Chord boredom setting in? Playing the same progressions over and over? There's an easy way to get outside your key and have access to new and different chords to spice things up. "Borrowing a chord" is the idea of using a chord from another key so that you're not stuck with the same seven diatonic chords all the time. "Diatonic" simply means the notes and chords that naturally occur based on the key signature. In C major...more
There's nothing more rock than banging out some cool minor key riffs and licks. But what you may not know is that there are different kinds of minor scales that yield lots of great chord progressions. Natural MinorHarmonic MinorMelodic MinorJazz MinorLet's start with the Natural Minor. First we take a regular major scale. Let's use C major for simplicity: C D E F G A B CThe natural minor is derived from...more
Modal playing is very easy to understand the basics of, but can sometimes be hard to implement. Don't worry if it doesn't sink in the first time. I think I had 10 different teachers explain it to me before I got it.Here's the basic idea. We have a major scale that goes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. So in C Major that C D E F G A B C.The relative minor, or the minor scale that has the same key signature as the major, is based on the 6th scale degree. From C Major, we find that A Minor is the relative minor. Both scales share the same key signature of no sharps and no flats. Let's try another example. If we have a key signature of one sharp (F#), that's the key of G Major. What's the relative minor?G A B C D E F# G1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1Correct! E Minor is the relative minor to G Major.Ok, if we can have a scale that begins on the first scale degree and one that begins on the sixth scale degree, who's to say we can have one that begins on 2 or 4 or 7?Thats the basis of modes!Taking C Major as our example again, we can build a scale starting from each note and give it a modal name:C D E F G A B C - C Ionian (same as C Major)D E F G A B C D - D DorianE F G A B C...more
So you've got the hang of major and minor chords and how they're constructed, but seventh chords are confusing you a bit. Adding just one note multiplies the tonal possibilities of a chord. But once you understand a couple simple ideas, 7th chords will be just as easy as good 'ol major and minor.First, let's talk about chord...more
You keep hearing about modes and you're curious what they are and how you can wrangle these cool sounds out of your guitar. Today we'll talk about one of the most useful modes, the Mixolydian.Here's the basic rundown on modes: If a C major scale is spelled C D E F G A B CThen why can't we have a scale that goes from...more
There are four different kinds of minor scales, each having different characteristics. One of the coolest sounding is the harmonic minor. Guitarists everywhere use this scale, but it's sometimes hard for a beginner to know when the appropriate time is. Let's make it easy.Let's start first with the A natural minor scale: A B C D E F G A The Harmonic Minor makes one small change to the natural minor by sharping the 7th scale degree: A B C D E F G# APlay through both of those scales on your guitar and see if you can hear the difference. The natural minor has a smooth flow all the way to the top of the scale. The harmonic minor has a surprising jump near the end between that F and G#. Having that combination of two half steps, E/F and G#/A, with the interval of a minor 3rd in between is what gives the harmonic minor its distinctive sound. That means when you want to really bring out the "harmonic minor-ness" of in your guitar solo, those are the notes you want to highlight.Now let's take a look at the chords that result from each scale. This is going to show us the way to when to use the scale.A Natural Minor: Am Bdim C ...more
As a guitar instructor, I'm often asked which type of guitar you should start with, electric or acoustic? Here's a rundown of the pros and cons of each and how your decision should be formed.Neither type of guitar is "better" than the...more
When you think of weddings and imagine the list of songs that a bride and groom will choose, you would naturally picture out heartfelt, romantic love songs with all the mushy description of love. Commonly these are the kind songs...more
MP4 Music Player, Perfect Music PlayerRecently it is reported that Philips has laucnhed its latest challenger to the iPod and named it the GoGear Muse MP4 music player. The portable MP4 music player sports the following features: 3.2″...more
In January 2006, Disney released High School Musical 1 and it ended up proving to be their most popular and successful movie ever made.It was the most watched film that year, and in December of 2006 it became the first Disney Channel...more
Now days we are very used to the comfort of the latest technology like the hi-tech phones that make life so much easier. We have taken it for granted and expect more out of phones. A phone is well thought-out as the most important...more
For the music box and vintage collectors who are creative and adore arts and crafts, making a music box of their very own could be fairly simple and fantastic enjoyable. Here are simple instructions to create an beautiful music box...more