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Walking Bass Notes

Walking Bass NotesWalking Bass Notes

A common technique used to write songs is with using walking bass notes. It's a style of writing music for literally hundreds of years. I think of the very famous Pachelbel's Canon in D that dates back to the Baroque period in the 1700's. Pachelbel uses a repeating descending bass line throughout the piece.

'As A Deer' is a well known worship song that uses a descending bass line in much of the song. There are several ways to write and make song arrangements. In the video below you can learn the walking bass notes for a number of different keys. I've filmed a 6 minute lesson for you. This is also in one of the Video Newsletters but I thought it might be easier to find on the website to have the lesson stand on it's own, too. The video shows some walking bass notes in major keys, but it also works for minor keys.

If you would like to learn and apply many ways to write songs, you might enjoy our Guitar Music Theory course. I hope you enjoy the lesson.

The Walking Bass Note Video

 

Guitar Practice Tips

Guitar Practice TipsGuitar Practice Tips

With a new year people often make new goals or New Year's resolutions. Maybe you have made one around becoming a better musician this year. Here are a few guitar practice tips to help.

1. Pray First
In Scripture it says to pray without ceasing. We can, and should pray about all the details of our lives. Why not ask Him for help in playing music and in keeping focused on Him.

2. Have A Goal

It's a good idea to have a goal. Do you want to learn a specific song, learn more chords, or play with quicker chord changes? It's easier to accomplish a goal if you have one. Do you want to become a more skilled worship leader?  [Read more...]

Changing Chords Quickly

Changing Chords Quickly PictureChanging Chords Quickly

I remember well how difficult it was to originally change to any guitar chord. In particular the 'C' chord tends to be a little tricky for new guitarists. With a bit of practice, the chords do get easier to play.

Daniel's question included help in how to transition quickly between chords. He took the recent Worship Guitar Class Newsletter Survey. Here are some tips that should help any guitar player in changing chords quickly.

Changing Chords Quickly Tips

  1. Put down the bass finger first. For example, for a 'C' chord the root note is 'C'. It's better to work on placing the 3rd finger down first so you can play the bass of the chord and still have a second to get the rest of the chord down. Eventually try to place all of your fingers down at the same time.
  2. Think ahead to the next chord. Think about where your fingers are moving before they actually move. This is especially true for shifts in position on the guitar. Look to the frets you are moving too before you actually shift your fingers. If there is a shift from the first position to the 7th position, your eyes should be on the 7th fret before beginning to move your fingers from the first fret. [Read more...]

Guitar Wrist Pain? Video Newsletter

guitar wrist painHelp for guitar wrist pain is one of the question that was asked ina recent brief survey. Below is a video with answers to a few question like what can you do to help with guitar wrist pain?

Basically, it's how you are holding the guitar. when your wrist is too bend it causes wrist pain. If you change how you are holding the guitar, it can make a significant difference regarding any pain in your hands.

Besides the wrist pain, a few people also asked for help in improving their singing voices. You can find some tips for improving your singing in the video,in addition to help for the guitar wrist pain.

For the record, you should not be experiencing any unusual pain when playing the guitar. It is common for the tips of your fingers to be a bit sore when first starting to play the guitar, but you should not have wrist or hand pain while playing. That means there is something wrong with your technique.

Guitar Wrist Pain And Other Questions - Video Newsletter

Watch the 6 minute video below to get ideas of how to eliminate guitar wrist pain. If you have not taken the survey yet, you can find it here. If one person has a question there are pretty good odds that others may have the same questions, too

These days I've been using an ErgoPlay Guitar Support.

If you would like to see the vocal mask blog post mentioned in the video, the Vocal Mask blog video is here.

This is where you can find the Vocal Warmup CD mentioned in the video. As mentioned in the video above, it's a great idea to warm up your voice before singing. This is especially true for Sunday Morning worship leaders. It takes a while for your voice to 'wake up' in the morning and vocalizing on the way to church is a great way to start the morning.

The exercises in the CD are excellent material for choirs to use too. In fact, the creator of the vocal warmup CD is a choir director and is quite accustomed to helping people get their voices in shape to sing.

And here is where to find the 'How Great Thou Art' arrangements.   [Read more...]

Sore Fingers Guitar?

Sore Fingers GuitarSore Fingers Guitar? Here are a dozen solutions and tips.

1. The first tip for sore fingers guitar is to get an easy to play guitar. Nylon string guitars and electric guitars are much easier on your hands. It's much easier to hold down the strings.

2. With a classical or acoustic guitar, lower the action. It's the distance from the string to the actual neck.  Aim for around 1.5mm at the 1st fret and 5mm at the 12th fret of your guitar. Your fingers will not hurt as much when the action is lower.

3. If you are using a steel string acoustic, start with strings that have a lighter gauge. Lighter gauge strings can help your fingers from getting too sore.

4. Try soaking your fingers in vinegar for half a minute. Let them dry and then start practicing.

5. After you wash your hands, use rubbing alcohol on the tips of your fingers then play after they are dry.

 

More Sore Fingers Guitar Solutions

Click the 'Read More' for more tips... [Read more...]

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Jesus is LORD!