NEW The eighth lesson of "Rhythm Guitar" studies the grooves of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal rhythms. Four examples introduce the most popular rhythms, including the "Gallop," and the straight eighth note feel. Eighth note triplets are also introduced and there's studies that blend triplet feel along with the "Gallop" feel.
A bonus for BASIC and PREMIUM web-site members are the MP3 play-along tracks that will help with learning each rhythm example.
Paid Web-site members (BASIC and PREMIUM), can watch the associated video lessons and download the detailed PDF handout, along with the MP3 clap /strum play-along tracks...
Join the member's areato download the PDF handout and MP3's. Study all of the examples with full access to both video lessons. Be sure to spend some additional time on learning the "Rhythm Jam Challenge" piece that I performed at the start of the lesson in the "Part One" video...
PART ONE (free):Example one, introduces the famous "Gallop" rhythm used across all forms of rock and metal grooves. This rhythmic meter consists of sixteenth notes coupled with an eighth to produce a heavy metal "gallop-picking style" effect. PART TWO:In example two, the "Gallop" feel is incorporated again. This time it is applied around a straight eighth-note rhythm. These straight eighth's are combined with the basic "Gallop" (two sixteenth's and an eighth-note), to generate a 2-bar meter.
PART THREE:
In example three, a hard rock groove using the eighth-note triplet feel is the focus.
PART FOUR:In example four, the traditional sixteenth to eighth-note "Gallop" feel returns. However, this time our guitar riffs apply the deeper tonal effect of "Drop D" tuning. You can achieve this common hard-rock /heavy metal tuning effect by lowering your guitars 6th-string down in pitch a whole step, (from "E," down to "D").
Learn how to take a standard 12-bar Blues harmony from within the key of “A Blues” and change it up so that it gets performed on Acoustic guitar using finger-plucking. The lesson covers how to apply a series of riffs instead of performing the chord harmony as a straight-ahead rhythm strumming progression...
This acoustic finger-plucked version of the 12-bar blues will still incorporate the essence of the Blues harmony, but instead, it will be performed as a series of scale tones, licks and riffs.
Finger-Plucked Acoustic Blues Guitar I’d like to begin by performing the entire 12-bar Blues idea which I've composed for this lesson. Listen to the full composition to gain a solid idea of exactly how this piece is supposed to sound.
Alright, we’re going to work through this tune in two-bar segments.
Let’s get things started by learning how the first two measures of our
12-Bar finger-plucked Blues operates… Bars 1 and 2:
Bars: 3 and 4:
Bars 5 and 6:
Bars 7 and 8:
Bars 9 and 10:
Bars 11 and 12:
CONCLUSION: Performing any music style that will involve the use of finger-plucking on acoustic (or on the electric guitar) can be a very cool way to add more melodic ideas and also (at the same time), produce a sound that incorporates licks and riffs around either a common or a pre-established harmony. In Blues, this approach can work especially well since the harmony of something like a standard 12-bar Blues is so well known to the listener. Once you start into the performance, the listener is able to comprehend the sound and most importantly, they’re able to anticipate the flow of the melody. Use this 12-bar Blues I’ve created here as a starting point. Then, try moving into other directions using this finger-plucking approach. It’s not only a lot of fun to practice playing this way, these ideas will add a whole new layer to sound that’s really melodic as well.
VISIT THE WEB-SITE: Thanks for joining me, If you'd like to Find Out What You Should Learn on Guitar - take a look at the courses over on my website at CreativeGuitarStudio.com. My step-by-step; Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced courses will cover what you need to know, along with how to be able to move forward and become the best player that you can be. I've worked on these courses since 1992 and I feel that all together they're the best guitar program that you'll ever find. The courses I've developed will help you learn to identify what's required to get you up to the next level of guitar playing, in a very organized way, that makes sense. I look forward to helping you further at CreativeGuitarStudio.com ...Until next time - take care and we'll catch up again on the next lesson. Bye for now!
NEW This unique Creative Guitar Studio course explores exercises for increasing dexterity and coordination between the hands. The goal of the course is to increase awareness, mobility and control.
Lesson 007 of Guitar Technique includes seven examples designed to both introduce and further develop the use of "Hybrid Plucking" technique.
The exercises run through how to start into incorporating the Hybrid technique beginning with two and three string formated riffs.
The studies expand to include four strings along with several different rhythmic concepts. Things wrap-up with an exercise that combines Hybrid plucking chords alongside of single note line phrases.
Paying members of the Creative Guitar website can watch both video lessons and download the PDF handouts, and the MP3 play along tracks...
Join the member's area to download the PDF handout and start study of these exercises. Study all of the examples with full access to both video lessons...
PART ONE:Example 1a, introduces a two string chord riff (dyad riff) in the key of "G Major." Use the pick and middle finger to pluck these tones together. The drill in exercise 1b, incorporates triads as Hybrid plucked three-note chords built between the 4th to 2nd strings. .
PART TWO:Example two studies the techniques and method for Hybrid plucking four-tone chords. The examples that are shown are in the key of "A Minor." Both exercises operate within a triple-meter time signature of 6/8.
PART THREE:
Exercise three applies the Hybrid picking technique to the lower five strings, (6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd). Bass tones are highlighted in this study. The pick provides increased dynamics so that the lowest chord tones are more pronounced across the riff.
PART FOUR:Exercise four works on the integration of Hybrid plucking chord ideas alongside an application of intervals and scale runs. The key of "G Major" exercise contains chord punches that are followed by single-note lines and scattered intervals.
If you’re like a lot of guitarists who already have their basic skills down, you’re probably ready to start learning how to play some lead, and get an ability together to be able to be able to eventually perform a full on out guitar solo...
If you'd like to learn all about the collection of the basic skills involved with playing guitar solos, this lesson post is going to be absolutely fantastic for you. WATCH THE VIDEO:
GETTING STARTED: There are a few things that you need to know about when it comes to being able to play a guitar solo. The first one is to have a decent level of left and right hand co-ordination. Good technical skills are an absolute must. The better that you are at playing notes, chords and techniques, the easier it will be to play a solo. The second important skill is to become familiar with a number of scale patterns and make sure that you fully commit them to memory. The third thing is to learn to be able to listen to chord movements so well that you can eventually anticipate scale tones that sound good as chord changes go by. With practice, you’ll be able to start hitting each of the best sounding scale tones over a progression with greater ease, and with greater success. Eventually, your skills for being able to prepare for the right sounding note, (that best fits the chord of the moment within a series of chord changes), will simply become easier and easier to do.
LEARNING SCALE PATTERNS: Alright, now that you understand the basic road you need to follow to be able to perform a guitar solo, the next step is to be able to nail down a few scale patterns. I’ve found that the Minor Scales are often (not always, but most often), the best patterns for starting players off. And, the best shapes on the fingerboard often turn out to be the scale shapes up at the higher frets. In this lesson, we’re going to learn two shapes up at the guitars 12th position to get you started. They’re going to both be in the key of “A Minor.” They will include the full 7-tone "A Minor" scale, and the popular 5-tone "A Minor" Pentatonic scale. Here’s what these shapes look like up off of the 5th string's 12th fret.
Key of "A" Minor Pentatonic:
Key of "A" Minor - Natural Minor:
Chord Progressions (the Secret to Soloing): The next thing to do is to study the practical ability behind making up musical ideas using those scale shapes. Start really simple. Just use a couple of scale shapes (start with the ones I’ve provided). Then, as the days and weeks go on, start learning more scale patterns. Eventually, over time, the whole neck will open up and playing a solo anywhere, will feel easier. First, let’s just establish a decent chord jam, and we’ll have some fun with testing the use of the scale over the chord changes. I have a fairly common sounding key of “A Minor” chord progression for you to try out. Be sure to spend time listening to the downloadable MP3 jam track of this riff... Key of “A Minor” chord progression…
Compose First - Solo Later: It’s difficult to just start ripping out solos if you haven’t yet developed a soloing vocabulary. So, if you haven’t tried composing some melody ideas first, you’ll need to do some of that prior to ever expecting that you’d be able to solo fluently over a jam-track. It also kind of goes without saying that learning solos by other guitar players will really help you understand how to phrase your own melodic ideas. Think of it like this, what you learn from others and what you compose on your own, will often stick with you a very long time. Eventually, all of those solos you study, the licks that you make up (on your own); along with your scales, and melodic statements, and guitar licks - they will all come together every time you set out to solo. They’ll spill out from under your fingers with the help of your ear guiding you along. So, to help get you started with all this, I’ve composed a solo that you can learn to play. It fits over those chord changes from the key of, “A Minor.” Guitar Solo Example:
click the image above for full-screen
CONCLUSION: This breakdown that I've created here, (of a starter soloing method), is only the very beginning. What you'll need to understand is that soloing is a lot of fun to practice, so what happens is the study of soloing tends to become really addictive. When you spend a lot of time practicing solos, you learn a lot about the application of musical ideas that are floating around in your head. You get to apply the music you’d learned (that was played by others), and when you combine that (with all of your own original lead-guitar ideas), you end up blending together all of the music that’s in your head, with the knowledge of all your notes on the neck. This constant looping of information forms a great learning combination for your musical development because with each successful solo you perform - you to start to reach a new level of musicianship. A level of musicianship which focuses almost exclusively on playing the music that you hear in your head.
VISIT THE WEB-SITE: I'd like to end the discussion by saying, thanks for joining me. If you want to learn more about what I do as an online guitar teacher, then head over to my website at creativeguitarstudio.com and sign up your FREE lifetime membership. When you want more, you can always upgrade to either a Basic, or a Premium lesson package and start studying the guitar courses that I've organized for the members of my website.And, yes there is a complete "Guitar Soloing Course" available on the site. Also, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on all of this in the comment section... if you enjoyed this video, please give it a thumbs up on YouTube and subscribe for more. Thanks again and we'll catch up next week for another episode of the, "Guitar Blog Insider."
Here's a lesson that does more than just show you a few dexterity exercises. This post is going to teach you the THREE elements that make a dexterity exercise function properly and produce results.
With this lesson, you'll be able to master studies you already know and develop your own dexterity exercises to rid your guitar playing of sloppy technique once and for all...
Sloppy guitar playing is generally the result of a combination of many different technical problems. Some of these have to do with just simply going too fast, too soon and basically rushing past proper levels of hand coordination in the pursuit of being able to play a song, or a scale, or a guitar lick (whatever it is), up to its top speed as soon as possible. The problem with rushing the skills is that when you rush things, you will often learn just as many bad habits as good ones. And, that kind of learning is something that we really need to avoid as much as possible. Let’s begin by breaking down a collection of ways that you can design dexterity exercises so in the end your skills develop slowly and perfectly. WATCH THE VIDEO:
STAGE ONE). Commit Every New Dexterity Drill to Memory With the practice of any new guitar part, you'll need to develop playing the part up to a level for which we’ll refer to as the, “best as possible,” level of skill. However, to get there, you’ll need to begin from a starting point of what we’ll call, “slow perfection.” This slowed down level of practice involves committing what you’re going to play to memory. If it’s a lick, or an exercise, or a riff that you’re learning, memorize it first, before doing anything else. That initial commitment to memorize the part will go a very long way to helping you fully absorb the part and reach new performance heights with the idea. Let’s try out a fairly basic fret-hand dexterity drill that involves some; stretching, some picking hand work, and some hammer-on, / pull-off technique… Dexterity Exercise #1).
STAGE TWO). Perfect Practice = Perfect Playing Once you’ve committed the guitar dexterity drill that you’re working on to memory, the next area that you'll need to focus on is how well you can perfectly play that guitar part. Be critical of yourself when you do this. Ask a lot of yourself and demand the best from yourself. Make a decision that “Good enough,” isn’t going to be a part of things. You want excellence. Really “perfect” guitar playing... Pay attention to how your pick is attacking the string, how clean each note rings out, how connected your fretting hand is upon each fret. These may sound like you're setting yourself up for a lot of nit-picking, but that’s exactly what we want when we study dexterity. I’ve got another exercise for you to try and develop. Remember, memorize the part first. Then work at playing it as perfectly as possible. Dexterity Exercise #2).
STAGE THREE). Establish a Metronome “Rate and Pace” Playing to a click track, (the tick-tock of the metronome click), is one of the hardest things that a guitar player who is new to developing their skills up to much higher levels of achievement will often face. The perfect click of the metronome requires solid timing and perfect meter. The fact of the matter is that doing this kind of practice takes a lot of patience, and discipline plus there has to be a drive there for the metronome to eventually become your friend. Over time and with practice, the metronome will start to become a lot more manageable to deal with. You’ll just have to get used to it. To help you start to become more acquainted with listening to that constant click of the metronome, I have a general picking study for you to try working on… Dexterity Exercise #3).
CONCLUSION: Before wrapping up, I do have a couple of bonus suggestions. Just a few more ideas that will really help you as you’re either moving through drills that you’ve studied here in this lesson. The first idea is that once you’ve memorized (and built the exercise that you’re working on - to be able to perform it with a metronome), you’ll want to establish some kind of goal tempo. The tempo you shoot for should be attainable and it should be at a realistic speed that will take time to reach. Something in the range of 2-3 weeks of practice. Also, make sure that once you know your idea on the neck, move it around. Play it all over the fret-board. This is an excellent way to help develop a dexterity exercise up to a high level of skill… Lastly, make sure that you’re creating your own studies as well... Someone else’s dexterity exercises can be great, but sometimes the best exercises are the ones that you make up on your own.
VISIT THE WEB-SITE: Well, hey, thanks for joining me, If you'd like to Find Out What You Should Learn on Guitar - take a look at the courses over on my website at CreativeGuitarStudio.com. My step-by-step; Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced courses will cover what you need to know, along with how to be able to move forward and become the best player that you can be. I've worked on these courses since 1992 and I feel that all together they're the best guitar program you'll ever find. The courses will help you learn to identify what's required to get you up to the next level of guitar playing, in a very organized way, that makes sense. So, I look forward to helping you further at CreativeGuitarStudio.com ...Until next time - take care and we'll catch up again on the next video. Bye for now!
NEW The eighth lesson of "Rhythm Guitar" studies the grooves of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal rhythms.
PART THREE:
