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bobmolton has been a member since August 13th 2010, and has created 12 posts from scratch.

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Guitar String Noise

published Friday, February 17th, 2012 at 4:28 pm by bobmolton

How To Avoid Excess Guitar String Noise

Guitar String Noise

Guitar String Noise

Controlling a cranked up electric guitar from excessive Guitar String Noise when playing, can be a challenge of itself.

Just the fact that it’s an electric guitar can cause all kinds of strange noises that you wouldn’t encounter with an acoustic guitar.

However, the approach to keeping the guitar free of excessive noise when playing is pretty much the same for both.

The real secret sauce is within the your playing technique, which includes both left and right hands. Simply understanding this will get you on the right path quickly.

Since having been a guitar teacher for over twenty years, I’ve had hundreds of questions asked about how to keep excessive Guitar String Noise down during lead guitar playing, as well as rhythm playing.

Most of the time my students notice things that I’m doing and ask me how or why I do those things. It was then that I began to be aware of what it was I was doing to avoid all the excessive noise.

Eliminating Guitar String Noise Happens Within Your Left and Right Hand Simultaneously.

I would see my students struggling with this time and time again, and soon realized that the things I was doing to avoid this problem, was something I developed over time sub-consciously. Meaning, I don’t think about it as I’m playing. It’s just something that became part of my playing over the years.

I believe every seasoned guitar player has developed a similar type of noise elimination factor within their own playing, whether they consciously knew it or not.

Here’s what I find interesting, students that ask about this have an advantage because they are being shown what to do and can begin working on their own technique to eliminate Guitar String Noise. But… The ones who never had the opportunity of someone showing them just naturally developed a skill they didn’t even realize was there.

Here’s what you need to know to start this process today, of eliminating unwanted noise with your guitar playing.

1.) Bridge Palm Muting: You want to rest your hand over the bridge when playing single notes, and release your palm as needed to allow the strings to ring out. You are in control of how much muting you want. I suggest using very little, and adjusting as needed according to the amount of volume you want from the string at the time.

2.) Fretboard Finger Muting: This is one of the areas I subconsciously developed without realizing it. As you are bending strings and doing vibrato, I find that the other fingers can mute the sound behind the note being played. This holds true for running scales. As you work your way down, keep your finger low to the fretboard and they will mute all the string noise behind the notes being played.

EXAMPLE: If you bend your 2nd string up (B-string) a whole step, using your 3rd finger to bend, then you have your first and second fingers that can rest on the fretboard behind the string. This will help eliminate any unwanted Guitar String Noise that can pop up when playing.

As with scales… If you start on your sixth string and work your way down to the first string just allow your (bridge) palm to follow down behind each string after it’s been played, this will allow only the string being played to ring out.

Bending Strings Can Create Unwanted Guitar String Noise

Another important factor, when bending your strings be sure that the finger you use to bend the string is pushing (the next string above) up with the very tip of your finger. DO NOT let the string get pulled under the finger when bending because it will create all kinds of crazy Guitar String Noise that you can’t eliminate. Just allow the tip of your finger to push up the next string as you bend.

You might need to spend a bit of time trying to find the right combinations that work best for you, but believe me, once you get your mind wrapped around the concept of eliminating Guitar String Noise, this will become second nature and you won’t even think about it when you play.

Click Here To Develop Killer Lead Guitar Playing Skills In Less Than 16 Weeks

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Tapping Guitar Harmonics

published Thursday, February 16th, 2012 at 3:04 pm by bobmolton

Tapping Guitar Harmonics

Tapping Guitar Harmonics

Tapping Guitar Harmonics

If you’ve heard a guitarist Tapping Guitar Harmonics, then you already know that it does create a beautiful sound especially when done on a clean sounding guitar. However, you can do this method on a distorted guitar as well and create equally cool sounds.

Edward Van Halen is definitely someone who has taken this technique and created great sounding music with it, as well as broadening the horizons on what can be done with tapping harmonics and killer Lead Guitar Playing.

Specific Techniques Are Required For Tapping Guitar Harmonics

When it comes to Tapping Guitar Harmonics, I find that many of my students don’t quite understand where to actually tap the fretboard to get the sound to jump out, and also don’t understand how to actually tap the fretboard to bring the sound out. There’s a couple of things you need to keep in mind when Tapping Guitar Harmonics.

1.) You need to tap over the top of the fret wire itself, not between the frets.

2.) You need to “pull” the sound out of the fretboard, not “push it in.

These are the two big problems that most guitarists face when it come to Tapping Guitar Harmonics. Though there are many different areas on the fretboard that you can actually tap harmonics from, we are going to look at 4 simple spots to work from. This will be all you need to work on the tapping technique itself, and from there you’ll be able to expand as far as you want and experiment with all the strings in any location on the fretboard.

You Should Practice Tapping Guitar Harmonics In One Area Of The Fretboard, To Master The Technique

Rule Of Thumb: Anywhere you hold a note down on the fretboard with your left hand, you can tap over the top of the fret-wire 12 frets away and create a harmonic. With that being said, you can create different pitches if you tap over different frets. Some frets are more delicate than others to get the harmonics to jump out, but with practice you can just about get a harmonic to jump out of any fret, anywhere. This takes time to master, but well worth it.

EXAMPLE: Fret the 3rd string on the 5th fret and keep your finger there, don’t move it. Now, tap over the top of the 10th, 12th, 14th, 17th fret-wire. If you’ve done this correctly you should hear 4 distinctly different harmonic pitches jump out.

If you don’t hear them you probably need to work on pulling the notes out of the fretboard rather than pushing them in. This is probably the hardest part to master. Just keep tapping until you hear the harmonics start to happen. You’ll eventually latch on to the technique that you need to use the harmonics to pop out.

Another cool thing to experiment with when you get the hang of it, is to bend the note with your left hand as you’re tapping the harmonics with the right hand. You can really expand on the possibilities with this one little extra trick thrown in.

When you get the hang of tapping guitar harmonics out of the fretboard, chances are you’ll use this technique as part of you’re playing for the rest of your guitar career.

Click Here To Achieve Killer Lead Guitar Skills

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Guitar Metronome Timing

published Tuesday, February 14th, 2012 at 8:02 pm by bobmolton

Mastering Your Guitar Metronome Timing

Guitar Metronome Timing

Guitar Metronome Timing

Timing is the element responsible for how tight and “in the pocket” your overall guitar playing is. If you have a great sense of timing you’re already a few steps ahead, in terms of being a great guitarist.

For some guitarists, timing is something they really have to work at, and for others it comes naturally.

Either way Guitar Metronome Timing can be mastered, and needs to be, when becoming the best lead guitarist you can. Something as simple as timing could be responsible for so many problems within your playing. It can also cause serious problems within a band… Even if it’s just one person who’s timing is out of whack.

It certainly doesn’t have to be a problem, and I suggest that if you are in a band, that you make sure everyone in the band has a complete understanding of the tempo and count throughout all of your songs… all the breaks, the changes, the endings beginnings etc… it all comes down to everyone thoroughly understanding the counts between all the breaks, stops, time changes, or dynamics throughout your songs.

Guitar Metronome Timing Is A Must For All Serious Guitarists

This is how you cut the guess-work, and bring the entire band’s mindset together as a unit.

The tighter your timing is the more “In The Pocket” you’ll be overall… Always be working on your timing!

We’re going to look at four basic time signatures and how to count them with a metronome. One thing I want to point out is that your metronome does not have to be clicking at a fast rate to play fast over it.

What you need to do when working on your Guitar Metronome Timing, is get comfortable playing four different time signatures over a single metronome pace. This is an important factor.

I suggest setting the metronome at (88) to start with.

* Single note counting is simply a count of… 1,2,3,4 / 1,2,3,4 / 1,2,3,4 / 1,2,3,4
Every count is directly on each beat of the 4 note count.

* Double note counting is when you insert an extra note in between the original 4 count.
Example: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & / 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & / 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & / 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

* Triple note counting is when you insert two extra notes in between the original 4 count.
Example: 1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a / 1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a / 1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a / 1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a

* Quad note counting is when you insert three extra notes between the original 4 count. (aka 16th notes)
Example: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a / 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a / 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a / 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

Practice Your Guitar Metronome Timing By Simply Jamming With It

I think it’s very beneficial to turn on a metronome and just jam with it for fifteen minutes. Play every kind of timing you can think of. You’ll be amazed at how much this alone, will help you.

Suggestion: If you combine your actual guitar practice time, and work on your Guitar Metronome Timing as described within the methods and techniques we’ve already discussed throughout this article, you’ll really be using your practice time efficiently to gain maximum results.

I hope this information sheds some light on the importance of Guitar Metronome Timing within your Lead Guitar Playing. We’ve discussed some very critical elements of Lead Guitar Playing in this article.

I realize the importance of a video course explaining in depth how to master your Lead guitar playing skills, including timing and many other crucial elements of successful Lead Guitar Playing.

This is why I created, Lead Guitar Domination which goes deeper into Guitar Metronome Timing using video to explain exactly how to utilize your timing for maximum results.

Click Here To Become A Killer LEAD GUITARIST In Just A Few Short Weeks

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Guitar Alternate Picking

published Tuesday, February 14th, 2012 at 4:37 pm by bobmolton

Guitar Alternate Picking and Legato Rolls

Guitar Alternate Picking

Guitar Alternate Picking

When it comes to Guitar Alternate Picking and Legato Rolls, these are tools that you DO want to have complete control over, to use on demand at a moments notice.

I like to view this as the throttle controlling a fine-tuned engine. You won’t always have it cracked wide open, but when you need the power it’s there. Use it sparingly for maximum results.

You definitely want to spend extra time working with your Guitar Alternate Picking and legato rolling patterns.

The reason is, it’s your main tool to explore the fretboard, and lack of control in this area can easily become an obstacle holding you back from “un-restricted lead guitar playing”.

If you listen to Paul Gilbert, or Yngwie Malmsteen, you get a clear idea of what this is all about in its perfected state. The real challenge is to make it as effective as possible.

In my opinion, I personally feel that Eddie Van Halen does this the best!

Perfecting Your Guitar Alternate Picking Method, Puts You In Control

Remember to use your speed as a tool, not a crutch… You’ll turn more heads your way.

* How should you practice your guitar alternate picking and legato rolling patterns?

  • Up-stroke and Down-stroke Synchronization: This is the difference between all cylinders firing on a finely tuned engine, or a fouled plug engine that ‘s missing… Seriously, this is your mechanical horsepower and needs harnessed to the fullest. Every musical phrase, lick, pattern, scale, run, etc… is all based on how well your up and down strokes are in sync…
  • Emphasizing the up-stroke: Picking the upstroke with added emphasis will do two things for you… First, it gives you better stability and fluidity, but even more, it allows you a great sense of timing if you use the upstroke as a “time stamp” within your counting. It can help give you a better sense of where “one ” is within a lengthy solo run, or series of phrases.
  • Smoothing Out Legato Patterns: When using legato patterns and runs, try to hammer your rolling notes as clean, steady, and consistent as possible. It’s easy to get ahead of yourself when rolling together. Here’s and Example: Notice when you’re playing three note per string legato runs that some points seem to be a bit faster than others, or maybe a bit more aggressive than other areas. You don’t want this type on inconsistent sound. You want to strive for a balanced turnaround, and steady timing with all your legato patterns. This will make your sound much more professional.
  • Balancing Your Guitar Alternate Picking and Legato Volumes: As we were just talking about smoothing out your legato patterns, the next part to the equation is balancing out the picking notes within your legato rolls. You see, even though most of the time you won’t pick within legato patterns, there are definite times you will. Usually this happens when you go to a different string. The trick to mastering this is to ease up on the pick, and hammer-on as solid as possible. When you think along these lines, you’ll be able make the final adjustments between your left and right hand, (in regards to volume blending) while your playing licks.
  • Seamless Non-Picking Turnarounds: Most of the time you won’t use your pick on turnarounds. I think it sounds more balanced and fluent when you don’t pick the turnarounds. The way you want to practice this is to simply roll two notes up, and roll two notes back…repeat. This should sound even and balanced (seamless). When you turnaround on any string it will be done this way. Even though you might cross four strings before you make a turnaround, when you do, this is how it’s done in its simplest form.
  • Hybrid Picking Combination Utilizing Everything: This is ultimately where you want to be, in terms of being in complete control of all methods of alternate picking and legato runs. You want to visualize the big picture and combine all the elements as smoothly as possible. When you change from aggressive picking to smooth legato you want to make it sound as natural and seamless as possible. This requires practicing lengthy patterns that use all the methods above. If you consistently practice in this mindset, you will rapidly jump leaps and bounds within your lead guitar playing, not to mention dramatically improving your musical vocabulary.

I recommend spending some additional time with these techniques and methods. It does require more time to get comfortable with all of these elements, but I promise you it’s time well worth spent.

When You Start Mastering Your Guitar Alternate Picking, You’ll Begin Noticing That All Aspects Of Your Guitar Playing Become Easier.

I hope this  information sheds some light on the importance of Guitar Alternate Picking and Legato within your Lead Guitar Playing.

Click Here To Skyrocket Your Lead Guitar Playing Skills

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Pentatonic Guitar Soloing

published Saturday, February 11th, 2012 at 4:30 pm by bobmolton

Pentatonic Guitar Soloing Over Guitar Chords

Pentatonic Guitar Soloing

Pentatonic Guitar Soloing

Soloing over guitar chords can be quite easy when using the minor pentatonic scale.

Add spice and power to your guitar solo’s with these simple but highly effective techniques.

You’ll be surprised with how much can be done.

Most guitar players start with the minor pentatonic scale when learning to solo.

Often times, people don’t learn to use the scale to it’s full potential and this can hold you back.

I’m going to show you an easy way to use Pentatonic Guitar Soloing over the three most common guitar chord types:

Major, Minor and Dominant 7th Chords.

Major Chords

A Major chord always has a relative minor chord. The easy way to find the ‘relative’ minor of any major chord on a guitar is to take the note three half-steps (3 frets) below the root note of the major chord.

Example: a C major chord – the root note is C. On a guitar, the note 3 frets below a C note is A. Therefore, A minor is the relative minor of C major.

For Pentatonic Guitar Soloing over a C major chord, use the A minor pentatonic scale and you’ll instantly discover that it sounds great!

Example-2: F major chord – three frets below the root of F, you will find D. You’ll use a D minor pentatonic scale over an F major chord.

Example -3: G major chord – three frets below the G root note you’ll find E. You’ll use the E minor pentatonic to solo over a G chord.

Now, you may have noticed that I listed C, F and G major chords there. Coincidentally, They are the 1, 4 and 5 chords of the ‘KEY’ of C Major. This applies to all instruments, not just guitar.

Minor Chords

An easy way to view this… simply use the minor pentatonic scale directly on the minor chord itself. You can do this in any key, over any minor chord. This is the most common form of Pentatonic Guitar Soloing.

Example – Use D minor pentatonic for a D minor chord, an E minor pentatonic for an E minor chord, an A minor pentatonic for an A minor Chord.

If you’ll notice I used D, E and A minor chords as the example… These chords are the 2, 3 and 6 chords of the ‘KEY’ of C Major?

Dominant 7th Chords

You have a couple of choices here. But basically, you would use the relative minor pentatonic, or the minor pentatonic a tone below the root of the dom7 chord.

Example – over G7, you could use either E minor pent (relative minor), or D min pentatonic.

The reason you could use the D minor pentatonic over a G7 chord is because the Dmi chord and G7 chord often go together in chord progressions. Forcing a Dmi sound over a G7 chord gives a G7sus sound.

KEY Perspective Viewing:

All These Pentatonic Guitar Soloing Examples Are Based In C Major.

An interesting thing is that you can use just the A minor pentatonic alone for ALL the chords in C, or you can also use the D and E minor pentatonics to add some color and more conformity to the chords being used at the time.

Remember, these principles apply to whatever chord you are playing at any time, but can also be applied on a KEY basis, which is a more encompassing picture.

The Key of C Major has these chords: C, Dm, Em, F, G7, Am, Bmin7b5.

A-minor pentatonic can be used over them all, or just the C and Am chords.

D minor pentatonic can be used over the F and Dm chords.

E minor can be used over the Em and G7 chords.

The (Bmi7b5) is not used quite as aften, but a good choice for that is the Dm pentatonic. Though you can use either of the three pentatonics from the C Major scale – Am, Dm or Em…

You’ll ultimately need to decide for yourself which sounds best for the music you’re playing. I suggest using them all. That’s the beauty of music.

Don’t Underestimate The Power Of Pentatonic Guitar Soloing

If you use them as described, you’ll quickly be able to harness the full power from these staunch sounding scales.

I hope this has helped you to expand your guitar playing.

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