Seven Nation Army - Guitar Video Lesson

I'm looking for some ideas to create an arrangement of The White Stripe's Seven Nation Army with my band at the moment. There are some nice reggae style covers of the song that give it a more funky rhythm. Here's one example offered by the Guitar Lesson Lounge, a new site offering video lessons of favourite rock and pop songs.



You'll need a couple of bar chord positions for this version, and you can find tab for it at the Guitar Lesson Lounge site. Check them out, they've got more good lessons.

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Do You Practice Guitar Like Rafael Nadal?

"I play to continue to improve myself, to try to be a better player. I don't go to training just to train, but to learn something new." - Rafael Nadal comments the improvements to his game after the US Open 2010.

Rafael Nadal's recent victory in the US Open took his tally of grand slam tennis tournaments to three this year. He won Roland Garros, Wimbledon earlier in the summer in addition to his US Open victory. He might be forgiven for thinking he's about as good as he could be as a tennis player, but Nadal doesn't seem to think that way.

"I didn't serve very well in the tournaments preceding the US Open, so I decided to change my grip two days before the start of the competition and I immediately started to serve better. Now, I know how to change the rhythm of my shots, I serve better, I win more cheap points thanks to my service and I play closer to the line at the back of the court."

Thanks to that change of grip Nadal's average service speed during the US Open tournament improved to 192 km/h, compared to 172 km/h last year. Wouldn't you like to improve your guitar technique by a similar amount?

As Nadal's example shows, even if you practice the same basic skills - service, forehand, backhand, volleys... or scales, chords, bends, vibratos... - there is always a new way to play them. A small adjustment could bring about a big change in the results you get... if you're willing to experiment...

What about you? Do you practice guitar to learn something new each time? Or do you just repeat the same exercises, out of habit or routine?

Let me repeat that quote one more time,

"I don't go to training just to train, but to learn something new."

I plan to burn that into my mind and keep a "Nadal attitude" each time I practice guitar.

Nadal quotes translated from Yahoo sports.

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Photo by Charlie Cowins.

3 Tips To Get The Most Out Of Guitar Jam Track Practice

Jam tracks, or backing tracks as they're also known, are a great way to practice guitar. Not only do they make practice more fun they also train you to play in time, hear how your solos sound over a song's chords, and get into the habit of listening to the band you're playing with.

These benefits make them a practice tool that I use all the time. But like any tool, a little knowledge of how to use it can help to obtain even more from them. Here are three tips to help you get the most out of your jam tracks as you practice guitar.

1. Decide what to practice before you start

"He who fails to plan, plans to fail." -- proverb

Without a plan it's easy to lose your way with jam tracks. You can waste time as you repeat the same exercise over and over or doodle aimlessly and forget to work on important skills.

Before you start playing set out a plan for your practice session. You don't need anything fancy, but decide in advance what you will work on. How long will you spend? What keys will you play, and at what tempos?

Answer all these questions in writing before you start and use your list to keep on track as you practice.

2. Practice in different keys and tempos

To get the most out of each of your jam tracks create copies at different tempos and in different keys. You can easily create copies with changed pitch or tempo with software programs such as Audacity or Riff Master (that's my affiliate link, I'm confident that you'll never regret what this purchase will do for your guitar skills).

If a track is too fast for you to work with then you don't have to leave it on the shelf. Simply slow it down. You can create faster copies as you improve until you work up to and beyond the original tempo.

3. Make your own jam tracks

While there are a wealth of great quality jam tracks with full backing bands out there I believe it is still important to create your own home made tracks.

The big advantage of home made tracks? Simple, the process of making them forces you to work on all of your guitar skills. You'll improve both your rhythm and lead playing and learn how to put together interesting harmonies of several guitar parts.

I'm not saying you shouldn't use professionally recorded jam tracks, they are great fun to play with. But you can also have a lot of fun and learn a load when you make your own.

Nowadays this is easy to do with either a small multi-track recorder or a computer with some simple multi-track recording software.

Bonus tip 4

As a final bonus tip I recommend you use your jam tracks to practice all your guitar skills: scales, chords, licks, rhythms, solos, improvising...

Jam tracks are often thought of as a tool for playing solos over, end of story. But all areas of your guitar playing can benefit from practice in time and in fitting with the rest of the band, so why miss out?

I hope you'll try out some guitar jam tracks as part of your guitar practice. Learn to play in time, hear how your playing sounds over a song's chords, and experience the fun of playing as part of a band – all in the comfort of your own home.

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Photo by My Sweetheart The Drunk.

Relax Your Way To Better Guitar Playing

Relaxation is not high up on most guitar players list of things to do to play better guitar. But learning to relax can have a surprisingly big impact on how well you play guitar and the nice thing is it doesn't take a lot of effort or time to see the benefits, which makes it something well worth trying.

Tension, The Guitar Players Enemy

Many guitarists play with a lot of tension in their bodies. Usually they're not even aware of this tension because they have become used to it. It was there all along as they learned and now it feels normal.

But tension is an insidious enemy that makes it harder for you to play guitar. To see for yourself how powerful an enemy tension can be try this simple experiment...

1. Pick up your guitar and get ready to play
2. Place your left hand (if you're right handed) fingers across any four frets of the sixth string
3. Clench the muscles in your left shoulder and arm as tight as you can, don't clench your hand or fingers as you do this, concentrate only on your arm and shoulder muscles
4. Now try to walk your fingers across the strings and frets one at a time

It's hard to move your fingers isn't it?

Now release the muscles and repeat the finger walking exercise, it will be much easier this time around.

This exercise demonstrates two things:

1. Tension in your body makes performing guitar playing movements harder
2. Tension in places that don't seem directly related to the exercise have an effect

Now, in this exercise we voluntarily exaggerated the tension a bit (well maybe, some guitarists do play clenched up like that). But even if you don't usually clench all your muscles before you play it's pretty certain that some of your muscles have unnecessary tension in them.

What Happens When You Relax?

Now, if exaggerating the tension can have this much negative effect, imagine how the reverse could be true. If you exaggerate the relaxation of your muscles then this can have an equal effect in the opposite sense - making playing movements easier.

Your playing can become more accurate and fluid and you will reduce fatigue so you can play better for longer.

How to Relax

There are a wealth of guides, tools and courses to help you to learn to relax. In fact it's a whole field that goes way beyond the scope of this blog. But in my experience you don't need to study the literature for years to get major benefits, a simple exercise can help you become more relaxed and focused when you practice or play guitar.

One of the easiest ways to bring about a relaxed state I've found is to take a couple of minutes to do a calm breathing exercise.

I do this sitting in a comfortable position on a chair or on the floor. I close my eyes and simply breathe in and out calmly. While I do this I concentrate on my body as it breathes, I visualize the air going into and out of the body, the movement of the belly, ribs, back and all their muscles.

Do this before you pick up your guitar to practice and you will start your session calm and relaxed.

Give Relaxation A Try

Why not give yourself a chance to relax when you practice guitar in the coming days? It will cost you only a couple of minutes or so at the start of each session. You might be surprised by the results you get and who knows, maybe you'll get so hooked you wind up becoming a guitarist yogi ;-)

If you want to learn more about the power of relaxation techniques that can help you play better guitar I recommend Jamie Andreas' Principles of Correct Practice for Guitar book. You can learn more about Jamie's principles and methods at the principled guitar web site. If you choose to order the Principled Guitar book from Amazon because of this article I'd appreciate it if you use this affiliate link, it earns a small commission that helps recompense the time invested in building this site.

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Photo by exfordy.

How Balanced Is Your Guitar Learning Time?

You may have heard the old advice that the only way to learn guitar is to practice, practice, practice. Well, it is pretty good advice, but it doesn't tell the whole story. To learn to play guitar more effectively you need to balance practice with other activities.

In this article I'll present four different kinds of learning time. Use these four kinds of time to balance your learning activities and get the most out of the time you have to learn guitar.

1. Knowledge time
2. Practice time
3. Thinking time
4. Housekeeping time

Let's take a look at each in turn to see how it helps you learn.

Knowledge Time

When you first start to learn guitar you need only know two or three chords. But as you progress you'll add more chords, scales, rhythms, modes, repertoire, as well as knowledge of harmony, composition and other musical theory.

You can acquire this knowledge from many different sources and not all of them require your guitar. Reading, listening, watching and meeting other guitarists and musicians will all contribute to your musical knowledge.

Practice Time

Practice time is where you work on the mechanics of guitar technique. When you pick up your guitar to practice make sure you get the most out of this time by focusing on playing skills.

Some of your time on the guitar will support your knowledge of music and the guitar. For example your knowledge of chord positions, the fretboard and scale fingerings is reinforced as you practice.

But to get the most out of this time, keep in mind that learning and memorizing patterns, exercises and songs can be done elsewhere.

Thinking Time

If you stuff your head full of knowledge and practice long and hard then you will surely get results. But to get even better results nothing beats actually THINKING about what you're doing.

You can use two simple questions to help you do this.

1. What exactly am I trying to achieve?
2. How can I do it most effectively?

It's a good idea to set aside a dedicated time, say once a week, to think about what you're working on. What are the problems you need to solve? How will you work on them? Could it be time for a change of direction or some fresh ideas?

A little thinking time will go a long way to help you learn better.

Housekeeping Time

Whew, all that study, practice and thinking. I don't know about you but I'm beginning to feel a little tired already.

To keep yourself fresh and avoid burnout leave yourself a little housekeeping time to look after your mind and body.

Relax, exercise, get some fresh air, and socialize with other "normal" people (yeah, that's right, guitar players are not normal. Normal people don't spend hours hunched over a little wooden box torturing themselves about what they can't play yet).

Review

Let's recap those four kinds of learning time we've discussed.

1. Knowledge time, to learn what and how to play.
2. Practice time, to work on the mechanics of playing.
3. Thinking time, remember - there's always a better way.
4. Housekeeping time, give yourself a break, you deserve it.

Got that? Now check your guitar practice schedule and make sure these four kinds of guitar learning time have got their place in it.

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3 Reasons To Visit The Classical Guitar Blog

Christopher Davis offers a great source of information and inspiration on the Classical Guitar Blog. And not just for classical guitar players, many of the tips apply to guitarists of any style. Here are three examples that fall into that category, click the links to visit, learn and enjoy.

Think Ahead Of Your Hands

"One of the biggest problems with shifting I see in my students is inaccuracy. Most times the problem is easily fixed: I tell them not to look at their left hand as it travels, but to look at it where its going."

Think (and Look) Ahead of Your Hands

What Is Discipline?

"Real discipline is not sticking to a practice schedule or spending xx minutes on scales and xx minutes on arpeggios every day."

Click this link to find out why Real Discipline is hard...

Guitar Technique Is Not Rocket Science

"Guitarists No. 1 job: be as lazy as possible, –use as little effort to get the desired results"

Guitar Technique Is Not Rocket Science.

I'm sure you'll enjoy these three tips and there are plenty more. You really should subscribe to the Classical Guitar Blog for regular doses of good advice.

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Surround Yourself With Guitar Inspiration

Here's an easy way to keep your guitar playing near the front of your mind if you spend much of your day sitting in front of a computer. Set a guitar image as your PC's Windows desktop image and you'll have all-day-long reminders to practice guitar.

Each time you see the image you'll be reminded of that piece you are working on or the problem you're trying to solve. And you might even be lucky and get an idea that helps when you see your desktop reminder.

Here are some sites where you can download free desktop wallpaper or screen savers with guitar images.

• Guitar Academy
• Cool Guitar Wallpapers
• Guitar Wallpaper

To get more personal reminders that evoke your own projects, practice tasks or problems take some photos of your own and set them as your wallpaper. You might photograph your guitar, your practice space, or maybe the exercises or song you're working on.

You can take this idea further by printing your favourite guitar images on mouse mats, mugs or calendars. Surround yourself with guitar inspiration to boost motivation, increase your practice urge, and stimulate your subconscious to work on problems for you..


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Photo by Sean Rogers 1.

Double Stop 3rds Video Lesson

I came across this video lesson from Marty Schwartz showing how to play some double stop 3rds licks on a G chord. It makes a great complement to the series of lessons on double stops currently running. I hope you enjoy the video...



Check out more double stops lessons and examples...

Guitar Solos - 5 Double Stop 3rds Licks
Inject Some Life Into Your Rhythm Guitar With Double Stop Thirds
How To Play Cool Rhythm Guitar Riffs With Double Stop 4ths
Introduction To Guitar Double Stops

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Four Golden Rules To Be A Better Guitarist

It often surprises me how ideas from unrelated areas of work and life provide inspiration and ideas that help me to improve my guitar playing.

I develop computer software in my day job, and I've often learned lessons there that have been a great help to my study of the guitar. A little while ago I came across an article describing Four Golden Rules To Be A Better Software Developer.

You might think that creating computer software has little to do with playing guitar. But both have in common the need for curiosity, discipline, organisation and an open, learning mind.

Here's my take on these four golden rules, adapted for learning to play better guitar. If you want to become a better guitar player then the attitude defined by these four golden rules is a useful tool that can help you take your playing to new levels.

Rule number 1:  My playing sucks.

All guitar playing sucks in some way. My playing, and yours, could always be better. No matter how good you think it is, there is always a better way to play it.

Even if you are certain that your guitar playing just happens to be the best thing since sliced bread force yourself into thinking "my playing sucks".

Ask around for suggestions to improve it, be open minded, understand what other guitarists are playing. You will discover problems in your playing that you never even thought you had, as well as discover new opportunities.

Rule number 2: Even if it sucks, I care about my playing.

Even though your guitar playing sucks in some way, this is not important, it's not about having the best playing right now. What's important is making it better every time you visit it.

Keep striving to improve each time you pick up your instrument, even if only in some very tiny way.

Rule number 3: My opinion about my own playing is wrong.

If you want to really improve your playing then you must know exactly what is wrong with it.

We can record ourselves as we play guitar and listen with a critical ear, but our egos always get in the way when we try to figure out what needs improvement. We easily convince ourselves that what we have done is the best it could be, the best we could possibly do.

But never trust only your own opinion, show your playing to as many other guitarists as possible and listen to them.

Rule number 4: The audience doesn’'t care about my playing.

This rule regulates the other three, it is easy to forget that you actually play to entertain those who listen. 99% of the people in your audience really don't care about your guitar playing, they just want to hear music and have a good time.

Don't get so wrapped up in the guitar that you forget all about music, people and entertainment. You've got to balance guitar technique with musicality, playing with your band and sharing warmly with your public, whether it's only three friends or a whole hall full of people.

I think I would add a bonus rule number 5: learn from every source you can.

Learning from guitar players, guitar teachers and musicians is great. But keep your eyes and ears open and you will discover ideas and inspirations from all areas of life that will help you to play better guitar.

What about you? Have you been inspired to play better guitar by a story from another area of life? Tell us what inspires you to guitar playing success in the comments below...

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Guitar Solos - 5 Double Stops 3rds Licks

This guitar lesson presents 5 example licks that show how double stops 3rds can be used in guitar solos.

The lesson starts with a quick presentation of the fingerings you can use to play double stop 3rds on the guitar. Then you'll see five example licks that demonstrate these shapes in action.

Double Stop 3rds Fretboard Shapes

Double stop 3rds come in two varieties. Major 3rds intervals separated by four semitones and minor 3rds intervals separated by only three semitones.

Each variety has its own fingering on adjacent strings which conveniently makes it easy to play the two notes together.

Because the interval between the 3rd string and the 2nd string of the guitar is different from the others the fingerings for this pair of strings is different. You therefore have four fingerings to memorize, shown in the figure below.

The five example licks below all use these fingerings over a G major chord with a sixth string root. You can move them up or down the fretboard for other chords with 6th string root forms.

Example 3rds Lick #1

This first example is an easy introduction to the 3rds shape on the 3rd and 4th strings. The double stop is built on the root note of the G chord - notice how it strongly emphasizes the sound of the chord.

Example 3rds Lick #2

This next example uses the minor and major 3rds shapes on the 2nd and 3rd strings. Note too the use of a hammer-on to the 3rd scale degree of the minor double stop. This gives the lick a bluesy feel.

Example 3rds Lick #3

Another example with a bluesy feel with its triplet time and the use of the quarter note bend on the minor 3rd.

Example 3rds Lick #4

This next example gets you moving across strings a little. The first double stop on the 5th scale degree uses the major shape on the top two strings.

Example 3rds Lick #5

The final example introduces some new double stop positions further up the neck. These double stops use the 6th, 7th and 1st scale degrees on the second string before finishing on a G major triad.

Review And Conclusion

Practice these 5 example double stop 3rds licks to get used to the fingerings. As you practice memorize the scale degrees of the bottom note of each interval, this will help you to know if you should play a major or minor double stop.

When you've got these shapes burned into your fingers try making up more licks of your own. Remember, use major 3rds on the root, fourth and fifth scale degrees, and minor 3rds on the other degrees.

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