For this article a short sample of a phrase, including a chordsequence, which you can use for your own playing.
Last week I wrote about phrasing as well, some of the ideas mentioned in that previous blog can be used for the guitar lesson of this blog.

We will create a solo (or rather, you will create) out of four given notes. The notes are G  C  D and F, all four notes are being used to create one phrase. Play the phrase with the following timing: One full beat for the G and the C D and F are played with triplet feel.  This will give you two beats in four/four. Play the idea twice and you will be playing the phrase for a full bar.

Underneath the phrase you can play the following chords:

        Gm          Gm         C          Bb  Gm

      /  /  / /     / / / /     / / / /      //    //

Each  chord lasts for a bar, the last bar contains Bb and Gm.  The  same phrase can be played over all four bars.

Once you get the feel for things you can change the phrase on the C and the Bb, since this will give you a different sound. Each of those chords beg for a different note. You notice I am running ahead here, let me first talk you through to how to approach the whole idea:

Get comfortable with the phrase first, give the chords a feel which fits the rhythm of the phrase. The four strums per bar are only for indication, find a feel you like and fits with the phrase. Record the chordsequence on a loop pedal or recorder, now you have the ability to play the phrase over those chords.

         Where Should I Play the Phrase?:

Anywhere where you can play those notes.  Here three tabs as example where you play those notes:

     E  ———————————

     B  ——————————–

     G ——————————-
  
     D  ———————3——–

                         H
     A  ———3—–5————–

     E  –3—————————–

To get smooth feel, play the D as a hammered on note before you land on the F.
As you can see the phrase is played in position using the low strings.

Here same phrase, now with notes being played on the higher strings using the open G as starting note:

   E  —————————————–1—

                                              H
   B —————————1—–3———–

   G —————–0—————————

  D  ———————————————-

  A ———————————————–

  E  ———————————————–

Don’t worry about notation, the phrase still starts on beat One and is being played twice to cover one bar. The tab. suggests that phrase comes in half way in the bar, this is just how I have notated it here.

Now same phrase being played over the high E string:

                             H
E ——–3——–8—–10——-13——

Observe the Hammer on being used all throughout each example. The phrase is the same, but the position is different.

                 Once You Can Play Phrase Start Experimenting With…:     

Once you are comfortable with the notes break away from them: You can still play the same notes but add other notes at the end of the bar. Maybe play phrase only once in one bar and add lib. for the  next two beats.

No need to stick to the positions I have given, find your own positions where the phrase feels comfortable. Each position will open up new opportunities for you to use various techniques to add lib. with the phrase.

Next to the phrase you can add lib. with the scale of Gm Pentatonic or Bb major (the relative major scale of the key of Gm)

Incorporate string bending and more hammer-ons (and pull-offs) in your add lib. to make it sound more authentic and less like an excercise.

The next thing to do it to develop more melodic ideas out of the given phrase. Try to create a full solo where you play similar ideas each time you play over the chords.

I hope to get a video made soon where I will demonstrate how I approach the phrase, hopefully this will give you some ideas to carry on playing with the idea.

Next few blogs will have more articles about the Ibanez TS 808, The Boss OD-1 and the SD-1
Stay tuned and hope to catch you soon again,
Eddie 

  

       

A Phrase is a short musical idea, you could see it like a sentence in a lauguage. Examples of short phrases are riffs and short melodies. Solos are made up of solos.
For this article a brief outline with some tips how to improve your phrases and, hopefully, your solos.

Most common phrases are being created out of scales such as Pentatonic scale or Diatonic scale. Most people who will use this approach end up sounding like any other guitar player. Working on your solos takes time and effort. It helps if you know what you sound like and what you can do to change this. Have a look at the next four point to improve your prhases:

                  Playing Over One String:

You may not have heard this for the first time, but playing over one string is an eyeopener for most beginners: You can see how your notes move up and down the fretboard. When you play your phrases in position you do not have this visibility and clarity of how your notes move up and down. When you try this approach sing one simple idea, and then develop it by moving up or down the fretboard instead of using your fingers to play a scalepattern you have memorized. You want every solo you play to be musical and mememorable instead of them being random noise made up of notes.

                 Play Same Phrase but now in Position:

Using the same phrase you played over one string, now transfer this idea across over various stirngs. You will now be playing in position and can probably see some scalepattern underneath your phrase. Being able to see a scalepattern will help you to familiarise your idea. Play it in position until it is smooth, then play same idea again but now over one string to see how it sounds and feels.

                 String Skipping:
          
Play Same Phrase now using string-and position skipping. Your idea may have changed a little in sound, try to keep your idea as close to your original phrase. The stringskipping may be hard at first, most people do find this not easy in the beginning: Fingers will get stuck between strings, plectrum may not sound as smooth anymore. All things you can work on individually to get it to sound good and smooth and clean.

                Using Hammer-Ons, Pull-Offs and String Bending:

Play same idea again, but jazz up your idea to add some drama to your solo by using some hammer-ons and pull-offs or even some string bending. Any of those techniques will add more flavour to your phrasing. Again, if you have never used any of these techniques before you know what you can work on.

When you listen to any solos you like you will hear that most of the above ideas are being used at one time or another. When you play solos it should become second nature to develop a good taste, technique and approach to how you can get the best out of your notes instead of playing that same old, minor Pentatonic idea without giving your notes any thought.
Keep working at some of the ideas mentioned above and over time your will start to see the change in your playing.

Happy Playing
Eddie

Any guitar player can improve their skills with effort and hard work. When you are a beginner you will need to work on a lot of different aspects of guitar playing, and what to work on may be more obvious compared to someone who has been playing the guitar for 5, 10 or more years.

                            Play Guitar Daily:

This may sound like an obvious thing, but it really helps if you play your guitar daily, even at moments when you do not have much time or appetite for playing. You can play through some of your songs, noodle around a bit, play some scales, or play through your full set-list to entertain yourself. All of this will help you to keep your fingers and mind in shape.

                           Set Yourself Goals:

Very important one, even for experienced guitar players, as there will always be something to work on whether it is technique related or style of music or whatever, find out what it is you WANT to learn and next find out HOW to work on this skill.

                           Start Playing with Other Musicians:

They can be guitar players as well, but it may be better to hook up with someone who plays a different instrument. Playing together with other people will teach you what it takes to play in an ensemble setting. You may enjoy playing with others, you may not, you may feel you lack the skills, by playing together with others you will find out what it is you need to make you sound good together.

                          Learn Some Music Theory:

Especially for those who have been playing for years and do it all “by feel”. Becoming aware of what it is you do will make you sound better, it will also give you a heightened insight to how to improve your own playing. There are plenty of guitar related theory books out there but you can also work with general music theory related books. A lot of basic guitar tutor books will teach you basic music theory as well. It all helps and once you have a basic, working music theory knowledge, you can always back it up later when you feel to need to dive in deeper.

                         Performing Music:

If you have never played in front of people you may be in for a shock. The first time you may be nervous after a while you may start to like it.
Performing in front of an audience (it may be just some of your friends) will show you that there is more to this skill than just playing your songs, you will need to entertain people with your guitar playing, and this may be a little more than just playing those chords or riffs or solos that you have been working on.  You will need to be on top of your music to be able to connect with the audience, you also need to believe in the songs you play (if you do not enjoy playing them how can you expect others to enjoy listening to them?) 

When you look back at the various ideas I mentioned above you may feel that some of those mentioned may not be for you.  Some of these ideas may be for later, all depending on your level of playing and your experience and how long you have played the guitar for.
Most people who play music, whether it is just for fun or something a little more, will at some point be actively engaged with any of these five issues mentioned above. Just keep at it for now and it give it some thought what it is you need to do next.

For next article more ideas about phrasing and other technical related issues.

Hope to see you soon again,
Eddie

When you learn to play guitar on your own with the help of tabs and videos, reading music may not be one of your first concerns. “How can the ability to read music help you with playing your favourite songs ? ” you may wonder. Most people learn to play an instrument by copying other people. When you are reading notes from a book you are not copying someone, you are just playing notes who someone wrote down.

In an ideal learning situation people learn to play the guitar by being shown what to play. The ability to read music is another skill which will help your overal musician ship and coordination skills. Reading will also help you to get to know your instrument better.

                 Musician ship:

The ability to read music will make you aware of different rhythms. When you play a musical phrase of single notes you will probably play those notes with a different timing and feel. All of this can be written down to show you what is going on rhythmically 

                Coordination Skills:

Having to look at a book on a music stand whilst playing your guitar may sound easier that what it is: You need to read the notes while you play those notes in real time. You are not able to look at your fingers, when you do you will loose the pace of the music and you will also loose where you are in the book. Anyone can learn the skill to play from sheet music, but it does take time and practise.

              Notes on the Fretboard of the Guitar:

One of the difficulties of the learning the guitar is to learn where all the various notes are on the fretboard. Having some reading skills will help you to get to grips with the lay out of the fretboard.

             Reading and Reading:

Learning to read is one thing, in the beginning you will learn what each note of the musical alphabeth looks like, once you have got to grips this you will also learn where to play these notes on the fretboard.
You will need to practise your reading skills, and most basic tutor books for the guitar will let you make a start with this.
To keep your reading skills up, and to improve them, you can read any music which you can play on the guitar. Reading rhythms will be the hardest in the beginning, after a while you will start to feel what those rhythms will sound like.

Hope to catch you soon again,
Eddie

Boss HM-2 is a similar kind of distortion pedal as the Boss MT-2. Out of the two pedals the MT-2 does have the biggest range, because of the parametric EQ it will let you dial in almost any sound you want. The MT-2 also has more volume and gain compared to the HM-2. The HM-2 may sound more natural and organic to most ears. What about using the two together to create a unique distortion sound? The goal is to use the HM-2 and to tweak its sound with the MT-2, because of the wider range of the MT-2 and also because of the pedal having more gain.

Experiment with the placement of the HM-2: HM-2 after MT-2 may be best, but it is possible to do it the other way around as well.

Once you have both pedals in place, dial in the sound on the HM-2 to how you like it, tweak this sound with the MT-2. Try to create an almost similar sound from the MT-2. Once you have done this you will notice it will make the HM-2 sound fuller.

Next, go for a more extreme setting on the MT-2 to add more spice to the HM-2.

The bonus of using both pedals is being able to get feedback at will. Both pedals will work well with single coil pick-ups and humbuck pick-ups.

Each pedal used on their own may sound dryer, once you use both pedals at the same time your sound will be wetter, fuller and having more sustain.

You may like the idea of using both pedals at the same time for a section of a song, or you may like to play an entire song with just the sound of both pedals. Whatever you will try, you cannot really go wrong with any of them.

Happing playing and hope to see you soon again,
Eddie

For this article a short guide to how you can set up the Boss MT-2 distortion pedal to overcome some of its, natural buzzy sounds.

Boss MT-2 is one of those distortion pedals which can give you a wide range of sounds. True, the pedal can give you that classic Metal sound from the 80s and early 90s but because of its parametric Equalizer, the pedal will let you tweak those sounds to almost anything.

Check out the manual for some sample settings: http://www.bossus.com/backstage/product_manuals/?group=2

click on link and search for MT-2, which you will see straightaway,  open the manual and scrawl to page 4 to view some of the sample settings.

Once you will try some of the sample settings you may feel they sound is a bit buzzy and tinny, especially the Fuzz setting. Try tweaking each setting by adjusting the concentric Equalizer controls, just play and change the setting of the bigger controls, then try adjusting the smaller controls until you get the sound which you enjoy playing with. As you adjust, you may also want to  alter the Level control. The Distortion control is the one which will give you overtones: open up the control and your sound will get wetter and richer with overtones, back down  the control and you will get a dryer sound. Adjust it to how you like it.

Great, non-metal sounds can be found as follows: Max out both small, concentric controls from the EQ section, keep the bigger, concentric controls at a lower level. Some people may find this setting too much. Adjust it to how you like, keep the distortion down to fairly low levels.

At some point I hope to add a video to this article to show you how I can get various tones out of the MT-2.

Some of the bonus points of the MT-2 must be:

  @ You are able to get feedback at will, especially when you use humbuck pick-ups. The small concentric controls are key to getting feedback.

  @ MT-2 will let you dial in its sounds on any amp, you will get similar results regardless what amplifier (or guitar) you use. Cool!!

Keep on playing, and hope to catch you soon again,
Eddie

I have written articles about TS before, what they are good at and what they cannot do. This article will mainly focus on the TS-808 and why it is a fantatastic overdrive for playing slide.
When you are reading this article you are probably well aware of the Ibanez TS pedals, if not, check out Analog Man’s page about Tube Screamers.

The TS-808 does have a very smooth sound, it is this feature which seemed to work well with the bright and tinny sound of a Slide. Using a TS-808 in combination with a humbuckers will get you a very thick, and smooth sound. Single Coils work very well as well.

As far as settings, you can keep the Overdrive control  fairly low, just set it to give a slight boost and push it to get a fuller tone. The Tone setting can also be kept fairly low, but it depends on setting of your amp and your taste. The Level control can be set halve way up and above. Tube Screamers tend to be mild pedals with not that much gain, so you may need to set the Level higher than any of the other controls.

All Tube Screamers tend to sound best when used in combination with a valve amp. Once you have started using a TS-808 you may become curious in any of the other TS pedals.

Happy Playing and hope to see you soon again,
Eddie

For this article a few highlights for guitarplayers who plan on learning to play Silde guitar. Some simple tips about the kind of guitar you may want to use for Slide playing and what the impact is of the various factors such as type of woods, pick-ups and action.

                         Action:

When you plan to make a start with learning to play Slide guitar you may wonder what kind of guitar to use.
Most guitars are fine for this purpose but there are a few things you can look into before you plunge into the deep: Is the action high enough of the guitar you plan to use? If the answer is no it is easy enough to eradicate this issue: Simply raise the action. 
                        
                        Type of Pick-Ups:

What about the pick-ups? Since the sound a slide produces is tinny it may be good to go for a guitar with Humbuck pickups: They produce a thicker sound which may be better at getting the sound to cut through in a mix of bass and drums. Ideally, get a guitar which does have both Humbuck and Single Coil pick-ups. In this way you can experiment with what kind of sound you like best. Often the sound which is most suitable will depend on the kind of song you are playing.

                       Wood of the Guitar:

What about the kind of woods? Should you really look into this?
Woods which absorb your sound may produce a somewhat “lazier sound”. A guitar where  the sound of the strings and pick-ups jump right  out of the amp may give you a more direct sound. This type of guitar may give a, somewhat, tinnier sound, because the woods do not really sustain the natural, acoustic sound of the guitar that well.
If your guitar is made out of a dense type of wood it will help to susain its natural acoustic sound, but it will also absorb the sound somewhat. Choosing bright pick-ups may help you to overcome the issue of absorbing the sound too much.

When it comes to woods you do not really have to become an expert at being able to spot what kind of wood your guitar is made of by looking at the grain of the wood. It will be possible for you to hear if your guitar is bright, absorbing, tinny, thick and sustaining. Once you can hear these wood qualities you may be able to find out later what kind of wood your guitar is made of. The ability to hear the sound quality of your guitar is more important than being able to identify the type of wood.
Playing various guitars from time to time will help you to tune in your ears into the qualities of the woods: Budget guitars (usally) will sound tinny compared to more expansive guitars. Sometimes these budget guitars will have a cetain quality you will not find of the more expansive models. Once you are aware of this you can then choose whatever suits best to your taste and needs. 

Happy Tone Hunting and hope to catch you soon again,
Eddie

Do you find yourself often play in the same key when you are improvising or working with scales? Do you rely on scalepatterns or can you play your musical ideas freely without the support of any finger patterns?
For this article a handful of ideas to break out of the rut of scalepatterns and keys.

When you are starting out with playing solos on the guitar it is a good idea to memorise some scalepatterns. These scalepatterns will give you support and guidance during any of your solos. After all, it is  helpful to know, and to be aware of what you are doing on the fretboard while you are improvising.

Once you have mastered a few scalepatterns why not go beyond: Start off with a musical idea and follow this musical idea through to the next idea. In this manner you are “composing” a solo. Once you get stuck you may want to back track youself to see where you went wrong and to find out in which key you were playing. Knowledge of the key may help you to find you way back into your musical idea.

Any solo you will listen to responds to a song, it will reflect what goes on in the song and make a short, musical statement with regards to the song. The song is played  is played in a certain key, therefore the solo needs to obey to this key. 

How important is it to have knowledge of scales and keys? Listen to any solo, and see if you can sing back any of the notes of the solo. Each time you play a solo, try to sing the notes you want to play before you actually Play Your Solo.
Singing your notes before you play will make you play more melodically. No need to know the kind of scale and key you play in, once you can play what you sing all is fine. Having knowledge of the scale and key will probably help you with your notechoice, but still, being able to hear the notes you want to play first is more important.

                   Playing often in the same key?:

Most of the songs you are playing will be in common keys such as A, E, G, D or C. To break out of these keys try the following idea: Give yourself a note, try going for a sharp or flat. This note will be the key for your next solo. Now play a melody in this key.
If you find this hard, work on breaking down your scales, play them over two strings, especially those of you who have been playing scales over six strings. Find out where the rootnote is of the key, play this note in several places on the fretboard and start the scale from this rootnote. Once you can play the scale start playing musical ideas as this is more important. People listen to musical ideas instead of scales being played up and down the fretboard.

Keep on exploring and hope to catch you soon again,
Eddie

  

For this article a snapshot into different kind of songs. I will mainly focus on the story-kind-of-song which most of you may know from people like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

If we can define a song like a story which is set to music you can trace the originals of this kind of idea back to a lot of folksongs from the British Isles and the Americas.
No need to list a lot of folksongs from this kind as the list would be long and confusing. Let me try to sum it up like this: There was Woody Guthrie with his guitar and voice and stories for the folks around him. The stories were for his audience, his children and family. His summed up what was going on around him, what was wrong at the time and what needed to be done about it. Simply really, or is it……..?

Then Dylan came along, gave it a different slant and he modified the songs for the change of the times, he even surrounded those stories in an electric setting, but that is another story really. What is useful to remember this modification for the song to the change of the times. Songs do not really change, stories are stories, some get dirtier, some get shorter but at the end of the day they remain a tale of what goes on today.

From Dylan to Springsteen is only a short walk around the corner. Bruce has recorded so many songs, played them on his own, with a band and………..modified them again and again. There are the love stories, there are the stories about growing up and stories, well you may not even know what they are about but the chorus keeps banging you on your head and the music lifts to words to a new height.

From this piont I can introduce you to some Springsteen songs. Why Springsteen you may wonder? Because his songs seem to fit the Story Song so well, most of them are long, there is a lot of variety in them, some of them do have a neat, hit-like sound while others remain more earthy and folky. Need to say more……………..

Okay now have a listen to this song, it is from his first album, this version is him playing song on his own:

Listen to how he introduces the song. Ain’t this typical “Man and guitar introducing song to his audience”?
The song itself does have a Dylan like sound at some point.
Here the album version, very 70s sound including the uplifting piano parts in intro and middle of the song.

The content of the previous song may have been obvious let us now have a look at this story here:

Maybe this is more what I ment with “Story Song” It is short snapshot in time about a woman, a man and where he is at the time, what he does and how he feels about what goes on around him.  Simple idea but there are a lot of words to listen to, a lot of images pass you by, but the roaring chorus of “Thunder Road” brings it all together. You may need to keep listening to the lyrics to hear what is going on next, but then there is again the chorus, the music and that sound and who cares what this thing is really about as it sounds good. Could you turn something like this into a single? Something with a stronger hook and more commercial sound to caputure the ears or an even larger audience? Have a listen to this one here:

Strong intro, including vibrato sound on low strings of the guitar—very 1960s ingredient, but who cares, it still sounded good in the 1970s—-
When Bruce starts singing you know this is not going to be 2.5 minute pop song with repeating lyrics in the verse, but the delivery of the vocal, almost pop (and soul) like with a lift in the melody and that stop and then the Oooogh shortly after that, all this in the very first 40 seconds of the song: Classic pop ingredient: Grap the listening by the throad and beg him/her to listen to what you have to say here. It is all there, but the content of the words and the kind of words? Still very folky but it works amazingly well here to give you the sound of an earopening, gritty song with sure popqualities including saxsolo in middle of the song, a strong chorus line with repeating intro, a modulating bridge which actually does not sound that cliche at all, even for today’s standards.
As with so many of Bruce’s songs you can hear he loves preforming and playing, listen to the extended end, he just loves to play and sing.

Not every story song needs to be a rambling vehicle full of roadcrashes with cries full of anger, some of then can also be tight, neat, sweet and punchy.

Enjoy and hope to catch you again soon,
Eddie