Guitar Lessons: Picking Technique FAQ

I get a lot of questions about guitar picking technique, anchoring, strumming patterns and the best way to go about things, so I’ve decided to write this short lesson so that you can make sure you’re doing things right.

So, starting with the basics…

How Do I Hold the Pick?

Seems simple, right? Yet you’d be surprised how easy this is to get wrong! You hold the plectrum (the fancy word for a pick) between the pad of the thumb and the side of your first finger. It’s best to hold it nearer the tip, as this provides greater control (like when you hold a pencil- it would be difficult to write if you held it at the top, you need to hold it nearer the tip!).

Here is a diagram of what I mean:

You can find more information on picking here.

What is the Best Strumming Technique?

The simple answer would be “up and down”, but there really is no “best” way to strum- just some techniques that are good, and others that are bad. What you want to keep in mind, though, is that picking should be a relaxed motion from the wrist, similar to the motion you would use to wave at someone.

Now, a motion “from the wrist” doesn’t mean your arm is not allowed to move! Trying to hold your arm still will cause it to tense up (which will no longer produce a relaxed action). Your arm is allowed to move, but you should be trying to move your wrist, and not thinking about any arm movement (after all, the two are connected, it would be unnatural to have one move without the other!).

Which Direction Should I Strum In?

Well if we are talking about lead guitar, there are two main schools of thought on this. Either you try to change direction as little as possible (known as “economy picking”)- so that going from, say, the A to D strings would always be a downstroke, and going back would always be an upstroke (so you’re taking the shortest route each time- which is faster); or you change direction on every note regardless (known as “alternate picking”)- so that going from the A to D strings would either be an upstroke followed by a downstroke, or the other way around.

Rhythm guitar strumming is much simpler in many ways, because there are only two (main) rules:

1) Play downstrokes on the beat (or the main, emphasised beats)
and
2) Try to keep your hand alternating between down and up (even if each “strum” doesn’t even hit the strings!)

So, if one beat is divided into two quavers (8th notes), the strumming pattern would be: “Down – Up”. If the beat was divided into four semiquavers (16th notes), the pattern would go: “Down – Up – Down – Up” for that beat. You see,  on the beat (first strum) it’s a downstroke, and you’re constantly alternating?

If the same beat was divided as one quaver and two semiquavers, you would play it: “Down – Down – Up”. After the first downstroke, your hand moves back up without hitting the strings- so it’s moving as if you’re playing four semiquavers without the second note.

Am I Anchoring? Should I be Anchoring?

Anchoring is when you fix your strumming hand or arm on the guitar body. It restricts the movement of your arm and hand, and you shouldn’t be doing it! For more on this, please read my blog post on why anchoring is bad.

How Do I Play Faster?

Guitar speed is a byproduct of good technique and co-ordination. If you keep your muscles relaxed and follow the basic principles outlined in this article you shouldn’t go far wrong. The next step is to head over to the exercises section and work on the co-ordination between both hands.

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Rob.

July 6, 2010 at 11:00 pm | Guitar Technique and Exercises, How to | No comments

Learn to Play 20 Easy, Three Chord, Guitar Songs

It’s amazing just how many songs you can learn to play just by knowing three guitar chords! If you’re a beginner guitarist, or just looking for some easy, strum-along songs, then this lesson should be just what you’re looking for.

I have compiled a list of 20 easy songs that all use just three open chords. Most of these songs use chords I, IV and V of a key (known as the primary chords, or primary triads) and so, in the key of G (for example) you would have G (the first chord, chord I), C (the fourth chord- counting “G A B C” is four letters) and D (the fifth chord- “G A B C D”- Five letters). These are the most common chords used in any key, and in a major key they are all major chords.

Sometimes chord V (five) becomes a 7th chord (i.e. D7 in the key of G), but if you like you can ignore the “7″ part of the chord (so you would just play D, instead of D7).

Songs in the Key of G (G, C and D)

• Knocking on Heaven’s Door – Bob Dylan
• Blowing in the Wind – Bob Dylan
• Paperback Writer – The Beatles
• I Feel Fine – The Beatles
• Oh My Darling Clementine – Traditional
• She’ll Be Coming ’round the Mountain – Traditional
• Tush – ZZ Top
• Doo Wah Diddy – Manfred Mann
• Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash

Songs in the key of C (C, F and G)

• Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport – Rolf Harris

Songs in the key of A (A, D and E)

• Wild Thing – The Troggs
• Bye Bye Love- The Everly Brothers
• Stir It Up – Bob Marley
• Rock Around the Clock – Bill Haley and the Comets
• Blue Suede Shoes – Elvis Presley
• Row, Row, Row Your Boat – Traditional
• Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry
• King of the Road – Roger Miller
• Spirit in the Sky – Norman Greenbaum

Other Songs

• Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – Traditional

Happy strumming

Rob.

June 30, 2010 at 11:00 pm | Guitar Technique and Exercises, How to | No comments

Nailing It with the Hammer-on!

Yesterday, I was sitting with my guitar- going through all my usual warm-up exercises- you know the ones- chromatic “spider exercises” etc, (if you’re not familiar with how to play these, check out the “Exercises” section of the site).  Anyway, I realised something that’s very simple, but at the same time probably has the greatest effect on any guitar technique. I mean, what does every single guitar technique have in common? Yes, you heard me, EVERY guitar technique there is. There’s one thing that- if you practice and improve it (even a tiny bit)- can have a dramatic effect on every other guitar technique you use.

What is this “miracle” exercise? Well if you’ve been reading this blog for a while you’ll know how important such things as economy of motion and finger strength are…they should definitely be the “top two” in your list of things to improve (always!). However, there should be a third item on that list- something that is more important than most other techniques…

Legato

That’s right, plain old hammer-ons and pull-offs! You see, with good economy of motion comes playing speed (without any extra tension), and with good strong fingers comes finger independence and agility, but by practicing hammer-ons and pull offs you’re strengthening your fingers at the same time as making them faster. You see, in order to play hammer-ons your fingers need to be able to deliver enough power to get the string vibrating, yet deliver that power quick enough to enable you to play the note on time. Therefore, if you’re practicing hammer-ons and pull-offs, you’re automatically practicing the two main components of great guitar playing technique!

So what does every guitar technique have in common? A combination of finger strength, independence and agility. Of course there are some that require co-ordination between both hands (such as: alternate picking or sweep picking) and they need to be practiced separately aswell- don’t think I’m saying they shouldn’t! The point is that if you include legato into your practice routine you’ll be practicing the main skills- and strengthening the right muscles- for every other fretting hand technique.

Technical Exercises for Legato

So how do you incorporate this essential technique into your practice session? Well, if you go here you’ll find a selection of fretting hand workouts and exercises (including legato techniques and hammer-ons), and if you’ve been following my three point practice plan just add a few of these legato exercises when you warm-up.

Just in case you need a demonstration of how awesome you can be after mastering the hammer-on technique, watch this video of guitarist Joe Satriani playing “The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing”. The first time he does the legato section is at about 1:50 in the video.

…and that’s what you call “pure mastery” of hammer-ons!
Rob.

June 29, 2010 at 11:00 pm | Guitar Technique and Exercises, Practicing and Practice Routine | No comments

How to set your Guitar’s Action (string height)

Here’s a video of me playing an Epiphone Les Paul Junior:

I set the guitar up myself- which included re-stringing the guitar, and then setting the intonation and action (the height of the strings above the fretboard). Now, re-stringing the guitar was the easy part (and if you have trouble putting new strings on a guitar, you should refer to this post on how to re-string)- the more interesting (or should that be “difficult”?) part of the process was setting the string height for the guitar.

Should the action be set high or low? How high is “high”? How low is “low”?! Alot of this comes down to personal preference. I usually prefer my guitars to have an action of about 4mm at the 12th fret- and obviously, no fret buzz! Many people would consider that to be quite high. Modern guitar “shredders”, on the other hand, would prefer a much lower action (I’ve heard quoted 2mm at the 12 fret). A few millimetres difference might not sound like much, but it feels so much different when you’re actually playing!

Lower action can make the guitar easier (or faster) to play, but a higher action can make string-bending easier (and some say it even adds to the tone). Of course, the guitar feels “tougher” to play with a higher action, but- equally- a lower action can sometimes feel a bit soft- OK, now what am I talking about?!

Well, I normally play with quite alot of “aggression” (i.e. I’m quite tough on the strings, strum quite hard etc,)- it’s not because I feel I need to be so rough with the guitar, but it’s just how I prefer to play (especially when I’m getting into it). With a higher action, the strings feel stiffer (play an electric with a low action, and then try to play an acoustic to see what I mean), and I just prefer this feel when I play.

How do you Play?

If you’re ever in the position of needing to set the action on your guitar, you’ll need to take note of your own preference. Do you like the strings high or low? Pick up your guitar now and try it. Play all along your guitar’s neck. If you start to find it difficult to play then you’ve probably got the action too high, but if you’re hearing the strings of the guitar vibrating against the frets it’s probably too low.

I’ve already written about setting up your guitar, so what was the process I used to set the action?

Setting the Action

When I first put the strings on the guitar, the bridge was flat to the body of the guitar (i.e. the action was as low as it could go) and this obviously caused fretbuzz. What I did was: I loosened the strings and raised the bridge a bit. Loosening the strings is a good idea because as you raise the bridge you’re actually pulling the strings tighter (depending, of course, on the style of guitar bridge- but it’s best to loosen them, just to be sure). How far should you move the bridge to start off with? Well, it doesn’t matter- the point is that it’s a start.

On the guitar in the video it has a Gibson style bridge, which has two large screws holding the bridge to the body. To increase the height, you just need to loosen the screw, and to decrease the height you just tighten the screw (thus screwing the bridge further into the body).

Getting Rid of Fretbuzz

Next, you should tune the low E string back up and play the note on the first fret. Does it buzz? If it does, then the string is too low- raise the bridge (but make sure you loosen the string again first) and start again. If it doesn’t buzz, then try another fret. Good frets to try this with are the 1st, 5th, 12th and 17th- but there’s nothing wrong with playing them all!

Once you’re in a position where no frets are buzzing, try the action at the 12th fret. How does it feel to play? If it feels too high then it needs to go down- lower the bridge (but not too low watch out for fretbuzz!). If it’s too low then you just need to raise it (no fear of creating buzz this time!).

Ideally, you’re looking for an action that feels good to play, but isn’t so low that the strings buzz against the frets. Some guitars (and I’m thinking of the Gibson style here) only allow you to adjust the bridge on the side of the low E, and on the other side (near the high E); other guitars (e.g. the Fender style) allow you to change the action for each string individually with each string running over a separate little, adjustable “saddle”. With either type of bridge, you’re going to need to check for fretbuzz on every string!

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
Rob.

June 16, 2010 at 11:00 pm | How to | No comments

Guitar Lessons: Muscle Memory

Which is better: learning to play a song off by heart, or learning the chords that make up a song off by heart?

Say you learnt Bob Dylan’s “Knocking on Heavens Door” note for note (a song that also been covered by Guns’n'Roses in case you haven’t heard the original). Now, all you’ve done is grab the tab and learn which finger goes where- which is fine for playing that one song…

…but, for the next song you learn, you’ll have to go through the same process again. Learning each note in sequence off by heart- a very long and slow process! Worse than that: when someone asks you a question such as “What can you play?” or even more direct “Play something!”, what can you do?

You’d better be sure you’ve remembered every note in that sequence, and play them back at the right time and in the right order!

Learning the Guitar Chords

A much better plan would be to learn the chords that are played in the song (yes, learning the chords to a song counts as theory!). Then, when you learn the next song, all you have to do is find the chords and you don’t have to re-learn every note. Much better, right?

Well, the same thing applies to your technique. Is it better to learn a set of licks, patterns, or finger movements off by heart, or is it more efficient to learn simply “the best way to fret a note” and then apply that to every note you play? Just like with learning a song, you can learn a set of patterns “off by heart”- but every time you go to play, guess what comes out? That’s right, the same old patterns again and again!

Finger Independence

This links back in with the concept of finger independence. In order to break out of that plateau and get out of the rut of playing the same thing over and over again, you need to focus on the “how” and “why” of what you play (i.e. your guitar technique), and not the “what” (i.e. not just memorising the exact notes).

This is where muscle memory comes in- but the memory is not of certain patterns that you play every day, it’s a memory of doing just the right movement (with good economy of motion and effort etc,).

…oh and in case you’re wondering, the chords for “Knocking on Heavens Door” are: G – D – C…

If you like my blog, please don’t forget to subscribe.
Rob.

June 9, 2010 at 11:00 pm | Guitar Technique and Exercises, How to, Practicing and Practice Routine | No comments

Grip Strengtheners and Finger Weights

OK, so this video is about those grip-strengthening devices you can buy that supposedly help your playing (you know the ones, where they offer resistance and you basically have to squeeze them). I also go on to talk about finger weights which you attach to your fingers when playing guitar to strengthen your finger muscles.

The question is: do they work?

Guitar Exercise

Well, my first question would be: which muscles are you strengthening with these devices, and are they the same muscles that you use to play guitar? Obviously we want to build up the right muscles for guitar playing- otherwise there would be no point!

Guitar Economy of Motion

Well, when you’re using grip strengtheners, you’re actually strengthening the muscles that help you make a fist, rather than the ones that help your fingers move independently. Again, this comes down to the idea of “economy of motion”, or “economy of effort”. You should only be using the muscles you need for moving your fingers, not the ones that live in your arm and move your whole hand.

The muscles of your arm are great big, powerful muscles- and you don’t need all that strength to fret a string on guitar! The motion of holding down a guitar string is almost the same that you would use to tap the top of a table when you’re bored- not the ones you would use to punch someone! So therefore, I would be careful about using grip strengtheners for guitar playing.

Guitar Finger Weights

These are little weights that you strap on your fingers when actually playing the guitar. If you choose to use these, you must remember that correct guitar technique is more important than guitar speed, or force! Finger weights won’t improve your guitar technique, only the strength you have in your hand/fingers.

Again, it comes down to whether or not you’re using the correct muscles in the first place. Obviously, if you’re using the muscles of your arm to move your fingers, then finger weights will just make bad technique alot worse! Whereas, if you’re already using the muscles of your hand, then you will obviously strengthen them- but neither of these things will improve your actual technique.

Correct Guitar Technique

How do you know which muscles you’re using? Well, when you play something -legato (hammer ons) is best-, is your hand having to move along with your fingers? I mean, when you actually fret a note where does the power come from? Look closely. If you’re using a hand movement to fret the note then the action is coming from your arm, but if your hand stays still and only your finger moves, the motion is coming from where it should.

If you like my blog, please don’t forget to subscribe
Rob.

June 2, 2010 at 11:00 pm | Guitar Technique and Exercises, Music News and Opinions, Practicing and Practice Routine | No comments

Gig Photos from 22nd May

Scroll down for photos from this gig…

I know, I know! I haven’t been updating this blog as much as I should be recently! I’ve been busy teaching and working on my band, “Frosthammer”…oh and playing my guitar of course

I hope to get back to regular posting soon (and- of course- I won’t stop posting altogether!), but I’ve been focusing on the band side of things (as well as actual one-to-one tuition).

As you can see in the picture for this post, my band has a gig on the 22nd of may 2010 at The Point in Fleet. It will be the bands first gig, so I hope to see as many people as possible coming down to rock out with us! If you can’t make it, don’t worry about it- there’ll hopefully be lots more chances to see us live. The important thing is that when you do see us, you have a great time!

You can also visit the Frosthammer Myspace page and have a listen to some rough recordings there.

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Here are the photos from the gig:

May 24, 2010 at 11:00 pm | Music News and Opinions | 1 comment

Review: Guitar Pro

For guitarists (as musicians) there’s always been a need for a way to write music on computers. You probably find yourself in the same position- there are a million and one programs designed for “word-processing” (writing words), but very few seem to be created for “notation-processing” (writing out musical notation- yes, I made that word up), or “guitar-tab-processing”. Of the programs that are out there, not all of them are particularly user-friendly. Some even want you to almost program the score yourself as MIDI…

So I thought it was about time to find a decent, dedicated program for writing music!

What Do I Currently Use?

For the last 8 years or so, I’ve been creating guitar tab using Power Tab Editor, which- at first- was good enough for my needs. It’s not a bad little program and has the main advantage of being free (which is the first thing you consider when you’re a student!). Power Tab has features that enable you to write the tab for any stringed instrument (and if it doesn’t already exist in the program, you have the option to create it). I kid you not: I’ve even written violin “tab” using Power Tab Editor when I needed a violin part for a song!

I’m sure you’re starting to see the huge drawbacks of such a program: the whole thing is based on tablature, so you can’t really use it to write for any other instrument than guitars. So after a few years of using this program, I began to search for something that would enable me to write purely in standard notation (when I wanted other instruments- drums, piano, keyboards etc…). Also, Power Tab Editor can’t create drum tab- or any kind of percussion notation.

Standard Notation

You may have read my post on reading standard notation, in which I talk about how important it is to be able to read musical notation (even if you’re not fluent enough to “sight-read”). I’ve recently started using a program called MuseScore for most of my musical notation needs. The disadvantage here, however, is that it’s not built with guitarists in mind- so no guitar tab!

Why I like Guitar Pro

What you really need is a program that can create guitar (and bass) tab- with the corresponding  stave, notate chords for guitar, write scores for keyboards, and write out drum parts. After trying the trial version of Guitar Pro, I think I’ve found such a program.

At first, I thought I would try Guitar Pro because so many tab sites on the Internet seem to prefer it, but after trying it I can see why they like it. The stave is much clearer than in Power Tab Editor, and more musical symbols are available (such as legato marks for hammer-ons etc,). In fact the music score can be read if you take the tab away (something that isn’t true of other programs).

There are also options to write for guitars, basses, drums, and keyboards! Which is everything you need really, because under “keyboards and synthesizers” you have the option of creating a single-line stave (as in, just treble clef), and it allows you to label it whatever you want (therefore you can theoretically write parts for any instrument!). Guitar Pro also has the ability to export to many different formats, including MIDI, and .pdf- which is a huge bonus if you want to print out/distribute your music over the Internet to people without Guitar Pro.

What I didn’t like…

One of the few downsides to Guitar Pro is that it’s almost trying too hard. There is a whole part of it dedicated to creating realistic guitar sounds, which is really the job of a MIDI sequencer or synth. The idea that you can write out a tab and arrange what guitar effects you want and hear them played back to you is fun…in a novelty sense…but it’s really unnecessary…

I guess the idea is that you can create backing tracks and play along, but I can’t help but think that this really isn’t needed in a tab/musical notation program (and possibly adds to the price-tag!).

Overall Value

I would say that Guitar Pro is definitely worth it- even if it does try to do more than it should. It’s also a great tool for learning the guitar, learning songs or musical notation because you get to see the song played right in front of you. There is also a chord-finder tool (for creating chord diagrams) and when you add a chord to a guitar part the chord is automatically tabbed out (once you’ve added the chord diagram), which can help you to learn chord shapes.

Overall, Guitar Pro is well worth the $59.95 price tag (about £40, or 47 euros…currently…). Visit their site here.

If you like my blog, please don’t forget to subscribe.
Rob.

May 6, 2010 at 11:00 pm | Reviews | 1 comment

How to play like Dimebag from Pantera

Here’s an interesting selection of lessons I’ve found on YouTube by Dimebag Darrel of Pantera, and later, Damageplan. Dime is sadly no longer with us, but it’s through his music that he lives on.

I though it would be good to share these videos as they give a real insight into his technique. I hope you find these videos as informative and usefull as I have!

How to Play the “Dimebag Squeal”

click here if you can’t see the video

Dime’s “Fake Echo” Technique

As heard on the solo to “Walk” by Pantera.

click here if you can’t see the video

Dime talks about His Guitar Effects Pedals

click here if you can’t see the video

If you like my blog, please don’t forget to subscribe.
Rob.

May 3, 2010 at 11:00 pm | Guitar Technique and Exercises, How to | No comments

Guitar Finger Gym

If you’re like me, then you’ll constantly be sending yourself “back to basics” to perfect you guitar technique. Even though it’s challenging (not to mention: fun!) to play fast alternate picking, or six string sweeps every so often it’s helpful to go back and iron out any possible “bad habits” that you might have picked up. Nobody -yes, NOBODY- has perfect technique 100% of the time.

Legato Technique

Trust me, bad technique habits are very easy to pick up, and nearly impossible to break out of! So what I’ve done this week is: started with a legato exercise and set my metronome on about 80bpm. Then- instead of slowly speeding up- I’m going to gradually slow the exercise down to about 60bpm…and maybe even slower…

…and to make things even slower, I’m only going to be playing one note per click!

Finger Strength

Because- just like lifting weights at the gym- form (or, in this case, the position of your hand and fingers) is everything. It doesn’t require more power to play slower! Think about it: your fingers aren’t doing any more work, they’re only hitting the string against the fret enough to cause it to ring out. If you slow down this process, then your fingers are only working more slowly- but (importantly!) it’s exactly the same action at a different speed.

So why slow down? Well, you might notice when you try this that it actually becomes more difficult the slower you try to play. If this happens then it means that you’re relying on momentum (or even the movement of your hand) at higher speeds. You shouldn’t be.

That’s right: all the power needed for hammer-on’s should come from your fingers- NOT your hands or arm! Also: all the “pulling” strength from pull-offs should come from your fingers- NOT from pulling your hand away!

Guitar Form and Technique Challenge

The idea is, by slowing down it forces you to pay more attention to the way your fingers are moving- and helps you to build up just the right muscles. If you see that your hand is physically “pulling” away from the string when you do a pull-off, then it needs correcting!

The challenge is: how slow can you go without resorting to moving your hand? Also (as if that wasn’t hard enough), you’re not allowed to get more tense as you slow down because- just as I explained before- you’re still applying the same force, but slower. Why add extra tension and stress when you (logically) don’t need it?

As I said, this is what I’m working on (or- technically- revising) at the moment, because it’s never a bad thing to go back and “iron out” your technique. Of course, once I’m happy with my hand position and technique at the slowest speed, I’m going to go back to practicing normally (and you can too!).

So, why not try it? No matter how good a guitar player you are, you’re never “above the law” (that is, the law of having perfect guitar technique! ). A bit of “revision” now and then can’t hurt, you might even surprise yourself!

If you like my blog, please don’t forget to subscribe…oh and keep practicing!
Rob.

April 26, 2010 at 2:37 pm | Guitar Technique and Exercises, Practicing and Practice Routine | No comments

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