How To Change Tempo And Pitch Of Songs With Audacity

In this tutorial you will see how you can use a free audio application, Audacity, to change the tempo or pitch of MP3 backing tracks or songs.

* Changing tempo helps when a piece is too fast for you. You can slow its tempo until it's comfortable, then gradually speed it up as you improve until you reach full speed.

* Changing pitch is useful when you want to play in a different key than a recording. You might want to use easier chords, avoid retuning, or maybe you want to practice something in all twelve keys.

If either of these sound like the kind of things you might want to do with your jam tracks or recordings then read on to find out how.

Overview Of The Process

Changing the tempo or pitch of MP3 files with Audacity is quite simple, here are the steps we'll look at in this article.

1. Load an MP3 file and select the audio data
2. Modify the tempo
3. Modify the pitch
4. Save the result

Load An MP3 File And Select The Audio Data

Once you've launched Audacity you can open an MP3 file by clicking the File menu and selecting Open. Browse to your MP3 file in the dialogue that opens.

If your backing track or song is on a CD then you can convert the CD track to an MP3 first. To do this select Import Audio... from the Project menu, import your CD track and then select Export As MP3... from the File menu to save it.

Once you've opened your MP3 file you must select all the audio data so you can apply tempo or pitch change effects to it. The simplest way to achieve this is to hold down the Ctrl key and press the 'A' key (you can also do it via the Edit, Select... menu).

Important: Effects are applied to the selected audio, so you must ensure all the audio is selected whenever you apply an effect.

Done that? Good, now you can modify the tempo or pitch of the track to your heart's content. Let's start by looking at how to modify the tempo.

Modify The Tempo

To modify the tempo of your track without altering the pitch open the Effect menu and click Change Tempo...

Pitfall: Don't select "Change Speed..." from the menu, that effect modifies the pitch along with the speed.

A dialogue like the one shown below appears offering controls to change the tempo by a percentage, beats per minute or by altering the length of the track.

I mostly use the percentage change to slow a track down a certain amount. To slow things down drag the slider to the left so that a negative value appears in the Percentage Change box, like the figure below.

It's a good idea to create several files at different tempos at this stage. For example, you might save files at 30%, 25%, 20%, 15%, 10%, 5% slower than the original. As you practice and improve you can move from file to file until you reach full speed.

Important: Each time you use the effect it is applied to the result of the previous application. Slowing down in two steps of 10% each doesn't give the same result as a single 20% slowdown to the original. I always start from the original file, apply the tempo change I want to it, then save the result in a new file. To create a file with a different slowed tempo I start from the original track again so that tempos are all relative to the same point of reference. We'll see how to save the slowed-down audio in a minute, after we've seen how to change pitch.

Modify The Pitch

To modify the pitch of a track select the menu Effect then click Change Pitch... A dialogue like the one below appears.

You can use any of the proposed methods to change pitch. I mostly use the Semitones value to shift pitch up or down a number of semitones. If you use the Pitch control be sure to select the correct starting pitch, Audacity doesn't figure this out for you.

Save The Result

Now you can modify the tempo and/or pitch of your audio tracks any way you want. You can save the resulting audio to new MP3 files so they are ready to use in your practice sessions.

Saving a new MP3 file is easy, simply open the File menu and click Export As MP3... Then you can give your new track a name and save it to your media library. Note that the original MP3 file remains intact, unaltered by the process described here.

Review Of The Steps

Let's take a quick review of the process to modify tempo and pitch and create new MP3 backing tracks to play along with as you practice guitar.

1. Load MP3 file and select all of the audio data with Ctrl-A
2. Modify the tempo
3. Modify the pitch
4. Save the result in a new file and you're ready to jam.

Conclusion

Backing tracks are a fun guitar practice tool and they also help you learn to play in time with a band. With the simple process described in this tutorial and the free Audacity audio software you can easily tweak backing tracks to suit your current playing level and needs.

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How To Play F Maj Chord Without Bars

Here's an easy to apply tip that shows beginner guitar players how to play F maj without bars.

The obstacle represented by the F barre (or bar) chord is a recurring problem for novice guitar players. It often occurs in popular beginner songs, The Beatles' Let It Be is just one example, yet it is one of the hardest chords for beginners to learn and master.

Barre chords take time to learn and master because they require good technique coupled with hand and finger strength. And that takes time to develop. The F barre chord is particularly hard, it takes a lot of force and technique to press the strings down so close to the neck's head.

It's unfortunate that this barre chord is often the first encountered. It leads many beginners to believe that playing guitar is very hard, maybe too hard and too much work for them. It's one obstacle that leads to a lot of learners abandoning, or at least giving up on playing anything that requires more than a few easy open chord positions.

But the fact is that there are different ways to play the F chord that avoid playing this difficult barre position. One easy solution that any beginner can use is a capo.

What A Capo Does For You

A capo is a device that fits over the strings of the guitar and pinches them onto a fret along the fretboard. It acts as a kind of moveable nut that can shorten the strings and change their pitch when they are played "open".

The result of this is that the chords you create with open chord positions are changed to higher pitches. What this means for you is that you can play an F barre chord with a simple open chord position.

There are two places on the fretboard you can use the capo to create an easy to play family of chords for songs in the key of C major. Let's take a look at these and the chord positions to use in each case.

Chord Positions For Capo At The Third Fret

When you place your capo at the 3rd fret you can play the C major, F major and G major chords of the key of C major using the open chord positions shown below.

• Play C major with an A open chord position
• Play F major with a D open chord position
• Play G major with an E open chord position

You can also play the common chords in the key of F with the capo in this position. In addition to the C and F chords already described you can play the Bb chord with a G major open chord form.

Chord Positions For Capo At The Eighth Fret

At the eighth fret you can play songs in the key of F with easy open chord positions.

• Play F major with an A open chord position
• Play C major with an E open chord position
• Play Bb major with a D open chord position

The key of C is a little trickier...

• Play C major with an E open chord position
• Play F major with an A open chord position

But to play the G major you'll need to use a B chord position. To do this move an A major open chord up two frets and strum only the three fingered strings. If you want to try a more advanced fingering then play these three strings with your middle, ring, and little fingers and use your index to press two frets back along the 5th string.

Conclusion

Now you know how to play F maj without bars. With this easy solution you can play songs in the keys of C and F major even if you can't make an F barre chord.

A capo is inexpensive and easy to use and will let you take your time to gradually build the technique and strength needed to play barre chords without injuring yourself.

Want A Capo Recommendation?

There are many different kinds of capo and if you decide to get one you you might be wondering which one to go for. I've been asked this question several times and I have no hesitation in recommending the Dunlop Trigger Capo.

I've used one of these for over ten years without any problems. Its spring action makes it a snip to put on or take off. It has enough strength to securely grip the strings on my guitar and has never slipped or given false notes.

• Dunlop Trigger Capo from Amazon.com.
• Dunlop Trigger Capo from Amazon UK.

(Note that the links above are affiliate links which means I get a small commission from Amazon if you buy after following them).

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Inject Some Life Into Your Rhythm Guitar With Double Stop 3rds

This guitar lesson shows you how to use double stop 3rds to inject some life into your rhythm guitar playing. Instead of sticking on the same chord position double stop 3rds will give you options to add more movement into the music by playing around within the current chord.

We'll start with a brief look at what double stop 3rds are and see how to play them on the guitar. Then we'll look at some example rhythm guitar riffs built with thirds so you can see how they fit around the chord positions you already know.

What Are Double Stop 3rds?

Double stop 3rds are pairs of notes from the major scale. For each note of the scale you create a pair by skipping one note up the scale and choosing the next note as its partner. Here are the thirds in the scale of C major created by skipping over one note on each degree of the scale.

C-E, D-F,  E-G,  F-A,  G-B,  A-C,  B-D

Double Stop 3rds And The Major Key

Some of these thirds intervals are major (four half steps) and some are minor (three half steps), this leads to exactly the same pattern of major and minor double stops as for chords in a major key. Double stop 3rds on the 1st, 4th and 5th scale degrees are major, while double stop 3rds on the 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th degrees are minor.

If you start playing a pattern on the root note then as you move up the fretboard then major and minor thirds occur in this pattern.

Major minor minor Major Major minor minor Major

Double Stop 3rds Guitar Fingerings

Fingerings for major and minor double stop 3rds are shown in the figures below. The fingerings shown in blue work on all pairs of strings except the second and third strings. On the second and third string use the fingering shown in orange. The pattern is different because these two strings are tuned to an interval of a major third, all the other strings are tuned to an interval of a perfect fourth.

Examples In The Key Of G Major

The easiest way to get the hang of using double stop 3rds in your rhythm guitar playing is to look at some examples. Below you will find examples showing thirds intervals over a G chord at the third fret. Note that the G major chord can be played in either open position or with an E form bar chord.

These examples will help you to familiarise yourself with the double stop 3rds you can use over any major chord with a sixth string root. In each case the base note of the interval is on the lower string. On the higher string is a minor or major third, depending on the scale degree of the base note. As you work through the exercises make sure you name each note and its scale degree – you'll need to know these by heart to make up and play your own riffs.

More Examples In The Key Of D Major

The next set of examples show use of double stop thirds patterns around a D major chord played using an A bar chord form with the root on the 5th string. You can move these double stop thirds positions up and down the fretboard to use them with any chord that has its root on the 5th string.

Now It's Your Turn

When you've familiarised yourself with the thirds positions using the examples above make up some licks of your own. There's no reason the licks in the examples work other than that they sound good. You are free to use any series of thirds you wish in your licks, let your ear be your guide.

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5 Ways To Rekindle Guitar Practice Enthusiasm

Us guitar players should always be on the lookout for new ways to boost our guitar practice. After all, the way we get better is practice, practice, practice, right?

But keeping up motivation and attention can be hard, even for the most enthusiastic player. Sometimes, that practice session seems like a drag and you don't want to face up to it.

Here are five tips for making practice sessions more fun and easier to approach.

1. Relax

A relaxed mind and body is a fantastic guitar practice tool. You might not be aware of just how much tension you have when you practice guitar because you become so used to playing with it that it feels normal.

Take 10 minutes or so before you practice to get rid of all that tension. Perform some relaxation exercises to free your mind and body of all the tensions of the day.

2. Use Visualizations

Here's an easy test to demonstrate to yourself how powerful visualization can be. Think of going to the fridge to get yourself a beer, or maybe see yourself about to eat your favourite cake.

I bet that instantly conjured up all sorts of pleasant images. You probably even feel sensations or odours as well as a strong urge to drink that beer or eat the cake.

That's the power of visualization.

Create yourself some agreeable images of your guitar practice and you can use them to give yourself that practice urge too.

Stick with me for just a couple more minutes to read the 3 remaining tips before you go get yourself that beer or cake...

3. Do It First

How many days did you miss out on guitar practice because you just got busy with other things? You set out with good intentions, but there was just so much on that before you knew it it was time for bed and you were too whacked to practice guitar.

Sometimes, several days can go by in this way...

One solution that ensures you never miss a practice day again is to do it first thing in the morning. Get yourself out of bed a little earlier, grab a cup of tea or coffee, and before you do anything else practice that guitar.

4. Don't Watch The Clock

Most of the time I see people talking about guitar practice schedules in terms of time. So many minutes a day, 3 minutes on that, 4 minutes on that, ...

But I find that practicing to a stopwatch gets kind of stressful. I prefer instead to set the number of repetitions I plan to repeat each practice exercise. Usually somewhere between three and five at the most.

Then I can sit down to practice and just get on with playing without worrying about time. Do three repetitions, then move on to the next exercise, and the next, and the next, until you are done.

5. Catch Yourself Doing Something Right

Guitar practice sometimes feels unpleasant because it's an occasion to notice how many things you don't do right yet.

We generally don't much like unpleasant experiences and so we start to come up with all kinds of "excuses" to avoid them. No time, need to change strings, don't have the right amp, don't have the right tuition book, and so on.

Next time you practice don't focus on the things you don't do right, resolve instead to notice three things that you actually do right. Take a moment to savour these little victories and extract as much feel-good factor as you can from them.

The memory of these good feelings will keep bad feelings at bay and turn guitar practice into a more pleasant experience that you'll want to repeat.

Review

Let's take a moment to reflect on what you've seen in this lesson.

1. Relax, remember tension is the enemy of concentration.
2. Use visualizations, stimulate your urge to practice.
3. Do it first, make a satisfying start to your day.
4. Don't watch the clock, repeat each exercise a fixed number of times.
5. Catch yourself doing something right, remind yourself of the good things you do.

How Do You Boost Your Practice Enthusiasm?

Does your enthusiasm for guitar practice wane from time to time? If so, what do you do to rekindle it? Share your techniques by clicking on the comment link below...

Oh, and when you've done that you can go and get that cake.

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How To Feel Better About Guitar Practice So You'll Want To Do It More

Some people seem to enjoy guitar practice more than others even though they face just as many difficulties. Why is this?

It has a lot to do with the inner dialogue of these players - the voices in their head - as they practice, make mistakes, and learn.

What's Your Inner Dialogue When You Practice?

Many of us have a strong tendency to focus on the negative things in our playing. We notice the mistakes, the imperfections, the things we're not doing right or that seem to be taking more time than we think they should.

Some of us though, have learned to focus less of our attention on these problems. Instead we focus on good things in our playing, the little advances we make and the positive things we did during practice even though they may not have worked out as we would have liked. When you focus your attention on these little successes you tend to enjoy the process of learning more.

But how do you make the change in attitude to create better feelings about your own guitar practice? Here's one easy and effective way...

Catch Yourself Doing Something Right

If you're used to bashing yourself up over the mistakes, errors, and things that don't go well in guitar practice then you'll need to make a conscious effort to change this thought process. A good way to do that is to begin each guitar practice session with the deliberate goal of catching yourself doing something right. Anything right.

Write down the following in big letters at the top of your practice list or in some prominent place so that you'll see it as you practice:

CATCH MYSELF DOING SOMETHING RIGHT

As you practice make a mental note each time you catch yourself doing something right. You might prefer to quickly scribble it down in your practice journal or on a sheet of paper. The important thing is to pay attention to what you do right and take an instant to savour the good feeling this gives you.

Review Your Good Moments

At the end of each session take a couple of minutes to review your good moments.

If you only made a mental note then now is the time to write them down. If you keep a written record you can review it before your next practice session and you'll get a free good feeling before you even start.

Try It For One Week

Try to catch yourself doing something right each time you practice guitar this week to get into the habit. Commit to listing at least three things you do right each time you practice. Write down the three things you caught yourself doing at the end of each session and then review it as you start the next.

Don't be too ambitious, remember that small things count. For example, give yourself credit if you simply show up and practice. Give yourself another credit if you worked on a problem in your playing, it doesn't matter if you solved it or not. You should soon see that it's really not so hard to catch yourself doing lots of good things...

At the end of the week review all the things you caught yourself doing right and make a summary list of the three or four achievements that you're most pleased with. Re-read this list every day to feel good about all the work you're doing and the progress it will inevitably bring you.

To make sure you're really motivated to complete this challenge, why not share this post with a friend and tell them that you are going to do it. Or even better, share it with a fellow guitar learner and see who can catch themselves doing the most things right...

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How To Play Cool Rhythm Guitar Riffs With Double Stop 4ths

When I sat down to write this first tutorial in my series on double stops for guitar I was stuck for a while. I hesitated about which double stop interval to start with. Double stop 4ths seemed to be the easiest to start with but I had nagging doubts.

I doubted the interest of the topic I'd chosen. I mean, the fretboard shape to play 4ths is really simple and doesn't take much explaining (Well, almost, there is one trap where the exact same shape becomes a 3rd interval instead of a 4th on the second and third strings).

I also doubted that I had enough knowledge of this topic to really create a useful lesson. One of my main motivations for writing this series is that I haven't been making a lot of use of double stops in my own playing. So who am I to be showing you how to play them?

My Favourite Double Stop 4ths Licks

But that got me thinking a bit about what I use double stop 4ths for and I discovered that I can in fact create a few nice sounding things with them. So that's what I'm going to share with you today.

My two favourite way to use double stop 4ths are little melodic fills in slower songs and riff style rhythm patterns that sound great in blues, rock and funky songs.

So, now that I finally clarified what this lesson on double stop 4ths is going to be about, let's get on and see how to play some riffs...

Melodic Rhythm Fills

Fourths on the top two strings sound great in slower ballad style songs. You can use them to create some nice melodic movement in your rhythm guitar parts instead of banging away on the same old chord for ages.

To play these I use two or three 4ths double stops along the top two strings of the guitar. I also frequently use slides to move between them. The example below gives you a feel for the kind of fill this creates.

Melodic rhythm fills example on G chord

The example fills above are shown over a G major chord. The chosen double stops all use notes from the G major scale along the 2nd string. The figure below shows all of the double stop 4ths for this scale.

Double Stop 4ths - Major Scale Degrees On 2nd String

If you know your major scale formula of whole and half steps then you'll recognize it as the basis of this pattern on the fretboard. If you can identify a few "key" notes from the scale to figure out whereabouts you are on the fretboard you can experiment and make up riffs of your own using two, three, or more double stops.

This pattern can be used on any chord by simply shifting it up or down the fretboard. For example, to play over an A major chord you move the pattern up two frets.

Double Stop 4ths Rhythm Riffs

Another way to use double stop 4ths is on the lower strings of the guitar as part of a rhythmic riff. This kind of riff works well for blues or funky rhythm guitar parts.

Here are a couple of examples that should give you the idea. They combine a minor pentatonic lick with double stops.

Experiment with other double stops based on the pentatonic scale notes to create some riffs of your own.

Conclusion

This lesson has shown you two ways to integrate double stop 4ths into your rhythm guitar playing.

1. Using major scale 4ths on the top two strings you can create fills for ballads and slower songs.

2. Using 4ths on the low strings you can create great sounding blues or R&B riffs.

Both of these techniques make a nice change from playing straight chords. Why not give them a try?

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Introduction To Guitar Double Stops

Introduction To Guitar Double Stops

One of my guitar learning projects for this summer is to work on improving my skills with double stops. I read about double stops and how they can help to spice up guitar sounds some time ago. But it seems that with being so concentrated on choosing the right notes in single note licks and solos I kind of forgot to put in double notes or double note licks.

To put that right and make myself more comfortable with playing them is the aim of my study this summer. In this lesson I'll review double stops to explain what they are and how they can be used. Then I'll take a look at some common fretboard positions for playing different kinds of double stops.

This lesson is the first in a series that will focus on double stops and show how to use different double stops in blues and rock rhythm and solo guitar playing.

Double Stop Definition

A double stop is a pair of harmonized notes from a scale or a chord played simultaneously.

Double stops create a fatter, fuller sound during single note licks and can be quickly moved around to create fills during rhythm playing. They are a distinctive part of the guitar's sound and a useful trick to add to your toolbox.

The pairs of notes most commonly harmonized in double stops are thirds, fourths and sixths. Let's take a look at each of these in turn and see how they are played on the guitar.

Note that because of the guitar's tuning there are two different patterns for playing double stops. The same patterns can be used on the 6th 5th 4th and 2nd string, the guitar is tuned to a fourth between each of these strings and the next highest string. The patterns for notes on the 3rd string are different because this string is tuned a major third above the 4th string instead.

If this sounds complicated don't worry, you will understand more as we learn the patterns below.

Double Stop Fourths

Double stop fourths are the easiest to play. The interval between the two notes is a perfect fourth. This interval remains the same on all notes of the major scale so you don't have to figure out what kind of fourth interval to use.

Fourths also have an easy to play shape on the guitar fretboard. The figure below shows the shape for fourth intervals between the strings.

Fourths on the 6th and 5th, 5th and 4th, 4th and 3rd, and 2nd and 1st strings use the shape shown in blue. Fourths on the 3rd and 2nd strings use the shape shown in orange.


Double Stop Thirds

The major and minor sound of double stop thirds can create some beautiful sounding lines that strongly support the song's harmony. But you have to be more careful with them to play the minor and major intervals in the right places.

Unlike fourths the interval of a double stop third depends on which scale degree it occurs on. On the first, fourth and fifth degrees a major third double stop occurs. On the second, third and sixth degrees a minor interval occurs.

This means you have to play the right kind of double stop third - major or minor - depending on the degree of the top note.

This might seem tricky at first but with a little practice and some common fretboard patterns it will become easier. Patterns for major and minor thirds are shown in the figure below. The colours for double stop fourths above are used again.

Double Stop Sixths

Think of the intro to Sam and Dave's Soul Man or Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl and you'll immediately know what sixths double stops sound like.

Double stop sixths have an interval of a sixth between the two notes (surprising, huh?). Like thirds they occur in two flavours, major and minor, so there are two different patterns to learn on the fretboard.

Conclusion

Now you know what double stops are and the patterns used to play the most common forms on the guitar. In future lessons of this series we'll see how to include double stops in some guitar licks.


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Top 10 Guitarists Of All Time?

The folks over at Best Colleges Online have compiled a list of the top 10 guitarists of all time. As they say in their own words, this is no easy task...

"Compiling a list of the 10 greatest guitarists is a near-impossible task. Through the last half-century, dozens of these talented musicians have catapulted their bands and musical careers to new heights, captivating the world with their unique sounds. Any of the guys listed below serve as role models to future generation of guitarists."

I'm not going to reveal their top 10 here, you'll have to read the post for that. All I'll say is that you will enjoy the videos of each of the chosen guitarists playing.

Of course, there's a good chance you'll find that your favourite guitarist has been left out of the list, and maybe you'd rather leave out someone who has been included. But that's part of the fun of top 10 lists, so why not chip in by clicking the comment link below to have your say on the top 10 guitarists...

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Photo by bleachers.

Beginner Guitar Tip - Make Finger Stretches Easier

Here's an easy tip to make it easier when you start to learn guitar and help you develop better technique.

Beginner guitar learners often have trouble with the finger stretches required to make some chord or scale shapes across the frets of the guitar. Invariably you first learn to play chords and scales in open positions near the head of the guitar neck. But the spacing of the first four frets is the widest on the guitar's neck, forcing you to stretch your fingers uncomfortably.

What few beginners are told is that you can learn these exact same chord and scale shapes with smaller fret distances to stretch over. To do this all you need to do is place a capo across the strings and play higher up the neck where the frets are narrower.

Somewhere between the seventh and the ninth frets is a good place to start. Here you have narrower frets to work with without being too cramped up against the guitar's body.

In this position you'll be less inclined to adopt incorrect postures to force your fingers to reach notes beyond their current stretch. Your technique will benefit from this as you learn more optimal postures to finger chords and scales.

As you progress you can move the capo down the neck one or two frets at a time. Your fingers will gradually develop the stretch needed to reach across wider frets.

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Photo by Aplomb.