What Will You Do to Play Better Guitar in 2012?

Merry Christmas readers. I'd like to take the opportunity of this special end of year occasion to thank everyone who reads Not Playing Guitar. I enjoy writing what I hope are useful and enjoyable lessons and posts and I plan to write lots more next year.

As the year draws to an end you might be thinking about your guitar plans for the next year. What new skills and songs do you want to learn? What do you want to improve on? How will you do it? To get you thinking about ways you can improve your guitar playing next year I've put together a reader poll.

Taking small steps is the best way to progress and advance. So instead of a list of 264 guitar projects you could do next year to move closer to your dreams I'm asking you to choose just one. What is the one most important thing you need to do to improve your guitar playing in 2012? Choose from the ideas proposed below, or add your own, it's up to you.

In the meantime enjoy the holidays and don't forget to make some time to play guitar.

Whatever you plan to do in 2012 to play better guitar, one thing will definitely help you… click here to subscribe to Not Playing Guitar.

How teaching guitar can improve your own guitar skills and knowledge

Today’s post is by Aaron Matthies of Live & Teach Guitar…

 

At some point in your development as a guitarist you may consider teaching guitar. While there are obvious benefits in teaching guitar (mainly making money), there is one major benefit most people overlook: teaching guitar improves your own playing skills and knowledge.

 

Have you ever explained to somebody how to properly play a bend, use sweep picking or explain the theory behind the Pentatonic Scale? If you have, you will know that you really need to know your stuff to explain it properly. On the other hand, if you have never done this before do you know those techniques and theory well enough that you could explain it to somebody effectively? Teaching guitar forces you to really think about what you know and by explaining all these concepts to somebody else you actually strengthen your understanding.

 

When you have to demonstrate to a student how to properly bend a note (or any other technique), you really need to focus and make sure you play the note perfectly so the student doesn’t pick up on poor technique or bad habits. This focus on your own playing will force you to really analyze what you’re doing and if you’re actually using proper technique. So by merely teaching guitar you can really give your own playing a boost and correct any bad habits or poor technique you may have now.

 

What about increasing your knowledge? Similar to technique, when you have to explain theory to a student it really forces you to make sure you really understand what you’re talking about. If you don’t know how to explain all the different intervals in a scale for example maybe it’s a sign that you don’t fully understand them yourself. Having to explain theory and concepts to a student will open your eyes to your own understanding.

 

Do you need to be an expert to teach?

Not at all. The truth is you can become an expert by teaching guitar; you don’t have to be an expert first. Even if you only consider yourself an average player, you can still teach beginners and do a fantastic job. Don’t ever think you aren’t good enough to teach because if you wait until you’re an ‘expert’ first, you may have to wait quite a long time.

 

Steps to get started

Even if you start off with a single student, you can dramatically increase your own skills and knowledge. It won’t take long before you get the hang of teaching and can start to attract more students. If you feel like you’re not improving on your own, then teaching guitar is an effective way to get ahead.

If you have never taught before, your first step is to find an absolute beginner who you will feel comfortable teaching. This could be a friend or family member. You could even teach your first student for free while you build your teaching skills. Once you have your first student you will get the feel for teaching and decide if you want to teach more students and earn money. The great thing about teaching guitar is you can take it as far as you want to go. You can build up your student base until you teach full time or you can stick to a couple students - it's entirely up to you.

 

About
The website www.liveteachguitar.com can provide you with in-depth guides, lesson materials ready to print and give to your students as well as articles to help you be a guitar tutor. The site gives you everything you need to teach so you don't have to worry about preparing anything for lessons.

Easy Blues Guitar Chords in Key of G

Here's a beginner lesson that shows you how to play blues in the key of G with easy guitar chords.

 

The blues in G uses the three chords G7, C7 and D7. The chord diagrams below show easy open chord shapes you can use to play them.

 

 

If you find this G7 shape too hard to play then you can simplify it and play only the top four strings. Then you have only one note to finger - the first fret of the first string. The second, third and fourth strings are played open.

 

The C7 chord shape is just like a normal open C chord with your little finger added at the third fret of the third string. You can simplify this chord and play only the three notes that form a little triangle on the third, fourth and fifth strings. Finger it in the same way as the D7 chord:

• First finger on the fourth string, second fret
• Second finger on the fifth string, third fret
• Third finger on the third string, third fret

 

Learn each of these chord shapes and practice changing from one to another until you get comfortable with them. When you feel ready you can start to practice the blues in G using the chord grid shown below.

 

Blues in G

The chord grid below shows the chords for each bar of the 12 bar blues progression in G major. To learn it you can break down the grid into three sections of four bars each. Practice each section separately until you master it, then put them together to play the whole 12 bar blues.

 

 

That’s all for this lesson, I hope you’ll enjoy learning and playing the blues in G with the easy open chord positions it’s shown you. If you have questions about playing blues guitar please use the comments link below to ask.

Guitar Techniques - Mute With Your Fretting Hand

Here's a post in the playing silence series that describes techniques for muting the guitar strings with the fretting hand. If you're a beginner to intermediate player these techniques will help you to improve your guitar sound.

We're going to learn about the following three techniques used to mute guitar strings with the fretting hand.

1. Fingers rest on one or more strings with just enough pressure to mute them.
2. A fingertip frets a string while the side of the finger mutes a higher string.
3. A finger pad frets a string while the tip mutes a lower string.

Now let's look at each of the techniques in a little more detail.

1. Fingers resting on one or more strings

This technique is used mostly for rhythm guitar. You rest one or more fingers across the guitar strings to silence them. It can be done between strums to play a rest or to create a short staccato feel. Other times the strings are strummed while muted to create a percussive scratching sound.

 

There are two different ways to perform the technique depending on the type of chords played. When playing bar chords you simply lift your fingers a little. The strings leave contact with the frets but your fingers keep enough contact with the strings to stop them vibrating. When playing other types of chords you reach with one or more fingers to rest them across the strings. You might have to briefly release the chord if you don't have a spare finger.

 

2. Side of the finger mutes a string

Sometimes you need to mute just one string to eliminate a note that might accidentally sound if you strike the string. You can use this technique when playing single notes, chords, and often when playing intervals such as sixths (XXX:link) or octaves - there is a string to mute in between the two strings that form the interval.

 

You can use this technique when the string to mute is below a fretted note - i.e. a higher string. Simply lean the finger fretting the note towards the bottom of the neck so that the side of the finger touches the next string. The part of the finger that mutes the string is either the fleshy pad below the finger tip or the side of the finger. It depends on the position of your hand when making a chord.

 

You might have learned that you should keep your finger tip straight, perpendicular to the neck to fret a note correctly. This is one case where you have to break this rule so the side of the finger can mute the adjacent string. You usually don't have to lean the finger too far and the tip should still remain securely in place on the string it is fretting.

 

3. A finger tip mutes a string

When the string you want to mute is on a lower string, above the fretted note it is not very convenient to learn a finger towards the top of the guitar neck. So what do you do if you want to mute a string that is above the one you're playing? The answer is to reach over with your finger tip.

 

To perform this technique you have to adjust the way you finger a fretted note. Instead of pressing the fretted note with the tip of the finger you use the fleshy pad just below the tip to hold the note. The finger tip extends up just enough to touch the string above and mute it.

 

This technique can be used when playing bar chords with their root on the fifth string. The tip of the index fingers extends upwards to mute the sixth string. The technique is also often used when playing bended notes to prevent noise from adjacent strings as you release the bend.

 

Conclusion

The techniques presented in this lesson might break the rules you have learned about good technique - fretting with only the finger tip, keeping the finger perpendicular to the fretboard. They are used in many guitar styles though, so it's worth mastering them. I hope you'll have fun learning and playing with them.

 

Photo by jsome1.

Rhythm Guitar - Latin Funk

I don’t know about you, but I love to play funky rhythm guitar. Here’s a video I came across that demonstrates some nice ideas for playing funky rhythms with a Latin feel. I hope you enjoy it.

 

Hand-wound Guitar Pickup Giveaway

Here's news of an opportunity for electric guitar players to win a hand-wound custom shop pickup.

I received news of this offer from Rice Custom Guitars, a family business that "crafts the finest quality custom made guitars". They have some nice looking guitars to drool over on their web site. Hey, it's free to look...

The guitars might be beyond your budget, but from now until 31st December, Rich and Chris Rice offer you the chance to win a set of their hand-made Stratocaster style single-coil pickups worth US$250... absolutely free.
Rich Rice describes the pick-ups like this,

"These pickups are my personal favorites for S-Style guitars. Their clarity, string-to-string balance, and versatility are sure to impress you. I’m excited to be in a position to give this set away to a deserving musician, and sincerely hope you will enjoy their benefits.

MR-S pickups come standard with flat polepieces and parchment or black covers. These pickups are Quick-Dip™ potted to eliminate squeal while maintaining desirable microphonics.

Featuring AlNiCo III magnets and vintage style hand winding, MR-S pickups are very touch sensitive and responsive to playing dynamics. Wind options include magnet type, magnet size, magnet stagger, wire gauge, and strength of wind."

To enter the prize draw simply visit the competition page by clicking here – you’ll simply have to leave your name and email address. If you're lucky enough to win they'll ship you the pickups anywhere in the world.

Good luck!

Gary

 

Disclaimer: I am not in any way associated with Rice Custom Guitars. Just thought you could be interested in the giveaway opportunity.

Guitar Practice Tips - Learn Licks Easier and Faster

Here’s a guitar practice tip that will help you to learn licks and solos easier and faster.

 

Learning new licks or solos on the guitar can be a frustrating experience. Some licks or solos are just so hard to master that you think you'll never be able to learn and play them all the way through to the end.

 

Each time you practice the lick you get so far, but some tricky passage trips you up and you've lost the timing, the fingering, or the pick direction. You mess up. You go back to the beginning and start again... Each time this happens the pressure inside you builds up making it harder and harder to get through that barrier.

 

You seem to be stuck in a loop where you play the first part of the lick over and over but keep messing up somewhere in the middle. You need a change of process to get through the barrier…

 

Work Backwards

A process that I’ve found works well in these situations is to practice the lick or solo from the end. Instead of working from the first note to the last, I work backwards from the last to the first note.

 

It might sound strange but this process makes it easier to learn the lick. It takes away the pressure created by the barrier and somehow is more motivating because what I play always gets to the end of the lick.

 

Here’s how I do it. Take the last notes of the lick, start with just two or three notes, and learn to play them - right from the beginning you're through to the end of the lick. Try it and see how good that feels.

 

Once you've got those last notes down add a new note or two to before them and work through to the end again. Notice how this process puts you in control - it's you that chooses the notes you work on, not your fingers crashing somewhere in the middle of the lick. I think this is another reason why the process feels good.

 

Repeat this process – add a note or two at a time, play through to the end - until you get to the beginning and you've mastered the whole lick.

 

Conclusion

If you're struggling to get to the end of a lick without messing up, give this technique a try. You'll find it's very powerful. I find it works well for other things too - solos, chord progressions, songs and scales.

Intermediate Guitar Chord Lesson - Movable Major 7th Shapes

This lesson for intermediate guitar players shows you some positions to play major 7th chords that can be moved around the fretboard.

 

In major keys the major 7th chord occurs on the I or IV chord of the key. It can also be used on the VI chord in a minor key. We're going to learn three moveable shapes based on the moveable A, F and D chord shapes.

 

A - Chord Shape

The first position shown below is based on the moveable A chord shape. The root is on the 5th string.

You can think of the little triangle on the second, third and fourth strings as an open D7 chord shape. Play this triangle with your little, middle and ring fingers on the second, third and fourth strings respectively. Add your index to play the root on the fifth string.

 

In a band situation where another instrument such as the bass plays the root note you can simply play the three-note triangle - the maj 3rd, 5th and 7th of the chord.

 

You can optionally play this chord by barring with your index finger to play the notes on the fifth and first strings - the root and 5th of the chord respectively.

 

F - Chord Shape

The position shown below is based on the moveable F bar chord shape.

You can finger this chord on the guitar as follows:

• First finger on the sixth string - the root of the chord
• Second finger on the second string - the 5th of the chord
• Third finger on the fourth string - the 7th of the chord
• Fourth finger on the third string - the maj 3rd of the chord

 

Alternatively, you can bar all six strings with your index and play the other notes as follows:

• Second finger on the third string - the major 3rd of the chord
• Third finger on the fourth string - the 7th
• Fourth finger on the fifth string - the 5th

Avoid the fifth string when you play this form – it’s best suited to fingerstyle playing.

 

D - Chord Shape

The D chord shape gives you an easy to play position shown below. The note on the second string is the major 7th. You might be more used to seeing this note one fret higher where it is the root of the chord in the familiar D chord triangle shape.

You can play the root note with your first finger and then use your ring or little finger to bar the top three strings two frets higher. You can also play the easier root-less form, barring only the top three strings.

 

This lesson has shown you several positions to play major 7th chords all over the guitar neck based on moveable A, F and D chords. All of these chords will give your fingers a good work out. Some of the positions are harder to master than others so you'll need to spend some practice time on them.

GuitarJamz Membership Review

You know Marty Schwartz right? He's that funny guy with a hat that does great guitar lessons on YouTube. What you might not know is that Marty also has his own GuitarJamz web site that you can join to get access to a growing collection of over 800 guitar lessons.

I've been a member of GuitarJamz for a few months now and in this post I'm sharing a few thoughts and bits of information on my experience. I hope it will help you learn more to decide if GuitarJamz membership is right for you.

 

If you already know Marty's YouTube lessons then you already know that there are lots of great free lessons from Marty on YouTube. So why pay for membership of his GuitarJamz site? Good question, glad you asked...

 

Why Pay for Membership?

There are a number of reasons why I choose to pay for access to the site. Here in no particular order are the main ones.

 

1. You get access to lessons that you can't find on YouTube.

 

2. Lessons are organized into categories with lists of lessons that follow each other. This saves me time otherwise wasted searching in YouTube. It makes it much easier to line up a series of lessons on a topic I want to learn about instead of following random lessons as I happen across them on YouTube.

 

3. The site includes tools that help you to track your progress. It's easy to see what lessons you've completed and what remains to be done.

 

4. Given all the great lessons that Marty has worked hard to create I don't mind paying a little in return. After all, it helps ensure that there will be more lessons for the future.

 

5. It's really great value. Membership costs as little as 40 US cents a day - that's less than the price of a coffee - a small price to pay for quality guitar lessons.

 

6. I like the convenience of the on-line format of a membership site:

 

- There are lots of different lessons to choose from

- No travel time to go to lessons

- Lessons are available whenever and wherever I want

- I can work on a lesson as many times and for as long as I like

 

So What's in the Site?

I'm not going to spend many words here describing the site's content. As I started to write about my experience I ended up with too much information to cover in an article like this. So I decided to put all the information into a short report that you can download for free.

 

The report gives an overview of the site features and the lessons content and shows you some of the tools for finding lessons and tracking progress.

 

I also included a tips section that tells you how I use some simple (and free) tools to get more out of the site, like keeping track of my recent lessons, and remembering cool lessons I'd like to come back to work on later (did I mention that with all those great lessons I sometimes just spend a while watching stuff when I should really be practicing...)

 

If you'd like to learn more, then click here to download my free report.

 

If you'd like to just get started with a free 3-day trial membership then you can click here (that's an affiliate link - I may receive a commission if you decide to subscribe after your trial).