guitar lessons - Page 5 - Antsmarching.org Forums - Dave Matthews Band Discussion
Old 02-25-2010, 12:39 PM   #121
Resatka
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Re: guitar lessons

Sorry for the delay. I will post my next lesson tonight. I hope it will be very good.
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  • Old 02-25-2010, 01:13 PM   #122
    haybale97
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    Re: guitar lessons

    no worries, i had a ton of work to do this week
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    Old 02-28-2010, 11:47 AM   #123
    Resatka
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    Re: guitar lessons

    Sorry here's my lesson. The gf came up for the weekend so I just lost all time...


    So here's how the A pentatonic minor scale is created:


    C D E F G A B C


    then

    A B C D E F G A


    then remove two notes:


    A C D E G A



    So there is it. Now that we know how the scale is created, let's look at that transformation on the fretboard:


    C major/A minor (both the same key):

    http://all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_...t&t=0&choice=1


    A minor pentatonic:

    http://all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_...t&t=0&choice=1



    As you can see in the pentatonic minor scale, there are almost "boxes" of notes. Soloists will often play solos around these boxes, simply because licks and soloing can be generated from them easily. Here are a few of the boxes pulled from the previous link. You'll want to know these. They're also VERY easy:

    You know the first few maybe:

    Box 1

    http://all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_...t&t=0&choice=1

    Box 2

    http://all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_...t&t=0&choice=1

    Box 3

    http://all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_...t&t=0&choice=1

    Box 4

    http://all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_...t&t=0&choice=1

    Box 5

    http://all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_...t&t=0&choice=1



    There's no "box 6" because it's the same pattern as the first box, but up an octave. Take a look:


    Box 1:

    http://all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_...t&t=0&choice=1


    "Box 6 or the octave up from Box 1":

    http://all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_...t&t=0&choice=1





    This might seem like a lot, but the best way to get comfortable with this is just to work on one box at a time. The first ton of licks you learn will be in Box 1, however it's great to know the other boxes so you're not just stuck in one position of the neck your whole life. That would be pretty boring, and that would also limit the amount of tones at your disposal.



    If you know all the boxes, you can solo in A pentatonic minor all the way up the neck, which is pretty sweet. Anyways, let's learn some chord progressions used in this key, then I'll teach you licks. Then we'll move on to blues!


    Alright so what chords does pentatonic minor use?


    Mainly in rock and metal, you will find "power chords". What is a power chord? You probably know how to play. In music theory, they're just normal major or minor chords without the 3rd. So they're two note chords.



    A power chord uses an interval between the root and the 5th called "a perfect 5th". We learned this before. A perfect 5th would be 5 "major" scale intervals up from the root. Even though we're in A minor, a perfect 5th is the E note, simply because it would be E if we were starting the major scale on A. It actually ends up working perfectly in minor keys as well:

    Major

    (A) B C# D (E) F# G# A


    (A) B C D (E) F G A



    So A to E is a perfect 5th.... which means if you played both of these at the same time on your guitar, this would be a "power chord". Let's say you go from an E to an A, which is the opposite, you now have a "perfect 4th", which is the same idea as a perfect 5th, but it's the 4th note up. Smoke On the Water uses perfect 4th in its main riff.


    So even if you forget WHY it's called a perfect 4th or 5th, you should at least know what they look like on your fretboard... meaning we need to learn some more chords. They're all VERY easy, because "power chords" use the exact same shape, and we don't need worry about them being major or minor. We just need to focus on where to "place" them in progressions.


    Power chords are noted with a "5" so an A5 is an A power chord.


    Here are all the chords you'll want to know and use, as thousands upon thousands of songs use these chords. Also, a TON of blues chords I'm going to teach you are extensions off these chords:

    A5 chords

    E|-------------------
    B|-------------------
    G|-------2-----------
    D|--2----2-------7---
    A|--0----0---7---7---
    E|-------X---5---5---


    C5

    E|------------------------
    B|------------------------
    G|-------5----------------
    D|---5---5----------10---
    A|---3---3----10----10---
    E|-------------8-----8---


    D5

    E|---x-------------------------
    B|---3-------------------------
    G|---2----------7--------------
    D|---0-----7----7-----------12
    A|---x-----5----5-- 12------12
    E|---x--------------10------10



    E5

    E|-----------------------
    B|-----------------------
    G|------------------9----
    D|-------2-----9----9----
    A|---2---2-----7----7----
    E|---0---0----------------


    G5:

    E|-----------------
    B|-----------------
    G|-----------------
    D|---5-------------
    A|---5---5---------
    E|---3---3---------


    Lastly..... F5. F isn't in the pentatonic minor scale, so why know it? Well, we're only going to ever use one shape, but some classic rock/metal songs use it.

    F5

    E|-----------------
    B|-----------------
    G|-----------------
    D|---3-------------
    A|---3------------
    E|---1------------


    I would teach perfect 4ths, but it's better if I just showed you a song that uses them. Here's the legit riff to Smoke On the Water, using perfect 4ths like the original song:


    http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/..._intro_tab.htm




    Alright so here are some common chord progressions. You don't need to memorize these per say but they're good to know. You could just try some of them on your guitar using the different shapes:

    #1

    A5 - D5 - E5 - A5


    I - IV - V - I


    #2

    A5 - C5 - D5 - C5 - A5

    I - III - IV - III - IV - I


    #3:


    D5 - A5 - E5

    IV - I - V


    #4 (Stairway to Heaven/All Along The Watchtower )


    A5 - G5 - F5 - G5 - A5


    I - VII - VI - VII - I



    #5


    A5 - D5 - C5 - G5


    I - IV - III - VII



    ect. etc. etc. So now some licks. There are literally millions of licks you can learn, and solos to study. Let me give you some videos, then a list of great songs to study, so that you can see the chords, licks, and solos ALL in action with context to music. Then we'll start blues the next lesson.


    Some videos are here. Some are actually blues based, but the thing is that this is completely usable in both rock and metal. It's all about the gain and rhythm:


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZRw1...om=PL&index=31


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtmjF...eature=channel


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNoIWVDQjj0



    Here's one on the 5 "boxes" or positions, and their importance:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Squ_vYskY3M




    Here's one of my favorites... it's tough, but if you play the slower version of it, it can sound great. It's Paul Gilbert again but I like it because it demonstrates this scale's physical limits can be pushed, so it's usable in MANY styles:


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzYGj...eature=related





    While these videos are helpful, the best thing to do is to listen to some rock guitars who abuse this scale and study the licks they use. Just looks up the tabs to the solos to figure out what they are. If you want recommendations, I can definitely help you:


    Here are a ton of great Led Zeppelin songs that abuse the shit out of this scale:


    Stairway To Heaven
    Black Dog
    Rock & Roll
    Custard Pie
    Heartbreaker


    Some other great A minor pentatonic solo songs:


    Whipping Post (Allman Bros)
    That Smell (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
    Child In Time (Deep Purple)
    Satch Boogie (Joe Satriani)


    That's just a few to get you started. If you master this lesson, you will know basic minor pentatonic licks, chord progressions appropriate for this key, and you will know the scale like the back of your hand. You should be soloing in no time! Next lesson will be one blues. I will post it as soon as I can! Thanks.
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    Old 02-28-2010, 10:02 PM   #124
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    Re: guitar lessons

    i'm going to wrap myself around this post tomarrow. thanks dude
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    Old 03-01-2010, 12:40 PM   #125
    Resatka
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    Re: guitar lessons

    If you got any questions let me know. After that I'll start blues.






    Anyone who reads this who wants to be taught anything at all let me know and I'll try to help you. If you have a theory question, need help finding the key to a song, etc. I can do that as well.
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    Old 03-04-2010, 11:17 AM   #126
    Resatka
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    Re: guitar lessons

    I will post blues in a day or two. I had another midterm tonight plus practice afterwords.... I might just post it tomorrow. It will be a good lesson.
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    Old 03-04-2010, 03:47 PM   #127
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    Re: guitar lessons

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Resatka View Post
    I will post blues in a day or two. I had another midterm tonight plus practice afterwords.... I might just post it tomorrow. It will be a good lesson.
    take ytour time dude
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    Old 03-07-2010, 04:23 PM   #128
    Resatka
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    Blues in A. So what's the difference between the blues scale and normal pentatonic minor?


    Well depending on who you talk to, there could either be a huge difference or a small difference. Blues uses notes called "chromatic notes", which are notes that are outside the normal scale.


    There are several types of blues scales. There honestly is no "official" scale, however there are a few common ones. Here's THE most common blues scale you will see, verses a normal A minor pentatonic scale:

    A minor pentatonic:

    http://all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_...t&t=0&choice=1

    A blues:

    http://all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_...t&t=0&choice=1


    Notice it's only one note difference. This one note is essential to the blues "sound". While here it's a D#, it should really be called Eb. Eb and D# are the same note, but you want to call it Eb because the Blues scale uses a note called the "Flat 5". Basically you just add in a note that's a half-step down from the 5th note, which is E.


    So an A blues scale looks like this:


    A C D Eb E G A


    This is what the blues scale looks like across the entire fretboard:

    http://all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_...t&t=0&choice=1



    Again you can learn this whole thing by breaking it down into boxes.



    So now that we know what notes the scale uses, we should know some common chords used plus chord progressions.


    The blues uses a simple technique called "chord substitution". So instead of using normal major chords, blues will usually substitute the I, IV and V chords for their dominant form. So I becomes I7, IV becomes IV7, and V become V7.


    So a common chord progression:


    I7 - IV7 - V7 - I7


    A7 - D7 - E7 - A7




    There's something in blues called the 12-bar blues. Many many songs are based on such a chord progression. It's simple a chord progression that uses I7, IV7 and V7 for 12 measures, then repeats. If you don't know what that means, don't worry, because I think I will do an entire lesson on rhythm and time signatures, because they've VERY important.


    Basically, in 12-bar blues, it could look this:

    A7 - A7 - A7 - A7 - D7 - D7 - A7 - A7 - E7 - D7 - A7 - E7 then repeat



    Basically you can make the 12 bar blues whatever you want really.


    In A blues, it has a special shuffle chord variation. The video I'm about to post goes over this entire thing, but this is what the thing looks like tabbed out:

    A chord shuffle

    E---x
    B---x
    G---x
    D---2-(4)-(5)
    A---0
    E--- x


    D chord shuffle

    E---x
    B---x
    G---2-(4)-(5)
    D---0
    A---x
    E---x


    E chord shuffle


    E---x
    B---x
    G---x
    D---x
    A---2-(4)-(5)
    E---0


    Basically you ride on the bottom open note, and then use your other fingers to rider on the other notes. It's kind of like a riff if you think about it. This video explains everything extremely well:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjTztfsJxCQ



    This is obviously just the basics. Blues uses more advanced chords, progressions, scales, and notes, but I want to teach you the basics before we move on to the next thing.



    So lastly, here are some videos on blues licks. Some of these licks are out of key, but you can easily transfer them into.

    Check this one first as it goes over the scale:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eKHK...eature=related

    Check out these guys blues lesson videos. Very helpful:

    http://www.youtube.com/user/JustinSandercoe#p/u

    ---------------------------------------------------

    Here are a bunch of random ones:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwdcbpPgz1M

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oxq5...eature=related

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZRw1...eature=related

    (I might have give you this next one):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZRw1...eature=related




    That should get you going. I'll post my next lesson on more advanced blues concepts, as well as rhythm and time signatures.
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    Old 03-08-2010, 08:50 AM   #129
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    this is fantastic dude, no rush on posting the next lesson, this is my last week of classes before spring break and naturally, everything is due.

    can't wait to get going on this
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    Old 03-13-2010, 11:36 AM   #130
    Resatka
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    Re: guitar lessons

    My next lesson shall be either late tonight or some time tomorrow. Just a heads up.
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    Old 03-15-2010, 04:52 PM   #131
    haybale97
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    looking foward to this
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    Old 03-21-2010, 06:38 PM   #132
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    Re: guitar lessons

    Right on, write on about whatever you feel best.
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    Old 03-21-2010, 08:18 PM   #133
    Resatka
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    Re: guitar lessons

    WOW guys sorry. I just got back from Spring Break. These lessons will continue regularly as before.
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    Old 03-22-2010, 11:04 PM   #134
    Resatka
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    Alright so now that we know some blues licks, and we now know some chord progressions, let's expand the chords we use.



    This is called chord substitution. Basically it's replacing a simple chord with a sophisticated one.


    For example here's a normal chord progression:


    B minor - E major - A minor

    ii - V - I


    This chord progression is common in jazz, however to "spice it up", they would alter the chords to the following forms:


    So in blues, would spice up the dominant 7th chord.


    So instead of just E7 for example, we might replace it with the follow chords:


    E7 ---> E7b9 or E7b5 (pronounced E7 flat 9 and E7 flat 5 respectively).

    E7 = E G# B D

    E7b9 = E G# B D F

    E7b5 = E G# B D G (the second G is just a normal G not sharp or flat)





    So here's what those shapes looked like tabbed out:


    e|--E7b9--------E7b5--
    b|---6----------8------
    G|---7----------7------
    D|---6----------6------
    A|---7----------7------
    E|---------------------


    So instead of just using your normal E7, blues guitarists will often substitute the normal dominant one for a "jazzier" or spicier one. If you want a list of "chord substitutions" I can gladly supply it if asked.


    So....

    There's a scale that I need to teach. I haven't taught it yet but that's because it's use hasn't truly been needed yet until now.


    This scale is called the chromatic scale[I]. Sounds like something super advanced but in fact it's exactly easy and simple. I wouldn't be surprised if you already know what this is. Basically it's just all the notes between two octaves.


    "A" chromatic scale


    A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A


    It's basically all the notes on your guitar, or basically all the possible notes between two of the same note. Playing a chromatic scale is basically just playing all the notes, in order. There obviously is no pattern. It's just everything.


    So what use is such a scale in tonal music? Artists use such a scale in many ways. One, they might use to build up to a certain note, they might use it to make a more "technical" and advanced sounding scale run, OR the might borrow concepts from it. The concepts part is THE part we want to focus on.


    This concept is called "chromaticism" which basically means "playing notes outside the given key/scale". If you notice in the blues scale....


    A C D Eb E G A


    We know that "Eb" is not part of the normal pentatonic minor scale. It's "outside the normal scale", because Eb is not in A minor pentatonic, or A minor, or C major, which are based off of the same scale. We would call Eb a "chromatic note". We can also call it a "passing tone" because it's a note placed between two notes.


    D - Eb - E. These three notes are right next to each other on your guitar. So with the concept of "passing tones" and "chromatic notes", you can actually create your own scale. These scales are called synthetic scales or hybrid scales. We won't focus on synthetic scales simply because their applications are in advanced jazz and theory, however hybrid scales are used all the time in blues.


    Basically hybrid scales are used to spice up the "blues scale". Blues is all about trying to sound sophisticated and soulful. Hybrid scales are basically the combination of two different scales added together. Usually these two scales are closely related and have many notes that overlap. You can make your own "hybrid scales" however I will show you a common one that I use all the time.


    Let's take the A minor blues scale:

    e|------------------------------------------------------5-----8
    B|----------------------------------------(4) ---5 ---8 --------
    G|---------------------------5---7---8-------------------------
    D|-------------------5--7--------------------------------------
    A|----------5--6--7--------------------------------------------
    E|----5---8----------------------------------------------------


    and the A "Dorian Mode-Scale-Box-Shape" (the notes of G major):


    e|----------------------------------------------5--7--8-
    B|-------------------------------------5--7--8----------
    G|----------------------------4--5--7-------------------
    D|-------------------4--5--7----------------------------
    A|------------5--7--------------------------------------
    E|----5--7--8-------------------------------------------



    And combine their notes together to make one super Hybrid Scale! :



    e|-------------------------------------------------5--7--8-
    B|----------------------------------------5--7--8----------
    G|----------------------------4--5--7--8-------------------
    D|-------------------4--5--7-------------------------------
    A|----------5--6--7----------------------------------------
    E|--5--7--8------------------------------------------------


    This is what the pattern looks like on the fretboard:



    e|-------5-------7--8--------------------------------------
    B|--(4)--5-------7--8---------------------------------
    G|---4--5-------7--8------------------------------------
    D|---4--5---------------------------------------------
    A|------5---6---7--------------------------------------
    E|------5-------7--8-------------------------------------


    I'll try to find a lesson on phrasing, but I'm sure as you know, when you solo you don't just "play the scale up and don't". You pick out certain notes in a certain order to make a melodic sequence. A lot of the notes used in this Hybrid scale or phrased in a particular way, whether it's quickly sliding from one note to the next, bend to the next note, etc. If you want tips I can also supply them. If you want some licks I can tab them out. Just let me know.



    So rhythm..... I have taught you a lot of theory. Hopefully you still retained much of the information. Will continue to study the key of C major after we learn the fundamentals of rhythm. This will probably take a couple of posts. I will start my first lesson on the basics of rhythm tomorrow.
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    Old 03-23-2010, 11:31 PM   #135
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    Re: guitar lessons

    I am new here. I want to learn Guitar. Its helpful for me.
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    Old 03-24-2010, 12:22 AM   #136
    Resatka
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    Quote:
    Originally Posted by colemanmia View Post
    I am new here. I want to learn Guitar. Its helpful for me.
    If you read from the beginning it's very helpful, however I've mainly been teaching only how to solo and the chords behind soloing. If you want to learn the basics I can teach whatever it is what you want to learn, whether it's one thing or everything.
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    Old 03-24-2010, 03:45 AM   #137
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    Re: guitar lessons

    Just like you, ive been consulting the same website for my lessons. But you gotta have a proper teacher and proper lessons if you want to learn effectively and efficiently.
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    Old 03-26-2010, 07:22 PM   #138
    haybale97
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    awesome. keep it up Res


    and kenny, i plan on taking real lessons in the summer, i think i found a guy. i know how to play songs and such i just have no real experience with solos because i'm self taught
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    Old 03-29-2010, 11:26 PM   #139
    Resatka
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    Alright so rhythm. This might a confusing lesson, but if you understand everything, you'll know how to organize music to time. This includes riffs, strumming, melodies, etc. I will highlight all the important points of this lesson.

    Basically music is sound organized into time. The word "rhythm" can be very lose. Sometimes "rhythm" isn't always a pulsing beat. It could just be abstract or free. For our purposes, we've been focusing on music with a beat.


    Now what is a beat? Basically it's the pulse of the song. It's the thump that you stomp your foot to. Beats are usually timed so that they're (almost) all perfectly and evenly spaced from each other.
    This is what "keeping a steady beat" is all about. Think of the DMB song "Rhyme & Reason". You know the drum beat Carter does in the beginning? The high-hat hits are the beat of the song for example.

    Basically if you organize beats in the music into groupings of beats, they're called measures. Majority of popular music is organized into measures or "groups" of beats.

    So what are they different ways you can group them?


    Well first we'll start with THE most basic time signature (time signatures tell us the rhythmic qualities of the song) of all time. Most rock music is written in this time signature and most popular music is. It's called 4/4 time.


    Here's what 4/4 time looks like on paper:


    http://s3.amazonaws.com/readers/2008...gnatures_1.jpg



    The top number tells you how many beats are in a measure. So for 4/4 time, that means there's just 4 even beats per measure.


    So what does the bottom number tell us? Well let's pretend it's part of a fraction with a one over it like this:

    1/4

    .... another name for 1/4 is a "quarter". So basically the bottom number is telling us which note gets the beat. In this case this means the "quarter note" gets the beat. It makes sense. There are 4 beats in a measure. Each beat is a note. Each beat is a quarter of the measure. Each beat is a quarter note. In 4/4 music, quarter notes are basically the beats.


    Music in 4/4 is counted aloud (or mentally) simply like this (with beats applied):

    1,2,3,4 - 1,2,3,4 - 1,2,3,4

    And if it's a section of 4 measures or 8 (maybe more):

    1, 2, 3, 4 - 2, 2, 3, 4 - 3, 2, 3, 4 - 4,2,3,4

    The first note in this counting style just tells you how many measures deep your are from where you started to count.


    This is what the 4 notes or "beats" applied to music look like:

    http://musicsandbox2425.wikispaces.c...48131/time.png


    There are also two other time signatures on that page, one being 3/4 and 2/4.


    3/4 basically means there are 3 beats, and the quarter note gets the beat. We would count it the same as if it was 4/4 time with just a new measure after 3 beats. The beats are still spaced the same though. 2/4 is basically the same thing as 4/4, just that there's 2 beats instead of 4. The quarter note gets the beat in all of these.


    So we obviously know that there are more note values other than just "quarter" notes. Well what other kinds of notes are there?

    There are "eighth notes". Eighth notes as half the value of a quarter note. They're counted like this:

    1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &.

    That looks like this on paper:


    http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/fr...th%20notes.jpg


    It basically means there's 8 evenly spaced notes within a measure. Twice as many as quarter notes. You "could" think of it as "8 beats per measure" but that would be incorrect.

    Let's look back at the counting style:

    1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &


    The numbers like 1,2,3,4 tell us which eighth notes are played directly on the beat. The "&" are the eighth notes played between the beats. So there is a note on and between beats. That means there's 8 notes.


    2 eighth notes = 1 quarter note. An eighth note is half a beat.


    So what if we instead used longer notes instead of shorter notes?

    There are two other types of notes:

    Half notes and whole notes. They look like this:

    Half note:

    http://www.wmishops.com/magento/medi...halfnote_3.gif


    Whole note:

    http://www.clipartguide.com/_small/0...-1116-1529.jpg

    Applied to music they look like this:


    http://www.epianostudio.com/wp-conte...whole_note.gif


    A half note is a note length which is worth 2 quarter notes. Half notes are also worth half a measure in 4/4 time (because they take up two beats), and are worth an entire measure in 2/4 time. In 3/4 time, they take up 2/3 of the measure (two beats worth, one quarter note is left).

    A whole note is basically just one long note held over 4 beats. Basically it's a note that's held for an entire measure in 4/4 time. You don't see them in 3/4 and 2/4 time, and here's why
    :

    The whole note exceeds the number of beats in a measure in 3/4 time and 2/3 time because they only have 3 or 2 beats, respectfully.

    But what musicians will do is use "ties". It's basically tying two notes together so they equal one note value.

    Here's what the "tie" looks like in music:

    http://z.about.com/d/musiced/1/G/b/6/ties.jpg


    There's something you've probably noticed: The note values can't exceed the number of beats in each measure. 3 half notes in a row can't be in the same measure. That's 6 beats. That's more than 4 beats a measure (or 3 or 2 depending on what signature).

    You can tie notes across measures (the bar line). For example, you could have 3 quarter notes in a row, followed by the 4th quarter note being tied to the next quarter note, which is the first beat of the next measure. You could not have 3 quarter notes followed by a half note in the same measure however, because that exceeds the number of beats per measure, even though 2 quarter notes tied together equals a "half" note.



    So here are some equivalencies (whether you tie the notes or play them individually:

    2 half notes = 1 whole note

    2 quarter notes = 1 half note

    2 eighth notes = 1 quarter note

    and the last one WOULD be

    2 "sixteenth notes" = 1 eighth note


    I haven't explained 16th notes. If you know what eighth notes, whole notes, and half notes are, then you'll understand 16th notes. This is a tab of 16th notes:


    http://www.cyberfretbass.com/chops/b...n_pent_tab.gif


    Basically a 16th note is 1/16 of a whole note, 1/16th of a measure in 4/4 time.

    Four 16th notes equal 1 quarter note. So if you played only 16th notes for an entire measure (like in the example I just posted), you'll see that they are grouped in 4's. This is so that's it's easier to read and so that the person reading the music can see where the beats fall (due to the groupings).


    16th notes are counted like this:


    1 "e" & "a" 2 "e" & "a" 3 "e" & "a" 4 "e" & "a"

    (pronounced one-e-and-a-two-e-and-a.... etc.)

    If you count, there are 16 syllables. Each syllable represent a note, specifically a 16th note in this case. The numbers 1,2,3,4 again show where the beats lie, and the &'s are between each beat.




    So now you should know how 4/4 time works, along with 3/4 time and 2/4 time. You should also know what 16th, 8th, quarter, half, and whole notes look like and how to count their values. You should also know what ties are.

    Here are all the note value equivalencies:

    http://www.epianostudio.com/wp-conte..._hierarchy.gif





    This lesson may have been difficult to follow. If it is was let me know and I'll re-explain the different sections. Once you're ready, I'll move onto dotted notes, rests, odd time signatures, and then we'll apply all of this with strumming. If you'd like me to post any videos explaining each part let me know.
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    Old 03-30-2010, 05:09 PM   #140
    haybale97
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    Re: guitar lessons

    understood all of that dude. sweet
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    Old 03-30-2010, 06:39 PM   #141
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    Re: guitar lessons

    Thanks Resatka understood that.
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    Old 04-06-2010, 03:33 PM   #142
    Resatka
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    Re: guitar lessons

    Alright cool. So there are also types of "rests" that are somewhat equivalent to the value of the notes. That might sound confusing, but I'll try to explain it.


    A rest is basically a unit of time in which one doesn't play anything. Basically if you have a chord, then there's a space (silence from that particular instrument) before the next chord, that space would contain a "rest", which would indicate how long the space of silence between notes is.

    These are the most common rest values:

    http://www.mibac.com/Pages/Theory/fr...20Symbols.html



    They are parallel with their note values. For example, a "whole" rest takes up 4 beats, like a whole note would take up 4 beats. In 4/4 time, that's an entire measure, because there are 4 beats for one measure of 4/4 time.


    Basically you'd count them like notes, except you don't play where the rests are.


    Also you don't "tie" rests together like you do notes. They just don't exist. There's no need. So for example, if you need another half a beat to complete the measure or to fill the entire space of silence you need (which is also half a beat), just add another eighth rest.


    The number of beats that rests take up can't be more than the amount of beats that there are in the measure.

    So what does that mean?

    Let's say you have a whole rest and a quarter rest (a quarter rest is the same amount of time as a quarter note, so one beat) within the same measure, that would be 5 beats in that measure (4 from the whole rest and 1 from the quarter rest). In 4/4 time that would be physically impossible because there can only be 4 beats per measure. Anything exceeding 4 beats in one measure is notated incorrectly in 4/4 time.

    If you're in 4/4 time, the number of beats plus the number of rests (and/or notes) must equal 4 beats. If they do not, then it's notated incorrectly.

    so if you had....

    An eighth rest, an eighth note, an eighth rest, an eighth note, a quarter note and a quarter rest, that would be 4 beats.

    Eighth rest = 1/2 a beat
    Eighth note = 1/2 a beat
    Quarter rest = 1 beat
    Quarter note = 1 beat

    so 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 1 + 1 = 4. That sequence would be notated correctly.

    If you had...

    An eighth rest, an eighth note, an eighth rest, an eighth note, and only 1 quarter note, you'd have 3 beats.

    Eighth rest = 1/2 a beat
    Eighth note = 1/2 a beat
    Quarter note = 1 beat

    So right now with THAT sequence it's 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 1 = 3. Because it's 3, that means that it's notated incorrectly, because it needs a total of 4 beats. The measure is missing a beat in 4/4 time. If we were in 3/4 time, it would be perfect because 3/4 has 3 beats like the current sequence does. So to make this current measure complete, we would need a combination of note/rest values that add up to 1 beat. There are thousands of different combinations that can be used to make up 1 beat.


    For different time signatures, there are slightly different rules. In 3/4 time, you'd need to have a combination of notes and/or rests that add up to exactly 3 beats, and in 2/4 you'd need to have a combination of notes and/or rests that add up to exactly 2 beats. Very similar to 4/4 and a very easy transition.

    Here is a piece of notated music that's 100% correct:

    http://cdn-viper.demandvideo.com/med...c5b6f1a2_2.jpg

    Notice this measure even has the beats counted out for you so that you can see how this measure is made up correctly.


    Alright so let's look at two more things that we haven't covered, then we can get onto the 6/8 time signature, and then we can start strumming patterns and rhythm patterns for scales and solos. After that, if you guys want me to go over them, we could do odd time signatures. But unless you want to cover classical music, progressive music (70's progressive or maybe even metal), or just weird music, odd time signatures might not be super useful to you.



    So the last thing before we move on...


    Dotted notes and rests. You've probably seen them. These are all of them and what they mean:

    http://musicsandbox2425.wikispaces.c...otes_chart.GIF



    Here's a page that shows a few equivalencies:

    http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb...4-2EAEB7E3.gif

    Here's another one:

    http://www.guitarland.com/Music10/Mu...ifs/Dotted.GIF



    So, what does the dot in front of the note/rest mean? Basically, it's the value of whatever the current note is, plus you add on half of it's value.


    So a dotted-eighth note basically means it's the value of the eighth note plus half of it. If an eighth note is 1/2 of a beat, then half of that is 1/4 of a beat (equal to 1 sixteenth note). So a dotted eighth note is 1/2 a beat plus a quarter of a beat, so 3/4 of a beat. A dotted eighth note is equal to an eighth note tied to a sixteenth note. This can be seen in one of the equivalencies charts that I posted.


    The dotted quarter note is also in the equivalencies charts. I'm going to talk a little more into detail about this note because it's important in the next post.

    Basically a dotted quarter note is equivalent to tying a quarter note to an eighth note. So basically it's worth a 1 and 1/2 beats.

    Rests work the exact same way as dotted notes do, in terms of how long they are with dots.

    Only two notes have dots that add up to beats evenly: The dotted half note/rest and the dotted whole note/rest.

    The dotted half note is a half note (2 beats) plus the value of half of it (1 beat), which is 3 beats. If you have a dotted half note, it's equal to 3 beats. It would take up 3/4 of a measure in 4/4 time, an entire measure in 3/4 time, and is not possible in 2/4 time. A dotted half note is equivalent to a half note and a quarter note tied together, 3 quarter notes tied together, etc.

    The dotted whole note is basically a whole note (4 beats), plus half of its value (2), which come out to a single dotted whole note being worth 6 beats. This type of note is not found in 4/4, 3/4, 2/4 (because those time signatures can't contain 6 beats). Instead, if the composer or artists wanted a note to cover 6 beats, they would probably have a whole note, tied over a measure into the next one by a half note. This can also be found in the equivalencies chart that I posted. While we really won't go over it, you can also find a dotted whole note in 6/4 time. 6/4 time is basically a measure that has 6 beats, and the quarter note gets the value of a single beat. You could also think of it as 4/4 time with an extra two beats.


    There's also one more important thing we haven't covered yet: triplets. Basically you'll see them notated something like this:

    http://ecmc.rochester.edu/ecmc/docs/score11/Fig01.gif


    A triplet is basically 3 evenly spaced notes that are equal to a unit of time in regular time signatures such as 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4. If you double the time value of a single note in the triplet, that will tell you how much time the triplet takes up.


    What does this mean? Basically, it means if you have a quarter note, and you make a triplet of quarter notes, they are equal in time to a half note. 1 quarter note is equal to 1 beat. Double 1 beat is 2 beats. If you play a triplet of quarter notes, it will take up two beats. It's 3 evenly spaced notes over two beats.

    Eighth note triplets are a little more common that quarter note triplets, so I'll talk about those quickly. Basically, it's 3 evenly spaced notes over the course of one beat. So for every beat there would be 3 evenly spaced notes. How do we know this? Use the rule I taught you. Double the amount of the eighth note from the triplet is a quarter note, which is equal to one beat. 3 evenly spaced eighth notes in one beat.


    I would DEFINITELY listen and watch this video. It could be the most important video I've posted about rhythm. You will hear what eighth note triplets actually sound like in context to a beat (or music), and you will hear what other values sound like as well. It's in 4/4 time, which is fine, but I will post songs and other things in other time signatures eventually:


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Siowg...eature=related


    --------------------------------

    Alright so here's what you should know by the end of this very long lesson:



    - All the different note values (whole notes through sixteenth notes)
    - What it means to "tie" multiple notes together
    - How to count in 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4
    - The number of possible beats in a measure
    - What rests are
    - What dotted notes and dotted rests are
    - How to properly notate the correct amount of notes/rests in a measure
    - What triplets are and how to count them


    That is a lot of stuff to know over the course of two lessons, so if you have any questions let me know. I'm sure some of you might already know a lot of this, it would not surprise me, considering it's the basics. If nobody has any questions, I'll move onto the next thing. Please read the list I posted above and make sure you have all those things down.
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    Old 04-06-2010, 03:39 PM   #143
    Resatka
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    Re: guitar lessons

    Actually I've decided that I'm going to just go right into strumming patterns. We'll come back to 6/8 after we've covered the basics. Then I think we're going to study some actual songs, that way you know how the music, playing, rhythm, song construction, chords, scales, melodies and the entire music itself all work together. That way you can know how to play some songs and also know how they "work".

    Edit: Don't miss the lesson right above this post!
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    Old 04-10-2010, 10:53 PM   #144
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    Re: guitar lessons

    okay, so pretty much all the beats in a measure have to be accounted for, with either a rest or a note, right?
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    Old 04-12-2010, 12:31 PM   #145
    Resatka
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    Re: guitar lessons

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by haybale97 View Post
    okay, so pretty much all the beats in a measure have to be accounted for, with either a rest or a note, right?
    Yes exactly. Pretty much any piece of published music that's notated is notated correctly, so don't worry about finding mistakes. All you need to know is that all the beats need to be accounted for by notes or rests.
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    Old 04-12-2010, 12:33 PM   #146
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    Re: guitar lessons

    okay, fantastic i just wanted to make sure
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    Old 04-12-2010, 03:07 PM   #147
    Resatka
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    Re: guitar lessons

    So strumming. Basically strumming is a combination of things:


    - Down strokes
    - Up strokes
    - Muting strings
    - Rakes


    There are other things, but we'll stick to the basics.

    Watch the first half or so of this video because this basically explains strumming.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbBNxT1SXz8




    So first, down-strokes. A down-stroke it's just strumming down all the strings from the thickest string to the thinnest string (basically a downward strum away from you). The first exercise from the video is just 4 down-strokes. Each strum in the video is worth a quarter note, which means each strum is one beat. So for every beat you do one down stroke like in the video.
    (If this shit is too easy then I'd skip ahead to the more complicated patterns)


    I didn't really care for the next sequence in the video so I'm going to do my own thing. Basically we're going to do the exact same thing as before but this time, for each beat we're going to do an up-stroke. So if we're in 4/4....

    Beat - Beat - Beat - Beat
    (Strum) (Strum) (Strum) (Strum)


    Strum = Up-stroke


    So now we have up-strokes and down-strokes. You can combine the two, which is what strumming is all about. Here's an example. Basically every other beat just strum the chord in a different way, and alternating between up and down strokes.



    Beat - Beat - Beat - Beat
    (Down) (Up) (Down) (Up)


    So now we're going to add in a new thing called a "chop". This is basically an down-stroke but instead you do a down-stroke with all the muted strings (you don't hear the chord). If you want to know how to mute the string, either watch the video I'm going to post next, or just ask me and I can explain different ways.

    So now I'd watch this video for a new pattern:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3qVxpDJvSY




    The pattern is down, up, chop, up.


    Basically it's based around 8th notes. The first beat is the down stoke, and the 2nd beat is the chop. Between the beats is the upstroke.


    So in two beats, you will have played a down stroke, then an up stoke, a chop and an up stroke. Repeat this pattern twice and you now have an entire measure.



    This is basically the fundamentals of strumming. It's just a series of upstrokes and down strokes, along with rakes, mutes, and chops.



    Strumming can get a lot more advanced than this, but basically now we're going to study a few songs in their entirety. We'll start the first song this week. I will find a song that uses the following:

    - A conventional chord progression and/or riff
    - A song definitively based in a key or "loosely" based in a key
    - Conventional scales
    - Conventional rhythms and strumming
    - Breaking down the song and its components
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    Old 04-12-2010, 09:00 PM   #148
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    Re: guitar lessons

    i've got you with all this. i just never knew that a chop was called a chop, i just learned it as palm muting.
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    Old 04-13-2010, 09:23 AM   #149
    Resatka
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    Re: guitar lessons

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by haybale97 View Post
    i've got you with all this. i just never knew that a chop was called a chop, i just learned it as palm muting.
    Depending on who you ask, there's different names. This is how most people look at it though:


    Palm muting and chops are basically the same thing. The only difference is context. Usually if you palm mute, you would "palm mute" either a line of single notes (a riff) or you would "palm mute" a "chordal riff". An example of a chordal riff would be the passion into to Warehouse or something, where Dave plays the chords but slightly palm mutes them. A chop is basically just a quick single "palm mute" over a chord.



    Alright so before we start to study a song, do I have any requests? As long as it's not a piece of classical music or something crazy, I can break down the song into its components and we can learn and study it. So ever have a song that you've wanted to learn? Now is the time we start to study it. That way you can learn a song you would love to play AND you would understand the music behind it. If you have 0 preference, I'll just pick something nice to learn.
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    Old 04-14-2010, 09:07 AM   #150
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    Re: guitar lessons

    it does not matter to me, sir
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