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Building Scales Using The Whole Half Step Formula

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guitar laughKnowing how to build a scale is essential for understanding music theory, learning how the guitar works, to able to communicate with other musicians and to grow towards becoming an accomplished guitar player.

Every piece of musical knowledge adds to your musicianship and makes you become a better guitar player. Applied knowledge is power.

The whole-half Step formula is the perfect way to build and recognize the pattern of any scale. The scales you need for soloing, chord construction, chord progressions, arpeggios and a dozen of other things. It gives you insight in the whole matter.

So let’s see how this baby works.

The whole-half step formula is similar to the scale formulas only it uses whole and half steps to explain the construction of a scale.

A half step = one fret. A whole step = two frets. So going one fret up or down the neck is a half step. Going up or down two frets equals a whole step.

Let’s take the major scale as an example:

Major scale = Whole step – Whole step – Half step – Whole step – Whole step – Whole step – Half step
or simplified: W-W-H-W-W-W-H (W = Whole, H = Half)
You can also notate the fret intervals: 2-2-1-2-2-2-1 (W = 2, H = 1)Continue Reading

Acoustic Fingerstyle Blues Guitar Arrangement

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Today I’ll show you a nice acoustic fingerstyle blues arrangement. It’s got that delta blues, Robert Johnson kind of feel to it.

I’ll explain it slowly and step by step so it’s easy to understand for guitar players of all levels.

Try to memorize the piece while practicing it so you have something to play on the beach, on your front porch and to perform for friends and family.

A really nice sounding blues arrangement right in your back pocket whenever you need it.

Below I’ve written out the tabs.
You can also download the tabs / tablature right here: TABS Guitarhabits’ Fingerstyle Blues

Take your time and take it slow. The piece has 12 bars / measures. If you find it a bit challenging just practice one or two measures a day and you will get there.

Have fun!

Although it’s a free lesson, please consider a modest donation to support guitarhabits. It’s greatly appreciated.

Enjoy the lesson!

 

20 Hilarious Guitar Jokes and More

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guitar laughToday is all about guitar jokes. We’re turning the tables and make fun of ourselves… The guitar players.

Sit back, relax and have a laugh.

If you don’t like jokes you can always check out the Guitarhabits’ guitar lessons archive for a great workout and some awesome guitar knowledge to get your fingers moving.

If you do like jokes, read on and check out the archive later on.

Below in the post there are also some really great “Shreds”, where footage is taken from a guitar player’s performance and replaced with new audio in sync with lip and guitar movements to create some brilliantly funny videos.

There are 20 guitar jokes here. Remember they are just jokes, don’t take them personally or seriously.

Enjoy and have fun!

The Jokes:
1 – Two jazz guitarists meet in a bar, and one says, “Yeah man, I bought your last album, it was awesome!” to which the other replies, “Oh so that was you!”.

2 – What’s the difference between an electric guitar player and a vacuum cleaner?
When you unplug a vacuum cleaner it doesn’t suck anymore.Continue Reading

What is a Scale Formula and How to Use it For Guitar

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guitar and the power of failureEverything evolves around scales. We use scales to create music, study music theory, understand music, build chords, progressions, arpeggios and learn soloing and improvisation.

So how do you build a scale with a formula, how do you figure out the notes for a particular scale, what else can you do with a scale formula and how can you make sense of it all?

Well, let’s find out.

The scale formula gives you insight in the notes you play. It gives you a clear overview of how scales relate to each other and reveals the easiness of building any scale in seconds.

It also a great tool for learning and understanding chord construction and soloing. Once you know the logic behind a scale and how to use the formula, a lot of pieces to the puzzle will fall into place one step at a time.

To construct or build a scale we need a major scale and a scale formula. We use the major scale as groundwork and reference point for building all the other scales and then apply the appropriate scale formula to fill in the notes. Continue Reading