GUITARHABITS

The Two Most Important Scales in Western Music

April 22, 2021 by Klaus Crow

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.

2 Gorgeous Country Guitar Licks

By Klaus Crow 10 Comments

June 13, 2022 by Klaus Crow

Now and then I learn some new country licks and incorporate them into my playing. Country licks always sound so fresh and uplifting. It’s really nice to have a couple of these under your belt.

Video Lesson

2 Gorgeous Country Guitar Licks

Today I’ll show you two gorgeous country guitar licks in the video lesson above. You can find the tablature in the post below. You can play the licks slow or fast, they sound great either way.

Sometimes I use these kind of licks at the end of a song. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be a country song. It can be a folk song or anything that has the same vibe as long as it sounds good to your ears.

Country guitar players often use a technique called the hybrid picking technique that involves picking with a pick and one or more fingers alternately or simultaneously.

I won’t be using the hybrid picking technique today, but I will play the licks with just a pick.

If you want to dive deeper into this style of playing then check out some these country guitar virtuosos:
Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Ray Flacke and Jerry Reed. They are the masters of country guitar.

Have fun ya’ll!

Tablature


COUNTRY LICK #1 (G Major)
e--3--0-----------------------------------------------------|
B--------3--0-----------------------------------------------|
G--------------3--2--0--------------------------------------|
D------------------------3--2--0----------------------------|
A---------------------------------1h2-----------------------|
E--------------------------------------3--------------------|


COUNTRY LICK #2 (A Major)
e-------3---------------------------------------------------|
B--3bu-----3bd--1-------------------------------------------|
G------------------2--0-------0--------------2--------------|
D------------------------1h2-----2-1-0----------------------|
A---------------------------------------3h4------0--------0-|
E----------------------------------------------------2bd----|

The Beauty and Benefits of Imperfection

By Klaus Crow 5 Comments

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Joshua Hoffman
For a long time I have struggled with my own perfectionism. It got in the way of many things. Especially in the sense of getting things accomplished.

If your standard for the production of a song is too high or the level of guitar playing to allow yourself to team up with good musicians, then there is no end to it. I think a great deal of perfectionism is caused by insecurity.

But learning from the lessons of Taoism, Zen and by listening to a lot of authentic music I have let go of that. Maybe it also comes with getting older. Who knows?

But I think most of all just by letting go and embracing imperfection. Letting go of the future and the past. Letting go of worrying about others, beliefs and prejudice.

Even letting go of thinking itself at any particular time of day will set me free from perfectionism. It can be as easy as that. And just being open to whatever comes along.

I am not saying I’m a master of these things but it is something that I practice on a daily basis and it comes with great rewards.

I also started listening and observing the beauty of imperfection in everyday life. In people, conversation, communication, sounds, music, nature, action and inaction. It’s there all the time.

Perfection is only in our minds. It doesn’t exist. Life is all about imperfection and isn’t that beautiful?

Let’s take a closer look at the beauty and benefits of imperfection:Continue Reading

5 Effective Pentatonic Exercises For Building Speed

By Klaus Crow 33 Comments

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by JD Hancock
Building speed is not just for guitar players who want to play fast and look good (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but building speed is good for any aspect of guitar playing.

Once you’ve got a good technique and finger dexterity everything you play becomes easier from rhythm playing to soloing and everything in between. Life on the guitar gets better.

I’ve written down 5 exercises that will help you build up speed but also to get a good grip on your pentatonic scale so you can learn to play them inside out.

Go through each exercise slowly a couple of times before you try to speed up.

Set up a slow tempo on your metronome and when you feel comfortable enough gradually increase the tempo. Play as accurate as possible and keep your notes clear and clean.

Try to avoid extra sounding notes that aren’t supposed to be there by muting the strings you don’t want to hear with either your left hand or right hand.

Practice with focus and dedication and reap the benefits.
Have fun!Continue Reading

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