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Songwriting Tips – Part Two

By Pwnzor on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 | No Comments

Welcome back to Outright Writing. My little collection of tips about writing. We’re jumping to jump straight back in with part two.

Point Four: Take Your Time

If you write something down and it sounds good, then keep it. Come back a week later and your opinion on it might have changed, so let it change and grow with the time you’ve given it. Your influences may have changed and the character behind the piece might have grown and developed into something brand new. This will always add something to what you’re writing, as well as taking it away from how it originated. The less obvious the original influences become, the more unique the piece is in the end.

You will always be your own worst critic. Coming back to something after a little time is a lot like coming to something brand new that somebody else has written. If you were after comedy, you might find that the jokes are not funny anymore. The rhythm in your head may have changed and a new one might come forth for the poem or song that you’re writing. A new influence from another genre might have crept in, or your new perspective might present a brand new selection of words to follow.

All work evolves, you just have to give it time in which to do that. Don’t be afraid of change. If you end up happy with the results then there’s never any reason to worry about it.

Point Five: Repetition

Repetition is always a difficult one to gauge. Choral repetition is generally considered the best way to go, however a catchy line or verse can become much more powerful when repeated. Unfortunately, if the lyrics don’t have the power in them anyway or don’t really say anything that is of particular importance to the song then it comes out weak and pointless.

You have to choose your repeated words carefully. In repeating them, you are empowering them, so you have to ensure that they hold enough power in them to make it sensible. It has to not only fit the piece, but also to fit the perceptions of the person listening to it. Now, obviously, you don’t know what your reader is thinking, so you need to make sure that it has the right affect on you.

It’s handy having somebody else available to read over what you’ve done, particularly somebody evil, cruel and magnificently brutal. They’re the best and most honest critics.

Point Six: Keep A Thesaurus And A Rhyming Dictionary Handy

Often when writing a song you’ll come across a few problem lines. How you handle this will decide if the song survives or not. If you like to make songs which rhyme but can’t think of an appropriate rhyming word there are three steps to follow which should help you find one:

Confirm what you’re trying to say.
Use a Thesaurus on the word you’re trying to rhyme with and consider changing it.
Use a rhyming dictionary to find a rhyming word that fits the song.

The expansion of your vocabulary is the easiest way to defeat this potential issue as and when it arises. It will come up a lot when you just want to make sure that things fit nicely, but they refuse to do so. Spend some time considering it and working out what your options are, then choose whatever one seems most suitable to you. If all else fails, it’s more than likely that you can just change the line itself. You could come back later and have a completely different line in mind.

Point Seven: Inspire Yourself

Inspiration can be hard to find, but it’s not as elusive as people think. Inspiration is simply something that makes you think, so you can see that there‘s a lot of it in the world. Even when you have writer’s block, or you’re too angry to focus, your mind is still constantly active and thinking about whatever random thing that you’ve been inspired to think about. Obviously inspiration is unique to different people as people are unique themselves, but here follows a list of ways I try to think when I’m writing a song:

Think of a choice you made in life, what would happen if you chose the other one.
Make a random thought rhyme.
What were your feelings when you first discovered… (e.g. sex, drugs, rock n’ roll)
Read a book. Imagine you are your favourite character.
What would an ex have to say for you to let them come back.

So there you have it. Just a couple of suggestions which will hopefully help any songwriters out there. I always enjoy reading songs so the more there are the better for me. All of these points are things that I have been doing for years, and they have looked after me in their own unique way throughout my career as a writer. If you’re the sort of person who writes, or wants to write, I hope that something here will have proven beneficial for you.

Songwriting Tips – Part One

By Pwnzor on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 | No Comments

Hey all, this is Tom Colohue.

In this installment, we’re going to be looking at the most basic aspects of writing. I’m not going to be putting too much focus into writing poetry or lyrics, but there will be some extra attention paid to those because of the flow that verse provides. Becoming comfortable with your own preferred areas and talents is important, but you have to write in order to become aware of just what you’re capable of offering yourself and others.

Ideally, you can use this as you will. If you want to pay extra attention to writing lyrics then don’t be trying to make your words match the music, especially if you don’t even have music written down yet. If you want to be writing poetry then pay special attention to learning about poetic license. If you just want to write short stories or fantastic tales, take what you will from this and ignore what doesn’t seem to work out for you. It’s all up to you.

Not everybody is particularly talented at writing music. While some people find it incredibly difficult others find it easier than anything else. Everybody has specific skills that are worth nurturing in order to gain as much from them as possible. You don’t have to want to be a writer, a poet or a musician. All that you need is a sense of drive with which you might work towards honing your current skills and developing whatever is available to you already.

So, with that we shall move forwards into the actual content that is the meat of our writing sandwich. Let’s get started, shall we?

Writing Tips by Tom Colohue

Part One: Writing Outright

I’m just going to be laying out something of a list of points here. Using these, it’s up to you to do what you will with the present information. All of these come from almost fifteen years of writing experience myself. I started writing fifteen years ago, started with poetry five years ago and started writing music, which will be covered in later pieces, and lyrics about three years ago when I was gifted with my guitar. Whether you’ve never written a song before or you have written a platinum selling album and sixteen novels, I hope this helps.

Point One: Carry A Notepad

Whether poet, author or songwriter the golden rule of writing is to carry a notepad with you wherever you go. This works best when accompanied by some sort of writing implement. Random lyrics and riffs will pop into your head at random times and by the time you get home to write them out they’ll be gone. A notepad means you can note your idea down straight away and look back at it whenever you wish. This means you can also continue it whenever you wish.

You will find that a lot of pages end up jumping out at you as you scroll through the pages at some later date. Lyrics will remind you of themselves, while also encouraging you to slip them into other songs in some way or another. Bits of characters or general characteristics will find other ways to fit in with whatever you’ve discovered.

Also, life itself will always find something to throw at you. A friend will say something that sounds nicely profound, so you can just note it down for later use or cannibalisation. You’ll find slogans and jingles that, when mixed up and thrown together, offer you brand new ideas and possibilities. All songs, poems and stories are a simple collection of words. What sets them apart is the unique style in which you throw things together. A notepad will always make for a perfect sounding board. Throw two words together and see how they work out on paper. Throw a few lines together there and then read then out loud and see how they sound to you.

This is one of those things that is so integral just because it makes things that much easier overall. It frees you from that agonising period when you’re trying to work out something awesome that you’ve worked out a few hours previous but simply can not put together correctly now. As a writer, this is likely one of the single most annoying things in the world because you know just how good it was, you just can’t recall it to get it down on paper and into a word processor.

Point Two: Draw From Real Life

No song holds more emotion or meaning than one written about something that really happened. The simple reason behind this is because of the descriptive elements. You can never describe a false reality to even a minor percentage of the ability in which you would be able to describe a memory, particularly a fresh one. Dreams hold the same sort of enchantment. Concentrate on the details of what you see and how you feel because those will undoubtedly make things as interesting for other people as it did for you.

There are a lot of examples of this in both modern music and less modern music. Apart from the killer riff Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke On The Water’ was so popular because it told the story of an actual event. There are a million songs about break ups and relationships in general. People want to find something that they can relate to, and everybody can relate to real life, relationships especially.

It’s not about making something that’s commercially available for absolutely everybody. That’s never the point, no matter what it is that you’re writing. However, being honest with yourself and writing about what you want to write about is never selling out, despite how much people will tell you so if you write about something like relationships. If you experience a break up and get the urge to write a song about it, then do it. A lot of people might be able to write songs about them, but not yours. Things that happen to you can only be told from your perspective by you.

Point Three: Read

As a writer, any sort of reading is research, and research is very important. Your vocabulary is your greatest weapon. There are literally millions of words in the english language, all of which express a different meaning. The bigger the word the more it means and the more it alludes to. That doesn’t mean it’s better, but it does mean that it says much more. Reading a book or newspaper and considering the content can also be a great way to pick up ideas. You can learn about how things flow and how some words work well together and some do not.

Research as well is very important. Allusions and illusions can be created through the knowledge that can be gleaned. In songs, a recurring theme can be set up through researching a direction that you’re aiming for. When it comes to music, listening to the genres and songs that you want to mimic is research. You’re learning the moves, the typical phrases with the most impact and how words can affect people like yourself.

Research also puts background into your work. If you’re trying to write a concept album then you need your work to allude both backwards and forwards to the other tracks in order to keep things encompassed and united. If you’re trying to write something fantasy relative then you can learn a lot by researching mythology and philosophy and then using it as you go. Reading other works of fiction, fact and opinionated ‘fact’ can show you a world of options that simply did not become clear to you when you first started. Over time, this might flavour what you are working on.

We’re going to leave it there for now. Part Two will be uploaded next week for your viewing pleasure. Thanks for reading.

Phrase Seperation

By Pwnzor on Friday, January 29th, 2010 | No Comments

Before we begin using phrase separation to tidy up our playing, we first need to fully understand what is a musical phrase. At this point it can be useful to draw a comparison between music and language, as the latter is something we have all used every day for most of our lives. So instead of asking ourselves, what is a phrase, why not ask, what is a sentence.

Basically a sentence is a stand-alone idea. For example, “My name is Tom”, stands alone. However, “My name is”, does not. Sentences can also give you an indication of what the following ones might contain. For example, “My name is Tom. I was born in America”, would be a fair indication that the rest of the paragraph will consist of Tom telling us a bit about himself. It’s unlikely that it would read, “My name is Tom. I was born in America. Frogs prefer to live near water”. That last sentence may be written later, but only after Tom has gone on to say how he is a naturalist with a particular passion for amphibians.

Music works in much the same way; small self-contained ideas with clear boundaries, which are strung together to guide us through a series of linked ideas that make up an entire piece. You can demonstrate this to yourself by stopping in odd places, which leave phrases incomplete. Or taking a phrase from a later section of a piece and placing it after one from an earlier and musically different part.

Exercise

Now let’s put into practice what we just learned about the relationship between language and musical expression.

Look at this pair of sentences. “My name is Tom. I live in Brazil”. First we need to establish that they are stand alone ideas. Although the two sentences are linked in terms of Tom telling us a bit about himself, the sentences aren’t mutually exclusive. That is to say, they couldn’t be written as a single sentence; “My name is Tom, I live in Brazil”. This would imply that living in Brazil and being called Tom are inseparable ideas. You could, for example, be called Tom and live in France. So the two ideas are contextually linked, but not inseparable.

Okay, let’s put this into a musical setting. Repeat the pair of sentences over and over to find the natural rhythm. Now you’ve established a rhythm, note the fact that there is a definite dividing point between the Tom of “My name is Tom”, and the I of “I live in Brazil”. Now we have a pair of rhythmic phrases that compliment each other, but can stand alone if necessary.

Before we start thinking about possible music to go with our rhythm, let’s examine the rhythm itself – bearing in mind that yours may differ slightly from mine. One thing that seems certain is that for the first sentence, the strong beats fall naturally on the words “name” and “Tom“, and the weaker fall on “My” and “and“. So too it seems in sentence 2, the word “live” is naturally stronger than “I”. This tells us that both sentences are going to begin off the beat. Here’s the rhythm I have chosen.

Only the initials have been placed where the words would fall rhythmically.
- represent 16th notes.

 - |1 - - - 2 - - - 3 - - - 4 - - - |
 M  N I     T     I L I B Z

So now let’s replace the words with notes.

----|----------------------------------|
----|----------------------------------|
----|----------------------------------|
----|----------------------------------|
----|-----0--2------1----0-------------|
0---|4------------0---------3---0------|
My   name is Tom. I live in Bra-zil.

In the same way we dismantled the rhythm, we can now do the same to the music to see what makes it tick. Although I stated earlier that the two ideas can stand alone, I now find that with the addition of the music, this isn’t quite true. If you play the first “My name is Tom” phrase on it’s own, it seems to cry out for the resolution that is provided by the “I live in Brazil“ phrase.Before we examine why this is the case, let’s make a “My name is Tom” phrase that DOES stand alone.

Using the same rhythm as before, replace the notes with the following:

--|-------------|
--|-------------|
--|-------------|
--|-------------|
--|0------------|
0-|-----3--0----|
My name is Tom.

Now we can explore the difference between the first, unresolved MNIT phrase, and the second, which has a definite finality.The rhythmical emphasis is unchanged, so it must be something inherent in the notes themselves that is at the heart of the difference.

First thing to establish is that we are in the key of E. In the key of E the root is of course E. But it is better to think of E as home; the place where journeys often begin and end. We can see that both phrases begin at home, but only the second ends there. The first phrase ends at B, which in the key of E can be thought of as a home from home; a nice place to stop for a while but not forever. The reason for this is that B is the second strongest note in the key of E. This is because of it’s position in the harmonic series, but this lesson is supposed to be about phrase separation and not composition so I’ll leave that avenue of investigation where it is… for now. What is clear however is that the second phrase begins and more importantly ENDS on E. And it’s for this reason that it has the finality that the first phrase lacks.

Phrase Separation

Hopefully you now have an understanding of how phrases work and more importantly where they begin and end. So how do we use this to tidy up our performance?

Let’s describe a scenario with which all musicians-to-be are very familiar:

You know your favourite piece very well. That is, you have it well memorised. The first verse begins at the 3rd fret. It then moves to the 5th, and back to the 3rd again. It then leaps up to the 12th before resolving at the 7th position. The band/metronome/drum track is playing and you begin.

Halfway through the first bit, you already have part of your mind on the next bit at the 5th. As a result, you don’t notice that you’re not playing the first bit well, but it’s too late to do anything about it because you have to move to the 5th, and you have to do it now. You arrive at the 5th a little erratically, and in order to keep time you play the phrase before your fingers are ideally placed. So you play the 5th fret part as sloppily as the beginning part. Add to this the fact that you have one eye on the next bit. And even if you manage to get through it, in the back of your mind you know that there‘s that horrible leap up to the 12th which you always mess up.

The end result is that you never give anything your full attention and the whole thing collapses around your ears like a poorly constructed shack. If this sounds familiar then you’re ready for phrase separation.

Examples

I’ve chosen two examples to demonstrate phrase separation. The first is Oh Well by Fleetwood Mac, which is primarily riff-based. And the second is Eric Clapton’s intro solo from Roger Waters’ The Pros and Cons of Hitch-hiking. So if you’re not familiar with either song, go and bone up before continuing. You don’t have to like, admire or even have the slightest desire to play the tunes. They’re simply there to demonstrate a principle that once learned, can be applied to whatever music floats your boat.

Example.1 Oh Well

-------|---------------------|------------------------------------|
-------|---------------------|------------------------------------|
-------|---------------------|------------------------------------|
-------|----0----------------|------------------------------------|
-------|0h2---2p0------------|------------------------------------|
-0h3-0-|----------3p0-0--0-0-|----------------------------------|

-------|------------------|---------------------------------------|
-------|------------------|---------------------------------------|
-------|------------------|---------------------------------------|
-------|----0-----2-------|---------------------------------------|
-------|0h2---0h2---------|---------------------------------------|
-0h3-0-|------------3-0-0-|---------------------------------------|

-------|---------------------|------------------------------------|
-------|---------------------|------------------------------------|
-------|---------------------|------------------------------------|
-------|----0----------------|------------------------------------|
-------|0h2---2p0------------|------------------------------------|
-0h3-0-|----------3p0-0--0-0-|----------------------------------|

-------|----------------------|-----------------------------------|
-------|----------------------|-----------------------------------|
-------|----------------------|-----------------------------------|
-------|----0-2-0-------------|-----------------------------------|
-------|0h2-------2-0---------|-----------------------------------|
-0h3-0-|--------------3-2-0-0-|-----------------------------------|

As you can see, the above piece of music is separated into four chunks. The empty bar at the end of each chunk is there to emphasise the idea that these parts should be played in isolation.Use a metronome or drum track to set a comfortable tempo. This should match the speed at which you feel comfortable, and not that set by the original recording (unless of course you’re happy at that speed).

Begin the drum track. Clearly visualise chunk 1. When you’re ready, come in at the correct point and play the first chunk in isolation. Let the drum track continue on alone. Don’t think about the second chunk because you’re not playing that one yet. Leave your hand roughly in position while the drum track plays on but relax and absorb what you just played. Was it neat? If yes you can think about chunk 2.

Clearly visualise chunk 2, and when you’re ready, wait for the correct time to rejoin the drum track and play it in isolation.

Approach all the chunks of whichever piece of music you wish to perform in this isolated way. It is, however, important to play to the beat and to play the chunks in consecutive order as they would appear during a fluent performance of the piece.

What if the answer to the question, “was it neat”, were no?

In the event of the individual chunks being performed sloppily despite being separated, we have several possible causes.

Do you really know the piece; is it properly memorized? If no, work on it some more until you can visualise each part in your mind’s eye.

Have you set the tempo a little too high? Do you feel as if you’re always rushing to keep up, and having to play things before you’re quite ready? If so, slow it down to the point were you feel totally at ease.

Are you playing it at a comfortable speed but it’s still a little untidy? Are you unintentionally playing neighbouring strings, or playing the odd dead note, or not getting enough definition in terms of tone? Are the accents falling on the wrong notes? If so, you can break the chunk up into micro chunks, and play those in the isolated way described above.

For example, chunk 1 of Oh Well could be broken up as follows:

-------|---|------|---|--------|---|-------|
-------|---|------|---|--------|---|-------|
-------|---|------|---|--------|---|-------|
-------|---|----0-|---|--------|---|-------|
-------|---|0h2---|---|2p0-----|---|-------|
-0h3-0-|---|------|---|----3p0-|---|0--0-0-|

Again, it’s important to play the micro chunks exactly as they would appear if the tune were being performed in an unbroken way. This can be tricky. If you do find it difficult to play these micro chunks in isolation, instantly and cleanly, then the piece is beyond your current technical ability and you simply need to spend more time on general technical development. We’ll use example 2 to see how phrase separation could help expose our technical shortfalls, and give us templates from which we can create entire technical exercises. These will give us a comprehensive workout in exactly the areas where they‘re most needed.Example.2 The Pros And Cons Of Hitch-hiking

|------|---|------|---|------------------|---|--------|---|----8-|-|
|----8-|---|------|---|------------------|---|--------|---|------|-|
|7s9---|---|9s7p5-|---|7b8-5b6-----------|---|--------|---|7s9---|-|
|------|---|------|---|--------7p5---5-5-|---|----5-5-|---|------|-|
|------|---|------|---|------------7-----|---|5h7-----|---|------|-|
|------|---|------|---|------------------|---|--------|---|------|-|

|----------|---|--------------|---|--------|---|
|8h10-8----|---|--------------|---|--------|---|
|-------7h8|---|7b9-5---5h7-5-|---|----7-9-|---|
|----------|---|------7-------|---|7so-----|---|
|----------|---|--------------|---|--------|---|
|----------|---|--------------|---|--------|---|--

|------------------------------------------------|---|----------|--|
|-----7-----7----7----7----7----7----7----7------|---|7s8-8---8-|--|
|9b11-9b11--9b11-9b11-9b11-9b11-9b11-9b11-11r9---|---|------9---|--|
|----------------------------------------------9-|---|----------|--|
|------------------------------------------------|---|----------|--|
|------------------------------------------------|---|----------|--|

|------10-10---------|---|-----------|
|10b12----10b12r10-8-|---|--8h10p8-8-|
|--------------------|---|9----------|
|--------------------|---|-----------|
|--------------------|---|-----------|
|--------------------|---|-----------|

Before we start, remember that this is just a template. The solo you might be working on may be more complex. It doesn’t matter. The principle remains the same.Okay so let’s look at the first chunk, in which we slide up to the 9th of the G string and then play the G note at the 8th of the B string. Let’s say we’re having trouble playing this isolated phrase smoothly. We’ve tried playing it slower. We’ve played it lots of times and it still feels awkward. The likelihood is that we simply lack the technique to execute this phrase properly.

First thing to do is congratulate yourself for exposing a chink in your musical armour. This same musical flaw is probably letting you down on a regular basis. So it’s good that we’ve found it.

So let’s examine the mechanics of the phrase. It involves picking the string, sliding up one whole step, and then playing a note on a neighbouring string. So instead of playing the same phrase over and over until we’re sick of the sight of it, we can create a comprehensive exercise using a variety of fingerings, string pairs and positions. This should create a thorough workout perfectly tailored to this particular technicality.

Sliding Exercise

1. Use finger 2 to slide and finger 1 to play the note on the higher string. Then repeat the exercise using fingers 3 and 2, and finally 4 and 3 to complete the set.

|----6-|------|------|------|------|
|5s7---|----6-|------|------|------|
|------|5s7---|----6-|------|------|
|------|------|5s7---|----6-|------|
|------|------|------|5s7---|----6-|
|------|------|------|------|5s7---|

2. Use finger 3 to slide and 1 to play note on higher string. Repeat with fingers 4 and 2.

|----5-|------|------|------|------|
|5s7---|----5-|------|------|------|
|------|5s7---|----5-|------|------|
|------|------|5s7---|----5-|------|
|------|------|------|5s7---|----5-|
|------|------|------|------|5s7---|

3. Use finger 4 to slide and 1 to play high note.

|----4-|------|------|------|------|
|5s7---|----4-|------|------|------|
|------|5s7---|----4-|------|------|
|------|------|5s7---|----4-|------|
|------|------|------|5s7---|----4-|
|------|------|------|------|5s7---|

4. Use finger 1 both to slide and play high note by playing a mini bar. Remember to cease the slid note after high note is played. We don’t want a 2 note harmony. Just a slight overlap to maintain flow. Repeat the exercise using fingers 2, 3 and 4.

|----7-|------|------|------|------|
|5s7---|----7-|------|------|------|
|------|5s7---|----7-|------|------|
|------|------|5s7---|----7-|------|
|------|------|------|5s7---|----7-|
|------|------|------|------|5s7---|

As you can see, we’re moving systematically through a variety of different approaches to the same scenario. If we were to introduce a further dimension in terms of fret position, we could create a dizzying number of exercises. But we have to be sensible with our limited practice time. If we’ve put aside 2 hours of every day specifically for technical development, we don’t want to spend half of that on this one small area of guitar playing. 5 or 10 minutes would be a more appropriate amount of time.We could examine the rest of the solo and create a bunch of exercises to polish up every technical element we can find. But this solo might not be one you wish to learn, and only you can find which elements need work. So go off and find a solo that’s within your technical ability and see if you can find a weakness or two. And after that, try something a little more challenging. Seek out those weaknesses!

Rhythm Guitar For Intermediate To Advanced Players

By Pwnzor on Friday, January 29th, 2010 | No Comments

Right, first a little bit of background. This is my first lesson I have ever written, and as such I can only hope it meets the standards people are looking for. I was searching around sites the other day for some information on advance guitar rhythms, being more of a rhythm than a lead guitarist myself. Having been unable to find much that was aimed at the more technically advanced guitarist, I decided to piece together the knowledge I have gained over my years playing guitar. This article is as such aimed at an intermediate to advanced player, looking to strengthen their right hand, and left-to-right hand synchronisation. Those reading this article should already have a reasonable understanding of metres and timings, such as 16th and 32th notes. This is not a lead guitar lesson! Please don’t read this expecting an article on soloing techniques such as sweeps, alternate picking, legato, and vibrato e.t.c. If this article is received well I may consider other such lessons, but for know I’m going to stick to the rhythm side of playing.

Ok, now we’ve got that out the way, onto our first technique. A rhythm guitarist has a multitude of techniques out there for his use. The first of these, and in my opinion one of the most important and widely used, is the down-stroke (in this article the symbol for down-stroke will be “v”). The following exercise will help to improve your right-hand strength and stamina. Try to play this exercise cleanly and smoothly, with as little slipping or missing of the strings as possible. A metronome may help to keep you in time, but don’t set it too fast to play with, try to find a speed which is comfortable but still challenging, and just go until failure. Punching to far above your ability level will not help to increase your abilities faster, it may in fact hinder your progress.

Key:
C – 1/4 Note
E – 1/8 Note
S – 1/16 Note
T – 1/32 Note
v – Down-Stroke
^ – Up-Stroke

Exercise 1: The Down-stroke (Check out the middle section of Dream Theater’s “Pull Me Under”)

  E E E E E E E E   E E E E E E E E
|–––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––|
|–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–|–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–|
  v v v v v v v v   v v v v v v v v

So, the exercise above is designed to strengthen your right forearm in preparation for the more complex rhythms ahead. Once you can play this rhythm at around 180bpm for at least 2 minutes solidly without tiring, then you are well on the way to becoming a much better rhythm guitarist.Exercise 2: Alternate Picking (Check out the intro of Trivium’s “Enter the Conflagration”)

  S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S   S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–|–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–|
  v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^   v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^

This second exercise introduces us to another technique commonly used in pretty much every style of music involving a guitar. Each note should be picked cleanly and evenly, alternating between down and up-strokes. I’m not going to insult you by explaining what an up-stroke is, ‘cause if you are reading this then you should already know, right? Anyways, try playing this technique with a metronome again, aiming at around the 180bpm mark for advanced players. Oh, and for those of you who are thinking “Yup, that’s me, I’m amazing, he called me advanced”, just shut up and go back to having no social life, or go for 250bpm, then you can happily boast your asses off. But not here. No one cares.Exercise 3: The Gallop (Check out the Breakdown to Lamb of God’s “Black Label”)

  S S E  S S E  S S E  S S E   S S E  S S E  S S E  S S E
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––-–|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–0–0–0––0–0–0––0–0–0––0–0–0–|–0–0–0––0–0–0––0–0–0––0–0–0–|
  v ^ v  v ^ v  v ^ v  v ^ v   v ^ v  v ^ v  v ^ v  v ^ v

This third technique is widely used in death and speed metal, giving a sharp and aggressive feel to the rhythm of the music. This technique was first popularised by English metal band Iron Maiden, in particular verse and chorus rhythms in their songs involved high speed repetitions of the move. This move should create a one-two-three-rest one-two-three-rest feel to your rhythms. Perhaps start really slow, counting the beats in your head or out loud, to a metronome of course, and gradually up the tempo as you feel more confident. Yet again, do not go too far above your comfortable level, as the faster you go the sloppier you become, and you may develop bad habits. I know I did and so cannot stress this point enough.Exercise 4 + 5: Adding Complexity (Check out Paul Gilbert’s “Technical Difficulties”)

 |–3–|    |–3–|   |–3–|   |–3–|    |–3–|   |–3–|    |–3–|   |–3–|
  S S S E  S S S E  S S S E  S S S E   S S S E  S S S E  S S S E  S S S E
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–0–0–0–0––0–0–0–0––0–0–0–0––0–0–0–0–|–0–0–0–0––0–0–0–0––0–0–0–0––0–0–0–0–|
  v ^ v ^  v ^ v ^  v ^ v ^  v ^ v ^   v ^ v ^  v ^ v ^  v ^ v ^  v ^ v ^

Yeah, it’s impossible to write triplets in the new version of Word that line up, which kinda sucks. Anyways, this exercise expands on the alternate picking idea, using a more complex rhythm note; the 16th note triplet. Try this at around 150bpm for advanced guys, or maybe 100 – 120bpm for less technically proficient players (Don’t worry, you’ll get there eventually).

  S E  S E  S E  S E  S S S S   S E  S E  S E  S E  S S S S
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–0–0––0–0––0–0––0–0––0–0–0–0–|–0–0––0–0––0–0––0–0––0–0–0–0–|
  v ^  ^ v  v ^  ^ v  v ^ v ^   v ^  ^ v  v ^  ^ v  v ^ v ^

This is out last technique I’m going to cover today. Don’t know what to call this one, so I’m going to call it the Up-Down Gallop, ‘cause that’s kinda what it is. This is one of my personal favourite rhythms, especially coupled with bouncing notes on the E-String on every 1st note of the couples. This in turn can be combined with hammer-ons and pull-offs, creating a really funky and syncopated rhythm, which sounds and look kinda cool, especially with the constant up-down drill of the right hand. This rhythm may look easy in theory, but is definitely not for the faint hearted, and only those completely secure with the other techniques I have covered should attempt this. Just go for this at any tempo you feel like. There was no tempo I could find which would prove a challenge enough for those who are able to complete all other challenges I have set throughout the text.This concludes my “Rhythm Guitar for Intermediate to Advanced Players” lesson. I hope you have enjoyed this lesson, and it has helped to push you into new areas of playing and new styles of music. I know these techniques certainly gave me the edge I needed to create far more complex and interesting songs.

Tapping Scales and Arpeggios

By Pwnzor on Friday, January 29th, 2010 | No Comments

In this lesson we will cover:

01. Tapping on all strings and uting unwanted fret noise
02. Playing and constructing arpeggios
03. Tapping scales
04. Using these techinques to make a lick

Hopefully after this you should have good knowledge of tapping scales and arpeggios, how to make them and use them musically.

Tapping On All Strings without Unwanted Fret Noise

Ok we all know to to tap, on pretty much any string, it can be a fairly simple process, but if your tapping on say the A string and then quickly skip to a tapping lick on the B string and back and forth, this can produce unwanted string noise and/or make the notes not sound clearly.

Lets take this lick first:

#tapped notes are in brackets()

E|-----------------------7h(12)p10p7------------------------------
B|----------------------------------------------------------------
G|-------------7h(12)p9p7-------------7h(12)p9p7------------------
D|----------------------------------------------------------------
A|--7h(14)p10p7---------------------------------7h(14)p10p7-------
E|----------------------------------------------------------------

In this lick, instead of normal tapping where you fret the notes then tap and pull off the rest, we are going to hold the first note, so for this lick the 7th fret which we are going to hammer-on from nowhere, to do this simply press down the fret quickly and then tap the bracketed 14th fret, then hammer-on the next note, the 10th fret and pull off to the 7 again, so like this:Hold 7th, tap 14th, hammer-on 10 from the 7 and then pull off back to 9th fret.

It sounds confusing but this is the style were going to use as holding down all the frets and pulling them all off will be quite hard to do quickly and efficeintly.

If you try and play this lick you mite notice a few things:

1. The notes aren’t all sounded clearly

2. A lot of fret buzz and unwanted noise

3. The notes on the lower strings don’t sound clearly

To solve this follow these steps:

1. Make sure each tap is emphasised, especailly on the A string, tap quickly and strongly and make sure you pull off when you tap with your finger.

2. There are 2 main ways to mute the strings, these are the KEY techniques to playing these arpeggios correctly:

Fretting Hand Technique:

This is usefull in all aspects of playing but especailly in tapping, you want to try to place your index finger when playing notes slightly above the fret, so the tip is just making contact with the string above. This means that the string above is now clearly muted without wou worrying about it. As for the string below, with the index finger moved up slightly try and angle your finger so the under bit of your finger is resting on the string, this now mutes the string below. Practice this and eventually you will notice that you wont get much unwanted noise from over strings.

Right Hand Technique:

Allthough you may think the right hand just taps and leaves the fretboard until the next tap, you might want to consider keeping your hand resting near the bridge. Why? This then allows you to mute the strings slightly, don’t put too much pressure, just have your hand rite above the strings ready to mute, focus on muting when you jump to a new string. Another good technique I use it to slightly angle my hand, have it so my wrist is aiming downwards slightly when descending and aiming upwards when ascending, this then means your hand is followig your fretting hand and muting behind it was it goes, so every string you leave will be muted and the next string will be free of noise and ready for a clean tap.

With all this advice you should practice a few simple licks to perfect your technique, it doesnt’t really matter what you tap, for now, as long as you get your tapping clean. Having quite a bit of gain and mids on your amp will help too. Here are a few simple tapping licks to practice, these aren’t any paticular shape or arpeggio, just to help you practice. It doesnt’t really matter what finger you use for hammering-on, but I do advise to use your pinky more, you get more reach and it will definnitly help you on the lower strings and with certain shapes.

E|----------------------------5h(12)p8p5--------------------------
B|----------------------------------------------------------------
G|--------------5h(12)p8p5----------------5h(12)p8p5--------------
D|----------------------------------------------------------------
A|--5h(12)p8p5--------------------------------------5h(12)p8p5----
E|----------------------------------------------------------------

E|-------------------------------12h(19)p15p12----------------------------
B|------------------------------------------------------------------------
G|-----------------12h(19)p15p12---------------12h(19)p15p12--------------
D|------------------------------------------------------------------------
A|--12h(19)p15p12-------------------------------------------12h(19)p15p12-
E|------------------------------------------------------------------------

E|-------------------------4h(11)p7p4-----------------------------
B|----------------------------------------------------------------
G|--------------5h(12)p8p5------------5h(12)p8p5------------------
D|----------------------------------------------------------------
A|--6h(13)p9p6-----------------------------------6h(13)p9p6-------
E|----------------------------------------------------------------

# don’t forget you don’t have to play the A, G and E strings, mix it up, you can tap a note twice, tapping the A string and the E string twice can really make your lick stand out

Playing And Constructing Arpeggios

Now weve got the technique down lets learn how to construct and play tapped arpeggios. Well we all now an arpeggio is just the individual notes of a chord play seperatly, so lets take a A minor chord. This is made up of notes A C and E. So all we do is find these notes on each string and play them like so:

E|–5h(12)p8p5–5h(12)p8p5–5h(12)p8p5–5h(12)p8p5–5h(12)p8p5——

On the E string the notes are 5 – A 8 – C 12 – E

So in basic forms this is an A minor arpeggio on the high E string. Now all we need to do is work out the notes on the other strings, like so:

E|--0--5--8--12--17--20--24---------------------------------------
B|--1--5--10--13--17--22------------------------------------------
G|--2--5--9--13--17--21-------------------------------------------
D|--2--7--10--13--19--22------------------------------------------
A|--0--3--7--12--15--19--24---------------------------------------
E|--0--5--8--12--17--20--24---------------------------------------

All these notes are A C or E, so any combination of these in a tapped lick would be a A minor arpeggio. So for example:

E|-----------------------5h(12)p8p5-------------------------------
B|----------------------------------------------------------------
G|-------------2h(9)p5p2------------2h(9)p5p2---------------------
D|----------------------------------------------------------------
A|--3h(12)p7p3--------------------------------3h(12)p7p3----------
E|----------------------------------------------------------------

E|----------------------------------------------------------------
B|--------------------------5h(13)p10p5---------------------------
G|----------------------------------------------------------------
D|-------------7h(13)p10p7--------------7h(13)p10p7---------------
A|----------------------------------------------------------------
E|--5h(12)p8p5--------------------------------------5h(12)p8p5----

E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
B|------------------------------13h(22)p17p13----------------------------
G|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
D|----------------13h(22)p19p13---------------13h(22)p19p13--------------
A|--12h(19)p15p12-------------------------------------------12h(19)p15p12
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Any mixture of these would be a successful A minor arpeggio. You don’t have to just use 3 note chords, you can use anything, diminished, major 7th, suss or add chords. All you have to do is know the notes of the chord and find them on the fretboard. So for example a C major 7th has the notes B C E and G. Although we can put these all on one string, it’s easier to divide them up accross the strings like so:

E|--0--3--7--8--12--15--19--20--24--------------------------------
B|--0--1--5--8--12--16--17--19--20--------------------------------
G|--0--4--5--9--12--16--17--21------------------------------------
D|--2--5--8--9--14--17--20--21------------------------------------
A|--2--3--7--10--14--15--19--22-----------------------------------
E|--0--3--7--8--12--15--19--20--24--------------------------------

As long as your lick has all of the notes alltogether it will sound right. So an example lick would be:

E|-----------------------------------3h(12)p7p3-------------------
B|----------------------------------------------------------------
G|------------------------4h(12)p7p4------------4h(12)p7p4--------
D|-------------2h(10)p5p2-----------------------------------------
A|----------------------------------------------------------------
E|--3h(12)p7p3----------------------------------------------------

E|----------------------------------------------------------------
B|-----------------------------------5h(12)p8p5-------------------
G|----------------------------------------------------------------
D|--2h(10)p5p2----------------------------------------------------
A|------------------------2h(7)p3p2-------------------------------
E|-------------3h(12)p7p3-----------------------------------------

And there you have a C major 7th tapped arpeggio!

Tapping Scales

Tapping scales is actually a lot easier than it sounds. A bit like the arpeggio, you use the notes of the scale to construct the tapping lick. Here we can see a simple A minor pentatonic tapped scale:

E|--------------------------------------------------------5h(12)p8p5--------
B|---------------------------------------------5h(13)p8p5-------------------
G|----------------------------------5h(12)p7p5------------------------------
D|-----------------------5h(12)p7p5-----------------------------------------
A|------------5h(12)p8p5----------------------------------------------------
E|--5(12)p8p5---------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see we have the simple pentatonic box shape, and the tapped notes are all part of the scale too so it fits. If we wanted to make a C major scale tapping lick, it should be easy, as we know the C major scale has the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, G, we simply use these in this lick, making sure all the notes consist of any combination of these, as long as your lick, no matter how long or short contains all of these notes at least once, it will make a legit scale tapping lick. So heres an example of a C major scale tapping excersise:

E|------------------------------------------------------------9h(15)p12p9---
B|------------------------------------------------9h(15)p12p9---------------
G|------------------------------------7h(14)p10p7---------------------------
D|------------------------7h(14)p10p7---------------------------------------
A|-------------5h(12)p8p5---------------------------------------------------
E|--5h(12)p8p5--------------------------------------------------------------

I could of used notes anywhere as long as the contained all the notes from the scale, you can split this up, descend and ascend and move the shapes an octave along.

Using These Techinques To Make A Lick

Now weve understood these techniques heres a brief description on how to use them musically. it’s actually really simple, think of any chord progression you like, now turn it into tapped arpeggios. So we can have anything from a E, D, C progression to a Am, C, G, Em progression, it will work well. For example heres a G major 7th, C major, A minor progression:

G major 7th

E|------------------------------10h(15)p14p10------------------------------
B|-------------------------------------------------------------------------
G|----------------11h(16)p12p11---------------11h(16)p12p11----------------
D|-------------------------------------------------------------------------
A|--10h(17)p14p10-------------------------------------------10h(17)p14p10--
E|-------------------------------------------------------------------------

C major

E|-------------------------7h(12)p10p7----------------------------
B|----------------------------------------------------------------
G|--------------7h(12)p9p7-------------7h(12)p9p7-----------------
D|----------------------------------------------------------------
A|--7h(14)p10p7-----------------------------------7h(14)p10p7-----
E|----------------------------------------------------------------

A minor

E|------------------------5h(11)p8p5------------------------------
B|----------------------------------------------------------------
G|-------------6h(12)p9p6------------6h(12)p9p6-------------------
D|----------------------------------------------------------------
A|--5h(12)p9p5----------------------------------5h(12)p9p5--------
E|----------------------------------------------------------------

Hope this lesson helps you out.

Sweep Picking Fluently

By Pwnzor on Friday, January 29th, 2010 | No Comments

Sweep picking isn’t for beginners in my perspective. You MUST learn an abundance of scales and different chords in those scales to get sweep picking.

Sweeping is pretty much, instead of picking, your hand moves down and up the string in one solid motion, sweeping scales or single notes. Every note is sounded out separately.

Some scales you can sweep are the E minor scale in Aeolian mode, Ionian, or Dorian. I forgot which one but it’s one of them so try all? Or for practice, you can sweep these tabs I found on another site. Please start Very slow!

d = down stroke
u = up stroke

  d  d  d  u  u  u
e|--------12-14--------|
b|-----13-------13-----|
g|--14-------------12--|
d|---------------------|
a|---------------------|
e|---------------------|

Trying sweep picking with hammer-ons and pull-offs are very melodic-metal like and are used A LOT without you even knowing. Try this VERY slow.

  d     u  d  d  d        u  d  d  d        u
e|--15p12----------12h15p12----------12h15p12-----|
b|--------13----13----------13----13----------13--|
g|-----------12----------------12-----------------|
d|------------------------------------------------|
a|------------------------------------------------|
e|------------------------------------------------|

My theory is, and probably many other guitarist’s theory also, is that you must play on clean first. No distortion. IF you can master this technique on clean, and make each not sound out perfectly, you have mastered it.

Here is another sweep I found on a site that you could practice also. I love this one, of its simplicity, and the fact it combines both sweeping, AND hammer-ons and pull-offs!

    d     u  u  d  d  d  d        u  u
e|--19p15----------------15h19p15--------|
b|--------17----------17----------17-----|
g|-----------16----16----------------16--|
d|--------------15-----------------------|
a|---------------------------------------|
e|---------------------------------------|

    d  d  d  d        u  u  d  d  d  d        u  u
e|-----------13h17p13----------------13h17p13--------|
b|--------15----------15----------15----------15-----|
g|-----14----------------14----14----------------14--|
d|--13----------------------13-----------------------|
a|---------------------------------------------------|
e|---------------------------------------------------|

Sweep picking is something you HAVE to practice if you’re going to get it perfect. I say practice each of these three tabs 20 minutes to get the motions down, then increase the speed. Every time you run through all these, increase your tempo. Soon you will get sweep picking like a pro!

Guitar Lesson – Playing Fast

By Pwnzor on Friday, January 29th, 2010 | No Comments

In this lesson were going to cover all aspects of playing fast guitar, including speed picked runs, legato phrases and economy picking phrases. Hopefully at the end of this lesson you should have some useful warm up excersises, tips on all picking aspects and lots of excersises to practise with.

This lesson will be split into 5 sections :

1. Warm up excersises
2. Alternative picking
3. Economy picking
4. Legato playing
5. Using these tips musically

Warm Up Excersises

These are a list of simple excersises that are useful for quickly warming up both your hands before playing these excersises. I use these almost everyday and they don’t take long but they get your hands all warmed up, getting blood into your hands and getting the muscles pumped into your fingers so after a quick few excersises you feel like youve been playing for hours.

First were going to warm up, were going to give all your fingers are work out. The main focus of warming up fast though is to aim to get your index and pinky fingers warmed up as the rest of the hand will follow. Lets get started:

E|----------------------1h2p1------------------------------------------2h3-
B|------------------1h2-------2p1----------------------------------2h3-----
G|--------------1h2---------------2p1--------------------------2h3---------
D|----------1h2-----------------------2p1------------------2h3-------------
A|------1h2-------------------------------2p1----------2h3-----------------
E|--1h2---------------------------------------2p1--2h3---------------------

E|--3p2-----------------------------------------3h4p3-----------------------
B|------3p2---------------------------------3h4-------4p3-------------------
G|----------3p2-------------------------3h4---------------4p3---------------
D|--------------3p2-----------------3h4-----------------------4p3-----------
A|------------------3p2---------3h4-------------------------------4p3-------
E|----------------------3p2-3h4---------------------------------------4p3---

E|----------------------4h5p4-----------------------------------------5h6---
B|------------------4h5-------5p4---------------------------------5h6-------
G|--------------4h5---------------5p4-------------------------5h6-----------
D|----------4h5-----------------------5p4-----------------5h6---------------
A|------4h5-------------------------------5p4---------5h6-------------------
E|--4h5---------------------------------------5p4-5h6-----------------------

E|--6p5-----------------------------------------6h7p6-----------------------
B|------6p5---------------------------------6h7-------7p6-------------------
G|----------6p5-------------------------6h7---------------7p6---------------
D|--------------6p5-----------------6h7-----------------------7p6-----------
A|------------------6p5---------6h7-------------------------------7p6-------
E|----------------------6p5-6h7---------------------------------------7p6---

This is an excersise which can be replayed with any 2 fingers. To also aide your picking hand you can alternate pick descending ( up, down, up) and sweep (up, up, up) ascending, or mix it up, but don’t worry the main aim is to warm up your fretting hand fingers. With this excersise use:

1. Index and middle
2. Middle and ring
3. Ring and pinky

E|----------------------1h3p1-----------------------------------------2h4-
B|------------------1h3------3p1----------------------------------2h4-----
G|--------------1h3--------------3p1--------------------------2h4---------
D|----------1h3----------------------3p1------------------2h4-------------
A|------1h3------------------------------3p1----------2h4-----------------
E|--1h3--------------------------------------3p1--2h4---------------------

E|--4p2-----------------------------------------3h5p3-----------------------
B|------4p2---------------------------------3h5-------5p3-------------------
G|----------4p2-------------------------3h5---------------5p3---------------
D|--------------4p2-----------------3h5-----------------------5p3-----------
A|------------------4p2---------3h5-------------------------------5p3-------
E|----------------------4p2-3h5---------------------------------------5p3---

E|----------------------4h6p4-----------------------------------------5h7---
B|------------------4h6-------6p4---------------------------------5h7-------
G|--------------4h6---------------6p4-------------------------5h7-----------
D|----------4h6-----------------------6p4-----------------5h7---------------
A|------4h6-------------------------------6p4---------5h7-------------------
E|--4h6---------------------------------------6p4-5h7-----------------------

E|--7p5-----------------------------------------6h8p6-----------------------
B|------7p5---------------------------------6h8-------8p6-------------------
G|----------7p5-------------------------6h8---------------8p6---------------
D|--------------7p5-----------------6h8-----------------------8p6-----------
A|------------------7p5---------6h8-------------------------------8p6-------
E|----------------------7p5-6h8---------------------------------------8p6---

Ok this time use:

1. Index and ring fingers
2. Middle and pinky fingers

E|--------------------------------1h2h3p2p1---------------------------------
B|--------------------------1h2h3-----------3p2p1---------------------------
G|--------------------1h2h3-----------------------3p2p1---------------------
D|--------------1h2h3-----------------------------------3p2p1---------------
A|--------1h2h3-----------------------------------------------3p2p1---------
E|--1h2h3----------------------------------------------------------3p2p1----

E|--------------------------------2h3h4p3p2---------------------------------
B|--------------------------2h3h5-----------4p3p2---------------------------
G|--------------------2h3h4-----------------------4p3p2---------------------
D|--------------2h3h4-----------------------------------4p3p2---------------
A|--------2h3h4----------------------------------------------4p3p2----------
E|--2h3h4----------------------------------------------------------4p3p2----

E|--------------------------------3h4h5p4p3---------------------------------
B|--------------------------3h4h5-----------5p4p3---------------------------
G|--------------------3h4h5-----------------------5p4p3---------------------
D|--------------3h4h5-----------------------------------5p4p3---------------
A|--------2h4h5----------------------------------------------5p4p3----------
E|--3h4h5----------------------------------------------------------5p4p3----

E|--------------------------------4h5h6p5p4---------------------------------
B|--------------------------4h5h6-----------6p5p4---------------------------
G|--------------------4h5h6-----------------------6p5p4---------------------
D|--------------4h5h6-----------------------------------6p5p4---------------
A|--------4h5h6----------------------------------------------6p5p4----------
E|--4h5h6----------------------------------------------------------6p5p4----

E|--------------------------------5h6h7p6p5---------------------------------
B|--------------------------5h6h7-----------7p6p5---------------------------
G|--------------------5h6h7-----------------------7p6p5---------------------
D|--------------5h6h7-----------------------------------7p6p5---------------
A|--------5h6h7----------------------------------------------7p6p5----------
E|--5h6h7----------------------------------------------------------7p6p5----

This time use:

1. Index ,middle and ring fingers
2. Middle ,ring and pinky fingers

E|--------------------------------1h2h4p2p1---------------------------------
B|--------------------------1h2h4-----------4p2p1---------------------------
G|--------------------1h2h4-----------------------4p2p1---------------------
D|--------------1h2h4-----------------------------------4p2p1---------------
A|--------1h2h4----------------------------------------------4p2p1----------
E|--1h2h4----------------------------------------------------------4p2p1----

E|--------------------------------2h3h5p3p2---------------------------------
B|--------------------------2h3h5-----------5p3p2---------------------------
G|--------------------2h3h5-----------------------5p3p2---------------------
D|--------------2h3h5-----------------------------------5p3p2---------------
A|--------2h3h5----------------------------------------------5p3p2----------
E|--2h3h5----------------------------------------------------------5p3p2----

E|--------------------------------3h4h6p4p3---------------------------------
B|--------------------------3h4h6-----------6p4p3---------------------------
G|--------------------3h4h6-----------------------6p4p3---------------------
D|--------------3h4h6-----------------------------------6p4p3---------------
A|--------3h4h6----------------------------------------------6p4p3----------
E|--3h4h6----------------------------------------------------------6p4p3----

E|--------------------------------4h5h7p5p4---------------------------------
B|--------------------------4h5h7-----------7p5p4---------------------------
G|--------------------4h5h7-----------------------7p5p4---------------------
D|--------------4h5h7-----------------------------------7p5p4---------------
A|--------4h5h7----------------------------------------------7p5p4----------
E|--4h5h7----------------------------------------------------------7p5p4----

This one uses:

1. Index ,middle and pinky

E|--------------------------------1h3h4p3p1---------------------------------
B|--------------------------1h3h4-----------4p3p1---------------------------
G|--------------------1h3h4-----------------------4p3p1---------------------
D|--------------1h3h4-----------------------------------4p3p1---------------
A|--------1h3h4----------------------------------------------4p3p1----------
E|--1h3h4----------------------------------------------------------4p3p1----

E|--------------------------------2h4h5p4p2---------------------------------
B|--------------------------2h4h5-----------5p4p2---------------------------
G|--------------------2h4h5-----------------------5p4p2---------------------
D|--------------2h4h5-----------------------------------5p4p2---------------
A|--------2h4h5----------------------------------------------5p4p2----------
E|--2h4h5----------------------------------------------------------5p4p2----

E|--------------------------------3h5h6p5p3---------------------------------
B|--------------------------3h5h6-----------6p5p3---------------------------
G|--------------------3h5h6-----------------------6p5p3---------------------
D|--------------3h5h6-----------------------------------6p5p3---------------
A|--------3h5h6----------------------------------------------6p5p3----------
E|--3h5h6----------------------------------------------------------6p5p3----

E|--------------------------------4h6h7p6p4---------------------------------
B|--------------------------4h6h7-----------7p6p4---------------------------
G|--------------------4h6h7-----------------------7p6p4---------------------
D|--------------4h6h7-----------------------------------7p6p4---------------
A|--------4h6h7----------------------------------------------7p6p4----------
E|--4h6h7----------------------------------------------------------7p6p4----

This one uses:

1. Index ,ring and pinky fingers.

Last one now:

E|------------------------------------------1h2h3h4p3p2p1----------------
B|----------------------------------1h2h3h4---------------4p3p2p1--------
G|--------------------------1h2h3h4-------------------------------4p3p2p1
D|------------------1h2h3h4----------------------------------------------
A|----------1h2h3h4------------------------------------------------------
E|--1h2h3h4--------------------------------------------------------------

E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
B|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
G|--4p3p2p1-------------------------------------------------2h3h4h5------
D|----------4p3p2p1---------------------------------2h3h4h5--------------
A|------------------4p3p2p1-----------------2h3h4h5----------------------
E|--------------------------4p3p2p1 2h3h4h5------------------------------

E|----------2h3h4h5p4p3p2------------------------------------------------
B|--2h3h4h5---------------5p4p3p2----------------------------------------
G|--------------------------------5p4p3p2--------------------------------
D|----------------------------------------5p4p3p2------------------------
A|------------------------------------------------5p4p3p2----------------
E|--------------------------------------------------------5p4p3p2-3h4h5h6

E|----------------------------------3h4h5h6p5p4p3------------------------
B|--------------------------3h4h5h6---------------6p5p4p3----------------
G|------------------3h4h5h6-------------------------------6p5p4p3--------
D|----------3h4h5h6-----------------------------------------------6p5p4p3
A|--3h4h5h6--------------------------------------------------------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------

E|----------------------------------------------------------4h5h6h7------
B|--------------------------------------------------4h5h6h7--------------
G|------------------------------------------4h5h6h7----------------------
D|----------------------------------4h5h6h7------------------------------
A|--6p5p4p3-----------------4h5h5h7--------------------------------------
E|----------6p5p4p3-4h5h6h7----------------------------------------------

E|--7p6p5p4--------------------------------------------------------------
B|----------7p6p5p4------------------------------------------------------
G|------------------7p6p5p4----------------------------------------------
D|--------------------------7p6p5p4--------------------------------------
A|----------------------------------7p6p5p4------------------------------
E|------------------------------------------7p6p5p4----------------------

You can pretty much guess what fingers are required here. Now you should be very warmed up, as mentioned earlier some of these hammer-ons and pull offs are quite hard and instead just pick the notes if it’s easier.

Alternative Picking

Alternative picking is probably the hardest, used by players like Michael Angelo and Buckethead, this picking style involves picking up and then down repeatly. Even if your changing strings you will have to have a constant up, down, up, down pattern. Alternative picking gives an aggressive, attacking sound when played. Below is a small excersise and we will discuss tips on getting your alternative picking accurate:

E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
B|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
G|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
D|-----------12-13-12----------------12-13-12----------------12-13-12----
A|--12-14-15----------15-14-12-14-15----------15-14-12-14-15-------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U

This is a simple repeat lick excersise, you can play this sort of thing almost anywhere to feel comfortable but we will use this one now for starters. Play this lick constantly using the up, down, up, down motion. So the main issue I’m sure you’l find here is the upstroke on the string change down and the downstroke on the string change up. Practise this likc super slow and build up speed then try these:

E|--8-7-------------------7-8-7-------------------7-8-7------------------
B|------8-7-----------7-8-------8-7-----------7-8-------8-7--------------
G|----------8-7-5-7-8---------------8-7-5-7-8---------------8-7-5--------
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
   D U D U D U D U D  U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D

E|--------------------12-14-15-14-12----------------------------------12-
B|-----------12-14-15----------------15-14-12----------------12-14-15----
G|--12-14-15----------------------------------15-14-12-14-15-------------
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
     D  U  D U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D

E|-----------10----------------10----------------10----------------10----
B|--------11----11----------11----11----------11----11----------11-------
G|-----12----------12----12----------12----12----------12----12----------
D|--11----------------11----------------11----------------11-------------
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U

That last one may seem tricky, as it’s so tempting to sweep/economy pick it, but if you can pull it off it’s very useful for training your picking hand. Remeber the key to this picking style is the ability to hit a new string below on an upstroke and a string above on a downstroke.

Economy Picking

Economy picking is a bit like alternative picking, up and down, but when you change string you pick in the direction of the change. So if you going to change to a string down you down stroke and a string up you upstroke. Try this example using economy picking:

E|---------------------------------------------------------------------
B|---------------------------------------------------------------------
G|---------------------------------------------------------------------
D|---------------------------------------------------------------------
A|----------9-12-10-9-10-12------------9-12-10-9-10-12------------9----
E|--9-10-12-----------------12-9-10-12-----------------12 9-10-12------
    D  U  D  D U  D U  D  U  U D U  D  D  U  D U  D  U  U D U  D  D

Notice how your up and downpicking but on the string change you follow the direction of the strings, it’s seems easier than alternative picking and gives are a more smooth, flowing sound, players like Yngwie Malmsteen use this technique a lot and it sounds great with legato playing. Try these out:

E|-----------12-14-15-17-15-14-12-------------12-14-15-17-15-14-12-------
B|--12-14-15----------------------15-12-14-15----------------------15----
G|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    D  U  D  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D   D  U  S  U  S  U  D  U

E|--------12-10-------------12-10-------------12-10-------------12-10----
B|-----13-------11-------13-------11-------13-------11-------13------11--
G|--14-------------12-14-------------12-14-------------12-14-----------12
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    D  D  D  U  U  U  D  D  D  U  U  U  D  D  D  U  U  U  D  D  D  U  U U

E|--------12-15p12---------12-15p12----------12-15p12----------12-15p12--
B|-----13---------13----13----------13----13----------13----13-----------
G|--12---------------12----------------12----------------12--------------
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    D  D  D  U   U   D  D  D  U     U   D  D  D  U   U  D   D   D  U

Last one look familiar, it’s a sweep picking shape. Economy picking is often refered to as sweep picking. So remeber, alternative pick on one string, pick with the direction of the string change when you change.

Legato Playing

Allthough technically not a picking style, it’s is useful in playing fast. Some players don’t prefer using legato and accuse it of “cheating”. Legato is just as technical and useful in fast playing as any other of the techniques were using. Joe Satriani uses a lot of legato playing in his songs and they’re incredibly fast. Legato is latin for “smoothly” and this technique does give an incredible smooth sound when played right. When hammer-ing on, make sure you hammer the string quickly and firmly, a lot of players only really use their middle or ring finger for this, but if you can train your pinky to do it you can reach whole new areas and create interesting licks. For pulling off, one of the main flaws players have is that when they pull off the accidently bend the string that they’re pulling off to downwards, this makes the pull off sound out of tune. Make sure the finger your pulling off to holds the string firmly in place and your pulling finger to pluck strick forcefully to get a loud, full pull off.Try these licks out:

E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
B|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
G|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
D|-------9-7h9------9-7h9------9-7h9------9-7h9------9-7h9------9 7h9----
A|--10p7-------10p7-------10p7-------10p7-------10p7-------10p7----------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------

E|--12h13p12h13-------------------------------------12h13p12h13----------
B|--------------12h13p12h13-------------12h13p12h13----------------------
G|--------------------------10h13p10h13----------------------------------
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------

E|----------7p5--------------7p5-------------7p5-------------------------
B|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
G|------5h7-----7p5------5h7-----7p5-----7p5-----7p5---------------------
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A|--5h7--------------5h7-------------5h7-------------5h7-----------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------

For the first excersise a good technique is to barre the A and D strings with your first finger and then use your pinky and/or ring fingers to handle the hammer-ons and pull offs. As for the last excersise many players have difficulty changing to a lower string for a pull off, remeber to firmly place your first finger on the 5th fret and pluck the 7th fret downwards with your other finger to get an accurate pull off.

Using These Tips Musically

So we have warmed up, learnt pciknig styles and legato playing, now what? Well if you wanna play a fast lick, a lot of players simply use small licks like the excersises together, a combination of a few licks you’ve used can create a large, fast solo. As long as your playing is in key with the song you can make lots of speedy solo’s using these small repeat excersises, like so:

E|--------------------12-14-15-14-12----------------------------------12-
B|-----------12-14-15----------------15-14-12----------------12-14-15----
G|--12-14-15----------------------------------15-14-12-14-15-------------
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------

E|--14-15-14-12-------------------------------------14h15p14h15----17b(19)
B|--------------15-14-12-----------------12---------------------14-------
G|-----------------------15-14-12--12h14----15b(17)----------------------
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------

E|-----------17-15-14----------------------------------------------------
B|--17-15-14-------------------15-14-12----------------------------------
G|--------------------15-14-12-------------------14-12-10----------------
D|--------------------------------------14-12-10-----------------12-10-9-
A|--------------------------------------------------------12-10-9--------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------

E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
B|-----------------------------------------------------------------15p12-
G|-----------------------------------------------------------15p12-------
D|------------------------------------------------9-10-12-14-------------
A|----------------9-10-12-10-9------------9-10-12------------------------
E|--12-10-9-10-12--------------12-9-10-12--------------------------------

E|--15p12----------------------------------------------------------------
B|--------15b(17)--------------------------------------------------------
G|----------------9h12---------9h12---------9h12---------9h12---------9--
D|---------------------12-9h12------12-9h12------12-9h12------12-9h12----
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------

E|-------9-12p9---------9-12p9---------9-12p9---------9-12p9-------------
B|----10--------10---10--------10---10--------10---10--------10b(12)-10--
G|--9--------------9--------------9--------------9-----------------------
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see all I did was use small licks together to create a large solo, now make your own.

Key Signatures Made Easy

By Pwnzor on Friday, January 29th, 2010 | No Comments

This ‘lesson’ relies heavily on the assumption that other learner guitarists will have run into the same problems as me. This of course might not be true. I’m guessing a bit here. I have on the other hand thought about it logically, and it’s seems to be an issue with the way a guitar works rather than with my own particular blind spot for at least 6 of the key signatures. So while writing this, it’s probably best if I abandon the all-encompassing group hug of “we”, and stick with the egotistical “I”.

As a beginner guitarist, I found myself becoming very familiar with keys such as, C, G, D, A, E and F, but when it came to keys such as, Ab, EB, Db etc., my mind would always take a vacation and leave me counting on my fingers.

So why do I know the key of D but not Db? Why can I reel off the notes of A as unthinkingly as if they were the letters of the alphabet, but with Ab, I have to refer to a mental chart?

I believe there are 2 factors at play here. The first is the design of the guitar, which lends itself to some keys and not others because of the availability of open strings. The second is that the unconscious mind only gives us access to the absolute minimum amount of information needed to perform any task, and keeps the rest locked-up tight.

It has been proven that the unconscious mind not only absorbs everything we experience, but also stores it… EVERYTHING! So if you glanced at a chart of key signatures 5 years ago, a hypnotist could refer you back to the time and have you reel it off as confidently as if you had it in front of you. Amazing!

The trouble is that our unconscious minds, as well as having a chart of all 12 key signatures, also know that we’re guitar players, and so we only need half of them.

If we’re honest, we guitar players are a pretty lazy bunch. If we want to play a song in Ab on an acoustic guitar, we can always slap a capo on the 1st fret, and think in G. If metal/rock guitarists want the more unusual feel of Eb minor, they tune down a half step and think in E minor. And because the shapes on a guitar fretboard are so movable, even in standard tuning with no capo, we can still get away with thinking A while we play in Bb. Can’t we? Surely it’s not just me who’s this lazy. It’s the way the mind works. Isn’t it?

Okay, I’ve accepted that no matter how much I study, my mind isn’t going to let me familiarise myself with the half of the key signatures that are less used. So here’s a trick I came up with.

I can’t believe no-one ever mentioned this. I’ve never read it anywhere. Perhaps it’s so obvious that people think it’s not worth mentioning. Maybe it’s just Captain Stupid here who took 20 years to realise it.

The fact is if you’re totally familiar with half of the key signatures, you have the means by which to get access to the other half. It’s unbelievably simple.

‘Author braces himself to be laughed at for not realising this sooner’.

If you know the key of G contains 1 sharp and it’s F, you also know that the key of Gb contains 1 natural and it’s also F. Everything else is flat: Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, F. If you know the key of D contains 2 sharps and they are F and C, Db contains 2 naturals, and they are F and C, everything else is flat: Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C. A has 3 sharps, F, C, and G. Ab has 3 naturals, F, C and G: Ab, Bb, C, DB, EB, F, G.

Adversely, if you know that the key of F contains 1 flat and it’s B, then F# contains 1 natural, and it’s B. Everything else is sharp: F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#, E#.

Key Signatures Explained

By Pwnzor on Friday, January 29th, 2010 | No Comments

What Is A Key Signature

A key signature is nothing more than the marks made at the start of a piece of music – or before a key change – that tell the musician which key the music is in. For example, in the key of G, a sharp sign would be written on the F line. It tells the musician that, unless otherwise indicated, all F’s are to be played sharp. This saves the composer having to write a # sign before every F on the score.

How To Write A Key Signature Correctly

A key contains seven notes. When writing the key signature, each of these seven scale degrees must have it’s own line on the staff. That is to say, each note has it’s own letter name, I.e, A, B, C, D, E, F and G. And each of these must be given a value of either flat (b), sharp (#), or natural (the line is left blank). This means that you can’t have two notes with the same name in one key signature. For instance A and A#, or Bb and B. The reason for this becomes obvious when you consider how one goes about leaving a line blank and writing a sharp or flat sign on it as well. This rule can introduce some confusing note names such as: Cb and E#.

The Twelve Most Commonly Used Key Signatures

There’ll be some amongst you (of the type I encountered after my last article) who’ll be dying to point out that ‘The Twelve Most Commonly Used Key Signatures’ is a bit of an oxymoron. But wo there horsey. Theoretically, the number of key signatures is infinite. Remember that they’re just names for things. Just as Bb and A# are 2 different names for the same thing. When dealing with key signatures, It’s better not to think in terms of pitch and fingerings. Again, I’d like to emphasis that this is about written music and not the fret or keyboard patterns.

So why is it preferable to mark the key as Ab rather than G#? Well, let’s use the circle of fifths to work our way through and find out.

KEY	No. of sharps
C	0
G	1 (F)
D	2 (F, C)
A	3 (F, C, G)
E	4 (F, C, G, D)
B	5 (F, C, G, D, A)
F#	6 (F, C, G, D, A, E)

At this point I’m going to substitute F# for Gb and continue moving up in fifths.

KEY	No of  flats
Gb	6 (B, E, A, D, G, C)
Db	5 (B, E, A, D, G)
Ab	4 (B, E, A, D)
Eb	3 (B, E, A)
Bb	2 (B, E)
F	1 (B)
C	0

So we began with C containing no sharps, and we moved through the key signatures in such a way as to arrive back at C, which also contains no flats. A perfect circle. And isn’t it a beautiful thing? Look at the symmetry. Not only do we move up in fifths to discover that the next key contains one more sharp, but we also move up in fifths to find out which sharp it is. F up to C, up to G etc. Adversely, if we start at C containing no flats and move DOWN in fifths, not only do we discover that the next key contains one more flat, but by moving down in fifths we also discover which flat it is. B down to E, Down to A etc. Wonderful!

So now we can see why we write in Bb and not A#. If, instead of substituting F# for Gb, we were to continue on with the first table, we’d find that C# was the next key. And using the formula established by the previous keys we’d also find that it contains 7 sharps, and they are: F, C, G, D, A, E, B. So now as well as an E#, we now have a B#. Double trouble! But we talked about A# so we have to journey further up the ladder of insanity. The next key would be G#, which according to our formula must contain 8 sharps. But there are only 7 scale degrees, and we sharpened all 7 for C#. And if we look at the fifths: F, C, G, D, A, E, B, the next one is F again. So what’s going on. The fact is that the seventh scale degree is always a semitone below the root. So in the case of G#, this means that F’s are double sharp ##. Hey Presto! 8 sharps! You can continue alone if you want to move through D# and onto A# if you like. I’m bailing out here. Hopefully that cleared a few things up.

Practice Ideas and Tricks

By Pwnzor on Friday, January 29th, 2010 | No Comments

First off, I recommend you download the sound files here that accompany this lesson. Otherwise you probably wont fully understand the concept. I’ll divide the information into sub groups, each with a heading that will describe what that particular section is geared toward teaching.

Metronome Practice

Metronomes are amazing little tools, and if you don’t own one already, I highly recommend you either buy one, or go download a free one. You can get a great metronome for like 10 bucks at your local music store, and its well worth the money. Just be sure it has a decent BPM range (i.e. 20 BPM-200BPM). 8th, 16th, and 32nd note counting metronomes are cool, but not necessary. So long as it keeps a steady beat, and allows you to speed up or slow down that beat incrementally, you’re good to go.

So once you have a metronome, the question becomes “how do I use this thing to get better?” Well, there are plenty of great lessons on UG already for metronome practice, but if your getting tired of those exercises, maybe I can help you out a bit.. I can’t play the same exercise for long without getting ridiculously bored. Suddenly, I’m just dinkin’ around on my guitar and not really practicing at all. I’m sure we’ve all been there. So what follows are some new approaches at metronome practice, designed to make your time with a metronome both more fulfilling and more entertaining.

1: “So how would you phrase that…?”

This first one, you can do with pretty much any straight beat lick. Play your classic straight chromatic run at whatever speed comfortable:

|-12-11-10-9----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------12-11-10-9------------------------------------------|
|----------------------12-11-10-9-------------------------------|
|--------------------------------12-11-10-9---------------------|
|------------------------------------------12-11-10-9-----------|
|----------------------------------------------------12-11-10-9-|
(Sound Clip #1)

Easy enough, right? Well instead of playing these notes straight, lets
apply a bit of “phrasing” to this exercise. “Phrasing” is essentially how you say things as a guitarist. It’s looking at what you play from a rhythmic point of view. I could go off for hours on the importance and use of phrasing, but lets save that for later. For now, let me just show you how to apply it here. Listen to these audio clips of me playing this exact exercise with a bit of phrasing applied. I did audio clips because I imagine it would be difficult to describe how to play against a metronome with a “swing feel”. So immediately you can hear the effect. Here is kinda how you could tab that.

|->12-11->10-9----------------------------------------------------|
|----------->12-11->10-9------------------------------------------|
|---------------------->12-11->10-9-------------------------------|
|-------------------------------->12-11->10-9---------------------|
|------------------------------------------>12-11->10-9-----------|
|---------------------------------------------------->12-11->10-9-|
(Sound Clip #2)

You can distinctly hear how those notes are sustained a bit longer. Listen to this clip. It’s phrased in fives. Here is how I would tab that.

|-12-11-10->9----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------12-11-10-9-------------------------------------------|
|---------------------->12-11-10-9-------------------------------|
|--------------------------------12->11-10-9---------------------|
|------------------------------------------12-11->10-9-----------|
|----------------------------------------------------12-11-10->9-|
(Sound Clip #3)

More phrasing, just applied on different notes. Not only is it more entertaining to practice this way, it improves your rhythmic sense as well as helping out your phrasing ability. Here is an example of an iteration with some phrasing applied. Key is G Major.

|-12-9-11----9-----------------------|
|---------12---10-12-9-10----9-------|
|-------------------------11---11-9--|
|------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------|

So experiment with this yourself. Try this with different licks. Try coming up with different rhythmic feels. Mix it up in any way you can because that’s what will keep you interested and allow you to practice for longer. HOWEVER, make sure that whatever you do really DOES work rhythmically, and that you’re able to play whatever it is your trying to do. Don’t get too complex.2: “The Metronome Game”

This next one may require you to slow your metronome down a bit from what you’re used to. I came up with this one boring day while practicing, and it’s helped me in many ways. First off, pick four chromatic frets on your fretboard. Do four that are in a comfortable position to start. This is the play zone. Only worry about these four frets on all six strings. Also, for this game you can throw phrasing out the window for now, otherwise you’ll probably find it extremely difficult. Set your metronome to a comfortable rate. I mean like really comfortable. With all of that said, there are three basic rules.

Rule #1: You must play every note once before moving to the next string.

Rule #2: Every note per string may only be played once. You cannot play the same note twice (unless it’s on a different string of course).

Rule #3: You cannot play the same sequence of notes twice.

Rule #4: You must play every note on every string before you can change position.

Rule #5: YOU MUST KEEP RHYTHM.

And that’s pretty much it. If you can do it without breaking any rules, you win! So let me give an example. This would be one clean run-through of the game.

|-12-11-10-9----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------10-12-9-11------------------------------------------|
|----------------------12-11-9-10-------------------------------|
|--------------------------------11-12-9-10---------------------|
|------------------------------------------9-11-12-10-----------|
|----------------------------------------------------9-10-11-12-|

So as you can see, every pattern was different, but we still used every note. That would be one successful round, and you could then move to a different position, or use a different technique (i.e. use only tapping, maybe incorporate string skipping, etc.) Here is an example of getting beat by the game.

|-12-11-10-9----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------10-12-9-11------------------------------------------|
|----------------------12-11-9-10-------------------------------|
|--------------------------------12-11-10-9---------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|

Same patterns, except if you look closely, we used the 12, 11, 10, 9 sequence twice. So you would then start over. Don’t jump into the metronome when you restart, wait for it to count one full measure, then start. Anyway, this game is great little exercise for many things. It can help your ability to think while playing (an absolute must if you ever want to be able to improv), as well as help develop your rhythmic sense. Feel free to change the game up any way you please, so long as you don’t make it too easy on yourself. Once you get good enough you can play the game with some interesting phrasing or different techniques. Limitless possibilities.

Phrasing

Do your solos sound boring or really mechanical? You might want to pay attention to your phrasing. If you’re playing all straight notes, each with equal time value, chances are whatever your playing is going to sound pretty plain or robotic. If you find it hard to come up with different ways to phrase your licks, here are a few little tricks I’ve come up with that have proven useful for me.

#1 Mix It Up: Take any little straight beat lick. Play it through a few times. Listen carefully. Now, begin sustaining different notes, and cutting back others. Really mix it up. Apply staccato to certain notes (roughly speaking, this is where you abruptly cut off the end of the note instead of sustaining it for the full beat. Hope that makes sense.) Do anything you can to make what you’re playing a little more interesting. Eventually you will apply bends, maybe some hammer ons and pull offs, but if your just beginning, don’t worry about any of that yet. Look at this example. It’s literally a chunk of a scale. If you play it straight up, it sounds like your playing a chunk of a scale. Now listen to the audio clip. It’s the exact same notes, I’ve simply phrased them better.

#2 Think Drummer: This is a really outside approach, but it can keep your mind fresh with ideas. Take your favorite drummer or your favorite band. Pay really close attention to his rhythm, like how many beats he puts in a measure, where he puts them, and how they’re accented. Pay close attention to his fills also. Try and play a lick with the same rhythmic structure taken from one of his fills. You’ll find you can get some pretty cool sounding stuff by listening to drummers and applying what they are doing rhythmically to your guitar.

#3 Time Signatures: Experiment with different time signatures. Playing with something other than a 4/4 time can really open up new possibilities to those who have never experimented outside the all powerful 4/4. Try 6/8 or 5/4. Listen to other bands that implement different time signatures and time changes in their songs. Some good bands that do this that I enjoy listening to are “Scale the Summit” and “Animals as Leaders”. Or you may know of the band “Tool”. They use a lot of strange time signatures too.

And that’s all I have on phrasing for now. Maybe I can give you more in a future lesson.

Tips For Practice

So lastly, I’m just going to give some helpful tips on practicing, and things to watch for.

#1: Record yourself

If you have a video camera handy or a decent voice memo, record yourself every once in awhile. I know of a crapload of programs that allow you to record your guitar with your computer. If you have none of those, at least grab a mirror and occasionally watch your fingers and picking hand while you play. There are things that you won’t notice while playing, but once you record, they can stick out like a sore thumb. Vibrato is a big one. Lots of people will apply such a vigorous vibrato to a note that the note actually goes out of pitch. You don’t really notice stuff like that while you’re playing, unless you’ve become quite experienced with the instrument. Recording and listening to yourself can reveal many previously unseen mistakes, and is also a great way to track your progress. If you feel like your just not moving forward with guitar, grab those recordings from a month ago and I’ll bet you’ll be surprised.

#2: Backing Tracks

Backing tracks are a great way to practice and apply stuff you’ve learned. There are a few really great backing track sites out there, one of my personal favorites being Freshbt.com. Just Google free guitar backing tracks, or (song name here) backing track. Go download one of your favorite band’s backing tracks, try to learn the song and play along with the backing track. If your more experienced, download your favorite song’s backing track and instead of playing the solo like the band does, try to improvise something of your own over the track. Backing tracks can be both fun and rewarding. It feels great to be able to sound musical, and back tracks will help you do just that.

#3: Get Out There and Jam

Know any local musicians? Don’t be afraid to get out there and play with them. You may not be on the same level skill wise, but you would be surprised at how much you can learn from a single jam session. That is probably one of the best things you can do for your playing is to get out there and get to know as many other musicians and guitar players as you can. Every body has a style, and usually you can always learn something new or get a new view on something by jamming with others. Plus, when the situation requires you to perform, you will progress a lot faster than if you were sitting in your room, playing with a pair of headphones or something. Marty Friedman once said “you will learn more on the stage in one show than you will ever learn with a week of dedicated practice” or something like that. Either way, I fully agree.

How to Read Guitar Tabs

By Pwnzor on Friday, January 29th, 2010 | No Comments

Tabs tell you how a song is played in guitar. Reading tabs is easy, you won’t have to go through this lesson twice.

Guitars usually have six strings (there are 7 string and 12 string guitars also, we’ll ignore them now). The first thing you have to know is the name of the six strings. The top string is the thickest string, and it is called the 6th string or E-string because it plays E note at open fret (when you don’t hold down any frets and just pick the string), assuming standard tuning. The next string is called 5th string or A string for similar reasons. The other string in order are 4th or D string, 3rd or G string, 2nd or B string and 1st or e-string (thinnest string). As the 1st and 6th string are both E notes, we distinguish the 1st string by writing it in a smaller case ‘e’.

Now we are ready to move to tabs.

The first thing you will notice about tabs is that there are six lines. They represent the six strings of the guitar. They look like this:

 e ------------------------
 B ------------------------
 G ------------------------
 D ------------------------
 A ------------------------
 E ------------------------

I have written the string names (the note each string plays when you don’t hold down any frets) on the left, this may not be given in all tabs. If it is not given, you have to assume that it is the same as I have written.

Note that the top string of your guitar (the 6th or E string) is written at the bottom of the tab, and the bottom string (1st of e string) is written at the top. Many beginners get confused at this, but this is the standard way to write tabs (don’t ask me why).

Also note that in some cases the string names may be writter differently. These are the cases when the song is not played with standard tuning. That means the open strings don’t play the notes E,A,D,G,B,e but some other notes. As this lesson is for beginners, we will stick to standard tuning guitar tabs.

The next thing you notice on a tab is the numbers. The numbers represent frets. 1 means 1st fret, 2 means second fret and so on. A 0 (zero) means open string. For example:

 e --------2-----------------
 B ------3---3---------------
 G ----2-------2-------------
 D --0-----------------------
 A --------------------------
 E --------------------------

The tab is read from left to right. So, this tab means, first you play D string at open fret, then G string at 2nd Fret, then B string and 3rd fret and so on. If you know your chord, then you would notice that this tab plays the notes of D-major chord.

Another example:

 e --0--0--0--2--2--------------
 B --0--0--2--3--3--------------
 G --1--1--2--2--2--------------
 D --2--2--2--0--0--------------
 A --2--2--0--x--x--------------
 E --0--0--x--x--x--------------

The difference between this tab and the first tab is that in this tab, multiple strings are hit at the same time, so this indicates strumming. At first you hold down and A and D string and 2nd fret and G string at 1st fret and play all 6 strings. If you know chords, then you would notice that this is E-major chord. According to the tab, E-major chord is strummed twice. The next chord is A-major which is strummed once and then D-major is strummed twice.

The x indicates that that string is not played. Meaning you don’t hit that string with your strumming hand. It could also indicate a dead note. This means that you play that string with your strumming hand but it doesn’t make a sound becuase you muted that string with your other hand. Holding a string lightly (rather than pressing it firmly down at the fret board) and hitting it creates a dead note. Wheather or not a string in not played or a dead note can be confusing as they are both represented by x. Listining to the song will often give you a clue. For a beginner, assume that the x indicates that the string is not played.

Now for the special symbols used in tabs:

      p = pull off
      h = hammer on
      \ = slide (downward)
      b = string bend
      / = slide (upward)
      ~ = string vibrato

let’s explain these symbols with a tab:

e     |------------------------------------------------|
B     |------------------------------------------------|
G     |-----------------------9-11-11h12 12p11--9h11---|
D     |-9-9h11--11p9--9-11/12--------------------------|
A     |------------------------------------------------|
E     |------------------------------------------------|

first, D string at 9th fret is played. Then we notice 9h11. This means you put your finger at 9th fret, pick the string than hammer the 11th fret. Hammering means you pick a string with your finger at one fret, then without picking that string again you use your fretting hand to hit another fret (in this case 11th fret) hard enough to creat sound. Remember, you pick once but get 2 notes when hammering.

Next we see 11p9. This means pick the string at 11th fret then ‘pull-off’ that finger while another finger is already placed at 9th fret. It’s like pincing the string at 11th fret with the fretting hand while you have a finger placed at 9th fret. The effect is like reverse hammering. 2 notes are played with one picking of the strumming hand. Hammering and pull-offs are often done in a row like 9h11p9. It’s playing the 9th fret, then hammering the 11th fret and then pulling-off to 9th fret again. All with just one pick of the strumming hand. Sound difficult? You will learn it if you practice. It’s not that hard.

As we move along the tab, we notice 11/12. This means you hold down 11th fret and pick the string, then without releasing the pressure, you ‘slide’ the finger to 12th fret. Again, you pick once but get two notes when sliding.

\ is just sliding in the other direction. So 5\3 means slide from 5th fret to 3rd fret, picking onle once (at 5th fret).

~ means just vibrating the finger when you hold down a string at a fret. It gives a nice effect.

b means bending the string at a fret to give the sound of another fret. For a beginner I would suggest, avoid string bending for now, and don’t try to play the tabs that has a lot of string bending.

My final advice for the beginner who is now ready to read his first tab: start with a simple tab like ‘Come as you Are’ – Nirvana or ‘Hurt’ – Johnny Cash.

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