Did you have a set of plastic building blocks as a kid? Every box has a picture of a super cool project on the front – maybe a house or a robot or a motorcycle. When you open the box and dump the pieces on the floor, you realize that there are WAY more blocks […]
Why Bother with Barre Chords?
Its reputation precedes it. Even non-guitarists are aware of its legend. You don’t want to meet it in a dark alley and you definitely do not want to get on its bad side. It will torture you, make you question everything you thought you knew and drive you to the edge of quitting. It is […]
Navigating the Fretboard
Have you ever gotten lost? Maybe as a little kid you found yourself separated from your parents in a store. What a horrible feeling to look up and realize that you are lost in a sea of clothes racks and mannequins. What about the first day at a new school? Do you remember the fear […]
Intro to the Chromatic Scale
The most basic scale is the chromatic scale. It is made of twelve notes that are a half step apart. The chromatic scale, beginning with E, is: E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#. You can easily play a chromatic scale on the guitar by starting with an open string […]
Intro to the Major Diatonic Scale
The major diatonic scale is the most well-known scale in Western music. It is made of eight notes (including the repeated octave) with the interval arrangement of whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. This scale is sung with the syllables do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do in the solfège method. The major diatonic […]
Building with Half & Whole Steps
Kids love to play with building blocks. Their various shapes, sizes and colors can be combined to build almost anything the imagination can dream up. Some blocks are small while others are large… all of the sizes are important. Music is made of building blocks, too. The smallest building block in Western music is called […]
Rhythm Guitar & Lead Guitar Defined
The guitar can be played two different ways – as a lead instrument or as a rhythm instrument. When playing a solo, an intro or a riff that stands out from the rest of the music, the guitar is being played as a lead instrument. When playing lead guitar, the guitarist is using scales, inverted power chords and stylistic techniques. […]
Skills, Concepts & Vocabulary
You’ve heard it before… the tired, old analogy of the three-legged stool. You know, the three things that MUST be equally developed or something of significance (like your health, marriage, business, etc) will be out of balance. I’m not going to dig up that old illustration. Nope… no stools here. Just drum thrones! Conveniently, drum […]
Intro to Standard Notation for Guitar
This is lesson 1 of “A Guide to Leavitt’s ‘A Modern Method for Guitar’” by LessonNotebook.com. Parents often ask, “Will my child learn to read music for guitar?” What they’re really asking is, “Will my student get a well-rounded musical education and become a real musician, not just a guitar player?” Students, on the other […]
Quit-Proof Your Goals
I had a friend in high school who was emphatic that he could not learn to play the guitar. “I tried to play. My fingers can’t handle it.” Years later I heard that he had built a home studio and was recording original music – and playing the guitar! When I asked what caused this […]