How to Play The Guitar With an eBow

Here's a brief summery of how to play a guitar with the instrument known as the eBow.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Buy an eBow online, or at a music store. If a friend has one, borrow it to see if you like the design of the instrument.

2. Make sure it has fresh batteries before you play it in any performance situation.

3. The eBow works best with electrified guitars. It does not work well with acoustic instruments.

4. To play with an eBow, turn it on, and hold it over the string you wish to play. The eBow creates an electromagnetic field that vibrates the string from a distance. You can't directly touch the string with an eBow.

5. Use the eBow to play long lead guitar lines. Because the eBow can be slow to activate, the noises it makes are more atmospheric, and you can't rapidly switch from string to string. Play your eBow lines up and down the neck of the guitar on one string.

6. The most famous use of the eBow is on Radiohead's album OK Computer. Expect to play similar sounding lines on your own eBow.

7. The eBow is very distinctive, and adds great atmosphere to a song.

8. The Wikipedia entry on the eBow is overly positive about the playability of the instrument.