How do you keep your fingers in shape, especially during those times you may not play that much? Playing daily is the best thing you can do to keep your fingers (and mind) in good shape, but there may be times you will not have much time to play or the things you play are very different from what you used to play.
For this article a handful of tips of things you can do to keep yourself on top of your game.

Let us start off with the most obvious, your fretting hand, here some simple ideas of what you can do to keep all those fingers working independantly.

                        Fretting Hand Ideas:

The aim is to be able to use the fingers of your fretting hand in any way you want. They will be ready for whatever you want them to play. You can work on any set of fingers, the most obvious one is four fingers in a row. You can play any note anywhere on the fretboard and just go up four notes in a row. Once you have completed your four notes, move along with the next set of four notes and carry on until you have covered the whole fretboard.  You can play this idea on one string or play it on several strings. This excercise is not only good for your fingers, it gives your wrist a good work out as well: higher postions will ask for a different wrist position.
Do this excercise for a short time, also good one for warming up.

Next, play single string skipping ideas, good for coordination fingers and hand and wrist. You can design your own ideas, just think that you need to skip strings regularly. String skipping is the one thing which asks a lot of concentration and coordination. Most beginners will find it hard in the beginning as they will stumble over the notes as they move up to the next set of strings.
Instead of making your own stringskipping excercises you can also look at some riffs or solos which use string skipping. The intro of Guns N Roses’ “Sweet Child of Mine” is a great example of some fine string skipping. You will find the tap for it somewhere on this blog.

Because your fretting hand does not only play single strings you can also try some chordshapes: You can go for chordshapes you do not know, get one chordshape and move this shape along up the fretboard. It is a good idea to hear the tonality of the chord change: You move same chordshape along fretboard but the tone of the chord will change according to the fretposition where you play the chord. 

Instead of working with one chord why not take a handful of chords, create a sequence of chords which sound good together. You could create your own chordsequence or take part of a chordsequence from a song you like. Play the chords with various strums and also try to pick the chords, either using fingers or a plectrum. Try to vary the tempo, remember you are not really playing a song just do some work-out for your fingers, so push yourself, try strumming as fast as you can until you have reached your limit and the chords will no longer sound good. This idea is also good feedback to find out where your are with your technique at the moment.

Let us now have a look at some ideas which will improve the technique of your strumming or picking hand
                  
                     Picking Hand:

What I mentioned before about independance of your fingers of fretting hand applies also to your picking hand, especially if you use fingerstyle: Make sure you can use all your main picking fingers. Not many guitar players use their pink during fingerpicking, I will leave it up to you if you want to devote extra time to that one. 

An easy, straightforward picking pattern is to pick the strings one by one in a row, do this with a set of chords, just play your strings from low to high, and play it then backwards. If you are playing this idea using fingers why not try it now with a plectrum. Use same pattern but now using a plectrum.

What I mentioned before about stringskipping applies also to your picking hand: String skipping is a great workout for both fretting-and picking hand, check out some more ideas to get you going.

                 Extra Techniques:

Most of the fretting hand ideas I mentioned before can be played straightforward with down and up picking, but why not use any hammer-ons and pull-offs, again they may need some extra practise to get them smooth in your system.

Bends: Because you do not want to be one of those guitarplayers who will say “Aouch” after each bend, especially those ones in the lower regions of the fretboard, make sure you stay on top of your bends: Bend all over the fretboard, use double and single bends and make sure you can do them on any of your high E, B and G string. Bending on the D string? Depending on your taste, the wound strings do not ring as long as the plain strings and bends sound different, but it will all depend on what you need, bend on the D as well as the tension is higher and will help strenthen your fingers.
If you have never used any string bending do not go over the top as string bending will rip the skin of your fingers if your fingers are not use to it! To keep you fingers used to stringbending, play bends regularly to keep the hard skin of your fingers in tact. 

Most of the above ideas will give you good feedback on the shape of your fingers, make sure you use the right guitar technique, it will make you think about guitar heroes in a different way. There is not magic about playing guitar well: You need to play and play and play and love what you are doing.
Playing at amazing speed? Again no mystery, it is all about coordination of your hands and fingers and musical ideas and some ideas will lend themselve to be played at blazing speed, use it a variety instead of geting hooked up on becoming a speed monster.

Hope to see you soon again,
Eddie

Guitarsolos and where to play them on the fretboard, do you have this often? Work out a guitar solo, or riff, and all seem to be fine apart from a few notes or sounds. Why are those notes not right? Where will they be played? What the heck is going on? If you ever had any of those situations keep on reading because this article may help you.

You can work out of your favourite guitarsolos by ear (by far still the best method….!!) or use any tabs you can find (check them !!) or books. Check the sound of your solos against the original. Are you getting all the right notes and sounds, sounds such as bends, artificial harmonics or whatever? Keep thinking about what is going on in the solo: What key is the song in?, what are the chords behind the solo?, play those chords, get familiar with the rhythm of the chords and song as it will all help you to play the actual solo with a better feel, you will also play more convincing because you are on top of your game.

                     Notes and Fretboard Positons:

The guitar is this wonderful instrument which gives you the same note in various places. Often this is a blessing but sometimes it can be a pain as well. When it comes to working out solos it is this fact which sometimes puzzles you: Where the heck did they play this solo and why? Sometimes you hear the sound of bends within some fast runs, most of the notes may be played in lower postions but the bends may be higher up the fretboard. Certain notes will sound better in particular places, even though you may play the same notes but they may not sound similar.

Do not worry so much about equipment, you can work out your solos on an unamplified electric guitar, and once you have found the right position you will get the same sound, even though you do not not that million dollar set-up your favourite artist uses. It is just about the notes and the right position, the gear will only put the icing on the cake.

                   Detuning:

You do not need to detune you guitar to get the same sound of a detuned solo, it may help to detune in the beginning to familiarise yourself with what is going on. Once you know what is the score you will be able to play the same solo on a standard tuned guitar. Detuning is great and may help you achieve a darker sound, but if you use standard tuning most of the time you may want to keep your tuning as it is.
Most bands who use detuned sounds will play a whole set of songs in that tuning, which is fantastic, but if you play in a coverband you may only play a handful of songs which are detuned in Eb, so you might as well keep your guitar in standard tuning and play everything a fret down. Keep thinking what is going on. Most of what I mentioned before applies to guitarplayers who detune all their strings a half, or whole step down. I am not talking about dropped D, or C or whatever tuning as that is far simpler: Just detune one string while rest stays the same. Easier to detune one string on a set instead of all six! Just see what is practical for you, but do not copy the detuned idea simply because that is what is going on in that particular song.

               Corrections and Alterations:

Learn a solo a well as you can and get it smooth. Once you can play the whole solo check the fingering and the postions. Does the solos jump up and down a lot on the fretboard? Could you play the solo in one position instead of moving up and down? Often solos are about sound and convenience: Fingering should be staightforward, if not check position!!

              Stylistic Features:

If you have a look at several solos of the same artist changes are you will see particular techniques and sounds being used which come back often. Get to know how your favourite artist plays, what kind of techniques he/she uses and get familiar with how to use these techniques for yourself. Try to hear what is going on: Often you can tell where a solo is being played by just listening to the recording, you can hear all the bends, string tapping ect. just listen to the solo carefully before you  start to play the solo yourself, as you listen ask yourself questions about position and techniques being used.

             Finally:

Once you can play a solo correctly, know what is going on keywise etc. why not play the solo in your own style. Use similar notes and phrasing but now with your own feel and techniques, let go of the stylistic features of the given artist and play the solo your own way without loosing the integrity of the notes and the overal idea behind the solo.
A solos is more than just a variation in the song: Some solos will restate the vocal melody while others are small compositions on their own. Listen to a lot of solos by various artists of different styles to get a good idea of what is possible.

For next article a few fingering variations of Slash’s  intro of “Sweet Child of Mine”

Enjoy and hope to catch you soon again for more updates.
Eddie 

Here some sample setting for the DOD FX55-B Supra Distortion you may like. Use them as a guide, you may have to alter any of the controls to get the desired sound depending on your guitar and your amp settings.
I have included a guide to what kind of pick up you can use, but again, use this only as a guide.

Amp was set for trebly tone, but just set your amp to how you like it and then tweak controls pedal to get the desired sound.

The controls of the pedal are easy to set: Use the 11 dots of the controls and point them in the right direction to get the right setting.

Before I go into the settings here a tonal reference to some sounds you can achieve with this pedal:
The Who, Metallica, Punk Rock, Satriani and Jack White.

                    Fuzz   

Sounds great when using a Humbuck in neck position. Listen to your bass strings in particular!!
This sound is good for playing riffs on your bass strings or any powerchord ideas

  Level: 11      Tone: 4     Dist.: 6

                   Treble Boost

Great for adding a bit of grind to your sound, will work with any pick up setting and any type of pick up.
This sound is good for chords and riffs.
I call this “Treble Boost” setting as it will boost your clean sound but will also add some dirt to your sound. You can change the setting of the Tone control, as this will not affect the amount of dirt you will get, great!!

  Level: 11       Tone: 11    Dist.: 1

                  Fuzzy Punk Rock

Great for chords and riffs in between your chords. Play it downright rude and dirty.  Will sound great with bridge Humbucks, but try any pick up as the setting will not let you down! You will get a nice, solid sound with lots of attitude.

 Level: 11       Tone: 4       Dist: 7

                  
                  Maxed Out Fun

This setting will work with any pick up setting and any kind of pick up. It is great for achieving a singing tone from Neck Humbucks, just let it sustain for days!

Level: 6         Tone: 4      Dist: 11

The  tone of the DOD FX55-B reminds me a lot of the MXR Dist. + (and in some ways of the Pro Co Rat). Some of you may feel that this tone is the general distortion tone without too much character. What I like in particular is that the pedal can make your bass strings distort while the rest of the strings remain fairly clean. When you try this with a Boss OD-3 or SD-1 or BD-2 the sound of all your strings will distort. From an engineering point of view the Boss models are more sophisticated and may also offer you more tonal options compared to the DOD FX55-B

Hope you enjoy some of these sample settings here and hope to see you soon again for more sonic updates.
Eddie

The DOD FX55-B is a distortion pedal  with a few extras thrown in: The pedal can give you a boost and it does contain a extended treble boost when you max out the distortion control.

The pedal does contain three controls: Level, Tone and Distortion, nothing unusual there for a simple distortion pedal like this you may say. True, but this pedal can do more then what it looks like:

                Using Pedal as Treble Booster:

Any distortion pedal which can give you a clean boost is a great pedal in my book. This one will give you a clean boost with some edges of distortion, depending on what kind of pick-ups you use.
Boost the Level and Tone to the max, keep Distortion control down, set up your amp for trebly sound and play: Your amp will distort a little depending on your pick-ups: Humbucks will give you a crunchy tone while single coils and other less, hot pick-ups will give you a slight crunchy tone, depending on your picking style. The tone you get is just a broken up amp, good for any old-style distortion.

              Full Tilt Distortion:

Max out the Distortion control, while Level and Tone are set to your desired levels. This setting will give you a boost in your distortion with an extended brightness. Back off the Distortion control and your tone will get darker. The maxed out sound is great for powerchords, riffs or anything in between. The sound is classic 80s, 90s. It is usuable in a wide range of styles, but if you are looking for modern, heavy bass distortion, this pedal will not give you that sound.

              Fuzz:

Fuzz from this pedal, really? Yes, its sound reminds me of  primitive Fuzz, especially on the bass strings. I use a 0.56 for low E and 0.46 for the A while rest of strings are standard 0.11.  I get a Fuzzy sound on the bass strings while the rest of the strings still sound fairly clean when I set up pedal for treble boost. Nice one!!

Does it matter much what kind of pick-ups and amps you use?

You will get different results with humbucks compared to single coils, but you do get that with any, moderate gain dist./overdrive pedal so this one is no different in that respect.

The pedal is consistant with its sound when you use different amps: Pedal preforms similar with most amps and speakers, the differences you will hear are due to variation in amp and speaker and are not the result of pedal preforming differently.

Enjoy and hope to catch you soon again for more updates for guitarsound and guitar techniques.
Eddie

For this article a few ideas how you can combine a Transitor amplifier with a Valve (Tube) amplifier to get a better, complex clean sound.

The idea of Trans Tube amps is not new, in the 1990s Peavy came up with a line of amps which listened to the same name: By doing so Peavy’s idea was to give transitor amps the feel (and sound) of Tube amplifiers.

The idea explained here is the opposite: Use the clean sound of a transitor amp to achieve a better, clean sound for your valve amp.

             What Kind of Amp?:

Ideally use a simple, one channel valve amp which does not use complex tone controls. The overal sound of this amp may be good but it may not give you many tonal options for your clean sound. Match this valve amp with a transitor amp of which you like the clean sound. Make sure the transistor amp does have an output socket.
The more basic your valve amp the better. When you start using a complex valve amp you defeat the object as the clean sound of the valve amp may sound great anyway.

            Now You Have Your Amps What’s Next?:

Plug you guitar into the transistor amp, set up sound to how you like it. Use another cable from the output of the transitor amp to the input of the valve amp. Set the tonecontrols of valve amp for basic setting. Listen to both amps with regards to volume, make sure the transistor amp is not set too low, match the valve amp’s volume with the level of the transistor amp. Once you have the levels right you should experience a difference in the sound of your valve amp: The tone may be thinner, but it also will sound a little cleaner compared to using the valve amp on it own.
Basically you amplify the sound of the transistor amp by using the valve amp.

To check the difference in sound you can unplug your guitar from the transistor amp and go straight into the input of the valve amp. Once you hear the difference you will start to appreciate the results of both amps mixed. Remember to plug your guitar into the transistor amp, only the cable of the output of the transistor amp is used for the input of the valve amp. The guitar’s signal hits the preamp of the transistor amp first not the other way around. You can experiment with connecting the amps the other way around, but remember, the idea was to improve the clean sound of the valve amp. Connecting the amps the other way around may give you a sound you may like but it will not improve the overal, clean sound of the valve amp.

Enjoy your experiments and hope to catch you soon again here for more, tonal ideas.
Eddie

A stack is basically an set of speakers with an amphead on top of it. When you own several small amps it is possible to create you own, small stack. All you need is 2, or more, small amps. The amps do not have to be of the same make or model, you can use anything you have at the moment.
You will need a Y-cable which will run from your guitar output to the input of both amps. Instead of using a cable you can also use a Boss LS-2 lineselector. This is a pedal which will help to connect your guitar to several amps, or pedals, or other devices.

The advantage of playing through several amps will give you a unique sound: The sound is more complex compared to using just one amp. You guitar signal travels through several speakers, hence you do have a higher output signal and the sound is more complex compared to using only one speaker.
It is possible to set up each amp for a different sound, this will even create a more complex sound.

Once you start using several, small amps you may become interested in using larger amps. The Ministack is only one step away from playing through a larger ampset.

Enjoy your experiments and hope to see you soon again for more updates.
Eddie

Boss BD-2 is one of those simple pedals you can use to boost your signal. The pedal can give you a clean boost which may help your amp to kick into overdrive.
To achieve clean boost keep the Gain control down to a minimum, open up the Level control to desired setting, open up the Tone control to add any treble.
The BD-2 does colour your sound a little, but it is nothing too bad.
The BD-2 does have a ligher sound when used as clean boost compared to the Boss OD-3.
The pedal works well with valve or transistor amps and is versatile in its use.

Check out video where I demo how BD-2 can be used to achieve bluesy sounds from Marshall JCM 900:

 

If you like the video and the article, why not subscribe to the channel? Please do not forget to like and share the video. Thanks!!
Eddie

For this article the second part for learning to play the bass guitar for beginners. Last time we played a few notes on the low E string of the bass, this time we will have a look at some of the notes on the A string. We will also learn to play notes over the low E and A string.

Here is a quick review for those who are not familiar with the notesystem used for musical instruments such as the guitar, bassguitar, keyboards and other musical instruments.
The notes are grouped in the alphabeth called the Musical Alphabeth. The order of the notes is as follows:

   
             c#      d#          f#       g#       a#
         C        D        E  F        G         A         B  C

When you count all the notes you will get to 13 individual notes, notice you do have two C’s in this set of notes. A set of notes going from a low note to a higher note ( the example above from C to C) is called an Octave. An Octave does not have to start on a C, it can start on any note. As long as you go up from any low note to the same note but now higher up it is called an Octave.

When we apply the above to the open A string of the Bass guitar we will see that the open A string is called an A, go 12 frets up, where you see the 2 dots on your fretboard, this note is also an A but it is an Octave higher than the low, open A string. This idea applies to all the strings of the Bassguitar: On the 12th fret you will find the Octave for the low E, A, D and G string.

Looking at the other notes on the A string we see the open A, on the first fret of the A string you will find the A#. Look at the musical alphabeth, after the A you will see the A#, the A# is one step higher than the A note. Think of this note as a higher version of the A note. On the second fret we will see the B note, again, look at the alphabeth and you will see what the next note will be. The note after B is a C and you will see the C on the 3rd fret of the A string.

       
                      Playing Notes Over the E and A string:

Last time we played a handful of notes on the low E, now we will play a handful of notes over the E and A striing.
Here is the tablature for the notes we will be playing:

            E                            F                                  G                                  F         
       
     A ——-2——–2       ———3——-3—-       ——–5——–5—        ——-3———–3——-

     E  –0——-0—–       –1———-1——–       —3———-3——        —1———–1————

Count  1   2     3   4  

In the above tab. you will see some four bars of bass guitar music. A bar is a small section of music. Above each bar you will see a letter. This letter represents a chord. The chord is there in case you play along with someone else. The chord can be played by a guitar or keyboard.
The numbers underneath are the notes you will be playing on the bass guitar. There is only one open note, all the other notes are fretted notes. Use your left hand to play the fretted notes, use your first 9 (or index)  finger for all fretted notes on the low E string and use your second (or middle) finger for all the notes on the A string.
The names of the open E and A string are given right at the beginning of the tab.

Use your right hand to pick the strings, alternate (just as what was mentioned in bass article) between index and middle finger, let your thumb rest on one of the pick-ups of the bass (or somewhere on the body of the guitar, in case you are using a guitar instead of bass guitar)

Make sure you play slowly in the beginning, keep a steady pace, you can count for each note you play one count. In the space of one bar you will get four counts, play slowly and steady at first. Once you can play all four bars increase the tempo of your playing while still keeping a steady pace.

Hope to catch you soon again for more updates.
Eddie

Once you have been creating your solos out of scales- and scale positions, using alternate picking, it is time to spice up  your solos with some different techniques, techniques which will add more spice and drama to your solos.
For this article a look at four different techniques which you can add to your alternate picking style. All four techniques will add some extra flavour and taste to your solos, they will also make your solos come alive with dynamics as they will break up the regular sound of your alternate picking style.

       Hammer-On/ Pull-Off:

The hammer On and Pull Off technique can be used within chords or just for single notes on their own. Practise their sound in isolation over first one string. Try to get a smooth and clean sound, try to control the sound and do not let luck play part in gettting the sound! You want to use the sound of them at any time you want to use them, be patient until you can play them clean and at will.

      Tremolo Picking:

Tremolo picking is the sound of an alternating pick moving rapidly over one note. When you do it right it will give you the idea that the tempo has moved up and will make you feel you are playing at higher tempos. But do not be fooled, the beats per minute have not moved up! It is a great technique to add extra flavour to a phrase.  Practise its sound with scales and even bends. It may take some time to get the technique to sound natural and not too stiff, relax your wrist and just play them first at slow tempos.

      Sweep Picking:

Sweep Picking over arpeggios which cover larger parts of the fretboard are hard to sound smooth and clean. Try the technique first over two strings, then try it over partial Barre chords where the strings are all across the same fret. Once you get a feel for them try playing them over arpeggios which move along the fretboard. Combine Sweep Picking with other forms of picking such as alternate picking or straightforward downpicking. The Sweep will sound smoother compared to the other forms of picking, use it in combination of Hammer-on’s and Pull-off’s and you have a winner in your hands!

     Bends:

Use them at the end of your phrases, or start off a phrase with a bend and travel up to the higher frets of the fretboard to repeat the same bend but now at a higher postion.
You can bend into chordtones to understate the chords which are being played, combine bends with tremolo picking to add even more drama to the same phrase.

With all these four techniques metioned above, play them first on their own if you are not familiar with them. The Hammer-On and Pull-Off will be common, also the Bend.  Try any of these techniques in various places across the fretboard, and also play them in areas where you do not normally use them, especially bends, why not try them in low areas, they will still sound great if you play them clean and smooth.

Keep at it and hope to see you soon again for more updates.

Eddie

Sweep Picking is the technique where your pick travels from one string to the next one in one go. The less strings you use the easier the technique is. Sweep Picking is also easier when you pick across various strings which are all across the same fret. Sweep Picking chords is also sometimes called Raking the chords.

When Sweep Picking chords try to avoid the sweep sounding like a strum. The Sweep does have a slight hesitation where you can hear the indiviual string. Strumming a chord you may not hear the sound of the individual string. The quicker your sweep is the less noticeable is the sound of hesitation. Sweep Picking can be used in all kind of styles, it is just one of the handful of techniques you can use to spice up your playing. The chord shapes used for this tutorial will give you access to a smooth sound, which should not take you too long to master.

The first minor chordshape is related to the Em chord shape, but now played on the 5th fret as a partial Barre Chord. The second chord shape is related to the E but this time played as a partial Barre chord on the 8th fret.

            Am      C

      E —-5—–8—–

      B —-5—–8—–

      G —-5—–9—–

      D —-7—-10—–

      A —————–

      E —————–

  Play the chords in the following manner:

                      Am                                                                 C

                                          sw—ee—-p                                                 sw–ee–p
                 Bass             Down    Up    Down                           Bass           down

Count           1               and        2      and                                3               4

Notice the two chords are played as one bar and the C receives only the last 2 beats of the bar. Each chord starts off with a bassnote then followed by the sweep.

Here is a sequecene which uses the same two chord shapes but it plays across the fretboard and uses more chords:

          Am  C       Gm   Bb     Fm  Ab           Am

All minor chords and major chords do have similar shapes.
The Am and C are given in the tab above, for the Gm use Am shape starting at fret 3. Play the Bb using the C shape but now at 6th fret.  For the Fm play Am shape at 1st fret. Play the Ab chord similar as the C chord in the given tab but now at the 4th fret.
Finish sequence with the first Am chord and let this chord ring out for one bar, by doing so you do create a tasty contrast with the previous Ab major chord and the sound of the A minor chord.

Play attention to your sweeps, play all bars similar as the first, given one in the tab.

Once you start to get the sweep happening for the chords try some sweep picking over two strings for your solos: Create some phrases where you combine sweep picking and alternate picking. Once you can do this, extend the range of the sweep over more strings, also increase the number of frets apart from your strings. Ingwie Malmsteen is the master of this technique, but also Mark Knopfler uses the technique, have a listen to the end of the solo in “Sultans of Swing” to hear some great examples of tasteful sweep picking.

Enjoy and hope to catch you soon again with more updates for your own guitar playing style.
Eddie