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.

If you want to stay updated on this blog, please don’t forget to subscribe.
Rob.

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.

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.

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…

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Rob.

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.

Once you reckon you’ve got a pretty good grasp on the layout of the guitar fretboard, it’s time to test yourself- and I’ve found the perfect program to help! If -and only if- you think you’ve really mastered where the notes are on the fretboard, go to this site and test yourself.

Different Ways to Learn the Notes

Ultimately, you want the method that works best for you, and finding that path might require a bit of experimentation. So what I’ve decided to do is: tell you about several different options that may or may not help (depending on how you learn). This is how I always teach to my students, because everyone learns slightly differently and what works well for you might not help the next person. You really want to find the learning style that suits you.

Memorising the Notes

First, flat out memorisation: you sit there, with the fretboard diagram and attempt to memorise every single note. No playing the notes, no relating to chord progressions-  just pure memorisation.

I really wouldn’t recommend this method (unless you happen to have an amazing memory!), because your brain (everyone’s brain) works better if you can combine two different types of information at once. For example: on the .pdf fretboard diagram I’ve coloured each note differently (all the A’s are one colour, all the B’s another etc,), and this helps you because then your brain is combining one type of information (note names) with another (colour). You might try the same thing with a mnemonic (a stupidly spelled word, not to be confused with pneumonic- also a stupidly spelled word that’s pronounced the same!).

Playing Songs

The second method is one that I use very often and would definitely recommend it. Basically, you play the chords to songs as barre chords (which sometimes means re-arranging them from being open chords). This method requires you to be familiar with the CAGED system, but is much more effective that just trying to straight-out memorise the notes!

Again, it’s linked to the processes in your brain. If you combine knowledge of a song (or the sound), with knowledge of where the notes are, you’ve got the two pieces of information you need. Using A and E shape barre chords you can play pretty much any song, and practicing this way will get you learning the notes on the A and E strings (where the root note of each respective chord lives).

Guitar Trainer

Oh yeah, this is what I was writing about originally! The guitar trainer is an online program that you can use to test yourself on your fretboard knowledge. It basically shows a dot on a picture of the fretboard and gives you a selection of notes to choose from. You simply click on the correct note for the position on the board.

Honestly, I found this method a bit odd, because seeing a picture of a fretboard on the screen is not the same as playing the note with your own two hands. So I would advise that you have your guitar on hand should you need help recognising the notes.

Above all, have fun!

If you find this blog helpful, please don’t forget to subscribe.
Rob.

Playing By Chillaxing

…er…that’s both “Chilling out” and “Relaxing”, but why so much talk about removing tension? Well, I came across an equation the other day that should help explain it. Don’t worry, this isn’t a maths lesson! What it is, is a way for you to use the minimum effort to create the maximum results. You know how some guitarists seem to be able to play quickly and cleanly all over the neck with no real effort? How do they do that?

It may, at first, seem like brain science, but when you break it down, it’s really not rocket surgery! The equation goes something like this:

Your Potential = Your Potential – Interference

Now, lets look at each of those factors individually.

Your Potential

This is something that everyone starts out with. If you’ve been reading my other posts on this site, you’ll already know that I don’t believe in “talent”. Anyone can learn how to become a great guitarist (this also goes for other things in your life too).

I like to think of your potential more like “potential energy” in physics. I don’t want to give a physics lesson either, so I’ll simplify things a bit. “Potential Energy” is what a toy car has at the top of a ramp- when you let go of the car it uses this energy to “drive” down the ramp (does a toy car “drive”?!). It’s like stored energy in a spring that gets released when you let go of the spring.

Your potential energy (for guitar playing) is stored in you like a coiled spring. Everyone has it, you just need to know how to unlock this energy and power your own improvement on the instrument. This is where having guitar teacher can help.

Even when it’s been unleashed, your potential energy in this case only means how fast you can progress, not how far you will go.

Interference

So, lets go back to our car at the top of the ramp. You let go of the car…

…what happens? The car runs down the ramp. Now, the only thing that is really stopping that car and affecting how far (or how fast) it will go is the smoothness of the ramp/surface the car runs on. That’s it. If there was no friction slowing the car down, it would travel on and on forever. So this “friction” is the interference.

The same applies to guitar playing. Each distraction you add slows your progress, whether that be a mental distraction (like when you’re worrying about stage fright) or a physical one (like when you have bad posture). This is why posture and hand position are so important.

So, remember:

Your Overall Potential = Your True Potential – Any Interference You Introduce

…and don’t forget to keep updated on this blog with more tips on guitar playing
Rob.

With some people, yes, it is natural to sing from a young age, with others it’s not so innate- either way, proper singing technique is not something that we’re born with. We have to learn how to use our voices properly- even though almost everyone is born with a voice! The same is true (for your hands) in guitar playing.

The Re-Learning Curve

It’s very difficult to suddenly have to re-learn how to use something that has almost become instinctual- like learning a new language- but this is exactly what I’ve had to do to learn to sing. In order to teach myself singing technique I’ve had to re-learn how to use my voice, and -trust me- I’ve been able to use my voice since I can remember!

So, in order to learn proper guitar technique it’s not totally crazy to expect to have to re-learn how to use your hands (at least while there’s a guitar in them…). This is where many beginner guitarists go wrong. I have to admit, it’s sometimes difficult to accept that a technique that feels “natural”, or “comfortable” may, in fact, be wrong and hindering your ability!

Try to see it from this point of view: playing guitar is not a natural action- not even as natural as singing! We didn’t evolve to play the guitar, we invented the guitar to be used by our (already evolved) hands. Yes, there is a correct technique for playing the guitar with economy of motion and speed, but it’s not always the one that “comes naturally” to us.

Hand Mechanics

If you’ve not already read my page on hand mechanics, then I suggest you do so; if you have, then you’ll know that I think of the hand as a mechanical device. Inside your hand are many muscles and tendons, but (for simplicity) I like to think of these as divided into certain groups depending on what they do.

Essentially, there are several different ways that your fingers can move (each associated with a muscle group). They can bend (go from curled up to straight), move apart from one another (as in the star trek “Mr. Spock” sign), or move backwards and forwards (bending at the knuckle). How many of those ways do you think are needed to play guitar?

Mechanical Motions

With the correct posture and hand position (and forgetting when you need to bend a note) you only need to use two of these types of movement to play the guitar. Can you guess which ones?

I’ll give you a clue, when you need to reach for wide stretches, you are moving your fingers apart- so you definitely need that motion. What about the other two? Well, what is left? Pushing the strings down to fret notes. Which motion do you use to fret notes?

I realise I’m oversimplifying a bit here, but the muscles required to curl your fingers, to form a fist, or to grip are directly linked to the muslces in your arm. Your arm muscles are designed for power, and heavy lifting- actions which need you to lock your wrist straight (you would never pick up a heavy object with bent wrists!). So what does that leave?

That’s right! The main muscles you should use to fret notes are the ones which move your fingers forwards and backwards (bending at the knuckle)- NOT the muscles you would use to grip or lift with!

Now, the whole hand and arm is connected, so it’s actually more complicated than that (like I said, I’ve oversimplified it to make it easier), but this is the idea behind economy of motion in guitar technique. Use only the muscles you really need- the rest are just creating extra tension and pulling your hand in different directions (actually making it harder to play).

The hand is like a machine, and it’s able to perform many functions. Are you using yours most effectively way for playing guitar? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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

Rob.

If you read the previous post, or watched the video, you probably realised that in the video I talk about downtuning the low E string to D or B. Although I haven’t included these notes on the tuning page, I’m putting them here (as you wont need them as often as the standard tuning notes). Once you get the hang of relative tuning, though, you should be able to tune to these notes using other notes on the guitar (as you see me do in the video).

Alternative Tunings

So here are the extra notes that you might need if you’re tuning your guitar down (known as “downtuning”) lower. Links open in a new window. The most common alternate guitar tuning is “Drop-D” where the low E string is tuned down to a D, so lets start with that:

Low D String

Low D

…and the furthest you’ll ever need to downtune the low E string is to a low B…(although some guitars have 7 strings and so have a separate B string!). Here is that note:

Low B String

Low B

Finally, here are the notes in between (just in case):

Low C String

Low C

Low C# String

Low C#

I don’t expect you’ll be using those lower notes that often (unless you’re into lots of extreme metal…), but I thought I’d provide them just in case. If you want to experiment with other tunings, you’ll have to use a relative tuning method (such as the one I mention in my blog on tuning).

Finding these notes on guitar is pretty easy, the low B is actually an octave lower than the note on the second fret of the A string. The low D is an octave lower than the open D string (these are the notes that I tune to in the video).

If you want to stay updated on my blog, please don’t forget to subscribe.

Rob.

Click here if you can’t see the guitar tuning video

In this video I take you through two methods for tuning your guitar, both of which come under the heading “relative tuning” as you are tuning each string off of the other strings (almost “tuning the guitar to itself”). Both methods do require that you fix some kind of note as a reference point; You can either tune the low E string exactly to an E, or start from a rough guess.

If you would prefer to be more “exact” when you tune, you’ll need to tune each string against a set pitch. You’ll want to head over to the tuning section of the website where there are sound files of the exact pitches you should tune to.

As you’ll be tuning each string relative to this starting point it doesn’t matter how accurate it is (unless, of course, you’re trying to play with other instruments- in which case you should tune to them). Lots of metronomes will give you 440 Hertz, which is an A note. If you have something like this then you should tune your A string to 440 Hertz as a starting point.

Open String Tuning

The first method I take you through in the video can be called “open string tuning”, as you are tuning the open strings. Once you have the E string tuned, you can play the fifth fret and produce an A note (which is the same as the A string). This will allow you to tune the A string. Alternatively, if you have used an A as a reference point, just do the same thing in reverse- play the 5th fret E string again, but instead tune the E string to match the A string.

Next, tune the D string to the fifth fret on the A string and the G string to the fifth fret on the D string. Next you’ll need to play the fourth fret on the G string- this is a B note so that you can tune your B string. Lastly, you want to play the fifth fret on the B string and tune the E string to this note.

Your guitar should now be in tune…at least with itself- which means you can play chords and scales and it wont sound “out of tune”.

Tuning to a Note

The second method I go through in the video allows you to start from any note as your reference point. I use an E in the video. Starting with the low E string, the idea is to tune all the “E notes” on the guitar compared to this. Obviously each note will be in a different octave (i.e. the E on the second fret D string is going to be higher than the open low E string), but it’s still possible to tune them.

The “E notes” I use are: the E on the open low E string, tune it to (but an octave lower than) the second fret on the D string. Then tune that to the fifth fret on the B string (also an E, but an octave higher). Tune that note to the open high E string (just as in the previous method). You can then tune the open low E to the seventh fret A string and the ninth fret G string.

Again, your guitar should now be in tune to itself. The advantage of this method is that you can use any note as your starting point, provided you know where the notes are on the fretboard. There is, in fact, a pattern to the notes and octaves that you will probably discover, and this should eventually help you learn where all the notes are.

So, don’t forget to look at the tuning section, and if you would like to stay updated, please don’t forget to subscribe.

Rob,

Staying in tune