[NGD 2016 Sheraton-II Pro]

Thanks everyone! Anybody entered to win?

[NGD 2016 Sheraton-II Pro]

@Eracer_Team-DougH & @NeilES335 will probably laugh at me because of my timing, but I have considered adding a spare to my ES-335 type D’Angelico from time to time. Doug’s purchase brought back memories of my first Sheraton which, I guess, would be considered Sheraton-I (not Sheraton-II as I mentioned in Doug’s thread) by today’s standards. Although it was a decent guitar, the stock pickups would not give me the sound I really wanted. The pots were not top of the line, either. I traded it in when I got the D’Angelico. 

The Sheraton has been upgraded since then, and the coil-tapping equipped vintage humbucking pickups along with 1” 500K Ohm pots make it a real deal at a reasonable price. I must admit that I love the ProBuckers. The guy at Long & McQuade plugged it into a Vox amp for me and there wasn’t enough time before closing to test another one. Another guy was pounding away on a piano and the louder I got the louder he got. 

The setup was great right out of the box. The neck pickup volume knob kept coming off during coil-splitting, but they fixed it on the spot. Anyway, got home, plugged it into my amp and sonic delight came out. I still have more testing to do, but my first impression is that the Sheraton-II Pro sounds as good as my D’Angelico. I got my spare. 

By the way, until the end of March 2018 you can ENTER TO WIN this baby. 

 

[Rhythmic Note Reading]

It’s not exactly theory, but I couldn’t think of a better section to put it in. I’ve been posting Griff’s stuff quite a bit lately, but it’s all good and certainly worth watching. This video is different though because it deals with note reading and rhythmic note reading in particular. Even solid music readers may want to spend the 40+ minutes absorbing the information. After all, music reading for guitar has its intricacies. Griff covers 4/4 straight, 4/4 triplet, and 12/8 time signatures. The first half of the video may seem very basic, but the second half covers more tricky stuff. And as Steve says: “Learn all you can!” 

 

[Merle Travis ex. 1 question]

@mm66 Moving your 3rd or ring finger between the 5th and 6th strings is certainly an option and you may need that ability, but in a situation when your 4th finger aka pinky isn’t doing anything, I would economize. Actually, @Blue Dog implied it in his post. For exercise 1 I would suggest an additional option. Here’s a C chord with the G in the bass. It’s a C chord in its 2nd inversion, but don’t worry about the theory of it at the moment. 

If you finger it according to the diagram, you won’t have to move your 3rd or ring finger at all. Even for Ex.2 you can hold this shape, just don’t play the sixth string or the low G note when you play the chord.

[Blues Scales Training Tool]

10 hours ago, Blue Dog said:

Hi V7#5b9. On the ,major Blues PDF how come it don't have the 4, b5 and the 7b of the blues scale, but the minor dose, The blues scale is R, b3.4, b5, 5, b7, R just wondering thanks

Hi Blue Dog. The answer is because it’s a more major (less bluesy), but still bluesy enough sound. It’s simply a major pentatonic scale with a flat 3 added. As you may or may not know the General Rule is that in Blues over the I chord you can play the major or minor blues sounds and over the IV and V chords you use only the minor blues sounds. The major sounding blues scale does not have the p4, b5 and b7. I hope this helps.

[NUSHGD]

Cool acquisition Six! This ES-135 should be a somewhat different, but pleasant experience for you. Congrats! ?

[NAD]

It sounds like you got yourself a great little amp, very versatile and to top it all off at a reasonable price. Congrats Ice! ? Out of curiosity I’ve just viewed a short demo of the Katana series. I’m not in the market for another amp, but others may be. 

 

[Monthly Recording Challenge 53 - "Unplugged"]

@Nutty1 Nicely done! ?  Word of caution though. It’s not about giving up. It’s about being able to play and enjoy yourself. Do not neglect your trigger finger. I had to deal with tendonitis and a trigger finger for six months. I went for physiotherapy. I was told that if I continue to play guitar I may never get rid of it. I stopped and I’m glad I followed the advice because I got rid of the trigger finger. My fingers still get somewhat stiff in the morning, but I continue to do prescribed exercises and warm up before practice and play. Wish you speedy recovery!

[Learn & Master set vs Major scale mastery level 1?]

2 hours ago, Danny Robey said:

I own the older Learn & Master DVD set and was wondering if this newer major scale level 1 and level 2 is kind of a replacement for that? I know the old set isn't necessarily outdated. I haven't began that set and was wondering which would be better to start on? I have been trying to play for a few years and know open chords and can play a little. I certainly need lots of help. Thanks in advance. 

@Danny Robey Major Scale Mastery is part of the workout series and a supplement to, but not a replacement for, the Learn & Master Guitar course. You should start with the main course. When you reach Session 7, you’ll be learning about the major scale and that’s probably the best time to add the Major Scale Mastery workouts. As a matter of fact, you may want to consider adding all the available workouts to the main course at the appropriate stages. The Speed And Agility can be added early on, Jazz Chords can wait till Session 18. Steve will be adding more workouts in the future. I think he’s working on the Money Chords now.

[Do You Name Your Guitars?]

I don’t really name mine either, but I thought I’d have some fun with it too.  So I came up with the idea of trying to match the names with manufacturers. From now on I call my “Jazz Trio”: Angelica, Caroline & Ibbie. 

I’ve found some interesting facts about the names as well. 

Angelica - “originates in Greek language and means "God’s messenger."

Caroline - “originates in Germanic languages and means "free woman". It is a feminine form of Carolus, ultimately derived from Charles. Caroline has been one of the most popular feminine given names over centuries and in various spelling in different countries around the world. It was a popular name within royalty, including several queens of Great Britain. Caroline was also the name of Napoleon Bonaparte's younger sister.” 
 
Ibbie - “is a diminutive of Isabella. Isabella is a variant of Isabel. Isabel originates in Latin language and means "Promise of God". Ultimately, it is derived from Elizabeth, originating in Hebrew. Some sources suggest that Isabel is simply a Spanish and Portuguese form of Elizabeth. Most recently, the name Isabella was popularized by the character Isabella Swan in Twilight series written by Stephenie Meyer. Currently, it is a number one in the chart of popular feminine given names in the United States.” 

Name source: http://www.babynames.net 

[SK's Guitar Video of the Day!]

Acoustic Guitar Hymns: “It Is Well With My Soul” played by SK. 

 

[Straight From The Horse's Mouth: Howard Roberts]

In this installment of the “Straight From The Horse’s Mouth” series we have a chance to listen to co-founder of the Musician’s Institute in Los Angeles, for which he produced the curriculum. He is co-author of the Guitar Compendium: three volume instructional book based on the praxis system. If you’re not familiar with Howard Roberts, you can read about him in VINTAGE GUITAR magazine. 

Here’s a couple of recently uploaded YouTube videos. I decided to start the first one @ 9:30 mark when the seminar really begins. 

HR Guitar Institute of Technology Part 1

HR Guitar Institute of Technology Part 2 

And here’s Howard Roberts Live Serenata 

 

[So You Think Playing Guitar & Singing Is Challenging...]

Check this out: 

 

[Monthly Recording Challenge 53 - "Unplugged"]

@IanD Well sung and nicely played with cool acoustic vibe and subtle strumming dynamics. ??

[Six weeks in Session 19]

Good for you Wim! Keep up the good work!

[NGD - Epiphone Sheraton II in Natural]

Sheraton II was my first semi-hollow jazz box. It’s a cool looking and good sounding guitar. It’s as versatile as the ES-335: rock, blues, jazz, you name it. I think it may inspire you to turn into a bit of a jazz cat. Well,… Neil vows to make sure of that. I’m rooting for the both of you. 

["New" Guitar Day - Gibson ES-137]

@NeilES335 So you’re becoming a Gibson man. I ain’t talking to you no more …, just kidding.  Congrats on this great score. The angle of the photo makes this semi-hollow guitar look like a full hollow body. Quite a beauty I might add. More “cats on the piano” anyone? Yeah, definitely more jazz!!!  

[What makes this song great? now Fleetwood Mac]

Rick Beato puts out some great videos. I haven’t watched this particular series yet. Thanks for bringing it up.

[Strumming and Singing]

@rkl312 There’s a lot of great advice in this thread already. I don’t have much to add. You are not alone, that’s for sure. After all, we are dealing with two different rhythms. It’s not always easy to combine the strumming and singing rhythms so that they sound seamless. If a song requires a specific strumming pattern and the vocal throws it off for me, I slow down the difficult part and analyze how the two rhythms interact with each other. It helps me sync the two together. Otherwise, I go with the sound and feel rather than specific “patternized” strumming.

[A Selection Of Guitar Books]

On 2018-02-08 at 3:07 PM, Brad Baugh said:

I think you will understand when I say I need to listen to more metal:)

Yes ..., but not necessarily. 

“Flight of the Bumblebee” 

Classical Medley 

 

[SK's Guitar Video of the Day!]

“Practicing 30 minutes each day is a recipe for success. Have you done your 30 today? Here are some tips for a great 30 minute Practice Routine. Learn all you can!” - Steve Krenz 

 

[SK's Guitar Video of the Day!]

@Steve Krenz Hey Steve, I hope you don’t mind. Since the stickies get dismissed or will expire, and we may miss your “Guitar Video of the Day,” I thought I’d create a thread to collect them. I may not be online every single day, so anybody please feel free to add Steve’s current video to this thread. 

Yesterday’s video was fun to watch. Jack and Brent were great. By the way, the guy on bass Roy Vogt has an excellent video course called “Teach Me Bass Guitar.” 

[Blues "Keys" Vs Real Keys]

In case you don’t know yet or wonder about the blues theory, here’s a good explanation of this mini-tonality. 

 

[Blues Scales Training Tool]

Thought I’d spice up Griff’s Fretboard Diagram PDF with my own. If; in addition to the black, red and blue dots; you want to visualize the forms in terms of intervals like this: 

Feel free to download my two PDF files: Five Major Blues Forms.pdf  Five Minor Blues Forms.pdf 

[Blues Scales Training Tool]

This is super cool! It comes from Griff Hamlin and is meant to be shared. Before you click the link, read the email from Griff that all BGU subscribers receive. This is for the benefit of non-subscribers. 

“You may not know (or remember,) but there's a great tool I had made for you that you can use to learn your blues scales - all of them, inside and out. But before you go run off and try it, let me give you a suggestion... because this tool I have for you is very powerful - and that means you might need a little direction to get started.  Now there's a video on the page that will define for you the "left facing" and "right facing" versions of scales, but here's my suggestion to get started.

Set the 4 dropdowns like this:
Root Note: A (or whatever key you want) (don't leave it on random)
String: 6 (don't leave it as random)
Left/Right: Right
Major/Minor: Minor 
 
Now hit "deal" and, of course, all the cards will turn over to be what you selected (since none of them are random, there's no surprise.)
 
Hit the "Hint" button and you'll see good old Box 1.
 
Change String: to 4, and you'll get Box 2 in the same key
 
Change String: to 2, and you'll get Box 3 in the same key
 
Change String: to 5, and you'll get Box 4
 
Change String: to 3, and you'll get Box 5
 
Wanna work a different key? Go through the same steps with a different key.
 
Think you've got every key down? Change the "Key" to random and test your skills.
 
It's super fun and a great way to work those scales so get to it. Check it out here and make sure to bookmark the page so you can come back to it (and if you dig it, share it with your friends.)” 

Now here’s the link to the TRAINING TOOL & VIDEO.