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Fingerstyle Guitar: Low Melody And High Melody

    In this tutorial we’ll explore low melody and high melody by studying  a rendition of the song “Danny Boy” in which we’ve applied fingerstyle. The song snippet itself isn’t hard to play or even finger, but you’ll see that there are a quite a few note-related points of interest. This is VERY common in fingerstyle guitar. You really have to understand note values and how they relate, so I decided to add that right here before everything gets too complex. Before we begin this second introduction to fingerstyle guitar, we have to learn something very important.Read More »Fingerstyle Guitar: Low Melody And High Melody

    Basic Guitar Strumming: A Crash Course

      This lesson will show you the basic guitar strumming.  Strumming is a vital & basic skill for guitarists. It can be the rhythmic engine of a song.

      Strumming is the ‘brushing’ or ‘scratching’ of the strings in large strokes. Like a  pendulum, the hand continues to move (up & down rather than side to side), always keeping time.

      Many players fall into the ‘pick and grin’ category where they prefer to just strumming chords and singing along to a basic arraignment. They’ll completely forego the tabs! That’s okay, because sometimes all you need is basic guitar strumming patterns as presented in this lesson.

      Ready to learn basic guitar strumming?

      Read More »Basic Guitar Strumming: A Crash Course

      G Major Scale

        The notes from the G major scale are G, A, B, C, D, E, and F#.  There’s one sharp note (F#), but all the rest of the notes are primary notes. That makes it easier to remember what notes make up the scale. Just start on G and go through the musical alphabet. We start on G- then A comes next (unless you’ve found the secret “H chord”), then B, C, and so on. The last note in the scale is the one with the sharp and that’s F# (or G flat if you prefer).

        The 7th scale step in the major scale is always  a half step (or one fret) below the tonic.Read More »G Major Scale

        The Art Of Memorizing Music

          Playing from memory is a skill that I believe is not only possible for every player, but is indeed essential for every player. I never feel that I know a piece, or have “internalized” a piece, until I have been playing it for quite some time from memory.

          I always found it quite easy to memorize pieces, and thought everyone could do this, until experience in teaching taught me otherwise. As I began to study the subject, I gradually uncovered the reasons why I found it easy, and others found it difficult. I could summarize those reasons as follows:Read More »The Art Of Memorizing Music