Photo by Rafael Martinez

Today is your day to feel good my fellow musician.

Of course we all know how to feel good, but sometimes you just need some reminders or fresh ideas and go like.. Oh yeah!

So let’s get out of that chair and start feeling good today. Let’s make some positive changes that will make this day a great one.

In my daily life feeling good is my number one priority.

I wanna feel good as much as possible. It makes me get things done.

Getting things done will in return make me feel good. It reinforces creativity, inspiration and boosts my musical productivity.

I really get into the flow of things like writing songs and improving my guitar playing.

Life is too short to get in or stay in a slump. If you don’t like things fix it or change it.

Never forget to take care of yourself. If you are not happy you can’t make others happy.

So do everyone a favor and start feeling good today.

Think positive thoughts and you’ll attract more positive things.

Like buddha said: “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.”

Let’s get you started: Read More »

Photo by Steve Garry
A good blues turnaround is the icing on the cake of every blues progression.

I always beg, borrow, steal and create my own nice sweet sounding turnarounds to add that extra magic when I’m playing a blues song. It’s one of the things that makes the blues sound so cool.

Blues turnarounds are played at the end of a section of a blues progression which then leads to the next section or the end of the song.

To get a good impression of how turnarounds are played listen to blues guitar players like B.B King, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton and study theirs.

Tip: Every time you play the blues try to play a different turnaround, so you don’t end up playing the same turnaround ten years from now. It’s easy to fall into that trap. Expand your vocabulary!

Enjoy these 6 turnarounds to spice up your blues:

Have a great one!

Turnaround #1
e:-------0--------0--------0--------------------------------------------|
B:-----------------------------0-----3--2-------------------------------|
G:----4--------3--------2------1-----3--2-------------------------------|
D:--6--------5--------4--------2-----2--1-------------------------------|
A:---------------------------------x-3--2-------------------------------|
E:----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 

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Since I’ve become a simplifier life has become pretty awesome. Things have become better, easier and more beautiful.

Now there is time to do everything I want and I’m doing all of the things I always wanted to do:

Playing guitar, teaching fabulous guitar students and meeting interesting people, working out (at the moment: abs training, push ups, jump rope, walking), reading or writing and spending time with family and friends.

And I ain’t doing all of these things every single day. I’m taking my time.

In the past I always wanted to do a lot more, but now I’m limiting myself to a small number of things (the most important ones). I have let go of a lot of unimportant things and it has made life simply beautiful.

I’m focusing on things I really want to do and not so much on what I want to achieve. You’ll be amazed how things change for the better when you start to let go and live in the now.

If you want to enjoy more with less here are some ways to go about it: Read More »

Photo by Jason Rogers
A lot of cool licks used in solos are played on just 2 strings. Often on the high E and B string.

Although most common in shredding, the licks are found in all genres of music.

The best way to learn how to play these exercises clear and fluently is to practice them with the use of a metronome.

Start out slowly and gradually increase speed.

You can also use them as a warm up exercise in your daily practice workout.

Another idea is to learn to play the licks along with a backing track.

As you do this make sure you focus on correct tempo and timing.

Note: Most of the exercises below are licks, except for exercise 20 and 21.

Repetitive licks are shown by the 2 dots next to the bar line. Repeat what ever is written between those two dots. Repetitive licks are repeated at least 2 times or more.

These 22 exercises will really improve your alternate picking speed if you follow the instructions I just mentioned. You’ll have some nice chops to work with.

Have a great work out!

EXERCISE #1 (in key of D major or B minor)
e:---------7--------|-----------------------------------------------------|
B:--7-8-10---10-8---|-----------------------------------------------------|
G:*----------------*|-----------------------------------------------------|
D:*----------------*|-----------------------------------------------------|
A:------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
E:------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
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Photo by Robert Bejil
Practicing is the whole key to becoming a good guitar player, but a good practice workout is not just about playing songs, riffs and solos.

It consists of some important elements.

Of course like a lot of guitar players I also started out practicing songs, riffs and licks of my favorite guitar heros, it’s why I started learning guitar in the first place.

But to let your skills and creativity reach it’s full potential there is a lot more to learn.

It doesn’t matter whether you play rock, country, jazz, blues or classical guitar, practicing all the aspects below on a regular basis will motivate you and make you grow into a good skilled guitar player.

Be sure the include every aspect into your overall workout. You don’t necessarily need to put everything in one workout, but spread out over a day or week.

You’ll benefit for the rest of your guitar playing life! Read More »

Photo by Marta Monleón
Modes are used in all kinds of musical styles like Jazz, Rock, Metal, Flamenco, etc. They create a certain mood or feel to your playing.

If you feel like you are stuck playing solos using just Major/Minor or Pentatonic/Blues scales all the time, you’re ready to call on the modes and dive a little deeper.

When I first got introduced to modes I was a little bit overwhelmed, but also excited to explore this whole new world of boundless possibilities.

I soon realized it’s all about the journey and not the destination, so enjoy the process!

There are 7 modes which can be derived from the major scale:

1 – Ionian
2 – Dorian
3 – Phrygian
4 – Lydian
5 – Mixolydian
6 – Aeolian
7 – Locrian

Each mode starts and stops on a different note within the major scale.
E.g.: The Dorian mode starts on the second degree of the major scale all the way up to an octave higher, the Phrygian mode starts on the third degree of the major scale up to an octave higher, the Lydian mode starts on the fourth degree of the major scale up to an octave higher and so on.

In this post we take the C major scale to explain the modes, but you can derive the 7 modes from any major scale in any key.

For example:
C Major = C D E F G A B
C Major modes are: C Ionian, D Dorian, E Phrygian, F Lydian, G Mixolydian, A Aeolian, B Locrian.
G Major = G A B C D E F#
G Major modes are: G Ionian, A Dorian, B Phrygian, C Lydian, D Mixolydian, E Aeolian, F# Locrian. Read More »