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6 Cool Guitar Blues Turn Arounds in the key of E

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May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Steve Garry
A good blues turnaround is the icing on the cake of every blues progression.

I always beg, borrow, steal and create my own nice sweet sounding turnarounds to add that extra magic when I’m playing a blues song. It’s one of the things that makes the blues sound so cool.

Blues turnarounds are played at the end of a section of a blues progression which then leads to the next section or the end of the song.

To get a good impression of how turnarounds are played listen to blues guitar players like B.B King, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton and study theirs.

Tip: Every time you play the blues try to play a different turnaround, so you don’t end up playing the same turnaround ten years from now. It’s easy to fall into that trap. Expand your vocabulary!

Enjoy these 6 turnarounds to spice up your blues:

Have a great one!


BLUES TURNAROUND #1


 

e:-------0--------0--------0-----------------------------|
B:-----------------------------0-----3--2----------------|
G:----4--------3--------2------1-----3--2----------------|
D:--6--------5--------4--------2-----2--1----------------|
A:---------------------------------x-3--2----------------|
E:-------------------------------------------------------|

 

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4 Ways to Enjoy More of Your Musical Life With Less

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May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Since I’ve become a simplifier life has become pretty awesome. Things have become better, easier and more beautiful.

Now there is time to do everything I want and I’m doing all of the things I always wanted to do:

Playing guitar, teaching fabulous guitar students and meeting interesting people, working out (at the moment: abs training, push ups, jump rope, walking), reading or writing and spending time with family and friends.

And I ain’t doing all of these things every single day. I’m taking my time.

In the past I always wanted to do a lot more, but now I’m limiting myself to a small number of things (the most important ones). I have let go of a lot of unimportant things and it has made life simply beautiful.

I’m focusing on things I really want to do and not so much on what I want to achieve. You’ll be amazed how things change for the better when you start to let go and live in the now.

If you want to enjoy more with less here are some ways to go about it:Continue Reading

22 2-String Alternate Speed Picking Exercises

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May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Jason Rogers
A lot of the cool licks that are used in solos are played on just 2 strings. Usually on the high E and B string.

Although they are most common in shredding, you can find them in all genres of music.

The best way to learn these licks fast, clear and fluently is to practice them with alternate picking and the use of a metronome.

Alternate picking means you hold the pick between your thumb and index finger with the pointed end facing toward the strings. You strictly use alternating down and up strokes. The first note you play is downstroke, the second an upstroke, the third one a downstroke, the fourth one an upstroke and so on.

Start out slowly and gradually increase speed. Use the licks as a warm up exercise in your daily practice workout.

Beside the metronome you can also learn to play the licks along with a backing track.

As you do this make sure you focus on correct tempo and timing.

Notes:-All of the exercises below are licks, except for exercise 20 and 21.

-Repetitive licks are shown by the 2 dots next to the bar line. Repeat what ever is written between those two dots. Repetitive licks are repeated at least 2 times or more.

These 22 exercises will really improve your alternate picking speed if you follow the instructions I just mentioned. You’ll have some nice chops to work with.

Have a great work out!



EXERCISE #1 (in key of D major or B minor)
e:---------7--------|------------------------------------|
B:--7-8-10---10-8---|------------------------------------|
G:*----------------*|------------------------------------|
D:*----------------*|------------------------------------|
A:------------------|------------------------------------|
E:------------------|------------------------------------|
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The Ultimate Motivational Guitar Practice Workout

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May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Robert Bejil
Practicing is the whole key to becoming a good guitar player, but a good practice workout is not just about playing songs, riffs and solos.

It consists of some important elements.

Of course like a lot of guitar players I also started out practicing songs, riffs and licks of my favorite guitar heros, it’s why I started learning guitar in the first place.

But to let your skills and creativity reach it’s full potential there is a lot more to learn.

It doesn’t matter whether you play rock, country, jazz, blues or classical guitar, practicing all the aspects below on a regular basis will motivate you and make you grow into a good skilled guitar player.

Be sure the include every aspect into your overall workout. You don’t necessarily need to put everything in one workout, but spread out over a day or week.

You’ll benefit for the rest of your guitar playing life!Continue Reading