Swing Technique – Jazz Articulation on guitar

In this video I explain how to approach right hand technique to have a better ‘swing’ when playing jazz solos…obviously this works well for any style of music that has back beat (blues, rock and so on…). The idea is to PICK the note on the UPBEAT and SLUR the note on the DOWNBEAT, using… Continue reading Swing Technique – Jazz Articulation on guitar

Factorial Thinking (Combinations applied to music)

Today’s’ tip has to do with mathematics applied to music…we have already seen how in the finger combinations exercises we have used all the possible combinations of 2,3 and 4 fingers of our left hand to make sure we cover every possible motion. This is not only a great warm up and technical exercise, but also a way… Continue reading Factorial Thinking (Combinations applied to music)

The Importance of Repertoire

In this short post I want to spend a few words on the importance of knowing tunes, either written by other musicians or by yourself. ‘Repertoire’ is often a fancy word we use to identify ‘all the tunes we know’. In my experience as teacher I have found to be a divide between the guitarist… Continue reading The Importance of Repertoire

Triad Combinations (also known as Triad Pairs)

You can get quite a modern sound by alternating and combining major and minor triads. In the video I use variuos combinations like C minor and D major that touch different degrees of the key of the moment.  Try different combinations and write down those that sound more interesting to your ears. You can find… Continue reading Triad Combinations (also known as Triad Pairs)

3 Notes Per String Pentatonic

I have always been inspired by lines played by funk sax players like Sanborn, Marienthal o Brecker, lines which are unique because of the characteristics of the instrument to produce the same note with two different fingerings (but this is possible on the guitar,too), together with their aggressive feel and a bluesy approach (= pentatonis,… Continue reading 3 Notes Per String Pentatonic