GUITARHABITS

Free Quality Guitar Lessons

20 Ways to Feel Good Today for Musicians

By 4 Comments

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Rafael Martinez

Today is your day to feel good my fellow musician.

Of course we all know how to feel good, but sometimes you just need some reminders or fresh ideas and go like.. Oh yeah!

So let’s get out of that chair and start feeling good today. Let’s make some positive changes that will make this day a great one.

In my daily life feeling good is my number one priority.

I wanna feel good as much as possible. It makes me get things done.

Getting things done will in return make me feel good. It reinforces creativity, inspiration and boosts my musical productivity.

I really get into the flow of things like writing songs and improving my guitar playing.

Life is too short to get in or stay in a slump. If you don’t like things fix it or change it.

Never forget to take care of yourself. If you are not happy you can’t make others happy.

So do everyone a favor and start feeling good today.

Think positive thoughts and you’ll attract more positive things.

Like buddha said: “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.”

Let’s get you started:Continue Reading

6 Cool Guitar Blues Turn Arounds in the key of E

By 22 Comments

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Steve Garry
A good blues turnaround is the icing on the cake of every blues progression.

I always beg, borrow, steal and create my own nice sweet sounding turnarounds to add that extra magic when I’m playing a blues song. It’s one of the things that makes the blues sound so cool.

Blues turnarounds are played at the end of a section of a blues progression which then leads to the next section or the end of the song.

To get a good impression of how turnarounds are played listen to blues guitar players like B.B King, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton and study theirs.

Tip: Every time you play the blues try to play a different turnaround, so you don’t end up playing the same turnaround ten years from now. It’s easy to fall into that trap. Expand your vocabulary!

Enjoy these 6 turnarounds to spice up your blues:

Have a great one!


BLUES TURNAROUND #1


 

e:-------0--------0--------0-----------------------------|
B:-----------------------------0-----3--2----------------|
G:----4--------3--------2------1-----3--2----------------|
D:--6--------5--------4--------2-----2--1----------------|
A:---------------------------------x-3--2----------------|
E:-------------------------------------------------------|

 

Continue Reading

4 Ways to Enjoy More of Your Musical Life With Less

By 4 Comments

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Since I’ve become a simplifier life has become pretty awesome. Things have become better, easier and more beautiful.

Now there is time to do everything I want and I’m doing all of the things I always wanted to do:

Playing guitar, teaching fabulous guitar students and meeting interesting people, working out (at the moment: abs training, push ups, jump rope, walking), reading or writing and spending time with family and friends.

And I ain’t doing all of these things every single day. I’m taking my time.

In the past I always wanted to do a lot more, but now I’m limiting myself to a small number of things (the most important ones). I have let go of a lot of unimportant things and it has made life simply beautiful.

I’m focusing on things I really want to do and not so much on what I want to achieve. You’ll be amazed how things change for the better when you start to let go and live in the now.

If you want to enjoy more with less here are some ways to go about it:Continue Reading

22 2-String Alternate Speed Picking Exercises

By 22 Comments

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Jason Rogers
A lot of the cool licks that are used in solos are played on just 2 strings. Usually on the high E and B string.

Although they are most common in shredding, you can find them in all genres of music.

The best way to learn these licks fast, clear and fluently is to practice them with alternate picking and the use of a metronome.

Alternate picking means you hold the pick between your thumb and index finger with the pointed end facing toward the strings. You strictly use alternating down and up strokes. The first note you play is downstroke, the second an upstroke, the third one a downstroke, the fourth one an upstroke and so on.

Start out slowly and gradually increase speed. Use the licks as a warm up exercise in your daily practice workout.

Beside the metronome you can also learn to play the licks along with a backing track.

As you do this make sure you focus on correct tempo and timing.

Notes:-All of the exercises below are licks, except for exercise 20 and 21.

-Repetitive licks are shown by the 2 dots next to the bar line. Repeat what ever is written between those two dots. Repetitive licks are repeated at least 2 times or more.

These 22 exercises will really improve your alternate picking speed if you follow the instructions I just mentioned. You’ll have some nice chops to work with.

Have a great work out!



EXERCISE #1 (in key of D major or B minor)
e:---------7--------|------------------------------------|
B:--7-8-10---10-8---|------------------------------------|
G:*----------------*|------------------------------------|
D:*----------------*|------------------------------------|
A:------------------|------------------------------------|
E:------------------|------------------------------------|
Continue Reading