Guitar Gear You Need - Guitar Stand
You know the old saying “out of sight, out of mind”, right? Well, don’t let this apply when it comes to your guitar. Keep your guitar out of the case and in plain view with either a guitar stand or a guitar wall hangar. You should find you get in more practice time by simply having your instrument within arm’s reach. A stand is also an inexpensive insurance policy from the costly damage that inevitably follows from leaning your instrument against a wall or amplifier. Besides, a beautiful guitar complements any room’s decor!
Popularity: 5% [?]
E Minor Rock Instrumental Jam Track
Artists like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani are great at soloing over brooding, atmospheric minor jams. Vai’s “For The Love of God” comes to mind. Here is a E Minor rock jam track in that style:
The main backing guitar part jazzes up an Em to C progression with some colorful extensions:
Some scale suggestions:
Popularity: 11% [?]
Fingerboard Aerobics - Major Scale in 3rd Intervals
Knowing the sound of a scale starts by playing it ascending and descending (see my post on Four Scales You Should Know). But an infinite amount of music can be found within scales by changing the order of the notes and creating patterns. Today’s exercise moves through the Major Scale in ‘3rd intervals’, skipping every other note in the scale. This exercise in the G Major scale will workout your fingers and help you hear new melodies in this hopefully familiar scale pattern.
Hear it in action, first at 50 Beats Per Minute (BPM) then at 100 BPM.
Start slowly. Only when you can keep an even tempo throughout should you speed up!
Popularity: 8% [?]
Uptempo Blues Jam Track, Key of D
I was listening to blues great Albert Collins’ signature track ‘Frosty’ today. I whipped up an uptempo blues with a similar feel and key for jamming.
This is a 12-Bar Blues in the key of D. The chord progression:
|D7- - -|D7- - -|D7- - -|D7- - -|
|G7- - -|G7- - -|D7- - -|D7- - -|
|A7- - -|A7- - -|D7- - -|D7- - -|
Popularity: 7% [?]
Guitar Tip - Your Guitar Repertoire
The songs you can play are referred to as your “repertoire”; songs that you know beginning to end and can perform without looking at the sheet music or tablature. Ideally, a couple of these songs should be ’solo’ pieces: an instrumental or an accompaniment you sing to. It is good to know a couple of easy songs that you can quickly show other musicians. These will get you invited to the next jam session!
Keep working on new tunes and periodically cycle through your familiar tunes, keeping them fresh. A decent guitar repertoire avoids that ‘deer in the headlights’ feeling when faced with the inevitable request from family or friends, “Play me something!”
Popularity: 5% [?]
Funk Guitar Jam Track
I am a sucker for a good funk groove in the key of E! The following jam track scratches that itch so well…
Here are a few scale suggestions:
Have fun!
Popularity: 9% [?]
Tip Of The Day - Drummers and You
The drummer sets the tempo and time for the band so, of course, you should listen to and lock in with your drummer.
As a rule, guitar players cue in to the top end of the drum kit: the snare drum, hi-hat and ride cymbals. Lock in with the rhythms and accents your drummer is playing on those part of the drum kit. The low end of the drum set, the kick drum, is the domain of the bass guitarist.
Popularity: 5% [?]
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