Guitar playing and the stuff that comes with it like backing up your audiofiles, writing down your lyrics and music becomes even more enjoyable if you got the right tools for the job.

Or some nice blues backingtracks to improvise over. It makes practicing a hell of a lot more fun.

Let’s take a look at these guitar productivity tools:

- Blanksheetmusic.net Notation sheets for every instrument and vocals

- www.guitarvoice.com Awesome guitar backingtracks. Search by artist, random or genre.

- Crashplan.com Unlimited Online backup storage for all your precious audio files and everything else for only $3 a month

- Audio.online-convert.com Online audio/video/ebook converter

- Mflow is a really good sounding/looking Online Social Music Streaming Tool next to Spotify, Last.fm and Grooveshark

- Audio speed tempo pitch changer (reducing audiospeed while remaining pitch and vice versa)
for Windows: Windows Media Player 12
for Mac: Audiolobe

- Masterwriter.com Songwriter tool used by famous artists and producers including Rob Thomas and David Foster.

- The 150 Essential Chords Ebook I would be a fool not to recommend my own 150 Essential Chord Ebook. A good organized, categorized and easy to read chord book with a nice layout. Free to download.

- Reading sheet music:
A short version:www.musictheory.net
An extended version: www.readsheetmusic.info

- More Tools 21-must-have-online-musician-tools-for-guitar-players

If you know some cool guitar productivity tools, please share it in the comments.

I appreciate it.
Klaus

Click here to download your free copy of "The 150 Esstential Chords" Ebook

When I first started out playing on stage I was quite a shy person.

Sometimes I could be totally the opposite but many times I was just a wreck because of a lack of confidence.

I usually wasn’t at ease.

Through the years I discovered with trial and error why I always felt this nerve racking. I eventually learned to be totally happy, at ease and enjoying the experience on stage. So can you.

Here are the keys to find solid confidence on stage:

Know your material
Make sure you know your songs by heart. Know your chords, progressions, keys, scales and solos thoroughly, from top to bottom, inside out, 110%. Practice as much as possible. Get it down! If you really know your stuff you are half way there.

Choose the right material
Pick songs within your skill level or easier. Once you’re out on stage it’s a burden less to worry about. You don’t want feel anxiety because you might not be in shape today. Choose material you really like or better yet love to play.

The show must go on
If you make a mistake, don’t draw any attention to it. Just go on as usual. People probably won’t even notice, but if you make a fuzz out of it yourself, they will too. Put on your best pokerface for a second and pretend it’s all in the game. It shows you are a pro.

Lighten up
Don’t take yourself damn seriously. Don’t try to act cooler than you are. Be yourself and you’ll be cool enough. It’s okay to smile on stage once in a while. People will love you for it. If you be yourself you’ll be much more relaxed and confident.

Focus
Concentrate and totally live in the moment with your music. Be in love with the music first and then love the audience for listening. Don’t do it the other way around. Don’t let yourself be distracted by what the audience might think of you, your performance or whatever. Don’t tempt yourself to read their minds, it’s totally useless and counterproductive.

If you’re truly one with the music, your instrument and let it sweep you away, people will hear it, see it and feel it instantly. The audience loves a true, passioned and authentic artist.

Prepare your performance
Know what to do on stage from beginning to end. Make a playlist. Prepare how to introduce yourself. Know what to say or do between songs. Learn it by heart. There is always room for spontaneity but you can fall back on what you’ve prepared. Let people know you belong on that stage. Take control. Engage, involve, appreciate your audience and thank them for coming.

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”

Click here to download your free copy of "The 150 Esstential Chords" Ebook

If you’re new to scale sequences I suggest you check out “6 Basic Major Scale Sequences / Melodic Patterns” first. That’s where I explain why and how you should practice scale sequences.

This is Part II of the previous post and if you got the basic scale sequences under your belt you’re pretty much up for this challenge.

I recommend you play these sequenses along with a metronome: “www.metronomeonline.com” It’s the best way to make progress in accuracy and speed. Start out really slow and gradually build up your speed. Only go faster when you can play each note clear and correctly.

The sequences are for the intermediate and advanced. They are tricky but incredibly fun to play.

Enjoy and improve!

When I first learned to play sequences I didn’t know what all the fuzz was about. Why was it so important to learn all these “sequences” or as some prefer to call them “melodic patterns”?

Anyhow, I did enjoy playing them because after a while I got into this flow and it sounded kinda cool.

Once I really got the hang of it I came to learn the benefits of mastering sequences

Sequences will improve your technique and ability to improvise and create melody on the spot.

Your playing becomes more flexible, creative and it’ll keep you from sounding like someone who is playing scales all the time. :-)

In other words… Want to improve your technique or want to improve your improvising skills?

Go ahead and work hard on these assignments.

Enjoy!

Assignment #1: Memorize the G Major scale and play it using alternate picking.

Assignment #2: Memorize the 6 sequences below (ascending and descending) and play them through the cycle of fourths. (in the key G, C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, B, E, A, D, G)

Assignment #3: Incorporate bits and pieces of each sequence into your improvisation.

Assignment #4: Try to make melodies from the patterns, play with the notes, experiment with timing and rhythm, turn things around, extend or shorten the duration/length of some of the notes, create pauses, etc.

These assignments will keep you busy for a while. Be patient and take your time!

You might doubt if your ever gonna learn a particular piece as well as you would like to. You may feel hopeless about your technique or you might be disappointed about your overall results.

I had many doubts, I guess I was as much insecure about my playing as I was confident.

One way I overcame most of these insecurities is when I started reading and learning about how the mind works. The wisdom obtained from Zen and Taoism can make a huge difference in your playing. The other way to find solid self asteem has to do with how you practice.

Let ‘s take a look at the keys to becoming a true confident guitar player:

As you are so is the world ~ Ramana Maharshi

What does this quote teach you about guitar playing?

Well let’s first explain what it means:

If you are positive minded, the world will come across as positive too. In reality the world is just the world. It’s neither positive nor negative, there are neither good nor bad days and to put it into guitar terms, there are neither great practice sessions nor lousy ones.

The world and thus your guitar playing is just how you perceive it. If you feel like your guitar playing isn’t working, it’s because you think it isn’t working.

Practicing is progress. Sometimes it feels like you are doing great and sometimes it feels like it ain’t going nowhere. It’s part of the process of getting better. One step forward and two steps back, two step forward and one step back. Accept it like it is. If you’re not experiencing any struggle you’re probably not doing the hard and challenging work.

So again, there is no use in feeling disappointed. Just keep an open, positive and focused mind at all times. That’s how you make progress. And you definitely will.

The guitar habit

Creating and maintaining a good guitar habit is all about keeping yourself motivated.

The most important rule about motivation is being passioned and passion will stay with you as long as you make progress and the only way to make progress is to practice on a regularly weekly basis. Better yet on a daily basis.

The more consistent you practice, the more progress you’ll make and the more excited you will get. It’s as simple as that.

Try to practice 30 to 45 minutes a day or 45 minutes every other day without exceptions.

If you can keep up your regular practice schedule for 30 days it has become a habit and there’s a good chance it will stick with you.

Congratulations! You’re on the road for good things to come.

Now there are also secondary ways to keep you motivated like:

- What to practice.
Practice songs or a style that makes you eager for more. What style of music do you like? Jazz, blues or classical?

- Where to practice
You’re practice environment is of great importance to your motivation. Create an inspiring practice space where you would love to hang out.

- Who or what inspires you.
Study and learn from your favorite artists, guitar players and guitar teachers. Read inspiring blogs and magazines. Watch DVD’s and go to concerts.

- What get’s you high.
Find that thing that get’s you turned on. Do you love playing in a band, perform or jam with other guitar players?

How to practice
Write down on a worksheet what you are going to practice and stick with it. When you practice you focus on practicing and no you don’t go to the toilet, you don’t have conversations, you don’t surf on the net or play something that is not on your worksheet.

You practice and practice only. Try to stay relaxed and focused, analyze, slow down, speed up, think creative, experiment, work hard, be persistent and keep up your good spirit at any time.

There is a lot to practice depending on what your goals are. There are chords, scales, solo and solo techniques, picking and fingerpicking techniques, strumming patterns and then there is music theory, ear training, songwriting, etc. Don’t let it all overwhelm you. Just enjoy your musical path as it comes to you and where it will lead you.

There a lot of musicians out there who have limited knowledge of music but still make great music. However anything you will learn will contribute to your skills, make you a better musician and expand your ideas and guitar vocabulary.

Practice what your teacher encourages you and besides that learn one song, solo or one other thing that really really excites you and practice it on a regular basis until you master it inside out. Make it yours!

If you run into any problems or get stuck somewhere then ask your teacher for advice and continue perfecting your song or what else you’re working on.

Fail it until you nail it!

If you’re confident enough to play it in front of an audience (don’t matter how big or small) you can continue to work on your next musical piece or project.

This way you’ll gain courage and faith every step of the way.

As your favorite repertoire expands keep rehearsing and repeating your material on a regular basis to maintain and grow your confidence.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. ~ Lao Tzu

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You have my gratitude.
Klaus

Click here to download your free copy of "The 150 Esstential Chords" Ebook

I only learned the first and classic position that most guitar players know, but l did learn it thoroughly though.

I also figured some blues boxes like the “Albert King box” and the “B.B King box”. (they are not official names).

They are just little pieces of postion 2 and 3 of the blues scale. I learned how to connect the minor pentatonic scale and some of these blues boxes together and tried to improvise over these scales in every possible way I could. (by creating licks, applying sequences, learning solos to gain input, building a vocabulary to understand soloing and improvisation, etc.)

Much later on I learned to use the other 4 postions of the pentatonic / blues scale. Then I moved onto the major scale and it’s modes, harmonic minor, melodic minor etc. But not all those scales are important or necessary for every guitar player.

So the big question is: What is the most important scale for you to learn?

Well that all depends on which style you are playing.

If I would really have to name the two most important in general I would say:

1 – Major diatonic scale
2 – Pentatonic / Blues scale

You can use the pentatonic scale for just about every style you can think of and the major diatonic scale is the building block from where it all happens. All your scales, chords and chord progressions are derived from the major scale. It’s where you will build your knowledge of theory, which will also improve your improvising skills.

As I just said, your most important scale is depending on what style you are playing.
So let’s take a look at what scales are appropriate for different styles of music.

Metal: Minor pentatonic.

Rock: Minor pentatonic / blues scale.

Country pop rock:(e.g. Eagles, Lynyrd skynyrd, etc.): Major diatonic scale and major pentatonic scale.

Blues: Blues scale.

Country: Major pentatonic / blues scale.

Easy listening: Major diatonic scale and major pentatonic scale.

Christian music: Major diatonic scale and major pentatonic scale.

Jazz: Major diatonic scale and the modes, major and minor pentatonic / blues scales, harmonic minor, melodic minor, whole tone scale, chromatic scale.

The more you learn about scales the more fascinating guitar playing becomes, but take it slowly and take it step by step and learn each scale thoroughly before moving onto the next one.

You want to become a guitar player who can improvise and solo over these scales and not a guitar player who can play a lot of scales but doesn’t know how to apply them. You want to make music with those scales.

Learn as much about a particular scale as you can.

Have a great one!

Just because you know umpteen billion scales, it doesn’t mean you have to use them all in a solo. ~ Kirk Hammett

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Thank you, you’re very kind!
Klaus

Click here to download your free copy of "The 150 Esstential Chords" Ebook

Sure there are a lot of songs you can mention but there are always certain songs that stand out from the rest and which most guitar players want to know how to play when they start out.

I still know how great it felt and what a victory it was when I could play “Sweet child o’ mine” and “More than words” for the first time. The golden days of learning your classics you will never forget.

To give you an idea of what guitar songs have really made a name for itself I put together a list with 20 guitar classics with help and many thanks of guitar players on twitter and in real life.

I appreciate every song you want to add to this list. I know the list is far from complete and not each and every song may suit your taste, but it’s here to give you some inspiration. You might want to learn to play some great classics that have made musical history.

Here they are:

1 Hotel California – The Eagles

2 Nothing else matters – Metallica

3 More than words – Extreme

4 Wonderwall – Oasis

5 Stairway to heaven – Led Zeppelin

6 Sweet child o’ mine – Guns ‘n roses

7 Knocking on heavens door – Bob Dylan

8 Sweet home alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd

9 Wish you were here – Pink Floyd

10 Blackbird – The Beatles

11 Smoke on the water – Deep Purple

12 Under the bridge – Red hot chili peppers

13 Dust in the wind – Kansas

14 Heart of gold – Neil Young

15 Sunshine of your love – Cream

16 Autumn leaves – Joseph Kosma

17 Girl from Ipanema – Antonio Carlos Jobim

18 Smells like teen spirit – Nirvana

19 Give a little bit – Supertramp

20 Tears in heaven – Eric Clapton

Here is one song I really love. It’s not necessarily a guitar classic, but just a beautiful song I often play. Orginally written by the Bee Gees, but this version by Ray La Montagne and Damien Rice makes me fall in love with it over and over again.

1 To love somebody – Ray La Montagne & Damien Rice

What is your favorite guitar classic?
Let me know.

Click here to download your free copy of "The 150 Esstential Chords" Ebook