Guitar Blog

Make Scales More Fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Gavin Lloyd Wilson) — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 16:01:00 +0000

Mike Olekshy – GuitarTricks.com

Tired of the same stock scale patterns you’ve been practicing? These simple tweaks can transform the sound of well known guitar scales, coaxing sounds that beg for more experimentation and creative expression!

ADD A NOTE TO THE MINOR PENTATONIC SCALE

Let’s start with one of the first scales a guitar player will learn - the minor pentatonic scale. This is a five note scale that is very commonly used for lead playing. The notes of the scale are the root, minor third (or flat third), fourth, fifth, and the minor seventh (or flat seventh).

Let’s add the note between the fourth and fifth - commonly referred to as the “flat five” - to the scale.

Choose the A Minor Pentatonic scale and play through the pattern, adding the flat five to it. Note how the sound of the scale just got a more “bluesy” upgrade. It’s no accident that the flat five note is also referred to as the “blues” note, as it evokes a very bluesy sound. Not surprisingly, this scale is known as the blues scale.

Improvise and experiment with the added note in every pattern of the minor pentatonic you know. You’ve just unlocked a whole new sound with a very simple adjustment!

SHIFT A NOTE IN THE NATURAL MINOR SCALE

Now let’s take the natural minor scale - root, 2nd, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7 - and mess with it a little. If we sharpen the flat 7 (or minor 7th), it becomes a “major” seventh. Play through the scale with this adjustment, and note the distinct sound that emits when you play through the b6, 7, octave (root), and above. This is known as the harmonic minor scale.

This scale is a great choice to play when you are playing in any minor key, but the V chord in the progression happens to be a major chord. For example, in the key of Am, your I chord is A minor, and your V chord would be E minor. But sometimes, you’ll encounter chord progressions where that V chord is actually major - in this case E major or E7. So improvise with A minor for all the chords in the progression, but switch to A harmonic minor just over the E chord. The notes will highlight that chord perfectly!

SHIFT A NOTE IN THE PHRYGIAN SCALE

One more cool tweak is to start with the Phrygian scale. The Phrygian scale is the 3rd mode of the major scale, and it’s formula is root, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7.

You could think of this particular scale as a natural minor scale with a flat 2. But let’s take it one step further, and raise the flat third one semitone (or fret) to a major third. Now play through the scale and check out the resulting unique sound!

It sounds very exotic with a distinct flavor that can add so much to your riffs or leads. This resulting scale is known as the “Phrygian Dominant” scale. It sounds particularly great when you’re playing over chord progressions that use the I, bII, and bVII chords.

Of course, there are many more examples of taking a scale and adding or shifting a note to create new sounds, so be sure to experiment often with this approach to unlock new ideas! You can always use the scale finder on GuitarTricks.com to help you learn more and get better more quickly!

Playing by ear: Top tips

noreply@blogger.com (Gavin Lloyd Wilson) — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 15:02:00 +0000

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Guest post by Alex Bruce

Learning to play by ear is a really important skill for guitarists. It furthers your understanding and knowledge of your instrument, prepares you a whole range of situations, and makes you a better, more rounded musician.

It isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do, however, it’s a skill you can actively cultivate and slowly but surely improve. If you practice the right things and get into good habits, your ear gets better and better.

Here are some top tips to make sure to set off - and continue - on the right kind of paths with this aural development. Good luck, and have fun!

Keep it simple

There is so much that you can deduce just by asking yourself “What do I actually hear?” And thinking critically about your response.

A note played in the 2nd string doesn’t sound exactly the same as the very same pitch on the 4th string, for example, the tone produced is quite different. Is this a high note, or a low note? Played hard or soft? is it the only note being played or one of several? How is it being played? Is there vibrato? Is there a bend or slide or legato technique present? Is the note sustained, or played staccato? The difficult thing with this stuff is figuring out which specific note or chord is being played - is it an A or a B for example?

But these questions above should be fairly simple to answer, at least after a few attempts and some practice.

So the first lesson here is to keep it simple! Assess the background information, as so much useful info is readily available

Chord types

It’s important to develop your ability to recognise whether a chord is major or minor, at first, then later whether it’s a major7, minor7 or ‘dominant’7. (Then much later, to more advanced chords too)

This is something that really helps you when figuring out chords in a progression by ear. Knowing whether a chord is major or minor is half the battle when doing this, and when combined with knowledge of what key the song is in, really narrows your options of what chords could possibly be in the chord pattern.

To get started with this, consider major chords as chords that sound upright, complete, happy, bright and resolved, and minor chords as ones that sound sadder, ‘lower’, still complete but more melancholic, melodic and less final.

Get together with a musician friend and take turns to test each other on this (and all the other elements of ear training) to make it a fun challenge.

Rhythm transcription

This is about cultivating the ability to determine, by ear, the rhythm of a riff or the rhythmic strumming pattern of a chord progression.

This is often the final piece when learning a song by ear - you may have figured out the chord pattern but the strumming eludes you. This is a very common situation, especially with complex instrumentations, or music where the guitar isn’t mixed front and centre and is therefore harder to hear with absolute clarity.

Practice this with as many songs as you can, and it’s also a good idea to learn basic rhythm notation, if you don’t already know it.

This means that you can practice rhythm transcription - i.e. Hearing a rhythm, then notating it roughly and briefly. By doing this, you make it something you can immediately play without repeated listens to remind yourself of the vibe. Simply consult your transcription!

Improvised soloing / backing tracks

This is a great tip, because it contains multiple benefits simultaneously. Besides being fantastic ear training, it also trains soloing, technique, improvisation, and is fun too!

Put on a backing track or a song and attempt to play over it. Ideally one which doesn’t reveal thekey it is in, as figuring this out is part of the process.

There are many ways to figure out the key, from rudimentary trial and error, to complex thought processes, and you’ll probably develop one that mixes various methods over time, as most guitarists do.

A really nice one is to find a note that works (as in fits / sounds good over the backing) then spread out from there. - What is the next note on that same string that works? - Go one string either side - which notes work nearby?

And so you spread out from there and within a minute or so you have a full position of a scale that you can solo with.

Jam!

As well as being a great way to work on your ear, this is also in essence one of the main applications of all of the above. This is about entering a real, lively, engaged, fun musical scenario, performing well and enjoying it, because you’re putting honed musicianship to good use.

Get together with friends who play and jam. Whether you have an originals band, or you play covers for fun, or you take turns soloing over each other playing rhythm parts, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that jamming is a spontaneous and interactive process.

In the best jams, the musicians use their ears to ensure that they try to play things that fit with, respond to, or in some other interesting way relate to, what the other musicians are doing. This is a fantastic, fun way to put your musical ear to the test, apply your new knowledge, and keep growing on the path to becoming a better musician.

Alex Bruce writes for guitartricks.com which offers guitar lessons for beginners

Beginner Guitarists - 5 Things You Should Know

noreply@blogger.com (Gavin Lloyd Wilson) — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 13:39:00 +0000

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Guest post by Alex Bruce

Image by Valéria Rodrigues Valéria from Pixabay

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, so the saying goes, and this seems objectively true in any walk of life. Learning is a beautiful, sometimes painful process, and there’s really no getting around it.

However, every intermediate or advanced guitarist can reel off a list of things they wish they’d known as beginner guitar players, quicker than you can say “Don’t-worry-the-finger-pain-goes-away-in-about-a-week”.

These aren’t ways to avoid the absolutely necessary processes of learning and practice (there’s really, really no getting around those) but they are little insights, and tricks, and shortcuts, and reassurances that should combine to help you progress faster and happier.

So, beginner guitarists, here are 5 things you really should know, embarking on your instrumental learning journey. And ironically, it could be argued that the 5 points also make pretty good general rules for life. Maybe that’s too deep for now though, so let’s talk guitar:

1 - Rapid Progress Is Around The Corner

Time after time teaching beginner guitarists, we see the same thing play out. It goes like this:

Beginner guitarist picks up the instrument
Finds it challenging (obviously)
Presumes they’re innately ‘not very good at it’ or it’s ‘too hard’
Stops playing.

There’s one crucial thing they’re failing to understand here, and it’s the difference between being bad at something, and being new to something.

So the question is - what should you compare yourself to? The answer might be yourself, five minutes ago. Or it might be other people who also only just picked up the instrument. But it certainly isn’t Jimi Hendrix, who - once upon a time, five minutes after picking up the instrument - had exactly the same ability as you have right now.

You are not bad at playing the guitar, and the guitar is not inherently too difficult. You are new to playing the guitar, and it takes a bit of time to make progress.

The good news, though, is that - with little-and-often practice - progress rapidly accelerates, especially at the beginning, where there’s so much space to progress into, and so much to learn.

Do not be deterred by something challenging being challenging. In some sense it’s a test of your commitment and resolve, a wall representing your desire to learn the instrument - beyond which is a world of creative expression and enjoyment. But never forget the difference between being bad at something, and being new to something.

2 - Your Body Will Adapt

The pain-in-the-fingers point in the introductory paragraph has already referenced this idea. Because again, another presumption beginners make all too easily is that playing guitar simply causes painful fingertips, or a sore wrist.

The truth is - unless you have poor posture and technique - that playing guitar causes painful fingertips, for about a week. After which time this goes away and never returns.

Your body will adapt. Your fingertips quickly develop calluses - very slightly firmer skin - and then that’s that, you’re all set. No pain, no problem.

In some ways this is the same overall point as the first point: Don’t presume that how it is in the beginning is how it’s always going to be. It isn’t. Everything improves exponentially if you move beyond the initial obstacles and keep playing.

3 - Try Almost Everything

I mean this in two different ways:

When learning your first riffs, chord patterns and songs, there’s much to be learned from all the usual beginner guitar songs and styles, but don’t stop there. You might just find - if you turn your hand to beginners’ country guitar, or thrash metal, that you one - really enjoy it, and two - have a natural flair for it too.
Of course you’re going to primarily take on beginner level material, and rightly so. It’s important you follow the well-worn paths that have led so many guitarists to advanced levels, success and creative fulfilment. However, trying to play more complex, advanced bits of material gives you an insight into what’s to come, may make you learn something new, is good inspiration, and great fun. Don’t be afraid to try these things once in a while. It’s not about mastery, it’s about testing yourself.

4 - Don’t Avoid Things

If you hit an obstacle, that might feel like a brick wall - and there are some common ones: Barre chords, alternate picking, and so on - it’s so so easy to turn away. You should fight this urge, though, because there’s really only one way forward.

Furthermore, these obstacles are never the monsters they seem, especially when broken down by practice, good teaching, online lessons, repetition, determination, and so on.

It is in the act of avoiding the challenge that you create the monster. Every time you avoid it, you unconsciously tell yourself that this should be avoided because it is something to fear. The reality is always very different.

Play your barre chords badly, then again, then again, then take on a barre chord song beyond your level, and play it badly, and again, and again, and then click - suddenly youcan play barre chords. If you don’t believe me, try it!

5 - Acquire The Tools You Need

A bad workman blames his tools, but a beginner workman often doesn’t have the tools in the first place.

No you don’t need to immediately buy every bit of guitar gear you can get your hands on (that’ll come later) but having a working version of each of the essential accessories is really important.

This might sound very obvious, but perhaps you’d be surprised how many guitarists can find themselves without a pick, tuner, or capo to hand when needed.

Make sure you have at least one properly functioning version of each of the following to hand:

Guitar (the obvious one)
A pick
A tuner or tuning app
A capo
A cable and amplifier if playing electric guitar
Spare strings

Alex Bruce writes for guitartricks.com which offers guitar lessons for beginners

5 Things Rock Guitarists Can Learn from Classical Guitarists

noreply@blogger.com (Gavin Lloyd Wilson) — Sun, 15 Aug 2021 14:36:00 +0000

Guitar Blog

Make Scales More Fun!

Playing by ear: Top tips

Keep it simple

Chord types

Rhythm transcription

Improvised soloing / backing tracks

Jam!

Beginner Guitarists - 5 Things You Should Know

1 - Rapid Progress Is Around The Corner

2 - Your Body Will Adapt

3 - Try Almost Everything

4 - Don’t Avoid Things

5 - Acquire The Tools You Need

5 Things Rock Guitarists Can Learn from Classical Guitarists

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