On The Beat with Totally Guitars

Totally Guitars Lessons Weekly Wrap Up Feb. 24th, 2012

admin — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 20:28:17 +0000

February 24, 2012, Another stunning day here in Northern California... which frequently leads to scattered and disorganized Weekly News Reviews. In a nutshell- Our main Target releases this week stayed with developing themes: The Guess Who, Damien Rice, and Buddy Holly. The lessons were on No Time, Older Chests, and one of Buddy's biggest, Not Fade Away. The last song being covered by The Rolling Stones and The Grateful Dead, to name a few. We sat in on lessons with my students Fred and Jacob, concentrating on adding vocals to a strumming song (Me And You And A Dog Named Boo by Lobo), and working on arpeggio picking (House Of The Rising Sun). As many Fly On The Wall lessons do, Jacob and I got sidetracked into a couple of Doors songs as well. This week we also added a couple Student Reviews, looking at the Classical Gas and Strawberry Fields Forever. I am starting to get more time to devote to these right now so please add yours while this phase is running more consistently. ...back to practicing on this beautiful day... Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Lessons Weekly Wrap Up Feb. 17th, 2012

admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:26:04 +0000

February 17, 2012 This week we resurrected a popular feature that our Target Members have enjoyed since Day 1- Student Reviews. This part of the site is where students upload videos of songs they are working on and get comments and suggestions from other members, as well as a critical review from me. This week we saw reviews of Listen To The Music by The Doobie Brothers and George Harrison's Here Comes The Sun. We are happy to get this feature back up and running. We also added Target lessons by Buddy Holly, Damien Rice, and a slack key instrumental- Ke Aloha. The Buddy Holly tune was Words Of Love, a song covered by no less than The Beatles as John Lennon was a huge fan of Holly's. We continued our exploration of Damien Rice songs with one of his first to get airplay here- The Blower's Daughter. This is a classic example of his use of semi-open barre chords that really contribute to an interesting sound. We also had a short Fly On The Wall video for this song as my student Pete started working on it recently. Another Fly On The Wall video was published this week that featured Kevin working on Closer To Fine, by The Indigo Girls. this lessons also went a bit into explaining Suspended Chords. On a little sideline, I had fun tracking the progress of The Banner. If you have not been following this, be sure to check the thread on the Forum as to the whereabouts of this global traveler. It has made its way to California, on its way to who knows where... Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Lessons Weekly Wrap Up Feb. 10th, 2012

admin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:18:51 +0000

February 10, 2012 This week we got back into the world of Slack Key Guitar with a couple of easy songs. We started the week with a short waltz, The Moloka'i Waltz. this is a great place for the budding Slack Key player to start. A good continuation piece was released as well called Kimo's Slack Key. Both of these are in Open G Tuning, also known as Taro Patch Tuning. Along the same lines we sat in on Sandy's lesson on Moloka'i Waltz, her first look at something in an altered tuning. Another Fly On The Wall video was done with a student new to the FOW program, Pete. He was working on a couple of Damien Rice tunes and this week we started Volcano. If you are working on that be sure to take a look at Pete's lesson. At the end of the week we went north of the border for one of my favorite bands, The Guess Who. This was a Canadian band led by guitarist Randy Bachman and vocalist (and multi-instrumentalist) Burton Cummings. this week's entry was their first big hit, These Eyes. The lesson transcribe the keyboard opening into a nice little jazzy guitar intro. The rest of the song included some unusual chords and challenging strumming. That's what we had on tap for our Target members this week, I hope everybody enjoyed the additions. Until next week... Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Lessons Weekly Wrap Up Feb. 3rd, 2012

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:46:50 +0000

February 3, 2012 This week we stepped back into the world of Slack Key Guitar with an arrangement of Paniau, a song written by Helen Desha Beamer (Keola's great-grandmother) about a house on the Big Island belonging to her friends, Al& Annabelle Ruddle. It is played in C Wahine Tuning (C-G-D- G-B-E). We also continued some recent themes with Elephant by Damien Rice and Day After Day by Badfinger. We had a couple Fly On The Wall videos that focused mainly on theory- one with Ed exploring using triads as a basis for lead playing, much like in our series called Lead Secrets, and another with Fred learning about secondary dominant chords, The latter also looked at a great tune by Marty Robbins called Devil Woman. Jack van Breen took us back into the vintage world of Rickenbacker guitars with demonstrations of a couple old lap steel guitars referred to as the Frying Pans. You have to take a look at those. The other big news was the discovery and reassignment of some early video I did called Quick Tips. These are a bunch of short clips covering a myriad of important things all guitar players need to know. They can now be found under the Tips, Techniques, Theory& Styles menu. I even learned a few things I had forgotten! Until next week... Stay Tuned& In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Lessons Weekly Wrap Up Jan. 27th, 2012

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:48:41 +0000

January 27, 2012 For some reason today I was in a mood to play a little slack key guitar. Meaning I played a few things, none of which were related to this week's additions here at TG. I think it started a couple of weeks ago when I decided to do the lesson on Tears On The Moon, in C Wahine tuning. This week I have my guitar stuck in Taro Patch (not as dangerous as it seems!). Back to the subject at hand... We continued our paths of Badfinger and Damien Rice (somebody ask me to stop) with 9 Crimes and a couple of tunes from Magic Christian Music. 9 Crimes was basically the title song from Damien Rice's second album, cryptically titled 9. Seems to make perfect sense as the follow-up to O. The song was originally done on the piano but it translates very well to a simple, Campfire strumming song, as well as an arpeggio fingerpicking song that follows the original fairly accurately. The first Badfinger album included some of their pre-Badfinger songs, when they released Maybe Tomorrow under their original name, The Iveys, along with a few songs in the movie The Magic Christian. I'm sure everybody had heard Paul McCartney's Come And Get It but Carry On Till Tomorrow was a lot more obscure, unless you had the patience to sit through the movie. I recently tried to watch it and it had lost a lot over the years. Who knows what changed??? In any case, it shows the incredible talent Pete Ham and Tom Evans had. We had a couple Fly On The Wall videos, of course. One was a short trip into getting better sound with a pick. The other introduced you to a young student of mine, Jacob. He usually comes into his lesson with a band in mind, and wants to try some of their songs. This week it was Marcy Playground. We listened to a few of their songs and as he left I wondered why he needed me to help him. He has a very good ear and finds things relatively easily on the guitar. We looked briefly at St. Joe On The School Bus, Sherry Fraser, A Cloak Of Elvenkind, and Gone Crazy. Heads up for the coming weeks- slack key songs. It might be time to revisit some of our alternate tuning songs. Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Lessons Weekly Wrap Up Jan. 20th, 2012

admin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:42:43 +0000

January 20, 2012 This week we followed mostly a similar path to last week, Badfinger and Damien Rice were the headliners at TG, with a little excursion into slack key guitar for good measure. From Damien's catalog we took a look at Cannonball. This is another typical song from him: haunting, emotional, thought-provoking, with a very cool guitar riff as well. As evidenced by some comments on the Forum, many people were familiar with the song Without Out, mainly due to Harry Nilsson's huge hit with it. It was written by Apple artists Badfinger, specifically Pete Ham and Tom Evans. These talented songwriter and musicians came up with many great songs in their years together. We also had a Fly On The Wall video with Fred working through the chord progression and thinking about it in different keys. While we are in the Fly On The Wall department, we had a real surprise with a R&B type tune from Akon called Don't Matter. Kevin wanted to put a reggae spin on it and we basically came up with a simple campfire arrangement that almost any student could play. We ended the week with a composition of mine called Tears On The Moon. It is a slack key piece done in C Wahine Tuning (C G D G B E), also known as Keola's C as it is commonly used by Keola Beamer. There are a few more like this in the pipeline so don't be afraid to tackle songs in this tuning that really only requires lowering the 5th and 6th strings. Of course, all the stuff I have mentioned above is part of the Target Program but we also added a couple of song packs for our members who like their lessons bundled. We started the week with a 10-Pack of songs by John Lennon and followed with a 5-Pack of America songs. Today's News also included a bit of a trivia puzzle, as well as a lot of playing, maybe too much. At the last minute I decided to carry the puzzle over until next week rather than give the answer. Check it out when you can and let us know what you think. Stay Tuned& Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Lessons Weekly Wrap Up Jan. 13th, 2012

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:44:53 +0000

January 13, 2012 This week we continued with some Target releases from artists that have been popular lately here at TG- Damien Rice and Badfinger. We did two Damien Rice songs, Volcano and Grey Room, along with Baby Blue by Badfinger. All of these have some very interesting challenges for most players, in spite of the fact that they seem simple on the surface. Be sure to check them out. We also had a couple of Fly On The Wall videos with some of our regulars, Fred and Kevin. Kevin was working on Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, and Fred and I had a New Year's check up. We looked back at progress over the last year and talked a bit about where we might be going in the near future. The other big news this week was our sister site, TotallyKeyboards. We have had the site available to Target members for a few weeks and appreciate them kicking the tires for us. We are now offering free trial memberships to all TG members, with special discounts available to Target members and Target Founding Members. See the recent post on the Forum for the specifics. Otherwise... Happy Friday The Thirteenth, a popular day in this part of California thanks to historical figure Sarah Winchester and her 'Mystery House.' Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Lessons Weekly Wrap Up Jan. 6th, 2012

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:48:02 +0000

January 6, 2012 Welcome to the New Year and I hope everybody had a good and relaxing Holiday Season. This week we got back in stride with a few new Target releases and a couple Fly On The Wall videos. Our in the studio lessons this week featured Fred working on adding the vocal part [...]

Totally Guitars Lessons Weekly Wrap Up Dec. 24th, 2011

admin — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:43:05 +0000

The big news this week was the launch of another sister site- TotallyKeyboards. We are very fortunate to have a great keyboard teacher, Dave Coldren and are excited about welcoming him into the family. Be sure to check it out when you can. On the new release side we added a few Christmas songs with instrumental arrangements of Let It Snow, I Wonder As I Wander, and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, along with a couple of personal favorites, Lonely People by America and Clifton In The Rain by Al Stewart. Al's song is from his first album, released in 1967, and one he still performs regularly. This was a request from our Recommend A Lesson section that jumped out at me and I had to act on it. Keep 'em coming. ....

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up December 16th, 2011

admin — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:35:14 +0000

December 16, 2011 This week we had to bring out a few new Christmas tunes- a couple of instrumentals and a bluesy sing along. We started the week with a ragtime arrangement of Gene Autry's Here Comes Santa Claus, followed that with a reverent take on The Little Drummer Boy (done in Dropped D tuning), and ended the week with the contemporary classic Please Be Home for Christmas, mostly along the lines of the Eagles version. We tried to balance the heavy holiday leanings with a look at I Need You by America and a couple of Fly On The Wall videos visiting Don McLean's Castles In The Air and singing tips with respect to Bob Dylan's Dream and The Boxer. I also had a little time to sit down with the guitar and explore some melodic and harmonic ideas. We put out a couple of these as Acoustic Guitar Abstracts (#4 and #5). Looking back, it was about this time last year that I started this soon-to-be tradition. Maybe the holiday season gives me a chance to play the guitar more. We also had another trip into the past with Jack van Breen showing us a 1930s Gibson lap steel guitar- definitely a blast from the past for the vintage collectors. Next week we have a very cool announcement coming so check in early in the week. Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up December 9th, 2011

admin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:19:24 +0000

December 9, 2011 There was probably more playing than talking on today's news. The weather here today just made me want to sit outside and play the guitar. I did go over a few of the highlights this week though. We had probably one of the most varied set of 3 songs released to the Target Program. They ranged from the dark recesses of Damien Rice's Eskimo, through the great acoustic stylings of America with Sandman, and into the wacky world of Caravan with Hello Hello. Caravan is known for using unusual time signatures so be sure to give it a listen and see if you can figure out what's going on in Hello Hello. We continued our extensive series of lessons on Ain't No Sunshine with Fred working on refining the picking, something that is fairly new for him. We also had another Fly On The Wall video with Kevin getting back to Friend Of The Devil. That's about it for today's report... I'm going back outside to play the guitar! Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up December 2nd, 2011

admin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:27:14 +0000

December 2, 2011 This week everybody is allowed to get out their seasonal gear and start listening to Christmas tunes. We even added a semi-seasonal tune to the Target Program, John Lennon's Happy Xmas (War Is Over). This is an interesting series of chords and key changes. A couple of special requests made it to the top of the list as well- Damien Rice's Delicate, and the solo guitar arrangement of Ain't No Sunshine. We also put out a couple of interesting Fly On The Wall videos. The first featured Fred in our second lesson on Long May You Run, and the next was Kevin taking a second look at Another Brick In The Wall by Pink Floyd. The last big news for this week is we are now offering all members of TG a 25% discount at our sister-site TotallyVocals. Follow the link to http://totallyvocals.com/TG25 Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up November 25, 2011

admin — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 21:14:41 +0000

November 25, 2011 This week at TG we had a set of new Target lessons, a Pink Floyd Fly On The Wall, and a nod toward the American tradition of playing Alice's Restaurant around Thanksgiving time. Our Arlo Guthrie connection was rekindled with a Student Review of his country-blues, talking-blues, ragtime fingerstyle guitar, 1960s folk-protest song (I'm sure I missed a few adjectives there so feel free to fill in your own). As part of our Fly On The Wall lessons we took Kevin a little further into the world of Pink Floyd with a look at Another Brick In The Wall. Of course, this is the title song (or at least Part 2 of 3) the last real PF album that also included Comfortably Numb, Is There Anybody Out There, and Goodbye Blue Sky, all lessons we have here at TG, I think. Our main Target releases started with John Lennon's Instant Karma, a lesson presented in our Work It Out style to improve ear-training. I guess I have to start warning people to not print out attachments until watching the Preview, as this format is obviously gaining popularity. On Wednesday we stayed firmly entrenched in the 60s with Donovan's folk song Catch The Wind. This is a nice song to work on picking out some bass lines as part of the strumming, much like is done in Bluegrass playing. The week ended with a look at You're So Vain by Carly Simon. This lesson included some of the piano parts, and even the little bass flourish at the beginning. I hope everybody in the US had a good Thanksgiving weekend with relatives/food/football... whatever. Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up November 18, 2011

admin — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:45:03 +0000

November 18, 2011 This week we had a couple of huge things happen. The biggest is the we are now offering some very special deals to our long time members at TG to become Founding Members at TotallyVocals. Our early TG supporters carry a badge that identifies them as a Founding Member of TG. This means they are locked in to the best rate ever offered to subscribers. This option is now being offered to all Target members, with an even better deal offered to Founding Members. This is the time to be a Founding Member at TV. Check the Forum for the latest details. The other really big news is we have released a set of lessons on Lead Playing. I have never been a fan of mastering dozens of scales and translating that into becoming a solid lead player. My approach has been captured on video in our new package- Lead Secrets: Triads. Be sure to check it out for a radically different approach to playing lead. We also had a couple of lessons built around a great Neil Young tune, Long May You Run. This included a Target lesson on the song as well as a Fly On The Wall lesson where Fred and I worked the song out. On the blog side we had a couple of great pieces from our old buddy Keith Holland, talking about bridges for Teles and Strats, and a short clip from Jack van Breen on a great amp from Fender, the G-Dec. Be sure to check them out. That's it for the week, be sure to think about the benefits of becoming a Founding Member at TotallyVocals.com Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up November 11, 2011

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:52:54 +0000

November 11, 2011 This week we had a lot of themes that carried over different lessons. It started with a few looks at Ain't No Sunshine, by Bill Withers. We put out the Campfire Version as part of our Free Lessons, a more detailed version (really what Bill played originally) as part of the Target Program, and a Fly On The Wall lesson where Fred and I worked out the details. We had a couple of John Lennon's songs cross our path. The first was Real Love, where we took looks at both his original demo version and the Beatles reworking from the Anthology Project. There was a Student Review of John's tune Working Class Hero as well. This is a basic song on one level but there are always some subtleties that require extra attention. Another Student Review started with Kevin complaining of being in a guitar slump. One approach to getting out of these is to play something new, fun, and relatively easy. We started into Comfortably Numb and he left with a much better outlook on his playing. Stay tuned till next week... We wrapped up the week with a pretty easy song by Donovan, Hurdy Gurdy Man. As is sometimes the custom, I took this one into a 'Work It Out' approach, turning it into an ear-training lesson. Be sure to watch the beginning before printing out the chart. The biggest news for all of us was a more formal launch of TotallyVocals. This week we opened it up to the general public and offered all our TG members a 7-Day Free Membership. We will now be releasing new content regularly. Today we started with a video we have alluded to a lot, my first vocal lesson with Jim. This was done a few weeks ago and starts off his Fly On The Wall Series. Jim went to great lengths to explain his approach and many of the exercises and drills that will help anybody improve their singing. Be sure to check it out at TotallyVocals.com! That's it for our Veteran's Day wrap up. Stay Tuned& In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up November 4, 2011

admin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 22:44:51 +0000

November 4, 2011 This week at TotallyGuitars we added a couple of pretty recent songs to the Target Program, along with a great Beginning Fingerpicking Course. We have gotten quite a few requests for a step-bys-step approach to fingerpicking and we answered with Fingerpicking 101. This is a set of lessons that start at the very beginning and take you from how to position your right hand and strike the strings into the type of patterns used in dozens of the Target songs. We stepped back into the present with lessons on Nickelback's How You Remind Me and Ryan Adams' Answering Bell. Both of these were songs brought to my attention first by private students. After working with them a bit, they both seemed like they had something to offer our TG students. On the reality side we had a couple of Fly On The Wall Lessons and Student Reviews. On the review side we saw uploads of Imagine and Cat's In The Cradle, with comments and suggestions that can apply to many other songs. Our Fly Series continued with a revisited look at Embryonic Journey and a short lesson on Toes, by Zac Brown. This turned into more of a transposing lesson although the discussions on Toes pretty much show how to play it without charts or tab. Behind the scenes, we have had the staff hard at work lately redesigning our top menus to make many of our lessons more easily accessible. Getting to places like our Strumming Series or Theory Lessons is now as simple as pulling a drop down menu from the row across the top. We have quite a few more things to add up here now that it is mostly working the way we planned. That was the week... Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up October 28, 2011

admin — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:26:50 +0000

October 28, 2011 This week we implemented a lot of changes to the TG website, some of which we had been working on for a long time, and others that were requested by our members. The Home Page is quite different now, as well new top menus to make it much easier to get to your favorite places. Our Target members were treated to some classic songs this week. We started with a couple that had their roots in the 60s- John Lennon's Jealous Guy and Donovan's Colours, where we opted for the original, British spelling. It seems to bring a classy element and better distinction from many other titles. The lesson went into simple ways to play the song, including the way Donovan originally did it in an Open D Tuning (transposed to E by using a capo at the 2nd fret). We also took at Janis Ian's At Seventeen, which also included an Open Tuning version. There were student reviews on uploads for Still The Same by Bob Seger, and the Heart fingerkiller Silver Wheels, as well as a couple of interesting Fly On The Wall videos. One was mostly a lesson on sixth chords that started with an innocent question about Find The Cost Of Freedom, and the other was a follow-up to Sandy working on Yesterday. Quite a few good tips came out of each of those, check them out when you can. That was most of the happening here the weekend of Halloween. Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up October 21, 2011

admin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:06:38 +0000

The big news this week is we are starting to roll out some of the site changes that Matt has envisioned for quite a long time. Today it started with a new navigational menu at the top of every page. This will makes it much easier to get to all your favorite places quicker. There are quite a few more changes just around the corner to continue our implementing our goals os streamlining and simplifying TG. On the content side we added a few songs and Fly On The Wall lessons to the Target Program. The week started with a look at Watching The Wheels by John Lennon, one of the great songs from his last completed album, Double Fantasy. Then we jumped ahead into the 21st century with a lesson on Photograph by Nickelback. Their songs usually have interesting, although simple chords, that are very playable as long as you have some experience with barre chords. At the end of the week we stepped back about 40 years with the short Paul Simon piece Bookends. This is a nice little guitar tune with come classical hints. We also added a couple new lessons to our Fly On The Wall Series. The first was with Sandy on an instrumental arrangement of Yesterday, and the second was Fred tackling Ain't No Sunshine. Yesterday has been in the Target Program for quite a while and Ain't No Sunshine is one we are considering. Be sure to visit our Recommend A Lesson section if you think this would be a good idea. Jack van Breen put a keyboard through a nice workout in a piece on the Roland RD300-NX. You can find that over on the Music Gear Review blog, now instantly accessible through our new top menu bar. Again, this is where you can now get quickly to any of our sections. Have fun with the new navigation and be sure to be working on some of your ghoulish tunes for next week! Stay Tuned& In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up October 14, 2011

admin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:50:48 +0000

October 14, 2011 This week we continued with some songs from bands and artists we have been focusing on recently. We started the week with Dog And Butterfly by Heart, and even included a Fly On The Wall lesson on it with Fred. Another recurring artist was John Lennon, with Woman, an interesting progression with a beautiful melody. At the end of the week we stepped into a new artist with a lesson on John Prine’s Angel From Montgomery. This is a pretty basic progression but a god example of using chords from multiple keys/modes. There was also a short look at how Bonnie Raitt rearranged the song. For those who can’t get enough theory we had another Fly On The Wall video going over some important chords- augmented, diminished, and various types of seventh chords. Don’t get intimidated- it is all useful info. Another useful piece of info came courtesy of our friend Jack van Breen. He gave us tips on getting a good deal on a guitar at your local music store. Be sure to check it out over at On The Beat. For those non-Target members who prefer their lessons in packs, we assembled a 5-Pack of Bob Seger tunes. This is an easy way to get the lessons on Night Moves, Against The Wind, You’ll Accomp’ny Me, Fire Lake, and Still The Same. The list of artist packs is getting huge. Have fun with them. We also managed a student review with some good suggestions for embellishing Let It Be. Happy mid-October… Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up October 8, 2011

admin — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:42:38 +0000

Oct 8, 2011

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up September 30, 2011

admin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 22:35:10 +0000

The big news this week at TG is TV- TotallyVocals. I hope all our Target members are taking advantage of their complimentary two month membership there and are joining discussions on the Forum, as well as taking a look at the great lessons Jim Bruno as put together. On the TG front this week we took a look at Eva Cassidy, Nickelback, John Lennon, Paul Simon, The Church, Bob Seger, and a bit of seventh chord theory in our Fly On The Wall Series. Eva was a phenomenal talent on many fronts, but something sometimes overlooked was the simplicity and beauty of her guitar arrangements. This week we added her version of Autumn Leaves to the Target Program. We also put together comprehensive lessons on Rockstar by Nickelback and Oh My Love by John Lennon. We also released a 5-Pack of Bob Seger songs for folks who like their lessons bundled. The set included Still The Same, Night Moves, You'll Accomp'ny Me, Fire Lake, and Against The Wind. Our Student Reviews section included tips on The Boxer by Paul Simon and Under The Milky Way by The Church. I am glad to see our Target members making good use of this feature. That's the News... till next week... Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up September 23, 2011

admin — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:05:34 +0000

This week we hit a few heavily requested tunes from our Recommend A Lesson section, and stepped into the world of the Wilson sisters, better known as Heart. Their first album, Dreamboat Annie showcased Ann's vocals and Nancy's guitar skills and they made a big splash in the world of rock. Our lessons this week included Crazy On You and its short acoustic intro Silver Wheels. Both of these are pretty high on the level of difficulty scale but great tunes for students to work towards. We also added a somewhat easier song with Bob Seger's You'll Accomp'ny Me. This lesson focused on some syncopated strumming techniques. Our Fly On The Wall series continued with a look at Sandy working on learning to strum using a pick, and Fred starting this week's Bob Seger song You'll Accomp'ny Me. These 'eavesdropping' lessons always seem to include some good ideas, regardless on the subject or song. As usual, we put up a couple of Student Reviews for our Target Members, with tips on Give A Little Bit by Supertramp, and America's Sister Golden Hair. We want to remind all our Target Members that they have free access to our sister site, TotallyVocals.com for two months. this would of course be extended to any new Target Members as well. Our vocal guru, Jim Bruno is an incredible resource with a wealth of knowledge that he is now sharing with the world at TV. That's it for this day, with autumn closing in... Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up September 16, 2011

admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:31:11 +0000

Sep 16, 2011 A wide range of songs from the last 35 years or so joined the Target Program this week. We started with Zac Brown's song Chicken Fried, from 2008, followed that by stepping back to the 70s with Night Moves by Bob Seger, and ended the week with Eva Cassidy's arrangement of Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper. A couple of Fly On The Wall lessons included Neil Young's On The Way Home and a look at connecting chord changes with passing bass notes. On The Way Home really turned into a while lesson on the song so be sure to check it out if you have wanted to learn it. Speaking of Chicken Fried, we also added a Campfire Version of it to our Free Lessons section, also available at our YouTube channel TGFreeLessons. The biggest news of the week was the launch of our sister site TotallyVocals. Our old buddy Jim Bruno has been hard at work assembling lessons on songs, complete courses, jazz scat licks, health tips, and everything you need to advance as quickly as possible as a singer. Right now we are opening it to all of our Target members at no cost for a limited time. Be sure to visit TotallyVocals.com. That's it for now, until next week- Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up September 9, 2011

admin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:57:08 +0000

Sep 9, 2011- This week we had a good mix of Target lessons from a wide spectrum of styles. the weeks started with a razzle-dazzle fingerpicking piece of Doc Watson's know as Doc's Guitar or Ticklin' The Strings. It is simple from a musical angle but the challenge is to get it up to breakneck speed. I hope some folks are working on it with a metronome to keep track of the progress. There was a related Fly On The Wall video with my student Ed working on it as well. We stepped into 1970s soft-rock with a look at Carole King's It's Too Late, a piano song that translates very well into a jazzy, strumming guitar tune. There is an additional bonus in that the piano solo works out pretty well on the guitar as well. This, of course, raises the level of difficulty a notch or two. At the end of the week we reached into a bit of the contemporary American music scene with a great sing-along song by the Old Crow Medicine Show Wagon Wheel. This is a song with an interesting history courtesy of Bob Dylan, Kris Kristopherson, Billy The Kid, and others. Jack van Breen gave us a look at a Mesa Tube Combo amp, the Trans Atlantic, and some info on the Fender Custom Shop, showing off a recent Telecaster. There were a couple of student reviews on uploads by some very long time members on a couple of my favorite things to teach- Bach's Bourree in Em and the Hollies' Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress. Be sure to check them out, especially if these are songs you may have forgotten about. Until next week- Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up September 2, 2011

admin — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:32:01 +0000

This week I have been busy practicing, or really deciding on tunes I would like to play for Saturday's get together in Los Gatos. Today's news started with the opening to a piece I don't think I've ever played or talked about here at TG, One Step Beyond. I think this was the first thing I wrote after my last album, El Dorado, a few years ago. We had a great variety of complete lessons added to the Target Program, starting with Sheryl Crow's Soak Up The Sun. This is a song that really grew on me as one of my students had been working on it over the last month. That was followed with an ear training lesson on Bob Seger's Against The Wind. This is a fairly straightforward song, which I why I decided to go with the 'Work It Out' method. I hope everybody is taking the challenge. We ended the week with a very special song to those near and dear to our hearts (MattW and MattB), Put Down That Weapon by Midnight Oil. Be sure to check the last two segments which include Matt's lesson on the song, as well as him discussing why it is so special to him. As promised, we continued with more Reviews and Fly On The Wall videos, taking a look at Here Comes The Sun, Sleight Of Hand, and a voyeuristic look at Should've Been A Cowboy by Toby Keith. The Nights In White Satin lesson now has tab to a chord solo that is pretty basic. If you have been looking for an easy one of those, this might be the ticket. It is done with a pick, just strumming the chords and picking out individual melody notes occasionally. For those non-Target members who prefer their lessons in packs, we now have a 10-Pack of Beginning Cowboy Songs. This is a great starting point to build your Campfire repertoire. I figured at the end of the news I might as well let you in on the rest of the tune I started with so I signed off with the conclusion of One Step Beyond. Maybe tomorrow we will get the cameras rolling and try to bring it out in one piece someday. Stay Tuned& In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up August 26, 2011

admin — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:54:27 +0000

This week we broke out a couple of classics that I have been showing students pretty much since they came out. We started the week with Joan Baez' tune Diamonds And Rust- a nice fingerpicking piece that is not really difficult but there are a lot of ways to play it wrong. I figured it was time to get it out there with a bit more accuracy. We also put together a lesson on Fire Lake, by Bob Seger. This was done with a bit of the 'Work It Out' method to work on ear training. A few weeks ago I got on a Cowboy Songs kick, mostly to get some easier songs into the library. This week looked at another set of standards- Oh Shenendoah, The Yellow Rose Of Texas, Red River Valley, and Sweet Betsy From Pike- a cute song about heading to California for gold in 1849. We also had a couple of student reviews and Fly On The Wall Videos, taking a look at Buddy Holly, Stephen Stills, The Beatles and Zac Brown. If you are not up on the Zac Brown Band you owe it to yourself to check him out. In case anybody is in the Bay Area over the Labor Day Weekend, I will be playing a set of tunes at a local town BBQ on Saturday, September 3 in Los Gatos, at Oak Meadow Park at 2:00. If you are nearby and available, come on by. In the meantime, back to practicing... Stay Tuned And In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Live Show 8/20/2011 Replay Available

admin — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:00:28 +0000

Our TARGET Members submitted questions to be answered during our live show. The live answers are lessons by themselves. This broadcast is full of gems. Another fun time had by all Totally Guitars Members.

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up August 19, 2011

admin — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:03:20 +0000

This week the Target Program continued growing with a pretty diverse set of tunes. We started our Harry Chapin library with one of our most heavily requested lessons, Cat's In The Cradle, and complemented that with Angel, from the Corrs, an Irish group of siblings with great harmonies and nice guitar licks. We also expanded our easy Cowboy Songs section with Down In The Valley and Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie. We continued adding student reviews with looks at the Ivory Salamander (aka Busted Down Around O'Connelly Corners) and a little Dave Matthews, Where Are You Going. The Fly On The Wall Series had a lesson looking at playing lead over Neil Young's Down By The River, and a quick look at Me And Bobby McGee. Next week- more of the same expansion of varieties... Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up August 12, 2011

admin — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:56:18 +0000

This week we expanded a bit on the Cowboy songs with a few traditional campfire songs- You Are My Sunshine, Oh My Darling Clementine, Goodbye Old Paint, and Waiting For A Train. I hope everybody has heard Boz Scaggs version of this classic. We also brought out a 5 Pack of Intermediate Level Cowboy Songs. I may get off this kick soon but it has been a lot of fun traipsing through songs I remember from my childhood. We continued our regular flow of Fly On The Wall and Student Review videos with looks at The Weight by The Band, Penny Lane, Never Going Back Again by Lindsay Buckingham, and Shades Of Funk. I really appreciate all the positive feedback on getting more of these back into rotation. We also had a very advanced ukulele lesson from Hal with his version of Princess Likelike's Ku'u Ipo I Ka He'e Pu'e One. This beautiful tune was played as the First Dance when Nani and I were married many years ago and is very close to my heart. We also now have a 5 Pack of advanced ukulele tunes available for our fans of this traditional Portuguese instrument. More next week... Stay Tuned& In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up August 5, 2011

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:28:10 +0000

August 5, 2011 Cowboy Week it was here at TG. We have been exploring songs of the Old West and how they carried over into the 20th century. We had a short lesson on I Ride An Old Paint, similar to the way it was done by Linda Ronstadt and very different from Johnny Cash's version, as well as longer lessons on Home On The Range and The Ballad Of Jesse James. Speaking of Cowboy Songs and Texas (the setting for many of them), I hope everybody has been following MattB's journey as he is now in Houston for treatment. Be sure to check his blog for the latest updates. From a distant part of the world, although in what is now part of the US, we added a couple of traditional Hawaiian tunes to our ukulele library. Hal Kinnaman has done lessons on Kimo Hula by Helen Desha Beamer, and Pua Lilia by Alfred Alohikea. We are now getting into some of Hal's more advanced lessons and I hope you are enjoying the challenge. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that we are getting back in the habit of Student Reviews and Fly On The Wall videos. This week we had revoews of Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffett and Wild World by Cat Stevens. In the Fly On The Wall department we took a look at MattR working on Windy And Warm, and Fred working on Touch Of Grey. We really appreciate the comments we get about how helpful these Reviews and Reality Lessons are to everybody. A short sideline- please excuse any excess noise during the News but it was such a beautiful morning here in Northern California I couldn't bring myself to head down into the catacombs where the video studio is. I might just start shooting all of these outside as the weather allows. Let me know what you think. Another rememberance... I randomly played bits and pieces of a lot of tunes, maybe due to the great outdoors. See how many you can identify... Stay Tuned& In Touch,

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up July 29, 2011

admin — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 19:25:14 +0000

This week we rounded up a whole bunch of tunes for the Target Program- Night Life by Willie Nelson Aubrey by Bread Castles In The Air by Don McLean And I Love You So by Don McLean Crying by Roy Orbison (with a bit on Don McLean's arrangement Then a couple of old Cowboy Songs- The Streets Of Laredo The Okld Chisholm Trail The rush on the Target songs also means we now have 5-Packs available with songs by Willie Nelson, Don McLean, and Bread. We also brought out a set of lessons on an instrument I'm sure many of our members have never heard of- the Chapman Stick. Virtuoso performer and excellent teacher Bob Culbertson put this together with our own vocal guru Jim Bruno and we are thrilled to be bringing it to streaming video for the first time. even if you don't think you will get one and give it a try, you should check out Bob's performances at the end of most segments. We got back on the stick (so to speak) about getting some Student Reviews out. This week we saw a couple by long time members playing Landslide and George Harrison's Give Me Love. Next week hopefully a few more, probably by first-time uploaders. Hal Kinnaman brought us another advanced ukulele lesson with White Sandy Beach. I know a lot of you are having fun with these, maybe someone will add their own ukulele tune to the Student Reviews or the Busking areas. Till next week- Stay Tuned& In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up July 22 2011

admin — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:26:07 +0000

This week at TotallyGuitars we rolled out a few more heavily requested songs for our Target members, a little ukulele music, a Fly On The Wall Lesson with one of our members, and managed to revive one of our most popular features- the Student Reviews. The new additions to the Target Program included one of Willie Nelson's first hits, although not for him, Crazy, Don McLean's first hit, American Pie, and a later tune by Bread, Guitar Man. We added an advanced lesson to our ukulele series from Hal Kinnaman called Pua Mana, as well as a peek into a live lesson that I had with our TG member Matt Routley. We went over many things in his lesson and this part started with The Fisherman by Leo Kottke. After a couple months on hiatus, I have have been able to get back into the Student Upload channel and take a look at some of the songs our Target members have been working on. This week we added reviews of Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of A New Day by Jethro Tull, and Tom Varga's rendition of Quicksand, one of the more challenging instrumentals here at TG. I want to thank everybody who responded to the thread that we started asking about music that you discovered because of TG. It was great to hear some of the stories. I found it particularly interesting that many people found new artists because of uploads into the Busking channel, aside from those that were lessons we did. Busk On! Until next week... Stay Tuned& In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up July 15 2011

admin — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:07:20 +0000

This week I am On The Road Again and bringing you the TG News from cloudy Southern California, Santa Ana to be specific, in the garden of the lovely Quality Suites. I hope you can hear me as we are in the flight path of the Orange County airport, aka John Wayne International. This week we had a couple more songs from the Willie Nelson catalog added to the Target Program- his big hit On The Road Again and his version of Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys. The latter of which was written by Ed Bruce but really took off when Willie and Waylon Jennings recorded their joint album. We added another tune to our David Gates collection as well, Diary, and finished up our Drip Feed of Sleight Of Hand. The last segments really just put together the arrangement and add a few parting thoughts so I hope to be seeing a few Student Uploads of that soon! Speaking of Uploads, as announced in the Forum, we are bringing back that feature after a couple of months off and I am particularly looking for contributions from TG'ers who have not yet joinrf in the fun. Of course there will be reviews for our regular contributers as well but I will try to prioritize Target songs from first timers so get those cameras rolling. For everybody who has been branching out into the fun world of our little cousin, the ukulele, we are starting to bring out some lessons of Hal's that are a bit more challenging, even advanced I might say. This week's additions included a piece by Hawaiian legend Herb Ohta called Ka'anapali Sunset, and a little flamenco in the traditional guitar style, Soleares. These will certainly improve your ukulele chops as well as your guitar abilities so please check them out. Jack van Breen also took us into the world of vintage Gibson Les Pauls with a look at a 1954 model and another at an SG model, which soon became its own design. Those are up in our Vintage Snapshots department found on the Home Page. That's the News and I am on to checking the Student Uploads for next week. Till then... Stay Tuned& In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up July 8, 2011

admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:13:42 +0000

This week we continued our exploration of the ukulele with a few more lessons from Hal Kinnaman. They were Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring by J.S. Bach, Opihi Moe Moe by slack key legend Leonard Kwan, and Estudio, a classical guitar piece by Francisco Tarrega. For our visitors who prefer packages to Target membership we added a 5-Pack of Intermediate Ukulele Solos which included those three songs plus My Sweet Sweetie and Somewhere Over The Rainbow. We added another couple of big requests from our Recommend A Lesson area this week to the Target Program as well- Everything I Own by David Gates and Bread, and Willie Nelson's version of Always On My Mind. Both of which are very accessible to intermediate guitar students. On the slightly more advanced side we finished up Muriel Anderson's lesson on Vincent and on the slightly more than more advanced side we added the conclusion of section D to Sleight Of Hand. We now have all the parts to this up and next week will add a little more about the arrangement. On the Vintage Snapshot Front we had a great video from Jack van Breen taking us through the Vintage Collection at Guitar Showcase. There are some amazing instruments there and it is very cool to get a glimpse inside the vault. Check it out on the Home Page. I have had a lot of fun tracking the TG Banner on its world tour, latest stop Scotland. Check out the progress in the Forum and on the Community Map. Adios from Northern California, where we had a relatively 'safe n sane' 4th Of July earlier this week. Stay Tuned& In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up July 1, 2011

admin — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 20:27:56 +0000

From Woodsongs Guitar Shop in Boulder, Colorado- This week we went a little deeper into the Zombies catalog for our Target members with their song I Love You, as well as Rod Argent's tune Hold Your Head Up. There were a couple of solo ukulele lessons from Hal Kinnaman, My Sweet Sweetie and Somewhere Over The Rainbow. We had the next installment of Muriel Anderson's lesson on Vincent and finished up Scott's Fly On The Wall lesson with a look at On The Horizon. There also were a couple of clips from Jack van Breen talking about different Martin series and models. Other additions to the site include our Banner Map, following the TG Banner around the world. It is accessible through the Community Map button. We now have added a quick link menu to the bottom of every window that will take you to all the social media sites, Twitter, Facebook, etc. It really helps us out when to spread our info there so please keep it up. Another feature that has been added is our Guest Reporter Uploader. This allows anybody to upload videos that might be interesting or pertinent to TG automatically. Be sure to check it out and start thinking about projects. That's all from beautiful Boulder... Stay Tuned& In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up June 24, 2011

admin — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:54:26 +0000

This week started with a trip to the islands- the Hawaiian Islands. We are thrilled to bring out a series of lessons on playing solo ukulele, courtesy of my friend Hal Kinnaman. Hal has been teaching guitar and ukulele for nearly 40 years. We started with his package called the Solo Ukulele Workshop, designed to take you way beyond strumming some simple chords, into the world of chord solos. There are many songs included in the opening set and many more individual songs coming soon. Hal and I sat down a few months ago and had a chat about our lives as teachers. This can be found in our On The Beat column. Jack van Breen got back in the swing of things with a variety of clips. He talked about vintage Ibanez guitars, changing strings on electric guitars with locking tremolo systems, and gave us an introduction to some Martin guitar series. This will continue with a look at their naming system and different models. The update on our friend MattB is up now at his site and we have a short video from him talking about his surgeries. There is still a big need for volunteers to help on the fundraising front. If you know anybody who can help at any level please pass this on. I've noticed a lot of folks are having fun with our new gaming activity. You can keep up with what's happening there under the Achievements tab in the left side menus. A follow up to our Canadian New Englanders' get together is underway. The TG Banner has started its trip around the world on a quest collecting signatures from TG members. We are working on a map to show its progress. You should see it soon and the Forum will have many updates as it travels. The other big news for our Target program was the addition of a couple lessons on Vincent, the number one requested song here at the Recommend A Lesson section. I did a lesson on the way Don McLean plays it, and Muriel Anderson and I sat down and went through her instrumental arrangement, mostly based on Chet Atkins version. Her lesson will come out in a bit of a Drip Feed manner. You can purchase the music to her version at her web site- murielanderson.com. Till next week, or next month... Stay Tuned& In Touch, Neil

A Visit With Hal Kinnaman

admin — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:06:30 +0000

Neil and Hal have been friends and colleagues for over 20 years. Neil and his wife Nani were taking a 25th anniversary trip to Kauai in November and had a little bit of time to spend with Hal on Thanksgiving Day. They sat down and talked about their lives as music teachers and particularly about Hal’s approach to teaching ukulele. This video is part of that visit.

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up June 17, 2011

admin — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:50:16 +0000

It was a fingerpicking guitar week around here at TG. We brought out Target songs by Rev. Gary Davis- I'll Be All Right Someday, John Fahey- Take A Look At That Baby, a traditional fiddle tune called Money's All Gone, and another episode in our Drip Feed lesson on Sleight Of Hand. We will probably take a short break on the next part of the tune to give everybody a chance to catch their breath and try something else. We also had a Fly On The Wall video with our Target member Scott Butler. There are a couple of more installments of that in the wings as well. Staying with the picking theme, we also added two new packs of tunes- a Pack of 5 Gary Davis songs and a 10-Pack of Intermediate Instrumentals. The Davis pack includes all the lesson here so far- Candyman, Cocaine Blues, I'll Be All Right Someday, Sally Where'd You Get Your Whiskey, and She's Funny That Way. The Intermediate Instrumentals has too many songs to list but check it out. There are a couple of vocal tunes in there masquerading as instrumentals because we couldn't leave out classics like Alice's Restaurant and Fishin' Blues. Our Acoustic Snapshot column had a few new additions courtesy of our friend Muriel Anderson. She does an amazing job on some pieces from the classical repertoire as well as the Carpenters. We want you to keep an eye out for a new feature we are starting here at TG. It is a little game that rewards our members with points for various activities at the site. More on this as it evolves. Until next week... Stay Tuned& In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up June 9, 2011

admin — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 23:29:49 +0000

We are bringing out the TG News on Thursday this week because of a few timely bulletins. The big news is what's happening at Google in honor of Les Paul's birthday. Head over to their home page and make up a little tune that you can share with TG and the world. Be sure to post your song on the TG Forum, spread it around the world with Twitter, Facebook, and any other social media you are connected to, and we will give away a 30-minute Skype lesson with yours truly to the one we judge the best. Judging criteria will be somewhat random due to the rushed nature of this. Speaking of the Forum, I hope everybody has seen the post about what a 10-year old girl from New York is doing in the interest of helping out MattB. Amazing what a little bit of inspiration can do. Continuing into Forum news, the idea of sending a TG Banner around the world collecting signatures from members popped up recently. Some of the ides are really great and the more folks we can get involved, the better I'd also like to bring up our Wiki Pages again. This is where you can contribute some of your own information and ideas about your favorite bands. Just click on a band's name in the Master Menu and you will be taken to their page where you can create or edit anything there. I also notice a few people have tried out Song Surgeon and posted some comments on it. In case you missed this, Song Surgeon is a piece of software I use almost everyday as I work on new lessons. In a nutshell, it allows me to slow audio tracks down, change pitch, and loop small segments, all very useful techniques for learning new songs (or old songs for that matter). That is really only the tip of the iceberg but most of what guitar students will find immediately helpful. As far as new Target lessons, this week we added a couple of more Cat Stevens tunes to the library- Moonshadow and Peace Train. These tunes were also wrapped up into our Cat Stevens 6 Pack, with the addition of other lessons on Wild World, Father And Son, Morning Has Broken, and The Wind. The rest of the week included Time Of The Season by The Zombies, Sally Where'd You Get Your Whiskey, and Lesson 3 of Sleight Of Hand. This is a section where the counting can get VERY confusing... proceed with extreme caution! Best to all and more next week. Stay Tuned& In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up June 3rd, 2011

admin — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:23:08 +0000

Welcome to June! This week we brought out a couple of songs by Cat Stevens- Morning Has Broken and The Wind, a little surf music with the Ventures version of Wipe Out, and another entry in our Zombies line- Tell Her No. We also had a short Fly On The Wall with Caitlyn and I going over her beginnings of an original tune. I'd also like to let everybody in on a great piece of software that I use all the time. Song Surgeon is a great addition to any guitar players set of tools. It is a program that can take any audio file and change the pitch or the speed to allow you to really focus in on minuted details of a song. There are dozens of great features and they are spelled out on our Song Surgeon page- http://www.totallyguitars.com/songsurgeon/ I use this just about everyday as I prep lessons for TG or other students. Be sure to check out the free demo. In today's newscast I also got a little off on a Buffalo Springfield tangent, having just seen part of a reunion tour that they are on now. There are only a few shows before they headline a festival in Tennessee but if you are near Los Angeles or Santa Barbara they are heading that way over the next couple of days. Not to be missed! Next week... maybe some Springfield tunes??? Stay Tunes & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up May 27, 2011

admin — Fri, 27 May 2011 21:42:40 +0000

The big news this week (for me at least) was the Mega Collaboration of our TG members in the Northeastern US. If you haven't seen any of the videos they have been putting up lately you really should check them out. I really want to thank and congratulate all involved. Our new Target lessons included The Voice by The Moody Blues, If by Bread, and an arrangement in Open G of Take Me Out To The Ball Game. We also brought out Lesson #2 for Sleight Of Hand and a Fly On The Wall with my student Mark, who just started playing guitar a few months ago. There was quite a range of levels represented from beginning to advanced as well as the addition of the Ear Training aspect to The Voice, where we talk about what to listen for in a song you are trying to learn. There were a couple of new Packages released- a 6-Pack of Moody Blues tunes including Nights In White Satin, Tuesday Afternoon, The Story In Your Eyes, Question, Melancholy Man, and The Voice. The other was a set of 5 songs in Open G Tuning, mostly beginning to intermediate level fingerpicking pieces. This included some standards, Buffalo Gals and Take Me Out To the Ball Game, a little Slack Key with Hula Blues, an instrumental version of Here Comes The Sun, and John Fahey's Give Me Cornbread When I'm Hungry. Fahey was a huge influence on me after I first heard him when I was a teenager. If you are not familiar with him you should track down some of his stuff. Till next week... Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up May 20, 2011

admin — Fri, 20 May 2011 21:44:35 +0000

This week at TG we rolled out a program that has been mentioned and requested on the Forum over the last few weeks: Target Lite. It might be just the thing for some of our visitors who have limited guitar time, might be sticking to a budget, or could make a few lessons last them a few months. More details are on the Target Page. We also noticed that some people are starting to work on our TG Wiki pages for artists whose songs we have lessons for. I even put a bit into our Al Stewart page. Check out some of the great artwork on his album covers in the Discography section. In our Target Lessons Library we added a couple of fingerpicking tunes in Open G: an arrangement of the traditional tune Buffalo Gals, and John Fahey's Give Me Cornbread When I'm Hungry, both of which are accessible to intermediate students. We also added The Moody Blues classic Melancholy Man, and revived our Drip Feed Series with Lesson 1 on my song Sleight Of Hand. Parts of might also be accessible to intermediate students if taken slow enough and in the small doses that we will drip out, but it is a Level 9. Our Fly On The Wall Series brought us Caitlyn working on I'd Love To Change The World. She plays most things fingerstyles so she has a slightly different approach to this Alvin Lee tune. Jack van Breen dropped into our Luthier's Corner with a couple of videos showing how to change strings on a Fender Telecaster. There are some subtle differences and problems unique to many guitars and his info is always enlightening. That's the way of the world at TG on May 20th. Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up May 13, 2011

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:35:46 +0000

This week we released our first ever Super Pack- 30 Beatles song from our 3 individual 10-Packs. We know that many TGers prefer their lessons this way and are happy to oblige with the greatest band of all time! We also had lessons on Closer To Fine by The Indigo Girls, Rock And Roll Girls by John Fogerty, Gold Dust Woman by Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac, Question by The Moody Blues (done in Open C Tuning), and a Fly On The Wall with my student Sandy where we talked about memorization ideas and Here Comes The Sun. There were a bunch of great threads on the Forum this week- thoughts about your dream jamming partners, sexy songs, pentatonic scales, luthier questions, and harmonics. There also is a link to an update on MattB.

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up May 6, 2011

admin — Fri, 06 May 2011 19:25:26 +0000

The Target Program expanded this week with a few more Beatles tunes, one heavily voted on in our Recommend A Lesson area, one lightly voted on, and one not even on the list (for an understandable reason?). You might have thought our Free Lesson on Here Comes The Sun had enough info in it but we added a very complete look at it, along with Michelle and I'm Looking Through You. Arlo Guthrie took a great song of Steve Goodman's and made it a well-known Campfire song with his rendition of City Of New Orleans. We added it to the Target Program as well, along with another Fly On The Wall Video. In this week's we saw Fred working on I'd Love To Change The World. For our folks who prefer their lessons bundled into related groups we put together a Grateful Dead Pack and a Classical Guitar set. The Dead package include songs from American Beauty, Workingman's Dead, and In The Dark (Touch Of Grey), as well as a bonus tune- Teddy Bear's Picnic. The Classical Pack is five challenging lesson from our Classical expert Hector Garcia. We also had a couple of student reviews and plan on more in the very near future... Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Michelle Guitar Lesson

admin — Mon, 02 May 2011 13:08:59 +0000

In 1965 The Beatles sound was changing, as it continued to do for the next 5 years

Totally Guitars Weekly News Update April 29, 2011

admin — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:05:53 +0000

This week our Target members were treated to a couple more additions to our Beatles catalogue, as well as classics from The Zombies, Dire Straits and Buddy Holly. We had complete lesson for Julia, With A Little Help From My Friends, She's Not There, Romeo And Juliet, and That'll Be The Day. Both With A Little Help and She's Not There included Campfire versions which we added to our Free Lessons as well. We released a couple more lesson packages for those who prefer their lessons in smaller, but more focused batches. This week we saw a 5-Pack of The Kinks and a 5-Pack with 3 Bonus songs by Led Zeppelin. A new feature we added to the site this week is the TG Wiki Pages. This is the place where any of our visitors can add or edit information about the bands and lessons we have here. More details are in the separate Forum post about this but clock on a band name in the Master Menu and check it out for yourself. We had a slight surplus of Fly On The Wall videos this week so we decided to release a few. We had Ed working on Embryonic Journey, Fred on She's Not There, Mark starting to work on alternating bass notes when strumming with Teach Your Children, and Kevin putting together a medley of Scarlet Begonias and Fire On The Mountain by The Grateful Dead. A set of Student Reviews came out as we have had more members uploading videos for review lately. Keep them coming. We saw Blackbird, Gravedigger, Can't Find My Way Home, Is There Anybody Out There, and Suite: Judy Blue Eyes. Next week... nothing but surprises! Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

That’ll Be The Day Guitar Lesson

admin — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:08:46 +0000

*That'll Be The Day by Buddy Holly* is a classic from the early days of Rock & Roll.

With A Little Help From My Friends Guitar Lesson

admin — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:34:52 +0000

There are many nuances in the recorded version of *With A Little Help From My Friends*that are pretty challenging to incorporate into a solo guitar accompaniment version.

Romeo and Juliet Guitar Lesson

admin — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:23:58 +0000

Mark Knopfler is one of the most talented musician’s to have come along in the last 50 years.

She’s Not There Guitar Lesson

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:22:59 +0000

*She’s Not There *is probably more identified by keyboard and bass parts, and these are combined in this lesson, creating a somewhat complicated arrangement that might be called the ‘Fancy Version.

Fly On The Wall Series – Watch Neil Teaching – Teach Your Children Guitar Song

admin — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:21:09 +0000

Mark had just started working on hitting alternating bass notes in the Country type strum last week. In this lesson they work on techniques to make it easier.

Learn How To Play The Kinks Guitar Lessons

admin — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:16:56 +0000

The Kinks were one of the British pioneers in the new sounds that were developing in the 60s. Led by songwriter Ray Davies and his brother Dave, they were a band with many different styles, ranging from pre-punk to acoustic ballads, with even a touch of jazz at times. This pack includes short lessons on two of their power chord/riff style songs, as well as extended lessons on three of their more complex tunes. *You Really Got Me*was the 1st big hit for the Kinks, just when they were on the verge of being dropped by their record company. Neil considers it one of the 1st, and best examples of 'Caveman Rock'. It uses 2 power chords in a very simple theme that is then repeated at 3 different spots on the neck. This is a great place to start your excursion into sliding power chords.

New Guitar Lesson – Julia by The Beatles

admin — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:12:58 +0000

In 1968 the Beatles learned a bit about fingerpicking from Donovan while they were in India for a short time. This resulted in a much more refined guitar sound for a few songs on the ‘White Album’, including John Lennon’s Julia. This lesson uses John’s repetitive alternating bass fingerpicking pattern with some unusual chord voicings, and shows exactly how he played the original, including a capo at the second fret.

Totally Guitars Video News April 22, 2011

admin — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:53:45 +0000

This week we released 2 more packs of songs- a 5-Pack of The Rolling Stones, including a few bonus lessons from our Intros, Riffs & Licks series, as well as a Jethro Tull 10-Pack, featuring some of the best guitar songs ever written (IMHO). We had a few additions to our Target Program, including Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks, Touch Of Grey by The Grateful Dead, Tangerine by Led Zeppelin, Gravedigger by Dave Matthews, and Teddy Bear's Picnic most recently or notably done by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman on their album Not For Kids Only.

Grave Digger Guitar Lesson

admin — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:05:57 +0000

When Dave Matthews decided to ‘go solo’, he put out his first non-band album in 2003, Some Devil.

Jethro Tull Guitar Lessons Package

admin — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:49:16 +0000

Jethro Tull Guitar Lessons Package... One of the most interesting bands to come out of the 1960s was Ian Anderson’s revolving group of English musicians known as Jethro Tull. The band started in a blues direction but then headed into an unknown world that could be considered Progressive Folk. Anderson’s virtuoso flute and acoustic guitar skills combined beautifully with Martin Barre’s electric guitar stylings and cut a very distinctive path. This set of lessons focuses mostly on some of the acoustic masterpieces with a few rockers thrown in for good measure. Chronologically, they are…

Tangerine Guitar Lesson

admin — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:09:26 +0000

Led Zeppelin’s *Tangerine *has been one of the leading requested songs here at TG for quite some time.

Touch Of Grey Guitar Lesson

admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:37:03 +0000

*Touch Of Grey*was a song that the Grateful Dead starting playing live in 1982 but became a hit 5 years later when it was released on In The Dark.

The Rolling Stones Guitar Lesssons Pack

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:45:27 +0000

The Rolling Stones have been a favorite band of guitarists and music fans alike for almost 50 years now and have been the creators of some of the greatest riff-based songs of all time. This set of lessons includes some very detailed looks and explanations of some of their songs, some simple strumming patterns, and a few that just go over the main riff or intro to one of their classics.

Today’s Free and TARGET Member Totally Guitars Lesson – Waterloo Sunset

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:40:55 +0000

Waterloo Sunset, by the Kinks, began in Ray Davies head as Liverpool Sunset, partially owing to his fondness for the Merseybeat sounds of bands coming out of Liverpool at the time. The song featured a strumming acoustic guitar with a short lead using a tape-delay echo effect, a sound that had been popular a decade before but then forgotten. Our TG Complete Free lesson goes over the basic rhythm accompaniment, which is really the way Ray plays it solo even today.

TG Acoustic Guitar Lessons News

admin — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:35:26 +0000

This week we released a couple of 10-Packs; one with songs by George Harrison, all post-Beatles, and the other featuring Psychedelic Songs of the 60s. Many of these were released to our Target Members recently but now they are available on the Pay Per Lesson side for our visitors who prefer their lessons in this a-la-carte style. Our Target releases this week included Eight Miles High by the Byrds, Birthday by the Beatles, and Jethro Tull's We Used To Know and Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of A New Day, another intricate song by virtuoso guitarist Ian Anderson. We also had another entry in our Fly On The Wall series where Neil and his student Ed talk about and compare modes. We reintroduced something we had done in the past but not so much recently, Complete Free Lessons and Campfire Lessons. The Free lessons were Baby Beluga by Raffi, Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel, Feelin' Alright by Traffic, and a slightly simplified version of Birthday. The Birthday lesson is how Neil usually teaches it to beginning students, as opposed to the Target lesson which includes most of the lead parts. Jack van Breen brought us a couple of interesting videos; one showing how he changes strings, specifically on a Martin HD-28V, and another on his beloved Yamaha FG-180, purchased new in 1969 for $100. You probably already know that we are constantly working on improving the site and this week we reorganized the main left side menu to make it easier to get to various areas here at TG. We also improved the Recommend A Lesson section with the addition of easy sorting choices to see what has become a lesson, what's not become a lesson yet, most votes, etc. Check it out when you can. Next week- a few more Free and Campfire songs and the usual eclectic mix of Target Lessons. Stay Tuned & In Touch, Neil

Centerfield Guitar Lesson

admin — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:05:32 +0000

John Fogerty’s 1984 come back album, *Centerfield *brought him back into the limelight with a bang.

Skating Away Guitar Lesson

admin — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:29:12 +0000

By now everybody should be aware of the incredible talents of Ian Anderson, on many levels.

We Used To Know Guitar Lesson

admin — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:02:41 +0000

*We Used To Know*was released on the second Jethro Tull album, Stand Up, as they were starting to head out of their blues roots and into a more progressive direction.

Birthday Guitar Lesson

admin — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 16:40:35 +0000

*Birthday*is a classic example of taking a simple riff, dropping it into a 12-bar blues format, adding some catchy vocals over a short chord progression, throwing in a little drum break and lead guitar fill, and creating great rock and roll in a matter of just a couple of days.

Eight Miles High Guitar Lesson

admin — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:08:17 +0000

One of the bands that really helped define the Psychedelic Sound of the Sixties was The Byrds. Their early line up with Roger (Jim) McGuinn, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Gene Clark produced a defining song of the era, *Eight Miles High.*

Totally Guiars Weekly News Update April 8, 2011

admin — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:57:49 +0000

It was really a Beatles week around here at TotallyGuitars. Not just because we put out a set of lessons by George Harrison, but we had a couple of student videos for review that were on some of Neil's arrangements from his album A Beatles Collection. If you are not familiar with it I really encourage you to check out the songs. You can hear samples of the songs at the TG Audio Store and get the tab as well. The Target songs we released were from George Harrison's solo years- Beware Of Darkness, Give Me Love, All Those Years Ago, and Between the Devil And the Deep Blue Sea, which included a short ukulele lesson as well. We also released two 10-Packs of songs this week for those who prefer their lessons a la carte. The first was a set of songs by David Crosby, Steve Stills and Graham Nash that were all part of their early years together. Most of them from 1970 with the addition of Southern Cross from a few years later. The second pack features a wide range of songs from the 70s as well, each one by a different artist. If you are a fan of the Golden Age of Classic Rock you should definitely check it out! Another thing we have added for everybody is a new channel at YouTube where we keep many of our Free Lessons. It is the TGFreeLessons channel there. There might be times when we add new lessons there first, you never know. Next week- a virtual smorgasbord of unrelated lessons just to keep you on your toes. Be sure to check in everyday!

Between The Devil And the Deep Blue Sea Guitar Lesson

admin — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:50:09 +0000

The album George Harrison was working on in his last days was Brainwashed, and it was released posthumously in 2002.

All Those Years Ago Guitar Lesson

admin — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 16:58:20 +0000

George Harrison and his old band mates were masters of interesting chord progression, many times combining chords from multiple keys into one section of a song, and other times reaching out pretty far from conventional harmonic patterns.

Give Me Love Guitar Lesson

admin — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:12:16 +0000

In 1973 George Harrison released the follow up to All Things Must Pass, Living In The Material World. It included his next hit, *Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth),*a song played with a capo at the third fret and mostly chords in the key of D.

Beware Of Darkness Guitar Lesson

admin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 12:59:21 +0000

All Things Must Pass was the album that really brought George Harrison’s songs to the attention of the public. Released in 1970, just after the Beatles broke up, it was full of great songs, including *Beware Of Darkness*.

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up April 1st, 2011

admin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 20:44:37 +0000

As we start the month of April here at Totally Guitars we had a week's worth of songs from Crosby, Stills & Nash. Joining the altered tuning state of David's mind we did lessons on Guinnevere and Deja Vu, as well as Stills' tunes Southern Cross and Helplessly Hoping. I think that about wraps them up for a while. We also added the last installment to Neil's piece Quicksand for those into complicated instrumentals. We want to thank Jim56 for becoming one of our Guest Reporters and bringing us a concert he shot of Edgar Cruz, well known for his solo rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. Our Music Gear Review area had a feature this week on our resident luthier Keith Holland. Keith makes many custom guitars for his customers and the episode we had early in the week talks about some of the things you need to consider if thinking about having a guitar built for you. We released a couple of lesson packages this week as well. We have a 5-Pack each of Gordon Lightfoot and Fleetwood Mac. The Lightfoot Pack includes Early Morning Rain, If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown, Carefree Highway and The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald. The Fleetwood Mac Pack consists of Oh Well, Rhiannon, Landslide, Never Going Back Again and Go Your Own Way. If you are not a Target Member but are a fan of either of these icons the Packs are a great way to go and a great deal. Next week: George Harrison, four songs ranging from his first album, All Things Must Pass, to his last, Brainwashed. Let us know what you think might be coming!

Deja Vu Guitar Lesson

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:01:54 +0000

*Déjà Vu*is another David Crosby tune that uses the EBDGAD (Em11) Tuning, like the one used in Guinnevere.

Guinnevere Guitar Lesson

admin — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 12:48:04 +0000

A feature of many David Crosby tunes is the use of altered tunings.

Southern Cross Guitar Lesson

admin — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:06:19 +0000

In 1982 Crosby, Stills & Nash released their album Daylight Again, which included *Southern Cross*, which has now become a standard part of their concerts.

Helplessly Hoping Guitar Lesson

admin — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 01:11:28 +0000

*Helplessly Hoping*is a classic fingerstyle tune by Stephen Stills that was released in 1969 on the first Crosby, Stills & Nash album.

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up Mar. 25, 2011

admin — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:54:15 +0000

This week we wrapped up the auction for MattB and want to really thank everybody who got involved, particularly Damian, who spent a lot of his time arranging many of the details. Also special thanks to everyone who bid on the items as I’m sure you know how much we appreciate the generosity of the [...]

Living In The Past Guitar Lesson

admin — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:34:00 +0000

*Living In The Past*was released as a single in the U.K. in 1969 but became Jethro Tull’s first Top 40 hit in the U.S. when it was released there in 1972.

Go On Your Way Guitar Lesson

admin — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:20:53 +0000

Fleetwood Mac has been bringing the world great rock tunes since the mid-1960s.

Early Morning Rain Guitar Lesson

admin — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:27:00 +0000

*Early Morning Rain*was written by Gordon Lightfoot and recorded by Peter, Paul & Mary, effectively bringing Gordon up the ladder into public view.

If You Could Read My Mind Guitar Lesson

admin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:19:36 +0000

Gordon Lightfoot was a well-known songwriter in the mid 1960s but in 1970 he became a household name with the release of *If You Could Read My Mind*. It features a gentle, rolling arpeggio fingerpicking pattern, and a relatively easy set of chords backing a beautiful melody. This guitar lesson looks at Gordon’s repetitive pattern [...]

Totally Guitars Weekly News March 18, 2011

admin — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:55:53 +0000

Thanks to everybody who got involved with our auction for MattB. We are making a dent in his bills because of so many people's participation.

Stray Cat Strut Guitar Lesson

admin — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:26:02 +0000

The Stray Cats came on the scene in the early 1980s with a sound that was more 1950s and brought new life to the Rockabilly style that was so popular then.

Year Of The Cat Guitar Lesson

admin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:42:50 +0000

We have had the rhythm guitar parts to *Year Of The Cat*available for some time but we now have added new videos going over the lead sections to this great song by Al Stewart.

Take On Me Guitar Lesson

admin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 17:02:56 +0000

Many songs of the 80s were driven by keyboard riffs and a synthesized, electronic rhythm feel.

Walk Don’t Run Guitar Lesson

admin — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 16:48:55 +0000

A popular sound of the 1960s came to be known as Surf Music.

Weekly Wrap Up March 11, 2011

admin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:49:23 +0000

The big news this week is the auction we are running at Ebay for MattB's battle with cancer.

Gruhn Guitars In Nashville Part 3

admin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:45:46 +0000

The conversation continues with George Gruhn and they talk about some great artists that have influenced his collection.

There She Goes Guitar Lesson

admin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:13:15 +0000

The late 1980s brought us a one-hit-wonder out of Liverpool, The La’s.

Gruhn Guitars In Nashville Part 2

admin — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:53:03 +0000

Mike continues his tour of Gruhn Guitars and talks to George Gruhn about some guitars that famous players owned.

Every Rose Has It’s Thorn Guitar Lesson

admin — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:12:08 +0000

Poison was one of the glam/hair metal bands of the 80s who had their biggest hit with the power ballad *Every Rose Has Its Thorn*.

Gruhn Guitars In Nashville Part 1

admin — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:08:32 +0000

George Gruhn is a guitar collector who turned his hobby into a profession when he opened Gruhn Guitars in Nashville over 40 years ago.

Wanted Dead Or Alive Guitar Lesson

admin — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 18:16:20 +0000

One of the biggest bands of the 80s, Bon Jovi, featured some good songwriting and some great guitar playing, mostly from the team of Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up Mar. 4, 2011

admin — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 20:43:18 +0000

The big news of the week was of course, Jethro Tull. We put out lessons on 5 classic Ian Anderson songs, 4 from Aqualung and the first section of Thick As A Brick.

Thick As A Brick Guitar Lesson

admin — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:33:03 +0000

*Thick As A Brick*by Ian Anderson and his alter ego, Jethro Tull. It features very intricate and rapid flatpicking with complex syncopation, all of which must continue when the singing enters, and that is all just in the first 30 seconds.

Mother Goose Guitar Lesson

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:46:43 +0000

One of the most intricate acoustic guitar songs from Jethro Tull’s Aqualung is *Mother Goose.*One of the most intricate acoustic guitar songs from Jethro Tull’s Aqualung is *Mother Goose.*

Wond’ring Aloud Guitar Lesson

admin — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:01:02 +0000

*Wond’ring Aloud*is a beautiful ballad/folk song tucked into the middle of Aqualung, by Jethro Tull.

Up To Me Guitar Lesson

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:41:48 +0000

Aqualung featured quite a few riff-based tunes and *Up To Me*

Hymn 43 Guitar Lesson

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:56:56 +0000

*Hymn 43*was written by Ian Anderson and released on the classic Jethro Tull album Aqualung in 1971.

Totally Guitars Weekly Wrap Up Feb 25, 2011

admin — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:36:56 +0000

We wrapped up Psychedelic Rock Week with tunes by the Jefferson Airplane, Donovan, Iron Butterfly and the Strawberry Alarm Clock, a band noted for the start of Ed King's career before he joined Lynyrd Skynyrd.