FACETIME LESSONS starting in 2017

Hey all Grove Guitar Friends:

In all my years of teaching students from around the globe that study at

Trinity Western University (located in Vancouver, Canada), I can now reach

 out to them and others through FACETIME or SKYPE technology. In 2017 I will be adding this opportunity for my expertise to be open to students all around the world. 

It's quite simple to use and in our busy lives and seemingly ever shrinking world 

it's a wonderful opportunity for me and students of the guitar that either know of me through the university or through live and session work that I have done. 

For information on lessons contact:

chesterton1965@gmail.com

Rockband Class at Fort Langley Guitar Lessons+

I am starting a Rockband Class in the Fall 2016 for guitar and bass students in my studio here in 

Fort Langley. It will be a weekly one hour class in forming a Rockband and rehearsing and performing in that context. With the lack of opportunities for kids and adults to play and perform 

this will be a great class to be involved in and a good test to see if you have the knack for performance and working with other musicians in a band. 

Use a Metronome.

I have spent at least a few thousands of hours playing and practicing with a metronome in my life as a guitar player. The benefits are nothing short of staggering and I would recommend it to any and all that play guitar and want to improve.

Music can be simply defined as 'notes in time' and that definition should compel me as a musician to take the 'time' part of the equation seriously. I remember a very famous respected studio musician saying that "notes are secondary", and that, from a modern perspective gives 'time' a little more weight and importance than 'notes'.

Using a metronome can be challenging at the start. To have a tempo or beat clicking in your ears as you play will take some time to get used to. Start off with simply hitting one note per metronome beat as you ascend through a simple pentatonic scale and then you can graduate to two, three or four notes per metronome beast in the future.

I use the metronome to practice scales, chord rhythm, song parts, and to develop speed and good phrasing in melodies and guitar runs. I usually practice with slower speed settings so my playing remains flawless but some guitarist really push the tempo to play as fast as they can for the purposes of their style of music.

If you buying a metronome, find one that has a pleasing sound that you will be able to listen to for hour without irritation or ear fatigue. I like small metronomes that can travel with me easily and that have the tone of a woodblock.

If you get to the place where you're playing music professionally, there is no way to avoid playing to some kind of metronome, so follow Vinnie's advice below.

Make the metronome your friend, not your enemy.

Vinnie Colaiuta (drummer - Sting)

Overdrive Pedals vs. Distortion Pedals

Let's start by defining 'Overdrive' and 'Distortion' in the context of guitar pedals and the sound created when using them.

'Overdrive' is essentially everything from sound of an amp being slightly pushed to break up to the crunch and distorted warmth of a cranked tube amp.

'Distortion' is usually everything including, and above and beyond that ceiling of the typical gain that on 'Overdrive' pedal has.

All of my gain or boost pedal on my pedalboard would fall under the 'Overdrive' definition of light to medium gain with natural and traditional amp qualities.

The reason I employ Overdrive instead of Distortion pedals in my setup has a lot to do with the style of music that I tend to play, the dynamic response of Overdrive pedals, the option of stacking multiple gain pedals, and the clarity and more articulate tone response. 

Let me unpack these four reasons:

Style - If your not playing heavy metal, grunge, thrash or a style that needs over-the-top gain and sustain, distortion pedals can sound thin, buzzy and less articulate than overdrives. I play mostly rock and pop live shows and session and find that my guitar will cut through the mixes better if I use less gain on the pedals and try to highlight the natural and transparent sounds of a tube amp at that slightly broken up setting. I can achieve high gain sounds if I need them by combining two overdrives together.

Dynamic Response - With an overdrive pedal I can clean up my sound by softer picking or using the guitar's volume control. I find that I can use a lot more dynamic control with overdrives that help with building with a songs dynamic range. Distortion pedals tend to give you too much gain to dial up or down dynamically and tend to compress the overall sound. 

Stacking - I stack my overdrives all the time in order to use the distinct and special tone qualities of a couple of pedals in combination to achieve new sounds. I might use a mid-range heavy overdrive with a full range overdrive to a cut through a mix for soloing. I might use the gain of one overdrive to push another overdrive over-the-top to get a 'fuzzface' type of sound. 

Clarity - Even though it's a lot less forgiving, I tend to turn down the gain of my pedals for the sake of clarity and articulation. A lot of the great guitar albums of the past have had this same mindset and approach to recording and tone, and I the results are generally a more punchy, defined, and distinct sound quality in both live and studio situations.

Try some A/B comparisons at a local store and find out what fits your playing best.

Adult Guitar Ensemble/Band

The fastest growing segment of my guitar studio is adults finally taking the time to learn the guitar in their busy, hectic modern lives. This guitar ensemble/band class is the result of that interest and will push the adult students a step further into live performances.

My Top Ten Favourite Guitar Albums

Here's a list of my all-time favourite guitar albums. 

1. Ah via Musicom - Eric Johnson

2. High Tension Wires - Steve Morse

3. Talk To Your Daughter - Robben Ford

4. Wired - Jeff Beck

5. Room 335 - Larry Carlton

6. Guitarland - Tim Pierce

7. Letter From Home - Pat Metheny

8. Escape From Hollywood - Hellecasters

9. Jacaranda - Trevor Rabin

10. Neck and Neck - Chet Atkins/Mark Knofler

I hope you have some favourites you can share with our Blog followers 

Tips for Great Guitar Solos

Here are some tools to use and strategize with when your trying to come up with ideas for guitar solos and nice lead lines in the context of modern music. None of these are mysterious or unreachable for even beginner guitar players. We use other similar and related templates to help us in other areas of our work, school, sports, and lives; so this can be considered the guitar-solo template.

Music as conversation:

My favourite soloists in music always seem to have an inate sense of what the other 

instruments in a song are doing and how to converse with them in a meaningful way. 

Even though they (guitarist) might be the prominent soloist in the band, they seem to be looking to play off something the bassist, drummer or keyboardist is doing underneath or to the side of them.   

Melody playback:

Great guitarists always use the songs melodies and themes to help come up with

solos and lines. I like to learn some of the vocal melody lines at different locations on the

fretboard and sneak them into my solos, lines and riffs. Sometimes it helps to use melodic content

as your start the solo or as your move up higher on the neck and build to a high point in the solo.

  

Rhythmic changes:

Many beginning guitar players make the mistake of being too predictable. Lead lines that 

always start at the top of the bar or always on the on-beat can often sound uninteresting

and unimaginative and leave the audience unmoved. It's important to mix things up with 

lines of unequal length, starting on the off-beats and playing over the bar-line. Adding 

triplets, rhythmic hick-ups and space between lines can add a fantastic amount of

dynamics, tension and excitement to your playing.  

Linear vs. Positional:

If positional playing (in one scale form) is putting me in a musical rut or not working in a 

specific song I will try a linear approach (playing on one or two strings). Sometimes

a small adjustment of that type will put you on a fresh path to new inspiration or

just on the path to what the song really needs. 

Chord or Target tones:

Just as horn players and piano players love to play lines that include arpeggios, triads and 

chord tones, many guitarist avoid this approach because it takes a fair amount of fretboard and

theory knowledge. A solution is to start with simple small triadic shapes on the 1st 3 strings and

highlight those in lead lines. A perfect example of this is the solo in 'Comfortably Numb'.

Phrases and sentences:

Way to many guitarist solo with musical run-on sentences. Try to leave some blank space

at the end a lick or phrase, like a period at the end of a sentence. I might try to play 4

phrases for an 8 bar solo or think of a solo as a musical poem. It will help create those

wonderful story lines we hear in classic solos. 

Space or "Air":

Don't be afraid to leave space and air in your solos. Sometimes the best thing to do 

when you want to play is to be silent and listen to what's going on around you in the

music. Try for 25% less notes in your solos. 

I hope this helps you to at least begin to strategize and think about soloing in different ways. 

Enjoying Music

When we talk about the enjoyment of food, we are not generally thinking about the 'grabbing' of a greasy hamburger from the drive-thru on our way to a ball-game that we should have been at 5 minutes ago. When we talk about the enjoyment on nature, we generally don't gravitate toward a picnic in the middle of a busy city street. When we talk about enjoyment of art, our minds don't lean toward discussing the merits of the 'visual perspective and composition' in a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, and when we think about a thing like Canadian culture, crime and poverty might easily take a backseat to Hockey and Peacekeeping.

So in considering music, the pure enjoyment of it shouldn't be: rushed, as in the way we sometime eat; cluttered, with peripheral noise of the busyness of life, like a busy street; frivolous, like the cheap art of cartoons and media; or 'out of context', like misplacing the virtue for the vice in music.

The context for this will be to slow down, let the music take the centre stage, feel it's full meaning and see the good and the beautiful within it's forms.

ENJOY YOUR MUSIC THIS WEEK!

Were it not for music, we might in these days say, the Beautiful is dead. ~Benjamin Disraeli

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Most people use music as a couch; they want to be pillowed on it, relaxed and consoled for the stress of daily living. But serious music was never meant to be soporific. ~Aaron Copland

Music is forever; music should grow and mature with you, following you right on up until you die. ~Paul Simon

Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without. ~Confucius

Music can noble hints impart,

Engender fury, kindle love,

With unsuspected eloquence can move,

And manage all the man with secret art.

~Joseph Addison

The Right Hand Rules

A common mistake that many guitar players make is to allow the right hand follow the left. For strummers, pickers, riffers, and shredders this can cause overall rhythm and phrasing problems that stall development and musicality in many guitarist. It's really the right hand that gives the pros the advantage over novice players in touch, dynamics, articulation, and most of all rhythm and groove.

To break this down, I will use the example of a beginner guitarist learning how to strum through basic chord progressions. When I work with new students I will let them know that I expect them to be strumming along to the mp3s of the songs that they are learning sometime within the 1st month. Many of them think this is not possible and once they start working on the chords they comment that their chord changes are not fast enough to keep up to the music. I will do a simple demonstration of me playing the same chord progression and literally tapping my head between each chord change without stopping the right hand rhythm. The student sees immediately that I'm taking even more time between chords by tapping my head than they are with their slower chord changes but that the secret is to not stop the right hand strumming; Let the left hand catch up to or follow the right. To do this well the left hand has to start the chord change on the last part of the previous strum pattern (see below).

                                                                ^

                                                              Change point

By keeping the right hand moving you'll play seamlessly and smoothly through any chord progression in the very first month of your guitar playing journey. 

The same sort of principle will apply to all styles and roles you'll play on your guitar. Rhythm is the boss - the right hand is the ski-boat and the left hand is the skier.

More Common-Note Chord Progressions!

I will include 4 more common-note chord progression in the remaining guitar friendly keys of E, A, G, and C. Try superimposing them over standard chord charts and you will have some nice harmonization within the key and some musical glue in the chord progression.

There are a couple of chords in some keys that will cause minor problems but in general we can find 2 to 3 common notes to use within a given chord progression, and it really creates a unique sound for guitarist of all styles to create with. Have some fun with your playing.

Common-Note Chord Progressions

There is definitely a trend in modern music for guitar players to act as a 'musical glue' in rock or pop songs. Some great examples of this are "the Edge" of U2, Don Felder of the Eagles, Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, Mike Rutherford of Genesis, Mike Campbell of Tom Petty, and many more.

These players all seemed to create repetitive catchy guitar riffs that just brought the songs chord progression and melody together with a magical musical glue.

Take a look at this sample below.

Using common notes in your chords and riffs is a fantastic way of creating memorable guitar parts and to imitate some of the great classic and modern artist.

Listen to Guns 'n' Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine" and hear how Slash plays the same riff over a chord progression and how it creates musical continuity and a cool sounding harmony.

What I need to play a gig?

If I run through my checklist of things I need to play a live show (gig), I immediately think of guitars,  picks, strings, cables, pedals, amps and maybe some appropriate stage clothes and maybe a book to read if there are technical problems that cause long delays.

The gear stuff always seems to take care of itself but today I want to talk about another side of the things needed to play a gig.... and that is: PREPARATION.

Preparing for a gig or a show for me is never just preparing my equipment or simply packing up the tools for the job at hand. The preparation I am talking about involves three main focal points that help me more than anything else to do a good job.

KNOW YOUR GUITAR

I am in constant need of resharpening, refreshing and reshaping my guitar playing 

to keep my playing from being stale, predictable, and sloppy. I was labelled a gifted

child at the age of 4 but I can't, and have not been able to rest on that assumption or

label to sweep me through the challenges, however small, of live and studio performances

that I have learned to not take lightly or for granted. I have to know my instrument and

know how to animate it to be an effective guitarist 

KNOW THE MUSIC

Knowing the music for a gig is essential to playing with some confidence and making
 a good impression on the artist or producer that hires you. Knowledge of things like
different chord voicings, memorizing main melodies, song-arrangements, tempos, and quick transitions from song to song can make rehearsals and sessions go smoother, leaving room to
be more creative and establishing a rapport with the other musicians and singers you're
working with on the gig..

KNOW YOUR ROLE

Sometimes your role as a guitarist can change with different producers,
arrangers and artists. It's important to get a sense of what the people you're working for
are wanting as far as the approach needed to fulfill the your duties and meet the expectations
of that musical situation or event. Try to find out some information. Mt role can change from
rockstar to quiet sideman or from main lead player to 'bread and butter' rhythm player depending on the expectations of the artist.

Preparation can involve more than you think and presenting yourself as being prepared will put you at the top of the list for being called back and gaining the respect of other players.

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Understanding Chords ( part 2 - the chord progression )

Last time I explained how simple major and minor chords are made and that they tend to be confusing to the guitarist because the guitar has to make 3 note chords ( triads ) over the 6 strings: and sometimes that needs a little more expertise and strategy compared to working it out on a linear keyboard or piano. This problem is usually solved by the guitarist by just memorizing the chord shapes from a chord book or chart and avoiding learning the individual components or the strategy or theory involved in the making of the chords. This method can work for the novice/hobby guitarists but should not be avoided by anyone really studying the guitar and music.

I think just the knowledge of the process of chord making is a nice musical stepping stone to build on as you explore the next step which will be putting the chords into chord progressions.We don't necessarily need complete comprehension at this time, but it is important to think of these lessons as stepping stones to be walked over time and time again as you study and play.

Chord Progressions: A chord progression is a group of chords played in succession: used in music to play or sing a melody or riff over as a part of, or the whole song. 

Eg. We might see something like the song to the right. 

The chord progression for Kumbaya is:  C - F - C (3X) and F- C - G - C

So we have chords made up of 3 notes called a Triads that are put together in various combinations (chord progressions) to make up the popular song we hear everyday on the radio. The challenge for the student guitarist is to go beyond plain knowledge of the those chords to eventually learn how they work as individual chords and how they function together as musical moments.

There, in the chords and melodies, is everything I want to say. The words just jolly it along. It's always been my way of expressing what for me is inexpressible by any other means.

David Bowie Quote

                                                                      

Understanding Chords ( part 1 - the triad )

To understand chords and how they function within songs and music lets look at a simple C major scale and get to know some of the process of why it works and sounds good to our ears..

Key of C 

( a key is just simply notes that sound good together )

1     2     3    4     5     6    7     8

C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C

Basic major and minor chords are made up of 3 notes that are each,  in musical terms, a 'third' apart from each other - meaning if your first note is C then your next note of the chord would be an E and the next note would be a G. These 3 notes would make up a simple C major chord. 

Here are some examples with the notes of each chord highlighted in red.

        C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C        a C major chord

        C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C        a D minor chord

        C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C        an E minor chord

        C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C        a F major chord

        C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C        a G major chord 

Notice that each chord only contains notes from the C scale and that they are all the same distance apart alphabetically. What actually makes them Major or Minor is the difference in the amount of semi-tones (or guitar frets) between the 1st note of the chord and the 2nd note of the chord. 

A three note chord like this is called a TRIAD and can really set the foundation of harmony in rock, pop, blues, and jazz guitar styles. 

The confusion on the guitar sometimes stems from the fact that we play these 3 note triads on 6 strings and that chords can have many different shapes and a variety of combinations of these 3 notes.

Let's look at one of these puzzles and check out whats going on.

If we look at the G major chord to the right and number the

strings from left to right as 6 5 4 3 2 1,  the notes of the chord

would be G on the 6th, B on the 5th, D on the 4th, G on the 3rd,

B on the 2nd, and G on the 1st.

You can see that for this G major chord on the guitar we use 

3 G notes, 2 B notes and one D. If we exhausted this method

of combining G-B-D note combinations over the whole fretboard

we could come up with dozens of different looking G chords. 

Next time we will look at putting together these major and minor chords into progressions we can use in songs and begin to see and hear there basic functions.