Alternate Guitar Tunings

In this section of lessons we will be taking a look at some alternate tunings and how to use them. An alternate tuning is when you tune any of the open strings to any other notes besides the standard EADGB and E notes. There are some popular open tunings that you will see quite often. We will be taking a look a three of the more popular alternate tunings including: drop D, DADGAD (pronounced dad gad) and open G tuning.

Alternate tunings can give you interesting sounds that would either be a lot harder to get in standard tuning or is just plain impossible. If you start using alternate tunings you might find yourself playing things you would have never thought of if you had kept your guitar in standard tuning. For example, drop D tuning is great for playing heavy music while DADGAD tuning has a really Celtic sound to it.

There are a couple of things that you will want to be aware of when using alternate tunings. First of all you will be tuning your some of your strings down below their standard pitch so they might feel pretty loose and floppy. Some people like to use heavier gauge strings to make up for the floppiness of the strings. Sometimes alternate tunings might require you to tune your strings above the standard pitch. If this is the case just be careful not to tune up to far and break a string.

Give each of the videos in this series a listen and see if you like the sound of the alternate tuning that is used. If you do, start experimenting with that alternate tuning for yourself. There is no right or wrong right now, just have fun! Check out some players like Phil Keaggy or Beppe Gambetta for some really cool sounding acoustic alternate tunings. If you are in to rock you might want to check out some of Ty Tabors drop tunings

CAGED Guitar Arpeggios

If you know the layout of the CAGED sequence and your basic major arpeggio shapes then this will be an exciting lesson for you. If you don’t know the CAGED sequence you can check it out in the lesson The CAGED Guitar Sequence. The basic idea of this lesson is to take the CAGED chord sequence and apply some basic major arpeggios to it. We have given you the diagrams of the arpeggios if you need them along with the TAB for each arpeggio so that you can see what picking patterns are being used. We will be in the key of G major for this lesson so all of the arpeggio shapes that we will be using will be G major arpeggios.

We will be starting on the E of the CAGED sequence so make a G bar chord with your bar on the 3rd fret using the E shape. Now look at E shaped G major arpeggio that goes along with this chord shape. Check out the TAB and try to play through the arpeggio. Keep an eye out for the sweep picking going on through these arpeggios. If you are not familiar with sweep picking check out the lesson Sweep Picking Basic Arpeggios.

The next arpeggio in the CAGED sequence is a D. This arpeggio is based off of the D shaped G major chord. Take a look at the D shaped arpeggio and try to play through the TAB for it.

The third arpeggio in the CAGED sequence is C. Look at the shape for this C shaped G major arpeggio and try to play through it by looking at the TAB. The lowest root note for this G major arpeggio is on the 10th fret of the 5th string.

Now try to play through the next arpeggio in the sequence. This is the G major arpeggio that is based off of the A shape. The lowest root note of this arpeggio is on the 10th fret of the 5th string again.

The last shape in the CAGED sequence is a G. Check out the G shaped G major arpeggio. Be sure to pay close attention to the picking indicators on the TAB. The lowest root note of this shape is on the 15th fret of the 6th string.

If you already know your how to use your CAGED sequence with chords then learning the material in this lesson will simply be a matter of applying that same knowledge to five different major arpeggio shapes. Take your time learning each shape and work through the picking for each one slowly.

Guitar Theory

Learning the theory of guitar is not always the most exciting or fun thing to learn, but it can be the most helpful. Once you learn and master all of the topics covered in the guitar theory section you will be leaps and bounds ahead of most other guitarists.

Take some time and bowse through this section to find where you wish to begin. Remember, all of these topics are important for you to learn and understand, so working your way through them all is your best route to success!

About The Blues

When you hear musicians talking about “the blues” they are referring to a style of music that is characterized by certain musical forms, progressions and sounds. But where did “the blues” really come from? Most people know that the blues, as we know them today, originated in the late 1800’s from African-Americans that lived in the deep south of the United States. The phrase “the blues” often refers to a kind of sadness or sense of being down and out. Considering the horrors of slavery, it is no wonder that the music that was born out of the every day lives of late 19th century African-American communities would reflect such sad or “bluesy” emotions.

Although it did not start out this way, the most common form of the blues is the 12 bar blues progression. You will also see 8 bar, 9 bar and 16 bar blues as well as several other common blues forms. The chords used in the standard 12 bar blues progression are usually the 1, 4 and 5 chords. It is quite common for the 1, 4 and 5 chords in any blues progression to be dominant 7th chords. The flatted, or minor, 7th note in dominant 7th chords really helps to give the blues its signature sound. You will also find blues progressions in minor keys. The song “The Thrill Is Gone” by B.B. King is a great example of what a minor blues song sounds like.

Blue notes are the special notes in the blues scale that really give the blues its soulful moaning sound. The flatted 3rd, flatted 5th and the flatted 7th all work together to give the blues it’s unique “bluesy” qualities. You can start on the flatted 3rd, 5th and 7th and slide or bend up to the non-flatted 3rd, 5th or 7th, respectively, to conjure up the sounds that the blues is know for. It is almost like the blues is a cross between a major and a minor key. That is one of the things that makes the blues tonality so unique.

The lyrics of early blues songs were mostly about people expressing the trouble of their souls. Just go read some lyrics to an older blues song and you will see that it is no wonder why the melancholy state that most of these songwriters were in became know as “the blues”. The typical form for blues lyrics in a 12 bar blues song is AAB, but that was not the standard until the early 20th century. You sing the first A over the first four bars of the 12 bar blues progression, repeat that A over the second four bars and then sing the B over the last four bars. This lyrical influence has carried over into the phrasing and playing of modern day blues guitar players.

crossroadsThe blues permeates pretty much every genre of western music including rock, metal, country and pop. Blues guitar players throughout the years seem to have a huge influence on guitar players as a whole. Players such as Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page all had a heavy background in the blues These players have all had a monumental amount of influence on the guitar players of today. Robert Johnson became so good in such a short time that it was rumored that he sold his soul to the devil at "The Crossroads" to acquire his unearthly blues guitar abilities.

The blues has evolved over time and has become part of the foundation for just about every style of western music. The blues has become a very social and self-expressive style in the modern guitar community as well. There are blues jams all over the country where anyone can go and start playing with fellow musicians. The fact that you can pretty much learn one simple scale on the guitar and jump right in to expressing yourself musically has made the blues very popular with guitar players of all skill levels. I encourage you to use the blues guitar lessons on GuitarLessons.com to help you find your own unique blues voice. Start digging into the blues for yourself today.

How To Use Vibrato Guitar

Vibrato is something that can really give your playing it’s own unique style. Just like a singer, a guitarist’s particular style of vibrato can define their sound. We are going to look at three basic styles of vibrato, classical, regular, and blues. Try each one out and see if you can work them in to your playing.

Classical vibrato is the most subtle and light sounding of the three styles of vibrato. The example in the video starts out with the 2nd finger on the 7th fret of the high E string. Play that note and rock your finger back and forth horizontally. This should produce a light sounding vibrato effect. You don’t have to use this kind of vibrato with just single notes. Try using classical vibrato with chords as well. It can give them a really cool effect.

What we will be calling “regular vibrato” will be quite a bit different from classical vibrato. Instead of rocking back and forth horizontally you are going to be bending the string up a bit and letting it back down repeatedly. Most of the motion that creates this vibrato is coming from the wrist. The fingers and elbow help a bit as well. Try changing how far you are bending the string to get a more extreme or subtle vibrato effect.

Blues vibrato is generally a bit wider and over exaggerated than the other two styles. This kind of vibrato requires a bit more strength to pull of. Putting your thumb over the top of the fretboard can provide you with a bit more leverage so that bending the string up higher won’t be as difficult. Some guitar instructors say that having your thumb hanging over the fretboard at any time is bad technique. I think using your thumb for this purpose is acceptable and even proper for this style of vibrato. Just watch any video where Eric Clapton is playing a solo.

Check out some recordings and videos of some of your favorite guitar players. Pay attention to how they use vibrato in their playing. Take what you like about some of these players vibrato technique and start to put your own style with it. Ty Tabor, Eric Johnson, Eric Clapton, and Phil Keaggy all have very cool but very different styles of vibrato that have influenced me over the years.

Major Guitar Scale Shapes

This lesson is all about three of the most common major scale shapes on the guitar. The first shape starts with your middle finger, the second with your index finger, and the third with your pinky. We will learn all of these shapes starting on the 5th fret of our low E string. This is an A note, so we will be working with the A major scale. Remember to pay attention to the fingerings that we have supplied for you and be sure to use alternate picking all of the time.

Learn more guitar scales here!

Learn these shapes slowly. After you have memorized the shapes, I recommend that you use a metronome or a drum machine while practicing these scales. Start out slowly, maybe around 70 beats per minute, and work your way up slowly. Make sure that every note is clean and clear. Once you have perfected these scales at a certain tempo, increase the speed about 10 beats per minute at a time.

Here is the tab and a scale diagram for the first shape starting with your middle finger. The 5 to the left of the scale diagram indicates the 5th fret. The others numbers on the scale diagram indicate which finger you should use for that specific note. Your low E string is the one on the far left side of the diagram. (Learn how to read chord diagrams and guitar tabs here!)

Download the tab for the first major scale shape here.

Here is the tab and a scale diagram for the second shape that starts with your index finger. This particular shape is a bit easier to remember because you can think about it in string pairs. That means that if you look at the diagram, you will see that the 6th string has the same pattern as the 5th string, the 4th string has the same pattern as the 3rd string, and the 2nd string has the same pattern as the 1st string. Think about this scale shape as being only three string patterns instead of six individual string patterns. That might make memorizing this shape a bit easier for you.

Download the tab for the second major scale shape here.

Here is the tab and a scale diagram for the third shape starting with your pinky.

Download the tab for the third major scale shape here.

You should realize that these scales are movable. That means that you are not limited to just starting these scales on the 5th fret. You can move them anywhere. Whatever note you start on becomes the root of the scale. So, if I started these shapes on the 7th fret of the low E string instead of the 5th fret, they would all become B major scales. Move these major scale shapes around as much as you can and experiment in different keys.

It is important that you play the scale up and down. If you only practice these scales going up, you will really limit your musical ability and self expression. If you have access to a recorder or sequencer, you should record or program an A chord and practice your A major scale over an A major chord. Get these basic shapes under your fingers and start using them in your playing. There is no right or wrong right now, just improvise and have fun.

Major Guitar Scale

In this guitar lesson we will be learning how the major scale is made. This is very important because all of the chords, scales, and arpeggios that you will be learning in the future require a good understanding of how the major scale works. Once you understand how the major scale is made, you will have the opportunity to learn a common shape for the major scale. We will be working in the key of G major for this lesson.

In order to understand the major scale you need to know two things. These two things are the difference between a half step and a whole step, and the sequence of half steps and whole steps that make up a major scale. A half step on the guitar is generally one fret up or down, and a whole step is generally two frets up or down. Put your 1st finger on the G note on 3rd fret of the 6th string. If you go up to the very next fret that is a half step. Start out on the 3rd fret of the 6th string again. Move up two frets. That is a whole step. The formula for a major scale is whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step. It may be easier to remember the sequence like this. WWHWWWH.

Go back to the 3rd fret of the 6th string. We will be in the key of G major so the G that you are playing on the 3rd fret of the 6th string will be the root note of the scale. Now follow the formula of half and whole steps for the major scale. First we need a whole step so go up two frets to the A note on the 5th fret on the 6th string. Next we need another whole step. That would put you on the B note on the 7th fret. Because the formula calls for a half step this time, we will move a half step up to the C note on the 8th fret. A whole step from C would be a D on the 10th fret and another whole step from the D would be an E on the 12th fret. We need one more whole step, so play the F# on the 14th fret. Finally, the last half step brings us back to a G note on the 15th fret of the 6th string.

Major Guitar ScaleThis is great for understanding how the major scale is made but it is not very practical. We have provided you with the notation and tab for a common G major scale shape. Instead of going all of the way up and down the fretboard to play the G major scale, this shape stays in one position.

This scale shape is movable. That just means that you can move your starting note anywhere on the 6th string. Just remember whatever note you start on will be the root note of that major scale. If you move this scale to where you are starting on the A note on the 5th fret of the 6th string you would be playing an A major scale.

Remember to use alternate picking throughout the entire scale. Practice the scale going up and practice it going down as well. Take some recordings of songs that you like, find out what key they are in, and try to play the major scale of that key along with the recording.

Acoustic Vs. Electric Guitar

If you are a beginner guitarist, you might be wondering about how to choose between an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar. I worked in a very large music store for over 4½ years and I always saw people who couldn’t quite decide on which way to go. In this lesson I will give you some tips that will help you decide between starting on an acoustic or electric guitar. For even more great guitar tips you can sign up for the GuitarLessons.com Practice Routine Generator.

The first thing that I usually tell people, when they are trying to decide between an acoustic and an electric guitar, is to choose the one that they like the most. If you like folk, country or bluegrass music you should probably go with an acoustic guitar. If you are more drawn to metal and hard rock music you should go with an electric guitar. Choosing a guitar that goes with the style of music that you enjoy listening to is a great way to pick out a guitar. If you pick a guitar that fits the style of music that you are in to, you will probably practice guitar more and get better faster.

The acoustic and electric guitar both have some unique advantages that you should be aware of. The acoustic guitar is nice because you can just grab it and play pretty much anywhere you want. You can go camping, to the beach, or over to your friends house to play and you don’t need an amplifier or electricity. Acoustic guitars are great to just grab and go, but they can be a bit harder to play than an electric guitar.

Electric guitars are nice because you can play around with distortion and effects. It is really nice to have an electric guitar when you want to play more aggressive music like metal and rock. Electric guitars are a bit easier to play than acoustic guitars, but you usually have to have some kind of battery powered device or electricity to get the most out of them.

If you don’t really know what kind of guitar that you want, I would recommend that you go to your local music store and just play around on all of the electric and acoustic guitars that you can get your hands on. It might help to listen to many different types of music and see which style you enjoy the most. Don’t be in a hurry to buy a guitar. Go back to the music store as many times as you need to. Play around and experiment with all types of guitars until one really jumps out and says “Buy Me!”. Of course, if you can afford an acoustic and an electric, that would be the most fun.

How To Hold The Guitar

In this beginner guitar lesson we will cover how to hold the guitar. There are two basic ways that you can choose to hold the guitar when you are sitting down. You can hold it over your right leg or your left leg. If you are right handed the more common choice is the right leg but the choice is yours.

There are a couple of things that you should remember when holding the guitar. One thing to remember is to have good posture and not slouch too much. Poor posture can lead to poor guitar technique and it can be pretty bad for your back too. The next thing to remember is to hold the guitar close to your body with your strumming arm. Don’t let the guitar slide down your leg. A lot of beginners let the guitar kind of slide down their leg so that they can see what is going on better. Try not to fall into that trap.

Watch the guitar lesson video, experiment with holding the guitar over each leg and see which one works best for you. Once you are done with this lesson you can move on to the next lesson in the Quick-Start Beginner Series.