Here is my lesson for Then Came the Morning by The Lone Bellow. This is on the hard side of beginner (there are some bar chords) and I also go through some easy side of intermediate material. The song is relatively simple, but not too straight forward: it has a 6/8 time signature, uses a capo on the 1st fret, and the song structure is a little unusual. We can also add some cool intermediate chord voicings and fills, which make the song more interesting. So overall, this one is not too hard but there are still a lot of great concepts to touch on.
Lesson road map:
0:00 – song preview / lesson overview
1:30 – time signature, basic feel / strumming, capo
3:54 – beginner intro / chorus
4:51 – beginner verse & chords
6:40 – song structure up to bridge, playing through the verse
7:56 – beginner bridge, playing through the bridge
9:35 – outro & chords
11:50 – playing trough the outro
12:27 – intermediate intro (piano pick-up phrase)
13:54 – intermediate intro / chorus chord voicings
16:17 – playing through the chorus with intermediate chords
17:15 – intermediate chorus: more things you can add
18:35 – playing through the chorus w/ intermediate chords & extras
19:09 – intermediate verse & chords
21:35 – playing through intermediate verse
22:20 – intermediate bridge, play through
23:32 – verse guitar fills, play through
Ok, I’ve been wanting to do a lesson on “Archie, Marry Me” by Canadian band Alvvays for a while and finally got a video together. “Archie” is a beginner level song, though anyone can have fun playing it. Since the chord progression is simple, I try to cover some basic strumming as well as a couple transitional rhythmic cues. I also cover how to play the cool intro which is not super hard, despite having what sounds like a half diminished chord. 🙂 The song is fun, catchy, and Ben Gibbard covered it.
One of the classic George Harrison songs from the Abbey Road album, Here Comes the Sun is a bright, happy tune that sounds great on acoustic guitar. This fingerstyle arrangement is my take on the song – instead of opting for the bright sounds of a capo-ed guitar, I went for the sonorous tones of an open tuning. Despite the lower voice, I think the arrangement still sounds sunny. Enjoy.
Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.
All rights reserved to this arrangement, however students may perform the arrangement in public.
Fun fact – Harrison wrote this song while walking around Eric Clapton’s garden on a sunny day in spring 1969.
Morning Moon is a combination of two existing ideas, the first being a song I wrote shortly after watching a lunar eclipse. The second idea came years later, resulting in a song with different interweaving parts. The more energetic latter part of the song is a take on some of the ideas in the mellower first part, taking the song in a different direction. I decided to call the song Morning Moon after looking at the still-visible moon one morning, well after daylight.
Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.
All rights reserved to this song, however students may perform the song in public.
The overall theme of this video is that you should try some different strings on your electric guitar, even if (or especially if) you’ve been using the same type for a while. I focus here on two often overlooked string types: pure nickel strings and (if you have a Strat) Fender Bullets.
Electric guitar strings typically have plain steel treble strings (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and wound bass strings with a steel core (4th, 5th, 6th). The winding can be done with various alloys, including pure steel, nickel coated steel (warmer), and pure nickel (warmest). Back in the 50’s and 60’s, strings were made with pure nickel wraps, so their warm sound is often associated with classic rock, blues, and vintage tone in general. It can be a great choice for garage rock or other styles as well. Nickel strings are great for warming up bright sounding guitars like Strats and Teles, and as a side benefit they tend to last longer than other types of strings.
Fender makes a variety of strings with ball-ends (the standard for guitar), but also makes specialized bullet-end strings for Stratocaster guitars with floating tremolos. The bullet ends fit snugly into the Strat tailpiece and give you better tuning stability, more sustain, and supposedly less string breakage. While I haven’t had an issue with breaking strings, I did find that these strings gave me slightly better tuning stability and sustain, however the trade off is a stiffer feel and slightly less dynamics. If you have a Strat with a tremolo (most Strats), you might try these out to see what you think. Also note, they will not work on other types of guitars as the bullet ends are too big for Gibson style tailpieces, string-through-body Teles, etc.
So, go ahead and try some different strings on your electric guitar. 🙂
If you’ve never really tried one for an extended period of time, you should use a thumbpick for several months to see what it’s like. Of course you can play fingserstyle with a thumbpick, but you can also hold it like a flatpick for strumming chords and playing single note runs. Try wearing one for a couple of months, and just hold it like a flatpick most of the time. After a while, you’ll find that you are using a combination of playing with your fingers and holding it like a flatpick – the best of both worlds.
Using a thumbpick is obviously great for folk / fingerstyle on acoustic guitar, but you can also use it on electric guitar to great effect. The thumbpick lends itself to roots music of all sorts, including blues and country. Chords come alive with dynamic control in jazz, and riffs can really pop when you’re playing rock. Even bluegrass – that traditional bastion of flatpick on guitar – can benefit from a thumbpick… and as mentioned you can still flatpick with it.
For the most part, you don’t give up much when using a thumbpick as a flatpick, though certain techniques like picking/pinch harmonics won’t come off the same way. You may not be able to get quite the same dynamics, but overall what you gain will probably be more useful. (As another bonus, because a thumbpick is secured to your thumb, you won’t drop it.)
As noted in the video, I prefer Fred Kelly’s Delrin Slick Picks – generally using medium for acoustic, and heavy for electric. These picks have a snug fit which may feel too tight at first, but they do loosen up a bit after you wear them for a while. They also make a ‘large’ size version of the pick, and of course there are many other brands / styles that fit differently which you can try. (One trick – that may not work with all pick materials – is to run them under hot water for a while, and then you can loosen / tighten the fit.) Use your common sense and intution – obviously avoid thumbpicks that are outright painful, but be willing to try out ones that are merely uncomfortable for a while, potentially adjusting them, to see how you like them.
One final note – generally I do not recommend thumbpicks for beginners unless they only want to do fingerstyle guitar. I think it’s better to develop your technique with a flatpick and then add a thumbpick later on. I may change my mind on this in the future, but for now that’s how I feel.
Fred Kelly page for Delrin Slick Picks – http://fredkellypicks.com/product/delrin-slick/
Note – this page is more for reference. To order Fred Kelly picks a few at a time, try the Elderly link below. They also have other brands / styles you can try.
If you want to try out different picks and just order a few at a time, Elderly has a great selection – http://elderly.com/accessories/cats/PKTB.html It might be good to order several different sizes / shapes styles to see what you like.
Wonderful Tonight was written by Eric Clapton about his then-wife Pattie Boyd, who had already inspired great songs from Eric and previous husband George Harrison. This song has been the theme to many a high school prom, and its simple yet tasteful melody has held up over the years. In keeping with that, my arrangement here is fairly straight forward: it doesn’t move around the neck very much or have any unusual chord voicings. Hope you enjoy it.
Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.
All rights reserved to this arrangement, however students may perform the arrangement in public.
Coincidentally, I also did a lesson on Eric’s break-up song with Pattie, here.
Here is my three part demo of the TC Electronic Trinity Reverb T2. The “T2” means this is the second version of the pedal, which comes loaded with nothing but ambient reverb presets. (The first version had a mix of ambient sounds and stock Hall of Fame presets.) The presets are mostly based on church / cathedral and long plate type algorithms that feature unusual modulation of the reverb. Some of the sounds are nice and lush; others are just plain weird. In fact, at least half of the settings are a little ‘too much’ for my taste, but there are several that I do like. And while I demo a few short room / slap back sounds, this pedal really excels at long, washy reverb sounds. People who are into ambient sounds, shoegaze, worship music, etc. will probably like this pedal. Yet, also keep in mind that you can get some nice ambient sounds from the Hall of Fame pedal’s stock church and modulated settings, as well as the tone print slot. This is a 3 part demo (because it’s the Trinity, of course), where parts one and two explore stock settings on the dial. Part 3 compares the T2 to the ambient sounds you can get from the Hall of Fame stock settings plus the Sigur Rós tone print, and also pairs the T2 with the TC Electronic Alter Ego V2 (the T2’s sister analog / tape delay pedal). The playlist embed below has all three parts of the demo.
This demo was recorded with a Fender MIM Strat (w/ Texas Special pickups) and a Fender Champ II (Rivera, with Eminence Ragin’ Cajun speaker) amp miked with a Sennheiser e906 dynamic microphone.
Here is a demo and review of the Vapor Trail Analog Delay from Seymour Duncan. There are a lot of analog delays on the market now, and this one really stands out with its unique features and easy usability. Features I like include: battery door on the back and delay modulation controls on the top – you don’t need to unscrew the back to get to either; bright blue led; flashing led inside clear delay knob. Overall, this has a nice clear sound – it’s a little brighter than MXR Carbon Copy, but still has analog warmth. In the demo, I try the clean sound first and then pair it with the Hoof Fuzz from Earthquaker devices.
This demo was recorded with a Fender MIM Strat (w/ Texas Special pickups, Ernie Ball Classic Rock-n-Roll nickel strings) and a Fender Champ II (Rivera, with Eminence Ragin’ Cajun speaker) amp miked with a Sennheiser e906 dynamic microphone.
Can you freshen your guitar case with Altoids? Well, no, but you can organize it and you might freshen your breath along the way. Altoids tins – once emptied of the mints – can be used to store things like picks, capos, allen wrenches, and batteries (as shown). Note with batteries, as mentioned, you want to make sure they are still in the package or the contacts are otherwise not exposed. So a few things that don’t fit in the tin are – most guitar slides, spare strings, wire cutters, most string winders. Still, they can help you organize your ‘small stuff.’ You can also use the small Altoids tins as pick holders, and these are great to throw on top of your amp for easy access. Hope you have fun organizing your guitar case with Altoids tins. If nothing else, your breath may be fresher. 😉