Jam Babble

I’ve written quite a bit about my love for the Learn and Master Guitar Program. I own it, I use it and suggest most beginner get a copy.

I’ve been using a couple of their newer courses lately and I wanted to share them with you.

Blues Guitar

The first is a course from their newly created “Spotlight Series” grouping of courses.

The spotlight series are smaller (fewer DVDs and CDs) programs that target a smaller niche of a larger learning area.

The first Spotlight Course I got to see was the blues guitar DVD, Learn and Master Blues Spotlight. The course is again instructed by Steve Krenz, the same instructor from the Learn and Master Guitar Course, but they’ve made some improvements in video and on screen post production quality.

Like the blues, which is very grass roots, they’ve carried that into the course. Rather then having this clean studio area where all the lessons take place, some of the lessons are done with Steve on Stage with a full band. This gives a great feel to what you’re learning and allows you to envision the over all sound of something that might sound boring alone with you’re guitar but sounds fantastic when played with a full band.

Guitar Setup

There’s been a second guitar course released as well from Legacy in the spotlight series. That course is Guitar Setup and Maintenance. While most of us opt to just get our gear setup by a professional lutheran at our local guitar shop there are those of us who have the DIY attitude.

This course will walk you through everything you need to know about setting up your instrument properly form changing strings, checking intonation and adjusting the neck.

This course won’t be for everyone, but for those that are interested in know how to do some of the more regular setup work to their guitar this is worth the $50 bucks.

As always, if you’re a complete beginner, check out our Learn and master guitar review. This is the course that started it all for Legacy Learning Systems. It’s the best self study guitar program available not just online but probably any where.

This service has been online for more then 10 years, which kinda blows my mind that I haven’t looked around yet.

Guitar Tricks is a huge online database of video guitar lessons recorded by some 40+ odd teachers that each have their own specific specialty.

I was reviewing the site for some of my other beginner guitar sites as I felt it was likely a good alternative to some of the DVD and online lesson videos I’ve used thus far. I wasn’t disappointed at all.

While Guitar Tricks might not look like it offers all the same bells and whistles of some of it’s competitors it does every bit a good of job at actually instructing students on how to play guitar.

They have a very well thought out and organized teaching system that works for beginner and intermediate players a like.

If you’re looking for an easy way to improve your guitar skills, learn for the first time or learn something new on the guitar check out my full Guitar tricks review.

I give some more detail info on how their service works, price and lessons offered.

I just finished doing a comparison for another site on the best online guitar lessons.

As I was going through the lessons, styles, topics, instructors etc. for all the different sites out there I started to realize just how little difference there is in fact between many of these guitar websites, pending your current skill level.

So I had to break it down some what like a scoring system.

The features I compared:

Price: Of course you cannot do a comparison of anything these days without taking price into consideration. How ever this was the least weighted part of the entire comparison since only $5 a month separated the different sites.

Lesson Quality: This was a big one. Since it’s so cheap today to make multi screen video and HD recordings I figured this was the standard for all online lessons, surprisingly it is not yet though.

Styles Taught: Again, this is used as a differentiator by a lot of different sites out there but truthfully I don’t know how many people are signing up to JamPlay to learn some abstract styles.

Teachers: It’s nothing to have 50 different teachers doing lessons for your site since the cost is so low. All you need is a back drop, a couple of cameras and then the video can be sent to someone who does the editing.

Bonus & Practice Features: There are a few key features you need here (backing tracks, scale and chord charts/tools, metronome and tuner). Some sites have a long list of bonus features although I don’t know that many of your members would be using them.

So what was my conclusion? There are a couple of really good sites out there (primarily JamPlay and GutiarTricks) but they’re very evenly matched when it really comes down to it.

Check out the full comparison.

Understanding keys in music is something beginners often overlook. Whether it’s because they feel it’s too difficult or they just don’t have a need for it I’m not sure. One thing I am sure about is that without some basic understanding of musical theory and how keys work you’ll plateau as a guitar player.

In this lesson I’m going to provide you with a primer on musical keys, how to find the right chords that “fit together” in a particular key as well as provide an example. After reading this article you’ll be able to start figuring out keys for yourself.

What is a Musical Key

The definition of a musical key can get complex. The easiest way to say it is that music in let’s say the Key of D is harmonically centred on the note D major and also uses the notes inside the D major scale. So to fully understand the notes/chords in the Key of D major we must refer to the D major scale, but don’t worry it’s not every note you’re going to be playing. Some sound better then others.

Finding the Right Chords in each Key

There’s an easy method to find the best chords to play together in each key. The method is known as one-four-five, some times written with roman numerals as I-IV-V.

This pattern refers to the note numbers in a given scale. So in our example above in the Key of D major we would refer to the D major scale and pick out the first, fourth and fifth notes that occur. These notes would be the one, the four and the five of the Key of D.

Example in the Key of D

The D major scale looks like this:

D E F# G A B C# D

So from the D major scale we can see that our one is a D, four is a G and five is an A. You can play those notes from the scale as chords and you’ll have a great sounding chord pattern in the key of D.

Watch the following video for some more insight into the I-IV-V pattern and another example.

Did you enjoy this lesson? Are you ready for some more lessons? Why not try learning more on your own at home using an acoustic guitar lessons dvd? DVD Acoustic lessons are quickly becoming the number one form of adult guitar instruction. You learn at your own pace and for less money then private lessons.

Pentatonic guitar scales are usually the first venture outside of chords for most beginners. Pentatonic scales are used in rock & blues guitar music, and are the easiest of most scales to learn since there are one 5 possible variations of shapes to memorize for every possible key you can play in.

This article is going to explain what a pentatonic scale is, show you the first of five shapes you will need to learn and provide an example in A minor using this first shape.

What is a Pentatonic Guitar Scale?

Pentatonic guitar scales are scales made up of only 5 different notes. While you play more then 5 notes during the sale on the neck you only play 5 different notes, that is you play some notes more then once in a different octave. Compared to other scales that contain 7 or more notes, the pentatonic scale is the easiest for beginners to master & memorize.

The A Minor Pentatonic Guitar Scale

Before I describe the scale I want to first show you what it looks like on the guitar neck, you can see it in the first illustration below. Assume that this diagram starts at the fourth fret of your guitar neck, so the second fret in from the left would actually be fret number five.

This diagram shows you first what notes you play during the A minor pentatonic scale in the first shape. Notice how there are 12 notes to be played, how ever there are only 5 different notes: A, C, D G and E.

e|——|–1—|——|——|—4–|——

B|——|–1—|——|——|—4–|——

G|——|–1—|——|—3–|——|——

D|——|–1—|——|—3–|——|——

A|——|–1—|——|—3–|——|——

E|——|–1—|——|——|—4–|——

To understand what fingers to use where I’ve included this second diagram. Keep in mind that we’re assuming the image is starting at the 4th fret, so for the first note you’d be placing for first finger on the 5th fret of the low E string.

e|——|–A—|——|——|—C–|——

B|——|–E—|——|——|—G–|——

G|——|–C—|——|—D–|——|——

D|——|–G—|——|—A–|——|——

A|——|–D—|——|—E–|——|——

E|——|–A—|——|——|—C–|——

Moving this Pentatonic Shape Around the Neck

The great thing about pentatonic guitar scales is the shapes which form the scale (such as the diagram listed above) can be used all over the neck. This example is in the key of A minor, what if you wanted to play it in the Key of G?

Changing the key is easy, slide the shape back two frets and have your starting note now on the 3rd fret of the low E string and you playing in the key of G. By following the exact same pattern but moving everything back two frets you’ll be playing the G major pentatonic scale.

There are 5 different shapes you can play for each key of the pentatonic scales, this is the first. This is an easy position to start with since the root note of the scale is the first note played.

I suggest you go grab you’re guitar and give this scale a go on your own, playing it forwards and backwards. When learning scales with either online guitar lessons, a book or even private lessons learning the material is similar, but practice is what makes it perfect.

If this stuff is a little over your head, don’t worry, you may want to consider trying a beginning guitar dvd. Learning guitar from DVD videos is becoming very popular and is far less expensive then private lessons.

The 12 bar blues isn’t a tough concept to understand. You do need some basic knowledge of scales, and if you know you’re way around the neck a bit that will help. If you’re not there yet don’t panic, these tips on how to play the 12 bar blues will explain how you can discover what chords to play in each key and what order to play them in. Also in the video lesson at the end of this article I’ll give you an example of how to play the 12 bar blues in A at 2 different locations on the neck.

The 12 bar blues is basically a simple pattern. While you can play the 12 bar blues in the key of A, B, D etc. There is one easy method to remember which notes you plug in.

Here’s what the 12 bar blues pattern looks like: 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 4 – 4 – 1 – 1 – 5 – 4 – 1 – 5

I now, numbers aren’t notes. No problem, because each one of these numbers corresponds to a particular note from a scale. The scale depends on the key you’re playing in.

Let’s presume you want to play 12 bar blues in the key of A. Looking at the A Maj scale:

A – B – C# – D – E – F# – G# – A

We’d grab the first, fourth and the fifth notes which would be A, D and E. Next we plug those notes into the pattern above which would make our 12 bar blues progression: A – A – A – A – D – D – A – A – E – D – A – E

Of course when we play it as a blues progression we normally use a bit of a shuffle feel with some power chord like chords. The video below will explain more about how to play this, but this article explains the basic theory behind formulating a 12 bar blues progression.

Ready to get serious about learning to play the guitar? Why not take matters into your own hands and try guitar dvd lessons so you can study on your own. Video lessons provide you with the one-on-one approach of private instruction but the freedom of self study.

A lot of beginners get caught in the cycle of constantly learning to play other peoples songs exactly as they play them. If you’re goal is to play cover tunes and possibly in a cover band awesome, keep at it. How ever if you don’t want to just mimic someone elses style and music you need to break the habit.

Here’s you 3 step plan to break the Cover Habit

1.) Learn a great cover tune that you like, if you can sing and play at the same time do that. I know it might seem counterintuitive to learn another cover song when I’m telling you break the habit but trust me.
2.) Figure out what key the song is in, make note of the chords you’re playing and also what other chords go along in that same key. If you can notice the rhythm style you’re playing.
3.) Mix it up. What do I mean by this? Well first try playing the same chord progression but with a different rhythm and timing, maybe speed it up or slow it down. If you can sing the song as well try changing up the melody to the lyrics as well. Add in a few chords here and there that might not be in the original tune but make sense based on the key of the song.

If you do this with a few tunes you’ll not only start to create your own cool cover versions of tunes but you’ll also start to find your own voice as a guitar player. This could lead to writing a few of your own tunes as well.

Other Interesting Posts:
http://www.pianoplayingtips.info/memorizing-major-guitar-chords-caged-guitar-system
http://freeguitarstudy.com/2010/01/21/how-to-learn-the-guitar-neck.aspx
http://www.bestbeginnerguitarlessons.com/blog/learning-and-loving-the-guitar/how-to-learn-the-guitar-string-notes

If you’re into a particular style of music, say jazz, rock or acoustic, only learning songs in that genre can actually stunt your growth as a guitar player.

While it’s not always fun to learn songs we don’t love, it can be great for your development as a guitar player to go ahead and start learning some tunes that are outside your comfort zone.

Why is this important?

Different genres of music utilize different styles. For example if you’re into metal and shredding you’ll probably be great at playing loud and fast, how ever put an acoustic guitar in your hand and ask you to play a nice soft palm muted melody and you’d be lost.

Learning different techniques not only makes you appreciate your main style more it also allows you to explore and possibly meld new techniques from another genre into your own.

How to Do it?

Ideally you’re going to want to learn a few tunes from a different genre not pick up “styles”, so I suggest finding a few of the popular tunes right now from another genre and finding the tab or music for them.

Download the songs MP3 so you get a feel for how the tune sounds and it’s rhythm. Then take the tab/music and learn that tune.

After a few of these you can start to meld these new styles and techniques into your main playing style. It can really help expand your creative horizons and your skills as a guitar player.

Other Interesting Posts:
http://www.guitarlessonscritic.com/blog/3-string-beginner-guitar-chords-c-g-and-d7/
http://www.learnguitarblog.com/learning-to-tune-your-guitar-by-ear/
http://easyguitarlessonblog.com/learning-guitar-notes-on-the-top-three-strings-of-the-guitar/

Learning the notes on each guitar string is an important foundational lesson for all beginners. Unfortunately it’s also something that is going to require a bit of practice at first and a little memorization.

In today’s post I’m going to explain first the difference between half steps and whole steps as well as how that translates to the guitar neck. Next I’ll explain the spacing between each musical note A through G and finally I’ll give you an example of how to find the different notes on the low E string using the different steps and fret spacings explained in this article.

So Lets get Started.

The concept of half steps and full steps comes from the Piano. Since we’re not dealing with a piano we need to understand it in terms of our guitar neck.

One half step is the same as one fret on your guitar neck. So to make up a full step that is the same as two frets.

REACP

1/2 step = 1 Fret
Full Step -= 2 Frets

The spacing between each note (A through F) is either one full or one half step. The easiest way to remember is that all notes have a full step between them except for B to C and E to F, between each of these notes is only one half step.

RECAP

Space between all notes is one full step

Exceptions: B to C = one 1/2 Step and E to F = one 1/2 step

Ok time for a quick example.

To get started it’s important that you know the names of the strings, E, A, D, G, B and E. We’re going to start with the low E or 6th string for this example.

So when we play the open E string we’re of course playing an E. The note that comes after E is F and if we remember from above E to F is one of the exceptions that only has one half step between them. So we move up to the 1st fret (remember each fret is a half step). Playing the low E string on the first fret is an F.

Let’s do another one.

What comes after F? It’s a G note. We know that there is a full step between the F and G notes so we have to move up two frets to the 3rd fret. So the 3rd fret on the low E string is a G note.

One more just to make sure you’ve got the hang of it.

After the G note we go back around to the beginning and play an A note. The spacing between the G and A notes is one full step so again we must move up two frets. Slide up to the 5th fret on the low E string and we have an A note.

Starting with each open string you can easily find the notes all the way up the neck just by remembering the space between each note and then convert that to number of frets.

Below is a quick video that recaps this lesson and also shows you the notes on the A and D strings as well. Take a few minutes to watch this video and after wards grab your own guitar and give this exercise a try.

If you’re interested in learning more great beginner guitar tips like this one why not consider a learn to play guitar dvd? You get all the same great instruction as private lessons from the luxury of your own home.

OK, maybe the title of this post was a little harsh, but I always used to hear that tab was a lazy way or reading music. After you learn how to read guitar tab you may just agree with me that tab is a lazy way, but it’s a heck of a lot easier then memorizing the fret board, notes and understanding how to read the musical staff.

You see guitar tab looks like music but instead of notes on the music staff tab is actually a picture of the 6 strings on your guitar. One those strings will be numbers, these numbers correspond to the fret you play at that time.

So for instance if you were supposed to be playing an E chord it would look something like this.

1 ——-
2 ——-
3 —-1–
4 —-2–
5 —-2–
6 ——-

What this basically means is that on the 5th string, or A string, you press on the 2nd fret, then on the 4th string or D string you press on the 2nd fret and then on the G string you press on the 1st fret.

This is the simplistic view of what guitar tab can teach you but if you can get this you’ll be able to grasp reading it later on.

Here’s another great article that will help get you jump started with reading guitar tabs.