The Guitar Master Web Log

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Wed, 08 Apr 2009 07:35:12 +0100

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New Site Will Be Online in T-minus.....

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 07:35:12 +0100

5....4....3....2....

New Site

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:40:47 +0100

New Website Coming Soon!!!

Problem: no one ever interacts with this website, leaves comments, contributes articles etc...

Solution: a new website!!!

ETA: Mid-April

UPDATE: Work is still in progress.... but the ETA of mid April still looks realistic. Migrating data from one CMS to another is challenging :-)

Open Strings

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:32:37 +0000

By making use of the open strings on your guitar, you can experiment with and achieve startlingly different melodies from your guitar with quite little effort.

Try the following exercise as an example:

Chords in the key of Gmajor: G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em.
You have the strings E, A, D G and B available to you.
Try to begin playing A and Am bar chord shapes for some of these chords, but instead of barring the whole neck of the guitar, use your index finger to fret just the A string.
Leave the third string open.
This leaves your E, G and B strings open.
Move around whilst either strumming or fingerpicking between your bar chord positions for Am, Bm(first finger on second fret), C (first finger on third fret), D (first finger on fifth fret), Em (first finger on seventh fret) and G (first finger on tenth fret).
Enjoy the different sounds that you get from this!
The end (for now)

It's fairly easy to apply the same principle to other key's. The example above works well for G or Em. But you can do similar things using similar or other bar chord shapes for E, Cm, D, B, A, Fm, and probably many more, I'm sure. You will need to adapt the shapes you use. Sometimes it will work and sometimes it won't.

You know what to do!

More on Modes

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:18:29 +0000

I've been using the interactive circle of fifths a little less recently. That's not because I've got bored of it or it has ceased to be useful.
The reason is that it's slowly becoming etched into my brain, which is a good thing.
I generally refer to it once or twice in a typical practice session, for a bit of inspiration. It's great to be able to record a jam track in a particular mode and then try out different scales and modes over the top, for effect.

For instance, I recorded a chord progression using mainly chords Em, F and G and a "chorus" section of C, Am and G. These are all chords in the key of C (or Am).
If you simply play the C major scale over the top of this type of chord progression, you will find that you are, with very little effort, switching between different modes.
Over the first section, you will be in Phrygian mode.. This is because you are using chords from C but using the Em as a base, playing the C scale with the E note as your root.
For the middle section, you will find you are switching between C Ionian (major), A Aeolian (minor) and G Lydian modes, depending on how long your chord progression spends on C and Am.

To spice it up further, you could experiment with using different scales over different sections of the chord progression. This is where it starts to get really interesting.
For instance, try playing a G scale over the Em and G scales. The key here is experimentation to figure out in your own head what you think works or not.
You could even play scales or arpeggios for each chord, so when you are over Em, play Em scales, when over F, play F scales etc...
There are no real laws or rules, just pointers and guidelines. OK, that's not even strictly true. Sometimes something sounds terrible and there is a very good explanation as to why it sounds bad.
But quite often you will stumble upon something unexpected, which works really nicely, and that you haven't tried before.

To assist with the learning process, it really helps to have some means of recording yourself. I use my PC, an effects box and some recording software like audacity. But an accoustic guitar, mic and tape deck would do just as well.

For more serious recording enthusiasts, you obviously need more serious kit!

Jason Becker

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 08:11:56 +0000

Jason Becker:

This is a pretty amazing story:
Jason Becker on Wikipedia

Keys Sharing Chords

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 01:58:41 +0000

This is another article that will probably be expanded on over time. It will appear on the front page when updates are made....

Start out by thinking of a major key, so for example, C major.
Now think about what the relative minor is, so the 6th chord in the key. In this case, A minor. We'll talk about A minor again in a moment.
But first, still in the key of C, think about your fourth and fifth chords, F and G
A minor is in the key of C. A minor is also in the key of F. A minor is also in the key of G.
This works for any three adjacent keys in the circle of fifths. Pick the middle one, and think about it's 6th degree (or relative minor). That chord also appears in the neighbouring keys, either side.
To prove it, E minor is in the key of G, as well as C and D.
Try it out on the interactive circle of fifths. That's all for now.

And to expand on this, it also works for the minor keys, working with the relative major....

Think about A minor.
Either side of A on the circle of fifths you find D and E.
C major (the relative of A minor) can be found in the key of A minor, D minor and E minor.
From that you can continue to figure out that C major is also in the key of F major (relative to D minor) and G major (relative to E minor)

These exercises will help you to become more familiar with the circle of fifths and it's uses, without having to refer to diagrams, or other reference material.

The Circle of Fifths - Major and Minor Modes

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:09:07 +0000

Lets assume you're playing in the key of C major and you want to use some different modes for extra colour. It seems as though some of the modes work better than others over a major key.

If you are jamming around a major key, typically Ionian, Lydian and Myxolydian modes seem to work best. Dorian can be used with care, and aeolian gives a "bluesy" kind of feel to the improvisation, especially if you use a pentatonic and bend into that blues note rather than using the full aeolian scale. Phrygian and Locrian become harder to work into a major key.

If you are playing around a minor key, say C minor, you would normally find that using the minor modes, Dorian, Aeolian and Phrygian is easier. These incidentally are the "major" modes of the relative major key. If you don't believe this, start with C at the top and look at what scales you would be playing in order to achieve dorian, aeolian and phrygian mode. Now click on the relative major key to C minor (D#) so that it moves to the top of the circle. What scales would you use for the major modes in D#? Exactly the same set of scales you would use for minor modes in C.

Posture

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:47:10 +0000

Not a typical subject on this site, but it's worth mentioning that good posture is incredibly important when playing the guitar.

You don't need to worry too much if you're a healthy, active, fit or sporty individual. But if like some you work a desk job and find for one reason or another find it hard to keep yourself in good shape, you need to think about your posture at all times, but especially if you spend a significant amount of time with the guitar.

If playing acoustic, (Spanish or steel string) and find that you are sitting down most of the time, try not to spend all of your time crouching over the guitar with your neck bent down and craning over to look at your fretting hand. It's excellent practice to try and sit up straight on a good firm chair with your head looking straight ahead. This will be good for your back and also (with some practice) make you a more competent player for not always watching what you are doing. If you've never tried this before, you may just have to accept that you will make more mistakes for a while, as you get used to it.

Proper posture for Classical guitar playing requires that you have the bottom of the guitar resting between your legs and the angle of the guitar at more like 45 degrees or greater, rather than the typical rock / folk position with the curve of the guitar resting on your leg and the guitar level with the ground. The classical posture forces your back into and upright position, which is overall much better for you, although it doesn't look as "rock 'n' roll".

If you play electric guitar, try standing up when playing, rather than sitting down. This is also better practice for when you are gigging. The same rule applies as for acoustic guitar above. If you are strong, fit and flexible with good core strength then you do not need to worry so much. But if not, then try to spend more time looking straight ahead when practicing. Keep your shoulders back and your stomach tucked in.

Touch / Tapping Techniques

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:59:55 +0000

Remember Stanley Jordan? (Search this site for some great videos of his playing)

Well, here is a nice article by the man himself on tapping and how to go about getting the right sound: Stanley Jordan Tapping Tutorial

Useful Mode Practice Exercise

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:14:00 +0000

Find your current favourite track for jamming along to, or whatever... (Or perhaps record a nice chord progression to practice with)
Play it on loop
Go to the Interactive Circle of Fifths
Figure out what key your song or jam track is in, and position that key name at the top of the circle
Try playing the different major scales as labelled from "lydian" through to "locrian"
Whilst playing the modes, bear in mind whether you are in a minor key or a major key. Try and get a sense for which modes feel right and which ones don't.
Sometimes a particulare mode will only sound right if you concentrate on particular notes. Try bending into these notes, rather than just hitting them every time
Notice how sometimes a major mode sounds better than a minor one, depending on whether you are in a minor key or major key
Also notice that some modes sound better than others depending on which chord is being played at the time
When you've spent a decent amount of time exploring the different modes for one backing track, move onto another. Try and make it a track in a different key. Also, try and make sure that each time you choose a new track to practice with, that they differ in chord structure and progression. i.e. Don't always choose simple 1-4-5 major or minor blues tracks, although these are great for getting started. One of my personal favourites at the moment is "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. You can switch between a minor scale, minor penatotinc, minor blues, Dorian, and with a little more careful precision, Phrygian, Lydian and Myxolidian.
It's all very well learning the names of the modes, but the real trick is in familiarising yourself with the different shapes* and when to use them.
*Remember that the modes are different in shape with repect to your default root scale, but they are in fact simply major scales pinched from different keys. So you can spend ages learning a load of different shapes, or a little less time (in my opinion), learning the circle of fifths (or fourths) and where each mode can be found in relation to the root.
What's the best way to do this? Well, I'm not sure if there is a "best" way, as everyone learns differently. But, IMHO, The Interactive Circle of Fifths is a pretty good option.

I hope you enjoy using The Interactive Circle of Fifths. Any feedback is more than welcome and best provided via the Contacts Page.