Excersises come in different forms, you can play scales which are good for your technique and finger memory. You may be able to use some of the scale patterns for your improvising or composing melodies.
You may find some harmony excercises like variations on chord types you already know. Some of these harmonies may help your ears to hear different tones from the usuall chordtones you play.

When you work with excersises try to understand what is underneath the excercise. Once you understand what is underneath the excercise you may be able to apply the information to a different siuation.
Overal going through excercises regularly will make you aware of what is going on fingerwise and it will open up your mind for particular cliches in any kind of musical style.

Keep at it and good luck.

Hope to catch you soon again for more.
Eddie

When String bending is part of your playing style you may like this idea: Change your Bronze Wrapped G string for a plain G string.
What will this do for your sound? When you bend the G string it will remind you of the sound you get when bending a G string on an electric guitar, you will have a more stingy sound compared to bending on a bronze wrapped G string.
Using a plain G string will extend your range of bended notes. True, you can just bend notes on the E and B but your range is limited. Using a plain G will make your string bending more like you are playing a regular electric guitar.
What will you loose? A bit of body since a plain G will add a bit more ring to your overall sound. You may just want to try the idea as an experiment and for those occasions when you feel you do need those bended notes. Give it a try and see what you think.
Will this have any effect on your intonation, action of strings etc.? No not really, in fact beginners may like the idea since a plain G may be easier to use in the very beginning since the average gauge will be thinner compared to a Bronze wrapped G string.
The Set of strings we have come to see as “standard” has evolved over the ages from guitarists playing and using what is the most usable and balanced set of strings, it does not mean you cannot change the convention and find out what you like for your own playing style. Until sometime in the 60s a wrapped G string was common for a set of electric guitar strings until guitar players discovered that using a plain G was much better for string bending.  Just experiment and think what you need for your own playing.

Have fun and hope to see you soon again,
Eddie

The acoustic guitar comes as it is: Strings, bodyshape and neck. The tone of your acoustic guitar will depend very much on the type of wood, the bodysize and the kind of strings you use. Experimenting with different type of strings can give you a brighter or duller sound. The Elixer type of strings are very bright whereas some other brands may give you a less brighter sound.
Once you have explored the options of various string types to alter the tone of your acoustic guitar there is one more thing you can do to change its tone: Amplify the guitar.
By amplifying the acoustic guitar you can explore the sound of the pick-up  and the amp combined with the natural sound of your acoustic guitar.

Straight Into Mixer or……………….

Often you see people going straight into the mixer of the P.A  This may be the easiest and quickest option to amplify the acoustic guitar but what about using an amp? When you use an amp you can mix the tone of your guitar with the sound of the amp and its speaker.
Does going straight into the mixer not do the same thing? No, because the mixer only works with your pick-up of your guitar and then sends that signal to the P.A  The mixer does have some toneshaping capabilities, but a guitar amp does add more character to your acoustic guitar.
You can use a guitar amp, then send this signal to a mixer and then to the P.A. This kind of set-up will certainly give you an inspiring sound since you combine the amp, ampspeaker and mixer.

If you can try any of the above set-ups for yourself: First go straight into your mixer and see what your guitar sounds like, then use amp combined with mixer. Use the line-out of your amp to go into the mixer to get the best results.

In my above observation I did not go into detail about what kind of pick-up to choose. There are different type of pick-ups available and all of them have their own sound. A lot of people may prefer to get an acoustic guitar which already does have its own build-in pick-up. With guitars like this you can still experiment to see if you like the sound of the pick-up: Simply install another pick-up on the guitar and see what your guitar sounds like now. Sometimes it may be better to get an acoustic guitar of which  you like its acoustic tone and add a pick-up at a later stage.

Pick-ups on an acoustic guitar are a convenient option to amplify the guitar. Miking up the guitar is often not an option when you play live, since the extra microphones may get in the way and may also cause extra, unwanted feedback.

Experiment to see what is good for you.
Enjoy and hope to catch you soon again.
Eddie

A sound check may be obvious, just check volume of various instruments and vocals and play. Yes it is indeed as simple as that but still a lot can go wrong if you do not have a good sound balance. Most mistakes often come from being rushed on stage, not having enough time to go through all the various check with the result that your playing is a less enjoyable experience. Most of these issues can easily be fixed. For this article a few practical tips about what to do to save your skin during those awkward moments.

Sound checks do take time, the more people are in the band the longer it will take, then there is the equipment and the size of the venue. Most professional bands, when it comes to sound checks, have their own crew who deal with the setting up and checking the sound. For arena gigs the setting up of equipment will start during the morning and the sound checks will start sometime in the afternoon, long time before the venue will open its doors. There is plenty of time to get things right and the try all kind of things with the sound.
For most DIW gigs you will not have that luxury, you need to know quickly what to go for and do it on the spot before you play. If you are the only act which is playing on the gig things are a little easier as you will have more time. If you  have your own sound system make sure you are familiar with all the ins and outs of the technical possibilities.  The simpler your system is the better, but certain technical features are quite useful: Things like effect loops and hook-ups for extra monitors. To familiarise yourself with your sound system do use it often, do not wait until you have a gig and then start using it. Try to use it as much as you can in other situations just to get used to its sound and how it all works. If you can set up- and operate your system with your eyes closed you will have a lovely playing experience each time you play a gig.

Lets us have a quick look at what to check for during your sound check: Check for balance of vocals between instruments (and other vocals if you are using any backing vocals as well) Think about the playing, are there any solos being played during songs?—single strings will need to be loud enough to be heard. Experienced guitar players will know how to counter act for these situations as you can balance your sound on your amp and guitar, but what about if guitar goes straight through P. A? In cases like that it is important to get a good balance between the various levels of the guitars. When you check sound levels play parts of songs, play parts which are the loudest and then play songs which have a lot of quiet parts. Try to get a good balance between all these various sounds. If you have a sound engineer issues like what I mentioned above will not be an issue as they can be adjusted during playing. Often DIW gigs will not have a sound engineer and you have to do it all yourself on the spot, adjusting during playing is not possible since you are involved in the playing part of the gig, so you need to get the sound right before you start the gig.
Okay so far so good, most of what I mentioned above may be obvious for most of you. What about duos? Not many instruments and vocals involved so sound check should be easy? Yes it is, but still think about various things I mentioned above and try to do a quick sound check as I mentioned above.
When do you  need to check sound? Each time you play together as a band, duo or trio. If you do not do it you may need to play song twice and adjust your sound each time, you can avoid this and save time by checking the sound before you play.
What do you do about less perfect set-up? Things like: There is only a main P. A and the microphone and players will be behind the main P. A speakers. This set-up means you will not hear yourself very well. It can be easily solved by moving one of the main speakers. Try placing one of those main P. A speaker behind you so you will hear the speaker. If you do it right you will not get feedback from the microphone, just check it and be careful with overall volume level and placement of speaker.

The main thing is being relaxed before you play, think before you play and just go and enjoy while you play. Good luck and hope to catch you soon again, Eddie

The feel of the guitar is determined by various factors, I will explain some of these in detail in this short article here. It is the feel which make people love or hate their guitar. Different guitar players will love different feels. No guitar is the same, but there are guitars which have a similar kind of feel.
It is the feel of the guitar which will make you play in a certain way, or invite you to play in a particular way. Experienced players can play with any guitar, but there is still something like ” a guitar which will invite you to play like x”
Let me now have a look at what makes up the feel of your guitar.

   Neck:

The neck of the guitar plays an important aspect in the overall feel of the guitar. Necks come in various shapes and sizes. Older guitars tend to have thicker shaped necks, but this is not always true. Thin necks may make you feel like playing faster. Necks come in various shapes such as V-shape, D-shape and C-shape.
Apart from the size and shape of the neck there is also the factor of finish: Some guitar necks have a glossy finish, some guitars may not have any finish at all. A glossy finish may make up for a slippery feel, but again, this is not always true. Applying guitar polish to the neck of your guitar may not be a good idea, as this will also make your neck feel very slippery. Of course if you like that feel, go ahead and apply as much finish as you please.
A worn-in neck will have a different feel as well. Some older, vintage guitars may have some of the neck finish worn off, this again will create a different feel compared to a relatively new guitar neck.

  Fretboard:

Like the neck, the fretboard plays a big part in the overall feel of the guitar. Fretboards come in different sizes and most of them are curved. Sometimes you may come across a fretboard which is almost flat which makes up for a unique feel.
The wood of the fretboard plays a part as well: Is it made out of the darker Rosewood, or is it a Maple type of fretboard? Different types of wood feel different to  your fingertips.
Is the fretboard worn-in or does it have a new feel? Is the fretboard dry? To overcome this feel you can use some fretboard oil, this will give the fretboard  more of a worn-in feel.
As mentioned before about the neck, older fretboards will have a different feel. A fretboard which has been played in well may also have some roadwear like areas where the wood is worn off a bit from heavy playing. String bending will wear out your fretboard quicker as the strings scrape across the wood of the fretboard.

  Frets:

Frets come in different sizes, and over the years different guitar companies have used different types of fretwire to cut out the frets. Thin frets will almost make it feel like you have no frets at all, thicker frets have a different feel and for certain types of playing some guitar players will prefer these.
Some guitars do have a binding across the fretboard, on these kind of fretboards you do not feel the ends of the frets. Guitars without any fretboard binding give you a less, glossy feel.
Are the frets new or worn-in? Heavy string bending created dents in your frets. If your frets get too worn out you may want to get a fretdress. During a fretdress your frets all get levelled to the same height which will make them feel like new again.
It is possible to get your frets levelled several times before they will need to be replaced by a new set of frets.

  Strings:

The kind of string gauge you use will make a difference in feel (and sound) to the guitar. Thick strings do have a different feel compared to thinner strings. Some strings do have a coating to preserve their sound. Again, coated strings do have a different feel compared to more traditional type of strings.
The height (action) of your strings also plays a part: Some guitar players like to play with a higher action. Higher action will give you more volume to your strings since the strings need to travel further to the fretboard. Low action will give you less volume. A high action will also mean you need to play a little harder to make those strings move. All of this makes up for a different feel (and sound).

Body:

Last but not least, the size and weight of the body will make up for the overall feel of the guitar. It may make less of an impact on the overall feel compared to any of the factors I mentioned above, it still does have an impact on the feel.
Some bodies are made out of light woods, which will make the guitar more “acoustic” since the body does not have any weight and depth to put behind the sound of the string.
Again, light sounding bodies do feel different compared to heavier types of guitar bodies.

Conclusion:

How you can you actually find out any of what I mentioned above for yourself, and does it make much of a difference in your playing? As mentioned before, feel is a personal thing, experienced players will notice it straight away: You pick up a guitar and you know how it feels like, and you also know it you like the feel or not.
If you only have one guitar you will need to compare you guitar with the one of a friend to see how different yours is compared to the one of your friend.
The best thing is to compare similar guitar types since the overall idea of the guitar should be similar but the difference will be in the details such as neck shape, fretsize and body weight.
Over the years newer guitars have come with a better overall feel, some older, vintage type guitars do have a more primitive feel compared to some of those newer ones. Even new reissues do have a more modern feel compared to the older ones.

The checking out of various feels of guitars is all part of your overall knowledge of the guitar and it will make you more aware of what  is around in the world of guitar.

Enjoy and hope to catch you soon again,
Eddie

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05vxxmr

For those of you who do not want to listen to the full two hour set, Mark talks about the first years before Dire Straits, his time during Dire Straights, and collaborations with other people such as Dylan, and others, his writing for film music  ( Mark Knopfler doing film music should be not surprise when you listen to the Love Over Gold album)

Then there is talk of the time of the solos albums after disbanding Dire Straights, the new album Tracker, his approach to playing the guitar and song writing and some of his other passions.

It is a good programme. The picture you get of Mark is not that different from the things he has given us in previous interviews, he is consistent in what he says and how he comes across.

Personally I think Marks style works well if he plays in the setting of keyboards and full band. His solo style is based on playing a lot of embellishments which work best in a full band setting. His last album does have some of the sound of the first Dire Straights album, something he has not always done on any of his more recent solo albums.

Check out the link and enjoy.
Hope to see you again soon,
Eddie

Tuning you may wonder, is it not as simple as using your electronic tuner, play string and tune up? Yes but once students have done this I still need to check their guitar to see how well they tuned up. So what is up? Can they not read the tuner? Do they play wrong strings or………….? It is a mix of all those things and usually what it boils down to is not understanding how a guitar responds to a tuner.

First of all let me make the comment: A guitar can not play perfectly in tune. It is due to the nature of the instrument. Not a problem as your ears get accustomed to how the strings sound once they have been tuned up.
The tuning of the guitar does get effected by scale length, fret size, height of action, intonation and how hard you play the strings. It is not my intention to make matters too technical. I only mention some of these issues to make you aware why guitars cannot perfectly play in tune.

Okay let us now go back to the tuning: How do you actually tune your guitar?, what is a good method? Before the invention of electronic tuners (late 70s) you would need to tune to a note from another instrument, like a keyboard, or maybe use a pitchfork—-a metal fork which resonates one note once the fork is lightly touched— Once you have that one note you tune the rest of the guitar to that one note. This system is called Equally Tempered Tuning. Any inefficiencies in your tuning will be divided equally across all your strings and fretboard, this makes up for a more musical tuning and is more pleasing for the ear.

Which one note do you need to tune to? You can choose to tune to your A string, and tune the rest of your strings to the frequency of that note. Personally I like to tune up to the first E string: It is your highest string and tuning up to a high note seems to be easier.

So what do you do?
Step 1: tune the first E string to a tuner or anything which can play the sound of the high E string. Do not play the string as an open string, no do play the harmonic at the 12 fret. Why using a harmonic? Because it is a pure tone. Strings produce overtones, which are a mix of several tones. Your tuner likes to hear a pure tone and pure tones make it easier for the tuner to work correctly.

Step 2: Play the B string at the harmonic of 12th fret and tune this harmonic to the  note of the 7th fret on the E string.  Once in tune this note will sound the same as the harmonic at the 12th fret of the B string.

Step 3: Play the G string (3rd String) at the harmonic of the 12th fret, and tune this note to the note on the 3rd fret of the E string. Once in tune this note will sound the same as the harmonic at the 12th fret of the G string.

Step 4: Play the D string at the harmonic of the 5th fret and tune this harmonic to the note on the 10th fret on the E string. This note will produce the same note as the harmonic on the 5th fret on the D string.

Step 5: Play the A string at the 5th harmonic and tune this harmonic to the note on the 5th fret on the E string. Once in tune both notes will sound the same.

Step 6: Play the low E string at the 5th harmonic and tune this note to the sound of the first open E string.

Once you have finished all steps you may want to check all the steps again. Do not retune the first E string one you are in the process of  tuning the other strings as it will mess up the whole system.

The tuning method I have explained above means you need to tune by ear: The first E string is tuned to a reference note, or an electronic tuner, and all the other notes are tuned by ear to the E string.
Once you have tuned up in this manner you may want to use your tuner to check how your strings will register according to your tuner. What you will find is that some strings may be a little out according to your tuner. This is not because of the tuner is broken, not it is because of the guitar and what I mentioned above about it not being able to be tuned up perfectly.

You can actually use the tuner for the Equally Tempered Tuning as well. You will need a tuner which does have a needle.
Here is how I do this:
Step 1: Play harmonic at 12th fret on first E string and use your tuner to tune up.
Step 2: Play harmonic at 12th fret on B string and use your tuner to tune up. Play the 7th fret on first E string and look at your tuner what it says. It should read the same as when you played the harmonic on the B string. The reading may be slightly different but not too much.
Step 3: Play harmonic at the 12 fret on G string and tune up with your tuner. Play on first string the 3rd fret and see if your tuner gives you the same reading.
Step 4: Here is where this system does not work!! You can tune up harmonic on the 5th fret of the D string, and your tuner should give you a correct tuning, play the 10th fret on the E string and your tuner will give you a reading of being 50 per cent out compared to your previous reading. Once you know this you will be fine and can trust it.
Step 5: Play harmonic at the 5th fret on the A string and use tuner to tune up accordingly, now play on the first E string the 5th fret and your tuner should reading close to what you had before for your A string.
Step 6: Play harmonic on the low E string and use tuner to tune up, check this reading with the open first E string, and your reading may be close. Usually the low E string, when using your tuner, may read a bit sharp, to compensate you can tune a bit lower. Check with your ears to see if  your reading sounds like what your read!

Overall using electronic tuners is a good thing, but check them  with your ears and try to understand why your hear sometimes different things to what your eyes are reading.

Good luck and hope to see you soon again,
Eddie

For this article a few tips on how to get better with playing solos over common Blues progressions. Once you understand these ideas you can apply them to other songs of a similar nature.

A general Blues progression usually has the following chords: I IV and V.  The Roman numerals imply the chords of the key. In the key of A  you will get the following chords: A  D and E.

Most Blues songs you will find will not always follow this progression, but it is a good starting point, it will certainly tune your ears to what notes will sound good.

I IV V progressions can be played in a major or minor key. Try the following with your solos:

In a minor key play minor ideas over the first chord, but for chord IV and V play major ideas, like the arpeggio for each chord. It will give your solo ideas a brighter sound and it will lift those two chords.

When playing in a major key, use minor for all three chords to achieve a darker sound for your solos.

Once you start to understand you will love playing blues as it is a style you can always come back to and experiment with feel and note choice. Once you get comfortable with this you can apply it to any style.

Good luck and hope to catch you soon again,
Eddie