Guitar Lessons with Tune in, Tone up!

In guitar lesson 30, I go to Dan with three questions looking for his guidance. Dan picks up on some very important points about the big picture, maintaining enthusiasm, the importance of live work and how to push yourself towards being an advanced player. You will hear some jamming over a Danny Gatton style backing track, a blues shred idea and plenty of snippets from players as Dan shares the wisdom of his experience. Hopefully, you will be as inspired and motivated by this episode as I am. 02:22 - Introduction - I ask whether we can look at some questions around bringing your skills along 02:36 - Question 1: Advice on having the time to practice 02:55 - Question 2: What skills do you think you need to be moving along from intermediate to advanced guitar 03:14 - Question 3: What do you do to get you out of being in a rut? 05:34 - What causes the ruts? Sometimes caused by doing the same thing and sometimes caused by being on a plateau 07:34 - QUESTION 1: So how do you get out of a rut? 09:52 - Advice on how to gain motivation - get yourself a good teacher 11:12 - The Great Phil Hillborn 12:25 - Advice to find something which excites you - licks, riffs and styles 13:46 - Never forget that you're a student of guitar 13:50 - Never forget you can learn off anybody 14:32 - I mention my motivation being the challenge to see how far I can take it 15:54 - I talk about my 10 years of not playing guitar 16:27 - Advice on motivation - Guitar is therapeutic & a stabilising force 17:22 - The importance of live work and fun interactions with the crowd 18:34 - Losing your mojo and holding onto your childlike enthusiasm is not always easy 19:54 - 1) When you've not got a band to gig with, seek open mics 21:06 - 2) Sometimes buying a piece of kit can be invigorating 22:22 - 3) Trying another instrument 22:24 - 4) Get yourself a teacher 23:27 - 5) Changing things up - change where you are on the fretboard 23:44 - 6) Try a different style 24:09 - 7) Buy some techniques books 25:24 - 8) Go to a gig 27:57 - QUESTION 2 – what do you do if your practice time is limited? 28:55 - Big Jim Sullivan on styles and session work 31:50 - You have to immerse yourself in the style. 34:48 - Andy Wood flatpicking 43:44 - Quick jam over a Country backing track in the style of Danny Gatton 48:41 - Playing the country rhythm 52:06 - QUESTION 3: How do make the leap to advanced and how do you recognise that someone is an advanced player 52:24 - Is Dave Gilmour an advanced player? 54:43 - Dave Gilmour: on the turning away 56:29 - Gary Moore: The messiah will come again 59:21 - Dave Gilmour: Sorrow 60:21 - An advanced player is someone whose personality comes through and they're instantly recognisable 61:48 - Dream theatre John Petrucci 62:10 - Jeff Beck 64:56 - Learn how to accept your playing is your unique sound 67:56 - Dan's take on the blues and Marty Friedman mucking up normal playing for interest 69:55 - Explaining the lick: Blues mixed with sixes rhythms 70:49 - Change the sound on your guitar to get a new idea 71:48 – Final advice summary: Only work on one thing at a time and immerse yourself

Webpage: https://tunein-toneup.com/2018/02/28/guitar-lesson-29-funk-groovy-note-durations/ First backing track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwnEIWJG_g4 Second backing track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V5lB0n5Cbo In Guitar Lesson 29, we decide to return to rhythm playing: this time looking at staying in time, feeling the pulse and playing rhythmically, with interest and in the groove. The lesson is divided up into three parts: Firstly, we look at playing funky grooves and using a metronome; secondly, we have a look at how to play Back in Black in time; finally we look at practising different note groupings and note durations over a couple of backing tracks. 1:25 Introduction - What is it about rhythm that gets missed? 5:12 Hot for teacher clip – Van Halen – to hear the rhythm playing in this song 6:00 Dan’s question: So what aspects of rhythm are tricky? My answer: Making it interesting and groovy. 7:45 We start with a classic funky groove demonstrated by Dan and destroyed by me ;) 9:00 What does it mean to make something groovy? Your audience should feel the need to move from your groove. 9:45 Where is the beat? The importance of tapping your foot 10:50 Get it nice and funky - sitting nicely in that groove 12:00 Keep it really simple on the left hand so you can concentrate on the beat and strumming 14:00 Using a metronome to assist your inner pulse and feel the beat. 18:00 Thoughts on locking in, feeling the pulse and playing naturally 24:50 Duran Duran – Notorious 28:20 What other rhythms can we take a look at today? I suggest ACDC, Back in Black 29:15 Guitar swap 29:53 ACDC – Back in Black 30:20 Step one: Get the chords in the right place 30:45 An initial look at the guitar lick fills 32:05 The importance of slowing stuff down to learn it. Compare to singers' soul vocal fills, learning bends 39:15 Dan’s question: Any other rhythms causing pain. My answer was note groupings in soloing 40:25 Trying different groupings and note durations over a backing track 44:05 Some shapes lend themselves well to different note types 45:00 Second backing track in B Minor 49:30 Still over the backing track in B Minor but fitting the phrasing into the groove and thinking like a horn player 52:00 Still over the backing track in B Minor but fitting the phrasing into the groove and thinking like a horn player 54:00 use phrases that are a rhythmic thing in themselves

Chris Green's website - http://www.chrisgreenmusic.com/ Chris Green on 'emusicworkshop' with Rick Beato - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g37WOXC17U&list=PLb4x6Fj6B5zzs1Bm5EA8HJadYxnZqhblA The Guitar Guru Network - https://www.facebook.com/groups/513586505353886/ Tune in Tone up - https://tunein-toneup.com/ In our second interview with a musician we are really pleased to be able to introduce Chris Green of Tyketto from Atlanta, USA. If you’ve not already heard his stylish playing and excellent musicianship, then you should definitely check it out along with his lessons on YouTube. In the interview, among other things, we talk about some of his projects, what wisdom he has gained over the years and what it was like to go to the NAMM show earlier this year in LA. 01:26 Introduction to the interview with Chris Green from Tyketto, Rubicon Cross, Furyon and Pride 02:11 What are you working on and how can our listeners hear more? 04:14 Discussion about Furyon 06:49 Furyon - Disappear Again 07:28 Rick Beato and Chris Green’s lessons on Rick’s YouTube channel and emusicworkshop.com 09:02 What first got you into playing, what was your first guitar and what was it like started out? 12:00 The Shadows – Apache 15:30 Aztec Camera – Somewhere in my Heart 17:02 What guitars and amplifiers do you choose for certain gigs? Which are the go-tos? 19:40 Chris Green – Unveil (the title track from his solo album) 20:40 What do you wish you’d done more of when starting out? Could you have done things which would have fast-tracked your skills? 25:00 Skid Row – Youth Gone Wild 26:28 Where do you draw your motivation and inspiration from in your in your guitar playing? 30:04 Which players do you find inspirational?.... 31:40 Eric Johnson – Cliffs of Dover 35:05 Pink Floyd – Echoes 36:15 What is your desert island guitar? For example, your house is burning down – which ONE do you take with you? 37:40 Do you have any other advice for aspiring guitar players? 41:10 What do you think guitarists do well that other musicians aren’t as good at and what weaknesses do they often have? 48:16 What are your thoughts about songwriting? What works for you and how do you go about finishing and arranging your songs? 54:03 You’ve just come back from NAMM 2018 in LA haven’t you? What was the most exciting thing you saw or heard there? Who did you see playing or get chatting with? What’s it like to be at the hub of all things guitar? 61:53 What future projects, concerts and gigs should we be looking out for from you?

Tune in Tone up! Interview 1 with Dan Davies In this first interview with a guitar player, Gary asks Dan Davies for his thoughts on some questions about what the guitar means to him. We are aiming to include lots of other players in the future and ask t hem similar questions too. With questions about how he first came to play guitar, what his motivation and inspiration is and how he gets past stagefright and nerves, these interviews will enlighten, educate and entertain. 3:30 What first got you into playing the guitar? 8:30 What do you wish you'd done more of when starting out? 12:33 Where do you draw your motivation and inspiration from? 18:47 What advice do you have for others interested in pursuing a career in music? 21:57 What do you think guitarists do well that other musicians aren't as good at? 25:23 What weaknesses are there particularly for guitar players over other musicians? 29:55 What are your thoughts about songwriting? 35:09 What genres, styles and techniques do you want to improve in your playing? 39:03 What's your advice for gigging and your nerves when performing?

In guitar lesson 28, Dan and I look at how to arrange and develop the song we began to look at last lesson. We thought it would be useful to develop the guitar parts of this song and look further at how to arrange it. With lots of suggestions to support songwriters, we particularly focus on lead-ins, harmonising vocals and guitar parts, palm muting and using intervals to create dynamics. 3:30 Guitar parts and arranging 7:05 The opening riff and building in dynamics by doubling parts 9:45 Remember to strip back for the verse to make the chorus big 10:25 Lead-in, harmonised vocals & palm muting – The Foo Fighters, Pretender 13:50 Breaking up the verse to allow the song to breathe 14:30 Some ideas for skinnying the riff out 15:30 Thicker notes on thicker strings or more strings 16:00 Using intervals to harmonise two guitar parts 20:00 Quick recap 25:10 Developing a spacious and pretty guitar part for the verse 30:20 Tremolo pedal effect to create shimmery tone 32:10 Developing the chorus part 33:30 Explanation on the tweaking of the rhythmic part 37:00 Coming up with some lyrics for the chorus 38:40 The result of Dan’s lyric and chorus 40:15 Alice in Chains type harmonies 41:30 Final thoughts on songwriting in general 47:45 Prince as a songwriter 50:30 Discussion about Tune in Tone up and a reminder to get in touch

Website: https://tunein-toneup.com/ Post: https://tunein-toneup.com/2017/12/31/guitar-lesson-songwriting-tips/ In guitar lesson 27, Dan and I look at the thorny topic of songwriting and arranging original songs. Starting with a riff I wrote a long time ago and with lots of background discussion about how to write songs in general, Dan develops my idea and gives me some options for second guitar parts and song structure. By the end of our lesson we really have something which I can take away and work on. We hope you like this lesson and will look forward to some further developing of our song next lesson. 5:14 Gary’s riff and the basis for our song lesson 8:30 Discussion of famous songs and an examination of what makes a good song 12:30 Tweaking the main riff 14:30 Starting to consider a melody which will work over the riff 18:05 Exploring the chorus and finding a way back into the key of the main riff 20:31 A potential melody as a hook 26:46 A review of what we’ve done so far 29:33 Further work on the melody for the verse and chorus 31:49 Using palm muting for dynamics 35:51 A bit of harmonic analysis on the chords we are using 37:15 Harmonic analysis of Bruce Springsteen’s chromatic run in ‘Born to Run’ How to play 'Born to Run': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfZAColCjbs 41:10 Using shared chords to move between keys 44:14 Adding interest to arrangements / second guitar parts 50:19 Explaining ideas for using octaves and repeating licks

Website: https://tunein-toneup.com/ Post: https://tunein-toneup.com/2017/12/10/guitar-lesson-country-rock-rhythm-licks-petty-campbell/ You can see my fan post on Tom Petty here: https://tunein-toneup.com/2017/12/10/tom-petty-music-heartbreaker-mike-campbell/ In guitar lesson 26, I ask Dan for his advice about playing in the Country / Rock / Pop genre with the aim of supporting both rhythm playing in the style of Tom Petty and lead playing in the style of his guitarist – Mike Campbell. In this lesson Dan begins by choosing a chord progression with a Tom Petty-like rhythm, then looking at incorporating bass runs, arranging songs for dynamic interest, adding some country bends and soloing using double stops. The lesson ends with us looking at a series of licks and how to incorporate these into our chord progression; a quick study of mixing the major and minor pentatonics and a final challenge to play changes up the fretboard as a useful practice idea. 3:35 Chord progression, with a little chat about tone – Bm A / A G D (Dsus4) 7:53 Incorporating bass lines / connecting runs using bass notes 9:40 Dynamics: e.g. start mellow and build up, changing your chord voicings 13:53 Country bends, including chordal bends and double string bends 18:05 Dan demonstration of ideas so far, with Gary playing rhythm 19:18 The importance of not conceptually separating lead and rhythm playing 25:19 Major and minor 6ths double stops 26:35 Demonstration of double stop soloing over our chord progression, Dan first and then my attempt 34:35 Some soloing ideas for country rock with demonstration of licks 36:59 Lick 1 37:10 Lick 2 37:28 Lick 3 (outlining the D chord) 37:48 Lick 4 37:59 Lick 5 39:20 Mixolydian lick / mixing the major and minor pentatonics 41:34 Demonstration of soloing ideas over our chord progression 42:28 Further ideas on mixing the major and minor pentatonics 44:13 A final challenge to find backing tracks which change from two scales; e.g. minor to major / dorian to aeolian and play up the fretboard with the changes

In guitar lesson 25, Dan and I improvise over a Blues backing track in G (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5r_KSLxYkg) and then we examine some of the licks and approaches which add some oomph into someone’s style and playing. Dan patiently breaks down a few of his licks for me and hopefully, after some practise, I will be able to inject them into my own playing to give it some clout. All our improvisations over the backing track have been left in warts and all so you can learn from my mistakes as well as Dan’s playing and hints. I've been going back over the riffs Dan shows me In this episode and thought it might be helpful if I shared the timings on this episode in case you, like me, want to go back over some of these riffs to try to commit them to memory and file them away in the old trick bag! In minutes and seconds: 4:30 jam 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5r_KSLxYkg) 13:35 double stops 14:20 riff on top strings 15:10 same including blues note symmetrical 16:30 same staggered pattern across 5 strings from A string 12th fret to E string 15th fret 19:35 descending riff and played chicken pickin' at 22:30 23:40 trill Gary Mooreism B string 3 and 6th frets slide to 2nd and 5th frets 24:10 trill idea plotting path up fretboard 25:10 trill and yank string behind trill to modulate 26:45 country style rolling trill lick with moved pattern at 27:55 and slightly alternative lick based on same idea at 29:00 31:00 Eric Johnson inspired descending lick straight from the pentatonic scale 34:40 jam 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5r_KSLxYkg 44:20 jam 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5r_KSLxYkg

Website: https://tunein-toneup.com/ As always, we welcome your engagement and would love to hear from you through our website (https://tunein-toneup.com/contact/) or Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/tuneintoneup/) if there are any lessons you would like to hear us cover, or want to start a dialogue about anything guitar-related. The number of listens we receive inspire us to keep doing what we are doing, so we hugely appreciate all your shares, likes and support. Post: https://tunein-toneup.com/2017/11/19/guitar-lesson-24-blues-identify-chops/ In Guitar Lesson 24, Dan suggests that we go back to look again at my Blues playing in order to identify areas which I ought to work on and potential weaknesses in my improvisation skills and techniques. Bearing this in mind we take a Blues backing track in E and play over it in turns, then look at some things which I should work on and also some tips and guitar hacks to assist. During the episode there are some suggestions about playing rhythmically, note choice using the blues note and borrowing from a couple of the modes and practicing some riffs and phrases to be better prepared. Be kind to me on this one :) Listening back to this I really was not happy with my playing on this lesson and will definitely be prioritising playing over a 12 bar blues over the next few weeks and months. Dan's excellent suggestions have inspired me to really work on licks I can use for each of the changes and get my chops honed and in time. I plan to use a metronome and have just purchased a Digitech Trio (a pedal which acts as an automatic drum machine and bassist)to further help with this. A Looper might also be useful looking forward to Christmas. I really want to get my improvisations sounding confident, rhythmically and in their phrasing and note choice. I hope Dan's suggestions were as useful to you as they were to me and that you forgive my playing and learn from the mistakes which I find myself making.

Website: https://tunein-toneup.com/ Post: https://tunein-toneup.com/2017/11/11/guitar-lesson-23-arranging-songs-prince-foo-police/ In guitar lesson 23, I ask Dan to give me some pointers on how to arrange songs for a three piece band, with a particular focus on some tunes I want to play with some friends. First, Dan shows me some ideas for Times Like These by the Foo Fighters to increase the interest in the rhythm playing so that it works well with the melody. He also gives me some thoughts about dynamics and harmonising the chorus. Next we look at Message in Bottle and how to augment the famous riff with a second guitar part. Finally, Dan takes me through his arrangement of Purple Rain which has some chimey chords and licks. We finish with the solo.

Website: https://tunein-toneup.com/ Post: https://tunein-toneup.com/2017/11/04/guitar-lesson-22-warm-ups-practice-schedule/ In guitar lesson 22, which is being released as a whole episode, Dan and Gary examine the rationale behind warming-up before playing the guitar, looking at reasons which different people might have. Following this Dan takes us through a range of warm-ups and exercises which you can use. In the second part of this lesson we look at some ways you might put together a practice schedule in order to gain the most benefit from your time.

Website: https://tunein-toneup.com/ Dedicated post: https://tunein-toneup.com/2017/10/27/guitar-lesson-21-style-technique-steve-lukather/ Backing track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1xhSg-_oa8 This episode of our podcast, guitar lesson 21, is an introduction to the style of Steve Lukather - session guitarist extraordinaire and virtuoso. In it we examine his note choice, techniques and approach to the guitar. This lesson is being released as one whole lesson as we felt that it fitted together better this way. It begins with Dan's improvisation over the YouTube backing track, which we found to use as the basis for this lesson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1xhSg-_oa8). The lesson then starts proper with a background discussion of Lukather's playing and session work. Next Dan breaks down some of the techniques and ideas which he employed in his imrovisation. Finally, it ends with a jam in which we both take it in turns to improvise over the backing track.

Website: https://tunein-toneup.com/ Post: https://tunein-toneup.com/2017/09/30/guitar-lesson-20-setting-up-small-pedalboard-tips-and-advice/ In guitar lesson 20, I take a set of pedals (which a friend has kindly lent me) around to Dan's house to ask for his advice on how to use them.  Dan chooses to part with his Pedal Train Nano + and CIOKS 'Adam' power supply and then helps me to set up this small pedal board.  As we put together my mini-board, Dan shares lots of tips and things to consider when doing this which we now share with you. In summary, Dan's tips are: Put together the board which suits you - don't go all out on a huge pedal board if you need to carry your pedal board by public transport to each gig.  Start small and build it up from there.  Pre-plan everything. Consider a switching system.  Careful how you wire in your pedals and make sure that the pedals will be compatible and not draw too much power. Lots of options to look at for cabling.  Consider this carefully. Plan your board so everything fits and you have got room for all the wiring.  Think about which pedals you need greatest access to and what the order of the pedals is. Don't buy a poor power supply and be prepared to pay a little more for one which will run your pedals well and avoid unwanted noise. iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/guitar-lessons-tune-in-tone-up-podcast/id1187509288?mt=2 Further research and help: https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/The_Premier_Guitar_Pedalboard_Survival_Guide http://www.guitarworld.com/video-guitar-worlds-guide-building-pedal-board

Website: https://tunein-toneup.com/ Backing track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p5-Zm1zEMk In guitar lesson 19b, we begin again with the improvisation from episode 19a and then Dan explains some of the techniques and themes which he used in his playing. He outlines a series of legato exercises, some of which are pretty advanced, which can be practised to improve this area of your playing. This episode culminates with some great improvisation from Dan and some rather more amateur improvisation from myself. iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/guitar-lessons-tune-in-tone-up-podcast/id1187509288?mt=2

Website: https://tunein-toneup.com/ Post: https://tunein-toneup.com/2017/09/22/guitar-lesson-19a-satriani-rhythm-and-legato/ Track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p5-Zm1zEMk YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxcNU7lrHXU In guitar lesson 19a, Dan and I look at a backing track from YouTube in Em at 137BPM. First, Dan explains how to play the rhythm sections and the make-up of the chords. Secondly, Dan introduces the concept of legato which is widely used by Joe Satriani and this episode then ends with a demonstration of an improvisation over this backing track.