With recent problems behind me, my enthusiasm for music has started to return this month. While I haven’t picked up a lot of new (to me) gear, the items I did snag are all very special to me.
Continue reading “New Arrivals: June 2023”First Impressions: Gibson Les Paul ‘Cloud 9’ Chambered Reissue 1958
At the tail-end of April, I picked up a new (to me) Les Paul. It’s a little bit different to a regular R8 Historic Reissue … and it just might be my new #1 guitar.
Read on for my First Impressions.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Gibson Les Paul ‘Cloud 9’ Chambered Reissue 1958”Solo In Any Key With One Scale Shape
Mike Geronsin of The Art of Guitar has posted a new, free lesson. Here, he’s looking at how to use the same scale shape to solo over any key – major or minor.
This is very helpful if, like me, you’re just starting out with learning how to solo or improvise over a chord progression. It’s a neat tip, that Mike clearly explains and demonstrates.
Watch the video to see how this works, then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.
Jamzone Jamming App Demo
Fluff has posted a demo of a new app for jamming along to. It’s called Jamzone, and it has some really neat features.
With each song you purchase, you get a multitrack recording to jam along to. You can mute, solo, or fade any of the individual tracks – perfect for jamming along to. You also get a breakdown of the song structure, along with tempo, key, and chord information – perfect for learning a song.
Watch the video to see it in action, and – as always – please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.
How To Solo Over Chord Changes
Paul Davids has uploaded a handy lesson video, where he’s looking at how to solo over chord changes using the pentatonic scale.
The pentatonic scale is probably the first scale we learn when we’re trying to get into writing our own solos and improvising. It’s such an easy scale to play, but making it musical over chord changes is deceptively hard.
In Paul’s lesson, he explains what the trick (sometimes) is: switch pentatonic scales when the underlying chord changes. By using the pentatonic scale that matches each chord (e.g. A minor pentatonic over an A minor chord, C major pentatonic over a C major chord), we place more of an emphasis on the musical changes that are happening in the rhythm section.
Watch the video for all the details, then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Paul’s video.
Delta Bluesy Drone Licks Lesson
Guitar World has posted another video lesson from Andy Aledort. In this lesson, he’s looking at how to emulate the open-tuning sound of the old delta blues masters on standard tuning.
This video is helpful if you’re looking to improve your understanding of what makes the delta blues sound work, or if you want some tips on how to improvise around this concept.
Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Andy’s video.
Studying David Gilmour’s String Bends
David Gilmour’s lead phrasing is amongst the most iconic ever recorded, instantly recognisable whenever we hear it. But just what is he doing? Paul Davids shows us.
Be warned: this video features extreme 5 semi-tone string bends. Just watching Paul’s fingers getting caught under the strings made me wince!
Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Paul’s video. Or even if you just felt sorry for his poor abused fingers.
Mary Spender Breaks Down ‘Only One’
For this week’s Tuesday Talk, Mary Spender walks us through the history and recording of her new song ‘Only One’.
This is the first song where Mary has done all the engineering herself. She normally records in a studio, but this time she wanted to have more time to work on the song – and studio time quickly becomes very expensive.
Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment. It takes a lot of courage to share this kind of information, especially in today’s world of armchair critics and trolls.
How To Riff With The Major Scale
Over on his YouTube channel, Sean Daniel has posted a lesson all about how to use the major scale in your playing.
He focuses on the basics, which are always good to know. The video’s short and sweet, so you’ve no excuse for not leaning them here!
Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Sean’s video.
440 hz or 432 hz?
Over at Chords of Orion, Bill has posted a video comparing two slightly different tunings: A at 440 hz compared to A tuned to 432 hz.
Standard tuning is to tune the note A to the pitch of 440 hz. But you don’t have to. There’s a long history of alternative pitches . And some things just sound better if you tune to a different pitch.
Have a listen to Bill’s video and see for yourself which you might prefer. Can you even hear the difference?
Please head over to YouTube and leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Bill’s video.