TOPIC AREAS

Discover key knowledge and learning areas that will be covered in my guitar course. These areas provide you a good idea of what to expect in your lessons with me. Click on the following links to watch a lesson, or scroll down to read about them.

 

Fundamentals

For beginners, learning the instrument properly is important as it is very easy to form bad habits along the way. This applies to music in general, for example understanding theory and reading standard notation rather than TABs. Even for players with a few years’ experience, sometimes they have to rewind and sort out technical issues which are affecting their progress, simply because they haven’t built up from a solid foundation.

  • Both left hand and right hand technique is crucial for achieving fluency on the instrument and in the music. Consequences of bad technique can cause serious damage which inhibits playing!

  • There are exercises such as clapping your hands or tapping your feet whilst playing or singing, accenting strong beats in the bar, paying attention to breathing and relaxing, which will help you eliminate tension in your playing time feel.

  • Think about scales as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. The goal is to utilise the knowledge of scales in order to make melodies and music. Scales are simply notes organised in a particular order which gives different sounds.

  • Understanding basic theory definitely helps you understand how and why music works the way it does. This knowledge will make your playing improve faster and easier as you apply the theoretical aspects to the practical playing.

  • It is a myth that rhythm guitar players need to know more about chords than lead guitar players do, since chords influence one’s ability to improvise solos too. Knowing chords will help you tackle theory and unlock the fretboard. Start off with basic open position chords, move on to barre chords and various right hand strumming/picking technique.

Essentials

Once the foundations have been properly laid out, it’s time to grow and expand musically. 

  • Being able to hear a phrase and play it back instantly with accuracy requires a certain level of listening skill, including sensitivity to pitch and rhythm, relating the previous note to the next. This is an invaluable asset since it allows for more interaction in improvisation, reacting quicker to musical ideas.

  • Playing to a metronome instills in the player the confidence to play independently without any aid of backing tracks or accompaniment. Manipulating time and rhythm in music is to play with it rather than play to it.

  • Knowing the way around the fretboard is immensely useful for obvious reasons. Playing the next chord or the next note often comes down to finding the right place on the guitar in time. This is especially convenient when improvising as there are a number of positions available which offer the same notes but in different locations.

  • This skill will help you develop a deeper understanding of the three main elements in music: melody, harmony, and rhythm. Analysing existing songs and compositions, breaking down the construction of chords and melodies, applying language and vocabulary from transcribed solos by your favourite artists.

  • The next step from learning what chords are is to understand how and why they are used. This links in with understanding theory and reading standard notation as the process of analysis will become easier. This includes understanding the intervals between notes and chords, degree names in scales, Roman numerals in harmonisation and chord progressions. Modes and chord scales will also be covered, along with extended chords such as 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th.

Exponentials

At this stage it’s time to specialise and develop in style. Innovation and pushing boundaries will require some creativity in practice.

  • Ever heard of expressions such as playing ‘in the pocket’ or ‘locking in’ to the groove? This goes beyond playing in time or playing to time, and can involve pushing and pulling the beat to create excitement in a party atmosphere, or playing slightly behind the beat in a laid-back feel to adhere to a relaxing environment.

  • This process involves listening to the track, singing along and vocalising the phrases in order to internalise it in our brains. Once this has been done, the music will have been embedded deeply in memory.

    Then, transfer the knowledge from our head onto our fingers and the guitar. This way, we are always playing what’s in our head, rather than merely box patterns with what our fingers have learnt. You would agree that music which comes from our head sounds better than coming from our fingers, right?

    Once you are able to sing-along and play-along with the track, it is time to turn off the track and do it without accompaniment. This ensures that the music is learnt, which allows for the next step of applying into our own playing. This involves transposing into another key, changing up the rhythm, re-harmonising the context by changing the chord, and many more.

  • Another more common definition of improvisation is jamming, which is making up music on the spot. An important feature of improvising to a high standard is the ability to play to the context, sounding stylistically convincing. You wouldn’t expect a smooth jazz saxophone solo in an 80’s classic rock song, would you? Again, the transcription process will help understand the context musically and theoretically, piecing the puzzle together and answering the questions of what, why, where, and how are notes being played. Eventually, the seasoned player will have learnt a strong pool of vocabulary and therefore be able to ‘speak the language’.

  • Much like the process of transcription whereby the language is learnt through the use of phrases in context, composition and arrangement techniques are studied in much the same way. There are always stylistic features to be aware of, and through analysis and application you can draw on a wealth of interesting skills and uses.

  • Move beyond the standard chord voicing which can be inconvenient to play on the guitar or incoherent with certain styles. Much consideration is given to the sound and tone of these chords, focusing on string sets and intervals between notes.

Advanced Techniques

Sweep Picking

A technique where a guitarist plays single notes on consecutive strings with a sweeping motion of the pick.

Hybrid Picking

Using a combination of pick and fingers to pluck the strings simultaneously, enabling two or more strings be attacked simultaneously, sounding more like a piano.

Harmonics

Producing high-pitched overtones by lightly touching the strings with the picking hand.

Whammy Bar

Using the guitar's whammy bar for pitch bends, dive bombs, and other expressive effects.

Tapping

Using the fingers of the picking hand to tap the frets, producing fast and intricate passages.

Legato

Emphasizing smooth and connected notes without using much of the pick, often using hammer-ons and pull-offs on the left hand. 

Artificial Harmonics

Creating harmonics by touching the string with the fretting hand after picking with the other hand.

Double Stops

Playing two notes simultaneously, often used in blues and rock for added richness.

Economy Picking

Combining alternate picking (up and down pattern) together with sweep picking for a fluid and efficient motion across the strings.

String Skipping

Playing non-adjacent strings, skipping over one or more strings to create melodic patterns. Particularly good for fast shreds. 

Tremolo Picking

Rapidly picking a single note to create a trembling or shimmering effect.

Chord Melody

Playing melody and harmony simultaneously with fingerstyle technique, often seen in jazz guitar and instrumental music.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

Since music is a language, learn it in the same way as a new foreign tongue. First learn the alphabet (notes), then learn the grammar (how notes are used), lastly the vocabulary, phrases and idioms (licks).

Articulations like slides and bends, tone and timbre can be compared with the accent which is acquired in different regions of the world.