GUITARHABITS

8 Ways to Really Develop Your Aural Skills

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Bigstock photo
Developing your aural skills is one of the most important things when it comes to guitar playing. If not the most important thing.

It’s something I still work on after all these years of playing. Each time I invest time into ear training it pays off big time.

The ability to identify chords, chord progressions, notes and melodies by ear or creating melodies from the mind and translating it to the fretboard is the greatest asset and resource a guitar player can have.

And to take it even one step further, combining good aural skills and knowledge of music theory will make you invincible. It’s the ultimate combination and makes you a complete musician.

But today we focus solely on the quality of listening. There are many ways to improve your aural skills, but here is a list of the most essential ones:

1 Transcribe songs.
Figure out chords, chord progressions and solos by ear. Work out the pitches and rhythms of a song. Use software like Transcribe to slowdown, loop and change the pitch of the song to make transcribing easier. You can use Anytune to transcribe songs on your Ipad.Continue Reading

How to Become The Guitar Player You Really Want to Be

By Klaus Crow 8 Comments

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Bigstock photo

Every important change you’ve made in your life started with an act of imagination.

Your imagination is the source of everything that you are and will be.

If you want to become the guitar player you really want to be or accomplish other great things in your life you have to imagine it.

And with “Imagine it” I don’t mean just some random one-time-only wish of yours.

You have to really believe what you want and imagine it several times every single day. You have start breathing the life you want to live. Just start living it and acting towards it.

No matter what other people will tell you or how they try to discourage you, if you believe it (without listening the other peoples voice in your head), if you can imagine it vividly and it feels true to you then life will unfold in that manner and a path will lead you to awesomeness.

You will attract the right people and the right circumstances at the right time.

You have to continuously follow your heart in this. There is experimenting involved, exploring new territory and although it may be challenging, if there’s something inside of you that says you can do it then do it. But it’s important to imagine it lively, believe and feel it as if you already accomplished it.Continue Reading

Exploring The Natural Minor Scale

By Klaus Crow 13 Comments

October 26, 2022 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Bigstock photo
Whenever you want to solo over a song in a minor key you can safely use the minor pentatonic or blues scale. However it will always sound rock or bluesy one way or another.

Sometimes the melody of a song asks for something else than just that rock/bluesy feel. A diatonic melody approach might then be more suitable. Here is where minor scales come in.

There are a 3 types of minor scales. The natural, harmonic and melodic minor scale. In this post we’ll discuss the natural minor scale.

Formulas

The natural minor scale contains 7 notes. The scale formula is 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. So compared to the major scale (1 2 3 4 5 6 7) it’s got a minor third, a minor sixth and a minor seventh.

If you start on a random note to build a natural minor scale the pattern of whole and half steps would be: “whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole”. (a whole step = 2 frets, a half step = 1 fret)
So the formula in semitones = 2 1 2 2 1 2 2

Relative minor scale

The natural minor scale is also known as the Aeolian mode or relative minor.

Every major scale has a corresponding natural minor scale, also called the relative minor. If you play a major scale and go up to the 6th degree of the scale, then that note will be it’s relative minor. From that 6th note you can play seven notes ascending (going up) in the scale and that will be it’s relative minor scale.

Reinforce the Fun Factor to Guitar Practice!

By Klaus Crow 1 Comment

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Bigstock photo
Guitar playing should be all about fun, but sometimes we forget in the midst of practice.

We tend to focus too much on achieving the end result and we get frustrated or irritated when the magic doesn’t happen overnight.

We lose the insight to enjoy our practice.

You might make a mistake on stage during a performance and get upset or embarrassed, instead you could stop taking yourself so seriously, just smile inside of yourself, simply move on and embrace imperfection.

Be there for the song, the audience and appreciate what is.

Let go of achieving, expectations, competing, comparing and all of those things. Those are negative thought patterns that hold you back from progress and feeling good. You want to feel good right? Then stop torturing yourself.

Be calm and kind to yourself, focus, enjoy the process and love the challenge. These are qualities that will bring the best out of you. To a great extent it’s all in the mind, but sometimes it’s also nice to indulge yourself to increase the fun factor even more.

When you’re having fun you don’t have to discipline yourself, you automatically get motivated. Fun is the ultimate motivation driver.

Let’s take a look at some of those fun factors:Continue Reading

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