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"Don't Be So Dreary With All Of That Transposition Theory"

Jordan Warford here, Editorial Manager for Guitar Tips.

Thanks for taking the time to tune in to this week's edition of our Guitar Tips Newsletter. We hope that you get the most out of it.

In this edition:

Remember those days of torture in band class where you never truly understood how to transpose music into something that you liked the sound of? In this edition we're going to polish off the second article on the foundation of transposition.

I must reiterate that this is a foundation article, hardly scratching the surface on what you can really do with transposition. We're going to show you some awesome sites that do the work for you in addition to some theory tips for those of you who have a music background.

Here at Guitar Tips we want everyone to be able to get something out of our lessons, which is why it would be unfair to spend all of the time immersed in deep music theory. We will be taking the time to review some great software that is available to you and is easy enough for anyone to use, no matter what musical background you have.

Check out our feedback booth and see what's on your fellow subscriber's minds. Also, get a personal update on our new Guitar Forum. Check out the latest site we have to review and see what you think of it.

To top off this mountain of information, our regular installment of our Guitar Tips Feature Band is back and in action.

Let's get right to it!

You Don't Need A Music Degree.

What every guitarist should hear.

How many times have we doubted our abilities as guitarists and never tried a piece of music because we thought we couldn't play it? Then, one day you get that urge to see just how hard it really is only to find that that particular piece of music wasn't as challenging as we once thought.

The same concept applies to transposition. Sure, there's a lot to it and I'm not going to say that there isn't; however, every guitarist needs to know that transposition doesn't have to seem like an impossible feat to master.

If you want to transpose real music notes, and you read music for guitar, we'll guide you through some steps to get you on the right track. For the majority of guitarists who don't have a background in music theory, we're going to show you some alternatives that you probably never would have thought of.

It's one of those tools that's nice to have in your tool box when you are playing with a band or are looking to get a professional edge.

The computer is a guitarist's best friend.

Lets face it, we're surrounded by technology in an ever growing economy that seems to make our world smaller and smaller. That equates to an awesome learning experience for guitarists who prefer not to learn music theory.

There are plenty of websites available that do the hard work for you. This is great for preparing for a band practice or a jam session with friends but remember that unless you have wireless internet in your venue or practice area, the transposition websites that do all of this work won't be available to you.

If you have a laptop and like to do things on the run without the use of internet, there's plenty of software designed for that purpose as well. Let's start off with the websites that are quick and easy for basic key changes.

If you read our newsletter on composition and have just started writing your own material, or perhaps you have been writing music for a while, I have the one and only piece of software that you will need for your musical needs.

Before I even decided to write this article, I was continually on the search for a piece of software that would allow me to insert my music, whether it be tab or traditional notation, onto my staff and simply press a button and let it do the work for me (yes, even I get tired of music theory.) The problem was, I found plenty of programs that would allow me to transpose traditional notation but never tab... That is until I discovered Final Notepad 2005.

It's the little brother to the famous Final Print Music series that has become one of the most used pieces of musical notation software in the industry. However, here's the most killer part of the deal: It's 100% free!

What attracted me to this software initially was the ability to transpose long saxophone compositions into different keys with the click of a button. If you're a sax player, you know how frustrating and time consuming that is. Then when I discovered that this program was made with the guitarist in mind, I nearly flipped out with excitement.

You can input any piece of tablature you want using the numbers on your keyboard and get professional quality tabs. Then, with a click of a button you can transpose it to a different key and it will place your notation to where it needs to go! For example, it will take this example in C below:

...And transpose it to this composition in D!

No longer do you have to sweat it out by trial and error. Sure, the above example was a giveaway considering I was just playing with the end of a scale, but when using tab, transposing solos just became a lot more complicated.

Come to your practices prepared and ready to go. If your band wants you to do your best solo in another key, just put it through this baby and you're all set. Click here to download it and get more information.

The second site I recommend is called www.transposer.com. They charge a small fee for access to software that helps you to transpose and learn how to transpose. Quite simply put, follow the first few basic instructions and whalah, you have yourself a two second transposition chart. I think it's an amazing tool for anyone who plays with non c-based instruments such as a trumpet or sax.

You can even make one yourself. This is not a new concept. Some of my instructors used to do that all the time to teach us how to transpose. Cut out a few wheels and insert the various information that can be found throughout the net. It's worth the research!

So you're a theory nut eh?

Ok, hold on to your seatbelts... We're going all the way on the accelerator here! Yes, I know that was a lame excuse to try and get you all pumped up for transposition the traditional way but it's really not that hard, it's so easy in fact, that I actually get excited about teaching it.

There's some things you must already know but I'm not going to go through them all in this lesson. You should know your key signatures (circle of fifths), your basics notes and what accidentals are all about. This all leads up to knowing how to decide what key any song is in. This is essential to knowing how to transpose(more on this in a moment). This is just the background to help you out and only takes an hour or so to learn about and weeks of practice to know.

Transposing from a minor to a minor key should create no new problems, just ensure that both keys are indeed minor.

Practice does make perfect, as corny as that is to hear. It takes time and patience. Don't beat yourself up over it, just enjoy it and you'll see new changes everyday you try it out. Practicing your alphabet from A to G and going back and forth in your head also is a great thing to know and is what always helped me out.

There are many other forms of transposition that we'll save for another day... Or perhaps another site. For instance, there become new rules when dealing with an orchestral score, although it's along the same lines as what's shown above. The same can be said for switching from a major key to a minor, although it's not technically a transposition because it's a mode change. Anyhow, a lot left to learn but these tools should get you off the ground and on your way.

It's all you need right now for parts involving c-based instruments (like your guitar, the piano, the flute or other various instruments.)

Putting It All Together

So now that you have the tools, how about you see what they look like in action? Here is a before and after shot of a riff I've made especially for you. Notice what happens with accidentals. If you follow the steps listed above, you should get something looking like this:

Riff in the key of A:

Transpose UP to the key of G.

Riff in the key of G:

Guitar Tips Feature Band

Buck69

You've probably noticed by now that this editor has a thing for blues... Not just any blues but soulful blues. That's why I flipped out when Tommy sent me an email responding to my cry for new bands to be featured in our newsletters. Not only is Buck69 talented, well put together and ready for the big stage but they also have a tone that keeps you coming back for more.

The use of lead and rhythm guitar is done to a classic drum beat and vocals that rock the house. This band is there for the music and it's that transparency that makes them uniquely refreshing. If you like to dance, sing and shout, I have a feeling that Buck69 is for you. As I danced around my office when I was checking this band out, I could hardly imagine how much fun it would be to see them live.

Coming straight from Toledo, Ohio, here's what Tommy had to say about the history of the band:

"In 2002 after a 20 year hiatus to concentrate on wife, kids & career, Tom Clawson formerly of "T.C. Rogers & The Blue's Hamilton Band" 1970's Warren, OH. (Singer-Songwriter) along with his oldest son Alex formerly of "The Society" 1990's Toledo, OH (Singer-Songwriter-Guitar) Decided to start playing out as an acoustic duo. Playing originals and covers in and around the local Toledo area.

In June of 2004, persuaded by his son, the decision was made to go with a full band. We recorded our 1st demo in September 2004 in our drummer's garage, but have been pleased with the home recordings. Four of the five songs can be found on our web site.

Three of the songs are ranked in the top ten on the blues charts at www.numberonemusic.com. In July of 2005 the band was picked up by "Bitchin Entertainment" (a national booking agency) and added to their unsigned band section. We are currently in the studio laying down our 1st full length CD, which we hope to release in early 2006.

The title of the new CD is "When She Whispers Your Name" it will feature eight songs written by Tom and Alex and four songs by published writers. Lyrics to some of the new songs can be found on our web site in the blog section.

For the guitar players out there, I play a 1975 Gibson L6-S thru a 1975 Fender Quad Reverb amp with a Hot British Tone Bone Pedal. The lead guitar work you hear with that great tone is played by my son Alex. He plays a 2004 Paul Reed Smith Guitar thru a Randall amp with a Blues distortion pedal.

We are influenced by who, what, where, when and how our everyday lives start and end! Music is our way to express our inner feelings. To cement in history the people, places and things that affect our lives. Be it happy or sad, life or death. We write about what carries us down life's highway. Always in search of that one song! Because: "Great singers, writers and musicians will come and go, but a great song lives forever". TC

I highly recommend this band to anyone who enjoys rock or blues. Very impressive licks mixed in with a great drum beat that makes a groove you can't help but listen to. If you want to listen to their tracks for yourself, click here to see the sample they have hosted.

I have very high expectations for this group and have no doubts that they will continue to improve as they walk up the ladder to a major record deal and national attention. Best of luck from everyone here at Guitar Tips!

Site Review

Guitar Backing Tracks

Last week we reviewed one of our newest sites, the Guitar Forum. This week we're going to take a look at one of the more innovative sites we have developed called Backing Tracks. This site has been designed specifically for guitarists who like to practice to a beat and get the full band experience from the comforts of their own home.

Based on feedback from questionnaires and the shear volume of enquiries via email, we decided it was time to take the plunge and make a new site tailored to jamming. There is a virtually limitless array of possibilities when you get into the member's area.

It's simple yet effective. All you do is point and click. Create original backing tracks that are personally tailored to fit your needs. If you're a new guitarist and are intimidated with the thought of a full practice with a band, this would be the perfect route to take. Get the full experience of playing along with drums, bass, and keys.

Experienced musicians can have a tonne of fun messing around and composing original material, or perhaps fine tuning some of their own. I personally recommend a good set of speakers on your computer, or hook your computer up to your sound system.

I find that without that added subwoofer and upper range, the tracks seem tinny and fake. This isn't the case when plugged through a half decent sound system. Nonetheless, it's worth checking out and if you're not happy with it, we'll give you a refund within 30 days after the purchase. I don't think you'll be taking that option once you get a taste of this site.

My only warning is to those who aren't into creating their own licks or changing the existing ones they have. This site was really designed for the guitarists out there who prefer to use that creative idea in a different application or for those who need experience playing with a band.

Best of luck and let us know of your success stories when you put that track together that hits number one on the charts!

Click here to check it out

Feedback Booth

It's always a pleasure to hear back from our subscribers and we love to get emails with success stories, ideas and new tricks and tips. However, we usually get thousands of emails with everything from questions to technical issues, which can make it hard to get back to you in a few hours. In the last few weeks, a new option has popped up to help you get the resources you need at lightning fast speed.

The new installment of our Guitar Forum allows you to not only connect with us, but also your fellow subscribers. We don't pretend to know every solution or method known to man and it's always cool to get fresh ideas. This is why I encourage you to go to our site and become a member and get involved. It's free and a lot of fun!

We now have a thread that's designed specifically for GT Messenger problems. If you have any problems whatsoever with any of our newsletter software, please post the problem there instead of emailing us. The reason for this is because we want to build up a database of solutions and you can continually come back and find the solution instead of losing it by accidentally deleting an email.

Just go to www.guitarforum.com.au and see what it's all about. Things have been slow as of late and we want you to get plugged in so don't be shy! As a bit of an incentive to get some areas of the forum going, this is what I'm going to do:

I will be doing random searches of members and picking different posts to feature in our feedback booth. I will also be looking for your original compositions and recordings to possibly feature in a new section of our newsletter but we need some posts to work with before any of that can be made possible.

Now, onto some of the most recent feedback. I encourage you to continue to email us with your thoughts and your likes/dislikes. We can't improve on what you like and don't like if you don't tell us first!

Stephen Renaud from Canada writes to us with this:

"Hello from Canada! I am currently subscribed to your free newsletter, and am contemplating actually subscribing. The newsletter focusing on strumming did it for me. Strumming and rhythm are really what I am concerned with improving, as a fairly mediocre player who would just like to stop the twanging and generally sound a bit more polished when strumming and singing. My question is this: Will I be impressed with the quantity of material focusing on this subject (I'm already impressed with the general quality)? That is, is there much more info and guidance on rhythm playing than you've laid out in the free newsletter? If so, I'm in. Thanks for your time. Stephen Renaud, Canada"

This is one of our most popular questions and our answer is a very big yes! We have tonnes of great material developed by professional musicians on this inside of all our member's areas. The information is presented via video, image and sound, just like our in depth newsletters. The newsletter on rhythm is a perfect example of things that you can look forward to in our member's area.

If you are a more advanced player, please hold off and wait for our new Guitar Leads website.... It will rock your socks off! It's for advanced players and it will challenge you to soar to new heights. Stay tuned for more information in upcomming newsletters.

Jim has this suggestion that he thought he should share:

"Jordan, I got to start all over with this guitar practice, so much going on right now. At least I do appreciate the ability to log on when ever I can. The newsletter I receive does have the link address but isn't ever highlighted to make an easy connection. Is there a way to fix that for us here I would really appreciate it."

Great stuff and my apologies for my mistake. You will have a link to click on in your inbox next time around!

Babu Immanuel writes with these encouraging words:

"Thank you for sending me this newsletter. I am delighted for this opportunity to be able to learn more about guitar, the first instrument I ever got to touch when I was say 10 years old. Since then I have wondered about the various sounds that one can make out of these six strings. Please keep sending me all your knowledge so that I can learn a bit more. Thanks again Babu"

Rob had this response after receiving our once off email from tell a friend:

"Hello, Thanks for the once off e-mail. I frequently received tips from my friend who's really pushing me to play. So, please add me to your mailing list, what I've seen so far it's a terrific site. Keep up the good work. With friendly regards, Rob Spek, Curaçao, N.A. "

Conclusion

We've come to the end of this edition of our Guitar Tips Newsletter. If there's one thing that I believe guitarists in general need to realize is that the horizon of your playing potential is literally endless. Far too often we shoot ourselves down from achieving success because we feel that we can't do something.

Transposition, as mentioned many times over the last two articles, has long been linked with musical excellence and a lot of theory. Hopefully, the past two articles have broken down some of those barriers and revealed something that can make your life a lot easier. Sure, there's a lot more about transposition to learn but just getting the basics down is the first step.

We have been contemplating the involvement of music theory in our newsletters but we want to know if you would like that or not. Email us with your thoughts and suggestions as we think some new ideas through.

Join us next week as we dive into alternate tunings. This is the newsletter you've been waiting for. Not only does it have some really cool tricks, riffs and images, but it will also be packed with audio and video so you can join in. I promised you a new newsletter with plenty of video and you're going to get one with our next newsletter. You won't want to miss it!

Until next time, keep on rocking!

"Light The Ignition of Transposition..."

Jordan Warford here, Editorial Manager for Guitar Tips.

Every so often, we decide to dive into a new aspect of playing guitar that many are either afraid of, or just simply have no idea what it's all about. Today, we're going to tackle one of the more feared issues evolving around guitar... Transposition.

Join us as we teach you the most simplistic and easy ways to transpose your music.

In this edition:

With transposition in the spotlight this week, we're also going to show you some handy sites that will give you some very quick transpositions in addition to some software programs that can help you transpose larger scores of music.

That may seem like a lot of information because it is! To deal with all of that information and give you a great foundation, we will be looking at this over the next two issues. In this issue we'll take a look at the capo and what that is all about. In our next issue we'll look at the theory of it all, as well as special tunings you can try!

As always, we have a great feedback booth for you this week. See what all of the buzz is with your fellow subscribers. Speaking of buzz, we have another exciting thing happening around our offices this week. The launch of yet another site! Yes, that's right, we're offering yet another site and this one is totally free.

We have developed a site called www.guitarforum.com.au and it's designed for you to talk to your fellow subscribers and ask the questions you always wanted to ask. We'll tell you why we put it there and how you can get involved.

With all of that in mind, let's get right to it!

Getting That Riff In Your Favorite Key!

Where to get started.

How many times have we composed a riff that we absolutely love, or perhaps found a song that we really enjoy playing and wanted to put it into a new, original song and truly make it ours? Chances are that we've all wanted to at least try it out once or twice but always came across one roadblock... Keys.

As mentioned in our last article, the probability that two riffs will be in the same key is very low if you are writing a lot of songs or wish to link two well known songs together. This is where you need to transpose one of those riffs so you can connect them together and put them in that song.

Another scenario is that you just wrote an awesome riff that you envision going into one of your band's songs... The only problem is that it's in the wrong key! With transposing, you can still use that riff and play along with the rest of the band.

If you're a true band nerd, like myself, you have probably been around transposition since the days of Jr. High or Middle School. Now, if you're still like me, you didn't have two clicks on how to do it either. I was always amazed to see how my teacher would take a trumpet part and transpose it so I could play it on my sax and still be in the right key!

With guitar, this is invaluable. You can take a sax part and transpose it to your guitar. If you happen to have a sax player around, you can now play along with that sax and still be in the proper key.

One of the most unique things about playing guitar is that we have a number of tools available to us to use for easy transposition. Many other musicians envy us for this and call us cheaters in the game of music theory, however, if you can use it... Why not?

The tools that you can use.

One of the most common tools used to transpose music on the guitar is the capo. The capo is essentially a piece of rubber that is glued onto two pieces of metal with a spring placed in between. When clasped onto the neck of your guitar and placed behind a fret, it acts as a new nut (AKA the "zero" nut.) This new nut raises the pitch of your guitar, therefore changing the key.

Most guitarists use them so they can make really complicated chords into easy open chord shapes. This is where the whole joke about cheating comes in. Instead of actually practicing those really hard chords and getting your technique down, you can transpose that chord using the capo and turn it into an open chord shape such as an E Major or an A and still have the same chord.

While I don't recommend that you always do that because it's always good to know how to play a song if your capo breaks, it's great for live performances where you want to minimize the risk of messing up a complicated chord. If you're a lead guitarist, you can still use a capo but in all honesty, it's far easier to find the key that everyone else is playing in relative to the capo and just use the scale that suites the song best.

In most cases, it's actually quicker for a lead guitarist not to use a capo and just find a scale. Switching a capo around the neck of your guitar can cost valuable seconds between songs.

So enough talk, you want to know how this works, right? Ok, lets start by looking at the chart below:

 

...So lets put this chart into practice. Suppose you are playing a song in the key of A and the chords that you are playing are A, D, and F#. The problem is, you want to play along with the rest of your band and they are playing in the key of B. Simply look at your chart and find the A chord, which is in the first column. Then look to see what capo number B falls under. In this case, it's fret number 2, so you place your capo on number two.

Continue to play the same chord shapes as you were before. The difference this time is that A, D and F# have now turned into B, E, and G#. You have just transposed a chord progression!

If you're unsure of where to start so you can transpose those chords, follow these quick steps:

1. Find what key you are currently in.
2. Use that note (for example A) to locate your position on the chart.
3. Then move over to the right and find the note of the key you are looking for (ex. B.)
4. Take a look at what fret number that note falls under and place your capo there.

Now that we know how to use the capo to transpose, there are a few techniques to get the best tone while using a capo. Looking past its theoretical use... The capo is not unlike your pick. There are tips on taking care of it and which ones that you should get over another, because there are differences.

First off, it would probably help you if you knew what one of these things looked like. This is one of the more popular models made by Kyser.

Photo courtesy of http://www.yourdictionary.com/images/ahd/jpg/A4capo.jpg

Most capos are in the same price range and it comes down to personal preference. Be prepared to pay around $17 USD for something that should last you a lifetime. Kyser and Shubb are the leaders in this industry and have made a product that is absolutely superb. Jim Dunlop is also on the scene with some honorable mentions but this editor recommends one capo over all of the rest... The Shubb capo.

Shubb has a unique trait that isn't found on other capos... Tension adjustment. You see, when you place something that's spring powered onto your strings, you're bound to end up pulling them sharp... And playing out of tune isn't something that we enjoy.

Shubb capos have a little knob where you can slightly release a bit of that tension and your guitar will go back into tune. You can check out Shubb capos by clicking here.

When using a capo, you want to place it inline with the fret you are putting it behind and keep it roughly a mm away from the fret (see picture above for proper reference.) Do not, I repeat, do not place a capo directly in between two frets, it's always closest to the fret in which you wish you place the capo on.

Every now and then you should place a few drops of light oil on the pivot point of the capo to keep it functioning properly.

There's a lot of newer alternatives to capos that are now on the market. There are capos especially for 12 string guitars, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, or both. However, my new favorite gadgets include capos that can give you drop D tunings and capos that only cover half of the strings... These are called partial capos. You can use them alone or with another capo.

They can give you really exotic tunings in a jiffy, without the need of a tuner and a lot of patience. It's perfect for the guitarist who writes a lot of songs with weird tunings but only has one guitar to perform on. I personally use them for the enjoyment of the beautiful sounds you can get from them.

Putting It All Together

Now that we have the tools, how about you hear what it sounds like? Here are some quick compositions that anyone can do. Notice how the sounds differ from one another depending on where the capo is placed. It's a lot of fun and I encourage you to try new chords using the capo in different locations and see what you come up with... You might just surprise yourself!

* Relative to the capo on the 5th fret.

Here's how it sounds:

*Relative to capo on the 2nd fret.

Here's how it sounds:

...You may have noticed my improv near the end of both riffs. This is my way of showing you that you can do this too and it's not that hard! Be yourself and you're bound to make music that inspires.

Site Review

Have you ever been really ticked off at me because you sent along an email that was really important to you and it took me what seemed like an eternity to answer? Perhaps you have a question that's burning inside of you but you rather not just get the opinion of some trained professional here on staff, rather, you want to know how people like yourself do those tricks.

Well, if any of the above calls your name or if you like to talk shop... Or you want to learn how to talk the language of guitar, we have the site for you. In response to the recent flood of emails and questions, we have decided to create a brand new free website that allows you to talk about guitar and connect with people around the world.

You're in the hot seat, yes that's right, I said you! This time you get to be the person who gives the advice, helps solve problems and become a member of an online community that wants you to become a better musician. If you're a leader, we want you on this forum. If you have no clue what on earth you are doing even picking up the guitar in the first place, we want you chatting it up on this forum. If you have a problem, question, or curiosity... This is the place for you. Have I stressed these point enough, ladies and gentlemen?

There are tonnes of places for you to start conversations, get technical help with any of our sites, ask guitar related questions, learn about new things happening and to give your input. You'll find plenty of links to click on that will educate you well on all of our latest sites.

If you're afraid of things getting out of hand, have no fear. The Guitar Tips staff are there for your safety and support. You can find me in and around the newsletter forum and you'll see appearances of other staff that you may have dealt with in the past with the addition of James Etheridge, the head administrator for the forum. Heck, you might even catch Chris, the owner of these sites as he goes about his busy work day.

I sincerely encourage you to get involved. We made this site to make your life easier. It's 100% free and won't cost you a cent. You can check out everything without becoming a member, but we encourage you to sign up to the forum. This isn't a membership to our site, rather a membership to our forum which is still 100% free. What can I say? We like to make things as affordable as possible.

Over the coming weeks I will be reviewing our other sites and you can see if you would like to become a paid member and enjoy the numerous benefits you will receive. However, it's always one step at a time. See if you like what we have to offer, and I guarantee, you'll love this forum.

Some of you may be thinking, "Of course he loves it, he works for them!" I assure you, if I wasn't as impressed as I am, I would have stopped writing about four paragraphs ago. When you log on and go past our front page, you're probably going to be shocked and think, "Wow, there's hardly any members and barely any posts!" This is true, there isn't much inside all of those neat forums but that's left for you to change.

You can create threads within those forums and start any topic you could ever think of. Before you know it, thousands of people with be along side of you and knowledge will be oozing with knowledge and your sides splitting from all the laughs and fun you're having.

Check it out at: www.guitarforum.com.au

Feedback Booth

The last two weeks have been relatively quite as far as comments have been concerned. However, some of you still took the initiative to send along your thoughts and we really appreciate that. Here's what some of your fellow subscribers had to say:

This comes to us from Jim:

Hello Jordan, I really appreciate and understand all of the hard work you're putting into your newsletter. I do, however, have one tiny suggestion regarding scales: it would be very helpful, I'm sure, to include a note regarding the use of the scales in soloing: ie., Gmajor scale is perfect for soloing over the I chord in the key of "G", the V chord in the key of "C", and would work over an Em chord, etc. The reason I ask is that I was very pleased to see the Eb Melodic Minor scale in your newsletter, but am confused regarding its use when, where, and in what key. Thanks, and keep up the good work, Jim Justice

Remember my challenge to you in our last newsletter? It was all about composition and I talked all about doing a key change and asked you to try it. Well, one of our subscribers did just that. Here's what Justin did and see what he has to say:

Hey! In your most recent newsletter you said if anyone could change the key down, then to email you the recording. Well, I did. Although, I'm sick right now so I wasn't playing at my peak performance (as you can tell by the mistakes I have) but the idea is there. Also, my wah-pedal squeaks, and you can hear it squeaking. I also realize that the sound quality is pretty bad but hey, I was using a little amp with a 2 dollar microphone. Plus I was using Windows Sound Recorder. But the change is around 5:30-ish (the song is 7 minutes and 10 seconds) so that's really the only time you have to actually pay attention. Oh and my little solo at the end, I was just having fun. I don't even know if it's in the right key...

Here is his recording and what he came up with... Thanks for proving me wrong! I said I've never heard one pulled of nicely, which could have been a tiny little exaggeration. Nonetheless, this was done decently and deserves recognition. Listen for the distortion and that's where the key change takes place. Pretty funky stuff. If you have something that you would like featured, send it along!

JD writes to us with this:

Thank you very much for your newsletters, I really enjoy them.

Catherine writes with this very popular question:

Sorry about the articles I seem to have misplaced them could you send them again and as soon as I get them I will placed them up on my site. I have been so absent minded lately.

Great question! Many of your have asked the same thing. If you wish to get caught up on all of our most recent newsletters, take a trip to the top of this page and find the archive tab. Click on that tab and you'll find a list of the lessons. If you wish you to download all of the lessons to your pc, go to need content. If you don't have a site, that's fine. Just place our site url in there.

 

Conclusion

Well, we have come to the part of the newsletter where we rap things up yet again. I truly hope that you feel more confident in your abilities as a musician and no matter how daunting the task of transposition may seem to you at this point in time, I encourage you to continue to try! It will be well worth it to you in the long run.

To your credit, it isn't easy picking this stuff up if you don't know a little bit about music theory. Over the coming months, we're going to show you some of the inside tricks of music theory that any guitarist can use. Next week we'll approach the subject from a different angle and also give you a brand new challenge to work on.

On another guitar related note, my apologies for the lack of video and audio in the last two newsletters. Things have been a little hectic around here as of late but I assure you that you can look forward to more video and MP3's in the near future!

Until next time, keep on picking!

"Get More Inspiration With Composition"

Jordan Warford here, Editorial Manager for Guitar Tips.

Thanks for tuning in this week as we dive into a new aspect of music that we haven't really touched on before! We will be covering the do's and do not's of writing music and how you can expand your musical creativity.

In this edition:

If you're sick and tired of listening to other peoples' music, we have the solution for you... write your own! We'll be taking some time to help you build the proper foundation when it comes to song writing by showing you some tricks of the trade. We also have some sweet scales for you to work on this week.

We have a great feedback booth this week, where we will be show casing some of the great comments you send us each week.

The internet is a great resource for guitarists and is what keeps us in business. Through your travels over the world wide web, you've probably come across a guy by the name of Andrew Koblick. We will give you the scoop on his site and what he has to offer you. You won't want to miss out on it!

To top off all of that, we have our regular gear review brought to you by Guitar Trader. They offer some awesome equipment that can certainly give you the leading edge with you playing.

Let's get right to it!

A Formula For Writing A Great Song

Where to get started.

When you started to play guitar, you naturally gravitated to playing the music of your favorite guitarist. We all thought we were really cool and sounded really good until we were thrown in the middle of our school cafeteria or workplace only to discover that every second, guitarists already knew what you were playing and where you were going with it next.

That gets old really fast. After all, your main goal in most cases is to connect with your audience and how could you possibly do that when everyone is playing the same thing? The truth is that many people will disconnect when they hear you play "Stairway To Heaven" the same way every other person has done it before you.

Then we need to ask the question, "If it sounds old when I play it, why am I still so moved by the song when Eric Clapton plays it?" The reason is because he wrote it. That song is a piece of him and no one could ever emulate that connection. Making his song something that you personalized will truly add to that piece of music.

There are steps to doing this, just as there are steps when writing a full song. The key problem that I've seen surface in musicians is the writer's block syndrome. I have fell into that trap many times and felt as if I was playing the same thing over and over again. Training your brain to think outside the box involves some new concepts that we'll be covering further on into the newsletter.

However, we need to start somewhere. For me, that starting point evolves around scales. Some writers prefer starting with chords and that's perfectly fine. Not unlike improvisation (which is a very big part of composition,) there is no set way to start writing a song.

The tips I'm about to give you are just a guideline and some rules are just meant to be broken. Let your creativity take you somewhere where you haven't been before and try something new. If you do something completely different than myself, that's great! This is the method I use and teach but by no means is it set in stone and the only way to write a "Correct" song.

As you will soon find out, I like to compose songs much like any construction worker would build a house: Starting from the ground up.

To start, let's take an everyday C Major scale:

...There are no sharps, no flats and is definitely a great starting point, no matter how boring it may look to you now.

After running through it a couple of times and getting familiar with the fingerings, we can start to analyze the things that are in this scale. You can look at them as your tools. You have an arpeggio that you can use, harmonics, a great location on the fretboard and a nice sound that can be mellow or in your face loud.

Let's take part of that scale and transform it into a lick. Perhaps you are looking for something a little more light... A nice start to a solo before you climax into the best part. Take a look at the high E string and your B and G string. All of the notes are centrally located, which means you can really speed them up or slow them down depending on what you want to do.

Using the techniques we learned from previous lessons, we can incorporate hammer on's and slides quite easily into something that's really close together. This is building the foundation to your piece of music. After some improv, I came up with this:

What we have is clearly derived from the C Major scale, but has an added twist with hammer on's and a sharp, staccato (short) attack on the notes. You may notice that the location of the notes, the techniques used and the repeat bars show that there is a pattern, or formula to this lick. It's the blueprint that will map out the rest of your music for you (yes I know that the blueprint normally comes before the foundation when building a house, so just work with me here!)

Maintaining the idea of the song throughout the entire piece is important. You don't want to sound disorganized but you do want to come off looking polished and professional.

All too often we will come up with a riff but that's about as far as it goes. For every riff you write, there are a hundred songs that could be written from it and that's no exaggeration! Take note of the style of that riff. For the one above, you can tell there's a balanced mix of speed and attack. It's fast yet it doesn't feel rushed. You can go with that and take a look at the rest of the notes you have in your tool box.

We could take the above riff and add this to it:

We kept the flavor that we were going for and simply used the area around that scale. We use a lot of the same notes, which is perfect. The key to creating a great arrangement is to keep it simple yet make it sound complicated. Changing the sounds of the same note by using different rhythmic techniques and volume intensities will leave you with something that is relatively easy to play yet creative and colorful. Take a look at this video to insure that you are using the proper fingers:

...The reason I bring up fingerings is because they lead you to the next part of the song, literally. For instance, the first riff we covered has all of the notes close by and our fingers hardly had to move. This allows our fingers to do the walking, while our brain can focus on rhythmic patterns and keeping the general idea of the song. This is another tool that we can utilize and believe me when I say every tool is essential when you're writing a song.

What to do with all of those riffs lying around...

Now the real fun starts. We know the basic concept of putting a song together. It needs a foundation, which includes the following:

It also needs a blueprint with the following attributes:

If we were building a house, the next step would be to get some walls up. This is where all of those riffs you have hanging around can come in handy. Pretend that those riffs are the walls. You already have your foundation and your blue print, so you know the direction you are headed in, you just need to find out how to nail them together.

The nails are transposition. I highly doubt all the riffs you have composed are in the same key, however, transposition isn't something that we can fit into this newsletter, so we're going to focus our next edition on this very topic. For now, try to use the riffs you have that are in the same key.

You can use riffs that are in different keys if you wish, but it gets a little more complicated with connecting them together. I will show you how to do a key change in a song in just a few moments but key changes in the middle of a riff will have to wait for another day.

Now would also be a good time to use riffs from your favorite guitarists and make it into your own masterpiece!

Creating a connection between the riffs to make them one could almost be looked at as the floor. A good connection between two riffs holds things down tight and is seamless. To place a connection between two different riffs (in the same key), look for connecting notes. If you can't read music or don't know which notes are what on your fretboard, look for places on your fretbaord where the two riffs overlap.

These connections, or transitions, are what will give you a professional appearance. They can be really slow, really fast or set at a normal tempo (speed.)

Now you see it coming together pretty quickly. What once was something that seemed kind of large now seems pretty easy when broken down. The only problem we have is the length of our song. We have the riff but now we need to top it off and put it all together. What we need now is a roof.

This roof comes in the form of a guideline, what musicians call "Musical form." This is the guideline that almost every musician uses, so I suggest you listen up. In a song, there are the following parts:

The most normal and basic of musical forms follows the pattern of having an introduction, where you grab the audience's interest, which follows into a verse, which expresses a musical thought and then into the heart of the song which is the chorus. Then you will normally follow back to a new verse, which is different from your first verse.

The chorus will always be the same. The verses will always change and you can have as many of them as you want, so long as you follow the pattern of verse: chorus: verse: chorus, etc. Once again, we come back to a repeated pattern. This pattern actually makes it easier for us as guitarists when we're writing a lengthy instrumental.

Other things you can incorporate into your composition to make it snazzy are things like a bridge, which is introduced around 2/3 of the way through the song and eliminates the chance of your song getting boring. It should be as unique and as different as possible while trying to maintain the style without sounding out of key. Us musicians keep it simple, envision the bridge as a physical bridge that walks you from land (the chorus) to a small island (the verse.)

There's even something called a pre-chorus. The pre-chorus is designed to sound like the chorus but normally will do something different than any other part of a song. For example, this is used quite a bit in techno music to tease the dancer before building into the chorus. It's longer than the bridge and usually has a lot more going on, which is why it's under a different name.

Basically, I look at all of this information like this:

Suppose I have just finished putting a bunch of riffs together. I have a neat little lick that last around 10 seconds. It's flashy and impressive, something that grabs people's attention, so I'll use it as my introduction. I have yet another riff but this one is about 20-25 seconds.

It's not the most dazzling one I have but it's cool and great to listen to, I'll use that as a verse. If I have a pretty intense riff, that lasts roughly 30-35 seconds then I will use it as my chorus. I also have a little doodle that I enjoy and it's in the right key, so why not make it my bridge? I go and incorporate another verse from my library of licks in that key.

Now I want to blow my audience away! I decide to use an amazing riff that's in a different key. So how do I get to the point where I can do that key change? Simple, just do a pre-chorus and build up an intense anticipation. Use some accidentals (notes that aren't in the key you currently are in but sound good) and move on up to the key change in the Chorus.

Notice how I said up, not down? This is because you always want to build your song up, just like a house. Changing the key down just takes away and you tend to loose that intensity. I've yet to see a key change down for a chorus pulled off nicely. If you think you can, email me with your recording!

Some musicians think pre-choruses are for pop or R&B. I disagree for the above reason, they can be a great tool for changing the key of a song.

Lyrics:

Well my friends, we have come to the point where some of you may actually want to include lyrics. This unfortunately, is not my specialty... I actually think my neighbor's dog could do a better job than me! That applies to singing as well so don't expect any lessons on either of these subjects. So far, everything I have written about has pertained to instrumental music (music without lyrics.) You can use the same musical form as mentioned above, the problem is that writing lyrics are much different than writing music on a guitar.

I have done some research to find someone who could actually teach this to you for free and came up with a pretty cool site. Click here to check it out. I hope this helps you out and that I see your song on the top 10 billboard charts!

Putting It All Together

Now that we have a pretty good idea of how to string together a song, it's a good idea to get inspiration. When writing music in specific keys, we sometimes forget about all of the exotic scales out there that we can utilize to get a great solo. So instead of writing a song, I'm going to give you some scales that you can use to write your own songs.

Hope you have fun and get the musical juices flowing!

G diminished {whole-staff}

G#/Ab Locrian

Eb jazz melodic minor:

B pentatonic major:

F blues scale {with major third and flatted fifth}:

Gear Review

Have you ever seen a piece of gear that every musician around you seems to have but you're not quite sure why? Perhaps you've been admiring a top of the line guitar that you plan on working towards getting but aren't sure if it's something that fits your style of taste... let alone budget. In this segment we will take a look at those questions by reviewing some pretty popular gear and see if it's worth the 60 hours you worked for it.

Boss TU-2 Pedal Tuner

In previous editions we have taken a look at some of the products Boss offers (the GT6 pedal for example). You may also remember me telling you that I prefer individual stomp boxes and the TU-2 is one of the reasons why. I can't stress to you how incredible this tool is when placed with your arsenal of effect pedals. You may be thinking "Hey dude, it's just a tuner." In the world of playing performance guitar... there's no such thing as "Just a tuner."

The TU-2 is a top of the line tuner built from ridged metal that will last you a lifetime. Not only is it durable but it's extremely accurate. Let's say you needed to tune down to drop D of maybe even down a halfstep during a show that you're playing, you simply turn the tuner on, which cuts out any noise from tuning that may go to the speakers or amps and allows you to tune quickly and precicely the exact tuning you need. Let's put it this way: the TU-2 is battle tested and came out on top with many of your favourite guitarist's wish lists.

Click here if you would like to check it out.

Fender US Tele Spruce Top Chambered Ash RW Cherry Sunburst

In 1951, Leo Fender introduced the Broadcaster, which would eventually be renamed the Telecaster® guitar. It was the first solid-body electric Spanish-style guitar that would ever get the chance to see the production line and be shipped around the world. {Source: Fender.com}

If you're looking for a guitar that is stage ready and a perfect match for almost any style, I really suggest you put this guitar on your shopping list of things to do. This guitar is one of the most versitile guitars around and it can kick out rock, blues, country, funk and raggae with the best of them! It has amazing pickups, which have become knowns as the "Lipstick pickups."

These pickups are single coil. While they may not sound like a beefed up Les Paul, it doesn't need to. It has it's own character and handles both clean and distorted tones very well. I used to dislike this guitar because I felt that it had to much of a high end, meaning that it was a little too twangy for my tastes. However, with some adjustments and the right settings (not to mention amp) you can really push it out on this baby.

A few weeks ago, I saw yet another Tele® in action and I must say I was impressed by its response on stage and how much it added to the music. Is this guitar for everyone? No. That's a decision that you need to make for yourself but for anyone looking for a professional quality instrument, it's worth the $1000.

Normally I wouldn't review an instrument like this due to the fact that many of us just can't afford to go and blow that kind of money on an instrument with school, work or kids. The reason I did review it is simply because if nothing else, you know what's available to you when the opportunity arises for you to go and get a new guitar. No one said it would be easy or that you wouldn't have to work for it!

When all is said and done, you can't go wrong with a Tele®. It's got that hot sound that can be totally manipulated to the tone that you personally prefer.

Click here to check it out!

As many of you know, this section of our newsletter is brought to you by Guitar Trader. We've partnered with them yet again to offer you a chance to win Joe Satriani's signed electric guitar... pretty impressive stuff1 Even our staff around the office are wishing they could enter! Don't wait much longer because we're going to announce a winner in our next newsletter! Click here if you want to get in on the action.

Feedback Booth

Every week many of you take the time to send off an email to us with your comments and ideas. It's always a pleasure to hear back from our subscribers and I would like to extend my personal thanks to all of you who put in so much effort! In the future, I will be working on new ideas and directions for this newsletter as we continually evolve and your thoughts are vital.

One of our favorite ways of showing our appreciation to our subscribers who mail us is by featuring them on the site. This week we have some questions and comments to share.

John Robert Hostutler writes to us with this question:

"I am sure that this Bruno has some fine guitar tips. By the way what happened to the guitar licks. Have you stopped sending them? I could use some more of them. Thank you."

John was one of many who emailed us with this question. The answer is no, we have not stopped sending them and will continue to send you the hottest tips and tricks for as long as this site is running. However, playing guitar involves a lot more than just music to practice and sometimes it's healthy to put down the guitar for a few moments and analyze what you are doing and where you are headed... Our last newsletter was a perfect example of one of those times.

Sue writes to us with this question:

"Hi Jordan, thanks for the tips on how to land a record deal. However, it mentions a demo, which my band has but we want to protect our material and need it copyrighted. How do we go about it and register our band name too? I live in the UK. Thanks!"

Great question! We will be looking into doing an article of this nature in the future. Until that point in time, I encourage all of you to try a Google search and see what's out there on the world wide web. There are some amazing sites that are specific to every Country's laws. If you're in a tight situation, there's always your local Yellow Pages and you can get in contact with a lawer or similar music business.

Chathura Kodagoda has a few suggestions that she sent along to us:

"Hi, I would like to congratulate you on the newsletter and what you have done with it. But I have a few suggestions. Just a quick line, If you formulate a 3 month basic guitar course and publish it with the newsletter and show us what tips we can use and what not to and cycle that every 3 months while getting feed back and monitoring it and improving, you will get much more traffic for your web site. Thanks, Chathura. Sri Lanka"

A wonderful compliment was sent to us from Bob:

"WOW! The "new" newsletter is awesome! I've never seen a video newsletter before. There is a lot of info on here I found useful. I hope you market this into your membership offer because it should increase subscribers! Best wishes. Bob / Nashville USA"

Conclusion

If there's one thing that I've learned from teaching guitar, it's that musical composition is a vital tool that compresses all the talents of a guitarist into one package. Not only does it serve as a way to entertain people but it also soothes and relaxes your mind. It's a perfect outlet for the daily frustrations and joys of life.

I hope you walk away from your computer encouraged and ready to take on the next challenge that awaits you. Like everything else with music, it takes time and practice to write good material but it can be done. Thinking outside of the box involves you taking the time to step out of it. Look at scales and chords and don't be afraid to hop around your fretbaord and have fun.

Remember, for every scale you do, there are many other places on the fretboard that you can play it.

I would like to thank everyone who sent in their band's press package in response to my call for help in our last edition... Great stuff! If you have something unique that you would like to share with your fellow subscribers, please don't hesitate to send it along.

Until next time, keep on picking!

"How To Land A Record Deal: Plus, An Exclusive Interview With Jimmy Bruno"

Jordan Warford here, Editorial Manager for Guitar Tips.

Picture this: You're backstage preparing for the biggest show of your life. Your guitar tech passes you your favorite custom guitar and wishes you the best of luck. You meet up with the rest of your band mates and get into a huddle and share your excitement together.

Then, your manager comes over and yells, "Show time." You all walk to the back of the stage and try to remember where all of the pyrotechnics placed the explosives so you don't end up standing on one. You start to run towards the stage and the thousands upon thousands of fans that await you.

If that's your dream, it all starts with one thing that musicians like to call a record deal. Getting your band or yourself known isn't particularly easy sometimes but it does start with getting your music out there. The music business is one of the hardest yet most rewarding careers you could choose to go into.

There are many steps and procedures to go through and we're here to tell you about it. We can't cover everything but we can give you the big picture. To illustrate the life of a professional musician, we had an exclusive interview with one of the best: Jimmy Bruno. He's known as the Yngwie Malmsteen of the Jazz world (Guitar World Magazine) and has extensive experience with recording. With that in mind, let's see what else is in this week's newsletter.

In this edition:

Learn how to ride the rollercoaster life of a musician without having to use a doggy bag. We'll show you the general outline of record companies and how to get in contact with the right people.

We are totally excited to have an exclusive interview with Jimmy Bruno that will bring you new insight into the world of a professional musician. Jimmy Bruno has recorded many albums and is known as one of the best jazz musicians around. A week before I contacted him I just finished reading a Guitar One Magazine where he was the featured instructor, pretty cool stuff! Hear his insightful thoughts on recording as well as the jazz world.

If you've wanted to dig deeper into the theory behind the music, we have a great site for you to check out.

We also have a great feedback booth this week where you can see what your fellow subscribers are thinking.

Lets get right to it!

Living Life On The Edge

Do you have what it takes?

Looking back to our childhoods, we have all dreamt of becoming a world famous guitarist and selling millions of records at some point in our lives. However, when we were old enough to understand that it wasn't as simple as we originally thought, many of us gave up.

It's true, record companies aren't particularly nice and they do tend to hurt people's feelings. It's a dog eat dog world out there and sometimes it's not what you know rather who you know. Don't lose all hope yet, there are plenty of little tricks that will help you out and get you where you need to be.

It takes time, perseverance, and a lot of talent to get into the music business as a career but it's been done time and time again. Having the right attitude can be half the battle sometimes, so we're going to set you straight before we begin... Hold on tight!

Where to get started:

When you put together a band, or start playing an instrument for that matter, you don't practice in your garage or living room for two years and then go to a record label, get signed and head out on tour in five months. What you need to do is practice in your garage or living room for two years, while getting a reputation in your community.

The smaller stuff is where you lay your foundation and it can determine your future success. Once you have your act down, head out into your local community. Play wherever you can get access to. Local charity fundraisers, battle of the bands, clubs, bars, dances, and coffee houses are all great places to start.

If you live in a bigger city where there are tonnes of bands around every corner, collaborate with them and see if some of the more experienced bands would be interested in letting you open up a show for them.

If you live in a more rural setting, take the initiative and see if you can get permission to set up in a public place like a parking lot or local park where you will be noticed. Play your set a couple of times through and enjoy yourself. Then start to look for organizations that need musical entertainment and offer to do it for free. This builds a strong relationship between you, that organization and the owners of the venue in which you will be playing.

After you do a couple of freebies and get noticed, it's time to look at getting some financial reward. Don't get too excited, you're not living the life of the rich and famous yet. You're going to need this money to invest in the process.

Packaging you or your band:

When you really start to get a strong local fan base, they're going to want to hear your music more and more. This would be a good time to rent a recording studio and record a demo CD. A demo CD has roughly 3 songs on it and is used for promotional purposes. It's a great tool to feed your hungry fans with your music as well as show record executives what you're all about.

Costs will vary depending on the company. If you're into recording, you could probably do a pretty decent job if you have the proper equipment and the right mics but unfortunately most of us don't. Budget roughly $600-1000 to do the job right and get something that you'll be extremely happy with. The budget should also allow for approximately 30-50 CDs to be duplicated.

I have found a great service offered through MusiciansFriend that I feel you can't pass up for the price! Check out this amazing deal here.

The cost of the CDs lowers if you buy in bulk. What tends to be expensive is the packaging and you may want to do this yourself by buying inexpensive slips or jewel cases. Remember, you will be selling some of these, which will cover part of the cost.

The next step for your band will be getting a manager. Your purpose is to entertain and worry about building a repertoire, not having to book gigs. A good manager will take over the task of finding you great places to play, looking into getting a hold of the right record labels, as well as building your reputation.

As with everything else in the music business, managers cost money too. Their commission will vary from person to person. The more successful bands they have under their belt, the more they tend to charge. In these cases, you're going to want to go with the manager who has the best track record and the most successful bands. Reputation and character is everything when it comes to your manager's track resume.

Getting a manager can be tricky. In many cases, they will come to you. If they don't, you can always ask musical institutions in your area or consult the phone books for agencies that will hook you up with the right person.

Many bands decide to go out on their own without a manager because money is too tight... which is understandable. Some of them have done quite well and made it big. However, you need to be cautious because record labels are more likely to respond and at least take a look at you if they see that someone is managing your band. Basically, it can be seen as a sign of professionalism.

Press Kit: Hopefully by this point, you have received some cool press attention from your local paper or news station. You'll want to document this because you're going to want to add that to your press kit. This is what you will finally end up sending to record labels (more on that later.)

Press not only proves what you have been up to but also shows that you can get attention on your own, without fancy marketing. This is vital for a record company who really doesn't want to spend more money than necessary convincing people to check out your music.

While we're on the topic of press kits, now would be a good time to tell you what you should include in this package. This is essentially your chance to shine. Here's a list of the best things to include:

• Your demo CD with approximately 3 songs. Do not send a tape! Some reps will listen to tapes but some choose not to. You do not want to take that chance.

...Now that you have your package all ready to go, who on earth do you send it to? That brings us to our next section.

Putting It All Together

A&R Reps:

Now comes the time where you contact a record label. You will want to research which labels you send your press kit to. If you're a hardcore rock band, you won't want to be going to a label that is primarily known for producing pop acts. The people in charge of finding the talent and getting them the record deal are called A&R reps.

A&R is an acronym for " Artist and Repertoire." They will review your package and see if there's potential. These reps work hard for their money and end up receiving thousands of packages each year. What that means is that it doesn't take much for your package to get rejected so be picky.

The general consensus amongst A&R reps is that you won't go to them, they'll go to you. I still advise that you send the kit along. Even feel free to call their office and follow up a few months later if you haven't heard anything by that point in time. If there's new developments in your career, let them know. If your playing a gig that's close to their location, then send them passes to get in and see you play.

The key is to hit labels that are interested in your type of music and try to send off a kit to a number of different labels.

To find out who's the local A&R rep in your area, you will want to tap into a registry. Click here to see one of the best. There is a fee but it's worth it, trust me. I have had a look at what they offer and it is one of the best. It gives detailed contact information that is up to date and is exactly what the hopeful rock star needs.

You may be lucky enough to have a manager who knows the right people. If that's the case your best bet is to try that person because there is already a relationship between the rep and your manager so it will increase your chances of getting them to take a serious look.

The Deal:

Hopefully after all of this hard work you are offered a contract. This is where an art turns into a science. I highly advise that you hire an entertainment attorney to accompany your band to your meetings with the record executives. The contracts are quite lengthy and complex but the bottom line is that you don't want to get ripped off. If the deal isn't right for you, then don't take it.

You may be thinking "But Jordan, this is my only chance!" Never fear, this is the point where you go to the competition. Money can be a complicated thing in the record business so you want to make sure that you get your fair share. If you write original material you also run the risk of losing the rights to that song as well. Like mentioned before, it truly does differ from company to company but the bottom line is to protect yourself.

An Interview With Jimmy Bruno

Picture Courtesy of www.jimmybruno.com.

I remember how I loved to listen to anyone who played blues or jazz when I was a kid... especially on sax. Then my tastes started to gravitate towards jazz guitar and the entire culture behind it. Naturally, when I really started to dig into jazz one name continued to pop up in my studies: Jimmy Bruno.

Jimmy Bruno has seen and experienced so many incredible things yet he remains a humble musician who still believes there are many doors that he has left to open. He has been recognized by Guitar World as one of the best in his field and it would be hard for anyone to disagree. He has recorded a mind boggling number of albums over his career and has worked with some of the world's best musicians.

His explosive riffs and eruption of theretical knowledge give him a sound that is unsurpassed in the jazz world. When all of that highly tuned and refined talent is coupled with the amazing tone produced from his custom Sadowsky archtop, named after him, he is unstoppable.

When I started to research his career, I was amazed to see how he finds a balance in his life. When he's not touring, in the recording studio, teaching from his home or teaching improvisation at Philadelphia's University of the Arts, you can find him at home with his family.

It doesn't matter what genre of music you play, there is a lesson to be learned from Jimmy Bruno. For me, that lesson was one of knowing what your fretboard has to offer you and taking advantage of the space provided.

We hope you enjoy this interview and take something away from it that inspires you to practice harder and fulfill a thirst for musical knowledge.

The Interview

GT: I read in numerous places that when growing up, your family had quite a musical impact on you. What was life like living in that environment and how does this affect your music today?

JB: "Well, I mean I was lucky because there was always jazz music in my house. That's what I thought all music was like. I think it made me a better player for sure."

So it gave you more opportunities?

"Ooh yeah. I had plenty of opportunities."

GT: What other musical influences, if any, have you had over recent years?

JB: "Well the usual guitar players that were typical of growing up. Johnny Smith was a big influence and Hank Garland really influenced me as well. Then it moved to Saxophone players and piano players since I was 16."

GT: Do you listen to other musical genres or do you prefer to stick to jazz?

JB: "Well you know, I do music like almost 24 hours a day. So I listen to a lot of music. If it's work related, then I'm always listing to mostly my stuff really or sometimes another guitar player. If I think of music for enjoyment, it's classical music . I like that, I like the oldies, I like Willy Nelson a lot and Bonny Rates. Somebody that I just discovered was Susan Tideshi. I mean she's not new but she is new to me. Other styles of music."

GT: How do you feel about the different directions jazz is taking in today's society? They're so many different styles of jazz from improv to classical. What's your opinion on them? Do you like them or prefer the jazz standards?

JB: "Well I think there's some really good new directions going on. I don't think all of them are real good. I think a lot of it has to do with commercialism and making money. It's pretty obvious when jazz musicians try to do that. I don't think that that's a good trend. However, I know people need to eat and stuff like that and make a living.

The good side is that they're exposing more people to jazz and the downside is that it's not giving them quality. I don't cast any judgments on that. I choose not to do that but anybody who is doing that and making a good living has my respect and admiration because a lot them are good musicians and good players and they choose to this and that's fine."

GT: You have extensive experience as a recording artist. What challenges do you personally face while in the recording studio?

JB: "The recording studio is really a difficult environment. Even a live recording is too because it's always in the back of your mind that this is permanent and you kind of have to make that go away. It's really hard to resist the temptation to go back and fix everything because with today's technology, you can. With me, I find that if I do that it kind of makes me sound a little sterile. I've always enjoyed the recordings from the 60's where they're not perfect. You can hear somebody breathing or making sounds and not every line that they play is perfect… I'm kind of partial to that.

I do appreciate the people that record the other way and really polish it up. I mean, some of that is really pretty good so long as you don't do it too much and take away from the music. What is too much and what is too little? I don't really know. That's a big one and the other one is sound. You always want to try and get it to sound the way it sounds to you in your own head. Which is really difficult because you have a producer, there's an engineer; there's the microphone, the amplifier that you choose and the board that it's going through. They shape the final sounds so you're never going to get what's in your head, it's just impossible but you can get real close.

It's funny because sometimes I'll talk to another player and I'll mention "Wow, you really have a good guitar sound on that CD, I really like it" to which the player will respond "Ahh, I hated it!" The one that I hated the most was my guitar sound on the CD burning. I love the music; I think it's some of the best playing I've done. In those days my playing over the top kind of but it was only the second CD but I hated the sound of the guitar and I get lots of compliments on how good the guitar sounds. It's one of those things I don't understand.

On the other hand I like the sound on The Live at Birdland records, both of them and midnight blue, the solo guitar came out pretty close. The other thing in the Studio is that there's no audience. That's a big one because I thoroughly believe that art needs an audience for it to be art. There has to be somebody on the other end of this. Then when someone listens to the CD you have an audience."

GT: So you don't know what direction it's going in or if you feel that it's not the right sound you're looking for.

JB: "You definitely get something from an audience that is lacking in the studio."

GT: Where can you discover the most about your instrument? Is it self-taught or amongst other people?

JB: "A little bit of both I think. Playing with a lot of good musicians and developing your ear. Getting away from the academia is also important."

GT: Your speed and technical prowess is unsurpassed in the world of jazz. How did you bring yourself to this level of playing without getting stuck on a plateau?

JB: "Well when I was a kid, like I said my Father was a guitar player, so he was always playing out of violin books and there was always a lot of violinists at my house from the Philly orchestra and classical musicians. So I didn't really start out playing jazz. I was like 10 or 8 years old and from that point until the time I was 16 I was studying a lot of these books and listening to what these players were saying.

I thought that everybody had technique. A violinist that has no technique can't work. Classical musicians have phenomenal technique and so I just thought that was what I had to do to become a musician. It had nothing to do with Jazz."

GT: Do you get nervous before playing in front of large audiences?

JB: "No, it's a bit of an adrenaline rush but not nervous. I mean it's exciting to do that!"

GT:Many of our subscribers' dream of having a professional career as a musician, what advice would you like to pass on to them?

JB: "Never give up! Become as good a musician as you possibly can and find your own voice. Don't copy anyone and be sincere in your music. Don't talk yourself into wealth and thinking, "This way, I'll make more money" because you have to be sincere and really believe in the music that you're playing. Otherwise, I think audiences can tell and you certainly can tell -- so you have to be true to yourself. Otherwise you won't be happy."

GT: When did you make the decision that jazz was what you were going to do with your life?

JB: "I think when I was 16 I did and then I got tired of starving. After 22 I moved to Vegas and became a commercial sideman musician, then I went LA and did that for a while. Then when I was 35 I wasn't playing much jazz and I was pretty unhappy and yet at the same time making a decent living. So I decided to quit music because as far as I was concerned that was about as far as I could go being a "Professional Musician." I kind of quit for a while and decided that if I I'm going to play it would be jazz. When I started before it was to play jazz and give that a shot and I was lucky enough that it worked out!"

GT:Do you play any other guitars such as strats or acoustics?

JB: "Sure, oh yeah! I did when I was a sideman and I played everything. I played other guitars, banjos, mandolins… The whole thing. "

GT: What does your practice routine look like?

JB: "Well I don't have a daily practice routine any more. I'm playing and working all the time so if I get the chance to practice I usually will try to write something. When I was learning I would practice scales, arpeggios, interval studies, board studies, learning tunes, transposing tunes into a different piece or trying to learn tunes off of a CD or in those days a record rather than the real book. I think that's a bad crutch and it's misused.

What happens is that we have a lot of young musicians who don't ever develop an ear fro learning a song by themselves. They just do it by the real book and they never heard the lyrics or the recordings. The upside is that if you can play already and if you already have an ear it's not bad to look something up now and then but I always refer to the record."

GT: Looking through your site and previous written articles, it's evident that you are a talented and patient teacher. So was teaching and putting lessons up on your site something you fell into or something that you chose to do?

JB: "I always like to teach because you get a lot of questions about music and what you think about when you're playing. I remember when I had those same questions too and it was really frustrating not to get a really good answer. You meet some older musicians and they say "Well, you just hear it." That's great but what if you can't just hear it? They say "Practice your scales" and that's great too because you need to practice scales to be able to play your instrument. I don't think you need to put a specific scale over a specific chord.

Somehow it's gotten to that point and all of that is helpful and true information but it's only helpful after the fact. It's a great tool and a good education chance to analyze something but I don't think it's the best way to go about creating music. That has to come from someplace else. It can't be intellectual."

GT: I've noticed that you like to teach improv. How do you bring out the tips and tricks when teaching a student something that can't really be taught?

JB: " First you need to make sure that they can play the guitar to some degree. They don't have to be a virtuoso but it can't be "Put your finger here." The first thing I do is limit someone's area on the guitar where they can play. One spot and they have to stay there and learn the sounds in that one spot with specific fingers.

Then, I'll get them to play different lines and different melodies without any chord changes and then I can correct, well not correct the melody but sometimes improve it and give them different examples of how they can make their lines better. At the same time start changing those sounds with the spot on the fingerboard and then add the harmony. The progression not the isolated chord as I don't think that tells you very much."

Well that raps up our interview with Jimmy Bruno. From all of the staff here at Guitar Tips, I would like to personally thank Mr. Bruno for taking the time out of his hectic schedule to answer some of my questions. We wish you the best and look forward to seeing what you come up with next. Keep on being you!

Feedback Booth

We always love to hear back from our subscribers and like I always say, we can't do what we do without your feedback. After our last newsletter, which included our first ever comprehensive guide, many of you took the time to share your likes and dislikes. Here's a sample of our most recent emails:

José writes to us with this encouraging email:

"Hello Jordan, I find very useful your Guitar Tips Newsletters and I have particularly appreciated this one on Rhythm Skills and related Video Clips. I wish you will follow on this way. Congratulations. José Greco"

Don sent along this really inspiring email, many thanks:

Hello Jordan, I just received the latest newsletter. You really did an outstanding job. I played rhythm guitar for several years many years ago. Now I am "re-educating" myself after about 45 years of vacation. Your newsletters have been very helpful. However, this latest one is even more jam packed with solid information. I have been amazed at how quickly my memory and ability is returning. Thanks for your input. It is really very valuable. Well worth the subscription. Have a good day! Don

Dave had some real frustrations that he wanted to tell me about:

"G'day there! A little negative feedback on the newsletter. Firstly the video. Not everyone has broadband or cable or unlimited download available. I for one am still on a dial up connection with a limited download for the 4 people in the house that use the internet. How about presenting the newsletter in a way that has smaller video files that can be selected to be downloaded rather than have them automatically downloaded.

Secondly, considering this is essentially an Aussie site how come there is so much US involvement. For example, all the gear offered is from a US retailer and most if not all of the feedback and comments appear to come from US subscribers. How about a little Aussie stuff??? Regards, Dave"

We truly do apologize for this inconvenience. As a direct result of this problem, we will be restricting our use of video to a maximum of 4 videos per newsletter and use recordings instead. The rhythm article is really out of the ordinary when it comes to size and was a special edition. We will continue to look for better and faster alternatives that every subscriber can benefit from.

Here's a number of really great emails that I would like to share with you:

"Hey you guys! The new newsletter is awesome! The video recordings really help. You can see what you're playing but in the same time hear what it should sound like. Keep it up, Carla Flavia"

"Your new videos in the newsletter are great. They have helped me more than anything I have attempted to improve my ability to learn how to play the guitar. Thanks, Bill Hayes"

"I just wanted to say thanks....some hard work has gone into your site and it shows....just when I think I'm going to throw my guitar out the window I sit back take a deep breath and read your tips... it helps and I'm still playing. I found taking a break from it for a few days helps alot. Thanks again, Elvi - Toronto Canada"

"Hi Jordan Warford, I have been receiving your Guitar Tips Free Newsletter for the past several months. Every article has helped me to improved my guitar playing skills. Even though all I want to do is play for myself and maybe my family, guitar playing makes me relax. I want to thank you for letting us have this for free. Steve Givens"

Conclusion

This has been a real treat. It's not too often you get to chat with guys like Jimmy Bruno and talk about recording contracts. No, I admit, there wasn't any music or flashy video for you this week but something has to be said for taking the time to reflect and dream towards the future.

Whether you've really gotten a lot out of the article and are currently looking towards getting a record deal or you just enjoyed the read on Jimmy Bruno, it probably made you think "Gee, I wonder if I could do that." I'm here to tell you that you can even though the process is very complicated and we've just scratched the outline on recording contracts, at least you now know what direction to head in.

Unfortunately, we did not have our Guitar Tips Feature Band section this month due to lack of entries! Email me information on your bands. Be sure to include the following information:

If I feel you're onto something, I will ask you for more information. If not, I'll file your package and contact you when I think the time is right. Remember, only one band per month can be shown. I feel it's necessary to put this out there as I'm having some trouble getting people to participate. You do not have to be a professional, I like to show bands from all over the world and at all skill levels.

Once again, a huge thank you to Jimmy Bruno and to you for tuning in. Truly looking forward to the future!

Until next time, keep on picking!

"Brain Numbing Strumming: The Ultimate Beginners Guide To Rhythm"

Please be patient while video loads...

Jordan Warford here, Editorial Manager for Guitar Tips.

It's hard to believe how fast the end of August seems to be coming. Before we know it, September will be here and it will be time to get back into our normal routines. Before all of that happens, I thought now would be a good time to give you a mini encyclopedia on rhythm to help you over come some of the challenges you are facing.

I warn you, this the longest lesson we've ever put out in any our newsletters. We wanted to give you something that you could call upon when you get stuck. It's designed with the beginner in mind but has a little something for everyone. We hope you enjoy.

In this edition:

Learn how to incorporate your lead guitar techniques with rhythm to give you the sound you've been dreaming of. Get past the days of the boring down and up strumming patterns and learn how to make the simple sound complex, without breaking a sweat!

We have brand new items to review in our "Severe Gear Premiere" that will spark interest in players of all skill levels. Learn a little bit about the history on the product and how to stands up against the rest.

Check out our feedback booth to see what your fellow subscribers are saying. This week we have plenty of comments on the new implementation of video, as well as some questions that I will answer.

To top off all of this, we have details to share with you on our next newsletter, where you will get to read about becoming a pro and how to get there. We've landing an exclusive interview with Jimmy Bruno who will share some of his feelings on the industry.

With all that in mind, get to it!

Setting The Record Straight

Why it seems so hard...

When you pick up the guitar to play a song, one of the most frustrating problems you may face is strumming. Rhythm isn't easy, I won't lie. For some people it comes very naturally and others just have to work that extra little bit to get where they want to be.

Rhythm can also be a hindrance to your self-esteem. I remember plenty of instances when I started out where I lost the rhythm in the middle of playing a song with musicians who were much better than I. It didn't exactly feel like I had won the lottery. However, it doesn't have to be this way.

There are neat little tricks and solutions to the problems that you face. Some of them are so small that it's hard to imagine them even making the slightest impact on your sound. These are the cunning edge techniques that will launch you into the spotlight.

Getting the tools you can use.

When we think rhythm, we normally think strumming. That's half the battle and one that we'll deal with more in depth further on. First things first, take a look at your setup. The settings you have on your guitar and amp, as well as the pick you are using will affect the tone and sound you produce.

You don't want that sharp, ear rattling lead guitar sound when playing rhythm. The reason for this is because it overloads the amp and in turn produces a muddy, indistinguishable sound. The goal with rhythm is to get a sound that blends each of the notes you play equally to produce a clear tone. You want to hear blended notes!

Not unlike scales or chords, there are many different settings for rhythm that can be used for many different styles of music. Using your tone knobs and pickup selector switch, not to mention the settings on your amplifier, you can create a unique tone that is perfect for playing the perfect rhythm.

Picks are equally important. It takes trial and error to find the picks that fit your style. Rarely will I use just one particular pick but rather a mixture of different gauges and manufacturers. Personally, I do not believe in the old adage "Thinner picks are for strumming and heavier are for lead." I use to teach that method until I came to realize that I could get a way better sound for my style using heavier gauge picks.

Picks are measured in millimeters and that's how we identify how thick or "heavy" it is. Surface area also plays a role. Picks can have different surface areas but normally follow the same shape, although that too is changing over time.

Jim Dunlop is the leader is pick manufacturing and has a pick for every style and every tone you could imagine. I highly suggest that you go to your local music store and check some of them out! Lets run through the most popular picks and see which one best suites you.

The finger pick: The finger pick is usually used for folk music and is best utilized with an acoustic guitar. Over the last week I have been play testing one to give you a review and found that it was almost impossible to use on my electric without scratching it up.

However, it was great on the acoustic and really gave me a chance to learn how to use my other fingers. Naturally this isn't my strong point so it took some practice but the end result was pretty cool. Now I understand why country guitarists' tend to use this style of pick... You can really pick up the speed (no pun intended!)

The "Stubby": This is my personal favorite. Many of the recordings you hear on this site that are done by me include the stubby. It's an extremely thick pick at 3.00mm but it adds a very controlled feeling to any piece of music that you are playing, not to mention the leads.

Although many experts would recommend against using this pick for rhythm, I have had amazing results. When playing I feel ultimate control which gives me a better rhythm and a more percussive "snap" to the music I'm playing. You do, however, need to hold it at a slight angle to avoid breaking strings. I have never broken a single string because of a stubby, so I encourage you to give them a try.

If you don't like the tiny size, they come with a larger surface area as well.

The steel pick: If you're looking for a metallic sound, your not going to get much closer than this. Made of pure steel (or copper, depending on where you get them) these picks are truly unique. I personally wouldn't use them on a regular basis but they were a lot of fun to try out. They may be for you if you like the tone but it will take a little getting used to.

You'll find that they produce more of a scratchy sound when used on the coiled strings, which can be a bad thing or a good thing depending on what style you are playing.

The strumming pick: These picks are usually thinner and the gauge will probably be under 60mm. You can't beat them if you're looking to blend chords together and produce a soothing rhythm. I also like them for rock because they make smooth transitions between odd chords a snap. Many of you are probably using this pick right now, which is perfect for this lesson.

You can effectively recreate many different styles and produce a great sound with these picks.

Jazz series picks' : These picks have a rounded tip, instead of a sharper edge. This makes the music you play sound deep and silky. Very nice for the more mellow tunes you may want to play. I use it all of the time for some of the older jazz standards. Jim Dunlop offers different series of these picks and some do have a sharper edge, so if you're looking for the smoother edge, make sure that's what you pick up.

Your thumb and index finger: Try pinching your string, pulling it and letting it go. You get a really cool "pop" that resembles a bass guitar. You can get amazing effects using your fingers for any style of music. From blazing tapping, to finger style country, your fingers are the cheapest and can be the most effective tool that you have.

There are also a lot of other new picks coming out that break the stereotype of size and shape. Some are hit and miss but it's worth giving them a shot.

The techniques you need to know.

Playing rhythm guitar leaves the player with literally hundreds of directions to go in. There's an infinite array of different rhythms and strumming patterns out there but how do you get that desired sound? The answer involves using a few different techniques at once.

Strumming: Strumming is the foundation to becoming a great rhythm player but it also tends to hold players up and limit creativity. Don't let this be a daunting task for you! Pick up your guitar right now and lets dive into this step by step. Points to remember before starting:

• When looking at strumming patterns, the notation directing you to strum up looks like "^" and the notation directing you to strum down looks like an everyday table.

• If you are playing an acoustic, remember to strum directly over the sound hole. Strumming in different places will give you different sounds but we'll cover that later on. For now, keep it simple and stick to one location and this will give you the best projection. The same applies to electric players at this point.

• Take note of what your strumming hand is doing. Make sure you are using your wrists to strum and not your entire arm. This conserves a lot of energy and helps you do more intricate things. Keep your wrists relatively firm.

• Strumming really, really hard isn't going to do much for your tone or ears. Try to keep it at a medium level. You don't want to sound too wimpy but sounding to loud can lead to undesirable buzzing sounds. Striking a good medium will give you a nice starting point.

So now take a basic chord progression, lets say G, D, and A minor. If you don't know these chords, click here to look them up. Strum each chord four times starting on an upstroke and ending on a down stroke. So the pattern for each chord would be up, down, up, down.

Here's the notation:

Here's how it looks and sounds:

Now that we have that under control, try to mix it up a little bit. Instead of going up, down, up, down... try the reverse and do down, up, down, up. Here's how it looks and sounds:

Getting the rhythms that set you apart isn't as difficult as you may think. Now that we have our chord progression and a basic strumming pattern, we can manipulate the strumming pattern to give us a song that we have heard many times before.

Take the down, up pattern and double the up strums so it looks and sounds something like this:

Note: This is only my interpretation of the song.

...There you have it, you have just performed "Knocking On Heavens Door." Congratulations! It wasn't that bad was it? If you want to try something different, then reverse the strum pattern and double the down strums. You could also include some pauses and other subtle things.

Another helpful tip is to pretend that your arm is the arm of a metronome. Consistently strum down and up at a steady speed. From there you have a doorway to hundreds of strumming patterns.

Another huge problem that tends to be reoccurring amongst many beginners is transitioning between chords. Some of you may have heard of the "Ghost chord," which basically is a cheat where you do a quick open strum while you try to find your next chord.

That's fine if you're just getting started but try to lean away from that as quickly as possible. Another reason for its popularity is because it makes strumming easier. For the above strumming patterns you may have noticed how seamless it sounded but you're sitting there thinking, "What on earth is he doing to get that, mine sounds so chopped up."

All I'm doing is adding in a quick strum, roughly the length of a second. It's so short but covers up the gap as I switch the chords. Strum up or down (depending on the piece) right before you switch the chord. Then when you land on the new chord, you repeat the previous strumming pattern all over again. This way you eliminate the need to play a ghost chord. It takes a little practice but you can achieve that in no time.

Try these alternative strumming patterns for all kinds of different styles of music. You will notice that I don't play it exactly like the music is written. There's plenty of room for making it your own, these are just starting points. Make them your own and add in your personal rhythmic style.

Reggae:

Mostly consist of up strums.

 

Jazz:

 

Rock:

Accenting: You may notice how some of the above examples have certain strums that sound louder and more powerful than others. This is called targeting or "Accenting" the strum. When you are strumming and playing in time, you can make a down or up strum sound louder by hitting it harder. When playing along side of drums, it helps keep the tempo moving in the music and sounds far better than just the normal strumming pattern.

To perform this, take a strumming pattern and play it repeatedly. Then pick a certain strum out of that pattern that you plan on accenting and hit it harder. If you're playing in a band setting, the accent should be in time with the bass drum or the snare drum.

Move your fingers to the beat: If you are playing a song that has a more complex rhythm and you don't want it to sound like mud, this is a tiny trick that many people use without even knowing it. Strum whatever strumming pattern you choose (you can accent if you wish.)

For every up strum and for every down strum, slightly move your fingers off of the chord you are holding. Don't disconnect your fingers, rather temporarily mute them. It happens so quickly that you don't hear the mute but you do hear more clear and distinguishable rhythm. This is very helpful when trying to nail a rhythm that needs more spunk.

It's normally used in conjunction with palm mutes so you can get quick rests in your music, or make the notes shorter (staccato.)

Palm Mutes: If you recall our last lesson, we covered how to play palm mutes for lead guitar. Now we're going to transfer those skills over to rhythm and chords.

Take an everyday chord like E Major and make the chord shape. Then place your palm on the bridge and ensure that it's lying over the strings you wish you mute, which in this particular case would be all of them.

Then you simply run your pick over the strings. That's one application of a palm mute but honestly, I don't see it as practical considering the amount of times you will actually palm mute an entire open chord. That application is great for picking out a rhythm or for power chords.

What I prefer to use is the full six string style mute technique for it isn't strumming but rather the opposite... "Choking" the note. This effect stops the ringing of the chord immediately and will give your music a very percussive feel. Basically, in it's simplest form it just makes for a simple rest but it can really add a lot to your music.

Here is a sample of how it looks, along with some video:

 

You can also palm mute power chords with awesome results! Another fun application of this technique is to palm mute half of a chord, then pick out the rest.

Hammer On's: Hammer on's are not just for lead guitar. In fact, I can honestly say they sound just as good used in chords. It adds a new flavor to your playing that makes your music sound more intricate and technically advanced. You can incorporate hammer on's by actually hammering on the entire chord or individual notes. If you're not sure how to perform a normal hammer on, then click here to get up to speed.

When playing chords, there's normally a "box" around that chord where you can place a free finger to change the chord slightly to add in something extra. One very famous song that utilizes that is "Dust In The Wind" by Kansas. They take everyday mundane chords and add on certain notes with their rhythm.

You can do this too. Lets take your average D chord and D7. Both of these chords are practically identical except for the E string, where the F# changes to a G to form that D7 chord. This is the perfect distance for an effortless hammer on. Take this video clip as an example:

 

Here are some chords that take little to no effort to hammer on a note to change the chord and add that touch:

Am to A

C to C7

E to E7

F6 to Dm

Picking the notes: Using your fingers or your pick to individually pluck out the notes can result in a piece of music that is truly beautiful and speaks to your audience. Using hammer on's and pull off's in this situation also adds to the music and is normally where I use them the most.

There are many different picking patterns out there. Making your own can be quite simple! It doesn't have to be a virtuoso picking pattern to sound good. Often, I will just pick the strings out one at a time in a very simple rhythm and when coupled with the right chord, it can sound extremely eloquent.

Here's how it looks and sounds:

 

Take your previous knowledge and use it:

Everyday now and then I'll come across someone who asks "How do you do that trick, I have no clue." The funny thing is, they do. For example, we took hammer on's from lead guitar and applied them beautifully to rhythm. What's to stop us from taking harmonics and placing them in our music? Perhaps you think out of the box, develop your own technique!

I give you my word that you can apply just about every technique from lead guitar into rhythm. No, it won't sound the same simply because you are using them for a different purpose but the end result will be impressive nonetheless.

Here is a video I put together to illustrate that for you. Hope you enjoy.

 

 

Putting It All Together...

Throughout this lesson we have been using relatively simple chords to show you how to perform these techniques correctly. Now it's time to put this into action. For this edition I decided to take things a little mellow and show you how some simple picking and strumming patterns can make all of the difference.

"Some Kind of Love Song"

 

 

Severe Gear Premiere

Now it's time for us to get into some gear! This week we have quite a lineup that is sure to get you thinking. Guitar Trader has sent along some products with blow out prices for you to check out and for us to review. So lets get started.

BOSS GT-6 Multi Effects Proc. w/ 30 Amp Models

Chances are, when you think of effects pedals, you think of one legendary company by the name of Boss. This company has a standard that is set extremely high with a record that proves they don't make faulty equipment. They have been around for 25 years and are known as the company with the indestructible stomp boxes and the great sound.

Not only do they make great effect pedals but they also know their way around a recording studio. Click here to check out their site and learn more.

The GT-6 is any guitarists' dream. It has numerous inputs and outputs for the recording studio, live sound and private jam sessions as well as having a multitude of different amp settings and customizable effects. I regularly play the big brother of the GT-6, the GT-8.

While the options for sound are amazing and the applications incredible, there is one warning that comes with this rig and that is the learning curve. The GT-6 has a better reputation than its big brother for this but there's still a lot to be learned. The best way to do it is sit down with the manual and learn the basic functions then head out on your own and try a bunch of different options. If you can't find a sound that's right for you, there's something seriously wrong.

If your guitar is naturally hot (meaning pickups but if it looks that good, that's cool too) then this pedal can compensate with a few quick adjustments, which is a really nice option to have. The truth is, if you master the GT-6, you won't need any other pedals. It has built in wah, a great volume pedal that's always turned on, built in tuner, midi processing, 340 effects which include all of boss's original pedals and more.

Personally, I think this is the most economical and sensible route for many guitarists to take. It's professional quality and Boss didn't skimp on anything with this piece of equipment. However, having gigged with this piece of gear, I personally prefer not to use them. I'm addicted to the classic sounds of the individual stompbox and I don't care what anyone says... you just can't beat that. Plus, I love to step on them.

That's not putting down the GT-6, it's just not for people like myself. No one piece of gear will tickle everyone's fancy but my opinion is that this one appeals to most.

Click here to check this product out.

BC RICH Metal Master Guitar Pack In Red

 

If you want a guitar for playing metal, chances are you have taken a look at what BC Rich has to offer you. This guitar is definitely a metal guitar and I can personally attest to that. When played clean, this guitar has a natural growl to it that comes through the amp and adds that signature attitude.

One of the things this company should be noted for is it's consideration for those who are on a budget. They make high end guitars as well but have recently targeted the lower spectrum and beefed up their quality. This starter pack is ideal for anyone who wants to give the guitar a try and wants a heavier sound and looks that could kill.

You will eventually out grow it and find yourself looking for a guitar with better tone woods and pickups but for starting off and getting the fundamentals down, this guitar could be the end of your search.

As with any starter pack, you need to be on the look out for lemons. Every company has them and it's a real let down if you end up with one. Ask to have it taken out and get one of the professionals in the store to play it for you, so you can truly hear what it sounds like. Get their opinion before heading to the checkout.

I also enjoyed this guitar's thinner neck. It felt nice in my hands and was easy to navigate to the higher range, where notes can be choked off on other guitars. Other than the normal warnings that come with packages, this guitar is worth taking a look at.

Click here to check this product out.

FENDER Ultimate Chorus Dsp 2x65w 2x12

When I saw this little beauty on my list of things to review, I automatically knew it was a winner. Fender has one of the most interesting histories of any guitar company in existence. Leo Fender started out this company by developing the broadcaster, which was then renamed the Telecastor and was the first solid body Spanish style guitar to be put into mass production (source: www.fender.com.)

Leo Fender knew what he was doing and fine tuned the process to produce some of the most acclaimed instruments of today's society. Not only can you trust this company for a quality product and awesome sound but you can look to them for many of your guitarist's needs. They offer a full line of products for their guitars and amplifiers.

With the Fender chorus, you have many different tone options to shape your sound and give you that creamy warmth that every amplifier should. It's tight on the lower end but still fills the room. The effects are disputed as being mediocre and perhaps they are when compared to a Boss effect pedals but for the money you are paying, the quality is incredible.

The clean tones are absolutely beautiful and add color and vibrance to anything you play. It's a tone that is hard to match for a solid state amp. If you are a clean jazz player or are into the blues, this amp was made for you.

Rockers tend to have a hard time getting past the solid state aspect of the deal and find that the distortion is ok on the amp but really needs a pedal to get it where it should be. Keep in mind this is all personal preference. After hearing, playing and seeing what others have to say, this amp is worth the money simply for its clean tone.

Click here to check this product out.

 

Feedback Booth

Over the last two weeks we have had an overwhelming response to the new introduction of video into our lessons. We truly appreciate all of your feedback and inspirational comments. If you feel like you have something to say, send me an email and you might find yourself featured on our site. Good or bad, we like to know what you think of the site and how you're doing with your playing.

This week we're going to start off with a sample of the positive emails with regards to the introduction of video:

Keith Bennett was one of the first to email us with regards to the video:

"Wow! Fantastic new addition to the newsletter from the videos They really helped me understand the different techniques much better. Keep up the good work and thanks! Best wishes from UK Regards, Keith"

Jaymen Hand writes to us with this:

"Hello Guys, I just wanted to say that your video in the newsletter was a stroke of genius. Keep up the good work. Cheers, Jaymen"

Chris Deveruex emailed us with his thoughts:

"This weeks newsletter has been awesome! I hope you keep them rolling.They are just magical how they can help you learn and so fast. Thank you! P.S. The videos in the newsletters are a great idea keep it up."

Jim Johnson writes:

"Hey Jordan, Wow this is a good site, the video really helps. Don't change a thing, it's perfect! Thank you very much for sending me these newsletters. Take it easy, Jim"

Feanicso "Frank" Atanacio had this inspirational email to encourage me:

"Dear Jordan, I was amazed that a woman won the guitar tips promotion. Please extend my congratulations to her. You're truly amazing because you have a monumental patience and perseverance in handling whatever things assigned you want to do. Just keep going because you're making a lot of people happy in sharing guitar lessons worldwide."

MB Pometto writes to us with this:

"Hi, This newsletter is just perfect! I was really struggling with these concepts because I couldn't visualize what was meant, I had not been playing as much. Vacation time came around and I picked up the guitar again, but I still couldn't figure out how to get to the next level with these techniques. Your e-mail arrived a day or so later. I'll definitely be spending more time practicing the new "tricks". Thanks, MB"

Saad Ahmad has this very popular question:

"Thanks for the e-mail, but I'm confused a little. Is there any charge if I learn guitar off your mail or is this all free?"

Our newsletter is 100% free and you can opt out at anytime. Our memberships to get into the "Members only area" do require a onetime fee. However, you need to go to the link on our main page and follow the step by step instructions. We don't have your information unless you give it to us and anything you do give to us is used only for our purposes and is 100% confidential.

Daniel Kirk writes to us with this question:

"Thank you for passing me some good info about playing guitar. Even though I'm not paying for your membership, I say the lessons are great and I have no problem except one thing... Why are all the lessons now being redirected to your webpage? Is it just so that people buy the membership or what? I feel disappointed and used."

The reason why we do this isn't to get you onto our site, rather so we can offer you more. Our email system was swamped and broadband was being eaten up. There's no way we could get through the video, audio and pictures to you without crashing. Plus, it fills up your email inbox and uses up your space as well. Another point that was though of is that you couldn't go back on all of our previous articles as you would probably have deleted them.

Hope this answers all of your guys' questions!

 

Conclusion

 

Until next time, keep on rocking!