Articles and Lessons

Give your fingers and mind a musical workout. Check out these articles to get more skill from — and add spice to — your playing.

"Book review: Chord Progressions for Songwriters"
If you're looking for a good resource to learn about chord progressions, Richard Scott of Moneychords.com wrote a book you might be interested in. It's called Chord Progressions for Songwriters.

"Play Guitar by Ear, Episode 7"
Hearing harmonies.

Dig the other Play Guitar by Ear articles here.

"Chord Exploring, part 10"
Chord scales.

Dig the other Chord Exploring articles here.

"Teaching by Travel Brochure"
Guitar teachers sometimes assume that what works for them will work for their students. Find out what's wrong with this assumption.

Dig the other articles by Jamie Andreas here.

"Meet Your Picker - Learn to Appreciate Your Picking Hand"
It's easy to underestimate the importance of the picking hand. Players usually put most of their effort toward learning fret hand skills. Over time, the picking/right hand may be neglected. Read how to start treating your right hand...right.

"Anatomy of a Guitar"
Need to brush up on the parts of the guitar? Check out this guest article by Kyle of Kyle's Virtual Guitar Lessons.

"Approaches to soloing"
There are lots of books and teachers that can help you solo better. But what other resources are there to help you take your unaccompanied guitar expressions to the next level? How can the Internet help make you a better soloist?

"Grow your ears with the Net"
How can you use the 'Net to train your ears for free? Find out here, and learn the elements of the *ideal* ear trainer.

"How to do home recording for free"
You've worked on that Sor etude or that Clapton tune, and now you're ready to share it with the world in the form of an MP3. How do you make an MP3 for free?

"Where to get help for music injuries"
How can we avoid injuries when we're practicing? What Internet and other resources are there to help us play in a healthy way? Find out here.

"Theory made easy"
If you don't have a lot of time to learn theory but still *want* to learn without being confused or bored to tears, where can you go?

"Reading tab"
Get tips on reading tab, and discover the Internet's ultimate tab resource.

"Where to get guitar questions answered"
Are Stratocasters appropriate for playing jazz? How do you learn to improvise? How do pros approach improvising? What gear do the pros use? Newsgroups answer all these questions and more. Learn how to use 'em here.

"Finding open mic opportunities"
Need some tips on finding open mic opportunities where you live? Read on and play out.

"Jazz Guitar Resources"
I got a letter recently from a Guitar Study reader, requesting a list of resources for Jazz Guitar. Well, here you go!

"A bit o' Blues"
This little ditty will improve your skill at playing the all important ii-V-I progression in CAGED position 1 (form C). (The actual key is F.) And, you'll get some Bluesey sounds to make playing this *fun.*

"The Write Stuff"
It's not about being a good writer, but about being a better player. Keeping a music journal helps you do that. Here's how.

"More Triad Stuff"
We do a Bluesey little ditty showing the major, minor and diminished triads in action. Dig the tab.

"Finding a good teacher"
Look in the mirror: your best teacher is right where you are. Why? First, you care the most about your guitar education. Yet, you definitely are not the most objective about your performance. A teacher can provide that objectivity. Here's how to find a good teacher.

"The Bar Blender"
The Bar Blender is playing a song in a different sequence from the sequence you normally play it in. For example, instead of playing measures 1 through 4, then 5 through 8, then 9 through 12 of a song, you might play measures 9 through 12, 5 through 8, then 1 through 4...

"One-string ii-V-I"
Here's a quickie one-string ii-V-I chord melody ditty for you. This tab will make you the greatest guitarist in the world! Well, no it won't. I'll tell you this, though: if you're stuck playing in one position, and need an exercise to break out, try this tab.

"Two Five ideas for lunatics"
Let's say we want to play a ii-V-I in C major, but the only commitment we have is to keep the bass notes intact: D, G, and C. Everything else, the guts of the chords, is up for grabs. This approach can create some interesting sounds. Let's hear some of them by applying the following approaches...
Got tab?

"Love your mistakes"
Mistakes, errors, hitches and problems are a part of making music. And believe it or not, they are necessary to your growth as a musician. Let's offer some ways of looking at "mistakes" that ultimately help your playing, even if a particular mistake seems to be dragging your playing down.

"Slash and burn"
Ah, the joys of slash chords. Okay, let's get something cleared up right away: slash chords are *not* different from the chords you already know. When you hear someone using the term slash chords, this person is simply applying a different way of looking at an existing chord. Dig the tab.

"One note samba"
Hey you ear training maniacs: how'd you like to build ears as big as an elephant's? Here's an exercise that will get 'em at least as big as baseball mitts.

"A la mode"
There's a bit of confusion some music students have about modes. Let's clear up that confusion with one simple observation: modes are moods. Do you see how close they are in name? Dig the tab.

"World's simplest blues"
Okay, all you minimalist fans. I want to show you how to get the absolute most music with the absolute least effort. As usual, I don't want to tell you what we're gonna do, I want to *show* you. Dig the tab.

"Alternate picking, the fun way"
For those of you who use a pick, here's a nifty little exercise to build those alternate picking muscles, while also building your ear. Tab included.

"The James Bond chord"
I honestly don't know if this next chord occurs in the theme music to the James Bond movies, which were so beautifully scored by composer John Barry. But, the minor-major 7, add 9 *feels* like it belongs in a James Bond movie. Check it out.

"A bluesey way to learn barre chords"
This next bit is for those of you who are just starting to learn barre chords. Or, maybe you haven't learned any, and are a bit fearful because they look complicated or even painful. Fear not! We're gonna make barre chord playing a pleasure. Dig the tab.

"The impossible chord"
When I first played a 7#9 chord, I thought, "No way. That's an impossible chord. That's an impossible *sound.* You can't have a chord with a major third and a minor third. That's like drinking your milk with your orange juice, or eating your corn flakes with Pepsi. It's just not done!"

"Relax"
I don't relax very well. Some days, I get so tense after playing that I...well, we won't go into that. However, I'm starting to realize how important physical relaxation is to improving guitar skills.

"Right hand stuff (The Claw Pick)"
We spend a lot of time talking about chords in reference to the left hand. We give patterns for the left, "don't strain your left hand," here's a shape for you to make with your left hand, and so on. The poor right is neglected, which is unfortunate because what the right hand does determines whether you want to dance, groove, shimmy and shake to your playing, or whether you're gonna fall out of your chair into an instant coma from boredom.

"Triads and 4-note Chords"
Does everyone know their harmonized major scale? Does everyone know how to practice it in a way as cool as this? Dig the tab in this ditty.

"Inversion Perversions"
What are inversions and how do they help us? They sound like some kind of meteorological term. Actually, they're a bit like that game that little league players play with the bat, to decide which team gets to be at bat first...

"Chord fills"
A guitar teacher once taught me a straightforward way of improvising with chords. And this method also builds knowledge of chord patterns. Rather than describe this method in words, some tab is probably better suited to explain this...

"Chord combos"
Do you like peanut butter and chocolate mixed together? The point is that the resulting flavor you get from mixing together two or more foods is a whole different animal than either the first or second food. The same is true for chords.

"They're all dom 7 chords"
Did you know that every chord is a dom7 chord in disguise? Pause for a second and let this thought sink in. [Cue music: theme to Jeopardy] Let's illustrate this with some nifty progressions...

"The SHAPE"
It's bad, it's mad, it's rad. It's more hip than hip-hop, more swingin' than Tarzan. It's a freakin' feast for your famished fingers. Yes, guitar fans, it's the SHAPE, the chord to top all chords. Learn about it here.

"Barre Chord Madness"
Yes, instant tendonitis and other forms of discomfort can be yours today by learning how to play this essential guitar chord. Get your pain prescription filled here, and quit being an open-position wimp. Get those chord shapes a-movin'!

"Fun with Chord Substitutions"
Gosh, don't you just love playing the same songs over and over in the same way? Don't you just love the idea that the chords somebody else put to a tune are the chords you have to play every time you play that tune? Well, if you don't love this, you might want to read Fun with Chord Subs. Also, you might want to check out the Chord Sub primer below before reading this.

"Approaches to harmonizing a melody"
How do you put chords to a melody? And why would you have to? There's so much written music available on the Net, we could learn just about any tune's chords for free. Except, learning that way is not exactly free. Harmonize mels the right way. Learn how here.

"A chord substitution primer"
Chord substitution is a bit like spring cleaning for music. You get tired of looking at the same old junk that's been lying around the house for the past year or so. Replacing certain chords with other chords adds new life to a tune. Let's look at some ways we can substitute chords in a simple but useful tune.

"How chord progressions work"
Two Five One, One Six, Four Five...Hike! No, it's not a football game, it's a lesson in chord progressions, including a complete song, and an explanation of how it works. Learn what makes a song move and what makes it rest. Put yourself a giant step forward in writing your own progressions.

"Playing by ear for beginning guitarists" demystifies this important skill and shows new guitarists a simple procedure to play melodies by ear.

"I have rated this lesson 5 points [on WholeNote.com]. It is easy to understand. You give the learner a perspective they can easily grasp and put to use. Also, there is a 'fun' element. It's a very good, useful lesson for beginners. Thanks for the lesson. I look forward to more."
- Steve Shaw, guitarist

"How to improvise: a guide for beginning guitarists" shows new guitarists how to improvise. Learn a simple and fun step-by-step process to improv'ing over the blues. Record blues chord changes, then learn how to solo over them with both major and minor pentatonic scales. The blues changes and the scales are given in tablature. Each step to improvising is then explained in detail. At the end of the article is a list of resources for learning more about improvising.

"Transcription: the hows and whys" gives you a simple way of making transcription fun, while maintaining or enhancing its educational value. You'll learn what's needed to faithfully reproduce the music you're studying. You'll acquire the tools to explore the options for transcribing even complicated music. You'll learn how to set objectives for transcription that challenge and excite you.

"Checklists: pathways to musical progress" Have you ever worked on a complex project without a plan to complete it? Practicing without a plan may be rewarding at times, but only practicing with a plan is going to get you the skill you want. Making lists the specific exercises you need to build the skills you want is vital to your success in music. The Checklists article shows you how to create such a list.

"Why" Sometimes we play things because someone else plays them: a teacher, a friend, or someone we read about in a magazine. Do you know why you're practicing what you're practicing? "Why" helps you dig up the reasons, so you can decide what's best for you.

"Maximum scales" gives you precise instructions for invigorating your scale playing. It builds your motivation to succeed by showing you why it's important to practice scales. Use this information to create your own scale exercises. Understand the relationship of scales to music.

"A musician's most important skill." If you've ever found yourself wondering, "When am I ever going to be a player?" Read"Skill." It's an antidote for musical frustration. It shows you that whatever distance there is between where you are and where you want to be, is irrelevant to your success in making music.

"Blues Triad Mastery"
Are you looking for a way to learn triads for the entire fretboard that's actually fun? Wouldn't it be cool if the Blues were combined with triad scales to make practicing triads as much fun as playing the Blues? Here's a lesson that does just that. Dig the tab.

"Chord Melody Workout"
This lesson is a set of exercises for intermediate level guitarists to improve their chord melody playing. Specifically, these exercises help you play chord melody arrangements; flow a melody line over the crucial ii-V-I progression; play basic chord substitutions; train your dog to bake brownies; teach your fingers to "see" the chords connected to arpeggios and arpeggios connected to chords and much more. Dig the tab.

"Chord Colors"
Put some fresh air and Blues into your chord playing. Learn to use the chord extensions 9, 11, and 13 in progressions that are fun to play. Dig the tab.

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