The Guitar Minute

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Like him or not John Mayer is a great songwriter and a great guitarist.

I’ve always admired him as a player and it seems he just gets better.

recently he did a lecture at Berklee Music college on performance, creating

melodic ideas and some core principals we can all learn from weather you are a

musician or not.
(John attended Berklee before he was a well know artist)

A student at berklee called BASSGUY recorded it with an iPhone and uploaded it to the net
another guy Ed posted it as well. If you haven’t heard it, do yourself a favour !

This audio below is an amazing and interesting insight into the mind of this

musician. He paints a great picture of what it means to be an artist.

Grab your favorite beverage and kick back and listen,  I recommend you take notes

it’s worth it.

 

 John Mayer at Berklee College of Music: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Paul asked

What type of pick do you use and thickness ??

Good question.

I use a Jim Dunlop 0.60mm   Grey nylon pick.

I’ve used those for about 15 years and I find them
very easy to play with because they have a good flex
for strumming. I like to feel the pick bend a bit when I’m playing rhythm parts.
Then when I pick solos for instance I will hold the pick a little closer to the end
which then keeps the pick more rigid and easier to pick fast runs or riffs.

There is no rules when It come to picks. What pick you use is really a
personal choice. A choice of what you like.
If you don’t yet have a favorite pick then go to you local
music shop and grab a handful ranging in thicknesses from thin to
thick.

Play everything you know with each pick and play just one type for a few days
and then try another.

When I first started play guitar I used really heavy picks and I was heavy handed also
so i would often break strings. Then one of my teachers suggested I try a lighter pick (.60mm)
I did and it felt very strange until I stuck with that pick for a week and I never went back
to the heavy ones.

Happy Pickin

mmmm I think I finally figured this out

Follow Me on Twitter : http://twitter.com/GuitarTweet

any help appreciated =)

Got Something witty to say? Win a Guitar.

Hi folks I need your help, I’m in the 2008 music oz awards and I’m
in the running for the  peoples choice award.

The most creative and witty answer will win a Maton Electric Guitar valued at $1,500.

To vote for me in the Peoples Choice awards

SMS this 4 digit code “heat” and then a brief reason why you think I should win (in 10 words or less)
to  1970 8000  to register your vote.  Have fun and good luck and thanks for voting for me!
(Only works on mobile phones in Australia)

You can check out my profile page here
http://www.musicoz.org/heathnicholson

Hey Guitar Top Guns

just a quick post about a Red SG style guitar I’m selling

here on ebay

My RED SG COPY

Its a copy and its Cheap and I’m only shipping to Australia (sorry the rest of you)

If you always wanted a great playing SG copy this one rocks and its Red, so

it goes MUCH faster.  =)

Keep Rocking

Heath

P.S. IF you do buy it email me afterwards and I’ll

throw in Riffmaster pro software as a bonus

What makes a blues riff so remarkable
It is not the riff, nor is it the tone.
Experienced blues players know that one of the secrets
of great tone isn’t just the sound of an amp, but the feel.

In its simplest form its all about having a great backing
to bring out the best in a blues lick.

So here’s the missing ingredient for you…

If you enjoy the blues as much as I do, you’re gonna love
what I’m about to show you.

From a recent survey conducted of our customers we found
that playing blues guitar was ranked the 3rd most popular
style so I know you are going to love the following website.

=> http://riffmasterpro.com/ProBluesTracks-FREE

It is for all you blues lovers out there and you can download
5 free blues backing tracks just by visiting the web site!

If you like the 5 free tracks then be sure to look at the
package containing all 50 of them!

Download now: => http://riffmasterpro.com/ProBluesTracks-FREE

Practice your improvisations and composition skills over a
selection of 50 different blues based jamming tracks in
different keys and tempo.

Not only can these be used for improving your guitar
playing but also the harmonica and harp.

The blues has influenced many other genres of music, such
as rock and roll, jazz and popular music of today so
uncover the #1 proven method of improving your blues
playing by visiting:

=> http://riffmasterpro.com/ProBluesTracks-FREE

Have fun with them

Keep rooking

Interesting I just saw this video. It’s kind of funny really

I really appreciate the skill and work that goes into being

able to play like this and I just wonder…can you dance to this.

Check out note 347 it’s a real killer with lots of feeling. lol

Music Fundamentals - Timing

This week I’ve been working with my private
students on the real fundamentals of timing.

Here’ a quick link to a great free online
metronome you can use to practice with

http://www.metronomeonline.com/

Try starting with chord exercises and progressions
say between 60bpm - 80bpm
then moving to scales and maybe riffs and licks.

No matter if you play drums, piano, guitar, or any
other musical instrument, timing has an enormous
affect on how good you will sound.

Impeccable timing will make even the dullest melody
shine, while poor timing will make a fantastic
melody loose its appeal.

Remember timing is a
skill that can be learned and improved.

If you want to get something that you can play along
to that sounds better than that incessant “TICK TICK TICK”

I recommend you look at the quickbeat Drummer.
This one has tons of real sampled drumbeats to jam
along with.

This one is not free but worth a look anyway

http://guitarminute.com/QuickBeatDrummer

Keep Rocking
Heath
GuitarMinute.com
GuitarMinute.com/blog
RiffmasterPro.com

Are you still here?

Go grab your instrument!

Hey Guitar folks , got this question from a Guitar Minute subscriber
the other day and I gave my thoughts on the subject of the pro’s
con’s of having a whammy bar on your guitar.

Comment below and give Hytham a few points of view
===============================

Dear Heath- Hytham here I am a first buy guitarist and I would like to play mainly
Rock genre and a little metal.
There has been a guitar that has interested me
(Gibson Rogue HH Ash Electric guitar )but the thing is, it has no whammy bar.
I hear that the whammy bar is important for my type of music and
I also just really enjoy the sound of a whammy bar.
I am a smaller fingered person and I love the look of all gibson,
fender and Kramer styles. I dislike the look of dean and other weird shaped
electric guitars. my budget is $200-250.

-Do I really need a whammy bar?
-Are there better guitars in the market, preferably with a whammy bar?
-Is there anything else you would like to tell me?

Thank you for your time and advice.
Regards Hytham

ANSWER

Hey Hytham
Well for starters the guitar you are looking at is a great begining
instrument and would suit the music you want to play.

Do you need a Whammy bar?

Simple answer is no

I would also say that if you want to have a guitar with a whammy
make sure you have a guitar with out one as well.

Having a whammy bar can be a pain in the butt if you are just
staring out playing because they go out of tune a lot if you use them
and they require a bit of experience to use and keep the guitar in tune.

There are looking whammy systems but they do come with the added
pain that they can be a real pain to re-string especially if you are a beginner.

I have a guitar with one and a guitar with out.
My suggestion is that you start with a guitar with out a whammy
and then when you can buy one with a whammy.

At your level of guitar playing avoid putting anything in the way of
you learning to play well.

Great question

Keep Rocking
p.s. got some great videos coming up in the next few days
from a guitar coach buddy of mine. Keep an eye out for them

To play guitar well at the best of times you need to be relaxed and practiced.
Many times we can have difficulty playing a particular part in a song because
we are not “loose” or “warmed up”.

I suggest to all my students, every practice session they do, to be preceded with
warm up exercises (about 10 mins)

Avoid injury

Our hands have a very complex set of muscles that need to be trained and
strengthened to comply with what’s required to play well.
Like athletes we need to warm up those muscle, tendons and joints so they
can perform at their peak when needed.
If you start out just going hard you can develop injuries that can stay for months.
I did this once and ended up playing gigs and rehearsals with pain in my left hand
which would not end until i began to look after my hands

Muscle memory

By taking simple exercises and playing them repeatedly we develop
a muscle or finger memory. After a number of repeats your fingers will
start automatically going where they are suppose to without much effort.
Strumming basic chord exercises can help you get those hard to get chord
changes moving fluently

E.g.: C / / / / |F / / / / | G7 / / / | C / / / | Rpt

or something a little more challenging
E7 / B7 / |A7 / Am7 /| B / F#7 F#b9 | E7 |

Below is a simple warm up using all four fingers on your left hand
(if your play right handed) on all strings and using alternate picking (down + up)
Using the fingers on your left hand consecutively 1, 2, 3, 4 one finger per fret whilst picking down up with your right hand. Then move on to the next string and repeat the process .

The most common mistake made here is to go too fast too soon.
Take it slow and even, the object is to get consistency, good tone and team work
between your hands NOT speed. That will come naturally if you get the exercise going correctly.
There are 23 other combinations of this exercise using your four fingers try em all.

Have Fun

Keep Playing
Heath

******Update *****

Rumors were flying around that Riffmaster Pro Version 3 had been released
Incorrect, I have been flooded with emails about how to get it now.

Well I didn’t really want to let the cat out of the bag just yet so if
you want to know how to improve your playing and your ear quickly
then go here and get on the Early Bird list and you could win a copy
and other goodies, Click on the Earlybird link below!

Early Bird + Prizes