Leaderboard

Hi everyone, I will be singing a couple of songs live with my guitar next Saturday at an intimate evening session organised by my singing teacher for students to build experience in performing in front of others. From previous ones I've done, I've learned that it's not good to practice unplugged and then suddenly be surprised by the sound when you're plugged into a loud P.A. on the night (one night was a complete car crash)!! As a result, I've been making an effort to practice with a mic and my acoustic guitar both plugged into my acoustic amp and with the volume turned quite high (sorry neighbours!). Anyway, a couple of evenings ago when I finished, I messed around with a song that I won't be doing on the night and haven't done before. I was pleasantly surprised and quite pleased how it turned out so I thought I'd share. So, this is sung and played live through a Loudbox acoustic amp and was just recorded on my iPhone (no editing and no post-processing). The ending needs some work though. For anyone out there that is looking to venture out of the bedroom and try performing in front of others, i.e. at open mic, I'd thoroughly recommend that your practice includes simulation of what might happen on the night (e.g. you can't hear yourself properly through the monitors, or the P.A. sounds incredibly loud and bassy, or somebody drops a glass... all of these things can really put you off). Ian

Hey gang, This month, I've found some great resources for learning the amazing Steve Vai. Arguably one of the best Rock guitarists on the planet, Steve Vai has had a legendary career with lots of Grammy's on his fireplace mantel. He's a brilliant player. I remember being in Clarkston, Washington doing music for a camp when I saw his world-record breaking online guitar lesson. One of the questions that a wannabe asked him was "What do I do to play like you?". I thought Steve's answer was brilliant. He answered.... "Do what I did." I searched through a bunch of resources to find the best ones for learning "what he did". And here's what I found... Steve Vai's Guitar Workout Book Steve Vai Guitar Play-Alongs Steve Vai's Music Theory Book for Guitarists - Vaideology We put them all in a bundle and made them available for you at a great price. You can check them out HERE. Guitar World Presents STEVE VAI'S GUITAR WORKOUT (40pg Book) Since its appearance in Guitar World in 1990, Vai's intensive guitar regimen has been the Holy Grail for serious players. Here is the lesson that shaped a generation of guitarists. Vai sat down with guitarist/transcriber Dave Whitehill and outlined his practice routine for Guitar World. Never before had a guitarist given such an in-depth explanation of his musical exercise regimen. It became a must-have for guitarists. Many of the players interviewed have cited it as an influence on their development as guitarists. Here's a chance to experience the workout in its original form and to learn some of the things Vai has done to develop his formidable chops and remarkable music vocabulary. In this book, Steve Vai reveals his path to virtuoso enlightenment with two challenging guitar workouts – one 10-hour and one 30-hour – which include scale and chord exercises, ear training, sight-reading, music theory, and much more. Here are some sample pages... STEVE VAI GUITAR PLAY ALONG (88pg Book & Online Audio) The Guitar Play-Along Series will help you play your favorite songs quickly and easily! Just follow the tab, listen to the sound-alike audio to hear how the guitar should sound, and then play along using the separate backing tracks. The audio is available online for download or streaming, and it is enhanced so you can adjust the recording to any tempo without changing pitch! 8 Steve Vai classic songs written in music and TAB including: The Attitude Song • The Crying Machine • Die to Live • For the Love of God • I Would Love To • Sunshine Electric Raindrops • Tender Surrender • Touching Tongues. Here are some sample pages... VAIDEOLOGY: Basic Music Theory for Guitar Players (96 pg Book) Named Guardians of Guitar 2019 NAMM top pick! Experience must-know music knowledge and wisdom through the highly focused lens of legendary guitar virtuoso Steve Vai. This full-color instructional book written by Vai himself features in-depth discussions of the music theory fundamentals that every aspiring (and veteran) guitar player should know, packed with practical exercises, diagrams, tips, inspiring ideas and concepts, practice methods, and ways of looking at music that you may have never considered. Topics covered include: academic vs. experiential learning • reading and writing music • key signatures • chord scales • rhythm basics • guitar harmonics • modes • and much more. This beautiful book is full-color throughout and features artwork on every page by Vai! Three powerful resources personally created by Steve Vai to help you reach your guitar goals. His Personal Legendary Workouts Learn and Play Classic Steve Vai Songs His explanation of Music Theory for Guitar Players You can check them out HERE. Learn all you can! - Steve

Ian, perhaps the simplest ending I can suggest is to not strum the final C chord as you sing the final word, down, just silence the guitar for that final word and then, after a pause of perhaps one bar, slowly strum a Cmaj7 but from top to bottom. If I am not explaining myself clearly and you would like an audio example, just say. Otherwise, nice, straightforward song and I can hear how your voice has improved. Great stuff!

Very cool .. love how easy it makes it look and fun too!

by Steve Krenz [First appeared: November 21, 2013] If you are like me, you appreciate straight talk – especially when it comes to something that is important to you, like learning guitar. There are just way too many opinions, by too many people, and too little time to wade through them all to find the real information. So, here are a few things, from where I sit, that every learning guitarist should know. 1) Decide. Are you going to do this or not? Is learning guitar and playing music an important goal in your life? If it is ever going to be more than just a “wouldn’t it be great” and a “maybe some day” kind of a hope, then you need to get busy. Stop waiting for the perfect time to get started. It will never come. Inspiration is for amateurs. Decisions, goals, and actions are what get any job done. Decide, then start. 2) Don’t wait for free time, PLAN time to learn. Everyone’s busy. Waiting to practice until you have some free time is a recipe for finding yourself a week from today not having touched your instrument. Think about your daily schedule and decide where you can fit in a few moments to practice. Set this time aside and be faithful to it. 3) Consistency is more important than quantity of time. The old saying goes “only practice on days you eat.” The human mind learns best in regular, consistent, small doses. You’ll find you learn and retain more in 15 minutes a day for 5 days than a 3 hour “binge” practice session on the weekend. Don’t believe me? Try it and see. 4) When practicing, work and reach. Don’t fool yourself into thinking, “just because I have my guitar in my hands, I’m getting better.” Progressing in your learning comes from “reaching” – from doing things that you can’t do. It comes from struggling with a new task, fumbling around, making mistakes, eventually getting better at it, until slowly more successful attempts are made. If you’re not “reaching” and “struggling”, then you’re not progressing. 5) Never waste a good mistake. Learn from it. Don’t make a mistake and think “well, I just messed up.” If you make the same mistake more than once then stop and think about what happened. What specific musical task did you stumble over? Isolate it, and analyze it. Was it the change between two specific chords? Or, perhaps, you’re consistently overreaching to get a particular note? You’ll find that your mistakes are hardly ever random. They are very specific. Find what you stumble over, isolate it, practice it slowly until you can play it consistently correct, then put it back into context within the song. Be a student of your mistakes so that you can learn from them. 6) Record your progress - seeing the flower bloom. When you finally get that new exercise down make a short video of yourself playing it. Try to make one video a week. After three months, you’ll be able to clearly see the progress you are making. Recording yourself helps you measure your progress but it also helps you learn how to switch from “practice mode” to “performance mode” which is a vital skill. 7) Bring someone else along in your learning journey. It’s no fun learning alone. Involve someone else in your learning journey. Play your new song for your spouse, or friend. It’s not about them being “impressed” with your playing. It’s about having someone to help you be faithful to your commitment to learn. 8) Relax. It’s just guitar. Learning guitar shouldn’t be stressful. It’s a long road toward a very worthwhile and life-enriching end. Relax and enjoy the journey. You’ll learn a lot better. Keep up the great work! – Steve