For most guitarists, learning to play barre chords is a rite of passage from the beginner level to the land of intermediate guitar playing. These chord forms are very handy because they are 100% moveable. They are based off of open chord shapes and allow access to a huge variety of chords by memorizing a […]
Down Beat, Up Beat & Back Beat
In 1957, Chuck Berry wrote a song that defined a brand new style of music. A rhythm & blues musician, Berry was at the forefront of this musical revolution and he told the world about it: Just let me hear that rock & roll music Any old way you choose it It’s got a back […]
3 Introductory Picking Styles
Acoustic guitar players typically break down into two groups: strummers and pickers. Their playing preferences are pretty self-explanatory. Strummers like big, ringy chords. They want the acoustic guitar to fill the room with notes. Pickers like to arpeggiate chords, pulling out notes and putting together little licks and partial chords to embellish their playing. When […]
How to Read Guitar Tablature
Guitar tablature is a graphic representation of where to play musical notes on the neck of the guitar. It is a popular format for guitar music among lead style guitar players. Though it is somewhat easy to read, it is limited in the information it gives compared to other methods for writing guitar music. Lines […]
Mary Had a Little Lamb
In the early 1800s, a little girl named Mary Sawyer was followed to school by her pet lamb. A young man named John Roulstone witnessed the incident an wrote a poem about it, which was published in 1830 by Sara Josepha Hale. It has become one of the world’s most loved nursery rhymes and an […]
Standard Notation, Fake Sheets and Tablature for Guitar
Guitar music is typically written in one of three formats: standard notation, fake sheets (also called chord sheets) or tablature. Each of these has their advantages and disadvantages. Standard notation: the most information, the hardest to read. Standard notation gives the most detailed musical information of the three formats, utilizing the five-line staff, key signatures, […]
Happy Birthday
Wikipedia.org quotes the 1998 Guinness Book of World Records as identifying “Happy Birthday” as “the most recognized song in the English language”. It is probably the most well-known song in three-four time. A simple three-chord song using I, IV and V, “Happy Birthday” is an easy learn that can be pulled out over and over […]
How to Read & Write Strum Notation
Playing rhythm guitar means playing a pattern of strokes known as a strum pattern. This pattern repeats itself throughout the song and often remains unchanged. However, it is not uncommon for different sections of a song to have different strum patterns. Rhythm guitarist can determine the strum pattern of a song through a series of […]
Amazing Grace
The paramount Christian hymn, “Amazing Grace” was written by John Newton and published in 1779. The story of the song’s origins is quite interesting. Most folks, even if they do not share the Christian faith, are familiar with this iconic melody. The song is written in three-four time, though most people try to force it […]
Time Signatures: The Big 3
Signatures are important. Think about the significance of signatures in history. We know about John Hancock because of his gargantuan signature on the Declaration of Independence. A baseball that was signed by Babe Ruth is extraordinarily valuable. Signatures are important in our daily lives, too. The bank won’t cash a check that hasn’t been signed. […]