DON ROSS – FINGERSTYLE GUITAR

Don Ross Video Clip

Don Ross, the first and only two time winner of the U.S. National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship, was also a Franciscan Friar in Massachusetts for a time. But, I guess all good things must come to and end.  Now he devotes a large majority of his time to touring, recording, and teaching his unique fingerstyle guitar techniques to other wannabees like us!

Describing his music as “heavy wood”, Don fuzes a blend of rock, folk, jazz and classical music into a blazing rendition of fingerstyle virtuosity that will simply amaze you. He is one of my very favorite fingerstyle guitar players.

I recently discovered that Don is a self taught guitarist who  first began to experiment with the acoustic guitar at the tender age of eight. Two years later he was already  exploring alternate tunings and fingerstyle techniques similar to classical guitar! The child prodigy graduated from the Music Department of Toronto’s York University in 1983 and went on to pursue his creative instincts by developing a music style of his own.

Don is hostng an Acoustic Fingerstyle Workshop in Cannington, Ontario, featuring some of the best guitarists and instructors in the world. It will be held September 28 through September 30. 

If you want to learn how to play fingerstyle guitar I suggest getting:

Till next time…

Keep practicing!
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EAR TRAINING

An important aspect of being a guitar player is having the ability to hear correct pitch. Some folks are born with this gift, while others need a little ear training in order to develop it.

Pitch is a musical term used to express how high or low a specific tone (sound) is.  A tone that vibrates at a fast rate of speed will be higher than a tone that vibrates slower.

You can listen to the difference between two pitches on the guitar by simply comparing the sixth string with the first sting. These two strings are both identified as being the tone of E. The sixth string however, is vibrating at a slower rate of speed than the first string. That’s why it has a lower pitch.

When two tones have the same pitch they are described as being in unison.

Here is a simple exercie you can use to help improve your ear:

1. Strike any open string on your guitar (except low E).

2. Listen closely to the pitch of that single tone.

3. Notice where it’s located on your guitar.

4. Close your eyes and listen to it again.

5. Try to find the same tone and pitch on another string.

6. Play the first tone again and then the second tone.

7. Both  tones should sound the same to be in unison.

*note – be sure to go back and play the first tone as often as you need to.  This will help to reinforce the pitch you’re looking for. If you hit too many incorrect tones before finding the right pitch, your ear may become tired. Take a break if this happens and try again later.

Jana Software created a Personal Ear Training Program  (PET) you can use on your computer. It will  teach you intervals, chords, melody, triads, scales and rhythm. The program comes with a 60 day money back guarantee, so you can return it if you aren’t completely satisfied.

Download a 30 Day free PET trial here.

Till next time…

Keep practicing!
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BLUEGRASS GUITAR

Bluesgrass guitar is very popular in the area where I live. Every summer we have a large bluegrass festival in town which attracts hundreds of performers and fans from far and near. I guess it kinda goes hand-in-hand with the cowpoke country lifestyle we all enjoy around here. Even though I grew up in L.A. , with strong rock and roll roots, it’s still fun to listen to the different bands do their thang.

Bluegrass is an amalgamation of celtic, gospel, blues, folk and country music. It appears to have originated around the 1600s when people were migrating from England, Ireland and Scotland to America. This diverse group brought their folk history with them and continued to write songs about their experiences in the new land as well. We can get a little glimpse of American History by simply listening to the words of these early traditional songs.

A favorite guitar among bluegrass players is the Martin D 28. When I was first learning to play I knew a guy who owned one. He let me take it for a whole day once. I couldn’t believe how generous and trusting he was! The guitar was crafted with abalone inlay around the neck, sides and soundhole. I was in heaven just strumming the open strings and listening to the most beautiful tone you can imagine…

A large majority of bluegrass guitar music is written in the Key of G using a simple I IV V (G C D7) chord progression. This makes it easy to learn the basic format for most songs in this genre.

An alternating bass rhythm along with walking up and down between chords is another common characteristic of bluegrass guitar music. I think the trickiest part is getting the speedy licks down, but it’s also the most fun.

The major pentatonic scale, which I wrote about in my last blog, is most commonly used to create bluegrass licks. The 5 notes that make up a G Major Pentatonic Scale are:

G A B D E

However, tag intros and endings will often include a full scale run. Here’s one example of how that might be done using the Key of C:

The accent mark > means that you emphasize the first eighth note. This will give you a long – short feel when you play the sequence:

dum de dum de
1     &  2     &   etc…

The International Bluegrass Music Association provides info about bluegrass guitar music, festivals, competitions, history and career opportunities.  Below is a link for those of you who are  interested in learning more about playing this style of guitar music.

Learn More About:

Bluegrass Flatpicking

Till next time…

Keep practicing!
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HOW TO PLAY A PENTATONIC SCALE

 If you’ve been playing guitar for any length of time then you’ve probably heard the term “pentatonic” used in reference to scales. It’s a musical term that sounds a bit intimidating at first, but is really very simple to understand.

The prefix “penta” means five. We see the same prefix used in other words like pentagon (having five sides) and pentagram (a five pointed star.)

The musical term “tonic” refers to the first tone or keynote (the tone which identifies the scale.) The note C for example, is the tonic of the C major scale. When we put these two terms together we have the word “pentatonic” which refers to a five note scale based around the first tone, or keynote.

There are both Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales for Guitar. We can build either one by simply altering an existing seven tone scale. Here’s how it’s done using the C Major Scale…

C Major Scale:

C D E F G A B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
                   

C Major Pentatonic:

C D E G A C
1 2 3 5 6 1

C Minor Pentatonic:

C Eb F G Bb C
1 b3 4 5 b7 1

It’s helpful to memorize the combination for each type of scale. This will enable you to play each scale anywhere on the neck from any keynote you choose.

Another way to learn and utilize scales is by memorizing a specific finger pattern. There are several patterns for each type of scale that I’ve shown above. These patterns are movable and can be used to create licks or riffs that you can use to play over chords.

1. The most common finger pattern for a Major Scale is:

Fret:       3 5 2 3 5 2 4 5

Finger:    2 4 1 2 4 1 3 4

String:     6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4

e||—|—-|—-|—-|——|—|-
b||—|—-|—-|—-|——|—|-
g||—|—-|—-|—–|—–|—|-
d||—|-1-|—-|-3-|-4-|—|-
a||—|-1-|-2-|—-|-4-|—|-
e||—|—-|-2–|—-|-4-|—|-
               ^                  
             Root

The numbers on the fretboard represent your fingers.  The scale starts on the 6th string with the 2nd finger on the the 3rd fret. This is the Root note (tonic) G.

Playing the pattern above from the 3rd fret will give you a G Major Scale:

G A B C D E F# G
1  2 3 4 5 6 7   8
                    

2.  A common finger pattern for a Major Pentatonic Scale is:

Fret:  3 5 2 5 2 5

Finger: 2 4 1 4 1 4

String: 6 6 5 5 4 4

e||—|—-|—-|—|—-|—|-
b||—|—-|—-|—|—-|—|-
g||—|—-|—-|—|—-|—|-
d||—|-1-|—-|—|-4-|—|-
a||—|-1-|—-|—|-4-|—|-
e||—|—-|-2-|—|-4-|—|-
               R

Playing this pattern from the 3rd fret will give you a G Major Pentatonic Scale:

G A B D E G
1 2 3 5 6 1

3.  A common finger pattern for a Minor Pentatonic Scale is:

Fret :  3 6 3 5 3 5

Finger: 1 4 1 3 1 3

String:  6 6 5 5 4 4

e||—|—|—-|—|—-|—-|-
b||—|—|—-|—|—-|—-|-
g||—|—|—-|—|—-|—-|-
d||—|—|-1-|—|-3-|—-|-
a||—|—|-1-|—|-3-|—-|-
e||—|—|-1-|—|—-|-4-|-
              R

Playing this last pattern from the 3rd fret will give you a G Minor Pentatonic Scale:

G Bb C D F  G
1 b3 4 5 b7 1

Each of the scales given above can also be played an octave higher. The fingering would change slightly, but the notes will be the same and you would remain in essentially the same position on the fretboard. See if you can figure it out for yourself by continuing to play the notes of each scale pattern up to the first string. Let the exercise test your knowledge of the fretboard.

Once you have that down, move the patterns by starting on the 6th string at a different fret.  The note you begin with will determine the name of the scale you’re playing. Remember to keep the finger patterns consistant or they won’t sound right. Experiment and have some fun!

Listen to an Open C Pentatonic Scale here.

Learn More:

Until next time…

Keep practicing!
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