Monday, November 14, 2011
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Are you tired of going on and on without end? Yes, that is very tiring. Even in guitar playing. If you keep on repeating the same routines because you can’t advance to the next level, you are doing something wrong. You should be enthusiastic everyday when you pick up the guitar. So if you want to know more about this subject matter, here’s to save you a lot of trouble. I have just the right information that you need to know about this subject matter and it is sufficient enough to fill you in about this situation. So if were you, I would sit back and enjoy this post while I can.
Please check your methods and your approach in practicing. You might be doing something wrong. This would be the result of a wrong approach in practicing. When practicing the guitar, you must have the right approach and the right attitude. Don’t go around in circles, be motivated, and create a goal. You could always practice hard but if you are doing it wrong, you are like driving around in a circular path, riving around in circles non – stop. So know the right methods of training and learning for you to be successful.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Scales are an essential thing to learn if you really want to master playing the guitar. This is like the basis of chord progressions and guitar solos. So if you want to learn scales, you came to the right place. I have just the right amount of information that you need to know about scales and it would definitely save you from the trouble of figuring it our yourself which is kind of a difficult thing to do. That is why it would be a much easier task to read this. And by the time you finish, you would have an idea how to start up learning the scale. So let us start with the major scale.
The major scale in the key of C is:
C D E F G A B C
Scales are part of the guitar lessons that you need to know. This is where you would get your ideas of chord progressions and this is also where you would base your guitar solos as well. That is why it is only essential that you learn your guitar scales early in your career as a beginner guitarist, if you really want to master playing the guitar.
How to read guitar tabs? It is very important to know how to read it because it is probably the easiest way to read music. It is way easier than reading sheet music. Tabs only have numbers and symbols specific to the guitar’s preference. So for beginners, I strongly suggest that you try learning how to read the guitar tablature or tabs. If you want to learn these, I have just the right information right here. This would definitely save you the trouble of figuring it out by yourself which could prove to be a tedious job indeed if you are not guided. So to make things easier, we have prepared the basics of tablature reading for you. All you have to do is read and learn.
——————————————————
—————–4–6h——————————
—————-3————————————-
————–2—————————————
————1—————————————–
——3–5——————————————-
This is an example of a guitar tab. The numbers represent the fret in which you are going to play the note. The lines represent the 6 strings of the guitar in reverse. The top 1 is the number 6 string and it goes down to the number 1 string. If you notice there is a letter “h” on it. H symbolizes the technique “hammer – on” so this means you hammer on the 6 fret note.
These are also popularly known as “slurs”. This technique is made to create a much smoother transition between notes. Instead of picking both notes, you could do a “hammer – on” to the next note, not only that you are hitting the next note, you are also creating a new sound. So if you want to know about this technique, I have just the right amount of information about this subject matter. This would definitely save you from the hassle looking for it elsewhere, and we guarantee you that by the time you finish reading this article, you will have a general idea about what hammer – ons are. So avoid the risk of getting unreliable information elsewhere, read here now.
Hammer – ons include two different notes. The first note is plucked or picked, then, the second note is hammered to sound. The hammering or slamming is the “hammer – on technique.” the first note is played by your first finger, and the hammer – on is played by the next finger. You can do hammer – ons as much as you want as long as it gets inside a measure or bar. Try hammering the whole scale if you can. It’s fun to do.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Rock is probably the most popular genre of music in the world today and most beginner guitar players learn guitar because they wanted to rock. Guitars are always present on all rock music, matter of fact; you can’t call it rock if it hasn’t got any guitars on it. That is why; if you want to learn how to play rock on the guitar, try these steps:
- Try playing the A major chord on your guitar.
- To play the A major chord, strum it using down strokes while following a 4 / 4 rhythm or by counting 1, 2, 3, 4.
- Try using a pick to generate a louder, rock – ire sound.
- Now play the chord using don strokes and upstrokes while counting 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. Play the down strokes on the numbers and the upstrokes on the “ands”
To play a rock chord progression, try these steps:
- Strum the guitar like how you did on the first batch of instructions.
- Use this chord progression. A/A/A/A D/D/A/A E/D/A/A
- The slash represents bars and each bar is played using the 4 / 4 measure.
- Now you have a basic rock chord progression.
He who gives up easily shall never learn.
That is pretty much true with guitar practice; those who give up easily shall never learn it. Most beginners give up trying to learn it because it is very difficult for them. I would like to emphasize this for the sake of all beginner guitar players, learning how to play the guitar is really difficult at first. Everybody went through this phase (although I couldn’t imagine Satriani not knowing how to do a basic A chord.) even the guitar legends that we know today went through it. And don’t you worry if other people learn much faster than you. It is not because you are not that skillful, it is always because of your approach to it. The way you practice eight not be that effective. It is a matter of how you approach it, how you practice and which method are you using to practice. It is basically all about the way you practice you guitar, some methods are just inefficient, ineffective and doesn’t produce good results unlike others. It’s like cars; some are just relatively faster than others because of the configuration of the cars. The other car might have a stronger engine.
I want to stress out the importance of playing accurately. This means playing the note that you intend to play with no unnecessary mute and notes that are not included. I would like to share to you an exercise that would definitely help you enhance the different areas of your guitar playing skill. It could improve your fretting accuracy, makes you use your alternate picking properly and how it is supposed to be played. It could also help stretch your fingers, and permanently improve your reach. It could also help you in visualizing the most important scale patterns. All in all, this would definitely improve and inspire your guitar soloing.
———————————————-5–7–8–10—
————————————-5–7–8—————-
—————————-4–5–7————————-
——————-4–5–7———————————-
———-3–5–7——————————————-
-3–5–7—————————————————-
You should pick each note through alternate picking method. Pick each note properly and clearly and start slowly at first. When you get the hang of it, try to do it faster. This is an Ionian Major Scale Pattern. Which you would use to ascend. Now to descend, here’s a Dorian Minor scale that you could use.
-8–7——————————————————-
——-10–8–7———————————————
—————–9–7–5————————————
————————–9–7–5—————————
———————————–9–7–5——————
——————————————–8–7–5–3——
Once you have learned all the basic chords, the major and minor chords, you ask yourself, what should you learn next? Well, you could try learning all the chords existing. All the standard chord shapes. And you could also experiment some of your own chords. Although it might be an existing chord, you could always try and twist a chord or two to favor you. That is if you have enough creativity in you. The thing with being a musician is that you must have the creative juices in you. How the hell can those guitar legend whip up and epic guitar solo? Because creativity is part of them, it’s like drinking juice.
Nowadays, songwriting is heavily based on guitar riffs. That is why the guitar player plays a huge role in the songwriting process of almost all bands. And if a guitar player doesn’t have those creative juices flowing in him, how could he or she create something epic? It is not something that you could learn; it’s something innate that you need to whip out when you need it. The learning process is on the whipping out. It is how you release it. I strongly believe that there is an artist in all of us.
I am a songwriter and a guitar player. I’m in a band and I am the primary song maker in our band. How do I do this? Well, I use technology to my advantage; I use different kinds of software for different purposes. You see, the easiest way to create songs and relay it to your mates is to do DEMOS. Demos are recorded demonstration of your song, it’s like recording the whole song for your band mates to study and memorize. That is for me, the easiest method. If you have a home studio, complete with instruments, and you could play everything very well, good for you. Creating a demo wouldn’t be a problem. But for people like me, who only has a couple of guitars and a decent computer, I suggest home recording software and drum software.
The thing with drum software is it sounds mediocre, midi – ish and without dynamics. Creating midi drum tracks from scratch could take you an eternity, and drum loops are not that fulfilling, it limits you. The answer to this? EZ drummer. I saw this on the internet yesterday and it produces authentic drum sound, rolls and dynamics. Perfect for creating demos. You should have it.