Saturday, 13 September 2014

#10. Mind Twister Chromatic Scale

Done with our previous Chromatic exercise...Now here is another Chromatic exercise given by one of our all time favourite Guitarist.....'GUTHRIE GOVAN'...

So here is the so called Mind Twister...

High E ----------------------------------------------------------------2-3-4-1---3-4-1-2---------------------------
B         ----------------------------------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------------------4-1-2-3-------------
G        ----------------------------------------4-1-2-3-------------------------------------------------------1-2-3-4-
D        ---------------------------3-4-1-2------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A        ---------------2-3-4-1------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Low E --1-2-3-4------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


extended :

High E -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B          -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D         ----2-3-4-1----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A         -------------------3-4-1-2------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Low E --------------------------------4-1-2-3------------------------------------------------------------------------


Steps to be followed :

All steps are to be followed that were provided in our previous post.
 

#9. Chromatic Scale

Chromatic Scale, also known as the spider exercise is an exercise that will help you to gain speed and momentum and will also bring clarity in your playing.
This exercise might be a bit difficult but once you get a hang of it, we're sure it'll be helpful!

1 High E -------------------------------------------------------------------------------7-8-9-10--11-10-9-8--
2 B          -------------------------------------------------------------------7-8-9-10----------------------------
3 G          -------------------------------------------------------7-8-9-10----------------------------------------
4 D          ----------------------5-6-7-8--9-8-7-6--7-8-9-10---------------------------------------------------
5 A          ------------5-6-7-8------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 Low E  --5-6-7-8----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Extended:

High E --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B          ---11-10-9-8-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G         -----------------11-10-9-8----------------------------------------------------------------
D         -------------------------------11-10-9-8--7-8-9-10--9-8-7-6---------------------------
A         ----------------------------------------------------------------------9-8-7-6----------------
Low E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------9-8-7-6-5---


Steps to be followed :

i) Rest your palm behind the bridge
ii) Alternate picking i.e, downstroke the first note and then upstroke the second and continue like this..
iii) Start playing as slow as you can
iv) Let your fingers get the grip and then go for the speed.
v) Play loud and clear

Saturday, 6 September 2014

#8. Back in Black Solo Cover!

Alright, on request of some of our friends, we're uploading this Back in Black (By AC/DC) Solo Cover.. Recorded by a phone..Please bear with the sound!
We'll be uploading more..Thank You! 



#7. How to strum?!

So in this post we'll be focusing on how to strum, Basically the right hand movement...

 A standard groove is shown below,
                                                      
                                              

Note: we will be discussing this above shown image in our further post..

There are 4 beats in a bar(standard 4:4 groove)...1 2 3 4...in between 1 2 3 4 there comes '+' sign, which is known as 'and' but often is said as 'an'

So it is important to know how to write, read and play a rhythm...
so here is the first rhythm...

                                                   1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 
                                                   D         D   D U

'D' Represents a Down stroke

'U' Represents a Up stroke.

Steps to be followed :

i)  Mute your guitar with your left hand
ii) Tap using your left foot and say 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + (One An Two An Three An Four An)
iii) While tapping, when the foot touches the ground, that would be your first beat i.e, 1 and you have to tap on every numerical value..and when the foot is being lifted i.e, it comes up..That is when you'll count your '+' (An)
iv)So Basically When you tap and your foot touches the ground, that'll be your 1. When you lift, that'll be your '+' and then the next time when you'll tap, that would be your 2 and so on!
v) Your right hand should move accordingly to the way you'll be tapping your feet i.e, When your foot goes down, your right hand should do a downstroke as well and when your foot is being lifted, your right hand should do an upstroke.
vi) In the rhythm, if a space is left vacant below the number or any '+', then nothing would be played on the particular beat but the hand should be in motion along with your foot.




In order to write a rhythm, 

First You'll have to write down a Bar i.e, 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + and keep in mind that all the downstrokes would be written below the numbers and the upstrokes would be written below the 'An' .


So here are a few more examples :

                         1 + 2  + 3 +  4 +
                         D   D U   U D U

                         1 + 2 + 3 + 4  +  
                         D      U   U D U                        
Hope You got it!

If You'd want us to do a video lesson, or if you have any doubts that needs to be clarified Please let us know in the comments below... or contact us.


Sunday, 31 August 2014

#6. C Major Scale

For a guitarist, knowing how to improvise is really important...and for that one should know all of his/her scales...
We'll be providing with the tabs of different scales that will help you to improvise in our further posts...
so Lets Begin with the first scale!


C Major Scale (Two Octave) :

High E -----------------------0-1-3------5-7-8--------------------
         B ----------------0-1-3---------------------------------------
         G -----------0-2----------------------------------------------
         D ----0-2-3---------------------------------------------------
         A --3----------------------------------------------------------
Low  E --------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: Use the same fingers as the respective fret i.e, 3rd fret on the A string with 3rd Finger, 0 representing an open string, and so on...
incase of  5th, 7th and 8th fret on High E String, Use your 1st, 3rd and 4th fingers respectively.



Here's a short video that will give the idea of improvising over C Major Scale:

Saturday, 30 August 2014

#5. Reading Tablature

Tablature or in short Tabs is a standard way of writing music specifically for Guitar.
Every Guitarist should know how to read Tablature...

So there are a few things one should know about Tablature,
i) It is has six horizontal lines representing the six strings.
ii) The topmost line will represent your first string, i.e, E (High E) and the bottom most line will represent the sixth string i.e, E (Low E)
iii) All the numbers on the line will represent the respective fret.
iv) Zero '0' would represent an Open String.
v) If the number are aligned vertically, then holding all the particular frets, all the strings would be played at once.

So Let us provide you with an image for better understanding..


NOTE : In order to read the Tablature and play, One should know about the Tune, Riff, Lead, Melody etc. of that particular song, you are trying to play!


Let us also provide you with an easy example that every one can play,


Numb by Linkin Park

If any doubt, Contact us on our blog
or Facebook www.facebook.com/sixstringjournal
or Tweet to us at @acoustic90
or mail us from the contact us window on the right hand side of the blog.

Thanks!

Sunday, 24 August 2014

#4. Learning the Basic Open Chords!

So here are few of the open chords to begin with, That'll help you to play certain songs and show-off in front of your friends and family! :) :P
Alright, so here's the first chord that is C Major or C :

So let us tell you how to read this diagram and then implement it...

So here are rest of the basic open chords...





















NOTE : Here in F and Fm You'll have to Barre where ever Finger no. 1 is used more than once


G Major (Shape 1)












G Major (Shape 2)