Guitar

Learning how to read guitar TABs is an important tool that makes it easier for beginning guitar players to learn how to play. Thankfully, guitar TABs are also the easiest method of notating music for guitar.  Since most guitars are six-string guitars, we’ll look at tabs applicable to six-strings. For guitars with seven strings or more, it’s similar, but the tabs have additional lines. Strings and Tunings Before we look at tabs, we first need to properly identify the number and tuning of each string on the guitar.  The first string is the thinnest string on the guitar, and the … Read more

Do you experience back pain after practicing your guitar for extended periods of time? Or feel a bit of tension in the wrists after playing those overreaching barre and power chords? Do not fret (pun intended)! These are signs of tension buildup. Tension buildup is quite common among beginning guitarists. Awareness of what is causing the tension is the first step to tackle the pain. In this article, we’ll look at six common causes of tension in guitar playing and how to fix your posture to avoid them.  1. Guitar Posture: Sitting Probably the most common cause of pain and … Read more

Just like other physical and artistic activities, it is very easy to unknowingly develop bad habits when learning how to play the guitar! These habits can be hard to break and can hinder your overall musical progress. But fret not! Every bad habit can be broken, the first step is to recognize such habits. In this article, I discuss ten of the most common guitar mistakes I see beginner players make and provide tips on how to address these issues. 1. Using too much force to play In my experience, the most common mistake beginning guitarists make is using too … Read more

There are hundreds of possible chord progressions out there. Thankfully for the budding guitarist, many modern pop songs use just a few. This article presents five of the most common chord progressions, and learning them will allow you to play hundreds of songs. Note that the chord progressions will be presented in the key of C and in Roman numerals so that they can be easily transposed to other keys. The Chord Progressions 1. C – G – Am – F  (I – V -vi – IV) https://www.libertyparkmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/1.-C-G-Am-F.wav This just might be the most popular chord progression in Western popular … Read more

At a glance… 1. How to tune your guitar to standard tuning 2. Using tuners 3. How to tune your guitar without a tuner 4. Getting rid of the “tink” sound 5. Guitar intonation 6. Different tunings In this expert-written guide on how to tune a guitar, you’ll learn everything you need to know about tuning a guitar, from tuners to tuning a guitar by ear to different types of guitar tuning. Tuning your guitar is a fairly simple process that most guitar students learn during their first lesson. Let’s quickly look at how to tune up to the standard … Read more

Here’s a great solo on a classic standard, often played as a ballad but here as a medium swing. This is the first chorus of Colin’s solo taken from a video of a gig in London from 2010, and what struck me about this chorus is the simplicity of its phrasing. The 32 bars of transcription discussed here exemplifies a well-balanced first chorus of improvising in the jazz/bebop style. Oxley repeats simple melodic and rhythmic motifs over different chords, for example, the triplet idea juxtaposed by an eighth note (from the end of bar 6 to bar 8) moving down … Read more

Here are some of my thoughts on what has to be one of the greatest jazz bass solos ever recorded, fretless or otherwise.  Jaco Pastorius played his legendary fretless bass on Pat Metheny’s debut album: Bright Size Life, and this solo is from the title track.  I chose this solo for its lyrical phrasing, the unmistakeable fretless articulation that became a big part of Jaco’s personal sound, not to mention the sound which many contemporary fretless bass players aim for.  In the words of modern fretless player Matt Bissonette, when he was discussing all fretless bassists: “…we’re all chasing Jaco’s … Read more