Try this major scale form with the one note played with your second finger. That means whatever note that is, the position you play in will be the number of the fret before the one note. For instance, if you want to play an A major scale on two octaves, put your second  finger on the A ( fifth fret of the 6 string) and start from there. You’ll notice that you can use your first finger to play the 7th too!

Practice this scale form up and down the neck, making sure you say the name of the scale, the intervals (half-step or whole step) between the notes or the degrees of the notes ( 1,2 3, etc.) Also look at the shape! It’s pretty distinctive.

Here’s a visual pattern, representing finger positions for a four-fret, two octave major scale on the guitar neck. The 1 string across the top, the 6 string across the bottom. 

It’s just dots in a pattern, right? But mentally drawing a couple horizontal lines across it, one under the top two strings and one over the bottom two strings  shows essentially the same shape on the bottom two strings as on the middle two  strings, but reversed. The 2nd string from the top is different though but it has […]

Thinking about notes as “syllables” and nonsense song lyrics as a way to tell a musical story might be an interesting approach for you if your goal is to write your own music. What did you have for breakfast?

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In standard tuning the strings of the ukulele are tuned to the notes G, , E and A. “G” is the top string; that is, when you hold the ukulele to play, it’s the one closest to your nose and the A string is the one closest to your toes.

The ukulele tuning is known as “re-entrant”, meaning that instead of lower to higher notes like a guitar, the G string is tuned higher than it’s neighbor. In this way, a uke is similar to a banjo!

It’s useful to have a tuner, either attached to the instrument or downloaded on to your phone. Tuners are not expensive; prices range from $5 to $15 for a “clamp on” type tuner (like the Snark-brand tuner shown here). You can download a tuner app- there are dozens to choose from- for free! In the case of either the app or the physical tuner, they work roughly the same. The tuner will recognize when the target tone is close to the value you are looking for. It will give you a visible indication that your tuning is proper. When you are flat (meaning the string needs to be tightened to make the sound higher) the indication will be to the left of center. If the string is sharp, or tuned too high, the […]

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Counting- musically speaking- is harder for some folks than others, for sure. You hear the term “natural rhythm” and what that really refers to is a person’s innate ability to count, if you get right down to it. Some people have more natural rhythmic ability that others but anybody can improve their ability to count a rhythm!

Tap Your Foot

It amazes me how often students have to be reminded to tap their foot while playing. When you play guitar, you play with your whole body, right? Your hands, your head, your heart and your feet are- or should be- engaged. Tapping your foot while playing is a simple way to start thinking (and playing) more rhythmically.

Consider tapping and hand or foot to music any time you can! In the car (please be safe), while you’re watching Netflix (a great exercise, tapping to the rhythm of commercial music) and really, any time you hear any music. Try to find the beat!

Find Rhythms in the world

There are there natural rhythms you can count to as well. This may seem a bit weird but for example, let’s say you are in the airport, strolling towards your gate. Your walking pace has a natural rhythm to it and you can start counting 1/2/3/4 in your head as you […]