NEW: QwikLicks Series - Video (024)

The latest QwikLicks video, "Delta Blues Licks in the key of E" is available in the FREE members area. Includes PDF handout!

QwikLicks are a FREE lesson series for all membership levels at Creative Guitar Studio.com. Lessons in the QwikLicks Series run through a short collection of guitar licks covering all types of playing styles, famous artist's playing styles and guitar techniques...

Episode #024 covers three key of "E Blues," Delta Blues licks. The first lick focuses on coverage of the tonic chord of "E7." This coverage is one of the most important types for this style since it is used most often throughout the songs. 

In lick two, the application of intermixed harmony is applied using several chords outside of the key as a way to stress the arrival of the diatonic chords.

The final lick takes a look at one of the principle ideas used in Delta Blues, which is the turnaround phrase. These statements operate as intro's, progression repeat phrases, and song outro statements. They are critical to learn for playing the songs of this style.

Sign into the website with your free members account to watch the lesson, and be sure to download the PDF lesson handout. 

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Standard chord shapes will offer guitarists one direction of sound but when we learn to break away from the common shapes new colors emerge and new possibilities will arise...
 
To understand condensed chord shapes, we need to consider the nature of chord tones. Not all chord tones are necessary to form the color-tone notes of a functional chord.  For example, if the 5th chord tone is dropped out, a chord can still function in harmony. And, if a chord is larger chord (such as a; 9th, 11th or 13th), is condensed the chord will still able to function.

By developing a chord vocabulary to suit this style of greater chord flexibility, guitarists can use inversions and this condensing chord process to retain a chords essential ‘flavor notes’ and cover a surprisingly wide range of chords.

Here are some examples of ways for you to try this chord condensing approach.




The Condensed G6:
Built from the; root, 6th and major 3rd.

You can easily adapt this to cover major 7th, dominant 7th, minor 7th and minor 6th, just by moving one or both of the two upper notes. What’s more, this shape will also work as an (inverted) E minor chord.

Condensed "G6" - Chord Tones: G, E, B (Root, 6, 3)
Conversion example: G6 to G7 by moving one chord tone (4th string)
Condensed "G7" - Chord Tones: G, F, B (Root, b7, 3)





The Condensed Am6:
Built from the; root, 6th and major 3rd.

A nice chord quality variation of our Major 6 chord is switching it over to the minor quality. The major 3rd has dropped to a minor 3rd, and the 6th has risen to the minor 7th. The compact nature of this shape means that guitar players can feasibly play it with two fingers.

Condensed "Am6" - Chord Tones: A, F#, C (Root, 6, b3)


Conversion example: Am6 to Am7 by moving one chord tone (4th string)
Condensed "Am7" - Chord Tones: A, G, C (Root, b7, b3)





The Condensed Dom. 7 Altered Chord:
This one is a bit more advanced, taking this approach into more subtle territory. Assuming you’d have a bassist playing the root (E), this shape adds the major 3rd, b9th and 5th. The lack of 7th means it’s not strictly correct, but it will work in context.

Condensed "E7(b9)" - Chord tones:  G#, F, B  (3, b9, 5)


Conversion example: E7(b9) to E7 by moving one chord tone (4th to 2nd string)
Condensed "E7" - Chord Tones: G#, B, D (3, 5, b7)





By moving away from the popular fundamental chord shapes - found in most of the guitar chord books, guitar players can step out of the popular patterns and create new sounds using inversions, and chords lacking a root (the root can always be provided by the bassist).

Drop the middle note, drop the top note, analyze a chord without a root in the bass, and you'll create dozens of new chord shapes. As we've seen, you have a one tone difference between a chord like the minor 6th to a 7th. And, in most of our examples, by moving or retaining the middle note and raising the top note gives a variation on the type or quality.

It's all about experimentation with chord tones. And, when you spend the time, you'll not only learn new chord shapes, but you'll also build a better vocabulary for the fingerboard as well.

- Andrew Wasson

Courtesy of Music Radar...

A mixture of bass notes, melodies and strikes on the guitar make percussive playing quite a challenge. This article breaks down the technique to help clear away some of the mystery behind this unique acoustic playing style...

Percussive guitar has gained popularity in recent years thanks to hit albums from Newton Faulkner and the rise of players such as Andy McKee and Jon Gomm. 

The idea behind performing this technique is to think of your instrument as a drum kit and produce sounds that equate to kick drum, snare and hi-hat by bashing the guitar body. Just take care not to damage your guitar. You have been warned!

There are no rules on how to produce these sounds - but keep efficiency of movement at the front of your mind. For our tab examples we’re playing kick and snare hits near the soundhole so your pick hand doesn’t move far; play the hihat with your fret hand. Finally, we recommend plugging your guitar in and using some reverb to enhance the percussive sounds.



PERCUSSIVE HIT TECHNIQUE:

1). The Kick-Drum Effect:
Use the fleshy part where your hand meets your wrist to produce a low thud like a bass drum. We’re targeting the guitar body above the strings near the sound-hole.





2). Snare Drum:
You need a cutting sound without too much bass for a snare drum vibe. Jon Gomm and Newton Faulkner will often flick the pick guard area with a middle finger.




3). Hi-Hat:
For the full drum kit effect you’ll need to include a sound in the treble range. Pat the strings down against the frets with your fretting hand for a hi-hat vibe.










LEARNING BASIC GROOVES:

Example 1). The "Kick and Snare" Groove...
The most basic backbeat rhythm follows a ‘kick snare kicksnare’ pattern, as tabbed here. Count to four to keep time and keep your strikes synched to the numbers.







Example 2). The "Kick Variation" Groove...
The backbeat is the rhythmic core of music but it's not limited to a basic 'kick snare' pattern. Here we're playing two bass drum hits on beat 3.









Example 3). The "Kick / Snare / Hi-Hat" Groove...
Here we're adding hihats into the gaps in the previous example. If you get confident with the percussive approach try playing two hits at the same time.






Example 4). The "Percussion and Bass-Notes" Groove...
Slap the open fifth and sixth strings with the side of your thumb to produce the bass notes here. Leave out the kick drum hit on beat 1 if you can't sync with the notes.







Example 5). The "Percussion and Melody" Groove...
Every part here is simple in its own way, but of course you'll be playing three lines at the same time, so you'll need to practise slowly. Obviously you should practise each line on its own; try two parts together as you get the feel for it. Slap the strings with the side of your thumb on the opening D5 chord.

GUITAR BLOG INSIDER...

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ClickBait Guitar Lessons are showing up all over the internet. But, the lessons (more often than not) lack proper insight and lack good instruction with attention to detail. 

Most of the "Click-Bait" guitar lessons have no associated lesson materiel, (i.e., no handouts / no MP3's). Other lessons are giving poor advice, or are being created more or less for 'entertainment' purpose rather than instruction. 

The amount of "Click-Bait" and "Listicles" titles are becoming so rampant that the new upload page for www.ultimat-guitar.com recently added a disclaimer of, "No Click-Bait Titles," to their lessons submissions form. 

What do you think... Are "Click-Bait" guitar lesson posts ruining the online guitar lessons community? Leave your thoughts below...

Is ClickBait Ruining Online Guitar Lessons?

If you're like a lot of players most of your time spent thinking about chord changes is on figuring out “stuff” to play over individual chords, and not on how each chord voicing can make a solid connection across your entire progression...

Learning a lot about chord movements is the ticket to playing great rhythm guitar. Cool chord connections will offer progressions the opportunity to shine and boring chord connections present the chords in a way that is ...well, boring.

Jazz music is no different, we need cool chord moves and without them, our progressions will turn out dull, drab and boring.



THE ii-V-I PROGRESSION:
At some point in time you'll likely encounter the Jazz ii-V7-I progression.

Example one: ii-V-I progression in "D major"


Many musicians begin their journey into Jazz chord progressions with a study of ii-V’s, the only problem is that this is also where their study of harmonic relationships will stop. If you think about it, a ii-V-I only contains two chord relationships: a minor ii chord moving to the dominant V7 chord and a V7 chord resolving to the I chord.

However, take a quick listen to any jazz tune and you’ll immediately hear that you’re going to need to know more than just these two chord relationships.

While the progression of a sub-dominant to a dominant to the tonic is a progression that is central to much of Western music, there are definitely other vital chord relationships that you should know to be fully prepared to play a Jazz standard.



PARALLEL MINOR CHANGES:
As a composer this is an important chord relationship to have in your ear and under your fingers. Being able to modulate quickly from a major sound directly its parallel minor will serve you well in many songwriting situations. Below is an example that utilizes a direct modulation from major to minor:

Example two:  "G minor to G major"



BLUES MOVEMENT: I7 to IV7
The progression from the I chord to the IV chord is so common that it is often overlooked, but this is an essential progression to have at your disposal. Here are two standard examples of I to IV7:

Example three: Blues (dominant I chord moving to a dominant IV chord):



The "I-VI7" DOMINANT MOVEMENT:
To be able to compose well over most jazz standards you need to have the relationship of a I chord to the VI chord down. Not only a mental grasp of this movement, but a repertoire of language for this harmonic relationship in all 12 keys. The most prevalent example of this sixth relationship is the A section to Rhythm Changes.

Example four: Rhythm changes



HALF-STEP MOVEMENT:
The relationship of half step movement is also common among the standards you’ll encounter.

Example five: Half-step movement


A few other examples of standards that utilize half-step harmonic relationships:
- So What
- Well You Needn’t



MINOR THIRD RELATIONSHIPS:
Another chord relationship to get in your ears and under you fingers is a minor 3rd relationship. The most well known example of this chord relationship is John Coltrane’s tune Giant Steps.

Quickly changing key centers like the ones found in the progression to Giant Steps will take some serious practice. Learning this sequence of chord relationships is also useful in reharmonizing standards or implying chord substitutions.

Example six: Minor third movement


TONIC TO HALF-DIMINISHED:
One other progression that is also very common is the movement from the I chord to the viiø chord. You’ll find this progression in:
- Bird Blues (Blues for Alice)
- Confirmation
- Come Rain or Come Shine

Example seven: Tonic to half-diminished



CONCLUSION:
By spending time developing unique chord movements your ability to perform and organize progressions will improve dramatically. Test the progressions we've reviewed here and use the principles they suggest to compose some of your own progressions.

You might not think you're a bluegrass fan, but next time you strum simple chords on an acoustic, bluegrass technique will add sparkle to your rhythm parts...

 In this lesson, we'll explore the basics of bluegrass playing, starting with an overview of the style of rhythm guitar used in bluegrass, then we'll move on to some of the technique.

Example 1: Basic bluegrass guitar riff
                    (click on chart to enlarge)




With its alternating bass notes and chromatic runs, this is typical of bluegrass rhythm guitar. However, it's useful to be able to play this type of thing as it relates to a huge range of accompaniment styles. Pick evenly, keeping hand movement to a minimum.



Example 2: Advanced bluegrass rhythm picking pattern
                    (click on chart to enlarge) 



By cutting down on the frills and locking into a solid ascending pattern for each chord, you can develop what bluegrass players call the Rhythm Pick Pattern. To be able to sing and play effectively, you need to practice this pattern until it becomes second nature.



Example 3: bluegrass lick
                  (click on chart to enlarge) 



This lick uses the G major pentatonic (GABDE) with the addition of the minor third (Bb). Use strict alternate picking, making sure that the first and second notes are both played with downstrokes (the initial G is twice as long, so you're missing an upstroke there).




Example 4: bluegrass 6-bar progression
                   (click on chart to enlarge) 



 The 6-bar bluegrass progression applies bass-note and strum technique along with filler runs. At the end of the piece there's a turnaround phrase that is one of the most common ideas applied in bluegrass numbers. Learn to play the piece at the indicated tempo.