interns act as small group facilitators for practice pods. Older choristers are spaced strategically among younger singers to ensure all have helpers nearby to aid with tasks like finding their place on the printed page, marking scores and, most importantly, providing a vocal support and encouragement. We are aware of when and how we employ the use of the “surrogate” teacher.
One thing we have discovered is that if the older singers are always asked to serve as models for their younger peers, their own needs are not served. Therefore, we ask the collegiate interns to model for the older chorus and, in turn, the staff models vocal and teaching techniques for the interns. Each rehearsal begins and ends with a brief staff meeting and debriefing that especially focuses on interns’ needs and questions.
Upgrade the Sound System
Once your phone or tablet is connected to a sound system via Bluetooth, you can utilize your phone’s voice memo taker as a recording and playback station for your classroom. Record a difficult passage with your phone and play the recording back while speaking directly to the students who need your help. Moving the phone around the room will allow you to capture the moments that the students may not be hearing. For instance, recording close to the students who are out of tune might help you segue into the importance of listening and tuning without calling out specific students. Let the recording be the bad guy.
Apart from technology, seating and staging have a large impact on how students act in the music room. Though traditional seating is important for posture and performance, is there space in your room for a non-traditional seating area?
Elementary music classrooms utilize yoga balls, buckets and even 
Depending on your school setting and policies, the simplest solution is to open a window or door if you possibly can — even for short periods during cold-weather months. (Be sure the window is screened and or secured in a way that it will not create a fall risk for students.)
Beyond simple fresh air, consider what else students might be inhaling and strive for a cleaner indoor space.
One week, I taught 10 classes the same singing game called “
What helped me become more confident was understanding the science about voice and sound. I never enjoyed hearing my singing or speaking voice, and I learned that there was a reason for this. It’s called voice confrontation.
I bought a tripod for my cell phone and a green blanket so I could record instruments and remove the background on the computer. That was all I needed to make a majority of my instrument lesson videos.
Seeing the views go up on a new or even an old lesson gives me a sense of gratification that I can’t get anywhere else. I really enjoy the recent vlogging because teachers need to know that they are not the only professionals experiencing this era of COVID music education. I received a comment that said, “I needed to hear this,” which was all I needed to know that it was time well spent.
Our initial step was to have students learn a short etude that was well within their ability level for a pass-off due on a certain date. We told the students that they collectively had to decide benchmark dates prior to the due date and how much of the etude needed to be learned and performed by those benchmarks. This is where we left it as we wanted the ownership of their backward planning to be solely on them.
Students at the higher level had not necessarily been taught how to practice, but they were achieving at an adequate level solely because of the overall time they spent on their instrument. Students were mindlessly practicing by repping a piece over and over again until they, by pure repetition, memorized the music — oftentimes with errors and limited musicality.
Direct parents into your new classroom: Parents tend to bypass “Specials” classrooms like music during after-school events. At my first open house, I greeted a few parents toward the beginning, then nobody came to my classroom for the next three hours. Yikes! If you’re new, do a bit of advertising. Make a poster with your name and subject on it and add a few bells and whistles like ribbons and bright colors. Maybe even play a little bit of soft music to make your room more welcoming. You’re going to want to meet your students’ families long before the musical or (even worse) the end of the grading period.
4. Build Rapport with Students
When Cox noticed a high staff turnover, poor retention and low skill levels in the middle school band program from her five feeder schools, Cox recruited her students involved with the 
In addition, with her background teaching general elementary music prior to becoming director at Lake Worth, Cox regularly goes to the elementary schools. Because the closest elementary school is within walking distance, Cox brings her high school musicians to perform there several times a year. The drumline plays on the first day of school as buses arrive; a pep band performs during the elementary school’s Halloween parade; and band students also host a standardized testing pep rally.
After a few years at Lake Worth, Cox had noticed that students were joining high school band as freshmen, sophomores and juniors, and then quitting. “It was a cultural norm for kids to go to work and support the family,” Cox says. “It’s been a challenge to teach the kids that band is a four-year thing.”
You’ll have a much easier time reading your SARC if you understand the terms used. Some words and phrases are self-explanatory, but others can be confusing. Most SARCs have a reference guide or glossary. The 
It was impossible to do the necessary legwork during the school year, so my husband, Kris Antonetti, and I worked in the buildings during the summer when the air conditioning was not turned on. At the time, we only had desktop computers — no laptops or tablets — so we started in the hot storage room, writing down instrument model numbers and serial numbers on a yellow legal pad. Then we went back to my office to input this information on my computer. We spent hours doing this.
We started with the problems I faced and then gathered ideas from other directors to see what was needed most. Many of our music education friends faced similar challenges in their classrooms. We wanted to focus on the inventory aspect of organization, so we started developing instrument and uniform management as well as the ability to check these items out to students and to organize students into ensembles.
We met with Dave Gnojek, the associate design director at 
Fix It: Mallet Placement and Equal Right-to-Left-Hand Involvement
Populations in rural communities tend to be stable. Many of your colleagues and your students have years of community and institutional knowledge. Many students have had the same educator group since kindergarten. They will be curious about you, and the more comfortable you are answering their questions, the more successful you will be. I start every year at 
The Happiness Mix Project
Once students can tell a sad song from a scary song from a happy song, he says, “I would say, let’s recognize we can use songs to feel better when we feel sad, and start asking the ‘why’ questions.”
Looking at an explosion of population on the northside of San Antonio, the NEISD 2005 bond aimed to relieve stress on Reagan, which had a capacity of 3,000 students, but enrollment was approaching 4,000. The initial plans for Johnson provided for a capacity of 3,000 students, but during construction, administrators approved an additional wing that expanded capacity to 3,200. The new campus included a 4,000-square-foot music rehearsal hall.
The CBAC identified Reagan, Johnson and 
Thankfully, our district had recently made the music librarian the de facto music coordinator for the district, so I went to him and asked for his help and support. Additionally, I came up with several plans of my own. I was not allowed to charge band participation fees, but I could charge instrument rental fees. We have some instruments in the district rental pool, and some instruments at the schools. For the school instruments, I could charge the same rental fees as the district, and I used that money to fund a repair and supply budget. This went into effect almost immediately.
To recruit students for the beginning band at Meadows Elementary, I made sure to talk to all 5th graders on the third day of school along with the elementary strings teacher. She played her instruments, and I played several winds instruments including clarinet, trombone and trumpet. We answered questions and handed out interest forms, which also helped with instrumentation as we could assign students to their first or second instrument choices.
With each year of experience, I have gained more confidence as a music educator and have found better ways to be effective, efficient, and to challenge and support my students in the classroom. I have brought in guests from universities and local businesses to talk to my students and broaden their understanding of music. I have commissioned new works for my band as part of a consortium. I have taken my groups to festivals, tours and on trips to enrich their band experience. I just want to continue to challenge my students and let them experience life through the power of music.
In past years, Zeilinger has even taught hand bell and steel drums when students express the desire. “When I see the interest, I’m going to go down that path because I want my students’ high school experiences to be memorable. … My program is really focused on developing the desire among students to pursue something they’re passionate about.”
Starting in the 2021-2022 school year, students will have the option to participate in the academy and benefit from a field trip to the 
Often, teachers are intrinsically driven to make the favored ensemble from their past the highest quality possible because they have such a clear picture of what they want, they know what success looks like, and they have a strong connection to that particular ensemble.
In the fall of 2019, after two years of learning, consulting and writing grants, we had a recording studio in our school! I remember feeling confident that I knew what I didn’t know on the first day of my Digital Audio Production class. Little did I know that I was peering into a doorway of doorways!
For instance, our marching band went from a three-set to a 60-set show and started participating in the