The Guitarist Blog

This is the acoustic solo to Fleetwood Mac's Landslide.  It is a Travis Picking style solo.  Be sure to alternate the bass notes with your thumb.  Have fun!

Here is the guitar solo from the Bollywood song Ilaya Nila Pozhigirathe.  I really enjoyed transcribing the solo!  First I will play the solo slowly, and then a little faster.  I hope this video will help you as you practice this solo.

Here is a question that came in from last nights class.  This answer, in a sense, summarizes what was presented in class. The question is, what chords are found in the C major scale (or really any scale, but let’s use C major)?  To do this, you can only build the chords from the notes of the C major scale.  Chords that use notes that are outside the scale (like G# for instance) would not fit,  because they are not part of the scale. So in C major, you would build your first chord starting on the note C, the second chord starting on the note D, the third chord starting on E, and continuing until you built a chord on every note of the c major scale. Every chord will need a root (the starting note), a third (which could be major or minor), and a fifth (which is usually a perfect fifth, but could be a flat 5).  Remember, when you build each chord, you have to use notes that come from C major.  So here is what you end up with: Chord number one: C Major ...

Here's a finger style arrangement of Day Dream by The Lovin' Spoonful  (or by the Loovin ' Spoonful, as I wrote in my video).  I am looking forward to sharing this song with my students. Coming soon to a class near you!

Here is a music theory question from Adrienne. Question: * In chromatic scales, is the pattern of interval names always the same?  For example in C the first half step from C is C# which is the minor second.  In A, would the first half step to Bb also be the minor second?  In B, would the first half step to C also be the minor second?  In C the 5th half step is the perfect fourth - In E would the 5th half step to A also be the perfect fourth? Answer: Yes.  However, remember that C sharp is also D flat.  So, a half step (minor second) above C is C sharp/ D flat (they are the same note).   Five half steps is a perfect fourth.  On the guitar, five frets (five half steps) higher from any note is the Perfect fourth.  Works  every time! Question: * Why is the minor second in C called C# without also listing Db, and the minor third called Eb without also listing D#?  I notice that F# and Gb are both listed, and there are two n...