Author Archive for E Walker

Major and Minor Scales for Lead Guitar Explained

Published
by
E Walker
on July 10, 2008
in Guitar
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by E Walker

Why are you learning the guitar? The most obvious answer for aspiring lead guitarists would probably be to master the various scales and to play blazing solos on stage. Well! Playing the guitar is one thing and playing a lead guitar on stage in a live gig is another thing.

The place where it all starts - as in the practice to play the lead guitar is with the minor and major scales. The major and minor scales are normally separated by just about four frets and they are known as the relative scales. They are known as the relative scales because of one reason: they have the same tones. In major scale the tone is DO - RE - MI - FA - SO - LA - TI and in minor scale it becomes LA - TI - DO - RE - MI - FA - SO.

Whether you are gearing to get into the Rock scene or into heavy metal, the major as well as minor scales will be the anchor of lead guitar. You need to master them thoroughly prior to moving forward and learning some of the other advanced scales. This is will be beneficial when you actually get down to playing lead guitar. The major scale is used more often and is the most familiar of them all. Let us take a look at the attributes and values for major scale

Scale Formula: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 Step Construction: W-W-H-W-W-W-H Distinguishing Degree: M7 Good over Chords: M , M7 , M6 Good with Progressions: I-IV-V , II-V-I , I-VI-IV-V , I-III-IV-I , I-IV-I , I-V-I

In the minor scale the attribute will be:

Scale Formula: 1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7 Step Construction: W-H-W-W-H-W-W Distinguishing Degree: m6 Good over Chords: m, m7 , m6 Good with Progressions: Im-bVII-bVI , Im-IVm , Im-Vm , Im-bIII-bVII

The major scale is also quite similar to the Ionian mode and is made up of 7 notes like any other diatonic scales. The Ionian scale is the one that is the first of the 7 notes. So if your note was C, D, E, F, G, A and B then your Ionian note will be C-major. The other important scale in the Major scales is the major pentatonic and it is one of the most popular one too because without it lead guitar playing is incomplete. The different pentatonic major scales include A, A#, Ab, B, Bb, G, G#, Gb, F, F#, E, Eb, D, D#, Db, C, and C#.Let us take a look at a comparison chart that has C Major, C-Chromatic and Pentatonic scales:

Chromatic C C# D D# E F F# G G# A Bb B Major C D E F G A B Major Pentatonic C D E G A

About the Author:
E Walker is the founder of Planet of Rock Music Studios and contributes regularly to many guitar publications. Find out how Guitar Backing Tracks will improve your guitar playing skills. Jam anytime anywhere with Professional Guitar Jam Tracks. Planet of Rock - Backing Tracks Guitar

You Are Only As Good As The Wood of Your Acoustic Guitar

Published
by
E Walker
on June 8, 2008
in Guitar Lessons
. 0 Comments
by E Walker

Tone woods.

Believe it or not, your sound is only as good as your wood. Each wood has a very distinct sound that is individual to every acoustic guitar. Like a finger print, it cannot be recreated, even if another piece of wood is taken from the same source.

This is due to the wood’s unique characteristics. Perhaps there are knots in the wood, or a slightly different grain pattern. Maybe there are some other subtle differences but in the end, it all affects how the wood resonates. Resonate is a fancy word for vibration, which is what wood does when you attach strings to it.

How freely the wood resonates will affect your volume (how loud you are) and your tone as a result of that. This explains why that plywood (laminate) guitar sitting in the pawnshop or music store doesn’t sound that great: The wood is too stiff to vibrate freely.

That’s why you may frequently hear the saying “Solid top”. While that may sound great in a sales pitch, the reason it’s actually important is that it’s real wood, not plywood. This transforms your tone to give you a much nicer sounding guitar.

Before the wood actually gets to your guitar, it undergoes quite a few steps. First off, most tone woods are either industrially logged. This is common for many production model guitars. Still sounds great in most cases, but there are some imperfections.

Higher end guitars have their wood hand selected. It is usually cut by hand and the select chunks are chosen for quality and then shipped back to home base for further processing.

Most manufactures of decent acoustic guitars season their woods for a period of time. This removes excess moisture and hardens the fats, oils, murr (gum), and other sticky googy things that are naturally found in wood. This seasoning protects the wood from warping and prepares it structurally for the building stage.

From that point, a piece of wood is then book matched. This is the process where one single cut of wood is sliced into two pieces. This forms two identical pieces of wood, which can then be used for the front or back of the guitar. That explains why you have that line running down the back of your guitar (it’s usually white). That line just covers up the seam.

Now, onto the woods. Here are some of the neatest and powerful woods out there:

Spruce - Spruce is an extremely strong wood, which is important for building a guitar. It offers some very nice crisp highs and a much more powerful volume. Great wood choice. Used on the majority of guitars.

Cedar - Slightly more mellow than Spruce and has a very warm feel to it. It has a beautiful glow and is aesthetically pleasing.

Maple - A great all round wood that offers a good balance of highs, mids and lows. This is something that many guitarists desire for an all round good projection and clean sound. However, because of this equal balance, it can also sound quite flat for the acoustic world so it’s often used on electrics. It is highly desired for it’s beautiful grain and lusture.

Koa - Known for it’s high range, Koa is known for it’s solid tone. It doesn’t have a good bass response but makes up for it in the high end of the dynamic sound spectrum.

Mahogany - Great projection and nice treble. The flatpickers dream when combined with the dreadnaught body type because it offers such a great response and tone.

Brazilian Rosewood - This wood is probably the most wanted piece of wood for guitars in the world. It’s becoming increasingly rare as it’s becoming extinct, therefore jacking up the price tremendously. It offers a huge bass response with nice treble and mids. Unfortunately, most only come on limited edition guitars that are at the top end of the price spectrum.

Indian Rosewood - The more popular alternative to Brazilian Rosewood and is far more accessible. Has virtually the same tonal characteristics, just not as powerful. It’s used on most professional guitars.

Cocobolo - My personal favorite! In my humble opinion, it takes many characteristics from the above woods and combines them to form a truly unique sound. It produces a great bass, awesome volume and phenomenal overtones. This wood will most likely be on my next acoustic. I suggest you do the same.

…Keep in mind that there are many, many more species of tone woods available to you. There are also some great subtypes of the above woods. For example, Taylor guitars use Sitka Spruce on many of their models and limited edition guitars. It’s in the family of spruce, but offers something different.

In the end, the above comments are extremely subjective. While I have played many of the woods mentioned above, my ear likes things that your ear may not. The only way to find out is to hunt them down and try them for yourself. Many companies use the above woods listed, so it shouldn’t be extremely difficult.

About the Author:
E Walker is the founder of Planet of Rock. For Free Guitar Lessons and to get tips on lead guitar improvisions and techniques, visit Planet Of Rock today - Your #1 Lead Guitarist Resource

Advanced Guitar Improvisation Techniques

Published
by
E Walker
on June 5, 2008
in Guitar
. 0 Comments
by E Walker

If you have a guitar and want to play live in a concert then you will need to work on guitar improvisation and work really hard so that you can get a grip and play that ultimate solo composition without any hiccups.

There are different techniques involved in guitar improvisation and mastering them would mean that you can get way ahead of your league. Some of the guitar improvisation techniques are being used by heavyweights like Van Halen, John Petrucci etc and there are much more such techniques that are invented right on-stage in a live concert. The crucial element is that you need to know your guitar like the back of your hand and only then you will be able to use guitar improvisation techniques effectively.

There are basically two ways of looking at guitar improvisation techniques and they are:

The Horizontal technique: You play a solo based on your current scale.

The Vertical technique: You play a solo based on your current chord. One of the best examples is that of wrapping the chord where you play specific notes of the current and neighboring chords. Another popular vertical guitar improvisation technique is playing modes based on the chord changes. To master this technique, you will require a specific table chords, extensions, mode and reference scale

The vertical approach is a vastly used guitar improvisation technique and to master it, you will need to have complete knowledge of harmony or melody and you need to think fast. There are times when as a solo guitarist, you might have to improvise in such a way that you move further away from the basic key of a particular section of the song. This is where the horizontal guitar improvisation technique comes in. Some of the patterns that you can use include:

2-note: intervals 3-note: triads 4-note: arpeggios 5-note: pentatonic scales 6-note: blues scales 7 or 8-note: scales

Scales to use for Improvising

Guitar improvisation techniques come in handy especially when you need to play a solo. There are plenty of scales that you can try while playing solo but the most frequently used is called improvised soloing. Improvised soloing can be used to play tracks, which are predominantly rock but you can also use it for jazz and blues.

Let us take an example: If you are playing a tune in the C major and are looking for a guitar improvisation technique then there are multiple scales that you can use. The most obvious scale is the C major pentatonic or the A minor pentatonic like the following:

|———————5-8—-| |—————–5-8——–| |————-5-7————| |———5-7—————-| |—–5-7——————–| |-5-8————————|

About the Author:
E Walker is the founder of Planet of Rock. For Free Guitar Lessons and to get tips on lead guitar improvisions and techniques, visit Planet Of Rock today - Your #1 Lead Guitarist Resource

Learn Lead Guitar With 5 Easy Songs

Published
by
E Walker
on June 4, 2008
in Guitar
. 0 Comments
by E Walker

Learning to play the lead guitar comes in the advanced stage of guitar mastery. If you are able to learn some of the tricks of guitar improvisation then you will be able to play a solo with ease. Any rock or metal band normally has a lead guitarist and a rhythm guitarist but more often than not, it is the lead guitarist who takes the center stage.

Over the years, lead guitarists like Van Halen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Jeff Beck, Peter Frampton, Frank Zappa, Ritchie Blackmore, Eric Johnson, John Petrucci, David Gilmour, John Frusciante, Jimmy Page and Brian May have rendered some of the most beautiful solo compositions.

According to the Rolling stone magazine, the top 5 lead guitarists in the world includes Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer, Jordan Rivers and Eric Johnson. The lead guitar has the most powerful impact on audiences especially when played by competent guitarist. Two of the famous solo numbers that are practiced the world over on a lead guitar includes: Eruption by Van Halen This is considered as one of the greatest lead guitar compositions of all time and was performed by Eddie Van Halen. Here are some excerpts of the lead guitar tabs for Eruption:

———————————————————-|——————- -11-1h4–8-1h4–8-1h4–8-1h4–8-1h4–8-1h4–8-1h4–8-1h4–|–9-1h4–9-1h4—– ———————————————————-|——————- ———————————————————-|——————- ———————————————————-|——————- ———————————————————-|——————- t t t t t t t t t t

——————————————-|———————————- -9-1h4–9-1h4–9-1h4–9-1h4–9-1h4–9-1h4–|–9-3h6–9-3h6–9-3h6–9-3h6—— ——————————————-|———————————- ——————————————-|———————————- ——————————————-|———————————- ——————————————-|———————————- t t t t t t t t t t

Eddie Van Halen also used MXR Phase 90 and the Univox EC-80 echo box for the lead guitar solo.Sweet Child O’ Mine by Slashis also another one of the most popular rock ballads of all time and has been featured in the debut album of Guns N’ Roses called Appetite For Destruction.Hotel California by Joe Walsh & Don Felderis another one of the more renowned numbers by Eagles, The lead solos played by Don Felder and Joe Walsh have charmed the hearts and souls of many generations. This is probably one of the easiest solos to practice on lead guitar. This is the hotel California intro tab:

E||-7——–7——7——–7——–6——6——9—6— B||——-7—-7———7—————–7—7———— G||—-7———7———–7———–6——-6———- D||-9——————–9————8——————— A||——————————————————— E||———————————————————

If you are trying to play the lead on a 12-string acoustic then this is how it will look

e———–0———–2———–0—————–0———–0——-\ B—0—0————-0—2-4—–3—–3———0———–1———–| G—–0—0—0-2—2———–2—–2—2—–0—0——-0———–0-| D—————–1———–0—————2———–2—–2—0h2—| A——————————————-4———–3—————–| E-0———————————————————————–/

The other easy mode3rn compositions that will help you to master your lead guitar includes Spies by Coldplay where the lead guitar intro starts with E-Bow and slide and goes on to the next loop with distortion, volume swells and tremolo. Finally, you can try Gary Moore’s Parisienne Walkways lead guitar intro, which starts like this:

E–12–10———————-12–10– B———-13–12–10—————— G———————-12–10———- D————————————– A————————————– E————————————–

About the Author:
E Walker is the founder of Planet of Rock. For more tips on Guitar Lessons and to learn to play lead guitar , visit Planet Of Rock today. Your #1 Lead Guitarist Resource

Best Way To Change Strings on Your Steel Guitar

Published
by
E Walker
on June 2, 2008
in Guitar Lessons
. 0 Comments
by E Walker

I’d like to share my thoughts about steel guitars and string changing. I’ve found over the years that If you play your guitar (It doesn’t matter what brand) 1 hour a day you should change your strings between 10 to 14 days. If you play more often than that you should change every week. If you didn’t play a note on your guitar for three weeks you’d still need to change them. Just tuning to 440 and doing nothing stretches the life and flexibility out of the strings after a few weeks.

Professional Guitarists all over the world will agree that the most they can hope for is a weeks worth of use, out of a set of strings, because of the bends they make. This pales in comparison to the bending and constant stretching that pedal steels do. If you are breaking strings or having tuning problems, chances are you’re not changing often enough.

I know that it is expensive so if you can’t afford to change as often as you need, try changing the plain gauges each week & the wound strings every two weeks. Changing strings compares to changing the oil in your car. You wouldn’t go 15000 miles per change and expect your engine to sound and perform right. Steel guitars are machines as well as a music producing source.

I know all the cliche’s, “you don’t like the sound of new strings” or “I don’t change them until they break”! Modern manufactured steels have become state of the art. Strings are still being made the way they were 40 yrs. ago. They can’t take the constant stretching from the pedals over a long period, and still keep their sustain and tuning. When I lived in Detroit I kept strings on forever until they either broke or started to have that awful zinging sound. I’ve been there…done that.

In the studio I change every 3 to 7 days. Guitarists change generally every day. Acoustic guitarists change for every 3 hr session. Sometimes they get a good set that lasts all day. That’s how important strings are to the tuning and tonality of the instruments you hear on records.

It’s important to have a well tuned instrument. I’ve seen all the posts about “How we should tune” but nothing about the strings that we are trying to tune.

Here are the gauges I recommend for the E9th:

F#—-013 Eb—-015 G#—-011 or 012 E—–014 B—–018 or 017 G#—-020 or 021 plain (I don’t know of anyone in Nashville using a wound string here. If there is he would be the exception to the rule!) F#—-024 or 026 Wound E—–030 D—–034 B—–036 or 038

Any combination of these gauges have all been tried by the pro’s and proven to be equally balanced for the best tone possible.

About the Author:
Are you a country music lover? Download i hope you dance karaoke backing tracks at Planet of Rock. Get the custom recorded country backing tracks at Planet of Rock. 100% Professional, 200% Awesome.

Standard E9th Tuning for Country Guitar

Published
by
E Walker
on June 1, 2008
in Guitar Lessons
. 0 Comments
by E Walker

Sometimes it might seem that there are as many ways of tuning a pedal steel as there are pedal steel players. But if you strip the personal touches and enhancements from the guitars of the most players, you’ll find a common denominator of 3 pedals and 3 knee levers. In most instructional material, the pedals are called A, B and C, and the knee levers are called D, E and F.

This basic arrangement provides multiple inversions of all of the major and minor chords, all of the fundamental country and blues licks, and a healthy assortment of jazz chords. I’ve been playing for over 20 years, and I’m sure that there are a lot of positions and licks in the basic 3+3 setup that I still don’t know.

Most steel players don’t strum chords, but they understand where the notes of the chord can be found on their instrument. The close intervals in the tuning make it necessary to skip strings to get the simple triad harmonies. For example, the open position includes all the notes of an E major chord on strings 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10.

A long time ago, steel players used pedals to simply change tunings. They would play a passage in an E tuning, for example, and then press the pedals to play the next passage in an A tuning. This technique is still useful in blues and old-timey music, where a more primitive sound is desired.

Modern pedal steel playing includes the use of pedals while the strings are sounding and the bar is in motion. For example, the modern player player may pick strings in the I (no pedals) position, then slide up three frets, activating the VI (pedal A + knee F) position during the slide for a smooth transition up to the next inversion of the triad.

Another modern steel technique involves playing complete melodies using pedals instead of moving the bar. If you look carefully at the tuning chart, you can see that almost two full octaves of the E major and A major scales are available at the nut of the guitar. These scales are of course movable up the neck with the bar. The scale “licks” available using pedals at the I and IV positions are a large part of the modern country sound.

I hope this little article has served to demystify the E9th tuning a bit. It’s intimidating at first - all those strings, all those pedals and levers - but the theory behind it is really fairly simple. Where a guitarist uses fingers to play notes on different frets, the steel player uses pedals to bring those notes to the barred fret.

As with any instrument, there’s the familiar routine: learn your scales, learn your chords, Practice! If you’re a good guitarist, chances are you could be a good steel player. It’s easier than it looks, and steel players are always in greater demand than lead guitarists. A word of caution, though - once you start making “that sound”, you may never look back. This may just be the world’s most pleasurable addiction…

About the Author:
E Walker is the founder of Planet of Rock. Listen to country guitar backing tracks and jam with a real country band. Planet of Rock is one of the best country guitar sites offering professional country backing tracks.

Using C Scale Tuning for the Pedal Steel Guitar

Published
by
E Walker
on May 31, 2008
in Guitar Lessons
. 0 Comments
by E Walker

In this article, I will talk about using C Scale tuning for pedal steel country guitar playing. This tuning lends itself easily to most musical forms, including classical, new age, jazz, and adult comtemporary. In modern pop and dance music, it turns the pedal steel guitar into a versatile controller for the latest electronic effects.

Once the tuning is learned, fast scale runs with tight harmonies are nearly as easy on the pedal steel as they are on a piano keyboard. In progressive rock, the steel guitarist can work a level playing field with other band members without fear of accidently “countrifying” the band’s sound. The tuning is likewise at home in orchestral music, show tunes and film scores.

On the other hand, it’s nearly impossible to coax the Nashville pedal steel sound from this tuning. Country dobro and blues licks are available, of course, but the characteristic full step bend is missing. The western swing style is also compromised because it relies on full step pedal changes within strummed chords. Bluegrass, with its reliance on fast arpeggios and pentatonic runs, is another form that’s harder to play in the C Scale tuning than in the standard Nashville E9th.

A scale-based pedal steel tuning has firm historical roots and a solid foundation in music theory. The C Scale tuning in particular can be applied to either inexpensive or professional level instruments for musicians who have little interest in country music but want to play the pedal steel guitar. It permits a wide variety of musical expression and makes it easier to play fast diatonic music in any key.

Mastery of a scale-based tuning can expand a steel guitarist’s musical vocabulary. For professional country musicians, it’s a good choice for the rear neck of a double neck instrument. For those involved exclusively in other forms of music, the C Scale tuning effectively blocks the accidental use of undesirable country music cliches, especially the “full step bend”.

About the Author:
E Walker is the founder of Planet of Rock. Listen to country guitar backing tracks and jam with a real country band. Planet of Rock is one of the best country guitar sites offering professional country backing tracks.