GUITARHABITS

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Musically Gorgeous One Octave Arpeggio Pattern

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one octave guitar arpeggio

There are some exercises, licks or riffs you have learned early on in your life that you will never forget.

For me this gorgeous one octave arpeggio pattern over Cmaj7 is one of them.

When I first learned it I just thought it was beautiful. I would memorize it and try to play it as fast as I could.

Later on I figured out how to incorporate these arpeggios in my playing and they’re still part of my guitar improvisation vocabulary today.

It’s nice to practice this pattern over a Cmaj7 chord progression.
Spotify has great guitar backingtracks you can use for this.

You can try the sweep picking technique to make the pattern sound more fluent.
For the first bar (arpeggios 1 till 4) pick the first note with a downstroke and the next three with an upstroke. For the second bar (arpeggios 5 till 8) pick the first three notes with a downstroke and the fourth note with an upstroke.

Take the time you need to memorize the whole pattern. First learn to play it slow, clear and accurately. Speed comes second.

Enjoy the ride and have a wonderful day!Continue Reading

Be Ready to Perform on Guitar Anytime Anywhere

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Photo by Brian
Being able to perform anytime, anywhere in any situation is one the greatest tools for a musician to acquire, maintain and to carry around in the backpocket.

A lot of guitar players have a hard time when it comes to playing or performing an entire song (let alone a couple of songs) on the spot if someone will ask them spontaneously.

They could show you some cool riffs or a nice intro, but to perform an entire song out of the blue is for many guitar players something they are not prepared for.

Some might actually be able to play an entire song but only with the backup of a band because they are used to perform like that. But dude, you got to be ready as a solo musician as well.

I’ve been there. Having played guitar for years and then people would ask me out to play and sing on the spot and I’d go like ‘Uhh what do you want me to play?, ‘I don’t know that song’ or ‘I can’t come up with anything right now.’ or some other lousy excuse. It’s just because I wasn’t prepared.

But you know what, you should be prepared. It rocks! Being prepared makes you feel confident and in control. It allows you to show who you are and what you sound like as a musician. It’s the way of being a professional.Continue Reading

4 Furious 4 Notes-Per-String Exercises!

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I couldn’t resist the temptation to write one final post on notes-per-string licks.

I just love ‘m! They’re great for warm-ups and to work on your alternate picking.

Previously I wrote a post on 2-notes-per string called “10 Smoking 2 Notes-Per-String Licks to Rock On!” and a 3-notes-per strings article (my most popular post) “21 Cool 3 Notes-Per-String Exercises”, but today we’re gonna take it one step further and dive into some 4 notes-per-string exercises for the adventurers among us.

You can play all 4 notes on each string with all your four fingers, that would be a nice finger stretch exercise which is good for building strength and reach. Or you can play it a more easier way which feels and sounds really nice too. You can see below the tabs with which fingers to play each note.

i = indexfinger, m = middlefinger, r = ringfinger, p = pink

Building speed:
– First play the exercise slow a couple of times.
– Memorize the exercise.
– Gradually increase your tempo. (play the exercise a couple of times)
– Now play the exercise slow and accurately. (a couple of times)
– Increase your tempo a little more. (play the exercise a couple of times)Continue Reading

The Beauty and Benefits of Sharing Guitar Knowledge

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Photo by Alan Kotok
A lot of people are afraid to share their knowledge and know-how for reasons that aren’t really worthy.

Some people feel the urge to compete with others and therefor don’t want to reveal the tools and tricks that they have acquired (and mostly have learned from others).

They want to be bigger and better than their rivals to grow their social (guitar) status and boost the ego.

Others are afraid to share their expertise because they think it will hurt their business and everything they worked so hard for.

But in reality it works quite the opposite way.

The more you share, the more you receive. If you help out, it comes back to you tenfold. You or your business will benefit in ways you couldn’t even think of before.

Sometimes you’ll see it directly and right away and sometimes it happens without you even knowing or noticing it.

People will start mentioning your name in conversations (in real life and online) because you share valuable knowledge, know-how, content or just because you’re being sincerely helpful.Continue Reading