Are You Up to the Hump Day Challenge?

This Friday it’s time for a challenge. If you’re feeling up to it, then I’d like to invite you to accept the Hump Day Guitar Challenge, courtesy of Fretterverse. Here’s some fighting talk to get you in the mood…

“That’s right, slackers. Today is the Hump Day Challenge. There are no excuses, no reasons why you can’t, no if’s, and’s, or but’s. Today is going to make you a better guitar player. If for nothing else because you got off your butt and put in the work. I am a firm believer that you make the most progress when you are the least motivated but show up and put in the time anyway. The gains may not show up immediately, but they have been made and you know you feel better having done the work when it’s over.”

 

If you accept the challenge then your task is to accomplish three guitar practice tasks in the two days left until during the weekend (OK, so it’s not really Wednesday, but as any good slacker knows, if you have until the weekend to do it then you can wait until Friday to get started).

 

So, what exactly are these practice tasks? Here’s a very brief overview, to get the full story you’ll have to visit the original post.

 

1. Chord inversions drill

First task is to play some chord inversions. Yeah, but not the ones you have in mind.

2. Learn an 8 bar solo

But not just any 8 bar solo:

“You’re not allowed to use your index finger.

That’s right. No 1st finger allowed! You have to learn the entire eight bar solo using only your middle, ring, and pinky fingers.”

 

Hmm…

 

3. Rhythms

The last task is about rhythms, but you'll have to click here to visit Fretterverse and find out what rhythms.

 

Thanks Josh for these challenging practice ideas. OK, time for us “slackers” to get with it….

The Perfectionists Guide to Learning Guitar

I'm afraid I've got some bad news for perfectionists that want to learn to play guitar. In fact, perfectionists don't ever learn to play guitar.

 

Why?

Perfectionists never learn to play guitar because they're hung up waiting for everything to be just perfect so they can learn. You can often recognize a perfectionist that wants to play guitar because they always have lots of good reasons why they're not learning.

 

"I don't have time just now, I'm too busy at work. When I've finished this project..."

"I don't have time just now, the kids take up all the time I've got. When they get older..."

"I don't have time because I'm busy with my studies at the moment. When I've finished..."

"I wanted to learn blues but the guitar teacher here only knows classical."

"This guitar is just not right. One day I'll get myself a decent guitar and..."

 

Do you recognize any of these?

 

How to Get Over Perfection

If you recognize yourself in any of these excuses then maybe you are a perfectionist too. But don't despair, you're not doomed to never learning how to play guitar. Simply follow the guidance below to smash your perfectionist road blocks and get learning how to play.

 

Give up waiting to have time

There will never be enough time to do everything. And there will always be something more urgent to do. Accept this and decide to learn guitar anyway.

 

If you look hard at your daily routine, I’m sure you’ll see lots of little scraps of time. Learn to steal these scraps of time to practice guitar.

 

Give up waiting to have the perfect instrument/amp/pick/tuner/...

If you're not learning then it's not because you don't have that 1959 Gibson Les Paul.

 

Whatever you think your perfect guitar should be you will make more progress if you work with the guitar you have now and spend less time watching videos of your dream guitar on YouTube.

 

Accept that learning is a process

Learning to play guitar is a process. You can’t jump in at the end – you have to start and the beginning and spend time to get to the end (not that there really is an end, but at some point you get good enough). And the trouble for perfectionists is that the beginning is messy...

 

Accept that the learning process is messy

Perfectionists have a hard time accepting that in order to play well you have to start by playing badly. Learn that playing badly is just part of the process and doesn't mean you’re not perfect.

 

Accept that you can play guitar badly without feeling too bad about yourself. Instead feel good about being a perfect learner.

 

Give up waiting to have the perfect teacher

No teacher that plays swamp blues guitar in your town? Shame. You'll never be able to learn to play it, right?

 

Wrong. You don't need that perfect teacher to help you learn and progress. Sure, it helps if you have a good teacher, and if you have one that knows your style well that’s even better. But if you don't have one handy then you can still learn anyway. Many other guitarists have done it.

 

Choose one focused thing that you want to learn and go do it. Get some videos, books, join a forum and discuss with others.

 

In short, give up waiting for everything to be perfect

In short you need to give up waiting for everything to be perfect.

Learning to play guitar is a messy process with plenty of pitfalls and lots of bad playing along the road. So if you want to play guitar, give up your perfectionist ideals, dive into and revel in the mess.

 

Are you a perfectionist?

What perfectionist trait stops you learning to play guitar or become better? Click the comment link below to share your story.

 

Photo by dougward.

Vibrato Lesson

Vibrato is one of the most useful guitar playing effects, it gives life to the licks and solo lines you play.

But vibrato is also probably one of the hardest guitar soloing techniques to get right. It takes a lot of practice to develop a good sounding vibrato. And it takes some more to play it while you're busy playing a lick.

In this video lesson from Griff Hamlin you’ll discover the techniques used to play vibrato on normal notes and bent notes.

Friday Fun - What’s Your Blues Name?

Ever get stuck looking for a great stage name for yourself or your band?

 

Here’s a fun tool that will help you find a great name for your band, whether it’s a blues band or not.

 

A few of my favourite band names suggested by “What’s Your Blues Name?”…

 

• The Mean Cadillacs
• The Tonedead Voodoo Kickers
• The Sleepin’ Broke Devils

 

Check it out for yourself at http://www.wardguitars.com/BluesName.html …

 

Gary "Soul Slowhand" Slim

2 Kinds of Guitar Practice

Griff Hamlin at the Blues Guitar Unleashed blog posted a useful tip on The 2 Kinds of Guitar Practice the other day. I really enjoyed this tip on brain memory vs. finger memory and I think you will too.

"It always seems to me that there are different practice routines for just about every person under the sun.

But what I notice often is that what works for one person doesn’t work for the next… not because the method is flawed. More often than not it’s because they are trying to accomplish 2 different things."

This tip addresses a common guitar practice pitfall. If you don't know, specifically, what you want to achieve at any given practice session they you can waste time with the wrong practice approach.

Technique, Mental, or Repertoire Practice

A long time ago I read a similar tip in David Hamburger's Beginner's Blues Guitar book. Hamburger broke down guitar practice into three kinds of activity: technique, mental and repertoire.

Technique practice is about developing the finger memory described by Griff. It's about the ability to execute something. Without error. Without thinking much about it. Fast. The "thing" could be scales, licks, chords, a phrase in a solo...

Mental practice is about building brain memory. You give your brain knowledge so it can guide your fingers to play the right sequence of chords, or choose the right scales to play a solo with.

Repertoire practice is all about building your library of songs, progressions, licks and riffs. To me it's about a kind of brain memory where you develop knowledge of the specific patterns in the songs and styles you want to play.

Choose the Right Practice Approach

When you're aware that there are different approaches to guitar practice then you can choose one that is best suited to the problem at hand.

Don’t always practice in the same way. Maybe you learn about a practice approach in a guitar magazine interview, or from a video lesson. That approach might work very well for the player interviewed or for a particular problem. But it won't necessarily be the best approach for all your problems.

Develop a toolbox of practice ideas that you can pick from to solve the different playing problems that you encounter.

Don't Know What Your Problem Is?

Sometimes when you consider a problem you experience you might be unsure which approach it requires. You can't figure out if it's your finger memory or your brain memory that's letting you down.

Here’s a good exercise to discover which memory needs most work. Put down your guitar. Now try to “play” through your problem in your mind, either from memory or as you read the music or tab. If you’re clear about where your fingers go to play each note then your brain memory is probably OK. Work on finger memory so your fingers can learn the piece as well as your brain. If you can’t “see” your way through the piece then your brain hasn’t integrated it yet. Spend some more time on conscious practice until your brain has got it.

Summary

Let’s summarize what we learned about the 2 kinds of guitar practice.

 

1. Know why you're practicing - what's the specific problem you aim to improve on?
2. Understand your problem. Is it caused by finger memory, brain memory, or maybe both?
3. Choose a practice approach to improve the problem memory. If it's both then use a different approach for each!

 

I hope this knowledge helps you get more out of your guitar practice time.

Minor Guitar Chord Progression - i - bVII - bVI

Today’s chord progression has been around for a long time and featured in plenty of great songs.

 

It’s a minor key progression, shown below in the key of A minor. The progression starts on the i chord, descends two frets to the flatted seven chord and then descends two more frets to the flat sixth before moving back to the bVII.

 

It’s been used in songs from Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower (Am), through Ben Harper with My Own Two Hands (Am), and recently Adele’s Rolling In The Deep (Cm).

 

3 Alternatives to Guitar Amplifier

A few days ago I wrote about how a lot of guitar amps are too ugly to sit in your living room. That post seems to have rung a bell with many readers who left comments or sent me email.

 

So what can you do if you’re looking for something to amplify your electric guitar for home practice but don’t want one of those “black breeze blocks” (thanks to Ukulele Hunt for the term) in your home?

 

As some commenters pointed out, you can build your own amp, or at least its housing. Or if you’re less DIY minded you can save up for an expensive amp that comes with a more decorative finish.

 

But if DIY is not your thing, and you don’t have lots of spare cash, are there any good alternatives to amplify your guitar for home practice? The answer is yes, and here are three alternatives that might work for you…

 

Pocket Amp

Pocket sized guitar amp amps can be used at home with headphones or you could plug them into your home stereo. When you’re not using it the amp will be small enough to put away in your guitar case.

 

A few of the products you can try in this category are the iGTR, Korg Pandora, the Line 6 Pod range, Amplug by Vox and the Boss BR micro recorder range. Some of them have additional useful practice features such as an input jack for your mp3 player, drum and bass rhythm backings, a looper, or multi-track recording.

 

Effect Pedal Amp

A little larger and heavier than pocket amps, a multi-effect pedal can also be quite easily hidden away behind your sofa when not used. A pedal offers the advantage of foot control and you can also use them with an amp or PA for rehearsals or gigging.

 

Boss, Vox, Line 6 and Zoom, for example, all have multi-effect pedals with a headphone jack or a line output that you could plug in to a home stereo.

 

Pedals from Vox offer a tube amp stage for those who prefer tube tones. Many models offer amp modelling and effects options for you to play with. And again, you can get useful practice features like aux input, rhythm backings and looper included.

 

Virtual Amp

Lastly, a convenient solution if you have a computer in your practice area is a virtual guitar amp – an amp provided by software on your PC to produce guitar sounds. An example is IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube. This kind of amp often uses modelling technology and can offer a lot of sound options for home practice and recording.

 

Gibson published a useful article describing Top 5 Guitar Amp Modelling Sofware Products. You can find more by googling “guitar amp software”.

 

Some of the products, such as AmpliTube for example, can also be used on an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

 

If you can’t persuade your family to host one of those ugly black boxes in your living room then maybe one of the alternatives above could be your ideal practice companion. And of course you can always buy one of those black boxes with more power to use away from home for rehearsals or gigs.

 

What about you?

Do you use any of these , or other, guitar amp alternatives for home practice? What’s your experience? Tell us by clicking the comments link below.

Guitar Player Interviews Buddy Guy

Buddy Guy is 75 years old, but still comes across in fine form in his recent interview at Guitar Player magazine.

Buddy shares two tips that could be interesting to apply to your blues guitar playing.

"IF YOU’RE GOING TO PLAY THE DAMN THING, PLAY IT LIKE it’s never been played before—or don’t play it at all,"

And in response to a question about his solo on the song 74 Years Young from his latest album Living Proof, Buddy reveals his approach to starting a blues solo,

"When you start rolling tape on me and I get a chance to do what I did on “74 Years Young,” I’m thinking like a racehorse. I can’t wait till you let me come in that gate. Some racehorses get you later, but I’m the kind who believes the chance to get you is right now. So, when the record begins—just like the opening gate on the racetrack—I’m saying to myself, “I’m going to bust out of that gate like I’ve never busted out before!”"

I've always been more of a start it slow and relaxed type of guy, but that's my character. Maybe I should try thinking like a racehorse sometimes to shake things up a bit. Anyhow, if I can still be playing racehorse blues guitar at 75 years old I'll be happy...

What Warren Buffett Could Teach You About Playing Guitar

Clinton Carnegie at the Guitar Column shares some guitar tips from an unlikely source in his post 10 Warren Buffett Quotes and What They Could Mean for Guitar Players,

"I've been a Warren Buffett fan for a couple of years now.  Heads of State seek him out for advice, and financial institutions hang on to his every word... I submit for your perusal, 10 quotes of Warren Buffet's that every guitar player and musician could take and run with.  See what they can do for you." -- Clinton Carnegie, The Guitar Column

My personal favourite,

"I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over."

That one reminds me that I don't have to master a huge new piece with lots of new technical challenges to get better. There are lots of easy, simple, little things I can do to improve my guitar playing. If you step over enough of those little 1-foot improvements the big 7-foot ones will take care of themselves...

3 Blues Guitar Playing Tips

I spent some time this summer choosing an electric guitar. One of the models I looked at was the Fender Telecaster Blacktop HH, which is nicely presented in this video.

I didn't end up buying that guitar, but I do still remember the comments from the uploader, FirstBassman13, in which he passed on some tips on playing blues guitar. Now it's my turn to pass them on to you...

"I will, however, pass on a couple of great blues playing tips from the superb guitar player Geoff Achison:

- Play with feeling, tell a story

- Play slower

- Play fewer notes"

I couldn't verify if Geoff Achison actually gave these tips or in what context. But I did discover that Geoff is a really good blues guitarist from Australia. I'm sure he would agree with those tips and I'm sure they're a good thing to keep in mind for those of us who want to play great blues guitar.

To learn more about Geoff Achison and hear him in action visit the links below.

• Geoff Achison's web site.
• Geoff performing Tell Me Something, Whipping Post, Don't Play Guitar on YouTube.