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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Well by the time you start reading this 2nd part you guys should be ‘purring’ freely in the vocal region to carry on with more basic vocal technique. 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 »
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 »
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 »
‘You sound like a strangled cat!’
‘But Sir!’ replied Johnnie ‘That’s the way I normally sing…….’
‘Not in my school choir-not ever!’ replied the school master. Continue reading »
How is your bassdrum technique? Many drummers are looking for a better way to control their foot technique as it seems the bass drum presents the most challenge on the conventional drumkit . Most of us are looking for some type of secret technique to conquer it’s mass and awkwardness. There are however many ways which to address this issue however today we will talk about a simple secret that is very effective. 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 »
In this installment we’ll explore the playing of chords on the bass. While this stretches a bit beyond ‘basic’ I think is is an often unexplored area for new bassists. It is another tool for creating interesting basslines and is particularly useful in situations such as a trio (or 4 piece with a singer who’s not playing another instrument) where the bass may need to occupy more space. Use of chords on bass crosses many genres as well, including jazz, classical and rock. Some bands and players to check out for chordal bass work would be Rush, Primus, Stu Hamm, and John Patitucci (especially his “Heart of the Bass” cd.). My band Strange Land also employs this technique.
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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 part 2 we’ll take a look at another common pattern for rock or blues/walking bass and some examples for putting it to use.
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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 »
Using substitute chords is a common practice that spices up chord changes and often makes melodies sound more “modern.” The most common chord substitution you see is the tritone sub. 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 »
‘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 »
I’m sure a lot of you out there who are just getting into jazz have heard about modes. And if your experience was anything like mine what you’ve heard is very difficult to understand gibberish. Today we’re going to take a look at modes and why they work in a rather easy to understand way. 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 »
Conducting is one of the most important tools you can acquire to assist you in rhythmic transcription. In this article I’ll explain why this is, and how to use this skill. 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 »
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 »
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 »
Tuning. This is a continuation of the the mini-series I’m writing on beginner guitar. Tuning a guitar is one of the hardest, while most essential things for a beginning guitarist to do. Hopefully this lesson will help demystify the process. Continue reading »
Thinking Like A Guitarist. This is a continuation of the the mini-series I’m writing on beginner guitar. This lesson will get us acquainted with the fundamentals of playing the instrument. Continue reading »
Anatomy of the guitar. In this lesson series “Beginner Guitar” we’ll cover all of the basics so that you can finally build up the confidence to pull out that guitar that’s been in your closet since you were 16 years old, and at very least reach “Campfire” proficiency. Continue reading »
Major what? Augmented who? Intervals can be confusing, but by breaking them down into their smallest forms one can quickly demystify them and the start putting them to use almost immediately. Continue reading »
Many people cringe at the mention of key signatures. In actuality, a key signature can be a huge help and a great short cut to memorizing intervalic relationships, scale shapes, and more. Continue reading »