It is amazing what a key can do for the songs you play: Change the key and it can make the song very different.
Changing key on the guitar is relatively easy: You can use the same chord shapes and simply use a capo to move the shapes up-or down the fret board.

Certain well-known songs are often played in the same key, by changing the key of the song you can give them a fresh feeling. Try it!!

Good luck and hope to catch you soon again,
Eddie

When you are thinking of getting any of your children to learn to play the guitar think about their age: Children under 8/9 years old tend to struggle with motor skills when it comes to playing the guitar. Holding the guitar is often a problem as well, even when the guitar is a small one.
In cases like this the Baritone Ukulele may be the answer, since the Baritone Uke does have the same first four strings as the guitar. The advantage of this is: The chordshapes for both guitar and Uke are the same.
Anything which your child has learned on the Baritone Uke may be transferred to the guitar once your child is a little older.

Since not every child is the same it still makes sense to start out with guitar and see how your child gets on with the instrument. If holding of the guitar is too much of an issue try a Baritone Ukulele.

Cheap Baritone Ukuleles can be bought for a similar price as a cheap small guitar. The Baritone Ukulele can also be used as a small travel instrument.

Good luck and hope to see you soon again,
Eddie

For this article 5 moveable chord shapes you can use for your own guitar playing. To move these shapes up and down the fretboard you will need to barre the shapes. For beginners they may be akward. Simply using the chordshapes as indicated will work as well, remember you cannot change key. If you want to adjust the key you will need to barre the shapes.
Good luck and hope to see you soon again,
Eddie

        D7       B7     E7       E7                  G7
E  —2——-2————–0——————

B  —1———————–3————–3–

G —2——–2——1——-1—————–

D —0——–1——0——-2————-3–

A ————-2—–2———————-2–

E  ——————-0———————–3-

Gary Moore was more that just a guitar player, he was also an amazing singer who could sing at times like Phil Lynott, Peter Green or any other artist who he may have covered. Gary Moore was not only good at mimicking other artists, he also had a style of his own which was based on many, different musical styles.

Some people may know Gary Moore for the album “Still Got the Blues” which is probably his most, well-known work.  Check out some of the earlier Rock Songs Gary wrote such as “Out in the Fields”

Among the characteristics of Gary’s guitar playing is: Melodic riffs, sustaining notes, fast runs, very big Marshall tone, melodic solos using Blues based ideas and European style Metal.

For this post three different versions of “Walking by Myself” by Jimmy Rogers. Gary Moore’s version is probably the most well-known one.

Listen closely to all three different versions to hear how they differ. Find yourself a song and try a similar thing where you adapt the song to your playing style so the song works for you.
Good luck and hope to catch you soon again,
Eddie

 

 

For this article a short brief about improvising over an E major Blues.

Most guitar players may start improvising over an E major blues by using the E major Pentatonic Scale.
Why not try using the A major Pentatonic? The scale will give you the same A, B, C#, E, and F# notes but for some reason you may feel you do get a different sound. The E major Pentatonic does have a G#, which is the third in the scale, the A major Penta does not have this note.

As far as the sequence goes you may play: E7  A7  and B7 in any order to create a 12 bar sequence.

When you play E7 the D (7th) resolves to the 3rd of the A7 chord. Try using those notes to see what effect they will give you.

When it comes to the A7 chord you may like the sound of the G resolving to the F# which is the second of the E major Pentatonic scale.

Play around with the notes to see what they can do for your phrasing.

Enjoy and hope to see you again soon,
Eddie

For this lesson I will introduce you to a 12 bar bassline groove in the key of C. When you play the idea you will recognise it as it does have that typical blues sound you will hear often on any electric blues songs. The Ukulele is a C friendly instrument, which means we can play the basslines in position instead of having to play them over on one or two strings and having to move up and down along the fretboard. Here are the basslines, played for one bar per chord.

 

C7                                                F7                                                   G7

A   ——————–0-0-         ——-0-0—-3-3—–5-5—–       ——0-0—3-3—5-5—

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

C   0-0———————-          ————————————    —————————-

G   ————————–           ————————————   —————————–

 
Here are the chord shapes:

            C7        F7       G7
A  —–1——–3——2—

E  —–0——-1——-1–

C   —-0——–3——2–

G  —-0——–2——0–

Play the progression in the following manner:

C7     F7    C7   C7

F7    F7   C7    C7

G7    F7   C7    F7

The chords work well with the basslines. The basslines should be played with shuffle feel. Count them like 1 e 2 e  3e  4e.   The chords can be strummed with a shuffle feel as well.  Ask a friend to play the chords for you while one of you plays the basslines, in this manner you get to hear how the song idea works.

Enjoy and hope to see you soon again,
Eddie

 

 

 

For this article a short checklist to improve your improvising over Blues songs. The checklist can be used as a guide to improve your own guitar solos.

Pentatonic Scales:

Learn both the minor and the major Pentatonic Scale in various places on the fretboard. Play them in position as in the usual block form. Once you know them play them as an arpeggio over two or three strings. The arpeggio idea is good for breaking out of the box, it will also make you think more about the notes.

Phrasing:

Listen to your favourite players to hear how they put their phrases together. Playing Blues is more than just running your fingers across a Pentatonic scale.  It is the phrasing which gives players like B.B King their particular sound. When you listen to any of your favourite guitar players try to understand how they get their sound: Do they use any blue notes? Do they mix major and minor scales or do they use any chromatic notes? Phrasing can give you a characteristic sound to your solos and it is this you want to understand to improve your own playing.

Structure and Arrangement:

Not all Blues songs are simply written in twelve bars, listen to your favourite blues songs to hear what their structure is based on. Some songs just use a two bar phrase and the whole song is based on this idea. A lot of Howlin’ Wolf’s music works like that.
Listen out for also any unusual turn arounds. Turn arounds can give a song with a traditional twelve bar blues feel a different twist.

Have a listen to B.B King’s Album  “In London” to hear many songs which break away from the traditional 12 bar sound. Most songs are played with a full horn section and harmonica which play behind the regular band of drums, bass, organ and guitar. Listen to B.B’s phrasing, he does not use many notes, repeats many. Can you make it sound like that?