Electric Guitar Lessons – What Is A Volume Swell?

Electric Guitar Effects

This is will be the first in the series of electric guitar effects tutorials, and today we are going to talk about volume swells.

What is it exactly?

Volume swells are an effect used by electric guitar players to create a gradual volume increase, commonly known as a crescendo.

To achieve this effect, a guitarist would hook his pinky finger around one of the volume controls of the guitar. He would then pick a note an roll his pinky to gradually increase the volume from zero.

This effect can also be achieved using a foot pedal that controls the volume. Another effect that is similar called the ” violin ” is achieved by rolling the volume controls back and forth causing a sound similar to a violin being bowed.

Allan Holdsworth pioneered this effect of volume swelling and by using a delay effect pedal he was able to create a lower, thicker more cello-like bass sound.

Using swells can often lead to very emotive sounds which really enhance the electric guitar sound even more.

There are quite a few video tutorials on Youtube that demonstrate this technique. Go see it in action!