For this article I will give you a few tips as how you can use fingerexcersises as a musical tool rather than only a mechanical devise to loosen up your fingers.

             

Combine Linears and Stringskipping ideas:

   Example 1    E –3—-3——-3——-3—      ——————-3—4—5—6
                                                                                  
                      B —-6—–6——-6——–6-    -3-4—-5–6——————- 

        Count:        1 and 2 and 3  and  4   and   1 and  2  and   3  and  4 and 

The example above shows an excercise which is played over the high E and B string.
To get more milage out of the excercise play as: 

                             @ Written

                             @ Play first bar, repeat half first bar then play second bar twice

                             @ Play first bar as written, play second bar then move up two frets to repeat second bar

                             @ Treat  the eight notes of the second bar as two small phrases where you play hammer-ons for the second third and fourth note of each phrase.

Treating finger excercises as musical phrases is a good habit, it will help you to become fluent and rapid with your solo ideas all across the fretboard.

Playing Scale-ideas, and linear ideas for too long will tire the listener’s ear. Break up your notes from time to time to introduce new ideas.
The following example is great to cut out of that linear rut:

Example 2

                                                        P                   Play last bar twice
      E –3—–3——3—-3—          ———————————
                                                       ^        P
      B —–6——6—-6—–6         –3–2—————————
                                                                 ^         P
      G —————————       ———–3–2——————-
                                                                            ^
      D —————————       ——————-3–2———–            
 
      A  ————————–        —————————–3—–

      E  ————————–        ————————————

Count 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and       1 and   2 and  3 and       4

Observe that the last note of second bar is a whole tone instead of an  eight note.
The first bar is same idea as from previous example, the second bar break away from the idea. It creates a feel of keychange and movement. Playing the last bar twice adds to  the feel of drama.

                    Pentatonic Scales:

Who does not use ’em eh? Playing the pentatonic in position (block playing) can often make you sound like any other guitar player around the block. Break up your position playing by using phrases which only move over one string. Go back from time to time to postion playing to create a feel of stability and tradition.

                   Picking Hand:

Avoid playing long phrases where you use only alternate picking. It is very easy to play fast and automatically by using alternate picking. It is also a good way to make you sound like an automatic robot. Break up your alternate picking with heavy downstrums (downstrums do have more power—-it is a good habit to be able to play any of your riffs/phrases using down/up and alternate picking—-) You can even put some chord ideas in between your phrases to create extra spark, fire and drama. Playing similar ideas for too long gives the listener the idea of: “Heard it all before”. 

Breaking up your patterns with different ideas will add new information to your previous melodic statement, it will make your solos stand out more from the crowd.

              Are these ideas only for the Improvising Guitarist?

No, if you are strickly playing pop-songs in a cover band you can still use any of these ideas to add more individuality to your solos. 
When you start using the ideas you may feel you may start to sound too much that your are playing out of key and that whatever you play does not work any more. Get a feel for how far you can go with “playing outside the box”
When you are playing blues you may feel you go too far against the tradition. Obviously you want to stay in the boundaries of whatever style of music you play, but within these boundaries there is a lot of potential to make you sound like you rather than a copycat who is able to play phrases we have all heard too often before.

Hope to get some videos done soon to demonstrate some of what I mentioned here.
Stay tuned and hope to see you soon again.
Eddie

                                                                   
                                                                   

For this article a short, introductory brief about open tunings. Open tunings are achieved by simply tuning the guitar into a particular chord. When you have been playing the guitar for about two to three years you may think: “That really sounds complex and is way above my ability at the moment”  You may be wrong there, if you like being creative and like messing about with your guitar, open tuning can open up a world of music which you may not have thought of before.

Why do we use open tunings you may wonder?. Open tuning create a rich pallette of sound, it gives the guitarist the ability to play single string melodic ideas while it still possible to play chords at the same time as well. Imagine that you play a riff, and in between the notes of the riff you strum your open strings to add body to your riff.
Open tunings do not require complex fingerings to create different chords, often it is enough to barre your first, left hand finger to get the sound of another chord.
Open tunings are a favourite for slide guitar players as open tunings make changing chords easier.

Is it true that open chords are mainly used in folk, country and blues guitar styles? Well there is certainly some kind of truth in this statement, but open tunings are used by guitarplayers of any genre. Think of  heavy rock where guitarists often tune down their low E to a D. This idea is not really using an open tuning, but it is a step towards changing the tuning to achieve a particular sound you may like. Bands like Sonic Youth make up their own tunings (Simply take a chord and tune the guitar accordingly to this chord), they even used to have certain guitars modified and set-up for particular tunings. 
Once you start experimenting with your tunings you will start to see so much more about what is possible, and no, you do not need to be an expert guitarist to use them. All you need to have is a desire to explore different sounds which are hidden within the guitar.

                    Open C Tuning

Open C is a very useful tuning since you can use to Capo to access other keys by simply moving the Capo up-or down the fretboard.

Here is an example of an Open C tuning:

       Standard                               Open C

    (read tuning as high to low starting with High E going to low E in standard tuning)

           E                                          E

           B     ————————->   C  (Tune string up 1 fret)

           G                                         G

           D     ————————–>  C (Tune string down 2 frets)

           A     —————————> G (Tune string down 2 frets)

           E     —————————> C 

Observe that the Open C tuning carries all the notes of a C major chord (C, E and G).

Strum all the open strings and you hear an C chord. Check the sound against a guitar in standard tuning to hear the difference: The open tuned guitar will sound more resonant and that low C, in particular, sounds very pleasing to the ear.
Barring your first, left hand finger across the first fret will give you a C# chord, barre across fret 2 to get a D chord. Fret 5 and 7 are very useful: On fret 5 you will get your F chord while fret 7 will give you a G chord.

                       
                   Why did I tune the Strings I did to get Open C?

The strings I changed are close to the standard tuned strings. I try to avoid tuning up too far as the string may break. Tuning the B up one fret to C is not too bad, your strings will handle that. When you are using old strings they may break quicker, but it is also a sign that it is time to change your strings.

                  Is this the only way to achieve Open C-tuning?

No, you can leave the low E in standard tuning, since the E forms part of the C major chord. Why did I change low E to C? Because I like the idea of having the Root note at the bottom string, it is great to hear the Rootnote from time to time appearing on the low string.

                 Do you need All the Notes of C major in Open C-tuning?

No, but the tuning may no longer be called open C. I try lots of variations, I like the idea of using C on every string, it give you a lovely sound. Another one I like is using C5 tuning: Tune your strings to C and G to get the C5 chord.

                Limitations?

Any open tuning will give you lots of limitations, that is why we use standard tuning because you can get so many different sounds by using your fingers to create different chordshapes. Open tunings are good for certain things but are not as flexible as standard tuning.
Looking at the example of the Open C-tuning, the minor chord may be a bit hard to get since you cannot simply barre your finger to get the sound of a minor chord. You can tune the high E  down to Eb, by doing so you are now using a Cm as open tuning. The minor tuning may be easier to give you the major chord sounds.
When you start playing around with the tuning you will discover what they can do for you, simply explore and maybe make a note from time to time where you are tuning to to keep track of what you are doing.

I hope to get some videos done very soon where I will demonstrate some open tuning ideas.
Stay tuned for any coming updates.
Enjoy
Eddie

I will be on the Radio Leeds Weekend Show with producer Jake Katborg to talk about the Leeds and Bradford Guitarshow in Pudsey on Sunday 22nd of Sept. Will also be talking about the guitarlessons and will teach Jake to play a song. Anyone who listens regularly to Radio Leeds will know Jake and his sense of humour. Should be great show, may also be able to create a small Jingle Song like the Kate Crudson one I played earlier on this  year.

Show starts and 9.00 am and I should be on around 9.10

Here link to show with Jake and Kay, just in case you have missed it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01fxjcq

Link will work for next 7 days after posting of this blog.

Enjoy,
Eddie

A fantastic opportunity for anyone interested in guitars,guitarmusic, guitarpedals, guitaramps and anything what goes with it, to try out new guitars, pedals and meet other like-minded guitarbuffs.

Here a link to the website for more details: http://www.guitarshows.co.uk/leeds-bradford.html#show-times

I will be there myself demonstrating various guitar-and songwriting techniques. There will be a change to meet and have a little jam, talk about guitars, amps, pedals songwriting, tuition and guitarsounds.

Throughout the day I will be playing various ideas using loops through a handful of guitar-and bassamps.
Check out these two videos to get a little taster:

If you are interested in having a play together, please bring your own guitar, amps will be there, yes we will need to keep the volume down but it should be fine for you to do a little playing together to get a feel for things.

I can help you with tuition in bandformat: You can play along with a drummer, bassplayer and some other guitarplayers, this to get a feel for how it is to play along with others in a band set-up.
Do not worry about having little experience in this field because: You can be placed in a starter band set-up.
For the more experienced among you: You can play along with people who are of a similar level.

Interested in Rock, Metal, Folk, Funk, Reggae or Pop? Not a problem,you will be alongside people with similar interests as you.

Bar and food are available to keep your juices running, all you need to bring is your enthusiasm and passion for the guitar.
Hope to greet you on Sunday.
Eddie

Really? How can you get 5 strings out of 4. Okay, you will still have 4 strings but they will sound different. Here is what you can do:

Buy 5 string set and put this on your regular 4-string bass. Put the low B where you normally put your low E, next in the set is the E, this one replaces your A, then it is the A which replaces the D and last is the D string which replaces the G on your regular 4-string bass. You have lost the G, but you have gained the low bottom end, which may be the most important part of playing 5-string bass.

Another, simpler way is to retune your regular 4-string bass like this:

           Normal Tuning:                               5-String Tuning

                     G  —————————>          D

                     D  —————————>          A

                     A  —————————->         E

                     E  —————————–>        B

There you go, standard set of strings tuned to 5-String Bass. 

                          What Gauge is good for this?

I use 0.45 to 105 and it works perfectly: The strings loose a bit of tension which you may like, but there is still enough tension to retain the sound.
When you buy a low B you may find it may not fit through the body where the string is treaded through to meet the bridge. All of this depends on the bass you use. A low B may fit, but if you have trouble just retune the low E to a B.

                         Back to Standard Tuning? Use a Capo on the 5th Fret!!

It is a simple as that, just use capo at the fifth fret and you are back to the tuning you normally use. Yes you have lost a bit of fretboard, but you may like the new-sounds and feel coming out of your standard bass.
Using the capo at the fifth is also great for the actual tuning: Place capo on the fifth and use your tuner: Your tuner will read the E string as an E, even though you are tuning it up to a low B, same for all the other strings. Great idea.
Overal you may have a tune a few times before the strings will hold the slacker tension, but this is not really a problem, similar as to when you put new strings on your bass.

                       What About Guitar?

Works for guitar as well! What so many metal guitarists do, they tune the low E to a low B. Why not change the whole tuning to this?

                Guitar Regular Tuning:                                         New Low Tuning:

                                   E  —————————————–>   B

                                   B ——————————————>  G

                                   G ——————————————-> D

                                   D ——————————————-> A

                                   A ——————————————-> E

                                   E ——————————————-> B 

Some people may feel this tuning does not really work for them very well. You will need to bend your ears to the sound, it is also a tuning which is good for certain songs/compositions or other kind of ideas.
For standard, heavy Rock sounds it may be better to tune whole guitar one fret down (Eb tuning) or just tune the Low E to a B.

If you are using this guitar tuning, your bass player will always be in tune if he/she uses same tuning. Again, not all bassplayers may like the sound. My feeling is the low tuning may be better suited for bass rather than guitar.

A side effect of the low tuning for guitar is: Your regular distortions start to sound a lot better, some of them will sound a lot more like a Fuzz. It does help if you use a heavier gauge of guitarstrings when you go for this low tuning. I use 0.11 up to 0.56, and yes, the tension on the strings feels a lot less stiff compared to standard tuning.

For future articles I will go more into detail about using open tunings: Tunings where you tune the guitar into a chord.
Whatever you do, you cannot go wrong really, you can also make up your own tuning: Think about a chord, play it, write down notenames and tune your strings according to notenames of chord. Usually it is better practise to tune strings down to whatever note you need, but this is not a hard a fast rule: You can tune up, but do not tune up a string about 7 frets as you will cause that string to break!

 Thanks and hope to see you soon again.
Eddie

Who is Herb Ellis you may wonder? Click on this link below ( n.b will only work for 7 days after posting of this blog!) to find out:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b038xtf7

Many many good snaps of him playing. If you enjoy Jazz guitarplayers you should also check out some of the other names mentioned in the programme like: George Barnes, Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel and Joe Pass.
All of them can be considered as pioneers of the Jazz Guitar.

When you are new to listening to Jazz, just imagine the sound without the guitar, listen to the chords and imagine how you would improvise over them. Get the idea? It will take time for your ears to get used to the sound, but at some point you may start to like it.

For next few articles it is back to some more fingerexcersises as inspiration for your own compositional ideas.

Enjoy and see you soon,
Eddie

For this blog a short fun article which will help you with your songwriting, inspiration and chordknowledge: I will introduce you to one 9th chordshape and show you how you can create three other chordshapes out of this one chord. I will also get into inprovising over this chordsequence using various scales, but this is for later.

Let me start of with a little theory for those of you who are a little rusty with their chordknowledge:
A basic chord (often called triad) consists of a Root, a Third and a Fifth. Three basic tones, which make the chord sound the way it does. The third can be major or minor. This single tone turns your chord into a major-or minor chord.
Appart from these three basic notes you can have sevenths, fourths, ninths etc.
For this article I will use the ninth chord, next to some other major and minor chords.

Okay after this very basic theory brief, it is now time to have a look at our chords:

               D9          Dm             C             Am

  E   ——————-5——————————–

  B  ——–5———-6————5———–5——-

  G  ——–7———-7————5———–5——-

  D  ——–7———-7————5———–7——-

  A  ——————————————————

  E  ——————————————————

The Root for all chords is on the G string, apart from the last chord, Root for this one is on the D string.
The D9 is a ninth chord because of the note on the B string: This is an E, and it turns the chord into the ninth (or sus2 if you like)
The Dm is minor because of the note on the B string: It is an F note, play an F# one fret higher and you turn the chord into a major chord.
The C is major because of the note on the B string: It is an E, play the Eb one fret lower and you turn the chord into a minor chord.
The Am is minor chord because of the note on the G string: It is a C, play a C# one fret higher and you turn this chord into major.

Okay, but what do you do now? This is up to you, I have not given you any rhythm to play with or anything. What you can do  will depend on your technique, your experience and your imagination.

Here are some suggestions: Fingerpick the D9 then let the chord fall into the Dm, then turn back to the D9, then play the C and the Am.

The beauty of the D9 is that all the other chords are so close to the shape of the ninth chord, moving along to the next chord does not take to much effort, and whatever you do, it almost all sounds good, which is a bonus.

What goes for the chords also goes for scales: You can improvise around the chords using three different scales. Again, how you go about this will depend on your experience, vision and knowledge.

Here are the scalepatterns for each scalë:

         C Dorian

  E  —————————————5—7—-8—–10—–

  B  ——————–5—–6—–8—————————-

  G  —————7———————————————-    One octave Scale, Root starts on G string and

  D  —————————————————————    goes up one octave on the E string.

  A  —————————————————————

  E  —————————————————————   

Dorian Scale starts on second degree of major  scale, in this case C major. You play from D to D but without turning scale into D major, which does have different scale pattern.
If you are unfamiliar with any scales, just play given tones in the tab and see what you can do.

          C major

  E  ———————————-5—-7—-8———-

  B  ———————5—6—8————————-  One octave scale, Root starts on G string and goes up
                                                                               one octave on the E string
  G  —————-7—————————————

  D  ———————————————————

  A  ———————————————————

  E  ———————————————————

        A minor Pentatonic

  E  ———————————5—–8————

  B  ————————-5—8———————-

  G  —————–5—7——————————  One octave Scale, Root starts on D string, clims one octave
                                                                          until E string 5th fret, the 8th fret is next note of next 
  D  ———–7—————————————-   octave.

  A  —————————————————–

  E  ——————————————————

Out of all these three Scales, the A minor Pentatonic may be most familiar. I have only given a part of the scale, not necessary using all six strings. My reason behind this is to show you how each Scalepattern is close in position to the D9 chord given before.

The example of chords are all related to the Key of Dm, C and Am, you can move each shape up to play in different keys, remember where the Root note is of each chord and scale, this will help you to figure out the new key your are playing in.

Play around with the chords and use various techiques to make them come alive. Hopefully it will help you to get out of the rut of using the common, open standard chordshapes. Think about what you play and get into the habit of forming your own chordshapes depending on the music you are playing.

Check out video to see how it all works:

                                                                                    

Like this kind of guitar lesson. Why not subscribe to the channel? Please do not forget to like and share the video.
Thanks!!
Eddie

For this article two short lessons to develop your fingerpicking style.
Both ideas use fingerpicking as technique and can be played as notated. It is also possible to play both ideas while using a Capo. Using the Capo may be a good technique to develop your awareness of the chordnames as you move along the fretboard.

Check out both videos at the bottom of this article to give you a idea about feel and how to play the pieces.

 

Here is the tab. for the first idea:

          C                               Cmaj7                   C9                        C
                                 x2                          x2                        x2  
  E    ———————-     ———————   ——————–  ———–3——-   ———————-

  B   ——————-1—    ——————0— —————-3—  ———–3—-5–   5———————

  G  —————0——–    ————–0——  ————-0——  ——0———5–   5———————

  D ———-2————–    ———-2———-  ———2———-  —2————5–   5———————

  A ——3——————    ——3—————  —-3————–  -3————–3–   3———————-

            T    I     M     R  etc.
   E ————————-    ———————-  ——————–  ——————–  ————————

  Count   1  and   2   and etc.                                                          1 and 2   3^and 4 Let Ring into next bar!!

About the tab: Fingering Right Hand is indicated in standard Thumb, Index, Middle and Ring finger indication 

Suggested tempo is around 100 beats per minute.

Play first three bars twice, the counting underneath first three bars applies to half bar, when you play it twice use similar rhythm. Bar 4 is notated in full rhythm and is only played once, the notes of the last bar are not played but they still ring out from the previous bar!

All Root notes are found on the A string, notice that only top part of the chord changes, the bottom two notes stay same throughout until very end when the C triad changes position.

Try same idea also with using Capo on fret 3 and fret 5 (or any place you like really)

Here is the tab. for the scond idea, which is in 6/8 feel which means you play 6 beats in one bar.
 (suggetsted tempo= 146 beats per bar)

         G                            G/g^b                          G/e              G/d

   E   —————————————      ————————————–

   B   —————3—————–3—-       —————–3—————3—

   G  ———4——————–4——–       ————-4—————-4——

   D —-5———————4————-       ——2—————-0————-

Fingers T     I       M          T     I     M  etc

Count: 1       2           3            4        5     6   etc

 

About the tab:    Piece is in 6/8, you can count it as 123   456 or   1-tri-plet   2-tri-plet  or simply 123 and do this twice for each bar.
Only two bars and then the chords are repeated. Most chords are slash chords which means the smaller note underneath the slash forms the bass of the chord. It is the bass which changes each time, top part of chord stays same throughout.

Try same idea but now using Capo on fret 2, the chord is now an A instead of the original G.
Try Capo on fret 5 to play the idea in the key of C.

Try struming the chords instead of picking, see if you can vary the rhythm.

Most of these ideas are very simple but effective. Whenever you come across a song where you stay on one chord for some time see if you can incorporate some of those ideas into those chords.
When you are creating your own songs, try using some slash chords into the verse of the song.

Here is video for First Idea:

 

Here the video for Second Idea:

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

In the beginnning when you start with the guitar you’ll find that your fingers will not work yet in the way you would like them to work: When you play some open chords, certain strings will not ring out because you mute the strings with your fingers, the barring of some chords (small F in particular) will be awkward, because your fingers may not let you do what you would like them to do. All logical matters as playing the guitar requires certain muscles, in your fingers and wirst, to work you may not use that often on a dialy basis.
Most people will feel you just need to get on with things and you will get better along the way. True, but there are also certain fingerexcersises you can use to help those fingers and wrists to loosen up.
Fingerexcersises are there to give you a better start in the beginning, there are those who will use fingerexercises for the rest of their lives. The next couple of articles will be devoted to certain excersises and why these excecises are useful in the first place.

Steve Vai used to play finger excercises as part of his daily practise routine: He would use linear (up the fretboard) and angular (across the fretboard) excersises in all kind of manners. He would play those with single, double and triple picking using stringskipping and  two-handed-tapping.
The point is: Those excersises are not just there to loosen up your fingers, they form the inspiration of solos and composistional ideas. You can make them as wild and free as you want. Once you realise this you will enjoy what those excersises will give you as it will become part of your natural music making process.
I think guitarplayers who are into metal and shredding will realise this very soon, but if you are not into any of those guitarstyles you can still learn (and enjoy) a lot of ideas you can generate out of playing fingerexecersis.

There is the danger that you will just play excersises and scales, particularly in the beginning, when you can not yet see how you can use some of those ideas in a musical context. Steve Vai used to say about this topic: ” It is important not to sound like a machine” He would overcome this problem by looking at the guitar as an instrument which can play notes dynamically with the texture of light and shade: The guitar carries a lot of different colours and they can all be brought out by how you play those strings. Yes, guitareffects can help you along the way, but your hands are still the best tool for this. Patience and discipline is what is needed to let your hands do what you would like them to do.

When you start playing some excersises I try to make students aware of what lies underneath the excesise: often there is a particual pattern which is repeated at some point. Once you understand this pattern you can change it to turn it into a riff or melodic idea. You can play certain ideas at lightning speed, and then break up the pattern by putting another phrase in the between the repeated ideas. Try to break down each pattern, it will learn you to see the rythm of the pattern which is useful for phrasing.

In the next few blogs I will give you some simple ideas, just as taster, things for you to experiment with to set you on the path to achieve better technique.

Hope to see you soon  next time
Eddie

The fretboard can be a bit of a maze in the beginning. It is useful to see shapes and notes on the fretboard as soon as you can.
When you learn your first, open chord shapes it is useful to get to know where the Rootnote of each chord is. Start with the bassstrings first as a lot of chords start on the bass strings, especially those open chord, which any beginner will use. Some people may like the idea of having a fretboardchart around to see where the notes are.  It is a good idea to use that, but better is to make associations with chordshapes and particular chordnotes. As you get more experienced, your fretboardknowledge will grow, but you will need to make an effort, especially in the beginning.

Some of you may wonder why knowledge of the fretboard is so important?  It will help you when it comes to playing solos on the spot. You can use your chordshapes and play notes which fall into these shapes. These notes can then become part of your solo.
Fretboardknowledge will also help you with your songwriting: When you use a certain chord for a couple of bars you may want to shift that chordshape up to another place on the fretboard to create and inversion of the same chord. This chord will help you to give you another another sound.

After a few years of playing guitar on your own you may join a few friends to play music together, some of those people may be more experienced as you are. When it comes to playing songs they may say to you: “Play a D# instead of C in the first few bars of the intro” You would like to know where you can find that chord (or note) quickly to keep the flow going. Nothing worse in a situation like that when people say:”Oh I need to practise that a bit, I’ll have it next week”  You want to be able to play on the spot what is needed for the song to keep the momentum and the enthusiasm of the other guys going.

When you are on your own you can (and really should) spent time on your weaknesses with regards to the fretboard: You can make an effort to get to know notes on certain strings. Give yourself shortime goals like: “I will get to know all the notes on the D and G string within next few weeks” Get to know your own weaknesses and set yourself realistic goals to overcome them. In this way your can monitor the development of your own guitarplaying.

If you are a regular reader of this blog please let me know what you think of the articles. Which ones do you enjoy? What would you like to see more of? Are they helpful for what you need? You can use the contact page to give any feedback.

In the near future there will be more articles on pedals and amptones, I hope to get some videos done which will back up the articles.

Enjoy and hope to see you soon again.
Eddie