GUITARHABITS

What Scales to Play over a Song in a Major Key

March 29, 2021 by Klaus Crow

There are so many songs and so many scales. So what scales do you need to solo and improvise over a song in a major key? And what chords can you find in a major key?

First, when a song is in a major key, it means it’s based on a major scale. The song usually conveys a bright, happy or cheerful mood. There are seven chords that you can derive from that major scale. We’ll look into that in a few seconds.

To be able to improvise over a major key you also need a major type scale. The two most commonly used scales are the major scale and the major pentatonic scale.
Continue Reading

Best Singing Lessons for Beginners 2023

By Klaus Crow 7 Comments

November 4, 2023 by Klaus Crow

top 4 best singing lessons for musicians

Most musicians love to sing along to the songs they play on their guitar or any other instrument. Some guitar players focus entirely and solely on their instrument and that’s perfect, but there’s also the breed who loves to sing and play their hearts out. Even if you’re not, you definitely want to read on.

Most of us are not naturally born singers, and even if you are, you can always use some help to improve your singing voice and work to become a better singer / guitar player.

A lot of musicians just think they don’t have what it takes and they can’t do anything about it. They just throw in the towels and accept they aren’t really the singer type.

But that’s where they are wrong, you can definitely work to become a better singer, a good singer, and some even become great singers. But good is good enough.

How great is it to play your instrument and sing to your songs with confidence. Singing along with your instrument adds an extra dimension to the experience. You now have two instruments (your voice is also an instrument) that complement each other.

Learning to sing also helps you improve your playing, because playing guitar is all about listening and aural skills and that’s what you develop with singing lessons.

The most common problems people face are “problems with pitch”, “the crack in the voice” when going from chest voice to head voice, “singing higher notes” and “losing the voice” due to using of the voice in the wrong way. Most people also don’t know there are simple and easy ways to start improving the voice in a real short amount of time.

Top 20 Easy Guitar Fingerpicking Songs For Beginners

By Klaus Crow 17 Comments

March 7, 2022 by Klaus Crow

top 20 easy guitar fingerpicking songs for beginners

Fingerpicking also referred to as fingerstyle, is one of the many guitar techniques that is part of the complete guitar skill set and incredibly fun to learn.

Fingerpicking is a technique where you pluck the strings directly with the fingertips, as apposed to strumming where you move your fingers in a sweeping action across the strings to play some nice and easy guitar songs in a more rhythmic fashion.

Fingerpicking Basics

There are some basic fingerpicking principles for how to place the fingerpicking hand. The traditional way to approach the strings is as follows:

Use the thumb for the Low E, A and D string (6th, 5th and 4th string)
Index finger for the G string (3rd string)
Middle finger for the B string (2nd string)
Ring finger for the high E string (1st string)

See image below:

how and where to place the fingerpicking hand

Make sure your fingers are curved when you place your fingers onto the strings. When you pluck the strings your thumb goes downwards and the fingers are going in an upwards movement. Now you are ready to practice some fingerpicking patterns.

6 Free Quality Guitar Apps for iOS and Android

By Klaus Crow 7 Comments

March 29, 2021 by Klaus Crow

Today we’re going to look into some quality guitar apps that will help you move faster towards your guitar goals, so if you’re not already reading this on your mobile device you know what to do. Grab your phone, your guitar and check out these great free apps.

I always try to find effective and easy interface guitar apps that you can really use as a guitar player and musician. If you like these apps you might want to check out some of the earlier posts as well 6 Cool Guitar Player Apps for iPhone and iPad and 10 Awesome Guitar Players Apps for iPhone and iPad

Enjoy!

1 – Riff Meastro
Riff Maestro is a free riff learning app for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android. You can load up your favorite songs, set loop points, slow down riffs and pick ‘em out note for note until you’re a maestro yourself. If you want to transpose songs to a different key it requires you to upgrade and buy the additional feature. Riff Maestro

2 – Songtree
Songtree is a collaboration app that let’s you sing and play over original or cover songs, create your own musical idea or unfinished song and get other musicians to play along or finish it. It’s for iOS and Android but you can also work with it on your Mac or for Windows. Check out the website here: Songtree

3 – Wiretap riff
Absolutely love this app! Wiretap Riff let’s you capture your musical ideas quick and easy. It’s got a built-in peak meter, and you can tag, trim, name, group, save and share your riffs from the app. A high-quality recorder app for Android and iOS.

Wiretap App - Capture Your Creativity Anywhere

4 – Chordbank
Chordbank let’s you learn and look up thousands of guitar chords and scales and accompanying lessons to really get it all under your belt. Android and iOS

5 – Soundcloud
Soundcloud is a popular audio distribution platform where you can upload, record, promote, and share your originally-created sounds. It attracts more than 175 million unique monthly listeners. A free account gets you started where you can upload up to 3 hours of audio and then share them with your listeners. Follow others. Like and comment on music. The more active you are in the community, the more you’ll grow your fanbase.

6 – Coach me
Coach.me is a goal Tracking, habit Building & motivational Coaching app. Although it’s built for any kind of habit, I use it for my guitar goals and it keeps me reminded and triggered of what I need to practice daily / weekly and stay committed. It’s a great tool for busy people. It definitely works for me! It’s available iOS and Android but there’s also a desktop version to make sure you’re fully covered.

Do you know any great guitar apps for both iOS and Android? Please share them in the comments. I appreciate it.

Have a great weekend!

« Previous Page