Archive Page 2
Transposition is when you take a piece of music tablature, written to be performed in a particular key, and change it so that it can be performed in a different key.
The two main reasons for wanting to do this are
(a) because the key of the song doesn’t suit your singing voice, and
(b) the tablature features chords which you find difficult to play.
I should point out at the outset, that transposition doesn’t always work. If you transpose a song in the key of D major to C Major, for instance, the piece may have featured a nifty little riff around the D chord ( e.g. D – Dsus2 – D – Dsus4 ), which is much more difficult to play on the C chord. If you want to transpose because your repertoire of chords is limited, well, some songs just have a lot of difficult chords, and transposition won’t always get rid of all of them!
Music is essentially based on mathematics. The art of transposing chords is really a straightforward process of addition or subtraction. Music is notated by use of the first seven letters of the alphabet, each letter being assigned to a note or ‘tone’ on the musical scale. For reasons best left alone, most of these musical notes are seperated by two semi-tones, with E-F and B-C being the exceptions, these being seperated by only one semitone. Each fret on the guitar fretboard represents one semitone.
With the inclusion of the semi-tones, there are 12 notes in the musical scale, which basically means that you can perform any song in a choice of 12 keys. The notes/keys are: A, B-Flat(or A sharp), B, C, C-sharp, D, E-Flat, E, F, F-Sharp, G, G-Sharp. Notice again that there are no flat/sharp keys between B and C, or between E and F.
There is no hard and fast rule about what the ‘in-between’ keys are called, but they usually appear as B flat ( Bb), C sharp (C#), E Flat (Eb), F Sharp (F#) and G Sharp (G#).
To transpose the guitar chords of a song, firstly assign a number to each of the keys, e.g.
A Bb B C C# D Eb E F F# G G# A Bb B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 etc…
Now, take a look at the song you’re trying to play, and the chords shown. For a minute, just forget about the format – minor, 7th, major 7th, whatever – just focus on the root of the each chord. You can add these back when you’ve finished.
Example: Song has chords E F#m A B C#m ( 8, 10, 13, 15, 5 ) You sing the song and find the key too high for your voice. So slide each chord down on the scale above. Sliding down by one semitone would give you: Eb Fm G# Bb Cm. ( 7, 9, 12, 14, 4 )
Hmmm, not the handiest of chord sequences, so slide each chord down one more semitone. Now you have: D Em G A Bm – a much more manageable set of chords. If this still proves too high for your voice, slide down another 2, and you get: C Dm F G Am. ( 4, 6, 9, 11, 1 )
If the song key is too low for your voice, you can apply the same principle – just slide each chord upwards by the same number until you find a set of chords that work. Of course, the simple solution in this case is to use a capo, which is often preferable, because some songs are just meant to be played with a particular chord sequence.
The capo allows you to use the intended chord shapes, but just produce a higher pitch. A Capo is also useful if you find that the perfect key for the song for you is an ‘in-between’. For instance, if D is just a little to high, and C just a touch too low, transpose to the C, and place the capo on the 1st fret of the guitar.
P.J. Murphy
PJ’s Guitar Chords & Lyrics Site
In this guitar lesson we look at a great way to test your note knowledge of the guitar fretboard. But before we look at that, why even bother learning the notes?
Knowing the notes on your guitar fretboard is an essential skill. Here are a FEW of the benefits that you’ll gain if you have fantastic guitarfretboard knowledge?
You’ll learn how to apply music theory to the guitar much more quickly. In my opinion there’s no point learning music theory if you can’t PLAY it!
Your creativity will increase. You’ll be able to think of new and unique ways of playing chords and scales. If you don’t know the notes on the guitar fretboard, you’ll be stuck playing the same chord and scale fingerings that everyone uses.
You’ll become a better musician. Great musicians don’t just think in terms of chord shapes or scale fingerings. They think in terms of notes.
You’ll save yourself hundreds (if not thousands!) of hours of frustration. By knowing the notes on the fretboard you’ll be able to understand, learn and memorize things faster.
Pretty powerful benefits right?
So?how do we know if our note knowledge is good enough?
Here’s a great way of finding out?
Note Knowledge Test:
Step 1:
Please turn on your metronome and set it to 120 beats-per-minute.
Step 2:
Decide on a note that you will work on.
Step 3:
Find that note on the thickest string in all possible locations. (One note location per click of the metronome).
Step 4:
Without pausing, repeat the process on all the other strings.
Step 5:
Repeat steps 2-4 for all the other notes.
How did you go? Did you find it hard or easy?
If you couldn’t do it easily, then you have some work to do. I would recommend setting aside 10 minutes a day to work on memorizing the notes of the fretboard. Within a few short weeks, you should have it nailed. Good luck!
Craig Bassett (The Guitar Solutions Expert) is a professional guitarist, guitar tutor and author who lives in Auckland, New Zealand
It is said that the forerunner of the guitar, the lute, was created by the Greek god, Apollo. In India, it is believed that the sitar, another stringed instrument from which the guitar is descended, is sacred to the goddess Saraswati. And one of the most popular tales about the guitar is the story of how it was pressed into service to play a hymn of praise to Jesus Christ at a Christmas Eve mass when the organ of the church broke.
It’s no wonder that the guitar has a history of association with the divine. The range and styles of music that can be played on the classic stringed instrument is incredible.
From the intricate fire and beauty of classical Spanish and flamenco guitar to the down-home country sounds of good finger-pickin’, the guitar is a versatile and beautiful instrument.
Modern-day guitars have a hollow or solid body, a neck with frets, and a tuning mechanism that is called the machine head. They may be acoustic, or electric, and are one of the most popular instruments in the world.
Those technical descriptions, however, can’t begin to express the sheer versatility of such a simple instrument.
Even in the hands of a beginner, the guitar can make lovely music – the best kind of music, the kind, in the words of a guitar teacher, that makes you want to sing along. Learning a few simple chords and finger placements, a few strumming patterns, can allow even a student who has only a few lessons to play literally dozens of popular songs.
The most important piece of the guitar is the face, or top. Its composition, shape and engineering will determine the final sound of the guitar. The back and sides also make a difference, but not so much, and often, luthiers will choose the wood for the sides and back with an eye to appearance rather than sound quality.
Electric guitars are solid, though they are rarely made of a single solid piece of wood. Instead, most are created of many layers of different kinds of wood laminated together.
This gives the guitar both strength and sound quality that wouldn’t be possible in a single piece of wood. Often, the electric guitar is made of a ‘good sounding’ wood like ash or poplar, with a laminated top of a more attractive wood for appearance.
Even within the broader categories of acoustic and electric there are many variations. Acoustic guitars may have six strings or twelve, the strings may be made of steel, nylon or gut. They may be arranged in pairs or singly or in triplets. Each of these has a different characteristic sound, from the wah-wah of a steel guitar, to the lush beauty of a flamenco guitar.
Nowhere else will you find the variety of guitars that you find in a typical Mexican mariachi band. A typical mariachi band will include at least three kinds of guitar – a classical guitar, a vihuela and a guitarron, a large guitar that is nearly the size of a cello.
Guitar tablatures are among the most searched for items on the internet. It’s a teen rite of passage to learn at least one classic guitar riff from Jeff Beck, Stephen Tyler or Eric Clapton.
Whether you choose to learn just a few chords so that you can play for friends at parties, or find yourself so enchanted with the guitar that you take it up as a lifelong practice, there are few other instruments that will provide you with as much pleasure.
Courtney Pancost is the owner of DAL Guitar which is a great resource with extensive information about guitars. For lots of info, go to: http://www.dalguitar.com
Most people who have seen Edgar Cruz play his Cordoba classical guitar become immediately hypnotized by the sound and the speed at which his fingers fly over the fretboard. He seems to perform magic the way he plays the bass part, accompaniment & the melody all on one guitar, all at the same time. He is David Blaine on a guitar.
Edgar Cruz is an internationally known award winning guitarist. At the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship held annually in Winfield, Kansas, Edgar placed second in 1991. He has been playing guitar for 27 years and graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Music in Guitar Performance from Oklahoma City University. He has been amazing audiences ever since.
Edgar comes from a musical family. His brother Mark is also an accomplished guitarist, but the love of the guitar for both of them started with their father. Edgar started accompanying his father as he played the Mexican restaurants of Oklahoma City. Edgar explains, “What impressed me about my father was that he would go to this table and there would be a guy with a cowboy hat and he would play “El Paso.” Over here there would be a grandmother and he would play “Somewhere My Love.” Over here a teenager and he’d do a little “Johnny B. Goode,” and next to them is a baby that he’d serenade with a a little Brahm’s Lullaby. Immediately he taught me that if you’re going to be doing this for a living, you need to do all genres and appeal to as many people as you can. That was the biggest inspiration I had from my father.”
Edgar has indeed taken that lesson to heart. There is something for everyone in his album catalog which includes a Christmas album, Classical, Spanish, 30’s and 40’s classics and a Rock album. He has a very extensive repertoire. “There’s 10,000 songs you can request that I can probably play,” says Cruz, “400 or 500 songs with total arrangements.”
Edgar has a very eclectic list of inspirations which include the likes of Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, Liberace and even Spinal Tap. “Anything that has a lot of energy, any group, any individual that really goes off the edge, it really turns me on,” explained Edgar.
One of his biggest inspirations is Japanese guitarist, Kazuhito Yamashita. In 1983 Yamashita recorded Moussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” “He was doing it all on one guitar and that just really turned my head upside down,” said Cruz. “I took a complete right turn because I knew that there’s a lot more that six strings could do then just strumming chords and playing simple songs.”
The one song that has put Edgar Cruz on the map is his version of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Edgar says that, “‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has pretty much made me internationally famous. It took two months to write it out on a computer. It took another four months to make it playable, to make it groove. I could hack at it at first, but I could not play it. It was much harder then anything I had ever done and I wasn’t good enough to play what I wrote. It’s the toughest song I’ve ever done.”
I asked Edgar after all his years of playing for audiences, what is his most requested song? Cruz answered, “‘Malaguena’ has always been the most requested song, and right after that is “Bohemian Rhapsody.” For over 27 years it’s been like that. “Malaguena” is I think for any player who plays Latin music, Spanish music, that’s what everybody is going to ask for. Probably third off would be maybe ‘La Bamba.’”
Edgar’s father, his biggest inspiration, passed away in February. “I had started an album, “The Essence of Mexico” with him,” says Cruz. “He got about 8 tracks into it then he passed away. So me and Alberto Aguilar and Sergio Cruz, not related, finished the album without him. I’m very proud of that project.” Edgar also has another album in the works. “Me and David B. Hooten, he’s a trumpet player, we’re going to go in the studio at the end of July and record our second album,” explains Cruz. Next year or maybe this year it’ll be released. I also hope to release a full original album maybe next year.”
Edgar stays busy by playing 200-250 dates a year, all over the United States and the world. You can catch Edgar playing at Oklahoma City restaurants, festivals or my favorite, at the Leadership Square Atrium where he regularly entertains the lunch crowd. The best part about his performances is that most of them are free.
If you have never seen Edgar Cruz perform live, you are missing out on a true Oklahoma City treasure. One of the best guitarists around, he will astound you with his playing, especially when he plays his “Big G” chord. If you would like to find out more about Edgar Cruz, you can check out his website at (www.edgarcruz.com ).
Terry Smith is a Newscast Director at Channel 4. Edgar Cruz performed at his wedding in 1993.
Chord progressions are a sequence of chords played in a particular pattern in order to harmonize the melody. They are used to form the basic framework of a song. In most cases, chords share at least one note with the next chord in the sequence.
Chord progressions are based on a particular scale, and the notes of each chord are usually taken from the notes of that scale. The most frequently used chord progressions are based on the first, fourth, and fifth scale degrees. The first degree is referred to as the tonic, the fourth is called and subdominant, and the fifth is labeled the dominant.
These scale degrees are most often written as roman numerals. The tonic is written as a I, subdominant as a IV, and the dominant is the V. To differentiate the difference between major and minor chords, lower and uppercase roman numerals are used. Uppercase roman numerals such as IV and V denote major chords. Lowercase roman numerals such as ii and vi refer to minor chords.
One of the most basic chord progressions is the I-IV progression. If you were to play a I-IV progression in the key of C, you would first play a C chord followed by an F chord. In the key of F, you would first play an F chord followed by a Bb chord.
Another example of frequently used chord progressions is the ii-V-I sequence. This progressions is very popular in jazz music. In the key of C, you would play a D minor chord, followed by a G major chord, and end on a C major chord. In the key of F, you would first play a G minor chord, followed by a C major chord, and finally an F major chord.
There is a virtually unlimited number of chord progressions you can come up with. If you want to learn how to improvise on the piano, learning a variety of chord sequences is a great place to start. Only your imagination will be able to hold you back after that.
Online Video Guitar Lesson
Online video guitar lesson is one of the options available in today modern world for those interested to learn playing guitar to choose. Other options are guitar classroom lesson and 
private guitar lesson from private or personally guitar trainer. Studies reveal that 97% of the guitarists discover that learning how to play guitar is not as easy as they thought it would be. And if you keep using the same old time-wasting strategies, drills and boring exercises that other people use, you’re even worse off! Learn to play guitar online is the solution.There are many reasons why more and more people prefer to online video guitar lesson. Online guitar lesson is much cheaper than attending the guitar classroom lesson or having private guitar lesson with private guitar trainer. There are many high quality websites available in the internet that provides tones of information, tips, guides and tricks about guitar. For instance, if you are interested in playing acoustic guitar, you could go to the websites that offer online acoustic guitar lesson and learn how to play acoustic guitar there.
If you are guitar newbie and just started to learn guitar, online video guitar lesson is the one you should consider. There are plenty of online guitar websites out there that provide you with a free online guitar lesson for beginner. Choose those that offer you free online video guitar lesson because you will learn better and faster through video. Once you have mastered that basic, you then could upgrade yourself to the next level by purchasing a complete online video guitar lesson from the internet. There are plenty of high qualities paid online guitar lessons that you could get with very affordable price. Some even offer specific online guitar lesson for acoustic guitar, electric guitar, blues guitar, jazz guitar and many more.
Here are 5 reasons why you should take online video guitar lesson:
1. No text book – It has been proven that the traditional methods, which include using books and magazines, are not effective for a person who wants to learn to play without spending time memorizing the chords and learning through visual tools. Online guitar lesson on the other hand provide a student with the exact guitar lessons and have audio visual images which is more effective and fun! This is good especially for beginner.
2. Master TAB reading – Online video guitar lesson will teach you how to learn & read a simple guitar note called guitar tab (tablature). Because the lesson is in audio and visual format, you will learn pick up the guitar TAB, and read it faster. Once you have mastered the guitar tab, you are now ready to play any of your favorite song just like your guitar heroes.
3. Low cost but high quality personal guitar trainer – Taking online video guitar lesson is same as taking private guitar lesson with personal guitar instructor or even more. A good and high quality online guitar lesson will provide you with various guitar playing techniques and methods via internet. What you need to do is watch and copy what being taught in the video just like you have personal guitar trainer next to you.
4. Unlimited access – You can enjoy unlimited access to the guitar lesson. As far as you are connected to the internet, can practice when you want. You learn base on your own schedule not others. With online guitar lesson, you’re going to save time, money, and aggravation. Something that you can’t enjoy with classroom lesson.
5. Low price – You may save more money because of the unlimited access the learning material that an online guitar lesson offers. Hiring a personal guitar instructor may be expensive especially if you are slow learner.
Online video guitar lessons are specially created for people who are interested in learning to play the guitar with little or no effort because all of the needed tools and information are there with just one click. If you want to learn to play the guitar, online guitar lesson is a great start.
Are you serious? Are you ready to learn step-by-step how to be an awesome guitarist and play great guitar like The Eagles, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Bob Marley, Eddie Van Halen and Bruce Springsteen? Check out the Online Video Guitar Lesson websites which include audio and video contents and it’sFREE!
#1. Love your instrument. Sound cheesy? Not at all. Make your guitar your best friend. Learn to play it in different moods and in different situations. There’s no telling how many times I’ve been lonely and picked up my guitar. It’s the best friend in the world to have, and that’s no lie!
#2. Stick with it. Don’t give up 3 weeks after you get your new guitar. Learn to pursue your passion and you WILL NOT regret it, that’s a promise!
#3. Practice with a metronome. A metronome is the most underused piece of musical gear in the world today, and it happens to be one of the most important! If you can’t afford to buy one, there’s plenty of free ones up for grabs on the internet! Put in your tempo, and learn to play in time!
#4. Join a band. This is a great way to communicate with other musicians and learn the ways of the music industry! Get some gigs, learn to play in front of people and before you know it, you’ll be playing in an arena!
#5. Study up on influences. If you like Clapton, find out what CLAPTON listened to growing up. Same with any other guitarist, everyone has influences and if you want to be great, follow in the footsteps of the greatest!
#6. Listen to different styles of music . Every person on this earth listens to their own selection of music, be one of the few to EXPAND your listening to styles you haven’t bothering checking out before. Hell, who knows, you might even catch your new favorite band!
#7. Practice at least 30 minutes a day. It doesn’t have to be all at once, everyone has busy lives, but just make it happen! This is VERY important.
#8. Use the right pick for you. Some people play better with hard picks, others play better with soft picks. It’s that easy, experiment, see what’s best for you. It makes a world of difference. And for the love of the Rock Gods, ALWAYS keep a pick by your side, better safe than sorry!
#9. Play along with your favorite songs. Believe it or not, most people give up learning a song after only 5 minutes of practice! Like our music teachers told us in school, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. Sit down with your favorite artist and take the time to learn the song perfectly. This will help improve your technique AND your songwriting ability. You can’t beat that!
#10. Play acoustic AND electric guitars! This will benefit you when you’re stuck in a situation (pretty girl wants you to play her a song), and there’s only an acoustic (or electric) around. Be fluently well at BOTH and this will help you in the long run. Not to mention, acoustic guitar strings are harder to play and will help develop calloses on your fingers, which makes playing the guitar a whole lot easier in the future!
About the Author
Lance Rogers is an accomplished musician and record producer. With over 30 years of experience in the music industry, he has become a legend in the eyes of many. You can read more of Lance’s work at www.TrepN.com
When your website is open for interaction, fans can meet others who are
interested in your music and network. You grow a community around you, the
artist, and your website. Here are seven quick and easy ways to make your
website interactive:
1.Use polls and surveys. Create these interactive elements using FreePolls.com
or SurveyMonkey.com
2. Use guest books where people can leave you a note freely. You can have your
guest book moderated so you have to check and accept each message before it’s
visible online. This is great for stopping spam but can be time consuming. You
can get free guest book scripts for your website from GuestBookDepot.com
3. Install forums for discussion. Use free SimpleMachines.org software to install
it. Instigate community creation.
4. Allow people to contact you by Skype in just one click. Your website should
always leave an opening for further communication, whether it’s connection
through to your sky-click web call center or yourself, one click calls are the
future of customer communication.
5. Start blogging. This is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your website.
Start a blog free today using WordPress.com or you can install it at your domain
from WordPress.org
6. Run a competition and offer GREAT gifts. Competitions are now used everywhere
but most offer mediocre gifts so they don’t get much response. Offer GREAT
gifts. You don’t even have to spend, just network with other people’s products
that YOU like. Regular competitions which provide good entertainment value to
the users and the promise of a prize are also likely to get repeat users on an
ongoing basis.
7. Online games appeal to a wide age group of people and you will be surprised to
note that the age group of people who play online games is not limited to the
younger generation only. You can have games developed specifically for your
music style and your songs which you are selling.
About the Author
Which power strategies could help you sell 500 CDs each month? Kavit Haria, top
music success coach to thousands of musicians worldwide and creator of the
“Music Marketing Success Secrets” DVD program can show you. Register for his
free monthly Music Success ezine at http://www.kavitharia.com
