The Recreational Guitarist

The perfect guitar warm-up?

February 23rd, 2011

PDF included

With time being so precious to everyone these days what’s the best way to warm up before tackling your pieces? I think it’s the humble Chromatic Scale, easy to learn but great for any level of player. The Chromatic Scale is the one where you simply play all the notes one semi-tone (or 1 fret) at a time. Diatonic Scales are the ones that use different intervals (number of frets) such as the Major Scale or the Blues Scale. I have attached a pdf file showing the Chromatic Scale with some playing tips.  If you want more let me know and please let me know how you warm up before practicing.  Bye for now – Michael

Chromatic Scale PDF with Tips

Guitar Posture

January 27th, 2011

Holding your guitar properly is very important and will allow you to play more cleanly, faster and with less buzzing! The main idea is to keep the neck of the guitar on an upward angle which gives the left arm much better mobility and reach.

I use the classical posture putting the guitar on the left knee and elevating the left foot with a “foot stool”.  This is probably the best way to play and once you get used to it you will never want to play in any other position. And one big perk using this position is that if you ever play standing up using a Guitar strap the Guitar remains in about the same position as when sitting so there is no big adjustment to make.

If you have a Dreadnought size Guitar it might be uncomfortable on the left knee so keep it on the right knee but mind that the neck is on an upward angle and not pointing to the floor, that’s the key.

One last thing…always practice and play in the same position so your hands and eyes get used to the Guitar neck.  The simple habit of a consistent posture can reduce the time it takes to learn, reduce tiredness and improve your tone.