JamBlog - lessons
Only the most valuable and fun content for forward thinking musicians
Baby’s Got the Bends: 4 Techniques to Make Your Guitar Wail
What is it about bending that is so intoxicating to the listener? It’s hard to say, but my sense is that bending is what makes the guitar “sing”. As humans, we have a deep and natural connection to the human voice, our primary method of communication, which is why singing evokes an emotional response from the listener. Bending strings sounds like singing, emotional singing sounds like wailing, so turn up the guitar amp - we're gonna make your fretboard cry.
The 5 Types of Guitar Effects - and where your favourite pedals fit in
Most guitar effects have names that describe the sound they make (like Fuzz or Wah-wah) while others have names that describe the process of making the sound (like Phaser or Overdrive), but here we’ll try to take a scientific approach, asking “what are the properties of the sound and what are the ways they can be altered”? Or better yet, “what the heck does this pedal do?”
Break Out of the Box With These Pentatonic Patterns
A scale pattern in a closed position (no open strings) that sticks to roughly the same grouping of frets is called a box pattern. While this is a perfectly valid and reasonable approach, let’s be honest - who wants to be put in a box anyway?! As you progress on your journey to soloing greatness, perhaps the most beneficial scale pattern to learn is called the Diagonal Pentatonic Scale. Don’t worry - it’s less difficult than it sounds.
Alternate Tunings (and Why You Should Try Some)
Chances are you’ve spent a good deal of time learning to play in standard tuning, you know your way around the fretboard and maybe you can confidently take a solo... so why abandon all that knowledge and start from scratch learning new chord shapes and scale positions?
Jamstack's Favourite Guitar Lesson Apps
The key feature of Uberchord that sets it apart from the rest, is its advanced chord recognition abilities. Focusing on chords first is a great way for beginner players to get up and running playing songs. The real-time feedback will let you know what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong as you play.
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