The Guitarist Blog

Here is a simple strumming pattern that you can use for the verses to The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood". It is four measures long and I am playing it four times (slowly). Hope this helps!

Freight Train is a Travis Picking Style song.  I have put a little "swing" in the rhythm.  Notice when I play the E chord, I barre with my first finger to get the "f" on the first string, first fret.  If the barre is difficult, just move your first finger to the first string and then bring it back to the third string to prepare for the next measure.  Be sure to alternate your thumb on the bass notes. I hope I am playing slow enough for everyone to join me.

By request here is a slowed down version of the Beatles' Blackbird.

Here are the guitar parts to Constant Sorrow.  I am playing this in E (no capo).  To play along with the  recording from the movie "O Brother, Were Art Thou," you will need to Capo the first fret. First you will hear the intro and then a solo that I arranged to fit the chords.  This is all played very slowly, so I hope everyone will play along.

Here is what we covered in Theory Workshop One and a few tips for those that were able to attend. The Major scale is the most used scale in western music (second in line would be the minor scale).  Be sure to memorize the formula (W W H W W W H). You should also memorize and be able to play the major scale form that was provided in your hand out.  This scale is “moveable.”  That is, you can start at any fret and as long as you play the scale in the sequence provided (on the same strings), you will hear the major scale.  The scale is named after the starting note.  For example, start on the note A and you will be playing the A major scale. Extra Credit – see if you can come up with another form of the C major scale. I got asked a few really good questions after class. “Do we really need to memorize all the notes on the guitar?”  Yes!  However, this will take time.  My best advice is to start with a few notes all the guitar neck, and memor...

This is a nice and simple classical style piece by Bartolome' Calatayud.  It is in 3/4 time.  Notice how the rhythm in measure one is repeated throughout the song.  To play this rhythm, I am using a (ring finger) on string one, m and i  (middle and index) on strings two and three, and p (thumb) on the all the bass notes.

Here are my four steps to learning the intro to Neil Young's "Old Man."  Be sure to reference the video. Before getting to the first step, Neil Young plays most of the down stroke with a partial palm mute.  Lightly touch the strings with the palm of your hand near the saddle of your guitar. The intro has two chords - Dm7add2 and D. Dm7add2 = xx0560 D = xx0232 Here are the four steps. Step 1 - Do a simple bass strum on each chord.  Alternate between strumming strings three and four, and strings two and three. Step 2 (0:15) - In this step, add down and up strokes. (0:45) Oops, made a mistake Step 3 (0:47) On the Dm7add2 chord, add a hammer on from the open third string to the fifth fret of the third string.  Continue the down and up strumming from Step 2. Step 4 (1:13)  Here it is!  Add hammer ons and pull offs on the D chord along with the hammer ons from Step 3 and the down and up strumming from Step 2. OLD MAN - INTERLUDE This...