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What is the deal with music rights?

Tom Serb — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:23:16 +0000

There are several different rights when you create an original piece. The big ones are:

The right to control publishing – that is, printed reproductions of your music. That’s called publishing rights
The right to income from public performances of your work. That’s called performance rights.
The right to income from YOUR recorded version of a piece. That’s called mechanical rights.

There are some other rights attached to works too… like synchronization rights (the right to allow or refuse your music to be included with images like movies or commercials), and the right to control the FIRST released recording – famously, Bob Dylan refused himself permission to release his new songs in a negotiation showdown with a label some years back.

These rights are usually split up and controlled by various entities. The publishing rights are usually held by a publishing company, the performance rights are usually handled by a performance rights organization, and the mechanical rights are usually controlled by the label.

When a cover band performs, there’s no infringement on publishing rights, because it’s not being published, and unless the performance is being recorded for release, there’s no mechanical rights involved. That leaves performance rights.

The three big performance rights organizations are BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC. They each license venues and promoters to publicly perform anything in their catalog. “Perform” is a big tent – if a bar buys a jukebox, they’re supposed to license the music that’s in it. If a radio station plays music, they need a license. So do websites with music and symphony orchestras – unless they only perform public domain stuff.

When a cover band plays in a bar, the bar owner is supposed to have a current license for the music, and the performing rights organizations send folks out to listen to music in bars and other venues to see if any of their catalog is being played. If it is, and the bar hasn’t licensed it, they’ll threaten legal action. (About 30 years ago I was playing in a cover band and a BMI rep came into the bar – the show was halted while the owner worked out a licensing deal!)

The license fee depends on the size of the venue, and how often they have music – it runs from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a year, typically. Some venue owners skirt this by requiring bands play only original music. If push came to shove, I suppose a band might be held accountable, but in practical terms…. well, if a bar pays $2K per year to license music on weekends, the band’s pro-rated slice is pretty small. Plus, bars have better cash flow than your average band – so they’re a much better target if it comes to litigation. (It almost always doesn’t – the performing rights organizations really bank on persuasion as a strategy, unlike the trade groups for publishing (the MPA) and mechanicals (the RIAA).

Guitar Tuning FAQ

Guitar Noise Staff — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:15:22 +0000

Alternate and open tunings are a great way to explore more of the potential of your guitar. On our guitar tunings page you’ll find some great articles and lessons on alternate and open tunings, including some wonderful song lessons and arrangements. This page answers some of the most common questions beginners have about tuning. You’ll also find answers to more advanced questions further down the page.

How do I tune my guitar?

Tuning a guitar is the single most important concept for a beginner to learn. At the same time it can often an early stumbling block. If your guitar is not in tune, you will never sound good. Rather than having your friends tune your guitar for you, you should learn how to do it for yourself.

There are several ways you can tune a guitar: by ear, with an electronic tuner, using another instrument such as a piano or a pitch fork. Most beginners will find it easiest to start with an electronic tuner. Don’t worry, tuning by ear is a skill that comes with time.

For step by step instructions on tuning a guitar you should read The First Time Ever I Tuned My Axe by Graham Merry. Another set of instructions can be found in How to Tune A Guitar.

It is also possible to tune your guitar using harmonic tuning.

How do I tune down a half step?

If you have a chromatic tuner this can be easy. A half a step down is having every note “half a step” down – a half step is an interval and to the guitar it’s a one-fret distance. So, E becomes Eb and so forth.

From the low E to the high E it goes:

Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb

An easy way to tune down to half a step is to place a capo on the first fret and tune up to standard pitch, then, take off the capo and you’ll have half a step tuning.
How do I tune my guitar to get an open or altered tuning?
A couple rules of thumb:

Try to tune downward whenever possible. Too much stress on the strings is not good for the guitar or the strings (or you, for that matter). If you do tune up to a note, try not to go higher than three half steps.
Use a capo. It’s much easier on your guitar to tune to Open D and then put a capo on the second fret to get your Open E. Ditto with Open G to get Open A. If you listen to the Rolling Stones’ Happy, you’ll find it’s in the key of B. Richards uses Open G tuning with a capo on the fourth fret.
Remember that nothing is set in stone. But having said that, I will add that it is preferable to have your two lowest notes be the root and the fifth of your chord.

You can get a reference pitch by using another guitar that is in tune, a piano, a tuning fork, an electronic tuner or your computer. The easiest way to retune your guitar is to use a keyboard (which is hopefully in tune to start with). Most electronic tuners will allow you to tune to specific notes as well.

You can find more information on re-tuning your guitar in the article Open Tuning – Part I.

What is standard tuning?

What we guitarists consider “standard tuning” has been around pretty much since the fifth and sixth strings were added to the instrument in the late 1700′s. And, artists being artists, “non-standard” or “alternate” tunings have existed for just about as long. For the sake of our discussions, we will divide guitar tunings into three categories – standard, open, and alternate.

Standard tuning is what we were taught from day one (low to high or 6th string to 1st): E A D G B E

Standard tuning makes learning the guitar easier by allowing you to play the various chords in the same way that other people do. For more on standard and other tunings see the articles Standard Tuning (and Tuners) and Open Tuning – Part 1.

What is alternate tuning?

An alternate tuning is any tuning that is neither standard nor open. Any tunings that have the same intervals between each string are a kind of standard tuning, such as:

STANDARD
E A D G B E

Alternate #1
Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb

Alternate #2
D G C F A D

Alternate #3
Db Gb B E Ab Db

Alternate #4
C F Bb Eb G C

Those of you who play a lot of Nirvana, as well as other 90′s groups, will recognize these as “low tunings”. While they are indeed, by our definition, alternate tunings, they are simply transposed standard tunings. All the intervals between the strings are the same as they are in standard tuning. “Alternate #1″ is tuned a half step lower than standard, “#2″ a whole step lower and so on.

For more on altered tunings check out the article On The Tuning Awry.

What is open tuning?

Open tuning is when we tune the guitar in such a fashion that results in our getting a major (or minor) chord when we strum the open strings.

You will find more on open tunings in Open Tuning – Part I and Open Tuning – Part II.

What are some typical open tunings?

Open tunings have been making a “comeback” of sorts lately, but they have always been a staple of serious musicians. Many fledgling guitarists are unaware that artists such as Keith Richards, Dave Mason, Richie Havens, Leo Kottke and Mark Knopfler have been using various forms of open tuning for years. Slide guitar players often tend to utilize open tuning; it suits their particular playing styles quite well.

Here are some basic open tunings:

STANDARD
E A D G B E

OPEN C
C G C G C E

OPEN C Minor
C G C G C Eb

OPEN D
D A D F# A D

OPEN D Minor
D A D F A D

OPEN F (used by Jimmy Page in Bron Y Aur)
C F C F A F

OPEN G
D G D G B D

OPEN G Minor
D G D G Bb D

OPEN G Seventh
D G D G B F

You will find more about open tunings in the article Open Tuning – Part 1.

What are some typical alternate tunings?

We’ve put together a list of different alternate tunings. This is by no means a definitive list of all the possibilities. We haven’t included any formal names on these tunings, but have made some notes about a few of them.

E A D G B E – standard
E B D G A D
E E E E B E – Stephen Stills uses this in Carry On and Suite: Judy Blue Eyes. The fifth string is tuned to the sixth while the third and fourth strings are tuned to the E an octave above that (and an octave below the first string)
E B E G A D
E A D G C F
E B B G B D – Ani DiFranco uses this in Not a Pretty Girl. Again both the fourth and fifth strings are tuned to same note
E A D G# B E
E A D F# B E
E A D G B D
D A D G B E – Drop D
D A D G B D – Double Drop D
D A D D A D
D A D E A D – Not used by Jerry Garcia (at least as far as I know) (sorry, I couldn’t resist)
D G D G A D
D G D G B E
D G D F# B D – yes, technically open Gmaj7
C A D G B E
C G D G B E
C G D G C D – one of my favorites
C G D G B D
C G C G B E
C G C G C D
C G D G A D

It’s safe to say you could spend quite a bit of time looking into this. Find out more in the article On The Tuning Awry.

How do I tune a 12 string guitar?

Tuning a 12 string guitar is a little more complicated than tuning a regular six string as there are twice as many strings to think about. There is the question of how to number the strings as well as tuning down in order to lesson the tension on the neck of the guitar.

For step by step instructions on tuning a 12 string guitar you should read How do I tune a 12 string guitar? You might also want to check out What are some good alternate tunings for a 12 string guitar?

What are some good alternate tunings for a 12 string guitar?

Any alternate tuning that you’d use on a six-string guitar can also be used on a twelve string. Open G and D and DADGAD are especially nice as well as any that highlight finger picking patterns, such as CGDCGD.

If interested in tunings where the octave strings are not tuned in octaves, this can be done, but is extremely tricky to execute. This answer gets a little involved, so check out What are some good alternate tunings for a 12 string guitar?

How do I tune a tenor guitar?

Traditionally, tenor guitars were tuned like tenor banjos, that is, in fifths like a mandolin. From low to high: C G D A.

Like many things, you can have all sorts of different tunings. Celtic (Irish) musicians favor G D A E tuning (and that makes me wonder that the reason there are six tuning pegs is so that you can use different sets of strings…). Ani DiFranco uses all sorts of alternately tuned tenor guitar in her songs.

Is there anything that can make tuning a guitar easier?

The easiest way to get into tune and stay there is buy an electronic tuner. These small and inexpensive devices can save you a lot of trouble, especially in live situations and noisy environments. While an electronic tuner is a great addition to your guitar case, you should not rely on them exclusively. Do not neglect learning the skill of tuning for yourself as it is great for developing your ear. See our lessons on ear training for more on that.

There are two types of electronic tuners. One is a quartz tuner and the other is a chromatic tuner. The quartz tuner can usually only tell you the notes for each of the strings on your guitar and displays its reading using a needle that sways back and forth. Because it uses a sensitive needle to read the tone, you might have to replace it after dropping it only once. A chromatic tuner on the other hand can withstand being dropped a few times as it has no moving parts. Chromatic tuners often include all notes including sharps and flats and usually allow you to calibrate them to some degree. They usually include input and output ports so you can plug in your guitar and tune it in spite of any noise around you.

For more on using an electronic tuner you should read The First Time Ever I Tuned My Axe by Graham Merry. More on the use of tuners can be found in How to Tune A Guitar.

What if my tuner doesn’t have C on it?

This depends on which string you want to tune to C.

If it’s the sixth string (low E), then you want to tune it down two whole steps. The easiest way to check if you’re okay is to test it against the A(fifth)string. If you’re correctly tuned, then when you press the NINTH fret of the sixth string, you’ll get the A note (same as open fifth string).

If you’re going by a tuner. Just hold at the second fret and tune to a D. I usually go back and make sure the 2nd fret is precisely a D, the 4th is an E, etc. Tuning down your strings tends to make them slip out of tune more frequently.

How do I tune my guitar using harmonics?

This is essentially the same as tuning by what we’ll call the “normal” method (tuning the A string to the 5th fret of the E string, etc.). The difference is that you use the harmonic notes to tune between the strings. The easiest places to produce harmonics on your guitar are at the 12th, 7th and 5th frets. The thing that you may not know is exactly which notes are produced by harmonics.

This is not any more difficult than the “normal” tuning method. A lot of people use this method because you can let the harmonics ring while you tune the string. You can use both methods – the “normal” way to get in the general neighborhood and then harmonics to fine tune.

For a step by step guide to tuning using harmonics you should read: How do I tune my guitar using harmonics?

How does bridge tuning work?

Different guitars bridge tune in different ways. Essentially, it comes down to this. On on end of the bridge (usually the side furthest from the neck) there should be a set of very small screws. These screws adjust where the string sits on the bridge. By turning these you are adjusting the intonation of the guitar. Some newer guitars use these in conjunction with a “nut-lock” which is a device that, in effect, clamps down the nut end of the strings to prevent them from moving.

You should adjust the screw in the smallest of increments, testing it frequently. You know that your intonation is off if the harmonic on the twelfth fret DOES NOT MATCH the open string. Usually they are not very far off, but if they are it affects the string up and down the fretboard. In other words, you sound like you’re in tune when you tune it normally, but then it sounds out of tune when you play full chords.

Two things to note: First, after you’ve fixed the string in question, it is imperative to check the other strings EVEN IF YOU DID NOT ADJUST THEM. Messing around with the intonation of one string almost always affects the other strings, even in a small way. It doesn’t hurt to check, especially if your guitar has a “floating bridge” (one that uses or can use a tremolo bar). This domino effect, by the way, is why it is never a good idea to toy around with alternate tunings on most electric guitars – you shoot the intonation to hell and then you spend hours getting things back into shape.

Second, this takes time and patience. Even people who do it a lot try to set aside time for this task when they can give it their undivided attention. If you’ve never tried it before it is bound to be frustrating. If you can’t hear or make out what you’re doing, then it is probably best to just bring it in to a music store and let someone do it for you.

And that’s another thing. It may not be a problem that you can fix. A slightly warped neck can also give you fits and no amount of tinkering with the bridge tuning will fix that. If you suspect you have such a problem, again bring it to someone at a shop. Save yourself the aggravation.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Without knowing the type of guitar involved this is about as good as advice as I can give you.

Why can’t I make my Floyd Rose system work?

Have you connected the tremolo arm to the bridge?

The Floyd rose is a tremolo bridge, and basically acts as a movable bridge – both up and down. What makes the floyd rose system independent is that it can lock the string both at the bridge and the nut. When you connect the tremolo arm to the bridge, you can push/pull it down/up in order to shift the pitch either up or down. You can push and pull on a Floyd rose system and still get the same result, but the tremolo arm makes moving the bridge up/down much easier.

You can also find more information in the article Tuning A Floyd Rose (or other similar floating bridge).

How do I self-tune or make a bad ear a good ear?

There are two things you can try. Instead of 5th fret of six string to open of fifth, try 12th fret of sixth to 7th fret of fifth, etc. It’s the same notes, but one octave higher. This should be easier for you to distinguish.

Another thing you could try is tuning by harmonics. Sometimes people who normally consider themselves “tone deaf” are still able to hear the higher pitches of harmonics. If you do this on an electric guitar with the volume up a tad higher than normal you can actually feel it more than hear it.

You can learn how to tune using harmonics by reading the harmonic tuning lesson.

Does a blues guitarist tune their guitar differently?

There can be a lot of reasons why your chords from the TAB sheet don’t sound the same. It can be something as simple as the TAB being wrong (this does happen – more than people think!) or that the TAB is written in a different key than the one in which song is actually played. Or that the recording of the song has been altered (sped up or slowed down) so that it is not really in tune with the real world.

It can also be a matter of the blues’ artist’s guitar being tuned differently. This is especially true if it is a slide guitarist – they tend to use open tunings (DGDGBD, DADF#AD, EBEG#BE, etc).

But more often than not it is a matter of voicing and chord embellishment than anything else. Say a blues song is in the key of A. Well, the TAB will usually list the chords as A, D and E. But the guitarist may chose other, “embellished” chords (that is, chords with the same basic triads but with added notes for flavor). Instead of an A, he may play an A7 and then add to the confusion by playing it with this voicing:

E – open
B – 10th fret
G – 12th fret
D – 11th fret
A – 12th fret
E – don’t play

And then when he gets to the D, he may play a D7 or, better yet, a D9:

E – 5th fret
B – 5th fret
G – 5th fret
D – 4th fret
A – 5th fret
E – don’t play

Unless your TAB is specific about the exact chord and chord voicing you can see that there are all sorts of different reasons why you will not sound exactly the same.

But that’s cool, too – this is what learning is all about.

How do I get in tune with CDs?

We covered this question a little in the trilogy about ear training (specifically the third part Solving The Puzzle) but it bears repeating.

The first thing you have to do is to have your guitar in tune, period. And tuned to standard tuning. To do this you need a keyboard or an electronic tuner. Now for the most part this should allow you to play along with your CDs. There are, of course, a few exceptions to this:

The song is in a different key than you’re used to or than it is TABBED out or notated in. For example, Three Marlenas by the Wallflowers is often written out in the key of D. But on the CD it is in Eb which is a half step up. The simple solution is to play a capo on the first fret and play in D. I usually try to find out what key a song is in before I worry about playing along with it. Again, in the column Solving The Puzzle, I go over the procedure of finding the key to a song.
The guitars have been tuned differently. If you’re trying to play along with Pearl Jam or Korn or any of the bands these days that use guitars tuned down a half-step or a step or even more, then you’re going to have to make a decision to either do so yourself of to play in a different manner than that which is TABBED. For instance, if you wanted to play along with a Nirvana CD, it would be a good idea to have a guitar tuned down one step (low to high: D, G, C, F, A, D) for those songs which use low tuning.If you have determined that a song is in Eb, D, or Db, then you might want to listen to the chord voicings used in order to decide whether or not to lower your tuning. Or you could learn to play in these keys – it’ll make you a better guitarist in the long run.
The recording has been sped up or slowed down. This does happen, especially with some of the older recordings. The Beatles and Bob Dylan, for instance, did this a lot. If you find that you cannot find the key of a song then the chances are that this is the case. What you have to do is to get close. Say you listen to Across the Universe on the Let It Be album and you find that the song is higher than C but not quite at C#. Then play ONE NOTE ON AN OPEN STRING that is part of the chord (in this case the high E string or G string will do) until it is in tune with the song. To check it – you should then be able to noodle around on the one string and sound fine but you definitely sound off on the other strings. Once you have this one string in tune you will have to manually tune the other strings to it (and I’m assuming you know how to do this) and then you will be in tune to play this one particular song.

Why tune other than standard?

For as long as there’s been the guitar, there’s been different ways of tuning it. What we think of as “standard tuning” has evolved over time. Our modern guitar came from the lute and lutes were tuned to fifths instead of fourths (I’m not the greatest historian, so please don’t take me to task).

Anyway, nowadays people use alternate tunings for all sorts of reasons. The most obvious ones are open tunings. This is tuning your guitar in such a way that you get a major or minor chord when you strum the open strings. We cover this in our open tuning columns on the Guitar Columns page, as well as in the Easy Songs for Beginners’ Lesson Happy and in the Intermediates’ Lesson Simple Twist of Fate.

Other alternate tunings are as numerous as one’s imagination. As to “why” one might use them, this can range from having a bass note that might not otherwise be available (Drop D, for instance, where the low E is tuned down to D) to creating a fingering arpeggio that would be physically impossible in standard tuning (such as David Crosby’s Guinevere). You can check out some of these ideas in our “Alternate tuning” articles on the Guitar Columns page – On The Tuning Awry, Cover Story and Alternate Writing Styles. The latter article discussed the use of alternate tuning as a way to get around writer’s block.

You might also want to check out the column A Celtic Air which discusses the use of DADGAD tuning in Celtic guitar playing.

What is the real tuning used in the song Blackbird?

There’s a lot of debate about this and I just don’t know. I’ve tried playing it with open G and the fingering is just really too hard. But after you wrote I thought about it some more and I have an idea. Since the guitar is tuned pretty close to open G anyway and since the chords, okay the fingerings, are done primarily on the second and fifth strings, why not tune the first string down to D, that is, EADGBD tuning? This way you can play it throughout the whole song much as you do the open D (fourth) string. I’ve tried this and it does work. Again, you can hear that it’s not the same but it does give more ringing strings and a nice overall tone.

You can try out the song in standard tuning in the Guitar Noise easy song lesson Blackbird.

What is open D tuning?

When you strum the guitar without fretting any notes it will give you a D major chord.

Let’s do the open D tuning. First we take our standard tuning (low to high):

E A D G B E

and then we look at where we want to go:

D A D F# A D

You can see that the 5th and 4th strings (A & D) are going to stay the same. If you have an electronic tuner, this is going to be a breeze. Simply tune both the E strings (1st and 6th) to the D setting, just like you would your D string. If you don’t have an electronic tuner, then you tune both strings to the open D string, only an octave higher on the first string (this is the same as the 3rd fret on the B string)and an octave lower on the sixth string (when tuned correctly, your A string will now match the 7th fret of the sixth string instead of the 5th fret like it normally does).

To get the A on the second string, you can again go by the A setting on an electronic tuner, or use the octave of the open A string. This should now match the 2nd fret of the G string (instead of the 4th fret).

The F# is the only tricky one, and even that’s not too hard. You want to tune this string to the 4th fret of the D (fourth) string (instead of the 5th fret).

You should now be in open D tuning. When you strum the guitar without fretting any notes it will give you a D major chord.

What is C sharp tuning?

C# tuning (so that when you strum the strings without fretting anything you get a C# major chord) and yes, there is such a thing.

Most people think of it as Db tuning (I think because “flat” = “down” or lower in our minds) but since Db is the same note as C# it is the same tuning.

Anyway you look at it, it’s a step-and-a-half lower than standard tuning, meaning it would look like this:

STANDARD:
E A D G B E

Open C#:
C# F# B E G# C#

The easiest way to get there (assuming you don’t have an electronic tuner) would be to tune your 6th string down a step and a half. This would now be in tune with your open A string when you play the 8th fret of the 6th string (instead of the 5th). Once you have this string in tune you just tune it the regular way.

If you do have an electronic tuner that only works on the standard setting, then just tune the 3rd and 4th strings to their appropriate notes (B and E respectively) and then work your way to the outer strings. This will involve working “backwards” on the 5th and 6th strings, but it’s not that hard.

How do I tune to CGCFAD?

Believe it or not, this is simply a standard “Drop D” tuning. But after you get a drop D tuning, then every single string is tuned down an additional step. If you were to play your standard D chord in this CGCFAD tuning (across all six strings), you would be playing a C major chord.

Of course, just telling you to tune to drop D (simply tune your low E string down to D)and then tuning each and every string down an additional whole step is probably not that helpful, so you might want to try it this way:

Make sure your guitar is tuned correctly to start with.
Tune the A (5th) string down to G by matching the open 5th string to the third fret of the 6h string (instead of the fifth fret like you normally do).
Once you’ve tuned the 5th string to G, you can then go and tune the strings above it in the normal manner (matching the 4th string to the fifth fret of the 5th string, etc). Essentially what you have done is to tune the first five strings down one whole step. Your guitar will now be tuned EGCFAD.
Finally tune the low E (6th) string down to C. Your can do this either by matching it an octave lower than the 4th string (now tuned to C) or by matching the twelfth fret harmonic on the 6th string to the open 4th string.

By the way, if you’re interested in various alternate tunings and how to go about using them, then check out the article On The Tuning Awry.

Should I keep my guitar in open tuning?

Here’s a question from a recent email:

I am curious if you can answer this question with a reasonable degree of certainty or if not direct me to someone who can. I tuned one guitar to drop D and one to open G. I have gotten a 50/ 50 mix of friends telling me I can leave it tuned that way on the one hand and on the other hand I get told I need to retune them to standard every time I finish playing. Any suggestions?

And thanks for writing. I can definitely answer your question with some degree of certainty, but I will also tell you that this is one of those questions where people do have varying differences of opinion, and sometimes quite strong opinions at that. And usually, as is the case with most differences of opinions, these feelings are often based on some instance of personal experience. Someone might have a guitar that he or she keeps in open G all the time without any kind of problem at all. Someone else might have a guitar that he or she retuned to open G at one point and it caused no end of grief in terms of retuning, or perhaps some greater calamity was involved. It’s always good to ask ”why” whenever you receive an answer that seems based more on an opinion than anything else.

Be that as it may, you should have no trouble keeping a guitar at open D or open G for any length of time. Forever, if you so desire. Neither of these tunings involves tuning strings higher than they would be if they were tuned to standard tuning, so you’re not causing undue stress on the neck or on the saddle (if it’s an acoustic guitar).

Open E and open A are a whole ‘nother kettle of fish. Both these open tuning involve tuning a number of strings higher than they would normally be. Because guitars are designed for standard tuning, keeping these strings high than normal for an extended period of time (extended usually meaning “days” and not “hours”) can cause unwanted stress on your guitar.

This discussion is also common among people who own twelve-string guitars, by the way. One faction will say that you should keep your twelve string tuned a half-step or full step lower so as not to stress the neck. The other side says it’s perfectly fine to keep it in standard tuning all the time. There are valid arguments for both sides and usually it becomes a matter of personal taste and experience.

There are some factors to keep in mind, though. (aren’t there always?) as laws of inertia apply here. If you keep a guitar in open G or open D for an extended period of time, your instrument is going to go through a period of adjustment should you decide you’ve got to play it in standard. It may initially not hold its tuning and need some bit of adjustment until the strings get used to being stretched to normal tension again. As silly as it may sound, if the strings are old or have worn spots, you run the risk of breaking them when you retune up to standard. Constantly putting your guitar into an open or alternate tuning and then going back to standard does put wear and tear on your strings. So it’s a good idea to have spares handy.

Buying Equipment FAQ

Guitar Noise Staff — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:51:03 +0000

We have tons of articles and advice on buying guitars and equipment. Many of the questions you may be thinking of asking might have already been answered here. On this page you will find the answers to questions asked about different types of equipment. This includes, but is not limited to, guitars, accessories and all of the cool tools that a total guitar freak has to have.

What kind of guitar should I buy (acoustic, electric, classical)?

There are many packaged deals out there, mainly around $300. They generally come with a guitar, amp, picks, strings, gig bag, and all the other little things needed to get you started. The drawback of these is mainly quality. The second choice, if you have the extra money to spend, is to start off with a mid-range ($400 to $500 or so) guitar. This way you won’t have to spend more money for a nicer guitar later on. The drawback to this choice is that you are going to have to buy all those little things mentioned above.

You’ll have to choose between electric and acoustic guitars. There are some differences that need explaining. To find out what they are, read the complete answer What kind of guitar should I buy? Guitar Noise has a lot of information on how to buy equipment. You should definitely browse through those articles if you are not sure about what to buy.

What are some brands I should look for?

Many “no-name” brands are actually, generally speaking, good. A “no-name” brand is a brand that has no brand marking or simply a brand that isn’t “famous”. Then, there are also the famous companies, and there are many to take a look at. Of course you should be the one determining which brand and model is best for your next purchase, but we understand that you might need some guidance.

We’ve got a list of some of the more reputable brands. To find out what they are, read the complete answer What are some brands I should look for? Guitar Noise has a lot of information on how to buy equipment. You should definitely browse through those articles if you are not sure about what to buy.

What are the different types of guitar strings?

I got an email from someone last month on strings for a Vox guitar. Which led to my visiting a site dedicated to Vox instruments and amps and an interesting discussion on strings. Which led to my asking Dan Lasley (for the whatever millionth time) about the difference between round wound and flat wound strings. Which led to Dan forwarding me a URL to a great glossary on strings, on the JustStrings website. Which led to me writing them and getting permission to share a bit with you. This is from the “acoustic guitar” section and deals with two of my favorite types of strings:

Phosphor Bronze – longer lasting tone than the 80/20 (Bronze) due to phosphorous content. These strings provide about 80% of the brilliance of a new 80/20 set for a bright, rich tone that’s not excessive.
Silk amp; Steel – offers the driving force of steel strings and the soft tonal properties often associated with classical strings. A center wrap of silk fiber provides easier fingering and minimizes the brilliance for a sweeter more mellow tone. Popular with folk guitarists and finger-style players.

JustStrings’ glossary covers almost everything imaginable, for classical guitars to basses, from violins to mandolins. They’ve even got a bit on cryogenic strings. If you want to read the whole glossary (and you should certainly bookmark it for easy referral), visit the JustStrings website.

How much is a good guitar for a beginner?

There are some questions you will have to answer first. Do you want an acoustic, electric or classical (nylon string) guitar? What sort of music do you envision playing? Are you serious about learning to play?

Anyway you choose to answer these questions, a guitar does not need to set you back all that much. You can get a decent one (new or used) for under two hundred dollars. Yamaha, for instance, makes very good guitars at very reasonable prices and they are very durable (mine is over twenty years old now!). And all the “big name” manufacturers (Fender, Guild, Gibson, etc.) also have “off-shoot” companies make very reasonable “cheaper” guitars. When I think of a good, reasonably priced acoustic guitar for a beginner, I almost always think of Yamahas. Mostly because I know a lot of people who still have theirs and they are still very playable.

Buying a new or used guitar can be an emotional ordeal, especially if you haven’t the faintest idea of what you are looking for. This is why it’s important to do a bit of thinking and investigating before even setting foot inside a music shop. It doesn’t matter if it’s going to be your first or fortieth guitar, take a moment to gather your thoughts. For an introduction to buying a guitar read The Rites of Spring. You might also benefit from reading several of the articles on our buying equipment page.

Did I get a good deal?

This is a very subjective question. A guitars worth and value is highly dependent to the one who plays it. Reviews do help, but the final judgment should be made by the one who plays, not by the reviewers. For those of you looking for reviews or thoughts on certain pieces of equipment – guitars, effects, amplifiers, etc. – visit Harmony-Central. Harmony Central is a large collection of user reviews for a large range of equipment for all players. As a word of advice, look in the reviews for technical errors with the product, rather than entirely focusing on the type of sound it can produce.

What is a capo?

A capo is a device that allows you so move the nut of your guitar around. Okay, not really, but if you think of it in those terms you’ll be able to get a lot out of one. Essentially a capo is a strip of hard material (usually rubber or plastic) which is clamped onto the neck of your guitar at a position of your choosing, effectively providing you with a full barre on whatever fret you place it. It is a floating nut, if you will. Capos can look fairly high-tech in spite of their simplicity of function.

You can find more about capos, including how to use one to transpose the key of a song (and make it easier to play), in the article The Underappreciated Art of Using a Capo.

What are jumbo frets?

I hope that I can explain this right…Jumbo frets are a cheaper way of producing what is known as a “scalloped” fretboard. The idea behind this is to make it so that your fingers don’t have to actually press all the way down onto the neck of the guitar, thus allowing you to have a lighter (and therefore (supposedly) faster) touch. What some guitarists would do is to have the fret board slightly dug out (scalloped) between the frets. Putting slightly higher (or “jumbo”) frets is a lot cheaper than having a scalloped fretboard.

But does it help? When you use a guitar with either a scalloped neck or with jumbo frets, you have got to know that your fretboard is now supersensitive to touch. If your finger is not fretting a note precisely, you are going to be a little shaper or flatter than normal. This may not seem like much (and can be compensated for with practice) if you are playing single note leads. But if you are playing chords, well, you can imagine that it’s not going to sound pretty.

Bottom line, if you are already a guitar virtuoso, perhaps jumbo frets might be a new direction for you. If you’re just starting out, it can cause you a lot of grief and you’ll never know why you always sound slightly off.

What’s the difference between Spanish and Hawaiian guitars?

The term “Spanish guitar” is what we nowadays call a “classical guitar.” The guitar as we know it now was developed in Spain close to three hundred years ago. The classical guitar came to America, and later Hawaii, along with the Spanish explorers and sailors. It was smaller than the typical acoustic model of today and the strings were made from gut (nylon in the present day). Nowadays people use the term “Spanish guitar” and “classical guitar” almost interchangeably, although it more often than not describes the music the guitar is playing rather than the guitar.

The Hawaiian guitar, is just as confusing a term. Believe it or not, Hawaii was apparently the birthplace of the steel string guitar! I can’t confirm this, but there is a great story and you might want to read All about the Hawaiian Steel Guitar.

Presently, if only to be more confusing, most people think of any guitar that you play on your lap to be a Hawaiian guitar. “Lap steel guitar” is also a typical name for it. Lap steel guitars look like short, stumpy pedal steel guitars but without the pedals.

But in Hawaii, a “Hawaiian guitar” is any guitar played in “slack-key” style. Slack-key is, essentially slide guitar done on an instrument with lowered (hence “slack”) tuning. Traditionally Open G is the tuning of choice.

I hope this helps. I do not profess to be a guitar historian and, like most things in the music world, where you come from often dictates what you know. Post a thread on the Guitar Forums page and let’s see how what our readers can add to this knowledge.

What are some good effects or pedals for the acoustic?

An effect or two can add something to an acoustic guitar sound. Generally, you can add any effect pedal or multi-efx unit that was designed for electric guitar to your acoustic setup, too. There are also effects that are made specifically for acoustic guitars.

I don’t know your budget and if you prefer multi-efx or single boxes, but I guess I can give you some ideas which effects you might check out. BTW, if you gonna use effects, you have to amplify your guitar, otherwise, nobody will hear the effect but only your acoustic sound.

Not an obvious one for an acoustic guitar, but if you’re playing Led Zep, why not try out an overdrive or distortion pedal?
More often used with acoustic guitars is a reverb effect. It gives the sound more depth. You can adjust the controls: would you like to sound as if you were playing in a cathedral or in a bathroom?
A delay – This can fill different shoes. If you keep the delay time short, it sounds similar to reverb. If you increase the delay time, you get echoes (you have influence on how many echoes and how quickly after you play a note). This can be used in different ways:
- give the sound more depth, just like a reverb
- slap-back echo: listen to some rockabilly songs – an echo right after the note, very short, very “hard”
- playing harmony with yourself: play a note, play another note for example a third above the first: the delay will repeat the first note and if you timed your second note correctly, this will happen right when you play the second note.
- spacy sounds
A chorus: makes your sound shimmer a bit, hard to describe with few words. Often used in pop and rock songs.

Basic line: get your guitar, go to a music store and play.

What are some good guitars for people with small hands?

I’ve size 5 1/2 hands (glove size) so I know what you mean. I do play my beloved red Guild with no difficulty. After some years of practice and lessons, I think I’m just used to it. I love the sound so much, I worked at it. Dar Williams also has small hands and loves her Huss and Dalton. I’m looking into Daisy Guitars for my daughter. They’re made by Schecter, a great company with solid reputation, and they make acoustic and electric. Some of the acoustic Taylors are 3/4 size and the Takamines aren’t bad. I love my Fender Strat and find it much easier to play than the Guild, but I think that’s the nature of electrics.

And yes, it’s a very common problem among women. I’m on a Yahoo group called GuitarWomen and this has been a topic of discussion. Practice, practice, practice does help. I’ve played classical piano and working for that octave plus reach has helped the guitar playing. Best advice is go out and try a few before you buy. And as my husband would say, don’t forget to look at used instruments; they can be just as good, and much less expensive.

What are omni-directional and uni-directional speakers?

Omni-directional speakers usually send sound in all directions, front and back. They are not standard, and are usually found in outdoor plazas.

Uni-directional speakers only send sound in one direction – forward. This is normal for most PA speakers.

There are also omni-directional microphones, which are not good for live music. It is better to use microphones with a “cardiod” pattern.

The “Sum” is sometimes called “Mono”, as it is the combination (or addition) of the Left and Right signal. Check out the sound engineering Q&A for more on this topic.

What is some reliable and affordable equipment?

I’ve been using my Strat for the last 17 years, for any style! As long as your fingers can get the sound, nothing else will. As for upgrading: You could take your Squire and upgrade the pickups. The Fat Strat sounds like it features humbuckers!? If it doesn’t, you can do what I did. I replaced the bridge position with a Seymore Duncan JB Junior, that’s a humbucker in the shape of a single coil. DiMarzio offers great options too. Make sure that which ever one you go with has a good amount of lows and mids. Otherwise, you’ll be almost back at where you started with the stock pickup.

50 Watts will be fine for small rooms and situations where you can mic the speaker and go through the PA. But it’s cutting it close, or slim so to speak. I’ve recently bought my first transistor in years, the Fender Roc-Pro 700. The nicest features are it’s versatility, the tube in the preamp section, and the light weight! It screams for sure and has 70 Watts. I used to play through an all-tube half stack: Super heavy and way too loud to sound good in small settings.

You have to also remember: Guitar Centers, or any other store’s sales reps will try to sell you something. Anything. I don’t know much about those Marshall combos, but none I have tried ever floored me.

How about some JBL wedges? I don’t know the model name, but I’ve worked with many singers that use them for rehearsals and gigs. Some even have some good digital effects. Wouldn’t know myself about the Fenders, but they could be great.

Wow, when you ask about learning improv, you are asking the question, if there ever was one that is most important! Hard to answer in one email; but you are on the right track with records! Too many students come to me and sometimes without realizing it themselves, ask me to “train” them into being able to improvise. No teacher can do it for you, so listening to those discs and learning solos is an important thing, as well as simply jamming along (some people denounce that noodling with scales). You have to actively make yourself speak in this language, because learning music/improvising is no different than learning a language. Just speak…just play. A great teacher, of course can save you a lot of wrong and tedious turn offs, but lots can be learned on those as well.

Check out dome lessons on soloing and improvisation.

What pickups should I get for great tone?

A humbucker will help greatly with that singing, sustaining lead tone you want to get. There are exceptions to this. Listen to Eric Johnson. He uses strats with single coils. The humbuckers tend to get the bass in there and thicken up the sound a lot. You don’t need to get a new guitar or mess up your pickguard. Get a replacement guard with a cutout for a humbucker and the remaining single coils (the guitar’s cavity may have to be molded for the huumbucker to fit, some strats need to have this done some don’t) a medium to high output humbucker and some matched single coils with electronics and put on guitar. But if GAS [Gear Acquisition Syndrome] is a chronic condition, like it is with me, a new guitar could be in order. heheheh

Another amp…..Yes. You won’t get the sound you are looking for from your current amplifier. Sorry. Santana uses either mesa mark IIC plus a boost pedal in front (usually a tube screamer of some sort) or a Koch. These are a new amplifier out that i hear he is going nuts over. Good luck and i hope i have made sense. Later and good luck.

Guitar Tab FAQ

Guitar Noise Staff — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:47:38 +0000

Guitar tab is one of those things that once you know how to read it, you never forget. This page answers several common questions that beginners often ask about tab.

How do I play a song using tab?

Guitar tablature is one of those things that once you know how to read it, you never forget it. There are six horizontal lines. The bottom one is the sixth string, the low E, and the top one is the high E. The rest are just the ones found in-between in order. The numbers on the lines only tell you what fret to play that note on, but not what finger to use. The writers of tab expect you to figure out the best way to play the notes they wrote.

Take at look at the beginning of Happy Birthday:

To play this on guitar, you would fret the B string at the third fret and play it, play it again, then fret the same string at the fifth fret, and so on. Even if it is not marked, the time flows at even intervals from left to right. The last thing represented in the tab above is a chord, in this case the D7 chord. You have to fret and strike all of the strings marked at the same time. In this case it’s pretty easy because two of the strings are ‘open’ – struck without being fretted.

We have more detailed lessons on tab here on Guitar Noise. You might want to look at Absolute Beginner Part 1: Chords.

How do I figure out songs without using guitar tab?

Wouldn’t it be great if you could figure out any song by ear without the help of tab? With a bit of practice, hearing chord changes will become second nature over time. You will need to spend time and energy on ear training and be aware that it is much more of a puzzle than a mystery.

You can take a lot of the guesswork out of learning a song by ear. You might want to begin by reading the following lessons:

Rather than relying solely on transcriptions, we want to see you learn guitar and begin to figure out songs on your own. Check out our growing series of lessons on ear training.

What is fretboard mapping?

Those of you who have read my columns know I tend to chant “write things down” over and over like a mantra. “Write things down.” A terrific example of the usefulness of this advice is when you are messing about with open and alternate tunings.

Perhaps it’s easier for you to remember the really olden days, back when you were just starting to learn the guitar. It may or may not have been difficult to memorize the standard chord fingerings, but you undoubtedly had access to chord charts of one sort or another. Imagine if you had to start from scratch each time you picked up the guitar! Well, unless you have books or charts for open or alternate tunings, that’s precisely what will happen. If you have the foresight to make yourself a map you won’t find yourself wrestling monsters each time you change tuning. Even though they may seem mysterious and foreboding, open and alternate tunings are fun. “Map making” is not hard; it takes but a moment of your time and, most importantly, will help you to develop your theory skills.

For a complete lesson on fretboard mapping check out the article Open Tuning – Part 2.

What are Nashville Charts?

As far as I can tell (and fair warning, I may be wrong about this), Nashville “chord charts” aren’t actually chords or charts per se as much as they are a way of being able to play a song in any key. If their intention was to not have to read music they made it a lot harder on themselves.

In a nutshell, whatever key a song is, is #1. Then the other numbers are the chords according to the scale in that major key. So, for instance, if you are all agreed that you want to play in D major, then you’ll have this:

1 = D
2 = E
3 = F#
4 = G
5 = A
6 = B
7 = C#

Now what I can’t tell you is whether or not they distinguish between major and minor. Technically, if you are in D, as I’m sure you know, things should look like this:

1 = D
2 = Em
3 = F#m
4 = G
5 = A
6 = Bm
7 = C#dim

Maybe they write “2m” or something, I don’t know. If they assume it’s a major scale and use the normal minors, then what do you do when you grab a chord outside of the scale. How would a Bb fit into the key of D, for instance?

I can tell you that, to make matters more interesting, “7″ “9″ or even “sus” may come after the number (“1sus” for instance would be Dsus in our example) and that they also use the “/” symbol to indicate a bass note other than the one normally used. “1/5″ would be a D chord with the A note in the bass. “4/1″ would be a G chord with a D in the bass.

When I was in Europe I ran into something kind of like this in that someone would tell me that a song was in “Re” or “La Minor” using the “Do, re, mi…” as substitutes for C, D, E… but at least that didn’t shift for each key. My guess is that a lot of Nashville folk played backup to numerous singers and had to be able to play a song in whatever key was best suited to a given singer. It’s simply transposing, that’s all.

Now, “Nashville tuning” is another matter altogether.

Where can I get scales tabbed for guitar?

The easiest way to get a TAB of scales is to do one yourself. No lie. This is what I do with my students. First we will take a scale and analyze it and then we will chart it out on the fretboard.

So if we go over the minor pentatonic scale, the student knows it is root, minor 3rd, 4th, 5th, b7th. Now let’s pick a key. E is the easiest, so let’s start there. Em pentatonic would be E, G, A, B, D. In first position, we’d have this:

E – 0 3 (E, G)
B – 0 3 (B, D)
G – 0 2 (G, A)
D – 0 2 (D, E)
A – 0 2 (A, B)
E – 0 3 (E, G)

Now the beauty of this is using both the guitar and your brain. If I think, “Hey, the root of this scale is on both the 1st and 6th strings,” then I can correctly assume that any minor pentatonic scale would use the same form. I would need to find the correct root. Since I know that G is the third fret on either G string, then I know that a Gm pentatonic scale (G, Bb, C, D, F) would be like this:

E – 3 6 (G, Bb)
B – 3 6 (D, F)
G – 3 5 (Bb, C)
D – 3 5 (F, G)
A – 3 5 (C, D)
E – 3 6 (G, Bb)

See how easy this is? This is why I encourage my students to write these out themselves rather than look for it on the net. You’ll remember it better because you put the effort into learning it.

Where can I find guitar tab for any song?

Guitar Noise is primarily a guitar lesson site. Our “text to tab ratio” is something we are proud of. Rather than teaching individual songs many of our lessons deal with techniques that you can apply to almost any song. Having said that, a search for complete guitar tablature transcriptions will lead you away from this site.

In 2006, The Music Publishers’ Association began legal action against web sites that contained guitar tablature. These actions, which consisted of takedown letters to website owners and their Internet service providers, proved to be very effective. As of this writing many of the once popular guitar tab sites have removed their content. Currently no “authorized” sites have replaced the void this has created.

Given the current situation, it doesn’t make sense to provide a list of links to free guitar tab sites. These sites could very likely disappear without notice. Rather than seeing you rely on guitar tab, we want to help you learn to figure out songs by yourself. Guitar Noise has a series of lessons on ear training.

If you are looking to buy books or digital sheet music with authentic tabs, Guitar Noise has has teamed up with Sheet Music Plus and Amazon.com to bring you the largest possible selection. Over the years we have sold thousands of books as an affiliate of these sites. Between these two online stores you will probably find authentic transcriptions for just about any song want.

Can you send me the tab for a song?

Do not email this site requesting songs. We do have any tab on this site, nor are we in the business of searching the net for you. There are enough instructions on here that you should be able to find what you are looking for by yourself. If you still cannot find what you are looking for, it probably doesn’t exist.

If you must ask someone you may post a message in the Guitar Noise Forums asking if anyone has it.

Let’s try to avoid turning the message board into a tab request forum.

Can I submit tab I’ve written?

Guitar Noise does not post guitar tabs, but we may link to places that do. You can try sending your songs to guitar sites that accept submissions.

If you already have a website with guitar tabs we might be interested in exchanging links. To set up a link exchange you need to fill out the form on our contact page.

Where did the guitar tabs go?

Easy Songs for Beginners lessons are back! Once again you can learn guitar the way you want to – with officially licensed songs from the music publisher. Read the official announcement. (updated November 3, 2011)

On February 11, 2010 we received a letter from lawyers representing the Music Publishers’ Association instructing us to remove guitar tab and lyrics from this site. You can read more about their original complaint here: Guitar Tab Takedown. And there is a more recent update on the blog here: Where are the guitar tabs?

Back in 2006, The Music Publishers’ Association began taking legal action against web sites that contained guitar tablature. These actions, which consisted of takedown letters to website owners and their Internet service providers, proved to be very effective. As of this writing many of the once popular guitar tab sites have removed their content. Sites with authorized tabs are slowly starting to return. There has been a lively and well informed discussion of this issue on the Guitar Noise Forums.

What are publishing rights?

Publishing rights is the right to control publishing – that is, printed reproductions of your music.

For more information on the different types of music rights, have a look at our FAQ What is the deal with music rights?

Where can I find more guitar tab resources?

Guitar Noise is, and has always been a tutorial website, where anyone in the world can receive free guitar lessons and advice. We primarily teach guitar techniques, music theory and most other aspects of learning guitar. You can find a good sampling of our lessons on the guitar columns page. We’re pretty proud of our “text to tab ratio.”

Here are some of our lessons that deal with guitar tab.

Beginner Guitar FAQ

Guitar Noise Staff — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:08:16 +0000

Learning guitar can seem daunting. With all the different websites and teaching methods available it can be difficult choosing where to begin. Guitar Noise has been answering your questions for over ten years. The answers to most common questions are featured here.

I’m new to the guitar. Where should I start out?

The greatest learning you can get is from a teacher. One on one lessons really allow you to grasp the concepts of learning at a faster rate and allow you to understand more effectively. If you are low on money and can’t afford a teacher then the internet is the next best thing. This, though, is going to mean that you will be learning ‘on your own’.

Guitar Noise is the best source for free online guitar lessons. Over the past ten years we’ve published hundreds of lessons, tips and reviews for students of all levels. We feel this site has something to offer everyone – from the absolute beginner to the seasoned professional. You might be wondering what order to begin reading the lessons in. This is easily one of the most common questions we get. To give you a full answer to this question we have written a blog post entitled: Where do I Begin?

Beginner guitar players should also check out the following resources on Guitar Noise:

We are adding and expanding our topic lessons all the time. Be sure to check out the featured topics page for more lessons.

We’re not the only website doing good work. Other sites that can help you get started include:

What are the notes on a guitar?

Learning all the notes on your guitar’s fretboard is an important early step for the beginning guitarist. Knowing where all the notes are will help you with forming chords, playing scales, as well as soloing and improvising.

This chart shows all the notes on your guitar’s fretboard up to the twelfth fret. After the twelfth fret the notes repeat in the same order.

What are the notes on a bass guitar?

Learning all the notes on your bass fretboard is an important early step for the beginning bassist. Knowing where all the notes are will help you while playing along with others and improvising.

This chart shows all the notes on your bass’ fretboard up to the twelfth fret. After the twelfth fret the notes repeat in the same order.

Here are the bass notes (from the bass clef) and their TAB counterparts.

Which chords should I begin learning?

For someone starting out, the inability to get a full sounding chord can lead to much frustration which, in turn, can lead to deciding that maybe the guitar is just too much trouble and not worth learning. For younger students, and also for some adults, the confidence gained by playing some single notes on various strings is all they need to make the next “step” into chord playing. I’d like to make a quick point that learning chords is not always the best way to start out, particularly for younger children.

To read the full answer check out Which chords should I begin learning? Also worth a read is the article Absolute Beginners Part 1: Chords.

Is there an easy way to learn barre chords?

Whenever I teach barre chords to a student, I tell them before hand that they are going to be hard to learn. They are like riding a bike, though. Once you get them, you’ll never forget them. No capo in the world can do what the barre chords do for music. If you look at your index finger, it has a slight bend to it. This leaves the center of the barre hard to press down. Now rotate the finger ever so slightly backwards so the knuckle is facing toward the nut of the guitar. This flattens the finger. Sure it still has a bend to it, but it is no longer a factor because the side of the finger, which is now flattened against the fretboard, is holding down the strings.

The other factor to remember is that we have been used to grabbing things with our hands and curling the fingers inward toward the palm. Now, with barre chords, we have to develop muscles we almost never use to flatten out the finger. As with all muscles, it takes time for strength and size to come about. Even though the technique may be perfect, you may have to keep at it and wait it out for these reasons. But it will come to you.

The last thing I want to say about this is this, look at the barre chord. Are there other fingers doing work in the center of the fretboard? If so then you don’t have to concentrate you barring efforts behind them. Watch what you are doing and what is needed.

How do I play guitar standing up?

The first thing that I would ask is where is the guitar (should I assume it’s an electric?) in relationship to your body? Most people tend to play their guitars really low because that how they see it in videos and I guess it’s really cool but it’s harder than anything to play well like that. Worse, you can develop serious wrist problems by doing that for long periods of time.

If you will watch the really good guitarists (those more interested in playing well rather than showing off) you will notice that they tend to have their guitars strapped higher on their bodies. Ideally you want your hand that’s fretting the neck to be about the same height as your chest.

Secondly, if you’re playing and singing at the same time, don’t be surprised if you find yourself taking a look every now and then to see where your fingers are. EVERYONE does this and if you carefully watch people playing on stage you will catch them doing it. This is especially true the higher up on the fretboard you go.I hope this helps.

How much time should I spend practicing?

Whenever someone asks “how much time,” a teacher is going to respond “as much time as you can.” That’s almost a pure reaction. The reality, however, relies on two separate things: the amount of free time you truly have and the physical condition of your hands.

To read the full answer check out How much time should I spend practicing? Guitar Noise also has an entire section devoted to practice tips where you’ll find all sorts of articles on this subject. A few highly recommended ones are Getting The Most Out Of Your Practice and A Question of Balance.

How do I get the most out of my practice time?

If you know some chords and where the notes are on the fingerboard, then you have to ask yourself, what you want to do? You already know enough to strum a lot of songs and even play song simple leads and riffs. You also know enough to start writing and playing some of your own songs. So there are a lot of choices and it’s really up to you. When my students reach a point where they have a lot of the basics down, I am often surprised by their next choices. One student of mine has recently decided that the next step is to learn how to read music so she can play classical and Spanish pieces. Another has decided to specifically target in on soloing while yet another is working on incorporating riffs into his rhythm playing.

I know that this may not be the answer that you seek, but without knowing what your purpose for playing is, I truly can’t tell you what to play next. I can tell you that there are TONS of things to learn! Take some time and think about what you want to do.

And then you might want to check out our articles on practice and focusing, such as Jimmy Hudson’s Getting The Most of Your Practice, my own piece, A Question of Balance on the Guitar Columns page and the new article coming out this week by Jamie Andreas, Guitar Practice Organization and Procedure.

Should I bother learning songs?

Something to keep in mind is that songs are pretty much what you’ll find yourself playing as a guitarist. When you perform in front of people, they’re not going to ask, “Would you please play the first two measures of Stairway To Heaven?” or “How about the middle part of Comfortably Numb?” They want to hear a complete song. And even if you just know the strumming part, that’s usually more than fine by them.

To read the full answer check out Should I bother learning songs? Also get a head start on learning songs by reading some of our Easy Songs for Beginners and Songs for Intermediates lessons.

What are some easy songs for a beginner?

If you already have a grasp of guitar basics (holding your guitar, tuning it) then the next step is to start building a repertoire of songs. Unfortunately most guitar courses or teachers don’t allow you to learn the songs that made you want to play in the first place.

David Hodge has written a very successful series of lessons called Easy Songs for Beginners that will get you playing in a very short amount of time. This series of lessons will teach you a bit of music theory and technique while you learn to play some pretty well known songs. For best results you really should begin with the first lesson and work your way up.

After working your way through these lessons you may be ready to graduate to the next level: Songs for Intermediates. These lessons take the next logical step moving from being a strict beginner to being a well-rounded guitarist.

Should I learn to read music?

Basically the decision whether or not to learn to read music has to be in an honest manner by the person making the choice. And the easiest way to do that is to, again honestly, list all the pros and cons about being able to read music. No lie! Get a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle and list all the good things about being able to read music in one column and all the bad things in the other.

To read the full answer check out Should I learn to read music? Also get a head start on reading music by reading the part one of Standard Notation and some of the other lessons in our reading music section.

Should I learn to play on acoustic or electric?

We get this question a lot at Guitar Noise and I think that everyone who answers it has different opinions.

There are a lot of similarities between the electric and acoustic guitar; they each have advantages and disadvantages to the beginner. It is easier to learn to finger pick on an acoustic. Barre chords and power chords are easier to learn on an electric. Because of the nature of the acoustic guitar, most people learn how to strum them but rarely take the time to explore the many styles and sounds that it is capable of. Because of the nature of the electric guitar, many beginners learn power chords and then little else. And when the acoustic player gets his first electric, he tends to play it like an acoustic. And vice versa.

Which is “better?” If you say right off the bat that you want to learn electric, I would tell you that electric is better for you. Is this necessarily true? No. But since this is where your interests currently lie, it is true for you.

What you learn from the guitar, or anything, is usually a combination of what you want and whether or not what you discover on the way interests you enough to take a detour. If you really want to learn a riff or a solo and you learn it, will you also take the time to figure out how you can use what you learn in another song or in a different style? Only if it interests you to do so.

It used to be that people started out with acoustic guitars mostly because it was expensive to get an electric guitar (and an amplifier and everything else that you’d need). That is not the case these days. If you want to play electric and you can get yourself a good set up, then by all means do so.

Because here’s the fun thing – if you choose the electric guitar now, there’s no reason why you won’t find yourself with an acoustic guitar somewhere down the road. I’d almost guarantee that this will happen.

Guitar Noise has a lot of information on buying equipment. An entire section on how to buy equipment has more than a months worth of articles. You should definitely check that out first if you are not sure about what to buy.

What is the best way to learn guitar?

Confronted with so many choices, deciding where to begin learning the guitar can be a difficult decision. Every journey begins with a single step, and while this may seem like a carefully planned plug, you would do well to spend a few hours familiarizing yourself with Guitar Noise.

On your very first day you’ll need to tune your guitar. From their you’ll probably want to learn some chords, figure out how to read tab and perhaps get an understanding of standard musical notation. It is really up to you where you go from there. You might even want to learn a little music theory, but I doubt it. At this point you’ll probably be ready to jump in and start learning your first song if you haven’t already.

A lot of music books start you off with some simple strumming patterns on some rather old songs. Guitar Noise has a section entitled Easy Songs for Beginners that takes a few easy and well known songs and presents them in the form of a lesson. Not only do you learn to play the song so you can impress other people, you also learn a bit of theory and technique that will come in useful later. The series begins with some very basic two chord songs so you don’t have to learn a lot of chords first. Some of our easy songs for beginners include Riders On the Storm, I Shot the Sheriff, Before You Accuse Me, House of the Rising Sun and more. When you have mastered some of the songs in this section you may want to try out some Songs for Intermediates page. These lessons are great examples, not only because they get you playing recognizable songs right away, but because they teach you all sorts of techniques you can apply to other songs you learn by yourself.

After working hard through these lessons you probably won’t need to learn specific songs from us anymore. You can either follow our lessons on Ear Training so you can figure out your own favorite songs by yourself, or you can settle in a read a different column each week.

Guitar Noise has several hundred lesson. It can be easy to let yourself become overwhelmed by all this free information. My advice is set up a practice routine. Then choose an area of interest and do one lesson each week. To do it properly you need to practice all the exercises and absorb all the principles. It is best to do one lesson and week so everything is made permanent.

To keep up to date and stay informed you should subscribe to our newsletter. This will let you know about new lessons as well as give you regular tips and advice.

After you’ve been here for a while we have a lot of other resources to keep you interested and busy. You can also learn about bass, amps and songwriting. We have a section entitled The Other Side especially for girls and women who want to learn. We also have discussion forums where you can ask questions and receive answers. We have reviews of CDs, DVDs, software and products too. We also have some interviews with various artists to help you further if you wish to start a career in music.

Your success with the guitar is going to depend entirely on what you put into it. Don’t believe that because you spend $30 on a book you will get anywhere faster or easier than if you lock yourself in a room with your guitar and computer for 2 hours a day.

What pitfalls should I avoid as a beginning student?

As I wrote down the usual list of items that teachers tend to discuss when asked this question, I realized that most of them, if not all, could be lumped into a single category: Impatience. Perhaps this is a bit of my trying to lump a lot of stuff into a small and neat package, but I think that it is impatience, however it might be disguised, is at the root of a lot of frustration, for guitarists and many other people as well.

To read the full answer check out What pitfalls should I avoid as a beginning student? Also worth reading is the article If I Only Had…

Will I ever succeed at guitar?

Here’s my secret: I’m just a beginner myself. OK, I’ve been playing 5 years relatively steadily (as much as you can with a full time job, two kids, a husband and a cockatiel…) but I get just as frustrated in progressing. It seems like I can put hours in, and not much happens. Then sometimes I walk away for a few weeks, and pick up my guitar again, and Voila! great sounds come out! It’s part of the mystery of the instrument. I think your fingers need time to input all the learning into your creative brain, or something like that. I’m terrible about practicing scales (regular or chromatic!) and stuff like that. I know I need to spend more time with the basics. I find that learning songs that I’m passionate about is the best way for me to learn. And sometimes I work so hard on a piece, and then give up, because it sounds like dog doo. I find coming back to it later, my fingers have somehow adjusted and it flows much more easily. I too, love the sound of classical style, but I despair of ever being able to play that easily. I know if I keep working on it, it will eventually come to me. Remember that the neck is different than your acoustic, and your fingers will take a while to adjust to it.

Take a look at Jamie Andreas’ stuff on Guitar Noise. She’s got some good theories for practice and I know she plays classical style. She had a nice article about feeling stuck in a certain place in developing your guitar skills, and how to get around that. It’s on Guitar Noise: Thinking: What a Concept!

I find that the guitar is the master, not me!

How do I find time to play guitar?

Time is one of those things that we approach differently depending what we want to do with it. We find that we make time for things when we need to or want to but don’t always see where that time comes from.

I started playing when I was seventeen. I was a junior in high school and basically between classes and working I didn’t get home until seven. Then homework. Then it’s time for bed already.

When you’re this busy you have to make time somewhere and you also have to make the best use of your time. As a beginner, the thing I worked on most was changing chords so I could play smoothly. I did this by learning songs. So on the weekends, I would take an hour or two that I might normally not be doing much of anything (sleeping late, watching television – no computers back then or I’m sure I’d be doing that as well) and learn one or two songs. Then during the week, whenever I had a moment – perhaps before dinner or waiting for my turn at the shower (four kids in the family) or (most usually) as a reward to myself for getting through one subject’s homework – I’d play what I learned over the weekend. Sometimes only once through, but usually, when you added it up, I got to play a half hour to an hour every day.

The thing is that I was always learning something. When refining a song during the week I might hit upon a technique that I’d try to remember to work into another song that I might learn the following weekend.

Time adds up. Even if you manage to find fifteen or thirty minutes a day, it adds up. And if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll FIND that time and then MAKE it your guitar time.

We have received a lot of good advice concerning how to find (or make) time to learn from our readers. One email, from Dave Brunat, I’d really like to share with you:

Buy a guitar stand. When I first started playing, it seemed like a lot of work to take the guitar from the case, make sure it’s tuned then make bad sounds. Then I bought a guitar stand and placed the guitar in my living room. It serves as a monument to remind me that I am not playing the guitar with the 15 minutes I’m wasting on the couch. It catches my eye when I’m surfing the channels and says “play me instead”. The instant access of the guitar allows me to get that 10 or 15 minutes in (which often turns into an hour) while I’m waiting for something else. Also, you have to practice your chords and chord changes until you master the skill. However, learn some 2 chord songs (G7 and C) or simple 3 chord songs so that you can have some feeling of accomplishment while learning. You can make “music” with these simple sings and see your progress.

You might want to check out an article I wrote a while back on the subject: A Question Of Balance.

Playing Live FAQ

Guitar Noise Staff — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:00:00 +0000

Whether you are just starting out or you’ve been playing guitar for a while, there are all sorts of things to consider when playing live in front of others. If you think one day you’ll be playing guitar in front of other people, do yourself a favor and check out our lessons on Performing and Playing Live.

What’s the best way to find other musicians?

Have you tried to post on college boards? There may be some amateur musicians in school that would be willing to jam. I know that’s how I played in college (some years ago!). The other good resource is a music school that teaches guitar lessons, drum lessons, etc. Students are usually encouraged to play in some kind of ensemble, so jams can be arranged with them through teachers. I’ve found that to be a great resource for me.

I understand about being wary of unsavory types; always a concern. I’ve usually found most musicians to be pretty mellow, but I agree, you should be careful. Staying with schools to post (as opposed to music or cd stores) is one filter for stalker types.

Have you tried posting on the Guitar Noise Gigs and Jams Forum? You may get some responses there.

What are some good sound check songs?

The sound check should be done with a song that’s very flexible and easy to play. It should start off easy with just the rhythm guitar, bass, and simple drums. Then add in the second guitar, and then sing a simple verse and chorus, then let the lead guitar wail for a brief solo, followed by a power instrumental chorus (everyone plays their loudest, the drummer goes wild), then end with a strong vocal chorus with full harmonies. It’s good to use a cover song. I’ll often use Feelin’ Alright because it has all the parts, and it’s not too fast. Don’t use a song like “Sympathy for the Devil” because it’s too dependent on the lyrics, and there’s not a lot of dynamics.

You should pick a song that your band is willing to play early – almost a “throw away” song, but don’t blow it off. The audience is listening, and a bad sound check will haunt you for the rest of the night. And if you find a problem during the sound check, stop and fix it!

For more ideas check out Scott Hysell’s lesson Sound Check in the Sound Engineering section.

How do I make live vocals sound clear?

I am having trouble getting vocals to come out clear to my audience. I believe I have them up loud enough they just sound muddy and are not easy to understand. My band consists of a drummer, a bass player, two guitar players, and four vocalists. I am not getting any distortion in the speakers. Is this an equalization problem?
EQ is the prime cause of Muddy Vocals. You should try setting up with just a rhythm guitar and the 4 singers and sing some Crosby Stills and Nash type harmonies. Play around with increasing the EQ between 800 and 6KHz. Do this with the tone controls on the mixer set flat, only adjust your equalizer. Try doing too much so it sounds harsh or tinny, then back it down until it sounds better. It’s OK to leave it a little bright, so long as it doesn’t distort. You can then adjust each individual voice on the mixer.

Be sure to check that your speakers are working correctly. There may be an attenuator on the horn/tweeter, or it may be blown out. You should be sure that you can hear some hiss from it.

Last, make sure you don’t have on too much reverb. A little is good, but a lot can mess it up. If you are using a digital reverb, try making the time and depth longer, more of an echo than a chorus.

For even more help on this topic check out The Soundman.

How do I clear up sound troubles on stage?

I think the biggest problem is that your stage volume is way too high. It’s not good if you can’t hear your own sax! But if you turn down the amps, then you’ll need to feed more of the amps through the mixer for the mains. The keyboards and the bass can go direct using 1/4″ cables, but the guitars will need to be miked. Once this is done, then you can face all of the amps in toward yourselves so you can hear each other even at lower levels.

With this setup, then you should be able to get by with a simple monitor mix for the vocals. I might suggest using side-fills instead of putting the monitors on the floor. You could put a third one behind the drummer so he can hear too. Remember that the sax and guitar leads should be treated as vocals and fed into the monitors when needed.

You’ll need a mixer with at least 12 channels, but your existing PA amps and speakers should be enough – you’re not getting louder! The only possible issue here is that you may be putting more of the bass guitar through the PA, so you may need an extra sub woofer and amp, but maybe not.

The last issue is to make sure you have an EQ for the monitor mix. This will help prevent feedback, and make the sound much clearer.

What are my sound needs for an outdoor gig?

Here are a couple of quick questions, and some ideas to start.

First, is the stage protected and secure? Are your going to have to tear it down every night? Either way, be sure that you get a rack with locks for your mixer and effects. Also get a DJ style CD player for the rack. I’d get a Mackie CFX (12 or 16) if I was spending other people’s money. The biggest problem with outdoors is that the bass disappears into the sky. You should consider sub-woofers and put them as low as you can. For the PA, I’d get 3 pairs of full-range speakers, one pair points in toward the dance area, the next pair points out further down the beach, and the last pair point back at the band, as their monitors. (As described in my sound engineering articles)

Fender and JBL make some nice all-weather cabinets. You’re going to need a good amount of power, figure 200W for every speaker, plus the sub-woofer. Plus, even though the bands are small, you’re going to need a lot of mics, because you’re going to have to mike the drums and guitars. But buy cheap ones ($50 max). You’ll need a snake and cables – can you put the mix board up on a lifeguard tower (too cool!)?

OK – reality check – do you really want to “light-up” the entire beach, or just the dance area in front of the band? It gets a lot simpler when you don’t have to cover the large area.

Do you have a local music store that you trust? You’re going to need one, and you’re talking about some serious bucks.

Should the sound guy get paid?

I am in high school and I am currently running sound for a local high school band. I love doing what I am doing because I am constantly around music. Along with running sound, I do the majority of setting up, tearing down, and I help bring equipment to the gig. However, I have been faced with a problem. The guys in the band have not paid me for quite a while. They say that all of the band’s money is going into the band’s account in order to buy other equipment. Though getting new equipment is nice, I need to get paid. I have confronted the band members about this and they tend to use my love for what I’m doing against me and tell me not to complain. I feel that I am getting ripped off and used. I am also going to be getting another job soon, and it makes no sense to take time off a job where I will be actually getting paid to work for these guys and not be guaranteed the money. Should I have them sign a contract even though they only pay me $25 dollars a gig??? I would GREATLY appreciate your opinion on this. Thank you!

Wow, you’ve got an interesting problem. If no one else in the band is getting paid, then that makes it even more difficult. Who keeps and manages the money?

On the plus side, you are an energetic sound engineer who loves the music and cares how it sounds. These characteristics will serve you well.

Since no one is getting paid, then you should all be “equals”, which means that everyone has to help load in, set up, and tear down. The PA and the drums get set up first, and no one plays their guitars until the initial sound check is finished. When possible, you should go to rehearsals, and provide some creative input about dynamics, tone, etc.

With regard to your options going forward, you’ve got a couple of choices. First, if you want to get paid even if the others don’t, then you need to act like a hired gun. This means that you are no longer equals: they are the talent, you are the sound guy. You are responsible for the equipment, and you have to treat it as if it was your own. You’ll have to get to the gigs early and set up alone. In fact, it would be best if you got your own PA . On the plus side, you could then work for other bands too, and you’d be surprised how many bands really need a sound guy out front. Either way, you get paid.

If you want to stay with the band, then you should at least have a say in how the money is managed, and what equipment is bought. The band shouldn’t buy anyone personal gear like guitars or strings, but any PA gear can be owned by the group. If there are 5 of you, and you make $300 for one night, then maybe $200 goes in the bank, and each of you gets to keep $20 cash.

Also, what happens when one of you leaves the band. Say you’ve earned $5000 over the years, and spent $4000 on PA upgrades. What happens after senior year? Who gets to keep the PA? How much does that person have to pay the others? This gets very tricky.

But you can look at it simply: if you are considered a member of the band, then you should have a say in how it’s run, and be treated as an equal. If not, then you’re on your own whether you realize it or not.

Feel free to share this with the band and your parents. These are the kinds of business issues that you can talk with them about (as opposed to your respective taste in music).

Can I use a laptop for live recording?

A laptop won’t be sufficient for good recordings, as you will need a first-class digital converter. I would recommend one of the new Korg or Fostex digital recording stations. They have excellent mic pre-amps and digital converters, as well as useful EQ and effects. Some models have CD-ROM burners installed, or you download the data over to your PC. There are small 4-6 channel units, as well as 12-24 channel workstations.

Don’t forget that you will need permission from the artists to record them.

What are performance rights?

Performance rights is the right to income from public performances of your work. There are three big performance rights organizations: BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC. They each license venues and promoters to publicly perform anything in their catalog.

For more information on the different types of music rights, have a look at our FAQ What is the deal with music rights?

Bass Player FAQ

Guitar Noise Staff — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:56:59 +0000

Bass players are often perceived to be less important than the vocalist, drummer, and lead guitarist. In reality, a bass player has to have an entirely different attitude about the music. A bass player doesn’t have to be flashy or loud, but a band won’t survive long with a weak bass. Don’t miss all our complete series of lessons called Bass for Beginners.

Why would I choose to play bass over guitar?

The problem with starting with the bass is that it is not a very good instrument to play by yourself. Many bassists I know started because their band needed a bass player. Most would never go back. Since you love lots of music, and I assume you sing, I think you would get more pleasure from the guitar (or piano). However, you can play more than one instrument, it just takes a little more effort (and money).

On the flip side, there is nothing wrong with starting on the bass (or flute or violin), and it is pretty easy to become a solid beginner in a short time. And it is satisfying to make those warm tones and low growls.

So make your choice according to what your goals are. Either way – you win!

How do I change the strings on a bass guitar?

First you need the following items:

a new set of strings
a tuner
a wire cutter

Step 1: Open the pack of new strings. Notice that they have a size or gauge labeled on each sleeve. The biggest (thickest) string is the E string, and the next smaller is A, followed by D, and the thinnest is the G. Write the name of each string on the sleeve.

Step 2: Unpack the new D string and examine each end. One end will have a bead or loop, the other will have come thread covering the wires.

Step 3: Turn the tuning head on your bass to loosen the D string.

Step 4: Continue to loosen the D string until it comes off the tuning head. Notice how the string was inserted into the tuning head.

Step 5: Remove the string from the guitar by pulling it through the hole in the bridge. This may be on the front or rear of the bass body.

Step 6: Insert the new string in the same hole. Pull it all the way through until the ball or bead seats on the bridge.

Step 7: Extend the string up to the tuning head. Measure 4-5 inches past the tuner and cut the string.

Step 8: Insert the string into the tuning head the same way that the old string was there. Hold the string against the body and turn the tuner until the string becomes straight but still floppy.

Step 9: Remove the other 3 strings.

Step 10: Repeat steps 5-7 for each string.

Step 11: Gently increase the tension on each string until the strings are no longer resting on the neck.

Step 12: Using a tuner, tune all of the strings up to their correct note. Use the following sequence: D-A-G-E.

Step 13: Re-tune each string again. You will also have to tune them a few times until they “get used to” the tension.

That’s it!

What are the notes on a bass guitar?

Learning all the notes on your bass fretboard is an important early step for the beginning bassist. Knowing where all the notes are will help you while playing along with others and improvising.

This chart shows all the notes on your bass’ fretboard up to the twelfth fret. After the twelfth fret the notes repeat in the same order.

Here are the bass notes (from the bass clef) and their TAB counterparts.

What would I gain/lose from a fretless bass?

The bass player I looked up to in college had a shirt that said “Fretless and Free!”, so that’s where I got my first interest in this.

I have a fretted P-bass, and a fretless J-bass, so some of the tone differences are due to the pickups more than anything, but the tones that come from a fretless are still different. The way your fingertip pinches the string against the fretboard dampens the highest overtones without disturbing the middle ones, so you get a “warm” sound that is not “dull”. My column Tone Loco discusses this in more detail.

I play fretless when I want the specific tone, or I want to slide. I play fretted when I’m playing fast rock&roll and I want to be sure I stay in tune at speed. I will change basses during a set, or re-arrange the song list so I don’t have to change as often. If I play a “fretless” song on my fretted bass (or vice versa), it feels weird, but I can adjust quickly. I will also play the fretted bass when I’m tired.

If you have a good ear (which I don’t), then you might find the fretless more fun. If you play jazz or folk/rock, fretless is fine. If you’re a heavy hitting rock and roller, I’d get frets. Just as the advanced guitarist may own a Strat and a Les Paul, the advanced bassist may own both types of basses.

To find out more about the fretless bass check out Fretless and Free.

Using This Site

Guitar Noise Staff — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:48:26 +0000

If you’re new to the guitar or Guitar Noise, there can be an awful lot of information for you to digest. You will find the answers to the most frequently asked questions on this page.

What order should I read the lessons in?

This is easily one of the most common questions we get: What order should I read the lessons in?

Trying to write guitar lessons for a wide audience is rather daunting. Especially since everyone learns and pick ups things at different paces. As impossible as it might seem, Guitar Noise tries to meet as many needs of players as possible.

To give you a full answer to this question we have written a blog post entitled: Where do I Begin?

How do I download the podcasts?

You can listen directly to our podcasts by clicking on the “Play” icon on the Guitar Noise Blog. You can also download them directly onto your computer or even onto devices such as ipods. In fact, we’d prefer that you do download the lessons in order to help us save some bandwidth! Just right-click on the word “download” and use the “save target as” function to save it on your computer.

We have some more tips and pointers for downloading the podcasts at How do I download the podcasts?

How do I find what I’m looking for on Guitar Noise?

Of course this answer does depend somewhat on what you’re looking for. We’ve been doing this for around ten years and have hundreds of guitar lessons on many different topics. The main sections of Guitar Noise are listed at the top of each page. Links to more specific categories can be found on the right hand side of each page. The number of categories continues to grow so you might need to spend a bit of time digging around to find exactly what you want. We’ve laid things out in as logical a manner as possible, so it shouldn’t take too many clicks to get where you’re going.

For fastest results, you can try using the search box on every page. More experienced readers may like to try some advanced search options.

Another great way to find information is by registering on the Guitar Noise Forums. If you need help and advice from other Guitar Noise users, head over to the forums and start a discussion.

How do I print the lessons on Guitar Noise?

Please note: This answer is currently out of date. We are working on fixing the printer friendly service on this site. Thanks for your patience.

Since all computers and printers are configured differently it is a difficult task designing a page that prints beautifully for everyone. However, we do realize that it’s much easier for you to follow a lesson on paper. So we have put a lot of effort into making things as universal as possible.

You may have noticed that there is no “Print This Page” button. Guitar Noise is designed with standards compliant CSS and it’s no longer necessary to create printable pages for each lesson. When you hit the print button on your browser all the superfluous items such as ads and navigation will be removed. Only the main article content will be printed. For peace of mind it is always best to press the “Print Preview” button on your browser before continuing.

You are welcome to print as many pages form this site as you like. Some visitors have even put together their own mini-books. If you do experience problems printing something, try saving the page and editing the layout in something like Word. If you are still having problems please contact us.

How do I advertise on Guitar Noise?

If you have a product or service that you think may be of interest to our readers, you can buy adversiting space on our site or in our newsletter. We will delete spam from our forums so don’t post commercial offers there.

Our audience is very targeted and responsive to good offers. As ad space is always fluctuating you will need to contact us regarding advertising opportunities and prices. Please take a look at the complete answer How do I advertise on Guitar Noise? before contacting us. This will answer many of the questions you may have.

How do I contact you?

If you have a question for us please make sure it hasn’t already been answered in the FAQ or on the Forums. Due to the high volume of email we receive we may not be able to reply to every question; especially those already answered somewhere on this site. If you would like to contact us regarding our content, a technical issue or advertising, you will find all the details on the contact page.

How do I submit lessons to Guitar Noise?

We are rightfully proud of the quality of our lessons, articles and reviews, and we are especially proud that our writers were all first visitors and readers of the site. Just like you can be. Perhaps you have something you’d like to say about a topic, or tell us about a concert you saw or review a CD that, chances are, few people are going to otherwise hear of.

Please read our guidelines for submitting articles to Guitar Noise.

How do I submit my band’s CD for review?

Indie bands and their reps are invited to submit their music for review on Guitar Noise. To avoid confusion and misunderstanding we have a few guidelines for you to read first. We want to receive a professionally packaged CD and press kit in the mail. If you don’t have these items you may not be ready for us yet.

Please read our guidelines on How do I submit my band’s CD for review?.

What is the Riverside Jam?

The “Riverside Jam” is a formal informal get-together of musicians that officially began in the year 2000, although it has its root a little earlier than that. If you’d like to read about what led up to the first one, here’s a piece I did on it: Build Your Own Band Buffet.

You can find photos and more info about past events on the Lasley Family website.

If you’d like, I’d be more than happy to send you more information about it. Let me know.

Dates and locations

Westport CT – August 11-13, 2000
Chicago, Illinois – August 3rd and 4th, 2001
Brunswick, New Jersey (2002)
Chicago, Illinois – August 1-3, 2003
Great Barrington, MA – July 30 – August 1, 2004
Elkhart, Indiana – August 5-7, 2005
Minneapolis MN – August 4-6, 2006 (Riverside Jam 2006)
Great Barrington MA – August 2-5, 2007 (Riverside Jam 2007)
Fox Lake IL – July 25-27, 2008 (Riverside Jam 2008)
Middletown OH – July 31- August 2, 2009 (Riverside Jam 2009)
West Chester PA – July 30 – August 1, 2010 (Riverside Jam 2010)
Hopewell NJ – August 5-7, 2011 (Riverside Jam 2011)

Writing Songs FAQ

Guitar Noise Staff — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:43:17 +0000

So you want to be a songwriter? If you approach songwriting the same way you approach practicing guitar, it is something you can get better at with a little work. We have too many resources on songwriting to list them all on this page. Be sure to check out our Songwriting Lessons page as well.

What are some popular and often used chord progressions?

Musically, songs consist of chord progressions. This is not a universal truth, but a fairly convenient generalization. The Talking Heads’ song Houses in Motion, for example, consists solely of an Em7 chord, but if you simply sit and strum an Em7, I can pretty much guarantee that what you’re playing will not sound remotely like the song. What makes this particular song work are the various riffs and rhythm patterns (vocal as well as instrumental) that the band members are tossing about – it’s almost like a game of catch. Again, you will always be able to find exceptions to any generalization in music and music theory.

But the generalizations will help you immensely if (a) you know them and (b) you can recognize them. This is where your practice with interval recognition can pay big dividends.

In order to help us out, I’m going to set out a few of our primary and secondary chord charts for the five major keys guitarists tend to play (bonus points for noticing that we’re using the given scale’s minor seventh and the root of the VII chord!):

You can read more about popular chord progressions in Unearthing The Structure.

How do I come up with good chord progressions for my songs?

What makes a chord transition “good?” Why are some transitions almost automatic, for lack of a better word? Why is C to G pleasant to the ear while C to Eb minor is worse than fingernails on chalk?

You may find this hard to believe, but a lot of the “science” behind harmony is mere convention. As I’ve stated before, the “theory” in music theory is simply the examination of what has gone on before. Therefore, much of what is a “good” chord transition is the result of centuries of familiarity. If you had been raised on some planet where, oh I don’t know, the augmented fourth was considered good form then it would not seem as jarring an interval as it does to most earthlings.

Add to this the notion that our harmonic conditioning undoubtedly springs from singing. Think about it, people had voices long before they had instruments. When our ancestors first began singing together, what made them feel certain notes went well together and some brought down the wrath of the gods? I can imagine two cave people coaching each other … “No, no Thag. If Og sings the root, you must chant the sixth, okay?”

Be that as it may, we have inherited quite a few guidelines as to what chords work well together. The following is a chart taught to first year theory students. And as always, I must implore you to remember that this is not a be all and end all guide. Chord changes that people may have found harsh in the past might now be the “in thing.” Progressions that we perhaps find trite will possible rule the radio tomorrow (it’s an incredibly easy thing to change “stale” into “style”).

Anyway, here goes. In a major key, the general rule of thumb regarding chord progression would be as follows:

Okay, note yet again that I am ignoring the seventh chord position. Don’t worry. It’s coming up next time.

Now, these charts are all fine and dandy, but I prefer to see things in terms of actual day to day use rather than all the Roman numeral stuff. Let’s look at the keys of C major and G major, shall we?

Some of you will no doubt notice two things about these charts: first that they pretty much confirm the things that A-J Charron has written in A Simple Song. Secondly, that these progression charts will also help cut out a lot of the guesswork when you’re trying to figure out a song on your own! You can find more on this topic in the article “A” Before “E” (Except After “C”).

How do I write a chord progression using power chords?

Okay, first let’s look at two things. Power chords, as we know, are simply the root and its fifth. By this definition, they are neither major nor minor. An E power chord (or E5), for example, is E and B. Now the major pentatonic scale is the root, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th of the scale. So an E pentatonic scale is E, F#, G#, B and C#. Are you with me so far?

Looking at this scale, I can make out four power chords. Check it out:

E – E and B
F# – F# and C#
B – B and F#
C# – C# and G#

So I could write out a chord progression using combinations of these chords. And depending on the order I use I could come up with very different sounds. Check these out (and remember we’re only using power chords):

E, B, C#, F#, B
E, F#, B, E
C#, F#, B, E
F#, E, B, C#, F#

And these are just a few ideas. Now, if you wanted to you could also throw other chords into the mix. An A power chord would work because it’s just A and E and you already have two thirds of an A major chord in your scale (C# and E). You also have two thirds of the G#m chord (G# and B) so a G# power chord would fit in nicely, too.

Now here’s the fun thing – look at what we’ve “cleared” to use (again, all power chords):

E, F#, G#, A, B, C#

That’s almost the entire E major scale! We could also, depending on what your solo sounds like, try to throw a D power chord (NOT D#!!!!!) since we have two thirds of the D major chord. So now we have the following power chords at our disposal:

E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D

In other words, when we have a solo using the E major pentatonic scale, we can use power chords using any of the notes from this scale, which is the E mixolydian (or A major, if you will).

How will it sound? Well, that really depends on the solo. The trick is to try to match the power chords to the natural resting points in your solo. Even though you can use all these power chords, it’s a good idea to keep the progression pretty simple in order to give the solo ample space and breathing room.

What should I write first – the words or the music?

Always keep in mind that the music has as much to say about the song as the lyrics do. So the music and words should be saying the same thing. If they don’t, people will notice this immediately.

Personally, I tend to start with the music. But not all the time. I usually begin by playing around with chords or individual notes or a bit of both until I stumble on to something that reflects the way I’m feeling. Then I use it as a starting point and work around that.

As I (unfortunately) do not have any formal training, I rely on 18 years of experience to know what should or should not come after. (Again, I refer you to David Hodge’s columns.) But there’s more to it than that. Depending on your style of music, it’s often possible to go in a direction that has nothing to do with what you’ve started with. I write Progressive Rock, so it’s almost expected.

Once I have my starting point, I play it and listen to it and “hear” what it’s telling me. The words eventually come. I never try to force them out. It’s almost as if the song were already written and you were learning it. Or remembering it. Almost.

With some words and some music, you should know soon enough how you want to structure the song. It’s hard to say how I decide this, but I rely, again on the emotions conveyed, and on the complexity of the music. If it carries a lot of weight, I might decide not to put in a chorus and let a more complex musical pattern carry the song at those points. When I do use a chorus I often go with different words each time. I believe this is only due to the fact that I’m long-winded.

Always keep in mind that the music has as much to say about the song as the lyrics do. So the music and words should be saying the same thing. If they don’t, people will notice this immediately.

If you’ve written all of the music first, then you can sit down and concentrate on the words. If you’ve finished the lyrics and they’re wrong for the music, start over. Keep the lyrics, though, you may want to use them, or part of them later on. I’ve recently written one starting with the music, completely arranged, and had to write three different sets of lyrics. And I’m still not entirely happy with what I have.

You will find more pointers along these lines in So You Want to be a Song Writer?

What are some easy ways to expand my musical horizons?

Your favorite songs don’t excite you anymore. In fact, you get bored playing the same stuff over and over. Even playing before people is more a chore than an enjoyment. Everything you write sounds the same. To quote B.B. King, “The thrill is gone.” It’s ironic that, in spite of the fact that the guitar is such a versatile instrument, so many guitarists find themselves stuck in a rut.

There are lots of easy and practically effortless things that anyone can do to stretch his or her musical mind. Some are obvious, but the obvious things are usually the last things one thinks about.

There are several lessons and topics on Guitar Noise that will help you bring that spark back to your playing, writing and performing. For some ideas on inspiration check out some of the following articles:

We at Guitar Noise want to remind people of why we run this site and, much more importantly, why we play music in the first place. In the past many readers have shared their thoughts and stories with us, and we’ve collected them on the The Joy of Music page. These inspirational stories constantly remind us what music is all about.

Where does inspiration come from?

How many times have you heard artists say that no one can explain where inspiration comes from? They probably think this makes them look like they have some special powers. The reality is that inspiration comes from carrying an emotion, a feeling in your subconscious and needing to exorcise it. For some people, venting an emotion requires breaking dishes. For others it’s crying. I’ve even once seen someone exorcise an emotion by twisting her head all the way around! Others, still, have some other way of doing it. For us, it’s through songwriting. The inspiration comes from the fact that we need to vent our emotions and, usually, don’t even know that we have emotions to vent.

There are many articles on Guitar Noise dealing with inspiration. Here are a few:

For new lessons on this topic check out our songwriting page.

How do I share songwriting credits?

When writing with other people or bringing songs into a band context, there are several ways of sharing the credit.

Usually, credits are split 50-50 between music and lyrics. If you compose the music by yourself, but write the lyrics with someone else, you should get 75% of the credit of the song (50% for the music and 25% for the lyrics). The best thing to do is to come to an understanding before you write the songs. It’s not always possible, but it can cause a lot of problems in the long run if you don’t. I’ve seen the case of a band on the verge of signing a record deal. The guitarist was solely credited for the prominent track on the album although the lyrics and part of the music had been redone by the singer. During the negotiations stage, the guitarist “lent” the song to another rising singer. This caused such a feud between the guitarist and the singer that the band broke up instead of signing a contract. It wasn’t too smart of the guitarist to do this, if you ask me. But that situation could have been avoided from the start.

You can always come to other agreements, as long as everyone is happy. If you look at most of the Beatles songs, you’ll see “written by Lennon-McCartney”. The truth is that they co-wrote only about five percent of those songs. Lennon wrote about 15% by himself and McCartney wrote all the others by himself. They had agreed, from the start, to put both there names on all of their songs regardless of who wrote them in order to simplify matters and to put the good of the band ahead of everything else. It worked fine for them, they never had any disagreements over this.

The first thing you want to do is familiarize yourself with your country’s copyright law. You don’t need to study it for hours or learn it by heart, just get the gist of it. Then you’ll want to look up other organizations that are in place to help songwriters.

Check out the articles Copyright (Not the Right to Copy), Copyrights Revisited and Copyright Protection.

For new lessons on this topic keep an eye on our copyright for songwriters page.

Why should I protect my songs?

There are only a limited amount of notes and chords. Nothing you can think of has never been done.

So, maybe this song you just wrote will be written by somebody else tomorrow. I’ve seen it happen to myself. A song I never protected came out a couple of years later by somebody else. The lyrics are different, but tell a very similar story (the melody is appropriate for this theme, so it’s not very surprising). Musically, it’s almost identical. Enough so that if I recorded it, I would be sued, even though I did write it before they did. I would also lose because I didn’t protect the song at the time and cannot prove that I wrote it first.

Of course, even if I had protected it, I could not sue them either, because there is no way they could have heard my song as I never performed it for anyone.

Some people steal songs. It’s unfortunate, but some people are dishonest. Others will steal a song without realizing it. Take the case of George Harrison. On his first solo album was a song that’s become a classic: My Sweet Lord. However, that song was plagiarized from a sixties song called He’s so fine. In court, Harrison admitted to stealing it, but without realizing he did it. I won’t go in to the details of the case as it’s still not wholly resolved and it’s very long, but you can read the details on The “My Sweet Lord”/”He’s So Fine” Plagarism Suit page. So if an ex-Beatle can do it, anyone can.

For anyone who writes songs protecting them is absolutely necessary. You should find out how to avoid stealing from others and keep others stealing from you. Check out the articles Copyright (Not the Right to Copy), Copyrights Revisited and Copyright Protection.

For new lessons on this topic keep an eye on our copyright for songwriters page.

What is the best way to get a demo heard?

I’ve read articles that say most major labels toss demos into a pile of trash with 1,000 others they are equally interested in. Is there any sure way to avoid this without having to buy a book with a list of labels (major and independent) accepting demos, or better yet is there something on the web you know of perhaps?

Unfortunately, there are no sure-fire ways of avoiding not being listened to or being “tableted” by the record company execs. One thing you could do, though, that would improve your chances is to find an agent. These people are usually better connected and have a better chance of getting your demo listened to by the right people.

Your best resource, in my opinion, would be a book store. They usually carry a yearly guide of who does what in the business. Go to a bookstore and ask a sales person exactly what you need and they should have that resource. Make sure you get the most recent edition, lots of people move or change places. People get fired and resigned. Execs don’t like receiving mail addressed to their predecessors.

If you are interested in demos, how to record them and what to do with them check out our series of lessons including Recording Part 1: Why Do It?, Recording Part 2: Building a Digital Studio, and Submitting Demos. Songwriters and musicians can also look for more help in Guitar Noise’s Songwriting and Copyrights Forum.

How can I make it?

Start dreaming, but never let go of the dream. Especially during the hard times. You hear about so many people who’ve tried to make it but failed. The truth is that not very many people have tried to make it and failed. There are some, obviously, but not many. Most people get discouraged once they see the work involved. Once their band breaks up and they realize they have to start all over again, that’s it. That’s when you start separating the men from the boys. Or the women from the girls. Go on to the next band and the next. If you knock on twenty record company doors with your demo and they all reject it, don’t get deflated. Most people do. What you need to do is write and record more songs and do it all over again.

Don’t assume that they’re fools who wouldn’t recognize a good demo if it hit them in the face. Assume that they’re fools who wouldn’t recognize a good demo if it hit them in the face, but come up with something even better anyway.

Check out the article Inflating the Ego for more tips on the required attitude for “making it.” Also, a good place to find where to start or go next is the website Music Careers.

Am I too old to make it?

To answer your question, if you are twenty-six you have plenty of opportunity to make it. Then again you will always have opportunity to make it. However, you will need to better define “make it”. Are you talking about the music or the money? If you play great music that is loved by many, but can’t support yourself solely on the proceeds is that success or failure?

Remember this quote (by Dr. Wayne Dyer) from a past newsletter: There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love; there’s only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen.

Check out the rest of the answer Am I too old to make it?

Scales and Soloing FAQ

Guitar Noise Staff — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:08:19 +0000

Putting together solos is not easy for a lot of people. Scales and modes can be used as the building blocks for solos and chords. We have many articles worth highlighting on the fascinating subject of scales and modes.

What is the major scale?

The major scale consists of eight notes. The first three notes are whole steps, followed by a half step, then three more whole steps and then a final half step (remember that each fret on the guitar is a half step).

Using the key of C the scale is as follows:

To find out what all this knowledge is good for check out the article Theory Without Tears.

How do I build minor scales?

We know that for every major key, there is also a corresponding minor key. We also know (if we remember our discussion on relative minors in Happy New Ear) that, since C is the VI in the key of Eb major, C minor is the relative minor of Eb major. What you may not know is that there are three traditional minor scales for any given minor scale.

The natural minor scale is simply the C major scale written in the key of Eb major. It incorporates all the flats one finds in that key (Bb, Eb and Ab). If you can figure out what major key your relative minor belongs to, then you should be able to write out the natural minor scale without a problem.

And harmonic minor scales as well. The only difference between the harmonic minor scale and the natural minor scale is the VII note. The striking thing about this scale is the interval between the VI and the VII, now a step and a half. This gives the scale an eastern feel to it.

Melodic minor scales muddle things even further by having the gall to be totally different depending on which way you are going. The ascending scale is just the C major scale with a minor third instead of the regular third (Eb instead of E). The descending melodic minor scale is the same as the natural minor. This may sound silly, but I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the step by step (or half step in some cases) intervals in a descending natural or melodic minor scale are the same as the intervals in the ascending major.

To find get some clear examples and find out more on minor scales take a look at the article Scales Within Scales.

What are modes?

A lot of people look at modes as if it were a big mystery, but they are really a fairly simple concept once you learn how to use them on guitar. There are seven tones to the major scale hence there are seven modes to the major scale.

Here are the modes of the major scale.

You simply take a note out of the major scale and play it as if that where the root. So if you start on C and end on C you are in C ionian. Now to find your relative minor simply go down three scale degrees from your root or up five. So the Relative minor of Cmaj is Amin. To find you relative major if you are in minor do the opposite. It also sounds really cool to play the major scale and it’s relative minor ate the same time. This is called harmonizing.

Really there is no mystery in modes or theory at all. The only reason why there is a so called mystery is because for some reason people start off learning songs and generally all they ever do is learn songs and copy licks instead of actually learning their instrument.

For a more thorough examination of modes and their uses check out the article Modal Thinking.

How do I build modal scales?

In addition to the three minor scales (natural, harmonic and melodic), there are also quite a number of modal scales. “Modal” is one of those theory terms that gives people the willies. If you want a much more scholarly approach, I suggest you check out Jimmy Hudson’s column entitled Modal Thinking or pick up your favorite textbook. For me, it is easier to think in terms of food. Your C major scale is your steak or chicken or soup stock or whatever you decide to start out with (hey, I never said this was going to be a great analogy…). The various flats and sharps that you can throw in are simply spices that will gives different flavors to your scale depending on the combination of spices you decide to use.

Most people learn various modal scales in order to develop different style for leads and solos. Some prefer to use them in order to spice up their songwriting. Bass players can utilize them to create astonishingly beautiful bass lines. Anyway you look at it your knowledge of minor and modal will augment your abilities.

There are some practical examples and uses for modal scales in the article Scales Within Scales.

How do I take a scale and make it into a solo?

Most solos are the result of planning. The guitarists involved know how many measures are involved or what chord changes are taking place underneath the solo. The good lead guitarists will construct a solo, giving it the same qualities of a well-written song – a beginning, a middle and an end as well as points of dynamic tension and release. Leads generally fall into one of the following categories: “rhythmic,” “melodic,” “slashing” and “effects.” They’re pretty self-explanatory and can often overlap. With a fair degree of practice and a backlog of riffs, just about anybody can come up with their own guitar solos.

For a complete answer head over to How do I take a scale and make it into a solo? A lesson on melodic solos, with a step by step guide to constructing a lead part, can be found in the article Leading Questions. Also don’t miss our series of lessons on creating solos, starting with Choosing Colors – Turning Scales into Solos – Part 1.

How do I know what notes I can use in a solo?

There’s actually a little more to it than simply knowing what key the song is in, but let’s start simply. The easiest way to tell what key a song is in is to look at the sheet music. The number of flats or sharps will pretty much tell you. Chances are, though, that you rarely use sheet music. You’re more likely to have a sheet which has the chord progression. (And to be honset with you, the chord progression is a lot more important than the key but we’ll come back to that…) If you look at the chord progressions of a song, the chances are pretty likely that the song is grouped into patterns of progressions. Usually, but not always, a song will begin and end on the chord of its key. Also, if you listen to the song, there are places where it just sounds like it comes to a conclusion and that will almost always be the same chord.

Knowing what I call the “primary and secondary chords” of any major key can be very useful to you. For instance, if you see that a song has G, A, D, Bm and F#m chords in it, you can make an educated guess that it is in the key of D major. Bm and A major are also possibilities and you’d have to listen to the song to know for sure, but look – you’ve narrowed it down to three of the twenty possibilities! That’s a great start. If you want to know more about how to figure out the primary and secondary chords of any key, read my article The Power of Three.

But you will find out that knowing the key is not always an indicator of what notes to use. This is why knowing some theory will help you out a lot. Take the Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil. This song is in the key of E but the chord progression is E, D, A, E. I’m sure you know that the D note is not part of the E major scale. So what do we do? Well, if you know modal scales, an E Dorian scale (E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D, E) will work very well. You may not think that the G would work but it provides what is called a “blue note” that gives some nice tension to the proceedings provided you do not just sit on it for a long period of time. Sometimes it is a lot easier to look at the chord progression and think, “Okay, what key would normally have all these chords” and then work from there.

Another thing that works quite well fairly often is to use the relative minor pentatonic scale. If you know a song is in G major, for example, soloing in the E minor pentatonic scale (E, G, A, B, D) will sound perfectly fine.

I hope that I’ve demonstated here that while knowing the key of a song is very important, it’s also just as important to carefully examine the chord progession when trying to figure out what notes you want to use to solo.

Check out our series of lessons on creating solos, starting with Choosing Colors – Turning Scales into Solos – Part 1.

Which mode should I use?

D Ionian is the same thing as D major. D Lydian is the same thing as A major but starting, or emphasizing the D. You can start with any note you choose to. But keep in mind that in order to have the feel that your solo is going somewhere along with the chords, the solo should contain elements from the chords. That’s where modes come in. If you are in the key of D Major. The Chord A Major can be found in it. Over that chord I would play A Mixolydian or C# Locrian or E Dorian. These are elements from the chord that are going to be emphasized by the mode being played over it. There are other scales that can be played over this, but this should get you started.

How do I get away from pentatonics when soloing?

This is one of the problems when people learn to only use scales in terms of leads and improvising. Solos can be thought of as songs within songs – with their own melodies and dynamic tension. If you haven’t done so yet, you might want to read Leading Questions and Picture In Dorian Gray.

Also, we’re in the process of putting together quite a few articles on soloing and improvisation that might interest you. What I’d recommend is to start looking outside of your normal style for a while. Check out Gilbert Isbin’s piece on fingerstyle. This shows how different chord voicings can lead to interesting improv ideas: Improvisation for the Fingerstyle guitarist.

Look out for our new articles where we’ll be dissecting other people’s solos and seeing how they tend to come from a combination of scales and chord voicings. We’ll also work on constructing some of our own.

Also, and this is incredibly important, listen to how other instruments solo. Trying to imitate phrasings other than the guitar can also inspire you to new things.

On Guitar Noise you will find more than a month’s worth of articles on this topic on the soloing and improvisation page.

How do I move a scale from one key to another?

What you want to do is to look at your scale positions that you already know and figure out two things: the note on the 6th string and its relationship to your pentatonic scale. Since you are using an Em pentatonic scale (and we know that the notes are E G A B D E, let’s look at what you already know:

Pos 1- 0 open E (root) on sixth string
Pos 2- 3 fret G (3rd)
Pos 3- 5 fret A (4th)
Pos 4- 7 fret B (5th)
Pos 5- 10 fret D (7th)

Now since we know that a Dm pentatonic scale is D F G A C D, then we can just look at where these notes fall into place on the sixth string and our patterns will remain the same (unless we have open strings to deal with):

Pos 1- 10th fret D (root) on sixth string
Pos 2- 1st or 13th fret F (3rd) – on 1st fret watch for open strings
Pos 3- 3rd fret G (4th)
pos 4- 5th fret A (5th)
Pos 5- 8th fret C (7th)

See how easy it is?

How do I use scales to play guitar fills?

If you listen to good guitarists you’ll note that they often put in a riff or a run of notes when changing from one chord to the next. It’s usually very short and rarely complicated – a hammer on here, a pick off there, maybe a bit of a scale. But for all its simplicity it adds a great deal of flair to your playing. A fill is nothing more than an interesting transition from one chord to another. Often what keeps a good beginner or intermediate from making the next step forward is an inability to incorporate fills into his or her playing.

The simplest fills are best summed up by that wonderful cliché “the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.” You’re on a C chord (in a song conveniently in the key of C major). The next chord in the song is a G. All you have to do is walk up (or down) the C major scale to G. Pretty easy, isn’t it?

There is a lot more said about this in the article All Down The Line.

If the major scale is comprised of 8 notes where is the 8th note?

This is one of those “quirks” of music. Let me see if I can explain it in one shot.

When you see the major scale written as “1W, 1W, 1H, 1W, 1W, 1W, 1H” you have to realize that you’re NOT counting your starting note! No lie! Whoever came up with this system takes it for granted that you’re going to know your root note and then continue from there. It’s not where is the 8th note, but rather where is the first note. Technically, this should be written as “Root, 1W, 1W, 1H, 1W, 1W, 1W, 1H” That gives you the root on both ends and all should be well with the world.

So in the case of the D major scale, it would be:

(root)
D
then one whole step (1W) to
E then another whole step (1W) to
F# – and not F as you have it
then your half step (1H) to
G
then three whole steps to
A, B and C# (not C)
and then the final half step (1H) to
D

How are Indian notes matched with the western scale?

First, I have to tell you that I am not absolutely positive about this, but I will do my best to check it out to make sure. In most cultures, when a basic scale is sung out in notes it is generally taken to mean that it is the simplest scale possible, which in this case would be the C major scale. I am making this judgment solely upon the similarities I encountered in Greece when a musician would tell me that a song was in “Re” or “La minor.” I have also run into this when playing with some people here in Chicago who play South American (Peruvian, in this case) music and we need to find our common knowledge in terms of keys.

I was able to do some research this morning and, based upon what I’ve learned so far, I think that this line of thinking should be correct. According to what I have learned, there are twelve tones (swara) in the Indian music system (although I think I should say the North Indian, correct?) and when they are arranged from end to end, from Sa to Sa, the flats and sharps do indeed correspond to those on a C major scale.

So, as far as I can tell, ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni’ would be matched with ‘Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti’ which in turn would be matched to the notes ‘C D E F G A B’

What are some scales and chords used in celtic music?

One of the common misconceptions about Celtic music (not to mention all sorts of other genres) is that it contains different chords and/or scales than other music. Now while Celtic music may have a lot of “character traits” for lack of a better term, it still uses the chords and scales with which you are already familiar.

Most traditional music, including Celtic, was old long before the guitar even came around. Hence a lot of the flavor of Celtic guitar style comes from trying to get your guitar to mimic the nuances of the older instruments associated with the Celtic traditions – which would mean a lot of harps, fiddles and pipes. Having a lot of open, ringing strings creates both the sound of the harp and the drone of the pipes. This is why a lot of guitarists who specialize in Celtic music prefer either drop D or DADGAD tuning (which you can find out about in my column On The Tuning Awry), it gives a lot of opportunities for open drones in fifths. Say you’re playing a solo in the key of D. You can use your lower three strings as a drone and play a melodic lead on your high strings at the same time.

A further way to imitate the pipes is to use a lot of “trilling” effects – such as hammer-ons and pull-offs. If you listen to Celtic music (and listening to any traditional music is the best way to come up with ideas) there is a lilting quality to it. Melodies flit about in a very ornate style. You cannot add too many trills. Another cool technique is to use vibrato on various notes. Not typical guitar vibrato (where you slide your finger back and forth along the string) but rather hard vibrato where you move your finger PERPENDICULAR to the string. This will cause your melodies to occasionally go slightly sharp or flat, but this again gives the impression of the instruments not being perfect. Well placed bends can also do this.

For even more on playing celtic style music check out the article A Celtic Air and a whole series of celtic song arrangements by Doug Sparling on the celtic music page.

Guitar Technique FAQ

Guitar Noise Staff — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:55:34 +0000

This page features answers to questions asked by practicing guitarists, including tips on strumming, palm muting, thumb position and more. Check out even more lessons on technique on our Featured Topics page.

How can I improve my strumming?

Like just about anything, strumming (and coming up with strumming patterns) can be learned fairly easily. But, and again like just about anything, how good you get will depend on how much effort you put into it. Some people are naturally talented in this area while others will have to work at it.

Surprisingly, the quickest way to learn how to strum doesn’t even involve touching your guitar. Really. Sit back and listen to some music. Any music will do, but if it just so happens to be a song you’re trying to learn, then more power to you. Now, listen. Hear the beat. Listen to the drums and the bass. Tap your feet with the rhythm. Take whichever hand you strum with, rest it on your thigh and tap out a pattern. Start simply … really simply if you have to. Even if it’s just tapping out every beat or every other beat. Once you have a pattern you like, repeat it until you are happy with your consistency. Are you able to keep up with the other instruments? Does your pattern copy theirs? If not (and it really doesn’t have to), does it add to the overall rhythm? Does it overwhelm the rhythm?

Here’s a trade secret for strumming. Get a snare drum book. It will teach just about every possible 4/4 pattern there is. Just pick a bar chord and follow the pattern of note. Use a rake and muffle the strings for the rests. Try shifting to different chords during these patterns. Go through the whole book and that should cover just about every rhythm out there. Do each each exercise until you don’t think about it anymore. It should go from a mathematical counting pattern to a feel. Once you feel the rhythm, move on the next exercise.

For a longer answer see the lesson Keeping Up With The Times.

How can I come up with interesting rhythm patterns?

As a rule, the more people you’ve got playing, the less space there is to play around with. And the more people you have playing the same instruments (guitars more than likely) the easier it is for things to get muddy really quickly. The ability to hear and come up with appropriate rhythm parts cannot be passed over lightly.

And that’s just in playing for the fun of it. If your aspirations involve professional work, whether solo or with a band, then your ability to keep appropriate, interesting and varied rhythms are a must. I should point out here that it’s not only beginners who have trouble figuring out a good strumming pattern. But, bless their hearts, they are the only ones who seem to be willing to admit it.

We can tackle this difficult problem from many different angles, but let’s go after the easy solution first. You not only have to be able to keep time, but you also have to appreciate why you keep time. Time is what ultimately holds a song together. I can’t tell you how often I’ve been out to see musicians or bands and have noticed that there seems to be a huge perception gap between a “great,” “good” or “okay” act. Sometimes the “good” and “okay” bands actually have better musical talent than the “great” bands but they just don’t come across all that well. More likely than not, it is simply a matter of the group being in sync with each other. Simple things like starting and ending at the same places or giving dynamic changes in tone, volume or rhythm together as a unit have a powerfully positive effect on the audience. The average listener probably won’t be able to tell you that the lead player muffed a note or that the rhythm guitarist played the wrong chord for a brief moment (unless it was really wrong and really loud). But he or she will be able to tell you if the drums, bass and guitar are all playing at different tempos.

Regardless of your level of ability, you should own a metronome, which is a device that beats time at a pace of your choosing. Like everything else these days, there is no end to the various types you can get. I wouldn’t be surprised to find you could download one from the net. Let me offer one bit of advice, though. Use one that has an audible signal, a click, tick-tock or whatever. A simple flashing light really doesn’t cut it. Just like your eyes do not tell you how something tastes (although they may give you a good idea), they do not measure audible time. Your ears do.

Coming up with strumming patterns is a “growing pain” that everyone (well, just about everyone) goes through. You can even go through “strummer’s block,” when simply for no reason at all, you just can’t seem to get the hang of a particular song. There are times when I cannot get anything to go right and it’s necessary to take a break and “reboot.” Rhythm is one of those things that some people seem to be born with, but it is also something that you can work on to improve your own abilities.

Learn more about coming up with interesting rhythm patterns in the article Keeping up With the Times.

Why is important to develop both hands to be a good guitarist?

I really feel that because so much emphasis on teaching the guitar these days (and let’s be fair, those days too) is on the neck end of the instrument, that a lot of the subtleties of playing the guitar are lost. Both hands are equally important and if you truly want to be a good / better / best guitarist, then don’t ignore practicing and developing techniques for your strumming hand.

It’s an age-old argument. Use a pick or use your fingers? And of course, I’m going to raise the bar and tell you that it’s important to be able to play both ways … with and without a pick.

Like just about everything else concerning the guitar, there are at least eight million “methods” of finger picking. And there are at least as many ways to use a pick as there are ways to use your fingers. Using different picks allows you to achieve numerous different “effects” with your guitar. Also changing the way you hold or use the pick can have different effects too.

The of using both fingers and picks can be found in the article Picking Your Poison. Also of incredible importance to your playing hand is a good strumming technique. A good starting lesson on that can be found in Keeping Up With the Times.

What is the correct thumb position?

There seems to be a real conflict of opinion as to whether this thumb should be pressed against the back of the neck or hooked around it with the flat of the thumb on top of the neck. Most books say to press it against the neck, but some say that although this is the proper way many guitarists use the lazy way. Indeed, most rock guitarists have their thumbs hooked around on top of the neck with the span between the fingers gripping the back of it.

Technically, I use both. Many people think that the thumb should be grabbing or pressing the guitar but the truth, for me anyway, is that the neck of the guitar rests against the thumb. This is a subtle difference but it is important. By not consciously gripping or pressing, my thumb pretty much follows along with the rest of my hand, almost always a mirror to the index finger on the fretboard. By not gripping or pressing, it is free to glide, not only up and down the neck, but also in its position on the back of the neck. This is essential to the way I play because I have small hands and on a thin neck like on most electric guitars, I will “barre” certain chords, say an F chord, by gripping the bass note with my thumb, like this:

E – 1st fret (index)
B – 1st fret (index)
G – 2nd fret (middle)
D – 3rd fret (pinky)
A – 3rd fret (ring)
E – 1st fret (thumb)

When I play a D chord, I will more often than not grab the 2nd fret of the low E (the F#) with my thumb as well if I want to make a final ringing chord out of it.

In both these cases I am using my thumb in a “rock” or hooking position in order to get notes that are otherwise awkward for me.

But frankly, most guitarists grip with their thumbs because they have no choice in the matter, seeing that they often hold their guitars way to low on their body in order to get a good grip. It’s ironic because while it looks cool (I guess) it truly limits their ability to play. They are using the thumb to hang on to the guitar, not using it to play. Do you understand this difference?

I think that it’s important to understand that your thumb should be more than a prop. It’s a player. It either grabs a note or makes it easier for the other fingers to reach theirs. If you worry about getting the notes first and let the thumb fall where it may, I think you’ll find that, eight times out of ten, it will end up in what you call the classical position. But there will be times when it will be in the rock position too. The thing is to not let the thumb dictate what the rest of the hand can do. And I also think that if you follow this “note first” philosophy, that the question of comfort won’t even enter into the picture. When you leave the thumb to last, it will automatically go for the most comfortable place.

What is flatpicking?

In your column entitled Tricks of the Trade, guitar column #22, there is a section in the Knocking on Heaven’s Door fill sequence that I am not sure how to play. It is the third line from the bottom of the sequence (a “knock knock knocking on heaven’s door” bit) and there is a fill that consists of a run of five notes that are two strings apart. ie. The TAB is saying to play the D and the B strings, and not the G string. How would you suggest to do this? And if your suggestion is otherwise, can it be done with a plectrum?

Concerning this particular riff on Knocking On Heaven’s Door, there are numerous ways of dealing with it. And no, you didn’t miss any earlier lesson on this! First off, I should say that I tend to finger pick a lot so when I wrote it out I hadn’t even thought about using a plectrum.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. A lot of players use a technique known as “flat picking.” This involves holding the plectrum with only your thumb and index finger to play the lower notes while picking the upper notes with your middle and/or ring fingers (I often use both!).

Another popular technique is “string muting.” Here you would finger the frets in such a manner that you can strum across them all but the middle one is muted. It gives of a slight “thunk” sound but this is usually drowned out by the other sounding strings. Jimi Hendrix was great at this. In this case, you could either mute the G string by lightly placing a finger on it directly or mute it by slightly angling the finger that is fretting the D string. These two methods do require some practice.

Finally, just to make your day, you could also play this and simply let the G string ring free. Since the song is in G and the chords that would be formed by playing it this way are also compatible for the key, it will sound fine. The open G serves as a drone and the chords around it help create a good tension that will be resolved once you hit the G chord that starts the following measure. This is another technique that I employ a lot, especially with songs in G, C and their relative minors.

What are natural and artificial harmonics?

If you are speaking of natural harmonics, that is when your finger is directly above the fret desired and you are barely touching the string. Immediately after picking that string you come away from the string and it should ring quite a bit higher than normal. This works very well at the five, seven and twelfth fret. Although there are some very high notes at about 2.5 and 1.7.

If you are talking about artificial harmonics. That is when you strike the string with the picking hand’s thumb as you cross the string when you pick. It is usually done in a downward motion. It will depend on where exactly you are picking above the pick-ups. So try many different areas.

How do I produce artificial harmonics on my guitar?

If you grip the tip of your pick so that when you strike the string it catches your thumb, you will hear a harmonic generated over the initial note. This is a common technique for lead guitarists and while it sounds great on an electric guitar you can also do this on an acoustic. It simply takes a little more practice.

You can also do it without a pick. When you strike the string with your finger or thumb, catch your nail on the string. This takes a little more practice, but like most things it’s amazing how easy it seems once you know how to do it.

Amazingly, harmonics can also be used to tune your guitar. Find out how in the article tuning with harmonics.

How do I play reggae style guitar?

Playing reggae on guitar, particularly if you’re not overly familiar with it, can seem very daunting. But like just about anything, the more you play around with it, the more it becomes second nature. I recommend starting out with a very basic beat to start out with. It doesn’t even have to be a reggae song, but it should be something you know well and that does not involve a lot of chord changes. The classic Stand By Me works well as do many simple songs.

Two things to remember: be sparse and clean. Try starting out with this simple rhythm pattern:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4
up up up

You’ll see that you only use upstrokes. Until you get very comfortable with reggae, I find that this technique helps to really concentrate on the rhythm – and it sounds very good, as well. Go lightly on the strings. If you’re using a Strat-style electric guitar, then I would also advise you to use one of the “out of phase” settings (second or fourth position on a five position switch). Keep it relatively clean – more high end than bottom and just a touch of reverb or chorus.

A couple lessons on Guitar Noise that might help you further are Playing An Old Stand By and I Shot the Sheriff.

How do I play ghost notes?

The best description of a ghost note, is a note that is felt but not heard. You will play the note softer, and without emphasis. The note is usually in-between 2 parentheses. In addition, notes in parentheses could mean optional notes. For instance, if a particular riff is repeated, but sometimes the guitar player throws in some additional notes, those additional notes may be in parentheses. Do keep in mind the use of parentheses for bent notes as well.

The example below could mean either a ghost note or an optional note. There is no way of telling without a recording. And really in this context, do either and it will sound fine.

Another common answer to this question is that “ghost notes” are artificial harmonics. These are harmonics that are generated by picking a string with both your pick and your thumb. This causes the note and a harmonic (an octave above the note) to sound. It can be done on any guitar, electric or acoustic, although most people are familiar with this through the electric. Depending on your tone settings, amp and effects, it can be quite an intense, eerie sound.

You can learn more about harmonics an other useful trick for your strumming hand in the article Picking Your Poison.

How do I stop fret buzz?

There are many causes to fret buzz, though the biggest cause is Action. Raising the action will lower fret buzz. Since fret buzz is just the strings hitting the frets, raising the action – distance between the fret board and the strings – the strings arc of motion won’t hit the strings. High action means harder playability, the string is harder to push down.

A balance between good playability and no fret buzz can normally be found. It isn’t hard to adjust action, but in some cases it might be better to let a store do it for you. There are many books that cover complete setups for the guitar and are very accurate. Reading one of these and learning to adjust your guitar will help you save money in the end.

The action is adjusted at the nut and the bridge, not the truss rod – if you’re not sure what this is, it isn’t entirely important. Electric guitars can be easily adjusted in terms of action, both raising and lowering it. However, raising action on acoustics can be a problem since you will need to replace the nut/saddle (the bridge part the strings pass through).

Besides action, which is the main culprit and should be checked first, you can check out a list of causes. You might want to check with the forum to make sure the diagnosis is correct.

Though it is highly related to the acoustic guitar, it still partially relates to the electric.

How do I mute strings?

String muting is used in TAB like this:

E--------
B---3----
G--------
D---3----
A--------
E--------

This type of tablature is played a la finger style – finger picking. The three bottom bass strings – E, A, and D – are plucked with the thumb, while the index plucks the G string, the middle finger plucks the B string, and the ring finger plucks the high E string.

Classical finger style includes a different notation for the fingers, which is indicated below:

Pulgar, Stands for Thumb – P
Indice, Stands for Index – I
Medio, Stands for Middle – M
Anular, Stands for Ring – A

In the above, you would follow the order. The 3rd fret on the D string would be played with the thumb; the D string is one of the three low strings. Then, you would pluck the B string with the middle finger, as all stated above in the first paragraph. If there were an X on the G string, that would signify that you would hit that string as well, with a pick even, but you would not be fretting anything, in fact, you would be muting it. This is string muting.

To string mute you would simply rest a finger, even a part of another finger, onto the specific string notified. For example the tab…

E--------
B---3----
G---X----
D---3----
A--------
E--------

Would mean that you would fret the appropriate strings, and for example, if you fretted the strings in the following fashion

3rd fret on D string fretted by Middle finger

3rd fret on B string fretted by Ring finger

You could move your middle finger down to lightly make contact and touch the string, just enough to stop it from ringing out.

Half the battle to playing technically is not playing anything else but what you want. When trying to stop extra noise on the strings above the pick, use the palm of your picking hand. When you want the strings to be quiet below the pick, use the fingers of the fretting hand that you are not using.

You can learn more about using using one of these techniques in the article Palm Muting.

How high should I set my guitar strap?

To what is comfortable with you. A general place to start is to have the strap set so that the back plate of the guitar is level your pelvis. You don’t want the guitar too low or too high. Too high and you’ll be tied up with tension trying to play appropriately, and if it’s too low you’ll have a hard time trying to fret and pluck.

How do I learn to play really fast?

Before we dive into the realm of developing speed, let’s dispel a few misconceptions about it. Firstly, speed in and of itself is irrelevant. However, speed used within the context of a good piece of music and with taste is a good thing. The second misconception of speed is covered in the article The Art of Practice. Most people believe that in order to play fast you must practice fast. While you will eventually need to practice fast in order to play fast you need to develop some basic techniques in order to get the tools in order to start working up to your goal. It’s these techniques that need to be developed SLOWLY.

You need to be able to think while you play. Aaron Shearer, a famous classical guitar pedagogue was an advocate of “aim directed movement”, which is having a clear understanding of where the fingers need to go before you move them there. Aim directed movement can only be accomplished by slow practice.

The key to fast scales? The key is not only to practice flexing the finger (what the finger actually does to pluck the string) but practice extending the finger as well. From the time we were born our hands have grabbed things, and we have held on to them tight, thus, developing the flexors. It is our lack of strength in the extensors that need the catching up. One of the best ways to develop this is to practice Rasgueados ( Raas-Gee-ah-doe).

In his book Pumping Nylon Scott Tennant makes a good observation about speed. He notes that when we look at an entire work you notice that the fast parts only last for a measure or two. What answers can one draw from this observation? Some of the answers I have drawn are that while it is helpful to know your scales and play them quickly, it is not necessary to play them at break neck speed for lengthy periods of time. One of the things that can help us develop stamina to hold out during those passages is the daily practice of speed bursts.

A speed burst is taking a small portion of a scale and playing it ascending then descending with the eighth note as the rhythmic value for each note. Without stopping play the same portion of the scale ascending and descending, this time using the sixteenth note as the rhythmic value for each note. These are very helpful in isolating certain trouble spots in a scale, such as shifts and string crossings.

There are a lot of articles on Guitar Noise that will help you develop speed. Start by studying the articles Finger Placement and Finger Preparation, The Art of Practice, Scales Warp Factor 10, Speed Bursts and Rasgueados. All of these are aimed at the classical guitarist and focus on the required technique.

How do I use my guitar knobs?

My advice to you is to do what I did and still do when I get a new guitar – first off, sit down by yourself in a room where you can plug your guitar in and walk a LONG ways off from your amp. Then sit down as far away as you can and experiment. And when I say “experiment” I mean to do so as a scientist would – TAKE NOTES!!! Start with one knob then work the others. Don’t forget to also get up and change the knobs around on your amp as well. It’s important to try out as many permutations as you can. This is going to take time and will undoubtedly be tedious, so perhaps you might also want to only try one set of settings at one sitting (sorry, I really should resist that sort of thing!).

Once you have an idea of what you’re dealing with, then, some day when you’ve gotten to a gig and everything is set up and you’re just killing time, have someone play your guitar on stage and you go out and listen to it. Give your “stand-in” directions on what knobs to turn. Again, try to listen as much as you can.

The sad thing is that once you get the whole band going, a lot of the little nuances will be lost in the overall mix. But if you have an idea of what the extremes and middles sound like, then you have a pretty good idea as to what is coming through to the audience.

What are some tips for finger nail grooming?

If you have ever shaken hands with a classical guitarist or seen a close up picture of his/her right hand, you will have seen that they have long nails on just the right hand. The nail is 50% responsible for tone, volume, and aids in accuracy and speed.

If you don’t have long nails better start growing them, or if your natural nails are brittle try using fake nails. The fake nails are a little weird looking but they get the job done. The nail does not have to be very long. When you hold your hand up in front of your face with the palm towards you the tip of the nail should just peek up over the fingertip. Nail shape is very important and there are a lot of different ideas as to what shape works best. I shape my nail to the contour of my finger tip, rounded . It is also important to invest in some 600 grit sandpaper in order to keep the nail nice and smooth and snag free.

As the nail extends the finger it keeps you from having to reach for every string. This will make finger picking almost effortless after a while. You will get used to long nails. Remember, there is too long as well. Frederick Noad has written about correct finger nails in some of his books.

For more on finger nails and classical guitar take a look at the article Finger Placement and Finger Preparation.

How do I teach guitar to children?

Many teachers start off their younger students with partial chords, using just the first three or four strings. For instance, you can play a G like this: xx0003 and a C like this: xxx010. Another thing that one can do is to use an open tuning (usually G or D). This is especially good if the child it adept at strumming. You can show where to barre the frets (or even use a slide) for your typical three chord song and the two of you can have a blast.

This is an interesting and we have a more detailed answer at How do I teach guitar to children? plus the article How Young Is Too Young To Learn Guitar.

Music Theory FAQ

Guitar Noise Staff — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:53:38 +0000

We at Guitar Noise have prided ourselves over the years on being able to give guitarists and other musicians the theory they need in a painless manner. So if you want to get the easiest introduction possible to music theory or simply just brush up on the theory you already know check out the featured lessons on our Music Theory for Guitar page. This page answers many of the questions we’ve received over the years.

Why should I learn music theory?

Theory can increase your ability as a player dramatically, and since it’s always a good idea to learn more, theory is another bit of knowledge to acquire. Theory can help you work with other musicians such as keyboardists, horn players, other stringed instrument players. Theory can dramatically help you form a song, understand what other people are talking about, and learn about the basic structure of music in its “theoretical” form.

From scales, to keys, to chord construction – they all involve theory, and knowing it will help you resolve any confusion you might encounter. It also helps in communicating your music to others – mainly musicians, but yes, others.

So the bottom line is, why not? Theory might seem hard, but didn’t another hobby that you took up and now enjoy seem hard at first?

To get started or brush up on theory read the article Theory Without Tears and then check out our music theory for guitar page.

How do I memorize all this theory stuff?

One of the biggest problems that faces any beginner is worrying about the tremendous amount of things to practice and memorize. I’ve been playing for over 25 years and I am still finding out new things to practice and memorize! No lie.

Like it or not, you cannot learn everything at once. No one can. But as long as you are enjoying playing you will keep practicing and you will one day wonder if there ever was a time when you didn’t know the things you know now.

What you need to do is to develop a practice plan, a way to focus on a few things at once. If you haven’t done so, you might want to read my piece on practicing called A Question of Balance. It might give you some help in this area.

You should definitely learn where all the notes on the fretboard are. I tell my students not to memorize the whole fretboard right off. Start with the “main frets” – the notes on the fifth and seventh frets, for instance. See, if you know what the notes are at certain point on the fretboard, you’ve taken away a lot of the “tremendousness” of the task. How much of a stretch would it be to then learn the third and ninth frets? You’ve got a third of it already down!

And you might want to start out with a simple pentatonic scale (I recommend learn the Em pentatonic (E, G, A, B, D) first since it’s one of the easiest to memorize) but you should do this in such a way that it’s fun. Work a practice based around some songs you like or make a tape recording of yourself playing the blues in E and then try to come up with some leads.

The more you enjoy yourself the more you will want to learn.

What is the best way to memorize the notes in each key?

I don’t know if this will be easy or not, but there is a distinct pattern to learning these. And it’s really not that hard. The main thing to remember is that they always go in sequence. If a key has two flats, for instance, one of those flatted notes is the same as the flatted note in the key with one flat. If that sounds confusing, hopefully it won’t be as we move along.

First off, we agree that C has no flats and no sharps. What I like to do is to progress in either direction from there. Usually, when I hit Gb or F# I call it quits because they are the same key.

Okay, flats first. The easiest thing (for me) to remember is that the keys progress in 4ths (F, for instance, is the fourth of C) and that the flatted note is also the fourth in the new scale. In the example of the key of F, Bb is the fourth. Not only is it the fourth, though, it is also the next key in the sequence! This makes things very easy:

C – 0 flats
F – 1 flat (Bb)
Bb – 2 flats (Bb, Eb)
Eb – 3 flats (Bb, Eb, Ab)
Ab – 4 flats (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db)
Db – 5 flats (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb)
Gb – 6 flats (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb)

Now sharps are a little harder, but there are a couple of ways to look at it. First off, going from C to G (which is the key with one sharp) is moving in the intervals of fifths. The next key after G would be the fifth of G which is D. For me, the key is remembering that the newest sharp will always be a half step lower than the root. G has one sharp and it is F#, which is that half step lower. D is next so it will have F# (because it has to carry over to the next key) and the new sharp will be C#. Here we go:

C – 0 sharps
G – 1 sharp (F#)
D – 2 sharps (F#, C#)
A – 3 sharps (F#, C#, G#)
E – 4 sharps (F#, C#, G#, D#)
B – 5 sharps (F#, C#, G#, D#, A#)
F# – 6 sharps (F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#)

If you remember that flats progress in fourths and sharps progress in fifths and simply remember the first flat or sharp, then it’s as simple as this:

Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb
F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#

I hope that this helps. It may not seem like it but after a while it becomes second nature to not only know these, but also the relative minors!

How do I read time signatures?

The time signature (along with the key signature) is one of the first things you encounter when you read music, so you might as well learn just what it means at some point, no? The time signature usually consists of two numbers written one on top of the other, almost like a fraction except there is no line (other than the lines of the staff and that doesn’t count). These provide you with two important pieces of information about the song that you are going to play. The top number tells you how many beats are in a measure (and we learned about measures in Before You Accuse Me). The lower number (the “denominator” if you will, the number that sits on the bottom) indicates which note is going to count as “one beat.” The vast majority of music you are likely to encounter will be in 4/4 timing:

Sometimes you will see “4/4″ timing written out as “C.” “C” and “4/4″ are interchangeable. And if you’re really interested in a theory of the origins of this symbol, check out the “Email of the Week” in this old newsletter: Newsletter Vol 2 # 4.

As well as “C” there is also a “C” with a vertical line slashing it – (C)

It looks like the symbol for a penny. This is known, appropriately enough, as “cut time,” or

There are also songs, many marches in fact, which are in 2/4 time. And you have undoubtedly heard songs that use 3/4 timing as well. Waltzes are in 3/4:

Probably eighty-five to ninety percent of all songs are written in either of these two time signatures. 6/8 timing is very similar to 3/4 in that it has the same kind of “triplet” feel. It’s easier to count in groups of threes rather than sets of six, isn’t it?

For a complete lesson on time signatures check out the article Timing is Everything. There is also a detailed explanation with examples in the article House of the Rising Sun.

How do I find out what key a song is in?

At the beginning of each piece of music, the staff will be followed by two important pieces of information – the key signature and the time signature.

You may not know this, but sheet music is often much more helpful than TABS in ways that benefit the player who is not concerned with playing things note per note. The key signature is the number of sharps or flats (or the lack thereof) that appear immediately after the clef. This will, much more often than not, tell you what key a song is in. Notice I said sharps or flats, not both. We’ll come back to this in a moment.

If you’ve read any of the beginner’s theory pieces (Theory Without Tears or The Musical Genome Project) you are well aware that there are more than seven notes. There are actually twelve. Some are designated by just a letter, while others are a letter and a symbol like this – # – or this – b. The “#” means “sharp” or “one half step above the note of the letter. C#, for example, is a half step above C. A “b” is a flat sign, meaning that we have moved a half step down from the note of the letter. Eb is a half step below E. And let’s note here that this does indeed mean that some notes actually share the same name. “Ab” and “G#” are, for our purposes, the same note. Here’s a handy chart:

In musical notation, the symbols for flats and sharps are called accidentals. There is also an accidental for “natural” meaning that the note should be the straight letter value, neither flat nor sharp.

Why on earth would you even need a “natural” symbol? Well, that should become clear momentarily. Suppose you were writing out a song in the key of E, a fairly common key for guitar music. There are four sharps in the E major scale. See for yourself:

E F# G# A B C# D# E

Would you want to have to put a sharp notation every time you wrote one of these four notes? Of course not. What you would do is write out your sharps ahead of time, at the very beginning of the piece. This is like a big billboard saying, “Hey! Whenever you see an F, it’s supposed to be an F#, okay?” This is what the key signature does. So, how do you know what key a song is in? Well, you may not believe this, but there are rules! These rules are dictated by the formation of the major scale. Here’s a run down:

Key of C – no flats, no sharps
Key of G – 1 sharp: F#
Key of D – 2 sharps: F#, C#
Key of A – 3 sharps: F#, C#, G#
Key of E – 4 sharps: F#, C#, G#, D#
Key of B – 5 sharps – F#, C#, G#, D#, A#
Key of F – 1 flat: Bb
Key of Bb – 2 flats: Bb, Eb
Key of Eb – 3 flats: Bb, Eb, Ab
Key of Ab – 4 flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db
Key of Db – 5 flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb

There is a lot more to figuring out what key a song is in. For more on this topic we suggest you read the series Determining the Key of a Song. And to learn more about key signatures you should check out Your very Own Rosetta Stone and Key Changes.

How do I transpose songs into different keys?

If you ever decide to play music with musicians other than guitarists (and bass players don’t count!) you will very quickly run into a situation where one of you knows a particular song in one key while the other knows it in another. The guitar has a natural disinclination towards keys that contain flats. Unless you’re incredibly adept at barre chords knowing how to transpose a song will prove to be an invaluable skill. And not only is it easy to learn, it’s actually a lot of fun when you get the hang of it.

You will need a capo for transposing so you might want to read The Under Appreciated Art of Using a Capo first.

This is how it works. If I put my capo on the first fret, every chord I play has now moved up a half step. An A chord is now a Bb (or A#). An E minor is now F minor. If I put it on the fourth fret, everything is now up two whole steps (four half steps). A C is now an E. An A minor is a C# minor. The following chart will give you some of the basic chord transpositions:

As well as reading The Under Appreciated Art of Using a Capo you should also check out Turning Notes Into Stone for a more complete lesson on transposing keys.

Why do we use more than 3 strings to make a chord?

The reason why we just don’t play three strings only is because that would very hard to do, especially if you were strumming fast.

Chords are made up of multiples of the three notes. All the three note thing tells you is that you’ll see those three notes only, in that chord. The reason why you learn those other chords with sevenths and nineths is because they help with tonal variety and connect melodic phrases sometimes better than triads can.

As far as knowing which ones to use, the notes in that chord you want to use should be in the key you are in. If they are not, then there should be a reason for using that chord. For instance, in the key of C major, there is no A7 chord right? But if you use it and resolve directly to a d minor chord, a chord in the key of C Major, it’ll sound great.

What is an interval?

Here’s our C major scale:

do re mi fa sol la te do
C D E F G A B C

An interval is the distance from one note to the next. We name the intervals according to their place on the major scale. From C to E, for instance, is called a third (okay, a major third). From C to A is a sixth. D to B is also a sixth. Do you see this? The starting note becomes your root and B is the sixth note in a D major scale. Using this same logic, D to F is not a third, but a MINOR third. How about E to A? Right, it’s a fourth. And E to C? Right again, E to C is a minor sixth. An eighth, from C to C, D to D, F# to F#, and so on, is called an OCTAVE. I’m sure you’re all familiar with that one.

For detailed lessons on intervals check out the lessons Happy New Ear and A Study On Intervals.

What is a relative minor?

Try playing a G chord followed by the E minor. Can you hear how similar they are? If we look at the notes that make up the chord, we see the following:

Notice that these chords share two of their three notes. This is because E minor is the RELATIVE MINOR of G major. The relative minor shares the same notes in the major scale, but it’s root is the sixth of the major. Here’s our G major scale:

In order to find the relative minor we look for the sixth and make that the root. Therefore, E minor is the relative minor of G major and the E minor scale would look like this:

Here’s a chart of a few major/relative minor keys you can use (but please feel free to make out one of your own, listing all twelve possibilities as a test!):

This answer is a small extract from the article Happy New Ear. be sure to check out the complete article for more exercises and examples.

What are passing tones?

This is a note in the melody (or the chord) that is taking part in the transition from one chord to another. Passing tones help to create “tension” between the melody and the accompaniment that is released when the melody and the chord are “resolved.”

Good music, much like art, theater, literature, or relationships and life, for that matter, tends to be a series of tensions and resolutions (or releases) of varying intensities.

A lot more has been written about this in the article Multiple Personality Disorder.

What is dissonance?

A question on harmony, or perhaps the antithesis of harmony: What do people mean by “dissonance” and other such terms when talking about chord changes?

Dissonance, according to the dictionary, is “an inharmonious combination of sounds; discord; any lack of harmony or agreement.”

When we listen to music, certain notes sound pleasing when played together. For many people, the interval of a major third (C and E, for instance, or G and B, etc.) is perhaps the most pleasant, or harmonious sound.

Dissonance is when we create a sound that is not harmonious. There are degrees to how harsh the dissonance can be. If you were to play a C (5th fret, G string) and a C# (2nd fret, B string) together, it would sound as if the notes are clashing.

In a sense, they are – you feel that this combination of notes wants to turn into something else. It’s almost as if you’ve caught them in mid-metamorphosis. Play these notes again and now slide your finger on the C down to B (4th fret, G string) and at the same time slide the C# up to D (3rd fret, B string). Can you hear how the dissonance completely disappears? It’s the interplay between dissonance and harmony that helps to add a dramatic, almost dynamic aspect to a song.

Dissonance can be created in countless ways. You can add a dissonant note to a chord (even via a melody or bass line), you can play one chord on top of another, or you can play a string of chords while holding one note steady in the bass.

But the thing to remember is that not everyone hears the same sorts of dissonance. It’s a matter of what you’re used to. That C/C# thing we mentioned earlier? A jazz player would write it off as a C#maj7 and might not think of it as dissonant at all.

What does the 7 in C7 mean?

Whenever you see a number after a chord, it refers to the note in that particular scale that you should add to the basic chord. If you know that the C scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C), then C6, for example, is the basic C chord (C, E, G) plus the 6th, which is A.

But sevenths are a different matter. If you see a “Cmaj7,” then this would be C, E, G and B, which is the major seventh. A regular “7″ chord means that you want to add a FLATTED seventh note – a major seven which is lowered a half step so that it is one full step below the root. So a “C7″ would be C, E, G and Bb.

We go over the formation of these and other chords quite thoroughly in The Power of Three and Building Additions and Suspensions. If you haven’t already done so, you might want to give those a once-over.

What is the difference between a 7th and a major 7th?

Unlike a major or minor chord where the third is a major or minor third, the seventh chord is a minor seventh unless we specify that it is a major. If I say play an A, you automatically play an A major. If I say play an A7, we automatically add the G note (minor seventh) to the chord. Only if I ask for an Amaj7 will you play the natural seventh (G#).

In music theory, a seventh is traditionally used to make a transition from the root (or I) to the subdominant (IV). This transition is called a resolution. Even the use of this term “resolution” implies that a seventh chord is incomplete, that there must be a following chord that will bring it (and our ears) to a final point.

For further study on sevenths check out the articles Happy New Ear, Sevens Threes and Nines and Building Additions (and Suspensions).

What is the difference between A9 and Asus2?

One of the problems in music is that people often ignore (or simply don’t know) the “standard” notation. I have been guilty of this myself simply because it can be very tedious to write out “Aadd9″ all the time! There’s also another problem that is less apparent and we’ll come to that in a moment. First, let’s define the notes of the chords involved, shall we?

Okay, technically, there are very big differences between A9, Aadd9 and Asus2. If you’ve read Building Additions (and Suspensions) you might already have a handle on this. Let’s start with an A major chord:

A: A, C#, E

Any “suspended” chord means that you are replacing the third of the chord (in this case the C#) with something else, normally the 2 or 4. So an Asus2 is this:

Asus2: A, B, E

An Aadd9 is adding the ninth (in this case the B) in addition to the rest of the A major chord. To me, there is no difference between a “2″ chord and an “add9.” So the Aadd9 is as follows:

Aadd9: A, C#, E, B

And finally, any “9″ chord should, technically speaking, include the 7th. Usually it is the flatted (or dominant) 7th but it could easily be the major 7th as well:

A9(usually): A, C#, E, G, B

A9(w/major 7th): A, C#, E, G#, B

Okay, I hope that clears up what these chords actually are. Now let’s look at why there is often confusion as to what to call the chord. Suppose you see a chord written out as follows:

E – open
B – open
G – 2nd fret
D – 2nd fret
A – open
E – don’t play

Here the notes are A, E and B. Technically, this would be an Asus2, since there is no C# to be found. But the guitar is not like the piano where you always have all the necessary notes (relatively) close at hand. Often, especially with chords that have more than four notes, you end up leaving one or more off. If you were playing this chord with a pianist, you would sound okay whether the pianist were playing an A9, an Aadd9 or even an A11 or A13. If you wanted to play a true A9, then you’d need the G and C# notes so this would be one possible fingering:

E – open (E)
B – 2nd fret (C#)
G – 4th fret (B)
D – 5th fret (G)
A – open (A)
E – don’t play

And you can see where that might be a pain. This is why it’s important to not only know what notes a chord is made up of but also what voicings will give you exactly what you are looking for. For instance, when I see A2 or Aadd9, I tend to play it like this:

E – open
B – open
G – 6th fret (C#)
D – 7th fret (A)
A – open
E – don’t play

The bottom line is that whoever is writing out the chords often calls it whatever he or she thinks it is. For better or worse. The best thing is to also have in your power to know what else it could be. Sometimes it is up to you to make the call but, as always, knowing what choices you have at your disposal helps matters immensely.

What is the difference between C Ionian and D Dorian?

If C Ionian is C D E F G A B C and D Dorian is D E F G A B C D, then what is the difference between the two?

The difference is not so obvious. To fully appreciate the difference, you need to play a chord that has a C in it over the C Ionian, and play a chord that has D in it over D Dorian. This will light up the mode. You can’t really hear the difference by just playing the scale by itself.

By the way, you don’t have to play them in order, or diatonically. But you really need to emphasize the mode you want by ending on that note. So for Dorian, you really want to end that melodic phrase with a D note.

What are 13th chords?

When building a chord like “C13th,” there are seven notes shown. The most notes that can be covered by one hand on the fretboard at one time is six. So, which note (s) do you leave out in order to actually play the chord?

As you can imagine, there’s a lot of debate amongst music theorists as to what is the “proper” thing to do in such a situation when you have a chord that has more notes than you are able to produce.

Traditionally, the fifth or the third would be left out (usually in that order). Believe it or not, there are instances, though, when the root is the “missing” note.

But the real determining factor is what notes you are able to finger (or not finger) on your fretboard. For instance, if you strum your guitar (standard tuning) without putting any fingers on the fretboard at all you would have an A11. The notes, from low to high, would be E (fifth), A (root), D (eleventh), G (seventh), B (ninth) and E (fifth again). Here the third (C#) is the missing note. You could always add this by playing it on the 1st (or 6th) string but it sounds perfectly fine as it is.

Generally a good rule of thumb with 9th, 11th, and 13th chords is to really try to include the seventh along with the root in order to give it some sense of identity.

What are diminished chords?

Diminished chords are very cool, and easy to understand. Diminished chords serve a cadential function just like a dominant 7. Just like all bar chords these are universal shapes and can be moved anywhere on the fretboard and you will come out with a diminished chord as long as the shape is retained.

For the complete answer read What are diminished chords?

How are diminished power chords formed?

Technically speaking there really is no such thing as the diminished power chord. A power chord by definition is, as you pointed out, simply the root and the fifth of a scale. The term “power chord” is strictly a contrivance of the electric guitarist. You can, however, play two notes, one being the first, or root, and the other being a diminished fifth. This is called playing an interval. It is also a very interesting interval, theory wise, because the diminished fifth is as far away as you can get from the root.

For the complete answer read How are diminished power chords formed?

What does IV of IV mean?

There are times (quite often in fact) when you will be playing a song in one key, just for example, let’s say the key of C, and you will come upon a chord which doesn’t really exist in that particular key, but hey, there it is. It sounds perfectly fine though (in the context of whatever particular chord progression that you’re playing) so maybe you won’t think about exactly how this chord “fits” in.

Let’s look at a few chord progressions in C to demonstrate this, okay? Try them out yourself if you want to.

C Bb F C
C E7 Am Dm D7 G C
C A D G C

Now, as we were saying, since the key of C has no flats or sharps, any chord that contains any flat or sharp is not actually part of the key of C. Where did it come from?

What music theory tries to do is to look at these chords in terms of how they fit into the flow of the chord progression. All chord progressions are simply movements from one point to the next, hopefully they will eventually bring us back to the home (or root) chord.

Sometimes in moving from one point to the next, we are actually “borrowing” chords from other keys (here the Bb in #1, the E7 and D7 in #2 and the A and D in #3). Theory tries to label these chords in terms of the keys from which they are borrowed. We (usually) try to determine where they came from by where they are going to (how they are resolved).

Just to make sure we’re on the same page, let’s look at the primary and secondary chords in the key of C major, shall we?

Are you with me? Okay, in example one (C, Bb, F, C) we need to ask about that Bb. C, F, C we already can make out as I, IV, I. Since the Bb is aiding in the transition from C to F, let’s theorize (I know bad pun) that Bb must have some relation to F. And sure enough if we look at the chords in an F major scale we will see:

In the F scale, Bb is IV. But what we want to do as music theorists is to give the Bb some kind of context in the key of C. So we have to relate it somehow to a chord in the key of C and that’s exactly what we do – we call it IV “of” IV, meaning that it is the IV of F (which is the IV of C).

Almost always (and yes there are ALWAYS exceptions) an “of” chord will be a IV or V of something. In example #2 (C, E7, Am, Dm, D7, G, C) we borrow two chords (the E7 and D7) from other places. Again if you listen to where the chords take you, it’s fairly easy to establish that the E7 is resolving to Am and the D7 to G. So we would write out this progression like this:

Are you still with me on this? Because sometimes, just to show you how tricky things can get, a chord might not be resolving to one of the chords of a given key. Then you have to be a bit of a detective to figure things out. Example #3 (C, A, D, G, C) is a typical example of this sort of thing. Here not only are A and D obviously “borrowed” from other keys, but the A resolves to the D which, since D is not part of the C chord group, presents us with a bit of a problem.

What we do in this case is to work backwards. Let’s mark what we know, okay?

Since G is the resolution for the D chord, we can (and rightly so!) make the case for D to be V of V. But that still leaves us with the A chord. But since A is the V of D, we basically create a secondary layer to describe how the A relates to the G. A would be V of V in G, correct? So we basically write that out in terms of the G to the C -

Aren’t you sorry you asked!!!

Seriously, This is an absolutely fascinating concept that many writers use (even though they may not know it). If you’d like to get a bit better handle on it, I suggest you read my column You Say You Want A Resolution.

When do I use E sharp instead of F?

I was talking to a friend who is a music teacher and to test me he asked me what the seventh would be in a F#maj7 chord. I eventually said the answer was F, he said the answer was actually E#. I was a bit confused by this, I am familiar with the enharmonic principle, but I had never heard anyone mention E#. So I went and dug out my books and looked up a couple of illustrations of the circle of fifths, and sure enough under F# in all the illustrations were the notes F#,G#,A#,B,C#,D#…and E#.

It’s questions like this that give music theorists a bad name…

Okay, technically you are both right. But in terms of the “classical” way of looking at things, E# is considered the correct answer. Why? Because if you look at the key signature for F#, there are six sharps (F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, and E#). And it’s the same thing when you look at the key of Gb – there will be a “Cb” in there. So the rule of thumb is to think of how the key signature would be written in standard notation and then to use that as your guideline.

This sort of thing though is what tends to scare good people away from music. It’s no skin off anyone’s nose to say, “Yes you are correct, however, this is how most scholars would like you to answer this…”

And in case you are interested – it is possible to argue the case that E# and F are NOT necessarily the same note. Think about this – on a violin or similar stringed instrument that has no frets (including the fretless bass guitar), it is wholly possible to make your notes sharper or flatter than they would be on a guitar, piano or any other instrument. It is simply a matter of moving your finger an infinitesimal distance one way or the other from the core note. This is why you have to have a great ear to play one of those things…

Is a chord change in a I-IV-V progression also a key change?

Technically the key of a song does NOT change with each chord change – things could get very weird if that were the case. For example, in the key of A you could solo for four bars on the A minor pentatonic scale then use the D minor pentatonic scale for two bars and back to A. You shouldn’t think of the switch to D as a “key change” per se but you can take advantage of the brief shift in modality to use a D minor pentatonic scale for the lead over these two measures. You can also use the same logic if you so desire to play an E minor pentatonic in the one measure of E (V) that comes up later on.

Two interesting things: the A minor pentatonic (A, C, D, E, G) could be used throughout the entire blues progrssion (I, IV, V). But if you wanted to try something interesting, you could also use the D minor pentatonic (D, F, G, A, C) either throughout the entire song or at least through the two measures of A after the two measures of D, just to spice things up a bit and create a very interesting feel.

What key is House of the Rising Sun in?

House of the Rising Sun is an incredibly interesting song because it flits between all three of the minor scales (natural, harmonic and melodic), never staying in one scale for long. However, it is always in A minor.

You could go a couple of different ways with this. First off, A minor pentatonic (A C D E G) will work over most of the progression. The only thing that could really hurt would be wailing on the G note over the E chord. True, G is a blue note in the E blues scale and the E minor pentatonic so if you use it wisely you may be fine.

What would also work would be to remember that leads are built upon more than just scales. Using chord shapes along “chord substitutions” will give you some very cool lines. For instance, Am is made up of A, C and E. If you kept those notes cycling in a triplet like this:

E – 12 – - – - – - – - – -
B – - – - 13 – - – - – - -
G – - – - – - – 14 – - – -

through the first part of the chord progression, you’d have this:

and that would sound very dynamic.

For more on this song check out the song lesson House of The Rising Sun and find out some intersting history in Legendary House.

How do I download the podcasts?

Guitar Noise Staff — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:13:48 +0000

Guitar Noise has its own series of guitar lesson podcasts. These are thirty-minute, one-on-one lessons with GN managing editor David Hodge. Generally, we add a new episode every second Monday. You can either listen to the podcast directly from our website or download it to your computer.

To play the podcast from our website, all you have to do is click on the “Play” icon on the Guitar Noise Blog. You can also download all of our podcasts directly to your computer or even onto devices such as iPods. In fact, we’d prefer that you do download the lessons in order to help us save some bandwidth!

To download a podcast right-click on the word “download” and use the “save target as” function to save it on your computer.

If you are an iTunes user check this out: From the “Advanced” menu in iTunes click “Subscribe to Podcast.” Paste the following link http://feeds.feedburner.com/GuitarNoisePodcast into the box and click “OK”. iTunes should automatically download the latest podcast when it’s published.

For everyone else: You don’t need an iPod or iTunes to listen to the lessons. Below the play button is a link that says “Download.” Right-click and “Save as”. You can listen to it on your computer or transfer it to any music player you have.

You can stay up to date with all the latest podcast happenings on the Guitar Noise Podcast page.

How do I submit my band’s CD for review?

Guitar Noise Staff — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:14:30 +0000

In 2010, we’ll be trying to get back into writing and publishing more reviews at Guitar Noise. Trouble is that we usually get so many things (CDs, books, tutorials, DVDs, picks, capos and just about anything you might imagine) that we usually end up quite backlogged with reviews. Hopefully we’ll find some middle ground that works. If you have something to be reviewed, or (better still) if you’d like to be an occasional Guitar Noise reviewer, please drop me a line at dhodgeguitar@aol.com and try to put “review” or “reviewer” in the subject line.

I’d like to thank all of you who have sent in emails already – you should be hearing back from me before this month is out. And, should all go well, I’m looking forward to working with you all to bring something special to the Guitar Noise community.

Am I too old to make it?

Nick Torres — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 08:00:50 +0000

To answer your question, if you are twenty-six you have plenty of opportunity to make it. Then again you will always have opportunity to make it.

However, you will need to better define “make it”.

There are many questions you need to ask yourself.

Do you just want to play as your sole means of financial security?

Would you consider teaching? Maybe a part time job too?

The answers to those little questions make a big difference.

Are you willing to treat playing as a job?

It won’t be a hobby anymore. You will need to formalize what you do. You need to put aside certain hours every day for writing music, real practice, band practice, PR, calling people, arranging gigs, collecting past due money, negotiating contracts, writing checks for posters, buttons, shirts, arranging travel, booking hotel rooms, etc.

Are you ready to play when you don’t want to? Don’t feel well? Are tired? Burnt out?

It’s not glamorous. Is that what you mean by make it?

But wait there is more.

Are you talking about the music or the money? If you play great music that is loved by many, but can’t support yourself solely on the proceeds is that success or failure?

See the problem is defining the question. You’ll see this quandary often in business and science and ethics classes and well, everywhere. If you don’t know the question, you won’t know how to get to the answer. A business wants to grow and be profitable. Is acceptable growth 2% or 20%? Is $10,000 of profit the goal or $1,000,000? Is making it living in a small apartment and driving a used car or do you want a big house and a new car? See what I mean?

So let me help you define the question. Don’t call it making it.

Personally I’d call it four things.

What do I love to do?
What am I willing to do to do the thing I love to do?
Where is the balance?
Will I learn to recognize and appreciate what I have when I have it?

Once you know the answers to those four go and do some homework. Get a book from the library on managing a band so you can see what goes on. Talk to people in the business. Do some soul searching.

Then again, maybe you shouldn’t ask me because I have already made it.

I teach and work and play out. Sometimes I play in front of a hundred or so people. That’s a big crowd for me. Sometimes I play in front of ten, a small crowd. I enjoy both equally. I play around campfires, with strangers, with beginners and experts. I play for kids in school and the occasional church service. I met a homeless guy playing on a street corner near where I work. I asked if he minded if I join in. Whenever I find someone to share music with I know I’ve made it.

I enjoy teaching guitar. When I get a student past a hurdle or they master a new song, I know I’ve made it.

I also enjoy my work. My co-workers want to know where I’m playing and they show up and support me. When people show up like that you get all warm and fuzzy and you know you’ve made it.

I have a bunch of the most wonderful and amazing friends. You know I’ve only met them a dozen times, but I think of them as some of my oldest and dearest friends. I play guitar with them a couple of times every year, wherever they are come hell or high water. Playing with these friends is more important to me than playing in front of a stadium full of people. Yep, once again I made it.

I’m a perpetual beginner guitarist. I always will be no matter my level of technical proficiency. Whenever I learn something new I know I’ve made it.

Just about anywhere in the world I could email someone and tell them I’m bringing my guitar and I’d not only have a friend to jam with, but probably a place to stay too. Uh-huh, I made it.

I’ve had a song written about me. I’ve got a musical nickname. I’ve got my picture hanging in a basement in Chicago. I’ve made it baby.

You’ve probably guessed that for me the most important question is the fourth one. Once you’ve got that one you really have made it.

And finally, just in case I got you down, remember this quote (by Dr. Wayne Dyer) from a past newsletter:

There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love; there’s only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen.

How do I advertise on Guitar Noise?

Guitar Noise Staff — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 02:03:26 +0000

If you are ready to buy advertising on the Internets top rated guitar site this page will answer some of the initial questions you are likely to have.

A few things to note:

We only accept advertising for products and services that would be of-interest to musicians
All advertising is CPM or flat-fee based
Our minimum ad buy is $100 USD

We currently have three different advertising options: newsletter inserts, banner ads, and sponsored links. We work with you to find the best solution for your budget and will happily provide current rates and demographics to anyone who is ready to begin advertising.

Newsletter Inserts

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Specifications for newsletter inserts are a maximum 50 word message and website URL. Ads can be text only, no html or graphics.

Sample ad:

Amazing Guitar
Is your guitar playing stuck in a rut? Here is a surefire way to improve fast. Join the thousands of guitar players who improve fast. Fantastic results in 7 days. Guaranteed.
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How do I submit articles I’ve written to Guitar Noise?

Guitar Noise Staff — Sat, 19 Feb 2005 11:15:25 +0000

As all of you know, Guitar Noise is a free web site – our writers receive no monetary compensation for articles. If you’ve taken a little time to look through Guitar Noise, you have found many things besides places to get TABs to songs. We are rightfully proud of the quality of our lessons, articles and reviews, and we are especially proud that our writers were all first visitors and readers of the site.

Just like you can be.

Don’t laugh! Perhaps you have something you’d like to say about a topic, or tell us about a concert you saw or review a CD that, chances are, few people are going to otherwise hear of. I know that some of you are probably tired of me saying that music is all about sharing, but it’s true.

Here are our guidelines for the submission of written material:

1. Email David Hodge (dhodgeguitar@aol.com) with a query letter or proposal. Please use the word “proposal” in the subject of your email. Then, simply introduce yourself and give a brief description of what you’d like to write. If it’s an article or a lesson, tell him what it’s about. If it’s a review of a concert or a CD, tell him who the artist/band is and when the CD came out or where and when the concert occurred (or is going to occur if you like to plan ahead).

2. David will email you a response, usually within a few days. If your proposal is accepted, he will assign you an editor from our staff who will work with you. A copy of the acceptance letter will also be emailed to your editor. If your proposal is not accepted, David will give you a reason why and encourage you to submit something again. It may simply be that we already have an article (or group of articles) on the subject and he wants to know how yours will be different and add to the site. It may be that your topic was too vague to get a clear idea of how it would actually turn out. This is why it is important to put some thought into things.

3. Once your proposal is accepted, you should submit the written piece to your editor in the form of an email attachment. Rich text format is preferred, but most formats are acceptable. Your editor will go over the piece, make corrections and offer suggestions and questions. Our goal is to make your submission as good as possible. When your editor sends the piece back to you, go over his or her thoughts and then respond with either answers or a revised piece.

4. When both you and your editor are happy with your article, it is be sent by the editor to David, who will then also make his suggestions. Once everyone involved is satisfied with how things turned out, David will forward the piece to Guitar Noise’s copy editor who will make final corrections in spelling and grammar that might have slipped through the initial process.

5. The finished article goes online. It is important to note that while the writer will have the final say on the piece, David or Paul have the option to decide not to put something online. It’s also important to note that this is extremely rare.

Technical Requirements

Sometimes it is easier to show something with a chart or example of musical notation rather than explain it in words. We are happy to help you include charts, tables or musical notation in your articles. Since we can’t change the layout of the site to make your article look good, you may have to make some changes to your work. Here are some guidelines to help you get started.

Spacing

If you are including examples of guitar tablature you should be aware that the spacing of fonts will make the lines look uneven when published on our site. This makes them difficult to read and unpleasant to look at. It is preferable that you use software like MusEdit to create you tab, or send your tablature example as an image file.

If you are making charts or tables in a word processor such as Microsoft Word you should be aware that most of your formatting will look different on the web. Things may not line up as you planned. If spacing is important in your charts, try making them in tables or use graphic design software.

Music Notation Software

We use the software MusEdit (http://www.musedit.com/ ) when creating examples using standard notation or tablature. If you use another editor such as Score or Power Tab we may not be able to view or edit your work. It would be best if you take screen shots of your work.

Using Graphics

Please send us original copies of all graphics you use in your article. Links to graphics on another website are not acceptable.

We can only use graphics in gif or jpeg format. Please optimize your graphics using a high resolution. Scanning printed material may not be acceptable.

To make sure your graphics fit on our pages please limit the dimensions to a maximum width of 500 pixels and maximum height of 300 pixels. Graphics taller than 300 pixels can be split into separate files that can stacked on top of each other.

Submitting files

Preferred formats are Microsoft Word or RTF (Rich Text Format). If necessary you may send us your work in html format. Please make sure you include any graphics or additional files.

It may be necessary to request changes to your work. The idea is to make your work look as good as possible on our site. We want to see your work published on Guitar Noise without creating a lot of extra work for our editors. Following these guidelines will help get your article online sooner looking the way you expect it to. Of course, we are here to help you if you need it.

I hope that this encourages some of you to share in your musical knowledge and adventures. I look forward to any questions you may have in this matter.

Peace

What are some good alternate tunings for a twelve string?

David Hodge — Sat, 15 Jan 2005 11:06:41 +0000

Two answers here because I’m pretty sure my first one is not what you had in mind. Be that as it may, the first answer is that you can do any alternate tuning that you’d use on a six-string guitar on a twelve string. Open G and D and DADGAD are especially nice as well as any that highlight finger picking patterns, such as CGDCGD.

But I suspect that you’re more interested in tunings where the octave strings of the twelve-string guitar are not tuned in octaves, but rather to something else. This is certainly something that can be done, but is extremely tricky to execute. Say that you tune your non-unison strings, the low E(sixth), A, D and G strings in fifths instead of octaves. So, high to low, you’re strings would be tuned like this:

E
E (same as string #1)
B
B (same as string #2)
G
D (one fifth higher than string #5 – same tone as 3rd fret, 2nd string)
D
A(one fifth higher than string #7 – same tone as 2nd fret, 5th string)
A
E (one fifth higher than string #9 – same tone as 2nd fret, 7th string)
E
B (one fifth higher than string #11 – same tone as 2nd fret,9th string)

Now unless you plan on only playing singe strings, you’ve got a lot to look out for. Playing an Em chord, for instance, would lead to the following Em9 voicing:

While this will sound really nice, it may not be the sound that you’re looking for. Things get even more interesting you go through the various chords you know. Take E major:

Now unless you’re really adept at string muting, you’ve got an E maj9 on your hands here. Again, this may not be bad if that’s the sound you want, but it’s the sound you’re stuck with unless you’re very careful.

Now imagine if you were to tune to, let’s say thirds. Your Em chord now has the following notes:

You can see that this is going to be very dissonant. And this is a simple chord! Ultimately you’d have to make a different tuning for each set of strings and even that would become so complicated that you’d have to wonder if it were worth it.

A lot of the signature sound of the twelve- string comes from the paired strings being struck together. Tuning these strings as octaves makes this easy as pie. What will help you get a lot of interesting sounds is not necessarily learning new tunings as much as learning new and interesting ways to form the chords you know. Might I suggest starting with an article like Multiple Personality Disorder, which you can find right here on our site?

By the way, a warm welcome to the ranks of twelve-string guitar players! I think you’re going to find your new instrument to be a challenge, yet very rewarding when it comes to expressing yourself musically.

If you’re interested in tuning a 12 string to standard, don’t miss How do I tune a 12 string guitar?

What pitfalls should I avoid as a beginning student?

David Hodge — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 10:59:03 +0000

Think about it. In our brains, we can easily understand that, having picked up the guitar all of a week, month or year ago, we’re certainly not in the league of our favorite guitar idol. And, again in our brains, we pretty much know that couldn’t be otherwise.

But time after time we curse ourselves for not being as good as we could be. Of course, the “good as we could be” is often not rooted in much reality. I’ve discussed this in numerous articles in the past, such as If I Only Had… and I think, unfortunately, the whole concept of learning as a process, and a process to b treasured at that, is in danger of being lost.

And that, to me anyway, is the real problem: that our desire to be perfect, and instantly perfect at that, steals the joys and pleasures of learning from us.

This is one of the main reasons that I teach. I know that probably more than ninety-nine percent of my students are not going to become professional guitarists. But I fully intend that one hundred percent are going to be able to enjoy making whatever music pleases each of them.

It’s been said millions of times before and much more eloquently than I could ever hope to say it, music is not a competition. Making it so tends to bring about the frustration that most musicians feel and that frustration usually revolves around one’s impatience with the learning process.

You’re going to be playing music for the rest of your life. Take the time to enjoy and savor each moment of the trip. It’ll make you happier and, believe it or not, it will make you work harder at getting better. That’s what life’s all about.

Should I learn to read music?

David Hodge — Sun, 05 Dec 2004 10:43:50 +0000

First off, I’d like to direct you to a great discussion about this very topic that took place on the Forum pages a little while back. Please read Teaching Methods.

One of the arguments here, that when you learn another instrument such as piano, saxophone or even drums, that the teacher will teach you to read notation, is very telling I think.

It is certainly possible to learn to play guitar, to play it one’s whole life in fact, and not ever read a single note of music. Or TAB, for that matter. This is the “classic” argument you’ll hear time and time again…”Paul McCartney (or pick any musician you’d like to use as an example) didn’t read music and he’s certainly done okay…”

And, as an argument, there’s not too much that you can say about that. Not because of what it says but because anyone who uses that argument is probably not interested in reading music.

How can I get that out of this simple sentence? Well, seriously think about it… Any guitarist (or musician) that we consider has “made it” has done so, in all likelihood, without his or her ability to read music even entering the picture. There are so many factors involved in being able to make it as an artist that to focus on this one thing (technically, this lack of one thing) is an approach that would only be resorted to in order to close down a discussion rather than to start one up.

Much more important to consider is this – What, if anything, has so-and-so’s decision to not learn to read music (and it is a decision much more often than a disability – more on that later) got to do with me as a guitarist? After all, I’m not Paul or Jimi or Stevie or whoever.you decide to pick as an example.

I can’t speak for you, but as someone who is, even at the age of forty-seven, constantly trying to become a better guitarist, musician, human being, I will gladly welcome all the help and advice I can get! Why on earth would I walk away from anything that could possibly help me get better? I don’t have the luxury, or the patience to sit and reinvent the wheel. Nor do I have the ego that makes me think that my reinventing the wheel will make me a superior person.

I could claim it’s hard work, but, quite frankly, so was learning the guitar in the first place. I could claim I don’t have the time, but I make the time to practice. What would spending an extra five or ten minutes a day for a few months cost me? I could say I’m too old but I know a lot of people who’ve learned to read music at a late age. And when I make that statement, I’m also assuming that all of us would agree that learning to read music at seventy-eight or eighty-two to be considered “late.”

Writing out a list of pros takes no work at all. And most of these were mentioned in that Forum thread I mentioned earlier. There’s being able to read a lot of guitar music that isn’t done in TAB. There’s the ability to know when a piece of TAB is wrong or, even better, to realize that there’s an easier way to play something than simply by what the TAB suggests. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen a difficult stretch dictated by a TAB only to realize that there was a simpler way to get the same note. And being able to read what the note was is what made me see that.

Another “pro,” and this is also a huge benefit, is that you’re not limited to guitar music. You can get some really great ideas and arrangements from being able to read piano music (quite a few of our song lessons, in fact, come from this), not to mention being able to put in horn parts or fiddle tunes or just about any sort of music you can think of.

And it’s important to note here that the “pros” we’re listing (and hopefully the ones you’re listing as well) are all tangible things. These aren’t opinions; they are facts. There are real things that you can accomplish simply by knowing how to read music. The same is not so on the other side. In fact, it’s in listing out the “cons” where I run into an incredible problem. I’ve been trying to do an itemization of this nature for the better part of two months now and, for the life of me, I cannot come up with any “cons.” And I suspect that others can’t either, because if you read any discussion of this, no one offers any real reasons to not read music, specific things like

If I substitute the word “excuses” for “cons,” then I can indeed come up with a list. In addition to the “so-and-so doesn’t read music” argument, there’s the “it’s too hard” or “it takes time” that we’ve also already discussed.

And there’s also the “coolness” factor, I think. Whether or not we’re honest enough with ourselves to admit it, the idea of being a “rebel” or an “outsider” appeals to most of our natures. So being able to do something without being part of the norm strikes us as being cool. And, personally, I think this is also why a lot of musicians make a big claim to not knowing how to read music. It’s part of the image. The truly silly thing about this kind of posturing though, and again it only works if you’re able to honestly look at things, is that we tend to really delude ourselves with this sort of thinking. Advertisers know this; it’s in fact the heart of most pitches: Be unique by buying the same thing everyone else does! And I really shouldn’t get started down this particular path…

But doesn’t the fact that I can’t list a single item in the “cons” column that is a genuine reason to not learn to read music, instead of an excuse, make the point for me? If not, then take a look for yourself. Write out what “cons” you have. Chances are very likely, if you’re being honest with yourself, that your reasons are simply clever (or not so clever) translations of “because I think it’s stupid” or “because I don’t want to.”

And, again, that’s why I don’t think it’s worth an argument. If you can’t see how the pros of being able to read music can honestly help you out, and how there’s nothing about being able to read music that can make you a worse musician or guitarist, then what can I possibly say that will change your mind.