GUITARHABITS

Free Quality Guitar Lessons

The Two Most Important Scales in Western Music

By 27 Comments

Today I’ll show you the two most important scales in western music. The “Major Scale” and the “Pentatonic Scale”. If they are not in your vocubalary yet, be eager to learn. If you know your scales you can learn how to solo, improvise and much more. We’ll start with…

The Major Scale.
The major scale is the mother of all scales, because all the other scales, modes, intervals, chords and harmony in western music can be derived from it. If you want to learn anything about music theory you need to know how to play the major scale.

And why would you want to learn music theory? Because you’ll be much faster in learning to understand everything about guitar playing. Yes you’ll become a better rock, blues, metal, country, jazz guitar player. If you know music theory you know the short cuts to playing and transcribing guitar solos, chord progressions and improvising. It makes the life of a guitar player a lot easier.

Continue Reading

4 Furious 4 Notes-Per-String Exercises!

By 10 Comments

I couldn’t resist the temptation to write one final post on notes-per-string licks.

I just love ‘m! They’re great for warm-ups and to work on your alternate picking.

Previously I wrote a post on 2-notes-per string called “10 Smoking 2 Notes-Per-String Licks to Rock On!” and a 3-notes-per strings article (my most popular post) “21 Cool 3 Notes-Per-String Exercises”, but today we’re gonna take it one step further and dive into some 4 notes-per-string exercises for the adventurers among us.

You can play all 4 notes on each string with all your four fingers, that would be a nice finger stretch exercise which is good for building strength and reach. Or you can play it a more easier way which feels and sounds really nice too. You can see below the tabs with which fingers to play each note.

i = indexfinger, m = middlefinger, r = ringfinger, p = pink

Building speed:
– First play the exercise slow a couple of times.
– Memorize the exercise.
– Gradually increase your tempo. (play the exercise a couple of times)
– Now play the exercise slow and accurately. (a couple of times)
– Increase your tempo a little more. (play the exercise a couple of times)Continue Reading

10 Smoking 2 Notes-Per-String Licks to Rock On!

By 18 Comments

Photo by John Hope
A lot of you who are working on “developing technique and increasing speed” have probably put some blood sweat and tears in my 21 Cool 3 Notes-Per-String Exercises.

If you haven’t and you got the nerve be sure to check it out.

But today I present to you 10 smoking 2 notes-per-string licks”.

A technique that feels different from the 3 notes per string and will definitely improve your technique in many ways if you work hard at it. Also the licks are perfect to incorporate into your improvisations.

While there are a lot of great guitar players known for their 3 notes-per-string, don’t underestimate what people like Zakk Wylde, Eric Johnson and John McLaughlin can do with 2 notes per string. They rock!

So let’s get your hands back in the dirt and work on these smoking licks.

Note: Don’t forget to use the alternate picking technique (up,down,up,down,up,down…)

Make yourself proud!


EXERCISE #1 (A minor pentatonic)
e--------------------------------------------------------5-8-|
B-----------------------------------------5-8-------5-8------|
G--------------------------5-7-------5-7-------5-7-----------|
D-----------5-7-------5-7-------5-7--------------------------|
A------5-7-------5-7-----------------------------------------|
E-5-8--------------------------------------------------------|
Continue Reading

9 Effective Ways to Increase Your Guitar Picking Speed

By 21 Comments

Working on increasing your picking speed is not just for the hell fire speed wannabe’s.

Once your speed increases your whole style of playing loosens up. Your fingers will feel light and flexible and you’ll gain much more freedom in your playing.

Your fingers will float easily across the strings without trying so hard. It’s an important skill to work on and to maintain.

Increasing your picking speed comes with obstacles, victories, ups and downs, lots of patience and hard work. It’s all about practicing and equally important “the right way of practicing”. Just practicing a lot of hours doesn’t necessarily increase your picking speed if you don’t do it the right way.

Every individual has it’s own specific hurdles to overcome, but if you focus on these tips you are already off to a great start.

You can do it too!
Continue Reading