Hey there! In this lesson we’re going to be looking at emulating the tones and sounds of other instruments on the guitar, focusing on 3 instruments from the Far East, the Pipa, the Koto and the Shackuhachi (Japanese Flute). Being brought up on a diet of old Kung Fu movies and Manga, the distinctive music of the Orient has always been of great interest to me Continue reading »
Every guitarist wants to have the best tone. In fact we all work so hard on perfecting our technique and our style that sometimes the most important part of the equasion is forgotten. Your guitar of course. Continue reading »
If you look at my last article, “superimposing arpeggios” you’ll read how it is possible to superimpose a different arpeggio of a chord from the same parent scale over the chord that you are improvising on. In this lesson I am going to take it one step further and combine it with another of my previous articles “Jazz Up Your Blues Progressions”, in which I describe how to add a jazz flavor to your blues progressions by adding different chord substitutions throughout the sequence. Continue reading »
When playing over a particular chord how many different arpeggios would you consider using? Over any chord you can superimpose a large number of different arpeggios which can give you greater harmonic choices. In this lesson I am going to look at one approach of doing this. By having a parent scale in mind (ie playing in a specific key) whether it’s for one chord, a chord sequence or for a whole piece of music, I’m going to show how to determine all the different arpeggios that are available to play over each chord in that key. Continue reading »
Kumoi Joshi is an exotic sounding Japanese pentatonic scale comprising of the intervals R b2 4 5 and b6. This scale can be used to spice up your solos with a fresh sound and as it is similar to Phrygian can be used to great effect in modern metal. Continue reading »
Some basic skills in arranging jazz standards for solo playing are a great addition to a jazz guitarist’s abilities for several reasons:
1. With a large enough rep or enough skill to arrange tunes on the fly you can stop splitting up the money from all those “music to be ignored by gigs” that we all love so much. Continue reading »
Robert Johnson was born in Hazelhurst, Mississippi on May 8, 1911 and died in Greenwood, Mississippi on August 16, 1938. During those 27 years he recorded 29 songs that influenced modern blues and paved the way for the future of blues-based rock.
Continue reading »
Here’s a nice little diagram I compiled that shows all the notes of the fretboard, as well as what they look like on the staff. Enjoy! Continue reading »
When we think of great bass players we only mention the players of the male persuasion. There are many great female bassist who have carved their path into music history. With this interview I like introduce one of those female greats.
Ladies and gentlemen ………. Madame Double Z Continue reading »
As a guitar player and guitar teacher I meet a lot of people who always wanted to play jazz but thought it was too difficult so they never give it a go. This lesson is kind of aimed at those players who want to jazz up their blues playing without too much stress. It’s not designed as quick-fix but will get you sounding much more jazzy in just a few simple steps. Continue reading »
How many of you guitarists out there can play in any key, any scale in any position on the neck? I would lay a bet that there are more that can’t than can. This lesson will put you on the right path to breaking out of those comfortable boxes and shapes that you have probably become used to. Continue reading »
In celebration of UK rock band Muse selling out the new Wembley Stadium in June, I’m going to be looking at the playing style of singer/guitarist Matt Bellamy, paying to particular attention to the band’s “Showbiz” and “Origin of Symmetry” era.
After forming in Teignmouth Devon in 1994 Muse have managed to become one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, although many would have thought their mind blowing headlining set at Glastonbury 2004 would have been the peak of their career, Muse have once again raised the bar for what it means to be the ultimate live band. Continue reading »
Hello there,
It’s Nick Andrew (the Mad Scotsman) here with the first in a series of lessons in cliché busting musical ideas for the bold axe men and axe women out there, looking for something more than the latest licks. Continue reading »
As a guitarist for hire I’ve learned a couple of things: keep your teeth together, attitude professional, gear in top form, and ears wide open. As Frank Zappa said, “Shut up and play your guitar!” Here are some thoughts about a past gig. Continue reading »
The blues scale was the first thing they taught me when I got into jazz band in high school. It’s a simple scale to learn, and all the tones sound good over blues changes. The advantage of knowing it Continue reading »
Here is a couple of finger exercises for guitar / bass that I was taught years ago and I still swear by them now. Although they do not sound particularly melodic they are great for coordinating your fingers, especially your little finger. Continue reading »
Whenever I’m learning a new lick, riff or scale, I always find it best to start off slowly then gradually get faster until I can play it faster than actually I need to, then it’s always a relief to play it at the correct speed 8). To help you do this, I’ve put together a range of drum backing tracks in various time signatures for you to practice your licks and riffs over.
The whole tone scale is one of the most underused scales in improvising, in my opinion. It has revolutionized my approach to improvising on a tune. People always talk about playing “out” and they will spend years and years working on all kinds of complicated ways of doing it, but the answer is right under our noses and its really not all that complicated. Whole steps. That’s it. Just play whole steps. I’m dramatizing a bit, but essentially that’s the idea I’m talking about. Continue reading »
Right, where were we?
In the previous part, we laid down a very simple MIDI drum part and bass line for a 6 bar ‘jingle’. Next it’s time to get some real instruments on there. For this example I am going to use my guitar, I have plugged my guitar into the back of my PC through the Microphone-In port using an 1/4 inch to 1/8th inch mono adapter.
Here’s some more ready to print Word document music templates I made. Enjoy 
In the Indian music system which originates from South India, there is a particular form of classification and nomenclature of scales arising out of the maximum number of scales known as “Parent Raagas or Melakarrtaas” These are arranged in a very specific Ascending and descending order. Continue reading »
Here is some handy stationary I made which you can print off. They are all in Word 2000 (Doc) format and should be ready to go. The examples here are filled in, but the downloads are completely blank. Continue reading »
I’ve found that most guitarists underestimate the effect their right hand technique can have on their playing. When the average guitarist sits down for a couple of hours to practice, I imagine that he/she doesn’t spend 2 minutes thinking about what their right hand is doing. It just goes on auto-pilot. You hold the pick between your thumb and first finger, but what about those other three fingers on the right hand? They just sit there and don’t get to have any fun. The solution to this situation is “Hybrid Picking”. Continue reading »
It is certain that every chord combination has tones that distinguish it from others and give it its personality. I am going to review a very simple way to add a little bit extra boost to the chords you might already know. Continue reading »
Have you ever wanted to go to a music store and get a book that had the best information on how to play guitar, explained in ways that were easy to understand and made sense, and not know which book to buy? Ever go out and get that book, only to discover that it had a bunch of information that you didn’t need and didn’t make a good deal of sense after all? Ever wonder whether the “get chops quick” guitar methods so prevalent on the Internet today are really ripoffs? Well, no need for further frustration, help is here. Continue reading »
Just when you thought it was safe to return to the fretboard nasty Uncle Richie adds another finger and brain twisting section to the hell that is the Exercise of Doom. Continue reading »
Exercise of Doom Part 1The exercise of Doom as I christened this 15 years ago. Is a way of practicing major scale fingerings. Continue reading »
These bits of advice that I’ve heard or read over the years have earned their weight in gold…. Continue reading »
Hey, in this lesson we’re going to be looking at some lead guitar funk style! The idea here is to accompany the rhythm section and your fellow guitar player with some well chosen melodic, single note lines that compliment the overall feel and groove of the song. This technique, commonly called “popping” Continue reading »
In my last article I talked about how triads can be used to construct more interesting solos. If you take this whole concept one step further you can begin to really incorporate these ideas and shapes in new ways.that will allow you to scale the fret board, somewhat escaping the idea of scales, or combining the knowledge you have of scales with the shapes and melodic sounds of these triads. Continue reading »
As far as rock guitar lead is concerned, it is the scale of all scales, the mother lode so to speak, the scale used early and often by such lead guitar greats as Jimmy Page, Edward Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Slash, and Neal Schon, to name a few. If indeed a rock n’ roll encyclopedia exists specifically for rock lead guitar (and who knows, there might be one floating out on the web somewhere), this scale would and should appear on the top, right up front. Continue reading »
Hi and a big welcome to everyone out there in guitar cyberspace. As this is my first contribution to the site I thought we would begin by taking a look at how to harmonize the Major Scale, This will then help us to determine various chord types and their association within Major keys. Over the coming months I will endeavour to address many guitar related subjects. If you have any suggestions or items that you would like to see included here then please feel free to send me an E-mail. Have fun and I’ll see you next time! Continue reading »
George Van Eps first coined the phrase “lap piano” as a way to describe his style of guitar playing. I think I would have to agree with this methodology. In this lesson we’ll discuss an approach to the instrument that will make your harmonic playing more melodic, and your melody playing more harmonic. -This is a good one so check it out! Continue reading »
Hey, in this lesson we’re going to be looking at some of the fundamental basics of funk guitar that are often over looked when approaching this genre. A mistake that many guitar players make when laying down a funk groove Continue reading »
Hi all, thanks for checking out my first intellectualmusician.com article. Here is my take on modes, how I learned them and how I use them. I have a few different approaches I use depending on the situation. Caleb Raney also has a recent article covering modes and their application to chords, check it out Modes Demystified. Continue reading »
There is no one correct way to play guitar, as everyone who picks up an instrument will approach it slightly different. But there are some standards that most people follow. In this lesson we’ll discuss the most common of the picking techniques: Alternate Picking. Continue reading »
In order for practicing to be efficient and productive, a degree of organisation should be installed.
You need to be clear as to what it is you are intending to practice/learn and how you are going to go about it. To make the best use of your precious time you need to divide your allocated practice time to cover the variety of areas you need to address. Continue reading »
The major scale is root of all western music. So it always astounds me just how many guitarists try to avoid it like the plague. A good grasp of this scale can stand you in firm stead for most musical situations! I’ve played just about every type of gig going and this scale has been at the fore in every single gig. So the best advice I can give is get good at major scales as soon as possible! Continue reading »
‘Octave’ is the term used to describe the distance (or ‘interval’) from a one note to another, with half or double the frequency. Continue reading »
Over the coming weeks I plan on uploading my collection of guitar charts… so you’ve been for warned! I’ll start off with one of my favorites, which is simply the C Major Scale. Everywhere. Continue reading »
As a guitar player who focuses a good deal of his attention on Jazz there have been things I have noticed along the journey to becoming a better musician. The understanding of Harmony is basically the most essential element in becoming a proficient jazz musician. Besides applying this knowledge to your comping it can be directly applied to your soloing and quickly put you on your way to sounding more melodic. Continue reading »
In an earlier lesson we discussed playing two-finger G chords. In this lesson we’re going to put those chords to use. Listen to the following example… Continue reading »
For those of you that found QECC 1 and 2 too easy, or would like to know where to go after you’ve mastered the one-finger chords, here’s the same concept using two-finger G chords. Continue reading »
In an earlier lesson we discussed playing one-finger G chords. In this lesson we’re going to put those chords to use. Listen to the following example… Continue reading »
Quick and Easy Chord Concepts is a series of fast and fun chord lessons for aspiring guitarists to start strumming simple chords with not-so-simple names. Check out this video lesson and diagrams… Continue reading »
Playing guitar is a lifelong endeavor. So don’t plan on learning everything anytime soon. Here’s a few essential tips it took me twenty years and half a head of hair to figure out. Continue reading »
It’s interesting to me that while a guitar might have 6 strings, the majority of guitarists find using more than one at a time a real feat. In this lesson I touch on some simple techniques to spice up a single note melody. Continue reading »
Reading Tab. For the final installment of my Intro to Beginner Guitar series we’ll cover what is probably the most important tool you can have as a budding guitarist: TAB. Continue reading »
Whether you’re a classically trained player looking to branch out into jazz, a budding jazz player looking for more explanation on how to solo over changes, or a rhythm section player starting to approach jazz Continue reading »
Reading Chord Diagrams. This article is a continuation of the the mini-series I’m writing on beginner guitar. Today we’ll dive in and get some actual playing done by learning to read some basic chord diagrams for guitar. Continue reading »