February 16, 2018:
Lesson 019 - Copying Guitar Solos
 

This guitar soloing lesson stresses the value that comes from learning licks and lines performed by other guitarists across different styles of music. The number of solos that practicing guitar players should learn has no end. With every new solo comes fresh new ideas for how to use scales and how to apply rhythms, as well as, ways of applying new guitar techniques. 

By the end of this lesson, you'll have a collection of new playing skills for better solo lines that can be applied to any style of music. 

Join the member's area to download the PDF handout and study all of the examples. Be sure to spend time on learning the guitar solo I performed at the start of the lesson in the "Part One" video...

Watch the Part One Video FREE on YouTube:

In this weeks YouTube posting I'll be covering some of the work of bass player, musician and teacher extraordinaire Anthony Wellington... We will focus on his thoughts regarding music theory and in particular his concepts regarding the simplification of keys and practice through the the study of the key signatures.


With all the work that you'll tend to do in your life as a musician (in training) with scales and arpeggios and chord harmony, this is going to be a very interesting lesson. Especially for those of you who've never been exposed to these theoretical principles.



After this discussion, I think that you'll walk away with some interesting new directions of thought regarding how you perceive your own personal musical development, and how you currently apply a few of the corner-stone principles of music theory.

WATCH THE VIDEO:



Musical Awareness:
In many of Anthony Wellington's lectures he likes to discuss levels of awareness when studying an instrument, like the first ever stage of being blissful, happy and excited about your instrument, as in when you first held your first guitar.

Think back to when you'd first held your first guitar, how did you feel the first time you ever held your first guitar. You didn't know back then what you needed to learn, you were just excited to have that instrument in your hands. It was pure bliss!

The next level is moving to being more aware and getting to know what things are going to be important to learn on your instrument. Things like learning to make a clear sound and developing an ability to feel rhythm.

Learning notes and keys and scales. Sadly, some players never make it past this stage of development, (the hobbyist) because it involves so much effort and time, patience and dedication, to go further beyond this point.



If a musician can make it past that second stage, then they come to a new level where they reach an understanding with information. At this stage they are thinking about a lot of information while they perform. It's a stage that Anthony says "good" musicians reach.

However, there are limitations at this stage because within it, there's a whole lot of thinking going on to achieve the playing. Now, if musicians can push past this one, they reach the ultimate stage which is what Anthony calls, "Unconscious Knowing."

In this state of mind, the musician is blissful and is no longer thinking, the music just naturally pours out of them, without effort. They simply know what they're doing so well, so perfectly that the music becomes a spiritual experience that takes no real conscious thought or effort to produce.



The 30 Musical Keys Principle:
Now that you know a little bit on how Anthony Wellington thinks about a musicians stages and levels of awareness, let's dig into his foundational music theory concepts on musical keys. His views are different, because they reach further than the common 12 keys concept.

Music keys are the cornerstone, the building blocks for everything we do, so they need to be well understood. Most musicians think in terms of there being 12 keys. But, not Anthony, he takes the perspective of this a little bit differently with instead of 12, he thinks in terms of there being 30 different keys.

And, if you met him, he'd probably ask you, "Do You Practice in Every Key?"

Now, you're probably wondering what this means. To begin with, Anthony believes in treating Minor and Major keys separately. So, instead of thinking in terms of 12 keys, now there's 24 keys. But, that still leaves 6 keys unaccounted for.

Let's clear all of this up by breaking this down step-by-step...

There's one Major key with no sharps and no flats. That's the key of, "C Major." Then, there's seven Major keys with sharps. Starting from "G Major" (which has one sharp), all the way up to "C# Major," (which has all seven tones as sharps).

This means that so far we have 8 keys up to this point. But, then there's the Major flat keys, from "F Major" (with one flat), up to "Cb Major" (with all seven notes flat). Now we've got seven sharp keys, seven flat keys and one natural key, giving us a grand total of 15 Major keys. Double that to include the Minor keys and you've got 30 different keys.

So, once more, back to that initial question, "Do You Practice in All Keys?"




Know Your Accidentals:
Before we wrap up, here's another great Anthony Wellington theory idea of knowing the accidentals in keys, I call it the, Theory of Seven.

How many sharps are in "E Major?" That would of course be four. Now, how many flats are there in "Eb Major?" There's three right. What does that total? Right, SEVEN.

The total between sharp and flat keys always equals seven. Let's test it again, how many sharps are there in "A Major?" There's three, so how many flats have to be in "Ab Major?" There has to be four because they always total seven!

Same thing works for minor. How many sharps are in "D# Minor? There's six, so that means, "D Minor" has to have one flat to add up to our theory of seven.

And, the one note in "D# Minor" that isn't sharp, (which is the note of "B"), is the one flat tone found in "D Minor." "D Minor" has ONE flat, "Bb."

It's all a numbers and letters game that's easy to make sense of when you start thinking about it in simple ways.

Some of these principles on musicianship and music theory that we've discussed here can be found easy enough online through different lectures that have been posted by Anthony Wellington, and also by bassist, "Victor Wooton."

A few other musicians are also quite dedicated to posting concepts about music theory in a way to keep things simplified and straight-forward. The bottom line is, that Music Theory and learning music in general and becoming a musician, doesn't need to be difficult or complex.

Most important, everyone needs to realize that sometimes it doesn't take a lot of information to make a big difference, all it takes is an idea that's explained in just the right way, so that it can be taken in and used.



VISIT THE WEB-SITE:
Thanks for joining me, If you'd like to Find Out What You Should Learn Next 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.

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!

Acoustic Guitar 018: 

Folk Fingerpicking Patterns - Vol. 2...

The second volume of this two-volume lesson plan on folk fingerpicking will focus on more detailed picking patterns that are generally used by folk instrumentalist guitar players.

Vol. 2 contains a collection of; alternating bass patterns (that incorporate two-note chords), bass-line melodies set into a compound meter, and single-note lines mixed against arpeggios. Plus, there's a bonus "Travis-picking" riff in the style of "Chet Atkins."

Daily Deal:


Study more advanced folk pattern playing...

Watch the Video:


PART ONE:
Example one, sets a pattern in motion that operates between the 6th to 2nd guitar strings. The pattern applies a uniform string layout in the key of "F# Minor." A small layer of 2-note harmony (dyads) is applied on the 2nd and 3rd guitar strings.

Example two, focuses on the application of bass-line melodic ideas matched with upper-register phrases in the key of "G Major." The added compound meter feel produces a beautiful sounding folk pattern that locks down the key center.


PART TWO:  The exercise in example three matches and tracks bass lines across arpeggios. The phrase takes chords from the key of "D Major" (A Mixolydian) and includes two fingerpicking patterns that are applied across two measures.

Example four, introduces a "Chet Atkins" style Travis-picking pattern. This example operates in the key of "E Major." It  applies the picking pattern to the first three measures, across three chords of the key, ("E," "C#m," and "A"). Measure four is rather unique in how it arpeggiates the keys "V-chord" (B Major).




Related Videos:

RELATED VIDEOS for:
 Folk Fingerpicking Patterns - Vol. 2... 

ACOUSTIC GUITAR 017: Folk Fingerpicking Patterns - Vol 1

ACOUSTIC GUITAR 016: Acoustic Fingerstyle Jazz

ACOUSTIC GUITAR 015: Percussive Guitar Technique

In this lesson, we're going to break down the "4 Phases" that guitar students move through when developing their technique... 

We'll discuss how guitarists can move through each stage to become the most effective at developing their technique. Plus, we'll discuss how to increase the speed and success of any technique routine by adding the use of a metronome into the practice session...




WHY DO THIS?
Guitar Technique studies are one of the best ways to establish a much higher degree of skill for left and right hand coordination on the guitar. Ask any professional player, they will confirm that guitar technique is without question a serious area of study for them.

Professional players realize that having excellent control over what occurs when they're playing rhythm or lead guitar makes them more relaxed. And, when they're more relaxed, they play music with less stress, leading to far less mistakes.




WATCH THE VIDEO:



(PHASE 1).
SINGLE-STRING COORDINATION:
Setting up a solid study approach to practice how to most effectively coordinate the use of the picking hand, and how it specifically "tracks" the fretting hand is the first critical step when developing guitar technique.

In fact, many new guitar students learn simple melodies such as "Happy Birthday to You," as a way to track what the picking hand does in relation to the fretting hand.

This is why one of the most popular coordination exercises (initially used by guitar students) is the chromatic study. Here's how this study operates...



(PHASE 2).
MULTIPLE-STRING DRILLS:
After spending time working on coordination (on a single guitar string), the next phase of study will most commonly involve working on two, three or four string patterns.

Multiple-string ideas will help with a lot of playing areas, but most importantly, they'll give the guitarist an opportunity to drill on alternate picking technique between two adjacent strings.

Let's move through this next drill, and get a better idea of some of the benefits that it can offer us...





(PHASE 3).
THREE-NOTE CHORD TECHNIQUE:
Once the string coordination begins to develop, another critical technique area is the ability to switch through 3-note chord patterns. These patterns are often referred to as "Triads."

The triad shapes are not only a fantastic exercise drill, but they're also an excellent way to become familiar with the fingering patterns for one of the most popular chord types used on guitar.

There are many different ways to study triads, but to help get you familiar with the basics of how this type of exercise operates, I've created a study that takes the triads found in the key of "A Major" along the guitar's 4th through 2nd strings.

By making a study of this exercise, you'll get a good idea for how to start incorporating triads into a regular exercise routine.



(PHASE 4).
ADVANCED CHORD TECHNIQUE:
The work done on triads (and on single string technique), combined with our next topic will allow guitar players to begin developing two critical areas.

1). Single-tone ideas for playing lead.
2). Chord fingering skill for playing rhythm guitar.

The fourth phase of technique that I wanted to cover is based upon advanced chord studies. This involves taking chord patterns that are unknown, and then moving those patterns along the string sets laterally.

This helps players gain a higher level of skill for not only the advanced chords being practiced, but also for gaining more dexterity. This means that every chord pattern introduced in the future slowly becomes easier and easier to learn.

This occurs because the dexterity of the fretting hand has been introduced to so many new and unique chord shapes.

Run through an exercise I've put together. It uses some unique 9th, and add2, chord voicings. After learning the shapes shown below, take the patterns even further down the neck. Then, expand on the idea of the exercise by introducing other unique and challenging chord patterns.






CONCLUSION:
Before we wrap up, I still want to cover two final ideas that you should keep in mind as you develop all of your guitar technique studies.

The first is based upon memorizing the general layout and feel of whatever it is that you're studying prior to turning on a metronome. Once you have that general awareness for the exercise, then turn on the metronome.

Point number two is, make sure that you keep the metronome on, and whatever tempo that you do select, be sure to continuously change the type of note duration that you perform under that tempo.

What I mean specifically is, if you select 82 b.p.m., then be sure to play, 8th-notes, 16th-notes and triplets at 82, before moving up to higher tempos.


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.

Also, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on all of this in the comment sections... if you enjoyed this lesson and video, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe for more on YouTube.

Thanks again and we'll catch up next week for another episode of the, "Guitar Blog Insider."

NEW: QwikRiffs Series - Video (019)

The latest QwikRiffs video, Jazz-Funk Single String Riffs in "D Mixolydian" is available in the members area. Includes PDF handout!

QwikRiffs are available to members at Creative Guitar Studio.com. Lessons in the QwikRiffs Series run through collections of rhythm guitar riffs covering all types of playing styles. I cover different 'famous artist' playing approaches and I will demonstrate ideas based on rhythm guitar techniques... 

Daily Deal:



Episode #019 covers three "Jazz-Funk Single String" Riffs.

Riff one uses a funky syncopated 16th-note feel to generate a unique groove over a "D7" chord harmony. The mix of 16th-notes and 16th-note rests establishes a steady feel. Take note that each measure looses the down-beat of three.

Riff two emphasizes recurring scale lines with select scale tones focused on for matched harmony. This is vital for the bass player, in how the interaction can function very similar between the parts, or leave room for lines that become altered between the players. 

NOTE: Use your DAW or looper pedal to study the idea shown in riff two.

Riff three operates within the framework of applying the "slap bass" effect on our guitar line. The slap bass concept is made popular by bassists like "Bootsy Collins." His approach involves grabbing at the string and ripping at it, so that it "slaps" back onto the guitar's fret wire. In riff three I've applied the same concept to a guitar line.


Sign into the website (or create your free members account) to join the members site. Sign up for the Basic Monthly or Premium (annual) membership to download the PDF handout for this lesson and study all of the other classes available on the website. 

Become a FREE member of the website, sign up today!

In this video I'll be covering some of the smoothest turnaround ideas used by the "Masters of the Blues." We'll learn phrases that apply elements used by players like; "Freddie King, T-Bone Walker, Eric Clapton, Ronnie Earl, and BB King." 



Turnaround Phrases:
The lesson will focus on three turnaround phrases that share a number of similar ideas. A lot of the ways that these guitar greats applied their various ideas for turnaround lines is by using unique note combinations of the Major and the Minor Pentatonic scales.

We'll be focusing on that principle, (Blues turnaround phrases), within this lesson.

WATCH THE VIDEO:



BB King Style Lick:
BB King is the master of slow smooth Blues. His ability to bend and hold notes with vibrato and sustain is legendary. In this first turnaround example, we're in the key of "A Blues" with a phrase that focuses on some really great sounding sustained bends and a very cool sequenced line in the third measure into our fourth measure turnaround resolution.

Here's what this "BB Style" phrase sounds like.





Freddie-King /Eric Clapton Style Lick:
Freddie King was a huge influence on Eric Clapton and that's why our next lick blends sounds that form a combination of lines found used from the music of both of these Blues Masters.

Freddie King and Eric Clapton were excellent at taking the scale tones (found between both the Major and Minor Pentatonic) and using them to create Blues phrases that crossed the boundary of both of those Pentatonic sounds.

Let's run through this Freddie King /Eric Clapton style turnaround lick that I've organized from within the key of, "C Blues."





T-Bone Walker Lick:
Alright, our last turnaround uses one of the more traditional sounding chromatic phrases that are heard in literally hundreds of Blues songs. This style of turnaround idea drops a descending chromatic line that was made popular by "Jazzy-Blues" guitar players like Ronnie Earl and then re-designed yet again by Blues Masters like "T-Bone Walker."

This lick is in the key of "Bb Blues" and targets small three note chords as we drop through the "V and IV" chords of "F7 and Eb7." But, the really cool sound of things here lies in the final measures with the chromatic descending statement.

Here's this "T-Bone" style turnaround example.





CONCLUSION:
Learning to both understand the Blues and learning to phrase Blues lines is critical for every guitarist regardless of the styles you enjoy. Whether you prefer jamming on; Rock, Metal, Soul Music, Funk or Rhythm and Blues, or Country music the turnaround licks I've outlined here (in this lesson) should offer you something interesting that you can add into your next guitar solo - no matter what style it is played in.

And, remember that the study of learning how to play Blues phrases can do even more than that. Blues phrasing helps you combine the use of Major and Minor Pentatonic scales, and they also help guitar players zero in on specific chord tones.

Be sure to study these kinds of Blues lines, they'll go a long way to helping you understand chord tones used across a ton of different kinds of music styles. Along with that, these licks are a fantastic addition for your next weekend Blues jam. 




VISIT THE WEB-SITE:
Thanks for joining me... If you'd like to Find Out What You Should Learn Next on Guitar - take a look at the courses posted 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 guitar player that you can possibly 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!

For the teachers out there, this video is focused on ideas that surround teaching guitar. In the video, I run through a collection of the most common categories of teaching that I've been involved with over the last 10 years of being on the internet teaching guitar online. Plus, I will discuss the teaching I've done in my own private music studio... 



I will be discussing, topics covering; dealing with new students, the study of guitar with intermediate players, what a student should focus on with respect to their attitude (both as a pupil and as an instructor), how to offer the most help to advanced guitar players, and how to deal with difficult students.

WATCH THE VIDEO:



NEW STUDENTS: When a person decides to study guitar, and they come in for classes, or they enroll on a lessons website, they need to always do one important thing. And, that is to properly plan their practice time.

Practice does not just happen, it needs to be planned out, it needs to be scheduled. So, if a new student can just do this one critical point, they'll have a far better chance at success.

So, remember how important it is to plan, plan, plan your time, by scheduling in practice. Once practice time is scheduled, and you're working with a comprehensive, well thought out guitar study plan, you're going to get results on guitar.



HAVE RESPECT FOR YOURSELF and YOUR TEACHER: If you take a moment and recall every successful training you've ever done, there's likely a common theme across them. And, I'll bet that it involved two things.

#1). You were in a good head-space during the instruction.

#2). There was a respect present that you had for the teacher and that the teacher conveyed back to you.

Generally, when it comes to music teachers, there is a two-tier level of respect. One is for their skill over the material being taught, and the other is the teacher's ability to clearly deliver the instruction, (so, it makes reasonable sense).

If those two parameters aren't present, it's unlikely that you'll feel compelled to want to work on any of the material being presented. And, the respect goes both ways.

Conscientious students offer respect, and conscientious teachers also project respect toward their students. Good teachers are also willing to change along the way because good teachers tend to be quite flexible in their approach and they understand that there's a level of value behind analyzing all types of situations as well as, criticism.



INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS: If beginners require a well thought out practice schedule, combined with really good guitar study system, so then what if anything changes when we upgrade the skills over to the Intermediate level of guitar playing?

That's a good question and unless you've worked with a lot of Intermediate guitarists, it's also a tough one to answer. This is an interesting area because Intermediate players tend to need a lot more hand-holding from their teachers.

In the studio, I need to be more focused on my Intermediate players with respect to their understanding of the topics that we're studying. And, with my online students, the majority of my Skype sessions are with players who are at that Intermediate level, (on the website), and they can have a lot of difficulty with understanding everything in that Intermediate guitar course, (my Intermediate course is a very involved program of study).

Students can have troubles with everything from; neck layout, the geometry of the neck regions, they will have barre-chord problems and there can be problems with learning rhythm patterns.

All of these issues combined make the Intermediate player one of the most challenging to teach guitar to.



TEACHING ADVANCED PLAYERS: Most people who set out to teach guitar in life, do not fully comprehend what an Advanced Guitar Player is, until they get experience working with one. And, until a teacher spends a number of years working with Advanced level guitar players, most teachers won't actually know what Advanced Level instruction involves.

Advanced guitarists know their stuff - period. They can play almost everything you throw at them, plus they know a ton of songs, and their comprehension of theory and the elements of music can be at a really high level of comprehension.

The issues advanced players tend to have are very specific and will mainly revolve around "why they can't do a certain specific thing" on guitar.

In dealing with the Advanced player, (as an instructor), you have to dig down and discover what playing elements are missing from the skill set of your student. Once you find those missing pieces of your students playing situation, you'll be able to help them move forward.

However, as a teacher, you'll need vast experience, because Advanced students are a very specialized group of musician to teach.



DIFFICULT STUDENTS: The final idea I wanted to go over with you, is dealing with students who are difficult to work with. These are going to be guitar students who have an overall difficult personality type that you'll have to contend with.

As a teacher, you'll need to understand that students who are like this, do not just have a problem dealing with you, they have problems dealing with almost everyone they encounter out there in the world. So, you (as their teacher), need to understand that it will require a specialized set of skills when it comes to dealing with people of difficult personalities.

If you're flexible enough in your behavior, without giving into with these people, you'll generally find some common ground and you'll be able to cope with them.

However, you'll also need to realize that sometimes it just doesn't work out. And, in very rare cases, you'll quite likely (if you teach long enough), have to call things quits with some of these types of students.

It's an awful situation when it comes to this, but again (if you teach long enough), unfortunately this will occur on the very rarest of occasions when it comes to dealing with difficult personality types.



VISIT THE WEBSITE:
Well, 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 I've organized for the members of my website.

Also, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on all of this in the comment section below.

If you enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs up and subscribe for more on YouTube. Thanks again and we'll catch up next week, for another episode of the "Guitar Blog Insider."