I sometimes feel bad for acoustic guitarists who don’t have the overflowing toy box of effects pedals that electric guitarists do. To be frank we pile on a lot of pedals sometimes just because it’s fun to see what they do!
Being able to improvise on guitar is one of the most enjoyable aspects of playing music. To just sit down and play! No sheet music! No struggling! No thinking!
Wait… No thinking? Yep, that’s right. When you see an guitar player improvising who’s really in the groove, they’re not thinking. They’re letting the music flow through them. (Cue mystical hoo-ha music…)
And you too can get there by jumping in and getting your guitar improvisation fundamentals together. Continue reading
One of the most common problems that new students come to me with is how to accurately play the rhythm notation written on a page. Figuring them out by ear comes into play here too. With a little knowledge and a few simple steps you can become the rhythmic groove dragon you’ve always dreamed of. And don’t call your band Rhythmic Groove Dragon… That’s a horrible name. Continue reading
If guitarists have a hammer, it’s the Pentatonic Scale. A go-to tool that works in a variety of situations and can get you out of any musical corners you’ve painted yourself into. It’s simple to learn and extremely versatile.
Not only that, but knowing your pentatonic scale makes it easier to learn larger, more complex scales later.
The word “pentatonic” simply means “five tone”. There are only five notes in this scale, as opposed to seven in a normal western scale. It has its origins in Asian and African musics and you can hear that if it’s played very straight. But with some phrasing and ornamentation tricks it quickly becomes useful in rock music… or jazz… or blues… or pop… or country… See where we’re going here? Continue reading
Don’t let that lonely guitar sit unused any longer…
I have good news and bad news. The good news is that you can absolutely learn how to play guitar using one of the many fantastic online or DVD courses available. I’ll let you know my favorites in a bit. The bad news is most people won’t learn anything from these courses. AND IT’S NOT THE FAULT OF THE COURSE! Let me explain… Continue reading