guitarhabits

photo by Orin Zebest
It took years for me to find out what guitar really suited my taste. It’s a process that you go through. Your taste changes as you grow.

When I was young I mainly wanted to shred. My world was all about Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Dime Bag Darrel and all the other Shred Gods.

Obviously I bought myself a Joe Satriani Ibanez signature guitar and a Frank Gambale Ibanez signature. I also bought an Ovation semi acoustic guitar. Why? I don’t have a clue.

Now I’m older I am more into singer songwriters like Damien Rice, Ray La Montagne, John Mayer, Jack Johnson to name just a few. My acoustic guitar is a Santa Cruz OMPW Model and when I play electric guitar I prefer a stratocaster.

It’s difficult to choose the right guitar, because there are so many. I must say nowadays there is a lot of great value for money, but then again a lot of crap as well.

Before you go out and buy a guitar talk to friends, your teacher and people who are experienced. Take your time to listen and observe before you open your wallet.

To help you out on some key issues here are 12 tips on what guitar you should buy: Read More »

photo by cesarastudillo
For me practicing is something that I just love doing. It has become a passion. I have learned that the better I get, the more fun I have.

Guitar practice is really the building block of developing, maintaining and expanding your talent. This is something many musicians tend to forget.

A lot of guitar players practice with a lot of enthusiasm the first few years when they start out. Then they find themselves playing in a band, touring, getting loose, dating, getting married, having children, just to name a few. It’s all a part of life but it’s also a time where musicians can get stuck in a guitar playing rut.

They tend to play the same few chords, licks and riffs they have known for years. They have stopped challenging themselves. That is a pity, because it’s the continues growing process that will fuel you, inspire you and keep you fresh and original as a guitar player and songwriter.

I have also been stuck at times as well, that is why I want to tell you this beforehand. Read More »

photo by pedrosimoes7
Song writing is an evolving process. I learned that with every song I write there is improvement.

It is just a matter of writing and playing, writing and playing and so on. You learn while you practice doing what you love most.

Like everything else in life it is all about enjoying the path you walk on and not so about arriving at a certain destination.

The destination must not be your main goal. Don’t focus on success, focus on a beautiful song.

The success you achieve or the happiness you experience from arriving at your destination isn’t lasting, the path is. So make sure you have fun and create a passion for writing while doing it.

It is important to live life, listen and read a lot. Be aware of what you experience and take notice of the things around you. Figure out what is still lacking in your writing and where you can improve.

There is always room for improvement and that is the beauty of it. Then again don’t aim for perfection, but aim for completion. Better an imperfect song finished that a perfect song unfinished.

If you are already familiar with the basics of how to write a song then here are 12 keys to improve your skills to write better songs: Read More »

photo by Naotakem

Don’t get me wrong. I love playing the electric guitar. Rocking and grooving with a band is awesome. No doubt about it!

But the acoustic guitar possesses certain qualities that an electric guitar just can’t beat and it makes me fall in love with it over and over again.

Whenever I am sitting in my backyard wearing a T-shirt, jeans, flip flops and I am playing my acoustic guitar I feel free and relaxed.

This is where I usually end up writing a song. When I am strumming chords or songs that I love, I fall from one idea into another and then inspiration starts to set in.

The rich sound of my acoustic guitar will enhance the quality of the melodies and chord progressions I create.

Other times I’ll play some nice and easy acoustic blues tunes and enjoy the moment of whatever comes out of my fingers.

The acoustic guitar is the perfect vehicle to express your soul, inspire you and make you happy.

Enjoy the benefits of acoustic playing:

Mobility and Convenience
The acoustic guitar is an instrument with no strings attached, figuratively speaking :) You can take it easily with you wherever you are, unlike an electric guitar (amp, wires and a pedals), a heavy piano or a drum kit (a lot of hassle).

It feels great when you can just carry a guitar bag on your shoulder and you are good to go. Acoustic equals freedom. Read More »

photo by Marco Raaphorst
The room where you spent most of your time is of great importance to your playing.

I have noticed that when I put my electric guitar in the living room I tend to play more solos, riffs and licks.

When I put my acoustic guitar in the room I will play more fingerpicking style, blues licks or try to figure out nice chord changes.

Writing songs is something I am also more likely to do on an acoustic guitar.

Our busy “need to get things done” society has such a major impact on our lives, there might be times where your guitar doesn’t see the light of day. When your guitar is not right in front of you in those busy times, it is possible that it doesn’t occur to you to play at all.

A great way to change this awful situation is to design the room you play in. Your room must breath music, inspire you and make you want to pick up that guitar every time you are there.

Here are 5 keys to make this thing work: Read More »

photo by Made Underground

A great way to make your chord progressions and songs sound awesome is to use open chord shapes.

I always love to use these chords to add some flavor to my chord progressions. One of my favorite chords is Fsus2.

That chord has got the whole package for me. It’s sounds beautiful, gentle, tight, cool and rough at the same time.

When you move an open chord up the neck the name of the chord changes and the chord gets extended with 1 or 2 notes. This way you can get beautiful sounds.

While you can play barre chords at every fret on the fingerboard, open chords can only be played at certain frets. If you play them at the right frets they sound amazing, if you don’t… well they just sound terrible. So be careful.

Because of all the extended chord names I didn’t bother to name every single one of them. That’s not the point here.

It’s all about incorporating these chords into your songs and chord progressions, putting your creativity to the test, experimenting with all the possibilities, replacing some basic chords for these extraordinary ones, learning to hear what sounds right and what feels good.

Learn these chords and put them into practice.

Enjoy! Read More »