Guitar Stuff

Blog Update

2012-04-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

I may not be posting anything on this blog for awhile due to some recent events. I can't guarantee when the next post will be but it is possible that there won't be any posts until May 7th.

Also, I'm currently playing through Megadeth's Rust in Peace album so let me know if you would want me to write up some content for that.

-Redhouse

Riff of the Week (4/20/12)

2012-04-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

Song: This Love

Artist: Pantera

Tuning: Eb standard (1/2 step down)

A really cool breakdown section.

Breaking the Law

2012-04-18T13:08:00.001-07:00

Probably the easiest metal track in metal history.

Power Chords FTW Ep.1

2012-04-16T13:18:00.002-07:00

From: Jailbreak

Artist: Thin Lizzy

Tuning: 1/2 step down (Eb standard)

A very simple but very cool chord progression. I left out the palm muting notation in the second measure but you get the idea.

Riff of the Week (4/13/12)

2012-04-13T08:37:00.002-07:00

Song: Kashmir

Artist: Led Zepplin

Tuning: Dadgad

A very exotic sounding lick. You can choose to mute the open d or not to. I prefer playing the full chord out like in the example. If your too lazy to bother with the tuning, you could just tune to drop D and not worry about the other strings.

Alternate Picking 101

2012-04-11T08:35:00.002-07:00

It's always good to have some way to build up your chops on a regular basis. This is one of my favorite alternate picking exercises. It's just the A major scale (I forget which form) spread over two octaves so it covers all six strings. I also switch it up by changing the scale or the scale form for variety. Always start slow and play with a metrenome. Normally, when I practice, I start at 60 bpm and then increase it by 4 bpm until I can't play it cleanly.

Circle of Fifths

2012-04-09T12:20:00.003-07:00

The circle of fifths is a diagram that is used to find how many sharps or flats a particular key has. First, let's look at the outer circle. Starting at C, if we move clockwise notice that the tones progress in fifths. In other words, the fifth of C is G, the fifth of G is D, the fifth of D is A, etc. This organizination is what gives it the name "Circle of Fifths."

The innermost circle is the relative minor of each key. Notice that it also progresses by fifths as the it goes clockwise.

The middle circle gives the amount of sharps or flats. Notice that C (and A minor) have a natural symbol indicating no flats or sharps. As the circle goes clockwise, the number of sharps increase and as the circle moves counterclockwise the number of flats increase. Finally, at Gb/F#, the key can have either 6 sharps or 6 flats.

Riff of the Week (4/6/12)

2012-04-06T09:20:00.002-07:00

Today's riff is an easy one. This is the main riff for "Message in a Bottle" from the Police. It is completely composed of add9 chords.

Major and Minor Triad Chord Progressions

2012-04-04T09:57:00.003-07:00

Every scale has chord progression that consists of a chord for each note or step in the scale. For this post, I will only focus on the triad chord progressions. A triad is the root note (that means the first note), the third note, and the fifth note of a major or minor scale. For example, Fig. 1 shows one version of the C major scale (one octave). Notice that the first, third, and fifth note are C, E, and G. Now play a C major chord like the first chord in Fig. 2. Notice that the only three notes present in the chord are C, E, and G.

This is not by accident, any major or minor chord will consist of three notes and all these notes form either a major or minor triad. Keep in mind that these triads are derived from their respective scales. For example, G major (G - A - B - C - D - E - F# - G) has a triad G - B - D and the G major chord would therefore consist of G - B - D.

So now that we know where these chords are derived from, let's look at chord progressions. Looking back at C major, each note can also be a chord that is either major or minor. Fig. 2 illustrates this. Every major scale follows the same pattern. The pattern is (major - minor - minor - major - major - minor - Diminished). Notice that these chords fit in the scale.

We can translate this pattern to minor scales also. If you know the relative major for any minor chord (refer to the circle of fifths) then the chords will be the same but in a different order.

Easy Classical Guitar

2012-04-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

I've been playing a lot of some classical recently and I came across this piece. I think when people think of classical/spanish style guitar they might think of something like this. It is split up into two parts, the first half is in E minor and the second half is E major. While you can repeat this as many times as you like I find that once is plenty. Obviously, a classical guitar would be ideal for playing this but any acoustic or clean electric will do. This is also my first upload of an entire piece. Enjoy.

Riff of the Week (3/30/12)

2012-03-30T11:19:00.001-07:00

This week's riff is from "YYZ" by Rush. One common theme is Rush's music is a breakdown section (normally no longer than a few measures) that was used as a way to modulate. These usually have odd rhythms and an improvised feel as a well as a rushed tempo.

Implied Chords: Dominant 7th Blues

2012-03-28T08:48:00.002-07:00

It is said that the Blues became known as "the devil's music" because many chord progressions contained a dominant 7th interval which was believed to summon Satan. While the myth has subsided, dominant 7th chords still remain a principle aspect of the standard Blues chord progression. One trick to throw in a dominant 7th interval without being completely explicit is to imply the chord by playing the 3rd and dominant 7th. The example below is a chord progression composed of only dominant 7th chords.

Diminished Chords: 6 riffs in 1

2012-03-26T07:56:00.004-07:00

There exists a unique family of chords that have the ability to invert themselves without changing the fingering of the chord. One such chord is the diminished chord. A single diminished chord is actually four chords in one. In Fig. 1, all chords in the measure are actually the same chord but each inversion has a different root note (or the same root note depending on how you look at it). Furthermore, all chords are the same distance apart from one another (3 frets).
This means that you can take one guitar riff and multiply it 6 times across the fretboard. This is a relatively common techinque in shred when you need to get from one side of the neck to the other without too much effort. Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 give some general ideas for how this could be acomplished. Fig. 3 in particular is a sweep pattern.

Riff of the Week (3/23/12)

2012-03-23T19:31:00.000-07:00

This week's riff is off of Megadeth's "Tornado of Souls" from the Rust in Peace album. This minor pentatonic riff is used as a transition from the intro to the verse and the solo. Nothing fancy, just a really cool bluesy lick.