Michael Bloomfield’s first Solo album is a mix of Soul, Gospel and Blues. It is fascinating to see that even today the critics are not positive about this album. Personally I think it is a fantastic album which shows more about Bloomfield than just blazing guitar solos.  The guitar solos are there but they are immersed into songs which give the song a lift and add some drama.

People who may know Michael Bloomfield from Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited may like the album. Dylan’s album does not contain any straight Blues songs whereas “It’s Not Killing Me” does actually have a few blues songs.

Listening to the guitar, you can hear clearly the B.B King influence on Michael’s playing, there are also traces of T. Bone Walker, who is not often mentioned as a influence on Michael Bloomfield’s playing.
The guitar sound is fairly clean with a healthy dose of reverb from time to time.

The songs sit in a mix of Gospel, Country and Blues. The album does also sound a bit like some of the Flying Burrito Brothers in some places: Michael’s singing is not the strongest but it is honest and you can hear what he is going for which gives it that authentic sound. When he plays a blues he also adds some different ideas to give it his own sound.

Give it a try to hear something different from a guitar player we should not forget.

Hope to see you soon again,
Eddie

The Fender Twin Reverb is mainly known for its clean sound. Some of the Silver Face Twins came with a push/pull knob for the Master Volume section. This control  can provide you with a bright distorted sound. You can hear this sound being used by 60s bands such as the Byrds, Creedance Clearwater Revival and you sometimes also hear it on some Stevie Ray Vaughan songs.

The distorted sound produced by the Push/Pull Master Control knob is very similar to the sound a TS 808 Tubescreamer produces when you use this pedal in combination with a Twin Reverb amp. The nature of the TS808 is that it reacts with your amp, and each amp will respond differently to the pedal.

Enjoy and hope to catch you soon again for more,
Eddie

For this article a short brief about what kind of books you can use for learning to play the guitar. Let us have a look at the kind of books you may find:

Tutor Books:

These are the kind of books which teach you how to read music. They will teach you how to use the open strings and they will get you to play in the first position. There are often sections about basic music theory such as simple rhythms and rests and names of various notes.
The song material found in these books often contain traditional songs and well-known classics. Often songs are given different titles for copyright reasons.
Most tutor books are aimed at the complete beginner and anyone who wants to brush up on their reading skills and music theory.

Resource Books:

These books come in a variety of forms: Some of them may just contain chords in many different shapes, some of them may just contain scale patterns, some of them may have titles like “fretboard basics”. All of these books are resource books, they can be seen as additional material you can dip into when you need some extra help with regards to a type of chord or a different kind of scale. Most of these books assume that you do have some guitar playing skills.

Style Books:

Books which want to teach you a particular guitar style such as blues, country folk or finger style guitar or classical guitar. Some of these books are aimed for beginners, most of them are for intermediate players and more experienced players. These kind of books are often good to get a head start into a new style of music you have never played before. Often these books will start from zero with regards to the particular style they want to teach. To get the most out of these books, it does help if you do have some understanding of basic music theory and also have some reading skills as well. Most books will come with a CD, but still being able to read does help as well as you can both see and hear how a particular musical example sounds like.

   Song Books:

These come in a variety of styles, some of them may contain a whole album of a particular band, others may be just a collection of songs by different artists. Some of these books are aimed at the beginner to guide them with their playing repertoire.
Song books may come with just chords and lyrics, others also show the musical notation alongside the lyrics and chords. If you want to learn how to play songs from your favourite artist I would suggest you using tabs, Youtube and maybe some of the songbooks. Try to learn songs by ear as much as you can.
Songbooks may be good as additional material but they are not good as a starting point, use them alongside other material as an extra. Some of the music notation may also put the beginner off, as these books may not be graded.

Finally:

Experienced players will find use in any kind of book. Some of them may be good for additional sight reading material. Sight reading can be improved by reading any material which contains G-clef, and you can use any material for any instrument, as long as it is written for G-Clef.

Enjoy and hope to see you soon again,
Eddie

 Most students will get introduced to scales by a teacher or a friend. Some students may just play the scale once and take its sound for granted. Other people may memorize the scale and learn to play with it. For this short article I will give you four reasons why the playing of scales on the guitar does improve your studies and your playing.

Discipline:

Learning, and memorizing, a fingering pattern such as a scale does take time and effort. It requires discipline to play the notes smoothly. Those of you who are experienced players may not think too much of it but believe me, if you have never played a scale before it does take time to play it well. It is not too hard if you set your mind to it but you do need to concentrate. The discipline matter is not only good for learning to play scales, it is a mind set which will help you with any learning when it comes to playing the guitar well.

  Correct Use of Fingering:

Scales do help students to develop the correct use of  fingering. Fingering is memorized internally and it will help you in any area of your playing. Once you have good fingering habits your playing will sound smoother and you will also be able to play without too much effort.

  Training of the Ear:

Scales do help students with the tuning of their ears: Each scale does have a particular sound, and you will tune in to its sound when you play the scale regularly. It will also help you to play in key as you ears will tell you which notes are in-or out- of key. All sounds very logical and simple for the experienced player, but beginners are new to the whole idea of playing in key and playing the “right notes”.

Navigating Around The Fretboard:

Scales do help you to play in different areas of the fretboard. Once you have learned various fingering patterns of a few scales it will free your fingers up to play freely along the fretboard. This playing freely is useful when it comes to playing solos and riffs.

Finally:

Students who struggle with scales are the ones who can play. Sounds like a contradiction eh? It is true, most of the people in this category are the ones who have good ears and have learned in the past a handful of scales they still use. To progress to the next level they do need to learn some new scales, but because their ears can hear where they need to go they feel they do not need to memorize particular patterns. Wrong, as they tend to trip up themselves when it comes to areas of the fretboard they do not know well.
You know a scale when you can play it freely in any place and any string on the fretboard. In most cases it is a discipline matter, and again, students who need to work harder do develop better discipline since they know they need to work at it. My view is everyone needs to work, but each person has his/her own areas which need work.  The fact that you can reel around the fretboard does not mean there is nothing left for you to learn. Just be honest to yourself and your playing and work on what you need to work on to become a better, overall guitar player.

Enjoy your playing, and hope to catch you soon again,
Eddie

For this article we will have a look at Metallica’s song: “The Call of Ktulu” Most of you reading this may already play this piece. I have adapted the piece for playing it as a solo piece, including the basslines to give the sound of the arpeggiated chords more depth.

My version starts after the first intro chords, it is the part which kicks in where the distorted rhythm guitar appears in the piece.

All the notes should be played as straight eights apart from the note on the 2nd fret on the D string in second bar: This note receives two full beats!! You may also have to refinger the fingers of your left hand after you have played this note.
The low notes for the Dm/E   Dm/F   Dm/A part can be held down for 2 beats as well, all depending on your ability. By doing so you will add more depth to the overall sound of the chords.
You can play the piece using a plectrum or using your fingers, all depending on what you are comfortable with at the moment.

Dmsus2

E  ——————-0————-            ———————-0——-

B  ———-1——————0—–           ——————1————

G  ——-2—–2———2————        —————2—————         repeat these two bars several times

D  ————————————-        —2—1————————

A  -0——————————–0—    ———————————

E  —————————————-   ———————————-

Dm                      Dm/E                          Dm/F                   Dm/A
E  ————————————–      ———————————–10–

B  ————6——————-6—–      ———-6——————-10—–

G  ——–7———7———7——-7-     ——7——–7———- 10———

D  —0———————————–       —————————————

A  ———————-7—————–     -8—————–12——————

E  —————————————–    —————————————-
repeat the above two bars several times before progressing to the final two bars of the piece:

Dm                       Dm/E                           Dm/F
E  —————————————–     —————————————–

B  ————-6———————6—       ———-6——————————

G  ——–7——–7———–7——–7—  ——-7——7—————————

D  –0—————————————     ——————————————

A  ————————-7—————–     -8—————–8—7—5—3———

E  ——————————————    ———————————————

Observe how last two bars are very similar as the previous two bars above, apart from the end where the piece just rolls back to the beginning again with those descending notes. When I play this piece I even finish on a Dmajor chord just for fun, but I have not included that one here.

Once you can play a piece of music, experiment with what you can do to make it fit your style or what you want to do with the piece for your own playing.

Most people will probably play the piece like how Metallica does it. When you play on your own you may want to add some more notes to the piece to add more depth and colour. Once you understand the harmony of the music it will become easier to adapt it to your own style.

Many intros of Metal and Heavy Rock songs can be treated like this without losing their identity in sound. Try to add something new to them to amuse and surprise your friends.

Hope you like my adaption and looking forward to see you again soon.
Cheers,
Eddie

The last article was about a short blues sequence, this article is about a similar kind of sequence, the chords are almost the same apart from the ending: Here is the sequence again

E7   A7    D7     G

Play all chords as one bar and use a shuffle feel for all chords, apart from the G, play for the G on beat one and three as this chord will give the sequence a finished feel.

You could treat the sequence as being in the key of G or in E minor with the sequence finishing on G, which is the relative major of the key of E minor.

Here is a short melodic idea which will work over the sequence:

E —-0–0———-0—

B ————-3———

G ———————-                                    Play this idea over the E7  A7 and D7

D ———————

A ———————-

E  ———————-

For the final G chord you can simply play the 3rd fret of the high E string and let this note ring, it will give the sequence a finished feel.

More experienced players will not have any difficulty creating some melodic riffs which will fit the sequence. Use minor Pentatonic in Em to find any catchy riffs which will fit the chords.

Another thing  you can do is, play the first chord of each bar, then play the melodic idea and progress to next chord. For each chord play just one strum as the rest of the bar is needed to fit in your melodic riff.
Playing in this style you cover both the chords and the melody without having the need for another guitar to play the chords for you.

Next article we will learn to play Metallica’s “Call of Ktulu” as a Solo Piece including chords and basslines.

Enjoy and hope to see you soon again,
Eddie

Blues is a simply style of music to play since it only contains three chords. Well is it simple? In an interview with Frank Gambale from his early days he confessed that he did find it hard to play blues. It is not that he could not play it, but he did find the phrasing hard. It is something which other players may  be able to relate to as well: Improvising over longer chordsequences may be easier since the chords tell their own story. In music where you only have three chords you will need to get the right notes with the right timing to make the phrases come alive. You do not need to play fast but still you need to give those notes a certain feel to make is sound like blues.

For this short article a blues sequence which is based on a 12 bar blues but it is only played in four bars. Four bars is long enough for complete beginners to play. With a 12 bar sequence many students get lost and so is the joy of making music together. Give them four bars and they can still see where they are.

Play the following chords with a shuffle feel: E7  A7   B7    E7

Once you can play the sequence smoothly have a look at playing single notes which fit over the sequence:
Create a short melodic idea which fits over both the E7 and A7 and for the B7  you can create a short walk down and let it finish on the E7. Try using as many open strings as you can since this is possible and will make things easier for your fingers.

Once you get it right you get a feel for what you how you can play over a blues. Check out some of your favourite blues players to see how they do it. Do not get intimidated by the fact some players will play a lot of notes. It is better to play good melodic ideas which are slow compared to fast solos which just sound all like finger excercises.

Good luck and have fun.
Eddie

A short overview of guitar techniques and basic music theory you should know if you have been playing the guitar for about five years. It is a guide for yourself to see where you are in your development in terms of guitarplaying. It can also serve as a guide for things you should be working on in case some gaps in your knowledge and skills.

                              Barrechords: E and A shape

Eventually you should be able to play any kind of barrechord. Get started with the open E and A shape since they are used regularly. You play an open E chord and use your first finger to barre the shape for playing it higher on the fretboard.
Similar for the A chord: Play an open A chord and barre the shape for any chords you want to use higher up the fretboard.
Make sure you do know where the rootnotes are in the open E and A chordshape, it will help you to find any chord of those shapes higher up the fretboard.

                            The Five Open Chords Shapes:

They are all the chords you have learned to play in the open position, they are C, G. D, A and E.
Make sure where the rootnotes in any of these chords are, and make sure you can play any of these chords in any sequence of any kind. Be able to strum and pick these chords without any stumbling. If you do struggle you will struggle with any chord beyond these five, open shapes so make sure you master them confidently.

                           Two Octave Major Scale Starting on A string:

Make sure you can use the scalepattern for various keys and make sure you understand the scalepattern. Instead of just playing the scale, make sure you can improvise with the notes, play melodic riffs and melodies which will go over chordsequences.

                          One  Minor Pentatonic Scale Pattern:

There are Five patterns for the Minor Pentatonic Scale (the Scale contains five notes, five different ways to start the scale, hence five patterns) but make sure you can play one and can use it in any key. Make sure you do understand how the pentatonic scale works and how it fits into your solos.

                           Using a Capo:

Be able to use the Capo to transpose any of the open chordshapes into any key you need for your songs. A Capo can do more than just this, but it is a place to get started so make sure you know how to use it well.

                          Alternate Picking For Single String Notes Using a Plectrum or Fingers:

Basically this is just up and down picking of single notes used in melodies, riffs or solos. Make sure your picking is clean. If you use your fingers use your thumb and first finger to alternate the picking, similar idea as using the plectrum but now by using your fingers.

                          Hammer Ons and Pull-Offs:

This technique will give your playing a legato and smooth sound. Make sure you can use it on all your strings at any time for when you play any single notes such as in melodies, riffs and solos.

As you can see the list is only short and serves as a guide, you can make it longer if you want or just use it as a checklist for your own skills. The aim is to iron out any gaps you have in your musical knowledge and guitar technique to improve a smooth progression to the next level of playing and making music.

Enjoy your playing and hope to catch you soon again,
Eddie

Everyone who is serious about their guitar playing should practise daily. What you need to work on is different for each player and will depend a lot on your level of playing.
Let me break down the obvious playing levels with a guide on the kind of things you should work on daily:

                                        Beginner:

It is important that you enjoy any time you spend with the guitar. The difficulty in the beginning is to play material which sounds good and is useful to play. Any beginner should learn basic chords as chords will come back all the time and it is important to memorise the shape and fingering of each chord. Easy chords for beginners are G and Em, but apart from those you should learn all the open chords in the first position as well.
In the beginning you will have difficulty to get a clean sound out of the chord. Try to strum the chord in various ways, play a sequence of about  three chords and focus on clarity of the sound and try to get a smooth transition from one chord to the next one.

Apart from chords play also single note riffs and short melodies. Most tutorbooks are full of these ideas. Play them and concentrate on the right fingering. Stick to the suggested fingering as your fingers will memorise their place on the fretboard.

Make sure you understand how the musical alphabeth works in relation to your strings, and memorise some of the notenames on the fretboard of the guitar.

If you are working with a teacher you will make a start with playing together with someone else. If you work on your own, look out for a friend who plays guitar as well and see if you can play together some simple songs. Making music together is the biggest part of making music and it will provide you with a lot of joy and satisfaction.

                                        Intermediate:

Players of this level should work on songs. Make sure you have all the right chords of any song you want to play and memorise these songs. Working from memory once you do know a song. Play from memory will make you listen more to the sound of your own playing and you will also get into the song, you will become one with the music and your guitar.

Work with tutorbooks which teach you about particular styles, look into different ways to accompany songs as this will make you a better, allround guitar player.

Do some sight reading from time to time. The aim is to read and not to memorise with this task. Once your reading will get better your sightreading will improve. Sightreading is a great tool and you will learn a lot from it such as songstructures, various rhythms and keysignatures.

Do some jamming with yourself, just mess around with chords and riffs. This part of your practise is mainly about fun and using all your skills at the same time. Save this kind of playing for the end of your practise session. If you start with jamming you may not want to progress to any other forms of playing. Try to stick to a certain amount of time dedicted to work and jamming.

                                        Experienced Players:

Who is experienced eh? Let me put it in this way: If you struggle with any basic musictheory related to your own guitarplaying you still need to do some work. If you play and you often have difficulty with certain chords or songparts or whatever, you need to work on your technique.
Any experienced player can move up to becoming an excellent player but you need  to be honest and iron out all your weaknesses in your playing. It will take time but it is also a enjoyable experience to see how your playing will develop over time.

Any musical growth will not happend over night. All of your favourite guitarplayers have worked hard, and most of them still to to this point today.

All the suggestions I mentioned above for beginners and intermediate guitar players also applies to experienced players but you can apply it to a higher level.

If you have never looked at any sightreading, get yourself some tutorbooks today and start. You will enjoy what you will discover as you will enter a new world of guitarplaying.

If Rock guitar is your main style of playing, try some bluegrass fingerpicking and some Classical playing. You can do these styles on any electric guitar, just set up your amp for an almost acoustic sound and have a go. Most guitarplayers today do have more than one guitar so my guess is most people who read this will have access to either a nylon-or steelstring acoustic guitar.

You can try some Slideguitar and working with different tunings, all of this will take time to get used to but it is worth your while if you are serious about your guitarplaying.

                                          Conclusion:

My list with suggestions only serves as an example, you know who you are and what your level is. The point of this article is: Do not play the same old things you have been playing for a long time, work on various things at the same time as it will keep your mind fresh and your fingers alert.

The overal goal is to entertain yourself with your playing and if your keep a healty balance of variety of material your playing will improve over time.

Good luck, stick to it and hope to see you soon again.
Eddie