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February Guitar Lesson of
the Month..........Secure Order Form
Play Pause Stop
"Blues in Bb" - Audio Sound Clip -
Press
"Play"
Play Pause Stop
Dear Guitarist and Friend,
Welcome to the
February Guitar Lesson of the Month! This
month's lesson is a 12-bar jazz blues comping or rhythm chord chart arranged by
Steven Crowell. It is an excellent example of how a simple blues progression can
be enhanced by substituting new chords for the basic original ones. You will also notice it is written in block chord diagram form for those of you
who can't read music. This "Blues in Bb" is from his book/CD called "Advanced
Concepts For Rhythm Guitar". For a complete listing of all the Steven Crowell Book/CDs, as well as
his 4 year college level jazz guitar course, just click on this link: "Jazz Guitar Music
Course"
Also,
I am including a sound clip from the CD that comes with this book - so that
you can hear exactly how the song should be played. Just click the "Play" button
on the "Blues in Bb" dashboard at the top of this page.
Here is the book description from our website:
Advanced Concepts For Rhythm Guitar - A
comprehensive guide to modern
rhythm chord playing. Advanced chord concepts are easily grasped with this 52
page
book. Chord diagrams map out virtually every practical progression while at
the same
time explaining how chords work. Organizes the important chord
qualities: major,
minor, dominant, diminished, and half-diminished. Shows how to assemble
chords to
play intelligent accompaniment patterns. Book and CD..................................Price - $19.95
Here are some pointers that will help you out
when you are working your way through this blues progression. Steve plays
"Blues in Bb" using a pick, although you could
also play it fingerstyle, using your right hand fingers instead. Above
each chord are slash // marks that tell you how many beats each chord is worth.
Since this blues is in 4/4 time, there are 4 beats per measure. Therefore, 4
slashes above a chord would mean 4 downstrums or 4 beats and 2 slashes above a
chord would mean 2 downstrums or 2 beats. When there is a number to the right of
the chord diagram grid, it is telling you what fret to play the chord at.
If there is no number to the right of the chord diagram, then you would play the
chord by counting up from the first fret and playing it at the appropriate
position. You would use "freestroke picking" when you are strumming these chords
meaning your pick will arc up and away from the face of your guitar after you
complete each downstrum.
You will notice on the
recording that there are 4 complete choruses for this Blues in Bb and Steve
plays the first 4 choruses "straight", which means that he is strumming down
once for each beat. The second time through he starts to "jazz" things up
by punctuating chords on and off the beats. You'll immediately notice that this
sounds a lot cooler than just playing a chord on each beat. Definitely
learn the names of all of the chords so that you can start to develop an
extensive vocabulary of chord voicings.
Here are some hints which will help
out your pickstyle playing considerably. Hold your pick between your right hand thumb and
the left side of your index finger tip, keeping your thumb perfectly straight so that it
is tension free. The pick should be held loosely enough that there is a little give and
take when you strike a string. This way you won't feel like you're digging in or dragging
across the string. The pick should strike each string perpendicularly or straight on, as
opposed to striking the string at an angle. You will get a fuller sounding note this way.
Also, only the tip part of the pick needs to strike the string. There is no need to dig
your pick down between the strings. This creates too much resistance. When you use a pick,
your up and down picking motions come from your hand, wrist and forearm at the exact same
time. They move as 1 unit in a rotary motion and your wrist stays perfectly straight. Keep
your middle, ring, and little fingers loosely held back in the palm of your hand - don't
give in to the temptation of resting your little finger on the pick guard or the face of
your guitar. This will only serve to glue you into 1 position and will cut down on your
mobility and freedom of motion.
Remember to keep your left hand thumb straight, pointing towards
the ceiling and in the middle of the back of the neck. Resist the temptation to hang your
thumb over the top of the guitar neck. Your left wrist should be slightly arched and
directly underneath the guitar neck itself. Play on the tips of your fingers, close to the
fingernails, being sure that the right side of the palm of your left hand is the same
distance from the fretboard as the left side of the palm of your left hand. This will
balance and center your left hand so that all of your fingers have an equal and fair reach
advantage. Never lift a left hand finger more than 1/2 inch away from the strings. This
alone will improve your accuracy because now you have less chance of missing the next
note, since you won't be traveling a great distance to find it.
Please be sure to use the 5 step
"Visualization, Mental Imagery Process" that I have taught you earlier. If
you have not yet received this report, here is a link that you can use to access it: www.ChordMelody.com/newpage110.htm. If you are interested
in seriously pursuing the fascinating art of chord melody solo playing and rhythm chord
playing (or comping) I would urge you to check out Steven Crowell's 4 year college level
jazz guitar course located on the "Jazz Guitar Music
Course" page of our website. An excellent DVD series for jazz guitar
playing in general is by Fred Sokolow and is located on the
"Jazz Guitar Music L-Z" section of our website.
Warm Regards,
Steven Herron
P.S. As promised, I've included at the end of the
arrangement, about a dozen newly released guitar books and DVDs that we have just
received. I think you'll want to take a look at these - I've had some fun with some of
these myself!
P.P.S. Let me say that these guitar lessons are not
meant to take the place of a good teacher, instructional video or book/CD.
If you are truly serious about becoming a better guitarist, eliminating the
chance of developing bad habits and saving yourself hundreds of hours of
frustration and wasted time, I would recommend that you set aside a regular
monthly allowance to devote towards furthering your skills and education. You
could take private guitar lessons ($70 - $80 per month) or you could purchase a
new book/CD or instructional video each month ($20 - $40). I find it
strange that many aspiring guitarists will spend $100's or even $1000's on a new
guitar and then turn around and spend only $20 - $40 on a book or instructional
video - thinking that this is all they will ever need to master the guitar.
Good instruction, whether it is from a teacher or from the many superb
instructional books and videos that are available, will give you an excellent
chance of succeeding and reaching your goal of becoming a good guitarist or even
a great guitarist!
Chicago Blues - Play-Along - DVD - In this
DVD, each song starts with a lesson from a pro-
fessional guitar teacher. Then,
the teacher performs the complete song along with professionally recorded
backing tracks. You can choose to turn the guitar off if you want to play along
or leave the guitar in the
mix to hear how it should sound. You can also choose
from three viewing options! Use your DVD remote
to choose or change options at
anytime. You can also pause or watch the video in slow motion. Songs
include: "All Your Love" -Otis Rush, "Easy Baby" -Magic Sam, "I Ain't Got You"
-Jimmy Reed, "I'm Your
Hoochie Coochie Man" -Muddy Waters, "Killing Floor" -Howlin'
Wolf, "Mary Had Little Lamb" -Buddy
Guy, "Messin' With the Kid" -Junior
Wells, "Sweet Home Chicago" -Various artists. Features multiple
camera angles,
on-screen tab and performance tips! (81 min).....Price - $14.95
Scott Henderson - Jazz-Rock Mastery - DVD.
In this DVD lesson, Scott reveals his truly
unique approach to improvising!
Learn how to create exciting guitar solos using major, pentatonic, melodic
minor, diminished and whole-tone scales,
along with modern uses for arpeggios and triads - all in the context
of melodic
and rhythmic phrasing. Scott also breaks down the basics of numerous rhythmic
and melodic
motifs used to build solos and thoroughly explains his unique conceptual approaches to
phrasing.
(135 min) Printable PDF companion
booklet.......Price - $29.95
Dave Rubin - 25 Great Blues Guitar Solos -
Book and CD. This book features note-for-note
blues guitar solos, lessons on how to play them, guitarist biographies, equipment
and
photos while the
accompanying CD contains full-band demonstrations of
every guitar solo in the book! Solos include: "I
Got a Break Baby" -T Bone
Walker, "Okie Dokie Stomp" -Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, "Honky Tonk" -
Billy
Butler, "All Your Love" -Otis Rush, "Blue Guitar" -Earl Hooker, "Moaning for
Molasses" -Jody Wil-
liams, "Hidden Charms" -Hubert Sumlin, "Remington Ride"
-Freddie King, "Rockin' Awhile, Sweet Sixteen" -
B.B. King, "Blues Power" -Albert
King, "Cross Road Blues" -Eric Clapton, "Every Day I Have the Blues" -
Kenny
Burrell, "Sweet Home Chicago" -Magic Sam, "Be Careful With a Fool" -Johnny
Winter, "Don't Throw
Your Love on Me So Strong" -Michael Bloomfield, "Cotton
Picking Blues" -Son Seals, "Let's Have a Little
Talk" -Luther Allison, "Wayfaring
Pilgrim" -Roy Buchanan, "I Smell a Ray" -Buddy Guy, "Brick" -Albert
Collins,
"Phone Booth" -Robert Cray, "Texas Flood" -Stevie Ray Vaughan, "Satisfy Susie"
-Lonnie Mack,
"Why Get Up" -Jimmie Vaughan. Notation and tab.......Price
- $19.95
Jeff Arnold - Favorite Standards - Book
features jazz guitar chord melody arrangements of the
following songs: "All the Way, Autumn in New York, Autumn Leaves, The Birth of the
Blues, Blue Skies,
Can't Help Lovin' That Man, Cheek to Cheek, Don't Get Around
Much Anymore, Falling in Love With Love,
How Deep Is the Ocean, I'll Be Seeing
You, I'll Remember April, I've Got the World On a String, If I Should
Lose You,
If I Were a Bell, Isn't It Romantic? It Could Happen to You, The Lady Is a
Tramp, Moon River,
My Ship, Speak Low, Stardust, Take the "A" Train, Tangerine,
Love Is The Tender Trap, Willow Weep
for Me, Witchcraft". Notation and
tab / Pickstyle.......Price - $12.95
Jazz Guitar Play-Along - Book and CD. This
guitar play-along will help you play your favorite
songs quickly and easily.
Just follow the tab, listen to the CD to hear how the guitar should sound and
then play along using the separate backing tracks! The melody and lyrics are
also included in the book
just in case you want to sing - or to simply help you follow
along. Songs include: "All Blues, Bluesette,
Footprints, How Insensitive, Misty,
Satin Doll, Stella by Starlight, Tenor Madness".
Notation and
tab.........Price - $14.95
Surf Guitar Play-Along - Book and CD. This
guitar play-along will help you play your favorite songs
quickly and easily.
Just follow the tab, listen to the CD to hear how the guitar should sound and
then play
along using the separate backing tracks! The melody and lyrics are
also included in the book just in case you
want to sing - or to simply help you follow
along. Songs include: "Let's Go Trippin, The Wedge" -Dick Dale,
"Out of Limits"
-The Marketts, "Penetration" -The Pyramids, "Pipeline" -The Chantays, "Surf
City" -Jan &
Dean, "Surfin USA" -The Beach Boys, "Walk Don't Run" -The Ventures.
Notation and tab......Price - $14.95
Country Guitar Play-Along - Book and CD.
This guitar play-along will help you play your favorite
songs quickly and
easily. Just follow the tab, listen to the CD to hear how the guitar should
sound and then
play along using the separate backing tracks! The melody and
lyrics are also included in the book just in
case you want to sing - or to simply help
you follow along. Songs include: "Amie" -Pure Prairie League,
"Boot Scootin'
Boogie" -Brooks & Dunn, "Chattahoochee" -Alan Jackson, "Folsom Prison Blues"
-Johnny
Cash, "Forever and Ever Amen" -Randy Travis, "Friends in Low Places"
-Garth Brooks, "T-R-O-U-B-L-E" -
Travis Tritt, "Workin Man Blues" -Merle Haggard.
Notation and tab.......Price - $14.95
Keith Wyatt - Ear Training
- Book and 2 CDs. For the contemporary guitarist. This complete method
takes you
step by step through the Musicians Institute well-known ear training course.
In-depth lessons and
analysis
include: basic pitch-matching, singing major and minor scales, identifying
intervals, transcribing mel-
odies and rhythms, identifying chords and
progressions, seventh chords and the blues, modal interchange,
chromaticism,
modulation and more! Learn to hear and to visualize on your guitar and take your
playing from
good to great! Over 2 hours of practice
exercises......Price - $22.95
Dave Rubin - Inside The Blues 1942 to 1982
- Book and CD is the most comprehensive
electric blues guitar source available!
It takes you beyond the players and into specific explanations of
regional
styles, tunings and equipment and includes over 20 rare photos. Includes blues
guitar solos in
the style of each of these famous bluesmen along with harmonic
analysis and technique playing tips:
Michael Bloomfield, Clarence "Gatemouth"
Brown, Kenny Burrell, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hen-
drix, Carl Hogan, John
Lee Hooker, Elmore James, Bill Jennings, Willie Johnson, Albert King, B.B. King,
Freddie King, Lonnie Mack, Johnny Moore, Fenton Robinson, Otis Rush, Magic Sam,
Son Seals, Guitar
Slim, Hubert Sumlin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, T-Bone Walker, Johnny
Winter and Howlin' Wolf.
Notation and tab........Price - $24.95
Dave Celentano - Secrets of Shred Guitar -
Book and CD. Learn all the secrets used in the
style of "shred" including sweep
picking, alternate picking, string skipping, multi-finger tapping, legato,
trills,
and tremolo picking. The techniques are broken down and arranged in
order of difficulty from easiest to most
challenging with a series of exercises
and melodic etudes. The CD features 48 tracks of exercises and melodic
etudes
played at normal and slow tempos. Notation and tab....Price - $19.95
Guitar - The 1970s - Book includes: "Barracuda"
-Heart, "Best of My Love" -The Eagles, "Blue Collar
Man" -Styx, "Breakdown" -Tom
Petty, "Burning Love" -Elvis Presley, "Dust In the Wind" -Kansas, "Evil
Woman"
-Electric Light Orchestra, "Freeway Jam" -Jeff Beck, "Godzilla" -Blue Oyster
Cult, "Happy" -The
Rolling Stones, "Landslide" -Fleetwood Mac, "Lay Down Sally"
-Eric Clapton, "Let It Be" -The Beatles,
"Maggie May" -Rod Stewart, "No Woman No
Cry" -Bob Marley, "Oye Como Va" -Santana, "Paranoid" -
Black Sabbath, "Rock and
Roll Hoochie Koo" -Rick Derringer, "Show Me the Way" -Peter Frampton, "Smoke
on
the Water" -Deep Purple, "So Into You" -Atlanta Rhythm Section, "Space Oddity"
-David Bowie, "Stayin'
Alive" -The Bee Gees, "Teach Your Children" -Crosby,
Stills, Nash & Young, "Time in a Bottle" -Jim Croce,
"Walk This Way" -Aerosmith,
"Wheel in the Sky" -Journey, "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" -Bachman-Turner
Overdrive, "You Really Got Me" -Van Halen, "You've Got a Friend" -James Taylor.
Notation, tab and lyrics. All
guitar parts transcribed note-for-note from the original recordings.....Price -
$16.95
Neal Schon - Don't
Stop Believin' - Book includes 16
classics from the former lead guitarist of
Journey (1978 - 1997). Songs include:
"Against the Wall, Any Way You Want It, Be Good to Yourself, Don't
Fight It,
Don't Stop Believin', Faithfully, If You Need Me Call Me, Lights, Lovin' Touchin'
Squeezin', Oh Sher-
rie, Open Arms, Separate Way (Worlds Apart), Stone in Love,
Wheel in the Sky, Who's Crying Now, You
Better Wait".
Notation, tab and lyrics. All
guitar parts transcribed note-for-note from the original recordings....Price -
$22.95
Alex De Grassi - Best of Alex De Grassi
- Book includes: "Blood and
Jasmine, Blue Trout,
Bright Sky, Cumulus, Deep at Night, Klamath, Short Order, Sleeping Lady,
Turning: Turning Back".
Notation and
tab / Fingerstyle.....Price
- $19.95
Best Thumbpicking Solos
- Book and CD feature solo guitar arrangements by: Thom Bresh, Marcel
Dadi, Chet Atkins, Paul Yandell and Craig Dobbins. Songs include: "After You've Gone, The Ballad of Greg
Ladey, Big Chief,
Number One Son, Cascade, Chester, Clear Spring Blues, From Paris With Love,
Going Home,
Hang Loose, Hangin' With the Girls I Know, Je Te Veux, La
Marcellaise, Laying Back, Lazy, Like Father and
Son, Marcel Samba, Munich
Memories, Ooh La La Rochelle, The Perfect Song, Poor Lonesome Dadi, Song
For
Jerry, Relaxin', Second Avenue, Silver String Saloon, Spirit of Merle, St. Louis
Blues, Swingy Boogie,
Winther's Waltz, Yankee Doodle Dixie". Notation and tab / Fingerstyle.....Price - $24.95
John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu
Orchestra - Book includes: "A
Lotus on Irish
Streams, Awakening, The Dance of Maya, Dawn, Meeting of the
Spirits, Noonward Race, Vital Transfor-
mation, You Know You Know, Birds of Fire,
Celestial Terrestrial Commuters, Hope, Miles Beyond, One
Word, Open Country Joy,
Resolution, Sanctuary, Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love, Thousand Island Park,
Be
Happy, Earth Ship, Eternity's Breath, Faith, If I Could See, Lila's Dance, On
the Way Home to Earth,
Opus I, Pastoral, Dream". Standard
notation.......Price - $24.95
Willie Nelson - The Willie Nelson Guitar
Songbook - Book includes: "Always
On My Mind,
Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,
City of New Orleans, Everywhere I Go,
Georgia On My Mind, Good Hearted Woman,
Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys, My
Heroes Have Always Been
Cowboys, On the Road Again, Ou Es-Tu Mon Amour (Where are you, My Love),
Pancho
and Lefty, Seven Spanish Angels, Uncloudy Day, Whiskey River".
Notation, tab and lyrics. All
guitar parts transcribed note-for-note from the original recordings....Price -
$16.95
Jody Fisher - The Total Jazz Guitarist
- Book and CD. A fun and comprehensive overview of
jazz guitar playing. This
unique and wide-ranging method features exciting lessons for beginning to
advanced
jazz players, tons of jazz chords and scales, including the diminished,
whole tone and super locrian mode. Full
length chord melody arrangements, single
note improvised solos and comping chord charts are presented for
several popular
jazz standards. Songs include: "I'm in the Mood for Love, Somewhere Over the
Rainbow, Blue
Moon". Notation, tab and chord diagrams......Price - $19.95
Happy Traum - Complete
Fingerpicking Guitar Method - Book
and 6 CDs. Getting Started
in Blues, Country and Ragtime. Here's a set of
easy-to-use lessons that will give you a solid background in the
art of fingerpicking - the backbone of traditional guitar technique. You'll learn the
basics of this style even if
you've never played this way before. Happy Traum
starts you off with easy pieces, systematically teaching
you how to maintain a
rock-steady bass while picking out melodies on the high strings. He gradually
adds
songs with more complexity until, by the end of these lessons, you are
playing advanced fingerpicking instru-
mentals. Along the way, you'll learn
important guitar skills such as dropped D tuning, moving chords up the
neck,
endings and turnarounds, improvisation and much more! Twenty classic songs are
taught in detail:
"Railroad Bill, I Am a Pilgrim, My Creole Belle, Spike
Driver's Blues, Wilson Rag, John Henry, Roll on Buddy,
Candy Man, Stackerlee,
Fishing Blues, Sitting on Top of the World, Deep River Blues, Nobody Knows You
When You're Down and Out, You're Gonna Quit Me Baby, Mississippi Blues, Saturday
Night Shuffle, Anji
(Paul Simon), St. Louis Tickle, Dallas Rag, Make Me a
Pallet on Your Floor".
Notation and tab.....Price - $59.95
Artie Traum - Guitar
Chord Magic I - DVD. This unique and powerful rhythm guitar
method is guaranteed to bring your playing to a whole new level! Song accompaniments will
swing like
never before as you learn new inversions and progressions that will add interest and
excitement to your
music. These easy-to-learn ideas will help you make a quantum leap in your knowledge of
chords and your
approach to the entire guitar fingerboard. On this 60-minute DVD, Artie Traum builds
jazz chords, show-
ing you how to move them around the fingerboard and substitute them for the more ordinary
major and minor
chords you may be using now. Within minutes you'll be playing the turnarounds and
progressions you've
always wanted to learn but couldn't quite figure out. You'll also learn to apply these
techniques to several
great blues and original pop songs. If you're looking for new ways to expand you harmonic
sense and
chording styles, then this DVD is for you! Booklet included (60
min).......Price -
$29.95
Artie Traum - Guitar Chord Magic II -
DVD. Here is a superb DVD guitar lesson that will
help you add rich chords and harmonic ideas to your songs and compositions, and allow you
to break new
ground in your playing! Artie Traum continues his exploration of the guitar's harmonic
possibilities with
easy but effective chord shapes, progressions, moving basses and harmony lines. This video
shows you the
techniques you can use to compose beautiful fingerstyle instrumentals and song
accompaniments. The
"Chord Magic" method emphases expansion, or becoming "unstuck" as you
grow as a guitarist. You'll learn
some of the techniques Artie used in composing the tunes for his critically-acclaimed
album Cayenne, as
well as the accompaniment to a wonderful Pat Alger song "Born Among The Lion".
If you are a folk, country
or pop player, you'll find the songs and techniques taught on this DVD invaluable for
adding, new and excit-
ing textures, harmonies and musical ideas to your playing. Booklet included. (60
min)....Price - $29.95
Artie Traum - Both DVDs on sale now!
(Guitar Chord Magic 1 & 2) for $49.95