One way to come up with new solo ideas is to completely change your approach to playing scales on the guitar. Some guitarists do this by altering the tuning of the guitar with the view of breaking old familiar patterns. However, a much simpler approach is to play your scales in a linear fashion.

97% of all scales presented in guitar method books are lateral scales so, if you practice linear scales as well as the standard lateral patterns, you’re off to a great start. Here’s how they work.

Linear Scales.

Step 1: Select a key. Using the key of E major for our example the notes in the key of E are E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#

Step 2: Select a string. I’ll use the third string.

Step 3: Create a version of the scale starting from the first applicable note of the selected scale. Since the key of E does not contain the note ‘G’ I’ll begin my E major scale on the G#, first fret, third string.

Step 4: Continue playing the scale lengthwise up the string as far as your instrument will allow.

Here is a E major linear scale played on the third string beginning on the note G#:

G# = 1st fret

A =  2nd  ”

B =  4th  ”

C# = 6th  ”

D# = 8th  ”

E  = 9th  ”

F# = 11th ”

G# = 13th ”

Let’s take a closer look at what we’ve done so far. The standard E major scale contains the following notes:

E, F#, G#,A, B, C#, D#

We began on the G# note, creating this linear version of the E major scale.

E, F#, [G#, A, B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#]

Technically speaking what we have created is a G# Phrygian mode but that’s another story for a future article. Today let’s just be content with the idea of playing a major scale lengthwise starting from any note in the scale.

Review:

The term Lateral Scales refers to play across the strings, that is, from string six across to string one or visa versa.

Linear Scales refers to playing lengthwise along the string, that is, from the head stock to the body of the guitar or visa versa.

The advantages of linear scale playing are:

•  Even though the notes are the same as the lateral scale the notes have a different flavor, musical weight and density.

• The player tends to create more original sounding melodies because he has to slow everything down and pre-hear the next note before he plays. In much the same way as a blind person has to be careful where he places his feet, the guitarist has to be careful where he places his fingers.

The result is the guitarist tends to do a lot more brain-to-fingers playing instead of the usual situation where the fingers are flying up and down a scale (lateral) as fast as possible.  The musical result is like a person running fast in one spot. There’s a lot of activity but he isn’t going anywhere!

So next time you decide to practice scales try playing linear scales on your guitar.

About the Author:
Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course.

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There’s a great vibe in the room the band is pumping out a hot version of “Sweet Home  Alabama” and the crowd is lovin’ it and everything is sounding sweet. It’s your chance for an outrageous guitar solo you step into the spotlight. Your favorite Fender Telecaster’s humming. What could possibly go wrong?

Midway through your solo you have a mental blank. How could you possibly forget that solo? Heck, you must have played it at least 5,000 times at home, not to mention the endless band rehearsals!

But there you are … fingers frozen. It seems like a hour has passed since you played your last note and if you don’t recover immediately it could very well be the last note you ever play in this band.

Panic sets in. “Man, I wish I knew which scale to play! I don’t even know which key I’m playing in! This looks like the end for “old slippery fingers.”

Sound familiar?

As you read this article thousands of guitar players worldwide are learning solo after solo “parrot fashion” from guitar TAB without knowing why the guitarist played the notes they played. They are learning WHAT they played without understanding WHY they played it!

If our friend “Old Slippery Fingers” knew what key he/she was playing in they would have a 50/50 chance of surviving the ordeal. I say 50/50 because the next problem would be to make a decision whether or not to play a major or minor pentatonic scale.

Since most bands copy their arrangements directly from the recorded version I’d say that they were playing “Sweet Home Alabama” in the key of G, which was the original key.

The next obstacle to overcome is which scale to play. Since “Sweet Home” is stylistically a country-rock song I’d go for the major pentatonic.

The solution was simple for our friend if only he/she had taken the time to learn a bit more about the music they were presenting to the public.

Answer: Sweet Home Alabama = G major pentatonic

I guess we had better learn that scale in case we get ourselves in a tight squeeze.

The notes in the G major pentatonic scale are …

G – A – B – D – E [G]

Keynotes indicated as [ ]

G Major pentatonic scale pattern
—————————
—————————
—————————
———————-[5]–
————–5—7——–
-[3]–5—7—————-

The same scale one octave higher would be played like this:
—————————–
————————[8]–
—————-7—9——–
–[5]—7—9—————-
—————————–
—————————–

It’s a great idea to say the name of each note as you play it on the guitar. That way you get to know the fret board better and learn the notes of the pentatonic scale at the same time.

Application

Here’s a typical major pentatonic chord progression. Try recording these chords and practice the G major pentatonic scale over the pre-recorded progression.

Major pentatonic progression …

G ///| G ///| G ///| G///|
C ///| C ///| G ///| G ///|
D ///| C ///| G ///| G ///||

Pay close attention to how each note sounds. Try playing the same note repeatedly and listen to how the note feels against the different chords.

Now it’s time to get to work practicing the G major pentatonic scale and, as always, go use this stuff on the guitar.

Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course

But what if there was another way to learn and instantly recall songs and information you have already practiced? The great news is: there is. The trick is to learn via connected learning, whereby new information is related to information you already know.

Here’s how to apply connected learning to your guitar playing:

Step 1: Study popular chord progressions. Instead of learning random chords study which chords work together. For example, the G – Em – C – D chord progression has been a popular chord sequence for many years. Hundreds of hit songs have been based on this progression.

Step 2: Learn via chord templates. Once you find a chord progression you like, keep your eyes and ears peeled for this chord progression in the music you are listening to. Check out how different songwriters use variations of this progression.

Here are some common chord progression templates for the G – Em – C – D progression.

(a) G /// | Em /// | C /// | D /// ||

(b) G /// | G /// | Em /// | Em /// | C /// | C /// | D /// |D /// ||

(c) G /// | G /// | Em /// | Em /// | C /// | D /// | G /// |G /// ||

Step 3: Apply these templates to songs. As you play them look for the similarities in the chord progressions. You will be amazed how many songs have the exact same chord progression.

Songs such as Every Day (Buddy Holly), Teardrops on My Guitar (Taylor Swift), and This Kiss (Faith Hill) and many more are all based on the G – Em – C – D progression.

Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course

Here are a few tips to help you sing and play at the same time.

Learn the guitar part first. If you are struggling to change the chords, it will be impossible to match the singing and playing. You might invest in a metronome to help you learn to change the chords in an even tempo.

Learn the song. Get someone to help you sing the melody. A teacher can be very helpful here. I suggest starting with a simple song with easy to play chords. When you can get the hang of playing with easy song, then move on the ones with more elaborate chords and strumming patterns.

Combine the singing and playing. It helps to try the song at a slow tempo. In our Christian guitar lessons, there is an actual practice session for each guitar lesson so students can follow along like being in a private lesson. You may want to hum the song first, and then try the words.

The last tip should actually be the first step. Expect to learn this skill. As a Christian, I always suggest starting with your practice times with prayer.

Not used to praying? Open your eyes to the incredible beauty in this planet. I highly doubt that these beautiful flowers were accidentally created by some molecules randomly banging together.

All of creation speaks of an intelligent Creator. Could prayer actually be a means to communicate with Him?  Yes! It may even be a means to help with paying and singing with your guitar.

Remember to start with an easy song. Learn to play it fluidly on the guitar. Learn to sing it in tune with good rhythm. Then combine playing with humming the tune and finally playing and singing it at the same time.

One of the sweet testimonies we received was from a gentleman who was pleased that he was able to sing and play the guitar at the same time with our course and God’s help.

Jean Welles, the author of this article, invites you to explore the resources available at WorshipGuitarClass.com. Her newest program, ‘Jean Welles’ Music Theory Course’ is shipping now. It teaches people how to read notes and understand Music Theory
on the guitar. Jean can help you develop your God-given gift in learning the guitar or in improving the skills you already have.

One of my friends mentioned to me that she had been playing the guitar for many years, but avoided playing all bar chords. She said that they were too hard to play. When I asked her how many hours in total she actually had tried to play them, she admitted it was just a couple hours

I challenged her to ‘try’ to play them for just 5 – 10 minutes a day. If you don’t try, then you definitely will never succeed. The exciting thing that happens is your hand will get stronger. It’s like working out in a gym.

Let me back up and also say, if bar chords are your ‘wall’, you might want to have your guitar checked out. It may be too hard to play, period. There are some instruments with unusually high ‘action’ and those are hard to play. The action is the distance from the string to the neck. If the guitar is not the problem, with practice the bar chords will eventually became very easy to play.

One of my students was an intern at a local hospital. He tested patient’s hand grips and decided to test himself. He told me that he noticed his left hand was getting stronger. He was also pleased to find that his bar chords were getting clearer. He tested my hand grips and, although I’m right-handed, my left-hand grip was much stronger than the right too.

If it’s a specific song that’s bogging you down, it’s OK to move on and come back to it later. Sometimes things that were hard to play become easy later because your guitar playing has improved!

Just… never give up!

About the Author:

Jean Welles is the webmaster of WorshipGuitarClass.com.  She can help you develop your God-given gift in learning the guitar or in improving the skills you already have.

If you are like most players, you desire to become a better guitar player. Through my own learning experience and through teaching well over 1,000 students, I have learned a lot on this subject. Students often ask why they are not at the level that they desire to be and what can be done about it. I have asked myself this same question many times in the past. A long time passed before I began to understand the answers.

Like you probably have done, I have read a ton of interviews with great players and articles written by many of these same players. I often found it frustrating whenever the subject of learning to play guitar came up or when advice was offered on improving one’s playing. With a small number of exceptions, very little time and space was offered on this. It is not uncommon to see the player’s advice be summed up in a grand total of three words: practice, practice, practice!

Of course, we all know that practicing is the main ingredient. But rarely are we told much more than that. In my long quest to become an excellent player and to help my students do the same I carefully took note of what worked and what didn’t. What parts conventional wisdom is accurate and what parts–at least in my opinion–are not.

I believe the twenty concepts that have proven to bring great results to those who use them are:

1.  Educate yourself!

No matter what level you are at today, you can be and should be learning more. If you are currently studying with a teacher or enrolled in a music program at a high school, college or university, you are on the right track. If you aren’t doing this (or if you feel that your current teacher is not helping you enough in reaching your goals) I strongly recommend looking for a new teacher. (I have written an article on this exact topic titled: Choosing a Teacher) I can’t stress enough how important it is to find the teacher who is right for you! Your teacher (or music program) should always be Goal Orientated. If it’s not, look for another teacher or school to study with! You don’t need a teacher to simply give you information or things to practice; you can get those things anywhere.

What you need is a teacher who:

Knows what your goals are.

Cares about helping you reach your goals.

Knows how to help you reach your goals.

2.  Listen to more music.

Find more of the same music you already like. There is a lot of music out there that you haven’t heard. I am sure you can find something you really like and that would inspire you. Look on the internet if you can’t find it on the conventional radio. With internet radio you can customize what you hear based on your preferences. It’s a great tool! Check out web sites that you know feature a lot of the music in the style you like.

3.  Turn your musical frustrations into an asset in the form of a motivating force.

I wrote a whole article called Musical Frustration. I don’t want to repeat here everything that I wrote in that article, so read it if you haven’t already. If you have read it, it may be worth your time to read it again now.

4.  Believe in yourself.

You have probably heard that phrase many times before. It is unfortunate how many people still refuse to invest their own beliefs into themselves. I wrote an article on Perseverance which deals indirectly with believing in yourself. Please read it if you have a problem believing that you can reach your goals.

5.  Understand that becoming a better guitarist means becoming a better musician as well.

When developing your musical skills, make sure to think beyond skills that are specific to guitar. Of course you will be working on many guitar skills: various guitar techniques, chords, scales, soloing, etc., but don’t neglect other skills that are not guitar specific like, ear training (also called aural skills), songwriting, improvising, creativity, reading, music theory, etc.

6.  Surround yourself with better players (or at least with those on your same level.)

When you started out playing guitar everyone was better than you but now you have grown and there are fewer people better than you than before. The better you get, the harder it will be to find others who are superior to you to hang around or jam with. But no matter how good you get, there will always be something you can learn from someone else. Seek out those people, get to know them, jam with them, discuss music and guitar with them. Be willing to give as much (or more) as you want to take. If you are fortunate enough to be above the level of other guitarists in your area, seek out great bassists, pianists, violinists, drummers, etc. You can learn from them as well. (Even if you are not better than your guitar player friends, seek out musicians that play other instruments as well anyway).

7.  Find out what inspires you and soak yourself in that.

For me, going to concerts to see great players or bands inspires me to practice more. Listening to great singers inspired me to refine my vibrato and phrasing. Listening and studying the music of great classical composers inspired me to study music composition. I wanted to write great music. Watching the movie Star Wars when I was a kid, reading Lord of the Rings, etc. inspired me as well. There are lots of non musical things that have been inspiring to me. The greatest source of inspiration has been my own personal experiences in life and within myself. The desire to express that was (and still is) a constant burning desire and powerful force that thrusts my desire to improve forward. Know what truly inspires you, seek it out, surround yourself with it and soak and soak there.

8.  Define your purpose.

What is your definite purpose? Do you really know what it is? If I were standing in front of you right now and asked you this question, could you give me specific answers and explanations? Can you write it on paper in specific terms? This is critical to setting goals, planning strategy and monitoring the results, etc. When all the enemies of progress start to creep into your mind, you will need to bring your definite purpose to the forefront of your thinking. I have seen procrastination, fear of failure, self doubt, lack of motivation, temporary setbacks, and other negative things bring people with great potential to a halt. Knowing your definite purpose and reminding yourself of it when a negative thought comes into your mind will help you overcome it.

9.  Define exactly why your purpose exists in your mind.

I specifically choose to list this separately from defining your purpose because I did not want you to let the WHY get lost in the act of DEFINING. Trust me, this is important.

10.  Create a strategy!

You need a strategy that will layout exactly how you are going to reach your goals. Dreaming alone won’t take you anywhere. Telling yourself that you are going to play your guitar everyday isn’t enough. There is a lot more that goes into being an excellent player than simply playing your guitar. Ultimately you should work backwards. State your ultimate goals (on paper) then make a bunch of short and medium range goals. Think of reaching your goals as a relay race; NOT as a marathon. Each short term and medium term goal is the end of one segment of your plan and the beginning of the next segment (just like a relay race.) There are many benefits of looking at things this way as you will discover for yourself in your own way.

If you clearly know what your ultimate goals are, you can do this yourself. However, if you need help in planning out the short and mid term goals to plan your strategy consult a teacher whom you trust and believe can help you with this. Believe me, it’s worth it. If you can’t find a teacher who can do this for you, pay someone to help you develop a specific plan to do this. The best person to approach for this is someone .who is already doing whatever it is that you want to be doing.

Remember that it is okay to daydream and fantasize about where you are planning to go but it can’t stop there. Don’t wish without planning! Don’t dream without doing! And always, always, have a strategy. You may need to revise certain aspects of your strategy as time goes on and that’s okay, too, but don’t try to go forward without one if you want the maximum results in the shortest amount of time. In my early days learning to play guitar, I wasted a lot of time aimlessly desiring to get better without having a clue as to how to plan for it. Sure, I practiced a lot, but without direction and without an efficient path to follow. Most of my substantial progress as a musician came only after I developed a strategy and worked with it.

If you are wondering why I haven’t given you a detailed explanation of the strategies I used in the past, it would be pointless for me to tell you what my strategy was because it was specific only to my goals. Chances are, your goals may differ greatly from mine in many different ways. That is why you need your own strategy for your own personal goals. One last piece of advice before we move on, write everything on paper and read it everyday! It will keep you focused and on target.

11.  Imagine yourself having the skills that you desire.

Focus on that and concentrate. Convince yourself that you can do it. Convince yourself that you are already on your way to reaching your first goal – because you are. It is easier to manifest your desires when you can imagine yourself already in possession of it. Keep your positive mental attitude always.

12.  Define what you plan to do with your musical skills once you have them.

If you plan on releasing your own CD or making a living in music start learning about and studying the music business right now. The fastest way to do that is to actually take music business lessons at a college and take private lessons from a pro (or at least a semi-pro guitarist) Yes, you can take lessons in this just like you can for learning guitar, songwriting, etc. Do NOT wait until you are a great player to start learning about this business! I cannot tell you how many players make this mistake. I made it myself at first and have studying it intensely for the past few years to get my own career where it is today.

13.  Find out how your favorite players reached their goals.

Often times this is hard to do since you can’t always sit down and talk to some very famous musicians. But interviews exist as well as a few biographies on some musicians (especially dead ones). Despite the fact that many successful players don’t really talk much about this, you can find some that do. Believe me, becoming successful is a lot more than just practicing and luck! REMEMBER that their strategies won’t necessarily work for you because your goals may be different than theirs were. Still you can learn from it.

14.  Don’t compare yourself to others.

There is no need to do this, anyway. Music should not be a competitive sport among people but only within yourself. Compare yourself only in relation to where you are in your strategy! Are you on your way to reaching your next short term and medium term goal towards your ultimate goals? Are you on schedule? Does your strategy need to be revised?

15.  Make sure you are practicing efficiently.

Do you really know how to practice the guitar? Are you focused on setting daily and weekly objectives and then practicing in such a way that you will be working towards those goals? These are questions you should ask yourself. The two biggest practicing mistakes I have seen in students (besides not practicing enough) are: 1. Practicing is not goal orientated. 2. Not understanding the difference between playing one’s guitar and practicing one’s guitar. If you are having any difficulties with practicing, talk to your teacher about it. He/she should be able to help you.

16.  Play with others in a band or some type of ensemble.

It is important to have experience playing with others. It can be in a band or some other ensemble setting–formal or informal. The main thing is to be doing it at least once a month. Some things you just can’t fully practice alone. Besides the fact that this can be really fun, it will also help you overcome stage fright if you have it.

17.  Measure your progress.

Document your practice time. Keep a record of how much you practice each day. For technique things, use a metronome to see how fast you are able to play a particular scale, exercise, lick, arpeggio, etc. cleanly. Write down the result, practice it all week and see if you can play it one or two beats per minute faster by next week (or next month). Keep a record of all the technical things you are currently working on. You will clearly see if you are progressing and at what rate. For other items that are not so easily recorded with a metronome, paper and pencil, record on yourself tape or your computer each week. Keep the tapes for a long time. Listen back in 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, etc. Listen to how much you have grown.

18.  Do not pander to your strengths while ignoring your weaknesses.

It is not necessary to be able to play all styles of music or every technique to be a good player, but certain aspects are universal, such as: technique, ear training, knowledge of theory, creativity, improvising, etc. Some musical styles will rely more heavily on certain aspects than other styles. Regardless, it is important to be balanced. If you are a heavy metal guitarist, chances are sight reading won’t be as high on your list of priorities as technique. Likewise, a strict classical guitarist won’t have much use for improvisation (unfortunately). But make sure you don’t avoid weaknesses that you should be paying attention to because, if you do, you will be sorry sooner or later.

19.  Discipline yourself.

Unlike a sport, you do not have a coach or a trainer to work with you all the time. Nobody is there to make sure you are practicing the way you need to, when you need to, and how often you need to. You need to be totally self reliant. If this is not a normal part of your personality, fortunately there is help for you. Only you can stop yourself from procrastinating. Take the initiative now to go forward.

20.  NEVER GIVE UP!

Never say can’t. Never say I can’t. Never say someday. Never say if… If your IQ is higher than room temperature, if you have all of your fingers and if you really want to succeed, you can.

In reaching your goals there are only two real players in this game: You and Time.

About the Author: Tom Hess is an internationally renowned electric guitar virtuoso and composer and teacher; his latest CD, HESS ~ Opus 2 is now available through his website, http://www.guitar9.com and many other distributors – check out his website at: http://hess.4t.com

Are you ready to get serious about learning the guitar? Then take a look at the Gibson Learn and Master Guitar Series.

It is common for any worship song to finish using a chord referred to as the V, or the V₇, to the chord known as the I. There is not enough space here to speak regarding the numerous chord constructions and keys but the I chord is the actual root chord of the key. For instance, within the key of ‘G’ the I is a ‘G’ chord. The V within the key of ‘G’ will be the chord ‘D.’

The ‘D’ or ‘D₇‘ chord resolves beautifully into the chord ‘G.’ A deceptive cadence is whenever you switch to your VI chord at the conclusion of the tune rather than the I.

An example could be the song “Lord I Lift Your Name On High.” I am aware that a lot of you may have the Worship Guitar Class program and this particular song is inside the very first volume. The chords tend to be mainly ‘G C D C.’ The song finishes using the chords ‘D,’ ‘D_sus,’ G…..

The deceptive cadence for that key of ‘G’ is the VI chord and that is the chord ‘E_m.’ As an alternative to using ‘D,’ D_sus,’ ‘G’ you could play ‘D,’ ‘D_sus,’ E_m.’ This ‘E_m‘ is on the final word ‘high.’ Play for the full measure and then ½ measure with ‘A_m‘ as well as ‘D’ ‘D_sus‘ for that 2nd half of the measure and then finish on the pattern ‘G C D C and G’. This particular ending is below…

| E_m | A_m D_sus D           | G C | D C | G
… high. Lord I lift your name on high.

We usually perform the deceptive cadence two or three times prior to ultimately concluding on G.

If you have ever desired to learn how to read music as well as to fully grasp music theory, you should become a member of the music theory course.

If something is out of time or out of tune it can’t be fixed in the mix. In fact, the better the recording facilities the more obvious the musical problem will become.

That said, choosing the best sound effect to suit your musical situation is an important decision. Everyday an endless parade of “new” effect units pass before the prospective buyer’s eyes and ears — each promising to be just the thing to blast them off to musical success.

The truth is, despite all kinds of fancy packaging, there are only a handful of useful guitar effects. It is quite common for a guitarist to be seduced into buying an effect unit with 1001 sounds only to find the player struggling to find two or three decent usable sounds.

The in-store demo will sound fantastic but how will it work on the gig? How often do you need the “earthquake” or “underwater” sound? It might be fun to play to your friends but you’re wise to save your money for the “bread and butter” sounds.

Here is an overview of the seven most basic and useful effects that all professional guitarists carry with them.

Guitar sound effect 1: Reverb.

Every recording of a guitar has this effect as an essential part of the guitar sound. How much of the effect used will depend on the style of music. For example, jazz players generally prefer to use only the slightest amount of reverb whereas a “surf” style guitar group such as the Shadows or Ventures will use lots of reverb to create their sound.

The effect is designed to simulate playing your guitar in various size rooms with different room dimensions and floor/wall/ceiling textures.

Reverb became an essential part of the recording engineer’s sonic toolbox when the studios started to get serious about soundproofing. The recording booth was carpeted  – the walls, floors and ceilings. All the sounds were recording “dry” or “flat” without any natural acoustics and reverb was added later to give more natural sound and simulate a particular venue.

Guitar sound effect 2: Distortion / Overdrive.

This effect is the basic sound of rock, metal and country rock music and can also
be heard in jazz fusion music.

Some guitar effect companies market their product as an “overdrive” effect while others sell their units as “distortion”. The term overdrive is possibly the best way to get your head around what this effect does.

In the early days of rock and roll as the venues became bigger the small guitar amps could not handle the required volumes. As guitarists ran their amps higher and higher “into the red” their amps when into overdrive creating a distorted guitar sound just before the amp stopped working. This is where the more experienced groups had a roadie run on stage with a new amp.

Long story short, the distorted sound became very popular and so the guitar effects people developed ways of overdriving the guitar sound without blowing up the amp.

Guitar sound effect 3: Chorus.

This is a great effect for a clean guitar sound where you want to create a full, rich, twelve string type of sound. Chorus is a neat effect for both electric and acoustic guitar. This effect also sounds good used in conjunction with distortion. Just place the chorus after the distortion in your effects chain.

Guitar sound effect 4: Wah-Wah.

If you are a Jimi Hendrix fan you will know this sound. Jimi made this effect popular and guitarists all over the world have been discovering and rediscovering this sound year in and year out.  Listen to ‘Shaft’ by Isaac Hayes for some fine wah-wah playing!

Guitar sound effect 5: Echo.

Rockabilly guitar players need this effect to get their sound. The echo effect is similar to reverb in that it simulates certain size acoustic situations. The difference is that you can set the exact amount of delay time a note is played back in milliseconds  from a single ‘slap back’ echo to multiple delayed echoes. Listen to recordings by guitarist Les Paul to hear the echo effect.

Guitar sound effect 6: Tremolo.

Although it is not an essential effect, tremolo is important for certain 70′s type guitar sounds and comes standard on certain guitar amps such as Fender’s “Twin Reverb” amp. The effect creates a variable modulating sound that works well in songs like “Born On The Bayou” and “Run Through The Jungle” by CCR.

Guitar sound effect 7: Compression.

The idea behind compression is to “contain” the dynamics of a performance. Compression allows the guitarist or recording engineer to set a cut-off point where no matter how hard or soft the player picks a note or chord the compression will not allow the musical performance to go beyond the defined settings.  Compression is used extensively in all pop and rock music and to a much lesser degree in jazz and classical music.

Guitar sound effect 8: Noise Reduction.

I thought I’d also include this neat effect. It will give you the professional’s edge to you sound. Use it last in your guitar effect chain to clean up unwanted noise from all your units. Hush is the brand name of an excellent noise reduction unit.

Well, these are the basic effects. I recommend testing all different combinations and brands of guitar effects to help you find your unique sound on guitar.

Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course

1. Get a guitar case and leave your guitar in the case. I used to suggest leaving your guitar on a guitar stand because it’s easier to remember to play it when it’s in view. Accidents, including earthquakes, can happen and your guitar is more protected in a guitar case.

2. Do not leave it in a hot car. Excess heat can warp and ruin the wood.

3. In dry climates, use a humidifier. You can purchase one specifically made for guitars or make one yourself. To make one, get a small plastic container that can fit inside your guitar case. A traveling container for a bar of soap is the perfect size. Place a wet sponge in the plastic container and make some small holes in the container.

4. Keep a cotton cloth in your case, like a baby’s diaper. This is good for wiping down the instrument. Some people wipe down the guitar strings after playing. This can help to make them last longer.

5. Speaking of strings, change them when they sound dead. Your guitar will sound better. Professional players may change them every few weeks, but you’ll probably want to change them at least every 6 months or so.

6. Wash your hands before you play your guitar. Dirt from your hands can on the strings.

7. Clean the fretboard with very fine steel wool. You can clean away any dirt or grime. When the strings are all off, clean each fret.

8. Periodically polish the wood with a good guitar polish. The guitar gets clean and a well taken care of guitar is less likely to have problems.

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But what if there was an easy way to create an endless array of crisp, clear professional-sounding chords on the guitar that would enhance your songwriting or group? The good news is there are many ways to add variety to tied old chords. Here is just one way you could approach modern rhythm guitar chord voicing.

Our diatonic music system is based on fifths. It’s the type of sound we have become conditioned to because it’s the natural progression we expect to hear in music. So why not incorporate fifths in our chords to create silky smooth chord progressions
that intrigue, tantalize and surprise the listener’s ear!

I’m not talking about the usual two note power chord which contains the root note and fifth. That sound can be heard everywhere. In fact that’s exactly the type of common sound we are intending to avoid.

Let’s start with a standard set of chords derived from the E major scale.

Quick review

The basic set of chords heard in popular music are created by stacking the notes of the diatonic scale in thirds on top of each other in layer cake fashion.

The key of E major produces the following set of three note chords (triads)…

E – F#m – G#m – A – B – C#m – D#dim – E

Most guitarists would probably play many of these chords using a bar chord formation and in many applications. While that would work fine our project today is to move away from these ‘correct’ but often heard and overplayed chord sounds.

Let’s take a closer look at the key of ‘E’ with the view of discovering the all important fifth interval.

The E major scale contains the notes:

E – F# – G# – A – B – C# – D# – E

Using the root note of E an interval of a fifth is created by measuring the musical distance between the other notes of the scale.

As you can see the note that is a fifth above the root note or keynote of E is the note ‘B’ (marked as [ ]).

[E] – F# – G# – A – [B] – C# – D# – E

Applying this concept to the guitar to develop interesting, original sounding chords is easy. Basically we want to have the two notes ‘E’ and ‘B’ present in each chord. As many players will already know, most chords produced from the diatonic E major scale will not naturally contain the notes E an B. The idea is to create new, fresh chord sounds by incorporating the interval of a fifth, thereby producing different types of chords e.g., sus 2, sus 4, minor seventh variations of the basic diatonic triads.

Sounds complicated? It isn’t.

Here’s one easy great sounding solution:

The first string open is an ‘E”, the second string open is a ‘B’ That’s our fifth interval covered already. Now all we have to do is convert or adapt the standard bar chord shapes to include these two open strings and the job is done.

We already have the two notes ‘E’ and ‘B’ present with the standard E shape chord so no changes here.

E
–0—-
–0—-
–1—-
–2—-
–2—-
–0—-

F#m (new version)

–0—-
–0—-
–2—-
–4—-
–4—-
–x—-

Notice how this chord has an different quality than the standard F#m bar chord. It’s not better, just different. Actually, the new F#m has a different name to help musicians identify its sound.

The new version of F#m is called F#m7add4.

F#m7add4
–0—-
–0—-
–2—-
–4—-
–4—-
–x—-

For the moment we’re not going to concern ourselves with all the technical names. Just think about the chord as a basic chord with added color or flavor in the same way as you could add milk, cream or sugar to a cup of coffee.

Here’s one more example for you to try:

G#m (new version)

–0—-
–0—-
–4—-
–6—-
–6—-
–x—-

If you have been playing guitar for a while and your guitar’s neck is quite narrow you may want to play a bass note with your thumb on the six string like this:

thumb indicated as [T]

F#m7add4
–0—-
–0—-
–2—-
–4—-
–4—-
-[T]—

G#m (new version)

–0—-
–0—-
–4—-
–6—-
–6—-
-[T]—

Including the bass note will result in a fuller sounding chord and is particularly useful when playing solo guitar.

Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course.