GUITARHABITS

Powerful One-Octave Natural Minor Scales – Part I

April 21, 2021 by Klaus Crow

One-Octave-Natural-Minor-Scales - A natural minor scale - Part-I

Today we are going to learn how to play one-octave Natural Minor scales. There are also the more common Two-octave natural minor scales, but in this guitar lesson I’m going to teach you HOW and WHY the one-octave Natural Minor scales are just as important.

Why You Want to Learn One Octave Natural Minor Scales

The one-octave scales are the smaller components of the two-octave scales. Their compact structure and shape makes them easier to play, memorize and comprehend.

Once you get them under your fingers you can combine the patterns to create the two octave and three-octave scales and other wild variations.

Moreover the natural minor scale is the perfect scale to combine with the minor pentatonic / blues scale to add some melodic flavor to your blues and rock soloing.

And last but not least, they give you a better insight in how those scales are constructed and how to easily move them all across the fretboard.

Note: This post is part of a free series where you will learn one-octave natural minor scale shapes across the entire guitar neck that will help you understand and own the natural minor scale landscape.

If you prefer the one-octave “Major Scale” series you can check it out here: Effective One-Octave Major Scales and Why!

Re-visiting The 5 Minute Guitar Practice Workout

By Klaus Crow 7 Comments

March 12, 2021 by Klaus Crow

For most guitar players the hardest thing about practicing is getting started. I mean getting started EVERY DAY!

I don’t mean getting started when you’re in the mood or getting started when you are inspired, but I mean getting started every day. Ready or not.

I hear you saying, ‘Yes but I don’t have that kind of luxury, I am self employed and work late hours, I have so much homework everyday, I have three kids and a pet.’ I don’t have any time left.

You know what? We all do, and I know many people who are really really busy and still make time to play guitar.

The Rules

First of all, you have to make it a priority. Write down “Practice guitar 5 min” on your calendar every single day. Every single day!

Second: You have to find and make time to practice and let nobody take that time away from you. Come on! Make time for things YOU love.

And third: It’s about applying The 5 Minute Guitar Practice. The biggest hurdle to make time for practice is not time itself. It’s the THOUGHT of having no time or the THOUGHT of having no energy. It’s a resistance auto response in the brain.

Resistance Mode

When something seems challenging or seems like a lot of work the mind immediately sets off in resistance mode. It tries to convince you, in anyway it can, that you are too busy, too tired or too whatever.

Excuses will arise in all shapes and sizes, “I first have to check my inbox”, “I will pick up my guitar later in the afternoon or first thing tomorrow, “It’s been such a long day I deserve some time to relax” or “I am just so tired right now, because of this or that”.

You also might think you don’t have time to practice for an hour, 30 minutes, 20 minutes or even 10. The thought of such an amount of practice time can be too overwhelming for the mind and it will drop the idea of practicing straight to the garbage can.

But you know what? These are all cunning excuses of the mind. Don’t listen to these lies. Don’t believe them. You are being deceived! It’s a defense mechanism that tries to prevent you from taking action.

Your brain wants to reserve energy in anyway it can. You don’t need a defense mechanism to stop you from playing guitar! On the contrary, guitar playing will generate energy. Lots of it.

How to Record a Song at Home

By Klaus Crow 6 Comments

March 12, 2021 by Klaus Crow

Have you always wanted to record you own songs? Do you want to record a cover song from your favorite artist? Well this might be the time for you to take your song from the guitar onto the recording tracks and bring it to life so you can share your creativity with the world.

Recording songs is a beautiful and inspiring part of being a musician. There is so much to learn from it and it’s such an enjoyable and fulfilling process. You are now able to sit in the producer’s chair and share your music with just one click away. How great is that?

Do you first need help writing a song check out Why and How to Write Songs on Guitar – Complete Guide!

Prepare

Before you start recording your song make sure you can play (and sing) your song from start to finish. Practice your song as much as you can, so you are ready when you hit that record button.

It’s not necessary to have every detail of the song figured out yet, but the more prepared you are, the easier the recording process will be.

You can also practice your song with a metronome beforehand so when it’s time to record you are used to the feel of a click track (more on that later). A good practice of the song also makes the edit process much easier.

Equipment

To record your song you need to have a couple of things:

A fast computer/laptop
Audio interface
DAW
Microphone
Popfilter
Studio monitors

Microphones can range from $100 dollars to thousands of dollars, but with today’s budget microphones you can get really good high quality recordings.

Why and How to Write Songs on Guitar – Complete Guide!

By Klaus Crow 11 Comments

August 18, 2022 by Klaus Crow

Why would you want to write a song?

Songwriting is both an art and a craft where you can express your musical creativity, your heart and soul into the ultimate form of a song.

It’s a great learning process for guitar players and all musicians. You’ll discover music on so many new levels and learn to think differently on how to approach your instrument. When you write your own songs you will also learn to transcribe songs faster, and understand and play music in a more proficient way.

I’ve got a lot of guitar students who started writing their own songs and many of them were surprised with how much they enjoyed it and found they could actually write a song. Try it and you might find yourself on a new path you never expected. There is only something to win here.

How to write a song

There are many ways to approach songwriting. You can write a personal story and sing about the struggles and challenges you go through in life. The side effect is highly therapeutic. Many artists do this.

You can also write in a narrative style and bring your own concepts and characters to life through your lyrics. Think about the message you want to get across.

To learn a certain style of songwriting study the professionals. Listen and read the lyrics of your favorite artists, learn how they approach their song writing and convey their stories. Watch interviews on Youtube on their songwriting process. The same goes for the use of chords, chord progressions, melody, rhythm playing, and other musical arrangements. Study, analyze, hear and feel them.

Song Structure

For writing a song you can use different components like an intro, verse, chorus, bridge, instrumental solo and outro. These components or sections are then repeated in some way. The most common forms are:

ABAB : Verse – Chorus – Verse – Chorus
AABA: Verse – Verse – Chorus – Verse
ABABCB: Verse – Chorus – Verse – Chorus – Bridge – Chorus

Around these sections you can create an intro, a guitar solo or an outro.

Tip: Listen to your favorite song writers and figure out what song structure they use and which ones you prefer.

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