Guitar Today

Here is a fun video of Tommy Emmanuel playing just about every variation of the boogie blues progression in known existence. Emmanual can be seen hamming it up and show-boating for fun before he really gets the boogie started. Enjoy!

Kids Can Play Guitar - $11.99 DVD
This DVD for kids 8 and up explains the basics of guitar in a way that is fun and informative for kids. Mel Reeves covers the different types of guitars, teaches kids how to read music chord fingerings and diagrams. DVD instructional videos are an excellent way to get your kids excited about learning an instrument.

Rock Guitar for Kids Songbook- $6.99 paperback
Hal Leonard is a well known and respected authority on publishing guitar instructional books. This book is for any child who is ready to start learning about guitar on their own time. It is easier to have a book rather than hire a guitar teacher because your child can go back and re-read certain parts any time they are having trouble. You also don’t have to concern yourself with scheduling.

Kids’ Guitar Songbook
For any parent wishing to see their kids strumming away on their very own guitar. Kids’ Guitar SongBook will teach your child all the basics of playing the guitar. They will learn to tune the guitar on their own, proper way of holding the guitar and some basic notation. It also has many fun easy songs that kids can play on their own while they are beginning to learn to play the guitar.

 A guitar arpeggio is a broken up guitar chord where each note is played individually instead of playing them all in one strum. It is like taking a guitar chord and stretching it out, note by note across several strings and frets on the guitar neck.

Arpeggios are a great easy way to add interest to your guitar solos by using them to transition from lick to lick or even to another key. You don’t have to be a Guitar Hero like Yngwie Malmsteen or even Zakk Wylde to make use of arpeggios in simple forms here and there. It is easy and sounds great to take one chord and play it in the form of an arpeggio within your normal guitar soloing routine.

There are three ways to play an arpeggio:

Conventional guitar picking - This would be the method of picking you are likely used to by now. It is simply plucking notes individually alternating between up and down strokes.

Hammer on / Pull-off technique- You can mix hammer-ons and pull-offs ‘ into any peice of music to give it a smooth guitar solo style.  When playing a multi-string arpeggio on the guitar you may want to use either a hammer on or pull off, or several of them to add more interest to your playing.

Sweep-picking technique - Sweep picking is an easy guitar method to master which produces a very cool effect. You can practice sweep picking by fretting a guitar chord that you are comfortable with (such as a Am) and strumming with a rigid wrist to pluch each note individually. Use a sweeping motion of the pick and combine with your fret hand technique to sound each note of the chord indivually.

Example of a major guitar arpeggio:

Practice this arpeggio using each of the three techniques for arpeggios that we have covered in this online guitar lesson

The above example shows a color coded diagram of the notes on the guitar fretboard. When the color changes it means the notes are available on the next string.

The key to mastery of the guitar fretboard is in knowing the notes on each string. The fastest way to knowing the fretboard is by learning the notes on each string up to the fifth fret and learning the pattern in which the notes will reappear in as you continue your way up the neck.

In the following series of strings you will see the notes that are unique to each string. The notes appear in other place but they are the first five notes on each guitar string before they begin to repeat themselves.

• The notes on the 1st E string: E-F-Fb-G-Gb-A
• The notes on the 2nd B string:B-C-Cb-D-Db-E
• The notes on the 3rd G string:G-Gb-A-Ab-B-C
• The notes on the 4th D string:D-Db-E-F-Fb-G
• The notes on the  5th A string:A-Ab-B-C-Cb-D
• The notes on the 6th E string: See first.

From looking at the above example you will no doubt notice that the musical notes appear in alphabetical order as they go down the fretboard.

Once you arrive at the first fret, you are able to determine what the next note is by:

A: Counting the number of frets past the fifth you are and determining what note it would be on the next string

-or-

B: Continuing through the alphabet and the sharps in your head and remembering to restart at five (skipping one each for E and B)

It takes a little practice, but soon you will be able to master the fretboard and instinctively know which note comes next no matter where you are playing.

Roxie of RecoveryRocks has explained how playing the guitar and playing music in general can be a unique form of therapy for recovering addicts. In an exclusive interview with Roxie, I gave some advice on getting started with the guitar. We covered everything from the intimidating process of buying your first guitar to where to find a guitar teacher. I even got a chance to share some fond childhood memories of when I was just starting out.

If you’re wondering why I would ever say something like:

-Not everybody has a barn and a Dad who cares enough to lock them in it.

Head over to RecoveryRocks to read the full interview .

Thanks Roxie!

It has pretty much been string week at Guitar Today ,  if you check out the ‘recent posts’ section on the site it is all guitar string related titles. In an effort to continue as if this were intentional, I am pleased to present you with the second installment of the Fretboard series: The notes on the 2nd (b) guitar string

Assuming that your first, open note for this string is an A, the first fret on your guitar will be A sharp (Ab). The second fret is B and the  third fret is C. There is no Bb. Maybe they kept it that way to avoid confusion when using a lowercase letter b to indicate a sharp?

Moving right along. Cb is safely where we expect it be on the fourth fret and the fifth fret is a D.

In the lesson on the 1st and 6th E strings I noted the fifth fret as the ‘tuning fret.  This is true with the A string as well. What I mean by this is that you can continue up the neck on this string longer, but the notes you are playing are all available on the next guitar string. So, once you hit a D note on the Db can come from the sixth fret of the A string or the 1st fret of the D string.

Exercise for string notes: Use a different finger to play each of the frets in order from the first, using your index, to the fourth using your pinky. Play it forwards and backwards and say the notes aloud when you play them (A,Ab,B,C,Cb,D, - D,Cb,C,ect.)

This builds your coordination as well as your finger dexterity and strength. Saying the notes helps you to memorize the fretboard and always know what note you are playing.

As always feel free to post any comments, questions, suggestions and/or corrections. If you enjoyed this post please take a minute to sign-up for free guitar tips  or make use of the ShareThis widget to Stumble Me.