Learn, Grow and Connect at Your MEA

As human beings, we have an inherent aptitude for learning and a natural hunger for knowledge, wisdom and personal growth. We spend a lifetime honing our skills, and each of us will find our own ways of satisfying our curiosity as well as preferred sources of research and methods for retaining the information we learn.

As a young student, I would develop my own ways of expanding upon the lessons I was being taught, and in the process, “learning how to learn” from the inside out, not the outside in. Here are eight tips that everyone should know as they start their journey of learning how to play guitar.

1. Know That Comprehension May Come Before Practical Application

Many people may be surprised to hear this, but you may understand a skill or a technique before you can actually do it. For example, you may have learned that there are seven notes in every major scale — you may even know the interval formula that builds that framework — and yet playing that shape on the guitar fretboard is proving to be a struggle. This is completely fine. In fact, I believe that the “why” we do things can be more important than the actual “doing” of them.

In this particular case, my advice would be to find the smallest physical shape of the scale you want to play, then locate it further up the fretboard to make it even smaller, and learn the scale shape one string at a time. Name the notes, sing them out loud as you play them, and sing the intervals between the notes, as well. Then it’s a matter of adding the next string of the shape … but do so only when you are ready to expand on the physical action of playing it.

2. Learn the Shapes Within Shapes

It’s particularly important to learn fretboard shapes because smaller shapes may lie within them that can help you understand the framework of the music you’re playing, as shown in this illustration:

The major scale is the most important musical framework to understand on the fretboard. Here’s why:

1. The seven notes of the major scale are used to build triads, seventh chords, and the multiple inversions and extensions that can be placed upon those chords.
2. The major and minor Pentatonic scales are all derived and built from the major scale.
3. Double-stops (two-note chord fragments) are all derived from the major scale.
4. We can create different moods within music by simply inverting the major scale to create seven distinct modalities.
5. Triad and seventh chord arpeggios are also derived from the major scale framework.

For these reasons, you should make a point of finding every shape you can within your favorite major scale pattern. I think you’ll be amazed at what you start to see within that larger matrix.

3. Learn the Notes on the Fretboard

I know a lot of guitar players that don’t know the notes on the fretboard! Even some of the best players in the world don’t know them, but I’d argue that it’s worth the investment in time.

For one thing, when you know the note names on each string, you can locate and build scales, arpeggios, chords and alternate voicings without relying on shapes that you may or may not be familiar with yet. You’ll also be able to communicate that information with other musicians. In addition, if you have even the slightest desire to read music notation or tablature, knowing your fretboard is paramount.

Here are a couple of methods for learning the notes on your fretboard:

Octave Shapes

Start by playing the F note on the first fret of the low E string. You’ll find another F note (one octave higher in pitch) two frets higher on the fourth string. Another F — this one two octaves higher — can also be found on the sixth fret of the second string. Higher octaves of F can be found on the eighth fret of the fifth string, the tenth fret of the third string, and on the 13th fret of the top E string.

Once you know these shapes, you can use them to locate octaves of other notes. For example, if you move the F shapes up a fret, you’ll know where all the F# octaves are; move them up two frets and you’ll know where all the G octaves are, etc.

One Fret at a Time

The open strings on your guitar are pitched as follows, from low to high:

E, A, D, G, B, E

From here, you can easily name the notes found on the first fret, which are a semitone higher:

F, A#, D#, G#, C, F

One fret higher, the note names are:

F#, B, E, A, C#, F#

Continue this exercise up to the fifth fret, playing and singing the notes each time. Within a week, you’ll know all the note names up to the fifth fret, and how to find the same tone across all six strings.

4. Connect the Dots

If you have the desire to make the connection between your fretboard and music notation, here’s a simple exercise I developed that you can do while drinking your morning coffee. This exercise will help you see the notes in your mind at specific fretboard locations, and demonstrate where they would be written on the musical stave.

1. Get a sheet of manuscript paper. Along the top of the first stave, write the corresponding fretboard location number. (See the illustration below.)
2. Below that number, write the note name of each string on the stave that’s found at that fretboard location. For example, if you wrote 3 above the stave, you’d have the notes G, C, F, B♭, D, G.
3. Write the notes as dots on the stave. (I’ll let you complete the next four fret locations.) The end result should look like this:

Making these kinds of musical connections will shorten the curve of understanding as you expand your guitar-playing skills.

5. Adopt Visualization Techniques

I’m a great advocate of visualization when it comes to learning to play guitar, or any instrument, for that matter. If you can see it, it’s possible to make it real.

When you visualize playing notes on the fretboard — even while you are away from your instrument — neural impulses are still being sent to your fingers. You are still practicing consciously, but without the physical component.

To further strengthen the connection, name the notes you are “playing” during the visualization process. I’ve used visualization to rehearse a song in my mind while I was traveling to an audition. You can rehearse the perfect performance, the confident performance and the perfect outcome. It’s all a conscious choice … and trust me, it works.

6. Work at Developing Your Coordination

When playing guitar, the fretting hand articulates the notes, chords and arpeggios, while the picking/strumming hand articulates the rhythms that express those sounds. In order to bring both together seamlessly, you need to learn to coordinate what your left and right hands are doing.

If you find that your coordinations are out of time, it’s probably due to one of the following issues:

1. Your rhythm hand is out of time with the music.
2. You aren’t physically able to form certain chords in time for the changes to occur at the right moment.
3. Your picking is out of sync with the single notes you are fretting.

Whatever the cause, the best way to correct your coordination is to slow down and focus on each aspect separately. If you are struggling with a chord shape, for example, either simplify the shape or visualize your fingers making the physical form away from the fretboard, as noted in Tip #5 above. In your mind, try slowly morphing into the shape multiple times before executing it physically on the fretboard.

If you are working on your scales, remember that speed is a byproduct of accuracy. It is only after you are able to achieve what you want to do slowly that tempos should be increased … but gradually. Listen carefully to the left- and right-hand connection and make sure the notes are in time, and not out of sync. If they aren’t connecting perfectly, slow down until synchronicity occurs naturally.

7. Prioritize Your Rhythm Chops

If you can play rhythm guitar, you’ll always find a gig, be able to play or write a song, support a vocalist and jam with anyone.

When I started my musical journey, I became a rhythm guitarist first. I only became curious about solos and lead guitar after I was already playing in bands and had formed a good vocabulary of both rhythm chops and chord voicings. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve laid down the rhythms at a jam session so everyone could solo, and when it’s my turn to let rip, the whole thing falls apart because the other players didn’t figure out the chords … regardless of how simple they were.

In a professional setting, 99% of the time you’ll be playing rhythm guitar, and if you’re lucky you’ll have a moment or two in the spotlight to show off the soloing chops you’ve been working on. Make rhythm guitar your priority and work towards melodic phrasing afterwards.

8. Unleash the Power of Resonant Frequencies

There are multiple components to how we perceive music. We hear music, but we also feel it. Not only do the notes, chords and rhythms resonate at certain pitches, our instruments, bodies and voices do the very same thing.

When you play a note or strum a chord on guitar, the strings vibrate, creating resonance within the instrument. The pitch of those notes or chords determines the resonant frequencies you feel.

For that same reason, guitar players should sing (off-mic if necessary) whenever they play the instrument because the chords we play have been built from the same scales that are used to sing or play melodies. When we sing notes over a chord, we make a personal connection with it, not only in terms of the pitch, but how the note is resonating within the chord. For example, the root note will feel different than that of a third or fifth. Even if you block out the sound altogether, you’ll still feel whether or not the music is in tune, if the pitches are correct, and if the right notes are being played.

Remember to feel the music, not just hear it.

The Video

In this video, I’ve capo’d my Yamaha RSE20 at the first fret, but I’m playing shapes you’d normally associate with the key of E. This makes the same information feel and resonate differently, as discussed in Tip #8 above. (The music is now in the key of F.)

I’m utilizing octaves of the same pitch for some of the phrases and unison notes in the melody to solidify the tonal center of the progression (again, in the key of F). In addition, I purposely kept my eyes shut during this performance so I could feel the music, phrases and composition as much as I could hear it.

The Guitar

The Yamaha Revstar RSE20 is a terrific guitar for beginners. Not only is it easy to play, it exudes musical power in multiple ways. Its jumbo frets allow for detailed expression whether you’re playing chords or single-note runs, and the satin-finished neck feels super-smooth for fast articulations. Tuning and intonation are always spot-on, even when using a capo, and incredible rock tones are easy to achieve from the Alnico V humbucking pickups and simple three-way selector switch.

And, I have to add, the Neon yellow finish of the RSE20 I used in the video above literally dominates the screen when filming. (Yes, color has resonant frequencies too, measured in Terrahertz.) This guitar looks every bit as impressive as it sounds!

The Wrap-Up

There’s a lot that goes into learning to play guitar, but it’s a journey that can be incredibly rewarding. The best piece of advice I can offer is this: question everything and discover your own solutions before seeking guidance from others. That way, you’ll learn how to grow through independence, and you’ll be able to form personal musical opinions based on both research and experience.

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR.

Check out Robbie’s other postings.

I’m sure most of us, at some point, have contemplated learning a new language … even if it’s just a few key phrases to help us communicate during an exotic vacation.

There are an estimated 7,169 living dialects spoken in the world today. As guitar players, and as musicians, we also have several languages (fortunately, way less than 7,169 of them!) we can use to document, learn and share our music with others. The most commonly employed musical languages are:

1. Formal notation
2. Tablature
3. Chord charts
4. The Nashville numbers system

In this posting, we’ll take a look at each.

Formal Notation

Learning to read formal music notation can be a daunting task for many guitar players, and rightfully so. If you don’t understand the symbols, dots, stems and structures on the sheet of paper (technically called the manuscript), it all just looks like Egyptian hieroglyphics. However, there’s a difference between sight-reading, where you can decipher everything at a glance and play it as you do so, and basic notation reading skills, where you may need to review what’s on the written page several times before being able to play it accurately.

Developing the ability to sight-read music notation takes years of study and decades of dedication. If you have the desire to become a proficient sight-reader, you are most likely looking to forge a career that requires that very specific skill—for example, becoming a professional session player, orchestra pit member, transcriber, orchestrator or composer. For the rest of us, it’s sufficient to develop a basic understanding of the written idiom to help you learn, share and expand your musical knowledge.

Let’s start with the symbols, structures and signs that are used in formal notation and tablature.

The Stave and Treble Clef

The illustration above shows typical guitar notation and tablature. The top line (called a stave) is the notation. As you can see, it’s made up of five horizontal lines. Each of those lines, and the spaces in-between, represent a musical pitch, as indicated.

Guitarists read music on a stave that’s called the treble clef, sometimes also referred to as the G clef. It’s depicted at the very beginning of the stave by a shape that encircles the second line up from the bottom. This clef is also used to depict notes to be played by the right hand on a keyboard. (There’s also a bass clef, which appears beneath the treble clef, but this is used to depict notes meant to be played by bass or by the left hand on a keyboard, so we won’t be showing it in this blog post.)

Ledger Lines

Ledger lines are short lines placed above or below the standard five-line stave that show notes that are higher or lower in pitch than the standard five lines and spaces.

Bar Lines

The stave is divided into sections using vertical bar lines. These allow notes and rhythms to be grouped into smaller, easier to read sections called measures.

Time Signatures

The time signature is placed directly after the treble clef sign. It defines the main pulse of a musical piece, and tells us how many of those main pulses are found in each bar (measure), as well as the note value that each main pulse receives.

The upper number describes how many main pulses are found in each measure, while the lower number describes the note value, or length of pitch each pulse will receive. In the example above, the “4” above the line tells us that there are four main pulses in each measure. The lower “4” tells us that each main pulse receives a duration of a quarter note. The four quarter notes ultimately add up to a whole note (one measure).

Pitch

Musical pitch is shown on the stave vertically using dots. These dots also define how long a pitch is to be sounded (i.e., the duration of the sound).

Rhythms are laid out in a linear, horizontal form. Stems are used to define the pitch duration. Those stems, when subdivided into smaller durations, can be joined together using beams; this helps to group notes together in each main pulse. These groupings of notes within a main pulse makes them easier to read. We’ll talk more about rhythm shortly.

Stem Direction

The stems attached to a dot that’s written on or below the middle line of the stave (the note B) are attached to the right of the dot, and point upwards. Stems attached to a dot written on or above the middle line are attached to the left of the dot, and point downwards.

Note Values and Rests

As we’ve seen, each dot represents a pitch, rhythm and sound duration. As shown in the illustration above, there is also a symbol that represents the equivalent in silence. These are called rests.

Now let’s look at the note values used in written music, and the ways they can be subdivided to create shorter sounds. This process creates rhythm in the music.

Rhythm

As shown in the illustration above, whole notes — the ones that are played and held throughout a whole measure — are the only notes that don’t receive a stem; they also have a hollow center.

A whole note can be halved by placing two hollow dots on the stave and adding a stem to each. These are called half notes.

Rhythmic values shorter than a half note are represented by a solid dot. For example, a quarter note is indicated by a stem attached to a solid dot; it has half the rhythmic value of a half note. That note duration can be halved yet again by adding a single tail to the stem to create an eighth note. Adding an additional tail to the eighth note results in a note duration of a sixteenth note, thirty-second note and so on, each played with half the duration of the preceding one.

Brackets

Brackets are used to group triplets together. A triplet consists of three notes played in the space of an eighth note (as in the first measure above) or quarter note (as in the second measure above).

Ties

Curved lines called ties are used to join notes of the same pitch together. They’re used when you want to join notes at the end of a pulse to the note of the next pulse. You can also use ties to join notes across a bar line.

The Pitch Range of the Guitar

As shown in the illustration above, a standard six-string guitar with 24 frets provides a possible pitch range of four octaves. The low E-string is located below the stave on a ledger line, and the high E-string at the 24th fret would be shown on a ledger line above the stave.

Guitar Tablature

Tablature (TAB) is usually written below the standard notation so that the bar lines, measures and rhythmic figures all line up. At first glance, guitar tablature looks very similar to the five-line musical stave; however, it has six lines representing the six strings of the guitar. (The low E string is on the lowest line.) Another difference is that the notes in tablature are indicated by numbers, not dots. The fret location number is written on the string on which it’s to be played, and placed directly under the rhythmic attack found in the standard notation. The great thing about tablature is that it defines exactly which string and fret location a note or phrase is to be played at. Often in standard notation, the music can be played in more than one fretboard location, which can be confusing.

To illustrate how it works, here’s a video of me playing “Ode to Joy” using the tablature above:

Chord Charts

Chord charts are written on standard manuscript paper, with the specific chord name placed above the top line of the stave. Specific rhythms may be written below the chord; if not, the player can interpret the rhythm however they choose. Reading chord charts requires a good knowledge of harmonic structures and chord types.

Chords are often included on a manuscript that includes both notation and tablature. You may even see specific chord diagrams shown on fretboard diagrams above the stave. The notation that accompanies the video below is a good example of this.

The Nashville Numbers System

This system was developed to allow musicians to change the key of a song quickly without having to rewrite a chord chart. It defines the scale position of the chords in a song’s harmonic progression using numbers instead of specific pitches. Each of the seven chords in the harmonized major scale receives a number to represent their scale position within the scale. For example, the harmonized C major scale would be represented this way:

C     Dmi    Emi    F    G    Ami    Bdim    C

1       2mi    3mi    4     5    6mi     7dim    1

The Importance of Reading Music

Reading music allows us to play a composition exactly as the composer intended. A good reader then learns how to interpret the notation and add their own expressiveness to a piece.

Specifically, reading notation allows us to analyze a piece of music for a better understanding of the chord/scale relationship, as well as the phrasing, motifs and dynamic markings.

Tablature gives us the best of both worlds. It combines standard rhythm notation with fretboard locations — something we may understand better than recognizing a note on the stave and making that connection to the fretboard.

The Video

My Trading Licks video jam sessions illustrate how we can create, document and share music via notation and tablature. In this series of videos, I play a two-bar phrase, and you can then jam along with me in the spaces I’ve left for you to respond with your own phrases. In the video above, you’ll be playing over D7(#9), E7(#9) and A7(#9) chords. Either the D blues scale or the D minor pentatonic scale will work perfectly over all three chords.

Click here to view and download the notation and tablature so you can learn my licks and/or analyze why the notes are working so well over each of the chords. As mentioned previously, chord diagrams are placed above the notation so you can play rhythm behind my licks until it’s your turn to solo.

The Guitar

The stunning Yamaha SA2200 semi-hollowbody electric guitar I’m playing in this video covers just about any style of music you can throw at it. Its laminated sycamore top, back and sides contribute significantly to the woody tones, and I love the highly figured glow of the sunburst finish.

The SA2200’s Alnico V humbucking pickups can also be coil-tapped for a single-coil tone, giving the discerning player six onboard pickup tones via a three-way switch, along with the push/pull taps on each tone control.

The Wrap-Up

We can use our ears to learn how to play the guitar, and watch videos to see how certain techniques are achieved. But when it comes to understanding the intricacies of a composition or documenting and sharing our ideas, nothing beats the ability to read and write music on the stave. And it’s not just guitar players that use the treble clef. Pianists, as well as mandolin, violin, flute, saxophone, clarinet and oboe players all read and share their music via the same clef.

The bottom line is this: Knowledge is powerful, communication is king, and removing any barriers to understanding the language allows the conversation between musicians to flow freely.

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR.

Check out Robbie’s other postings.

Let’s face it: The internet has changed the way most people live, learn and function in the world. Gone are the days of guitarists trying to figure out notes, fingerings, riffs and chords from a book, a local teacher, or simply by dropping the needle onto a record hundreds of times. Instead, we can watch YouTube, TikTok and Instagram videos of our favorite artists on our laptops or mobile devices at any time of day. In some cases, you can even learn how to play your favorite songs from the artists themselves, or from a talented online educator—and, as a bonus, most of those lessons are free. If for some reason you still can’t find what you’re looking for, there are tons of guitar forums as well as Facebook and chat groups, all of which allow you to seek advice and guidance from other individuals.

Given that we now have the resources to learn almost any guitar part verbatim, the question is: How do we absorb the inspiration from others and still sound like ourselves? That’s the subject of this posting, where I’ll share some ideas on how to process all that musical goodness and turn it into your own unique voice.

Listen Closely

Thanks to the ubiquity of laptops and mobile devices, it seems as if humans listen more with their eyes these days than they do with their ears. I’d suggest it’s much better to listen to music than it is to watch it, so try closing your eyes next time you really want to focus on what you’re hearing. After all, deprive one sense and it will enhance the others.

Then ask yourself, what is it about the music, tone, notes and overall musicality that you gravitate towards when listening to your favorite artist or artists? How does their guitar playing make you feel? Emotional content is such an important part of music, so it’s worth understanding how a player creates different moods by using particular modes, scales, harmonic structures, rhythms and instrumentations. All contribute to the overall feel of a song.

Key Attributes

I think it’s extremely important to ascertain the elements that we hear in our heroes’ playing: what we admire, wish to emulate, and ultimately integrate seamlessly into our own style.

I’ve listed below some key attributes that I listen for when I hear a guitarist play. The ones in bold are those that are most important to me—the ones I feel have shaped my own style. Add your own observations to this list, and highlight the elements that are most important to you.

1. 1. 1. Smooth vibrato
      2. Interesting phrasing
      3. Melodic note choices
      4. Speed
      5. Dexterity
      6. Legato (hammer-ons / pull-offs, etc.)
      7. Precision
      8. Musical feel
      9. Harmonic sensibilities (cool chords)
      10. Rhythm, groove and pocket
      11. Tone
      12. Intonation
      13. Dynamics
      14. Bending to pitch
      15. Creative parts that serve the song, not the player

Honestly, all the elements listed here could be seen as equally important, but I think some should rise above others in order to create a unique musical style and personal sound.

My Personal Guitar Heroes

I feel I have developed most of my musical sensibilities by listening to some of the greatest guitar players to ever walk the planet, although I’ve tried to steer clear of learning anything verbatim from any artist. I think that approach has served me well in creating my own sound and style.

Here are some of my personal guitar heroes, along with some of the reasons why their playing has had such a profound effect on how I play the guitar.

Keith Scott

I heard the Bryan Adams album Reckless for the first time in 1984. Each song featured straightforward arrangements and memorable hooks we could all sing along to, with Bryan’s guitarist Keith Scott always contributing simple yet effective rhythm parts and riffs. His playing and unique guitar tones had a profound effect on me and my development as a guitar player.

Keith’s solos were also perfectly crafted, with melodic lines that inevitably started seamlessly from where the vocals ended. Each contained short motifs that were repeated and re-phrased, always paying homage to the vocal intention of the song. I think my love of chord tone soloing comes from Keith’s amazing melodic phrasing around vocal lines. His playing on Bryan Adams’ “One Night Love Affair” is the perfect example of how to craft a solo and outro motifs within the context of a song. Pure gold!

Neal Schon

Neal Schon is one of those guitar players that most people could say was a master of his own sound, technique and musicality. We’ve all heard the timeless radio songs from his classic band Journey.

Neal has the innate skill of crafting guitar parts that work perfectly with the keyboard parts. His solos are melodic, interesting, and always fit the musical context. The vibrato on his bends is always perfectly intonated, and his guitar tone is always right for the song arrangements. A good example of Neal’s sensibilities is found in the Journey song “Send Her My Love.” Notice how the solo follows on from the vocal intention, enhancing the mood and feel of the song. The motifs that are doubled with the keyboards on the outro are another great example of crafting tasteful phrases that complement the vocal lines.

Steve Lukather

Luke has played on hundreds of hit songs and has had a profound effect on my playing. His rhythm chops, “bubble” parts (single-note rhythms) and iconic riffs drive the grooves and always sit perfectly in the pocket. When it comes to solos, his dynamics, passion, phrasing and tone are all sublime. I especially love his pitch-perfect string bends, smooth vibrato, dynamic passion and exotic note choices.

Steve’s performance on the Toto song “Rosanna” provides the perfect example of his rhythm chops, while the outro solo may just be the perfect example of dynamic phrasing within an improvisation.

The Edge

David Howell Evans, better known as U2 guitarist The Edge, created his signature sound using melodic and rhythmic guitar parts that are fed through a lot of signal processing—specifically, stereo delay and chorus. The iconic riffs he crafts are precise, dynamic, interesting and serve the song perfectly, as exemplified in the band’s huge hit single “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

Joey Landreth

Joey Landreth is one of the most melodic songwriters and guitar players of our time. His slide playing is precise, melodic, dynamic and perfectly intonated. I think it’s because he’s a lead singer that he’s learned to phrase so well in and around the vocal lines. His rhythm chops, pocket and harmonic choices are contemporary, yet feel retrospective at the same time. Check out his playing on the song “Gone Girl” and see if you don’t agree.

The Video

This video demonstrates some of the elements I find compelling within my own playing … some of which, I’m pretty sure, have been gifted to me by listening to the masters I’ve mentioned above.

The chordal part defines a nice Dorian motif in D and G, while the bubble part and upper chord voicings outline those key changes, and the solo lines have been phrased to evoke the sound of a minor modality without sounding too jazzy.

The Guitar

The Yamaha Revstar Professional RSP02T I’m playing in the video features the classic sound of a mahogany back and solid maple top. Its P90 pickups are smooth enough for jazz, yet gritty enough for rock ‘n’ roll. In addition, the jumbo frets on the rosewood fingerboard allow the player to bend notes with perfect intonation in every register of the neck.

Revstar Professional guitars all feature chambered bodies designed to sculpt tone and reduce weight, with carbon reinforcement in the body and neck to improve vibration transfer. Their five-way switch, in combination with a focus switch, allows for ten onboard pickup configurations. Positions 2 and 4 slightly delay the opposite pickup for a subtle phase shift that offers a fresh take on classic “in-between” sounds. The push/pull tone control activates a passive boost with an effect similar to overwound pickups, which results in darker highs, increased mids and lows, and an aggressive character.

The Wrap-Up

When we close our eyes, we can better hear and appreciate music. Not only that, our bodies feel the music, and our souls are moved by the performances, arrangements, modalities and composition. Taking the time to identify key elements within a performance allows us to ascertain the desirable attributes we’d like to replicate within our own music.

When we pour all those inspirations into one melting pot and let it simmer for a while, tried and tested flavors emerge, only now they are seasoned to taste by our own experiences, creativity and note choices. That’s the key to thinking like your guitar heroes but sounding like yourself.

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR

Check out Robbie’s other postings.