Category: Tips and Online finds
Posture, Warm ups, Stretching and Health for the Working Guitarist.
As a working guitarist, sooner or later you will be confronted by tension in your upper body and shoulders. I always try to teach to all my students how to avoid tension and explain how warming up before a session/gig and sitting/standing correctly can make a huge difference in how you will feel at the end of…
Check List for the forgetful Guitarist
I usually play 150+ gigs a year in different styles, in different settings, sometimes playing ‘dep’ gigs, where you might not know what you’ll be doing until the last minute, it is easy to forget stuff at home (I have done so twice last week…). I have created this check-list to make sure this does…
Most useful guitar chords to learn
I get often asked, especially by beginners, which are the most useful guitar chords to learn when approaching the instrument for the first time. I always thought the open chords where a good guess, as they appear on most famous ‘sing along’ pop tunes…but I never really knew exactly which ones. That’s where the the guys from www.jumbojimbo.com come…
Bebop Guitar: Practice the most famous Charlie Parker’s Tunes
I bumped on this fantastic video by an exceptionally skilled fellow guitar player who stringed together some of the most famous Charlie Parker’s heads to create a montage for (I guess) practice purpose. I though this was a great idea and you can find it right below. I will definitely use this video for my practice routine and to keep these…
Google tribute to Les Paul
Good to see today that on the main page of Google.com the logo had been replaced by a playable guitar, in occasion of Les Paul‘s birthday. If you click anywhere on the strings, it will redirect you to a search for Les Paul. Also by clicking on the keyboard icon, you can use the computer keyboard to…
How to setup your electric guitar
Yesterday during a gig I dropped my beloved Fender Stratocaster ‘head on’, and I could tell right away that the neck had moved and the whole setup had gone out of the window. Rather than taking the guitar to be setup I did a bit of research online and decided to give it a go…
Ted Greene Talks about Lenny Breau and his Techniques
In this series of videos Ted Greene, shows some great ideas on harmonics produced by the right hand and other techniques made popular by guitar giant Lenny Breau…some really unusual stuff, and unique sounding chords. I especially like how adding the harmonics creates ‘cluster’ voicings, often very difficult to play on guitar. Fantastic stuff.
Autotune for guitar?
I am not sure what this is going to do exactly…I am sure it will tune out-of-tune guitars (the existing version of Autotune already does to an extent, so does the polyphonic version of Melodyne). I guess we will have to wait and see. I am sure, this Antares ATG-6 will spark some controversy. Not a lot of…
Great lesson on Pentatonics from Scott Henderson
Great to find stuff like this online, in a few minutes, Scott Henderson explains how to use the old pentatonic shape and create new sounds. To summarize, here he uses the minor pentatonic shape starting from the root, 2nd and 5th of the key of the moment. In the example in B he uses B,…
Monk’s rules for his band
This post is slightly different from the usual guitar lesson, but I feel that this online find can teach a lot in terms of band politics. This is written by Thelonious Monk for his band…just read through and I am sure you’ll find something enlightening. (Click on picture to enlarge) I personally like: ‘Don’t play…
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Professional guitarist, producer, internet enthusiast and overall geek, Gianni Chiarello has been playing, performing and recording for over 25 years in different parts of the globe. Read more about it here: 
