GUITARHABITS

Building Chords and Progressions of The Minor Scale

September 6, 2023 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Bigstockphoto
Once I learned how to build chords of a major or minor scale, the logic of chord progressions made much more sense.

I became more efficient in analyzing and memorizing chord progressions and it was also a helpful tool for song writing and understanding how to improvise over these chords.

As a young kid I underestimated the knowledge of music theory.

It don’t matter how musically gifted you are as a person, music theory makes the life of a musician a lot easier. So benefit and enjoy!

In this post you’ll learn how to build chords of the minor scale, create your own chord progressions and analyze the chord progressions of famous songs in a minor key.

For building chords of the natural minor scale we can use the same approach as building chords of the major scale

Like the major scale we can also build 7 chords of the minor scale. In fact the minor scale is relative to the major scale. When you play the major scale starting on the 6th degree and play seven notes ascending (going up) in the scale you are actually playing a minor scale.

Triplet Scale Sequence Exercises Why and How

By Klaus Crow 7 Comments

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Bigstockphoto
The first scale sequence I learned without being aware of it was the “pentatonic triplet sequence”. They were all over the place in Metallica solos and I learned a lot of them.

Once I knew what I triplet really was I noticed them in many other rock and metal songs. But also in a lot of blues solos, usually played with hammer-ons and pull-offs.

A triplet is when you’re playing 3 consecutive notes per beat. Also called an eighth note triplet. (There are also sixteenth note triplets but we’ll save that for another post) Since there are 4 beats per bar in 4/4 time, you can count them like this: 1 trip-let, 2 trip-let, 3 trip-let, 4 trip-let or if you prefer you can count: 1 & a, 2 & a, 3 & a, 4 & a. It’s important to learn the feel of playing triplets.

Triplets are often used at the end of a musical phrase. They can be played fast and ascending, building a climax and leading up to that final screaming note or descending to a lower impressive last note to give it more impact.

Once you know your scales and you’re starting to improvise you don’t want to sound like you’re playing scales all the time. That’s where sequences come in. Sequences are a great tool for building your improvising chops.Continue Reading

Reward and Celebrate Your Guitar Efforts!

By Klaus Crow 3 Comments

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Bigstockphoto
We all want to practice at a regular basis. If only we could stick to it.

Sometimes we succeed in practicing on a daily basis for a few weeks or even months in a row and then life takes over and we move on to busier and seemingly more important things.

But don’t worry, it’s okay to pause once in a while, reflect on it and just let it be.

And then suddenly that moment comes again when we fuel ourself with inspiration and we get back to the game. Now this time you want to hang in there as long as possible. To do that you need to keep motivating yourself. Motivation is the key to success! One of the ways to motivate yourself is to celebrate your successes and reward yourself.

Let’s say you want to learn a particular song. Depending on the difficulty of the song you can attach an appropriate reward to it.

Or reward yourself for 10 daily practice sessions of 30 minutes in a row and another one for 30 daily practice sessions in a row. Reward yourself for building a 10 song repertoire and playing it in front of people, for writing or recording your song.

Keep the celebrations alive and make it fun!Continue Reading

10 Effective Ways to Memorize Song Lyrics Much Faster

By Klaus Crow 19 Comments

August 11, 2023 by Klaus Crow

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy

In my early twenties I went backpacking in Australia with my girlfriend. During that trip we spent three days on a catamaran sailing the Great Barrier Reef with a group of people. One of the best times of my life.

When I first entered the catamaran the hosts asked me if I could play guitar. I was dumbfounded and said “huh, yes I do” and thought to myself, “how did they know that?” Later I would find out they asked everyone the same question.

In the evening we would all come together for a drink and a laugh. And then suddenly one of the hosts came out with a guitar and started playing and singing songs to entertain everyone.

Then after a while they handed the guitar over to me and said “Now it’s your turn!”. I thought, okay I’ll play a couple of tunes (I had been playing for about ten years by then) and suddenly I realized I could play a whole bunch of songs and some pretty cool solos, but I couldn’t sing the lyrics to the songs because I didn’t got them memorized.

Luckily my girlfriend was with me who is a singer and it turned out to be a great evening. Everyone sang along and was really enthusiastic.

I was saved! I realized what a shame it was that I couldn’t sing a few songs myself. A missed opportunity, but also a lesson learned. I would focus on memorizing song lyrics!

Here are 10 effective ways to get the job done:

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