Guitar is such a fun instrument that we feel everyone should play a little. It’s great therapy and challenging too. Music is a bit like math, which makes the guitar a mathematical instrument. Half steps and whole steps, 1st fret to the 24th fret, whole notes to 64th notes, it’s all numbers. The fun is in learning songs that people recognize and being rewarded for it. The work comes in as you’re getting your hands to cooperate. Asking your fingers and hands to work together is therapy and music is brain food. Guitar basics is the place where we all start. If you’re going to learn how to play guitar, the guitar basics will help get you running out the gate. Let’s get started.
Blues Guitar 101: What's the Difference?
- May 3, 2017
- Guitar 101
Blues is a sound as much as it is a style. You can give two different guitar players the same amp and guitar and ask them to play the same song. Both may take a stab at say, “Stormy Monday” by B.B. King, but may interpret the blues very differently. One might pretty it up with jazzy chords while the other guitarist keeps it basic but have more soul cry in the licks. Most would say the soul cry player is a real blues man. If you get it too pretty, you tend to overplay or lose something in the delivery. “Slow down and take your time son,” said one great blues guitarist. Blues Guitar 101 is making it talk or say something. The guitar has to weep and moan the blues. That’s the difference. Let’s try to break it down.
Music Theory: Why Should I Understand It?
- April 19, 2017
- Guitar 101
Music is music and a theory is just a theory. However, music theory is a vital part of your success if you’re going to be a serious musician. Lots of folks play amazing guitar or keys but don’t know a lick of theory. There are many successful icons who have made it to the big time without knowing any or little music theory. It’s not how much theory you know that matters, it’s how you apply it. Knowledge is very powerful and can transform a mediocre musician into a very clever artist. At the same time, too much music theory can turn a once soulful man into a sappy guitar slinger who overplays tastelessly.
3 Keys to Guitar Playing You Should Know
- April 10, 2017
- Guitar 101
If you compare the grand scope of all things guitar to outer space, there’s a whole galaxy of guitar planets. Some have rings, some have craters, some have moons or asteroid fields, and others just seem to sit out there in dark space. In other words, there are Steve Vais, Jeff Becks, Phil Keaggys, and a long list of other amazing guitarists, but no two of them are alike. In fact, it’s hard to even compare and label one better or brighter than the other. Then there are countless other stars or great guitarists who fit into their space and have as much gravity but just don’t have the name or credibility . It doesn’t even matter.
Guitar Fretboard Notes: How to Understand Them
- April 3, 2017
- Guitar 101
Guitar fretboard notes are the same musically as any other western instrument. The piano offers 12 semitones and so does the guitar. The only exception and real advantage on guitar is the bending of strings to produce the between tones which are also possible on a keyboard with a joystick or wheel. Musically speaking, these notes are difficult to describe and are used in blues and rock music mostly. Basically, you can bend a guitar string a 1/4 bend and it sounds real soulful and bluesy in the context of the following note. All other tones are just one of the 12 semitones. The guitar fretboard are sometimes hard to understand because, unlike piano, they’re not laid out in front of you so clearly. Guitar has patterns and once you see them, it makes much more sense.
