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The Vital Keys to Playing Slow And Fluently Fast

“In order to play fast you need to play slow.” A saying that holds the keys to the Lamborghini, but has been quoted so many times by teachers and guitar heros that it almost seems it has lost its significance.

A lot of guitar players feel like it’s a myth, some are not familiar with the saying and others easily ignore it.

They can hardly believe that it’s true or don’t think it’s that important. But let me tell you, it is! It is that important.

How to Play Fast

I’ve been there and I’ve wasted my share of time. So memorize this phrase “In order to play fast you need to play slow.” and apply it to every guitar workout. It will make all the difference in the world.

So why do you want to play fast in the first place? Maybe you just don’t like the speed-ass shredders and monster lick killers that are racing the fretboard with 250 miles an hour. Well you don’t have to! Because learning to play fast is not just about speed soloing, it’s about developing dexterity.

Once you’ve increased your level of speed and learned to play faster your fingers will move a lot more smoothly across the fretboard. It’s almost seems like your fingers have gotten little wings. And that’s great for everything you play. No matter if you’re into blues, jazz, classical, country or metal.

Playing slow will not only help you develop dexterity, but also to play correctly, clean and clear as you become faster. Playing guitar will become effortlessly.

Let’s take a closer look:

A Beginners Path to Learning Guitar

By Klaus Crow 13 Comments

Photo by Bigstock photo
You want to learn to play guitar but you’re having trouble finding which way to go next. Well, don’t worry, today we have a roadmap or beginners path to learning guitar that will show you where to start and how to continue on your journey.

The learning path to guitar playing will not be the same for everyone. It depends on what style or genre you want to learn and your ultimate goal.

Do you want to become a shredding guitar virtuoso or are you more a singer songwriter type? Do you want to become a solid blues guitar lead player or work your way to an acoustic fingerstyle wizz or a hybrid picking country cowboy?

Whatever your choice is, if you want to start learning popular music, folk music and work your way towards blues, rock, alternative, metal, country or jazz this beginners path is a good starting point.

You don’t necessarily have to stick to the order of this list, there is more than one way to skin a cat. There are always side roads and other things you can learn besides this list. But this beginners path is a good indication to create the solid building blocks you need to becoming a pretty decent guitar player.

Somewhere down to road you got to choose which way to go next, but you’ll figure out when the time is right.

Notes:
– If you want to learn to play classical guitar this is probably not the beginners path you want to follow.
– Take your time. Learn each aspect thoroughly. Even though learning basic chords and an easy song can be mastered in days, this path is not a plan for days or weeks but more for months, years and even a lifetime.

Don’t forget: “It’s about the journey, not about the destination.”

8 Ways to Really Develop Your Aural Skills

By Klaus Crow 13 Comments

Photo by Bigstock photo
Developing your aural skills is one of the most important things when it comes to guitar playing. If not the most important thing.

It’s something I still work on after all these years of playing. Each time I invest time into ear training it pays off big time.

The ability to identify chords, chord progressions, notes and melodies by ear or creating melodies from the mind and translating it to the fretboard is the greatest asset and resource a guitar player can have.

And to take it even one step further, combining good aural skills and knowledge of music theory will make you invincible. It’s the ultimate combination and makes you a complete musician.

But today we focus solely on the quality of listening. There are many ways to improve your aural skills, but here is a list of the most essential ones:

1 Transcribe songs.
Figure out chords, chord progressions and solos by ear. Work out the pitches and rhythms of a song. Use software like Transcribe to slowdown, loop and change the pitch of the song to make transcribing easier. You can use Anytune to transcribe songs on your Ipad.Continue Reading

Triplet Scale Sequence Exercises Why and How

By Klaus Crow 7 Comments

Photo by Bigstockphoto
The first scale sequence I learned without being aware of it was the “pentatonic triplet sequence”. They were all over the place in Metallica solos and I learned a lot of them.

Once I knew what I triplet really was I noticed them in many other rock and metal songs. But also in a lot of blues solos, usually played with hammer-ons and pull-offs.

A triplet is when you’re playing 3 consecutive notes per beat. Also called an eighth note triplet. (There are also sixteenth note triplets but we’ll save that for another post) Since there are 4 beats per bar in 4/4 time, you can count them like this: 1 trip-let, 2 trip-let, 3 trip-let, 4 trip-let or if you prefer you can count: 1 & a, 2 & a, 3 & a, 4 & a. It’s important to learn the feel of playing triplets.

Triplets are often used at the end of a musical phrase. They can be played fast and ascending, building a climax and leading up to that final screaming note or descending to a lower impressive last note to give it more impact.

Once you know your scales and you’re starting to improvise you don’t want to sound like you’re playing scales all the time. That’s where sequences come in. Sequences are a great tool for building your improvising chops.Continue Reading

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