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Beginner Acoustic Guitar Lesson – Song Chord Progression

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This lesson will teach you some beginner chords, and you can cover a lot of songs with these. The chords that will be covered are G, C, D and Em.  These chords are the I, IV, V, and VI of D major. The I is G, IV is C, V is D and VI is Em.

There are several ways to play G major. One of the ways to play it is with your first finger (pointer finger) on the 5th string 2nd fret, second finger (middle finger) on the 6th string, 3rd fret, third finger (ring finger) on the 2nd string, 3rd fret, and then your pinkie underneath that on the 1st string, 3rd fret. You can play your G chord with just your third finger on the first string, if you’re a real beginner. You strum all six strings to play this chord.

For the C chord, the standard way to play it is by using your first finger (pointer) on the 2nd string, 1st fret, then the second finger (middle) on the 4th string, 2nd fret, and the third finger (ring) on the 5th string, 3rd fret. If you want to add the G bass, then put your third finger instead on the 6th string, 3rd fret, and your pinkie underneath it on the 5th string, 3rd fret. If you play the C chord without the G bass, don’t play the 6th string, or it will sound really bad. The low E takes away from the C chord. If you play this chord with the G bass, you can play all six strings.

For D major, the standard way is to play it with your first finger (pointer) on the 3rd string, 2nd fret, second finger (middle) on the 1st string, 2nd fret, and third finger (ring) on the 2nd string, 3rd fret, and you just play the bottom four strings for the D chord.

For the Em chord, you use your second finger (middle) on the 5th string, 2nd fret, and third finger (ring) on the 4th string, 2nd fret. You can play all six strings for this chord.

Now with these chords, you can play an incredible amount of songs. This lesson will go through some famous chord progressions. One of the more famous chord progressions goes I (G), VI (Em), IV (C), V (D). Another one is: VI (Em), IV (C), I (G), V (D). You can change it up again and do: I (G), V (D), VI (Em), IV (C).

You can throw on a capo to the fifth fret, and then you’re playing in the key of C. Play the same chords, but now instead of playing the song in G you’re playing the song in C.

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Source: Beginner Acoustic Guitar Lesson – Song Chord Progression Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons


Alternate Guitar Picking and Bass Lines

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This lesson talks about alternating guitar picking with walking bass line patterns that are really popular. A good trick, especially for country music, is to alternate, and to do an inversion, which is a lower form of a bass note that is related to the chord. The key is to always take the root first. In the G chord, the inversion isn’t possible unless you have a seven string guitar, then you can do it. But with a six string, which is what this lesson uses, you can’t do that.

With the G when you alternate, always start with the root. There are a few examples in music where they didn’t start with the root, but 99.9% of the time you’re going to start with the root. So start with the 6th string as your bass note, then go to the 5th string. It’s a down, down, up strum, with the bass note as the first down, then down up for the strum. You count it out by saying 1 + a  2  + a  3  +  a  4  +  a. So you alternate for each beat.

When you go to the C, it depends on what fingering you use for the C chord. If you do it with a G bass, you can start with the C bass note, then go to the G bass note, and back and forth.

You can do the same thing with Em. You can’t go any lower than the E bass note, so you can go up. Play the 6th string as your bass, then 5th string. When you get to the D you can do the inversion. Start with your high D which is your root, then go to the low A. Same goes for the Am, jumping between the A and the E notes. Careful not to let the low E ring out too much over the A. Try and mute it a little bit.

Feel free to contact us at riffninja.com/suggest with any suggestions or interests you may have.

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Source: Alternate Guitar Picking and Bass Lines Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

Bass Lesson: Using Ones and Fives

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A previous bass lesson covered the one and eighth notes, which is the octave. That bass lesson can be found here. Now this bass lesson will be adding the perfect fifth to that, which is the fifth note in your scale. This applies to a major or minor key.

For example, if you’re in A major, the fifth note (perfect fifth) is E.

If you are a bass player that has converted from being a guitar player, the one and five is like your power chord on a guitar. You can do that on a bass too. It usually sounds better on a higher register. If you play them singly though, this creates your bass line. When you’re in a lower frequency, hitting both your one and five together might cancel each other out of simply sound too droney.

There is a pattern that happens between your octave and your fifth. When you’re doing your fifth, it’s always your root first, then the fifth. So if A is the root, the fifth will always be one string and two frets up, which is the E. It’s the same for root of D, the fifth, A, will be one string and two frets up. Always hit your root first, because this establishes your change. After that, then you can add the fifth.

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Source: Bass Lesson: Using Ones and Fives Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

Easy Blues Guitar Riff For Beginners

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This is a taste of what you will find on the Blues Beginners Riff Course provided on this website.

This blues guitar lesson will teach you how to play a riff using a hammer on, and the hammer on is on the second string. The guitar used in this lesson is tuned standard, E A D G B E. You can play this riff in other tunings, but to keep you on the same page, it’s just the standard tuning. The second string is the B string.

You’re going to pick the B open, and with your third finger on the third fret, you’re going to hammer. Now the trick with a hammer is that to get it down quickly with some force, don’t hesitate. If you do it too slow, it mutes the string before you can get it down, and it kills the ring. You have to do it with a quick motion. Be aggressive, and use the tip of your finger to hammer that string down on to the fret.

The next trick is to get it nice and even. It’s good practice to just go back and forth, because you’ll find lots of riffs that use the hammer technique.

So the next thing you’ll have to deal with is the problem of the fleshy end of your finger touching the high E string. You don’t want to touch that E string – you want both of those to ring out. Start with a down pick, and hammer on, then while that hammer note (3rd fret) is still ringing, pick up on the high E string. The trick is to make those three notes even.

The next thing is to join it with notes in the scale. Use different combinations, and play that riff over as many times as you want. To finish that riff, play the 3rd string 2nd fret with your second finger (middle), then open 3rd string, then your tonic, the E on the 4th string 2nd fret. This resolves the blues guitar riff.

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Source: Easy Blues Guitar Riff For Beginners Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

Guitar Improvising Lesson #1 – The Scale

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This is a guitar improvising lesson that teaches you the benefits of knowing your scales.

The scale used in this lesson is a pentatonic scale, meaning a five note scale. It’s universal, and all the notes in the scale line up with whatever key you’re in. In this case, the key being used will be Bm. The scale starts at the 7th fret. What you have to realize is that all the notes in this scale are in that key – they all have a harmony relation to each other. In other words, it’s a no brainer. If you play the scale that matches the key, you can’t loose. There’s not one bad note in the scale. You can look like a pro by simply knowing the scale really well. There’s so many riffs that can come from this scale.

Watch the fingerboard carefully to see that the only notes being played are the ones in the scale.

Once again, the only notes being played are part of that Bm scale.

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Source: Guitar Improvising Lesson #1 – The Scale Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

Guitar Improvising Lesson #2 – The Riffs

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This is a guitar lesson on improvising that teaches you how to create riffs from scales.

The scale used in this lesson is the B pentatonic minor scale. This lesson has picked a couple skeletal riffs that are very universal while using this scale. A riff is a group of notes composed out of a certain scale. One of the riffs shown here will use a string bend, and the other one won’t. The basic riffs will be show, then these riffs will be put together.

The first section is basically the scale being played in the lower octave.

The second section is played in the upper octave, and involves a stretch.

Both these outlines will now be used in multiple different ways, by just changing the timing of the notes, and the intervals between the notes might slightly change. It’s always best to start slow, and then speed things up.

The idea is that none of these notes are wrong, and you play it the way you hear it. It’s really important to realize that the notes in this scale and the riffs come directly out of the scale. There are no modifications, or additions to the scale.

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Source: Guitar Improvising Lesson #2 – The Riffs Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

The Ultimate Acoustic Guitar Buying Guide

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Many of my students have expressed the need for quality advice on how to choose an acoustic guitar, so we decided to put together this Ultimate Acoustic Guitar Buying Guide that hopefully will serve to put the best guitars possible in your happy hands. If you’ve got an hour or so, settle in and watch the whole video. If not, you can catch the highlights underneath. If you have comments or questions, please leave them at the bottom of this page, but also please know that I cannot give advice on specific models that you may be looking at. My best advice is here on this page, beyond that you’ll have to use your common sense.

One more thing, before we dive in. If you like what you learn here, you can help out by spreading the word! Share this page with all your guitar-playing buddies to help them make better choices on their next acoustic guitar! There are share buttons at the top of this post. Ok, let’s get started!

The Ultimate Acoustic Guitar Buying Guide

This lesson is a combination of all the different comments I’ve received from teaching online, and it seems that there is a real need for this topic. A lot of my students could have used this guide long before they even started their guitar lessons. This lesson won’t go into things like what type of wood is used for each guitar, but is going to discuss the practical aspects for buying a guitar.

First thing I’d like to end is the notion that you should start on an acoustic guitar. That’s not true. It’s your choice. Electric or acoustic, it doesn’t really matter – the finger movements are the same. For portability, there’s no difference between the electric or acoustic guitar. Nowadays, you can get a little battery-powered amp that clips right onto your belt so you can travel easily with an electric. You can also buy 3/4 size guitars, which are also more portable than full sized ones. So portability is not an issue. You’re probably picking the acoustic guitar because it has a sound that you love, and you can do things like play around a campfire with it. However, don’t restrict yourself to just an acoustic, because you can do things like that also with an electric guitar and a battery powered amp.

Department Store vs Music Store

Should you buy your guitar at a department store? NO. What most people need to understand about buying a guitar at a department store is that the price and quality may be deceiving. The problem with those guitars is sometimes they are lower in quality than what you would buy at a music store. Usually those instruments are built specifically for department stores, so right there the quality is a little less. However, quality aside (because mechanics can fix any issue with a guitar), the biggest issue is department stores don’t always store and handle their guitars properly. This causes problems like the wood shifting, which can make an instrument difficult to play and stay in tune.

Go to a music store for your guitar. The people there know how to properly handle and store guitars, plus they are knowledgeable about the instruments and can help you out.

Listen to the Guitars

Music stores don’t want to sell you something that you’re unhappy about. Plus, they all know how to play a little bit as well. Get them, or a friend, to play the different guitars for you. Sit back and listen to the guitar. Stand close to the guitar, and then walk away from it a little bit. Listen to the sound. Listen to the guitar in different rooms, because the guitar will sound different at home than in the store.

Don’t buy based on color! Don’t buy on shape or looks, either. Buy by the sound and the feel of the guitar.

Feel of the Guitar

Once you’ve found a guitar that you like the sound of, you need to sit with it and think about things like your body size. If you’re a small person, you don’t want a big guitar. Watch your hand size as well. Do not buy a guitar with a blocky neck if you have a tiny hand. My advice is sit down with the guitar, and put your hand around the neck. Ask yourself, “Can I reach all the strings easily with my fingers? Can I picture myself playing this instrument, and having my hand wrapped around it in different ways?”

Don’t be shy to pick up the guitar and sit with it. The people at the music stores don’t mind; you just have to be polite, and careful with their instruments.

Price

If there’s one thing I’d like to convey in this acoustic guitar buying guide, it is to find a guitar that makes you want to play. This is what a guitar is all about. The guitar does not have to be expensive to achieve that. More expensive doesn’t necessarily mean better. It’s a personal thing. Work within your budget and find a sound and feel that you like.

Don’t grind: shop first. This way if you find a guitar that you like the sound of in one store, but another store has the same guitar for a cheaper price, you are aware of that. Go to the store manager and say that you found the same guitar at a different store, but you prefer the sound of this one: can they match the price or come close? Be nice about it. More than likely, they’ll either match or throw in some picks or another set of strings or something. So don’t grind about a price right away. If you find a guitar you like, go check out a few more first. You never know what’s out there till you check.

Action

Action is the height of the string to the fret board, or in other words, how much movement/distance the string has before it connects to the fretboard. A guitar with a lower action means it’s easier to play, but it can also cause fret buzz. You want every note you play to be clear and beautiful.

If you’re buying a cheaper guitar, you might want to ask the sales person to play chords in both the lower and the higher register of the guitar. The action makes a difference the further up the neck you go.

A mechanic can change the action if the guitar is adjustable or not too far out, so it’s not a make or break thing.

Parlor Guitars

Parlor guitars are smaller bodied guitars. The neck is narrower, and not as thick. The parlor guitars can be really nice and sound great. A lot of women are more comfortable with this guitar because of its smaller size.

Parts of an Acoustic Guitar

At the top of your neck you have a string nut. This bar keeps your strings evenly spaced along the neck. It also maintains the tension on your guitar, and this is where the vibrations start.

The wires that go across the neck of the guitar are called the frets. Be careful with a cheaper guitar – if you run your hand along the edge of the neck you should not find sharp frets. Sometimes manufacturers cut the wires a little too long, or the wood shrinks over time. This happens with international guitars sometimes. Wood has its own personality, and can shrink sometimes, causing the frets to be sharp along the edges.

At the base of the guitar you have the saddle, which is usually a white bone-like material. The role of the saddle is it works with the string nut to keep the strings evenly spaced.

At the top of the guitar are your tuning pegs, also known as machine heads. The tuning pegs are what your strings are wrapped around, and this is how you tune your guitar.

The bridge pins are on the body of the guitar, and they hold the ball end of the string. They hold the strings in place on the body end of the guitar, while the tuning pegs hold the other end of the string.

The hole in the middle of the body is called the sound hole.

If the guitar has a design that goes down the neck, this is called inlay. It’s strictly ornamental, and should not be considered when looking for a guitar. Always go by the sound, not the looks.

Mechanics

Always go with a mechanic that comes recommended – either by a music store or by someone you know. If they’re going to be tweaking your guitar, you want them to be reliable.

Every guitar should be looked over by a mechanic before you start to play it. Also, if you notice your guitar is not sounding the same after you purchased it, it may mean the guitar has settled a bit and you just need to take it in for a little check up.

String Tension

String tension can affect your guitar neck. More tension can cause the neck to bow more. A good guitar will have a tension adjustment on the neck. There’s a rod that goes down inside the neck, and it compensates for the huge tension on the strings. You don’t want your neck to have too much of a curve because your strings vibrate more to the center.

Buying a Used Guitar

Don’t fix up the finish if you buy an old guitar. You’re better off to leave the finish that it still has on. Sometimes when you take the old finish off the guitar, you can ruin it. Plus you can take away from its vintage value, if it has any.

An advantage to getting an old guitar is that once it gets cleaned up by a mechanic (if it needs anything tweaked at all), you shouldn’t have any more problems with it as it’s already settled.

Pickups

For the guitars that have pickups built into them, the pickup can have the controls either built into the top of the guitar, or around the sound hole. Some don’t have any controls, but they have a jack out where you connect your guitar to an amp and control it from there. It depends on what you want to use your guitar for.

Guitars that have pickups can be played unplugged as well. However, they will usually sound really good when they’re plugged in.

It’s cheaper to buy a guitar with the pickup already in it than to buy a guitar and have a pickup put in. If you buy a pickup separately, you need to pay for a technician to put the pickup in, which usually tends to be more expensive.

Cases

Buy a case for your guitar!!! If you don’t have a case, it’s like buying a brand new car and replacing your new tires with worn out tires. Even a gig bag is better than no protection at all. A gig bag is a nylon bag with padding.

Include a case in your budget. You are spending money on a guitar – protect it! If you’re moving your guitar around at all (even from the store to your house), you need to have a case!

A lot of stores won’t warranty your guitar if you won’t buy a case for it.

Steel String vs Nylon String

Nylon string guitars will sound different from steel string guitars. The tension on a nylon string guitar is less than with steel strings. Guitars are built for one or the other: you don’t want to put steel strings on a guitar that was built for nylon ones! It will wreck the guitar. You also don’t want put nylon strings on a guitar built for steel strings because it won’t sound good or project very well.

The downfall to a nylon string guitar is that the necks are usually wider, so bar chords may be more difficult. Nylon strings are easier to press down because there’s less tension on the neck. They are also less painful on your fingers when you’re a beginner, as you’ll build your calluses slowly as opposed to right away. They are also softer sounding, and really good for people want to just strum.

If you have a weak hand or you’ve never played before, ask your technician if he can lower the action as low as possible, and put on really thin strings (10-guage). This is usually more beneficial for children.

So to recap: Do not buy by color, do not buy by brand, and do not buy by looks. Buy by sound, the feel of the neck, and how it feels when you’re sitting with the guitar. Buy a guitar that suits your body stature. You want to be able to sit comfortably with it. You want to love playing it!

I hope my Ultimate Acoustic Guitar Buying Guide helps you make a good, educated decision when you go buy your guitar. Once you’ve got a guitar, I’d recommend checking out our free three day trial of the Riff Ninja Academy. Or, signup for my new series of beginner lessons. So go, buy a guitar, then come back to the website to learn how to play! And remember, have fun!

Related Posts: The Ultimate Electric Guitar Buying Guide

Source: The Ultimate Acoustic Guitar Buying Guide Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

The Ultimate Electric Guitar Buying Guide

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So you want to know how to choose an electric guitar – but where do you start? Well, we’ve created the Ultimate Electric Guitar Buying Guide to give you that start; to help you understand all the different things that go into choosing a good guitar. If you’ve got time, settle in and watch the whole video. If not, bookmark it for later, and you can catch the highlights underneath in the meantime. If you have comments or questions, please leave them at the bottom of this page, but also please know that I cannot give advice on specific models that you may be looking at. If you have two identical guitars of the same make and model, they can still have very different characteristics, so please understand that my best advice is here on this page, beyond that you’ll have to use your common sense.

One more thing, before we dive in. If you like what you learn here, you can help out by spreading the word! Share this page with all your guitar-playing buddies to help them make better choices on their next acoustic guitar! There are share buttons at the top of this post. Ok, let’s get started!

The Ultimate Electric Guitar Buying Guide

There are so many models of electric guitars out there, and you can find some really good buys if you take the time to look around a bit. Don’t buy by color, brand, or model! Once you have a price range, your next thing is the shape of the neck. Yes, the guitar has to be visually appealing (would you be motivated to play an ugly guitar?), but don’t let looks be the basis for your purchase. You need to go by the feel of the guitar, not the look of a guitar.

Also, don’t buy an electric guitar from a department store. Go to a music store. The people who work at music stores want you to be happy with your instrument so you will recommend them to other people, so they will put in the effort to help you find a guitar that’s perfect for you. Music stores also know how to properly store and transport instruments, so the guitars will be better in quality there than at a department store.

An important thing to remember is that it’s okay to not start off with a really good guitar. Get to know what you love with a guitar after playing for awhile before buying a really expensive guitar.

Feel and Sound of the Guitar

You need to buy a guitar that is proportionate to your size. If you are a smaller bodied person, you need to get a smaller guitar that won’t strain your arms while you’re playing it. You also need to keep in mind the thickness of the neck of the guitar. People with small hands should not buy a guitar with a thick neck, or they will have trouble playing bar chords.

You need to ask yourself if you can see yourself playing that guitar for the next several years. Picture yourself playing it for hours – would you be satisfied with the guitar? Play a few chords on it – do you like the sound? For an electric guitar, you need to play the guitar with all the different pickup options; use distortion, play it without distortion. Play around with every option on the guitar, and make sure you like it.

Hollow Body Guitars

You can get all kinds of thicknesses of hollow body guitars – from decently thin to a rounded back. A hollow body guitar means exactly what you think – the guitar is hollow in the middle. They’re usually built by taking the two frames of the guitar and attaching them together. These guitars will sound different from solid body guitars, so you need to go by what sound you like. The hollow bodies will have a softer tone to them – a smoother tone. You don’t have to limit them to softer music though – you can play rock and roll with a hollow body. When you crank the juice up on your amp with these guitars though, it will cause more feedback than a solid guitar.

Tremolo Bar Guitars

Tremolo bar guitars have the floating bridge that allows you to loosen all the pressure on your strings, and then bring it back up to its normal playing tension without going out of tune. This was invented when Eddie Van Halen collaborated with his neighbor, Floyd Rose, and created the locking bolts on the nut and bridge to keep the strings taut and in tune. When you use the tremolo bar, it brings the pressure on the neck of the guitar from over a hundred pounds of pressure down to no pressure at all. This causes the “dive bomb” sound.

The downfall of a Floyd Rose is that if you break a string, your guitar will go completely out of tune. You can’t quickly change a string either, so you need to have a backup guitar if you’re going to be playing a gig with this guitar. They’re also temperamental to tune, and may be more challenging for a beginner to learn with.

Parts of an Electric Guitar

The binding is the trim of the guitar. It’s mostly ornamental, but it also covers up any imperfections from when they glued the guitar together.

At the top of your neck you have a string nut. This bar keeps your strings evenly spaced along the neck, and keeps the strings elevated above the fretboard. It also maintains the tension on your guitar, and this is where the vibrations start.

At the base of the guitar you have the saddle. The role of the saddle is it works with the string nut to keep the strings evenly spaced. The saddle can be moved back and forth, which affects your intonation.

Intonation is the string length distance between the saddle and the string nut. For a beginner, you don’t need to know much about this, but it helps keep your guitar in tune.

The steel pieces that go across the neck of the guitar are called the frets. When you run your hand along the edge of the neck, they shouldn’t be too sharp or rough. On Gibson guitars the binding goes over the frets; on most other guitars the frets go over the binding. It’s personal preference. If you’re buying a used guitar, you can pull the strings back on the neck to see how smooth the frets are. The more grooved the frets are, the more playing time the guitar has had. That can repaired, and frets can be replaced, but that requires more money. A fret job can be between $150-$200, so you have to make sure you like the guitar enough to bother with that.

The pickups are found on the body of the guitar. A pickup is basically a microphone. Pickups have magnetic fields that are created by winding very thin wire (the thickness of hair) around different styles of magnets. The different types of magnets affect how the guitar is going to sound. Guitars will have single coils, double coils, or a combination of the two. You can swap out the pickups in your guitar, but it can be pricey.

The position of the toggle switch on the guitar will determine which pickup is being used – the up position uses just the front pickup, the switch in the middle position uses both pickups, and the switch in the downward position means the guitar is using the back pickup. Some guitars will have a separate switch for each pickup.

The knobs control the tone and volume of the pickups. One set of knobs operates the front pickup, and the other set operates the back pickup.

The “F” holes, also known as the chamber holes, are found on hollow body guitars, and they don’t really affect the guitar all that much. Not all hollow bodies have “F” holes.

At the top of the guitar are your tuning pegs, also known as machine heads. The tuning pegs are what your strings are wrapped around, and this is how you tune your guitar. Some guitars have locking machine heads. So when you run your string through the hole, the string gets pinched inside, and the locking machine heads hold it in place. This way, when you use your bar, you don’t have the risk of the strings unraveling and coming out of tune when you’re playing.

The bridge pins are on the body of the guitar, and they hold the ball end of the string. They hold the strings in place on the body end of the guitar, while the tuning pegs hold the other end of the string. Some guitars have floating bridges, which means that when you push down on the bar, the bridge moves, loosening the tension of the string. On a guitar that has a floating bridge, you need to have a locking head at the top of the neck so that when you release the bar, the guitar stays in tune when the strings go tight again.

If the guitar has a design that goes down the neck, this is called inlay. It’s strictly ornamental, and should not be considered when looking for a guitar. Always go by the sound, not the looks.

Electric guitars can either be a single cutaway, or double cutaway. The cutaways help you reach further up the fretboard.

Action

Another thing you need to know about is the action on your guitar. Action is the height of the string to the fret board; or in other words, how much movement/distance the string has before it connects to the fretboard. A guitar with a lower action means it’s easier to play. If you want to play a lot of slide, you need a heavier set of strings, and the action should be a little higher. When you want to finger tap, it’s more beneficial to have a low action.

Maintenance

It doesn’t matter if you pay hundreds or thousands for a guitar, it still needs to be tweaked by a technician. So work that into your budget. Make sure you go to reputable music store or someone that is recommended to you. You don’t want to take your guitar to an unreliable source. Regardless of if you buy a new or old guitar, you need to have it looked at by a technician. Even if it’s considered new in a store, it could be a several months old even though it’s just been sitting in the store. Many people have probably played around with it as well, so it’s a good thing to get it checked out. Plus, if you’re a beginner, it’s good to have the action lowered which makes it easier to play. A technician will tweak that for you.

Having a guitar in bad shape can be very discouraging for a new beginner. If the guitar won’t stay in tune, the strings are too hard to press down, or the frets hurt when you move your hand along the neck, these things can all be detrimental in your motivation to keep playing. If the action is too high, it can be impossible for a beginner to learn how to play a bar chord. These are all mechanical adjustments that a good technician can take care of for you.

If you want to clean your guitar – DON’T USE WATER. Use a dry cloth, and a little bit of your own spit. You can get a mechanic to professionally clean it as well.

Extra Budget Considerations

You need to buy a guitar case. You should never transport your guitar anywhere (even from the store to your house) without putting a case on it. You can buy a hard case, or a gig bag, which is a nylon bag with padding. Why would you go through all the hard work of setting the guitar up just to transport it without protection? Temperature and weather will affect your guitar as well, so it’s best to transport it protected.

For an electric guitar, you also need an amp. You can buy smaller, practice amps, that don’t cost a lot of money. However, if you are buying an electric guitar, you need to have an amp to plug it in to. Otherwise, it won’t sound right, and you will lose your enthusiasm to play. It doesn’t have to be a big amp – just good quality.

I hope my Ultimate Electric Guitar Buying Guide helps you make a good, educated decision when you go buy your guitar. Once you’ve got a guitar, I’d recommend checking out our free three day trial of the Riff Ninja Academy. Or, signup for my new series of beginner lessons. So go, buy a guitar, then come back to the website to learn how to play! And remember, have fun!

Related Posts: The Ultimate Acoustic Guitar Buying Guide

Source: The Ultimate Electric Guitar Buying Guide Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons


Introduction to the Guitar Fretboard

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Let’s face it, if you are going to be serious about your guitar playing, you are going to have to know the guitar fretboard. Of course, the fact that every string and every fret looks pretty much the same makes it a lot harder to tell different notes apart, when compared to other instruments. But this can actually make life easier.

The basic concept you will need to understand is that of ‘tones’ and ‘semitones’ – the frets are one semitone apart, just like each key on the piano – and once you know how the notes are laid out on one string, you will be able to work it out at any position on the fretboard. These ‘tones’ and ‘semitones’ are also referred to as ‘whole steps’ and ‘half steps’, so don’t let that confuse you.

What’s also easy when we’re figuring out the guitar fretboard is that we only have seven notes to work with: A, B, C, D, E, F and G. And all you will need to know to get started is the note names for each string.

Introduction to the Guitar Fretboard:

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Source: Introduction to the Guitar Fretboard Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

Using Guitar Triads for Rhythm

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Here’s another lesson in our series of lessons featuring both Colin Daniel and Jonathan Boettcher, this one showing how to use guitar triads to add a very cool complementary part to a song.

If you’re playing with a friend, please don’t both play exactly the same thing!

The point with this mini-series is to try to give you a few ideas to help you think outside of the box a little bit. You’ll find that playing something different than your friend actually sounds much cooler than playing the same thing, and once you get started on this, you might find it kind of addictive trying to find new sounds where both guitars complement each other!

Anyways, in this lesson we’ll take a look specifically at how you can use three note guitar triads to produce a cool sound.

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Source: Using Guitar Triads for Rhythm Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

For Older Guitar Players With Stiff Fingers!

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If you’re here, it’s because you’re struggling with trying to get your fingers moving. This lesson has a couple of tips that will really help you relax your stiff fingers. If you practice these faithfully, you will see an improvement.

The first one has nothing to do with the guitar – just your hands. Playing guitar requires you to always use the outside tendons on your wrist, and never your inside tendons. The inside tendons are the ones that tighten up from not being used. This exercise is not only for guitar players, but is also good for someone who has tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome. Place your hands palms together, and spread your fingers out as far as you can. You can do this sitting or standing. Raise your arms, elbows out, and rotate your hands so the fingers are pointing towards your face. Now push out, keeping your fingers touching. Don’t hold it for longer than five seconds. Be careful that you don’t strain your hands. You’ll probably feel it up in your shoulders as well, but the most important thing is that you feel it in your inner tendons. Do three of those, three times a day. This alone will feel better.

The second exercise is to simply do the cheater chromatic scale. Don’t worry about speed – just use it to exercise your fingers. It will train your muscles and loosen them up. Use your first finger to cover all the notes on the first fret, your second for the second fret, third on the third fret, and pinkie for the fourth fret. Move up and down the whole fretboard – one note at a time. If you want to increase your ability with your right hand, practice alternate picking – down up down up at all times. When you get to the highest note, don’t repeat – just come back down. Not only are you learning the chromatic scale, you are learning the basis for soloing in jazz music.

These two simple exercises work extremely well at increasing the strength in your fingers. But give it time – the results aren’t instantaneous.

Good luck, and if you like this lesson, checkout the other courses we have to offer!

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Source: For Older Guitar Players With Stiff Fingers! Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

The 7 Most Common Beginner Mistakes on Guitar

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Mistake #1 – thinking you can learn everything right away.
The first common mistake is that beginners want to learn everything, all at once, in one easy lesson. You have to be patient with yourself.

Mistake #2 – the way you sit won’t have an affect on your playing.
This is wrong – the way you sit does impact your playing. When you are practicing your guitar, you should sit on a fairly firm chair. Stay away from cushy surfaces like your bed or couch. The most general rule is you should have an easy time of reaching your fretboard. Don’t sit slouching or with the neck of your guitar so far down that your wrist has trouble making chords.

It’s also important to have your guitar set up properly. There is a free youtube video about that as well: it’s called the Ultimate Guide for Buying an Acoustic Guitar. There’s also one called the Ultimate Electric Guitar Buyers Guide. These videos will tell you all about the action of a guitar. The action is the string height. There’s a lot to go into about this, but the bottom line is that the string height will affect whether you can get some chords better than others. It also has an affect on whether you’ll be able to do certain moves or not on your guitar. So check those two videos out!

Mistake #3 – thinking that the shape and size of the guitar don’t matter.
The shape and size of your guitar will have an affect on the way that you play.  When it comes to the shape and size of your guitar, these do have an affect on your playing. The flying V shape sucks for sitting down – you’d have to practice your guitar standing. If your guitar is too low when you’re standing, there are things in the end that will cause you grief.

Your physical size is important as well. The general rule is you should have your guitar height the same when you’re sitting as when you are standing. Most of the good guitar players wear their guitars higher. If your hand stresses too much, especially your wrist and forearm, you could be at a risk for tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome.

Mistake #4 – practicing a lot isn’t necessary.
Don’t expect too much too soon. If you’re an older person, it’ll take a lot longer to learn than when you’re younger. What you put into it is what you get out of it.

Practicing issues are also another problem. Consistency is important. You should try and put in an hour a day. You don’t have to play your guitar a straight two hours – just pick it up when you’re in the mood. Ten min here, ten min there – it’s booking time on the guitar.

Mistake #5 – not listening or paying attention to how you sound.
Be careful that you listen to how you sound – pay attention to it. When you’re practicing, use a recording device. Record yourself playing chords and when you play it back to yourself, listen to how your guitar sounds. If it’s not sounding good, change what you’re doing. If you record yourself, you can hear how clear your chords sound and how steady your rhythm is. Those are important things. It’ll also show you if you’re hitting some strings louder than the others. You need to play the strings equally in a chord. Sometimes if you play the wrong string, you can cancel out all the other notes of the chord and it sounds awful.

Mistake #6 – thinking that pressing on the strings really hard produces a better sound.
Use just enough pressure to get the chord clear. If you push too hard, it will probably sound out of tune. The harder you press, you’ll notice it doesn’t sound quite right. If you think that you’ve tuned your guitar wrong, check out the Ultimate Guitar Guide. You’ll learn how to properly tune your guitar from that video. Keep your guitar in tune. Your guitar is wood – this mean that it shifts, which puts it out of tune.

Mistake #7 – learning theory isn’t necessary.
A lot of beginners have certain songs they want to learn. Having someone teach you exactly what to do is one thing. Learning some basic theory so you can teach yourself as many songs as you like is much more beneficial.

There’s a misconception about music theory. It does not always have be notation reading, or even tablature reading. Theory is the mechanics of the guitar finger board. One of the best things you can do as a beginner is to learn the notes the guitar. Take a look at the lesson on tones and semitones.

Bonus Mistake #8 – the electric guitar is harder to play than the acoustic guitar, or vise versa.
It is not true that one is harder than the other. Also, you don’t benefit more from starting on one or the other. The only difference is what type of music you want to play. For instance, if you want to play music by Stevie Ray Vaughan, get an electric guitar. All these mistakes and rules apply for anyone wanting to learn the acoustic or the electric guitar.

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Source: The 7 Most Common Beginner Mistakes on Guitar Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

How To Use A Digital Guitar Tuner

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This lesson will show you how to tune the guitar with a digital tuner.

As you’ll see on the screen, this lesson is using a Seiko tuner. Seiko does not sponsor riffninja.com, but there are a lot of excellent features on this tuner, so that is why this one is being used.

This tuner is called a “chromatic tuner”. Chromatic means that it covers any note that is possible in the twelve-note spectrum of music. The advantage of a chromatic tuner is that it will cover any tuning that you can possibly think of on the guitar.

In the right hand corner of the tuner it shows you the note that is closest to where your guitar is tuned at the time. In this first example, it says “2E”. This means that the string you are now playing is the second octave E note – just out of tune.

In the left hand corner of the tuner is a negative number with the word “cent” beside it. This is telling you how much out of tune you are from the “2E” on the right. It measures the number of vibrations in the string.

This tuner has lights under the sharp and flat symbols to tell you which way your guitar is out of tune. It also has a meter to show you exactly how far out of tune you are.

If you’re a beginner, the strings are numbered from the bottom and go up. For instance, the bottom thin string is the first string. The top string, the thickest string, is the sixth string.

Guitars are sensitive to temperature change. You may have to tune your guitar more than once to get it down. Bring your guitar into the room you’ll be playing in, let it warm up and get settled with the room temperature, and then tune it.

This tuner is about $45, and completely worth it. You can plug your guitar into it, and it also has a microphone you can use. The downfall to a microphone is that it will pick up any other noise around it like someone talking or another guitar. Once you plug the guitar into the tuner though, it shuts the microphone off so it’s only listening to your guitar.

If you want standard pitch, then your sixth string (the lowest sounding string) should be tuned to E. The fifth string needs to be tuned to A. The fourth string is D, third string G, second string B, and the sixth string is the high E.

You’ll notice as you tighten your strings, the meter will move. With this tuner, you’ll never get the numbers on the left to read a perfect 00 every time. But if you can get the numbers between -01 and 01, that’s tuned properly.

The meter will also react to how hard you pluck the string. Just touch the string, and then let the note ring out. Don’t hit it too hard. Also, if you’re using a pickup, make sure that the volume is up on the instrument or it won’t pick up the guitar properly.  

If you don’t pay attention, you could easily tune your guitar to the wrong pitch, so keep an eye on the note showing on the bottom right.

Depending on how your tuner is programmed, some tuners will read Bb while others will read the same note as A#. They are the same note.

If you liked this video and learned something from it, riffninja.com/beginner will tell you about a beginner course that is out. Check it out!

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Source: How To Use A Digital Guitar Tuner Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

Cool Basic Chord Substitutions (For 2 Guitars)

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This is a lesson on substitutions. There are a lot of variations on this, and you can really use it to spice up a song.

Both guitars are working off the same chord progression here: A, D, E. Colin was playing the open chords. Jonathan was creating the power chord variation of the chords Colin was playing.

Let’s start with the A chord. The first note of the power chord is the open fifth string, which plays the root note: A. The second note of the power chord is played with the index finger on the second fret, fourth string: E. This is the open version of the A power chord.

The fun part comes in when you play the major 6. You play the 1 and 5 with the power chord, and adding the 6 walks you up the scale a bit.

One thing that always confuses students is that the A is always the root note – it matches every note in that chord. Continuing to play that A root note when you move between the 5th and 6th notes of the scale maintains that drone sound.

So start off by getting that A power chord down. Then add your third finger on the fourth fret, fourth string to get the major 6. You would use your third finger for this because it’s always good to line up one finger per fret. Remember you are just playing two strings.

Now shift everything you are doing in that pattern to another root note. The next root note in this lesson is for the D chord. The root of the D chord is on the fourth string. So that would also be your root when you create the power chord. The A is the 5th note of your scale, and this completes the power chord. From there you add the major sixth.

You can shift that progression anywhere on your fretboard, so don’t limit yourself! Switch positions for different verses if you want variety – using different octaves will change the sound of the song. This also gets you thinking about what you’re playing.

Your last chord in this progression is the E chord, and the root is the open sixth string. To get the 5th note, which is a B, place your second finger on the second fret of the fifth string. Then add in the major sixth pattern!

This progression is a 12 – bar progression:

A x 4 bars

D x 2 bars

A x 2 bars

E x 2 bars

A x 2 bars

For the person playing the power chords, it is important to remember to never end on the major 6 note – always end on the 5.

Now try it an octave higher! See how that changes the sound!

If you play with two guitars fairly often and are always looking for different things to do so you both aren’t doing the same thing, head over to riffninja.com, where there is a free 3-day trial available!

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Source: Cool Basic Chord Substitutions (For 2 Guitars) Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

How to Be a Genius Songwriter With Just 4 Chords (Part 1)

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This lesson is about how to be a genius songwriter with just four chords. The four chords used in this lesson are G, Em, C, and D. There are thousands of songs written with these chords. G C and D are the I, IV, and V of the G scale. They are also known as the three primary chords of the G scale. G is your tonic chord. The Em is the relative minor. Hopefully you already know how to play these chords.

This lesson shows you also how to use a capo. The capo used in this lesson is about a $10 one that is adjustable. It fits on many different sizes of guitars, even mandolins and banjos.

If you want to move from the key of G to the key of A, you need to move up a full tone, which is two frets. To do this with a capo, place the capo on the second fret. Centre it in the middle of the fret. The beauty of having an adjustable capo (as opposed to the spring clamp capo) is that you can adjust the capo until it has just enough pressure on it to sound in tune.

Now with the capo on, what used to be the G major chord is now the A major chord. What used to be C major is now D major, what used to be D major is now E major, and E minor has changed to F# minor.

An advantage to using a capo when writing a song is you can hear what it would sound like if you had one guitar playing an octave higher, and you can still play the same chords.

Also, if you place your capo on the 7th fret, what was in the key of G is now in the key of D (7 frets is 7 semi-tones). Think of your capo as a movable string nut. Just remember, the further up the fretboard you go, the harder it will be to fit your fingers between the frets. Placing your capo on different frets will change the colour of the song. Something in the key of C will sound totally different from a song in the key of G.

You can easily write many songs using the I, IV, V and relative minor of the key. Using the capo allows you more options with those four chords.

For more lessons like these, go to riffninja.com.

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Source: How to Be a Genius Songwriter With Just 4 Chords (Part 1) Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons


How To Be A Genius Songwriter With Just 2 Bar Chords (Part 2)

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This lesson will show you how to be a genius songwriter with just two bar chords. Creativity is the essence of this lesson – be creative with what you’ve got! If you’re limited or just getting into things, here are a few hints.

The first bar chord you should learn is the F bar chord. There are a couple of tricks to getting it right. Hopefully you’ve already experimented a bit with the bar chord. Because it’s harder to get a successful bar chord closer to the string nut, it’s better to start practicing it further up the neck. When you’re barring, you’re not necessarily using the flat of your finger. You’re using more the edge of the finger, and sneaking the finger close to the fret that you’re behind. Centre the thumb in the middle of the chord you’re playing.

The F bar chord actually comes from the E chord. The E chord is played with the first finger on the third string first fret, second finger on the fifth string second fret, and the third finger on the  fourth string second fret. You’ve probably seen that chord before. To create an F chord from that, slide that up one fret, move your fingers so that you’re now using your second, third, and fourth fingers, and use your first finger to create the bar. The bar is basically a movable nut.

There are so many songs you can play by just moving that chord up the fretboard. If you can get the F major chord down, right there you know 12 major chords. These 12 chords all follow the chromatic scale: F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E

To get an F# minor, you just remove your second finger from the chord. You can go back and forth between the major and minor of that chord by simply removing and replacing your second finger. You need to learn how to combine the major and minor chords with each other, but this will give you the stepping blocks to be able to do that.

Combine open chords with bar chords as well. There’s no point in straining yourself when an open chord will sound just as nice as a bar chord.

By the way, the relative minor is always three frets below the major key that you are in. For instance, if you are in the key of B, the relative minor is three frets below – G# minor.

For more lessons like this, visit riffninja.com.

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Source: How To Be A Genius Songwriter With Just 2 Bar Chords (Part 2) Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

Stevie Ray Vaughan Inspired Licks #1

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Stevie Ray Vaughan has influenced so many people, and this is a lesson on how to play some guitar licks inspired by him. Stevie was an amazing guitar player – he brought the blues into the modern world and educated people on the blues. He left people with a lot to study.

Stevie Ray Vaughan liked to tune in Eb, or sometimes you’ll see that termed as D#. Technically the correct term is Eb though, as all the strings are tuned down a semi-tone. So in order to jam along with the Stevie tracks, you’ll have to play your guitar in Eb.

Some of Stevie’s most famous blues riffs come from the E pentatonic minor scale. If you can learn that scale across four frets, you’ll increase the number of options you have available for soloing. Hopefully you already know a few scales, but if you don’t, here’s a tip for you: All riffs are drawn out of the scale.

Learn More Easy Blues Licks Here

A very popular riff of Stevie’s includes chromatic passing notes in the pentatonic minor scale. There’s a chromatic passing note between the IV and V, and the VII and VIII. You can do that in other spots, but this lesson is limited in time.

To play this riff, start on the fifth string, which is an Ab if you’re tuned to Eb. So play the fifth string open, then fifth string first fret, then fifth string second fret. Then you cross over and play the fourth string open, fourth string first fret, fourth string second fret. And now it goes back down: fourth string first fret, fourth string open, fifth string second fret, fifth string first fret, fifth string open. Sixth string, first fret, and then play the root, open sixth string. Finish with the octave of your root – fourth string second fret.

You can pull them off or pick through them – it’s up to you. There’s many variations of this riff – the trick is in the down up picking. Stevie was really quick at that.

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Source: Stevie Ray Vaughan Inspired Licks #1 Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

Stevie Ray Vaughan Inspired Licks #2

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This lesson is inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan. There probably won’t be a guitar player like him ever again; he’s influenced a lot of guitar players.

Stevie really liked the open E pentatonic minor scale and the extended scale. You can hear the open scales in the way he plays in songs like Pride n’ Joy, Mary had a Little Lamb, Stang’s Swang, Little Wing, and Voodoo Child, etc.

So all the riffs in this lesson are out of the E pentatonic minor scale.

This riff you’ll be taught here is sort of like the one that starts off Mary Had a Little Lamb, but it’s been modified just a bit. It’s got some picks and hammer-ons. It starts off with pick, hammer, pick, and then let the fifth string ring out over the fourth string.

More Riffs From Stevie Ray Vaughn Here!

So pick the fifth string, then hammer the fifth string second fret, then pick up the fourth string, then back to picking the open fifth string. Next is the fifth string second fret.

A hammer is when you push down really hard on the note and let it ring out. If you do it slow, it mutes the string, which you don’t want. So you have to push down hard and hold the string down.

Then there’s a pick on the open, then a hammer on and pull off. Then play a “G”, third fret, sixth string, open “E” which is the open sixth string, then high “E”, fourth string second fret.

This is a great riff to learn for the “E” chord.

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Source: Stevie Ray Vaughan Inspired Licks #2 Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

Stevie Ray Vaughan Inspired Licks #3

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Stevie Ray Vaughan is one of the most amazing guitar players of all time, and as such, he’s well worth studying for anyone who is serious about playing blues guitar!

Stevie always tuned his guitar to Eb, so if you want to jam with him, you’ll have to tune your guitar down a semitone. Your guitar sounds different when it’s tuned to E because the whole instrument takes on a different character.

Learn your E pentatonic scale if you want to jam with Stevie.

This lesson will teach you how to play a rendition of the riff from the end of the song “Pride ‘n Joy”.

More Riffs From Stevie Ray Vaughn Here!

So take your third finger on the third string, and starting on the second fret, slide up two frets. Then underneath that, pluck the second string and finger it with the second finger on the third fret. That creates a minor third double stop. The trick is not to let your third finger touch the second string so that the two strings can ring out together.

So it goes one-trip-let two-trip-let, then there’s a double stop. Using your first finger, bar across three strings, but mute the first string so it doesn’t ring out. Just play the second and third strings on the second fret. Then play the second and third strings open. Go to the second fret fourth string, and play your closing riff which is the chromatic passing note from the IV to the V. So that’s open fifth string, fifth string first fret, then fifth string second fret.

Good luck, play lots!

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Source: Stevie Ray Vaughan Inspired Licks #3 Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

Roy Buchanan Inspired Guitar Licks #1

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This is a Roy Buchanan inspired lesson – he was a fabulous guitar player, who left us with some wonderful music. Roy usually used a telecaster – it was his trademark. He had a very unique sound, and while you can buy the same equipment he used, it’s really all in the fingers. Even though the lesson isn’t about his string bends, it’s interesting to note that he would usually go more than a tone stretch on some of them.

This lesson will be looking at his guitar style a bit and the one string descending riffs that he would use.

Learn More Easy Blues Licks Here

An example of one of the riffs he would do is if he was going to end on a “G”, he would take the third string “G” and he would use the major 2nd interval which is a two fret span, and he would go down a semitone at a time. The trick is all in your down-up picking. If you have a hard time getting the picking going, start with a single string, one fret at a time. You can mute it too with your right hand. It’s not even necessarily four pick strokes to each note – it’s whatever feels good.

The way you can develop the speed in your right hand is to get good at your down-up motion. It does work slowly as well.

You can do this riff on any string. But there should be a method to your madness, so make sure that the note you start on (ie high “G”) is the one you end on (ie low “G”), and make sure that it is a harmony note to whatever key you are in.

If you want to learn more about down-up picking and other techniques, visit the Riff Ninja Academy.

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Source: Roy Buchanan Inspired Guitar Licks #1 Riff Ninja - Riff Ninja Guitar Lessons

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