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Improve Your Guitar Knowledge and Skills Faster

June 18, 2020 By Klaus Crow 6 Comments

Improve Guitar Knowledge and Skills Faster

We all have tons of excuses to justify the times we don’t practice. We need to work, maintain our relationships, play with our kids, finish up tasks, exercise, eat and sleep. How in the world is there any time left?

How can you improve your skills amidst all of this, stay motivated and keep learning and growing when there are times when you can’t pick up the guitar?

Well, there are many places and times throughout the day where you can do some really valuable exercises to make huge changes in your guitar playing. I’ll first show you WHAT you can do, and then HOW and WHEN can you get better at playing guitar everyday, anywhere and anytime! Let’s check it out.

Memorizing the Notes on the Guitar

You can start by learning the notes on the guitar. Memorize where every note (all 12) are located on the guitar neck on every string. Start by memorizing all the “F” notes on all strings. Say out loud: The F note is located on the Low E-string, 1st fret | F on the A-string, 8th fret | F on the D-string, 3rd fret | F on the G-string, 10th fret | F on the B-string, 6th fret | F on the high e-string, 1st fret.

Try to visualize where the note is located on the neck while you’re naming the fret and string. Then pick another random note and repeat the exercise. Keep doing that until you know all 12 notes from the top of your head.

Memorizing Scales

Next, learn to name all the scale notes of each key out loud. Start with the C major scale: C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C, then the G major scale: G – A – B – C – D – E – F# – G, next the F major scale: F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E – F and so on. Just pick any key in random order, until you’ve gone through all 12 keys.

You can also do this with the natural minor scale, and every other scale. Just like the first exercise try to visualize where the notes of each scale are located on the strings.

Memorizing Chords and Progressions

You can also memorize all the chords you can derive from each major scale in every key. C major scale chords = C – Dm – Em – F – G – Am – Bdim , F major scale chords are: F – Gm – Am – Bb – C – Dm – Edim, G major scale chords: G – Am – Bm – C – D – Em – F#dim, and so on.

10 Essentials to Learn Rock Guitar

May 29, 2020 By Klaus Crow 15 Comments

Rock guitar has an irresistible attractive force to guitar players . The dopamine that releases from strumming power chords that are heavily distorted or conquering a great rock solo while playing it along with the original song, a jam track or with a real band gives you that primal, powerful, and godlike blissful feeling all at the same time.

There is an abundance of creativity in rock music and there are so many different styles, genres and techniques, you can dedicate your whole life time learning rock guitar, but if you know two power chords you’re in the game.

It’s an endless source of fun and inspiration you can indulge in. So what do you need to know to learn rock guitar? What is essential to study and master to become a real rock guitar player?

Here are the keys:

1 – Power chords
Power chords are rock chords that you need in order to play rock songs. They are your basic building tools for rhythm rock guitar and super useful when it comes to playing with distortion. Power chords give you control over your distorted sound without turning it into noise and going all over the place. You do this by playing only the root and fifth note of the major scale. Power chords are fairly easy to play and are great motivator for beginner rock guitar players.

2 – Learn one rock song at a time
This is a no brainer, but by learning to play rock songs you learn to play rock guitar. It’s the songs that make you learn the skill. Learn to listen to the overal song, then just the guitars, the drums, the bass, and the keys. Listen and learn to play it piece by piece. First the intro, then the verse, the chorus, the bridge, etc. Start with easy rock songs and work your way up. Here are some of the best tools to figure out guitar songs and solos. Songs are the key to learning the craft.

3 – Learn rock guitar solos
Rock guitar solos are the best. Just like songs, soloing skills are learned by learning solos and transcribing solos. You start with the easy ones and gradually build your way up to the more challenging ones. You’ve got to take it step by step.

4 – Guitars, amps and pedals
The sound is an important aspect of rock guitar. The use of distortion and overdrive through amps, rock pedals and guitars is the way for rock musicians to create that dirty explosive sound and express their musical creativity. It’s a vital part of rock music. There are many different kinds of distortions and overdrives and depending on your style of music and personal taste you will find through experimenting what sound suits your needs.

5 – Rock licks.
Licks are short melodic ideas, which can seen as the words, phrases and lines that make up part of the story and the style, to bring tension and release, and can be used for your solo. You can string them together or use them as short fills throughout the song. Licks are also used to learn new techniques and soloing approaches. Collect as much cool licks as you can and learn how to express yourself in unlimited musical ways.

How to Create Unshakable Guitar Habits

June 13, 2019 By Klaus Crow 6 Comments

Guitar habits, we want them, we need them, and we have to give them a place into our daily lives in order to reap the rewards of our efforts, to discover the boundless possibilities on the guitar neck, to learn the endless shapes and sounds and fulfil our vocation to the musicians life.

Guitar habits give you purpose, structure, growth and fulfilment. Its the habit that changes your life instantly, Its all about the process. You have to learn to enjoy not just the beauty and victory of your practice efforts, but also the struggle of the challenge you face. You have to enjoy the practice itself. Cultivate pleasantness in finding your way to make the guitar sound the way you want it. Be mindful, calm and focused on tiny improvements. It’s all about the tiny improvements that add up and move you towards an accomplished guitar player.

The Guitar habit sticks when not the goal but the proces has become your greatest friend. When you find a way to enjoy the process to the fullest, and learn to love and appreciate every aspect that comes your way you have created a friend for life. A beautiful, deeply embedded, musical and rewarding friend. The guitar habit.

How to Apply Kaizen to Guitar

February 10, 2019 By Klaus Crow 9 Comments

The word “Kaizen” is a combination of the words “kai” (change) en “zen” (for better), which makes “change for better”. The philosophy behind it is all about the act of continuous improvement.

The term originally comes from the book Kaizen by Masaaki Imai, through which Kaizen was first introduced to the western world.

Kaizen is widely known as a systematic approach for business improvement, but it actually refers to any improvement, one-time or continuous, large or small in all areas of life.

So yes, it can also be applied to guitar practice, to hone, improve, and perfect our skill continuously every day.

The improvement isn’t necessarily focused on large scale changes, and huge wins, but more on smaller, incremental and immediate changes.

So, instead of thinking how to make a big, giant step towards becoming a brilliant guitar player, and start buying expensive guitars, equipment, and executing an extensive practice regimen, you focus on the smallest improvements you can make in your guitar playing right now.

A continuous process that is less intimidating, doable, long lasting and definitely adding up.

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