Howdy, howdy, howdy!
(That's cowboy-speak for 'hello.')

It's been a couple months since I wrote in this space. I did manage to post a few more videos over that time....

• News Flash: Please take my SURVEY!

My Girl Is Your Girl
I'd been wanting to do this classic Temptations number for a while, since it's good for beginners and includes a famous example of the major pentatonic scale. I also made a Play-Along video (for a minimal contribution). Be the first on your block to buy it! (Hell, be the first on the planet!)

Stop It! (Twice.)
A "double stop" is when you play two strings at once. Rock and blues are filled with them. I show three fairly easy licks in a Chuck Berry/rockabilly vein. I love all the textures and rhythms you can get out of them. Check 'em out!

Two's Company; Thirds Are Cool
As you may know, what makes a chord sound happy or sad is whether it contains a major 3rd or a minor 3rd. Well, even if you didn't know that, you can probably get something out of this video. You'll not only learn how to play thirds all over the neck, but also get to play them in four different modes. (Watch my series on The Modes of the Major Scale in the intermediate section to bone up on them.) Bonus Package includes four backing tracks and three PDFs.

Be Groovy,
Dave

Happy New Year!

New Lessons
I've uploaded two more lesson videos to YouTube. The first one is about How to Find the Names of Notes on the Neck. This is something you will need to know if you intend on becoming an advanced player. It's actually quite easy--there's a simple trick!

In the second video I teach you about the Diatonic Chords, which are the seven chords in any particular key that make up most pop songs. This is an extremely useful concept in music theory. Again, I use the piano keyboard to explain it, then show it on the guitar. For a lot of people, this is an "Aha!" moment, and things will start to make much more sense after you watch it.

I've been busy here in Bangkok doing other work...and then came the holidays. I've started work on an easy play-along song, so look for that in the next couple weeks.
Music is Magic,
Dave

Howdy Gitpickers!

1) I finally finished my "Seven Come Eleven (Charlie Christian solo)" lesson. This is pretty advanced, but I try to lay it out clearly. I created a Bonus Package (for a paltry fee) that includes 8 backing tracks at various speeds and 2 PDF documents to go along with it. Charlie was one of the first electric guitarists and also one of the best!

2) I also made time to make lesson pages for my series on "The Modes of the Major Scale" (difficulty: intermediate). The first lesson is about finding the modes on the neck, and the second lesson shows how the seven modes can be arranged from brightest to darkest. I used a screen cast of a piano keyboard to make it extremely clear. Learning about the modes is a great way to improve your ear, which is half the battle in becoming a musician!

3) I added a few more music stores, repair shops and an open mic venue to the Links tab.

A friend recently came to Bangkok (where I live), and brought my 1975 Fender Stratocaster with him from Seattle (where I grew up), so I'm thinking it would be fun to now make some lessons on rock and blues licks. I've finally got a guitar I can bend strings on again! If you get some value, please donate.

See you soon.

--Dave

Hi Friends,

1) Please join me on Facebook at facebook.com/ davesguitarplanet . Click 'Like!'

2) I've been busy here in Bangkok trying to make a living--the company where I was doing IT support is not doing well and had to let me go :-( --but I think I'll be able to add more content soon! Do any of you know Charlie Christian? He played guitar for Benny Goodman (famous clarinet player in the 1940s), but died at the early age of 25 from tuberculosis. He was an amazing player--one of the first electric guitarists! I've always wanted to learn one of his solos, so I should be posting that soon. Stay tuned! --Dave

Hi There! Check out the Links tab for BKK stores and venues.

RE: Forum
I set up the forum (see right side of menu bar), a year ago, but then about 5 'spam robots' per day tried to register. So many I just got in the habit of deleting requests that were sent to me for approval. I just changed the registration process to try and throw off the robots. So, if you tried to register before but unsuccessfully, please try again--especially all you Bangkok folks!

Here's some of the latest stuff I've put on youtube:

Beginner:
How to Play 'Peaceful Easy Feeling' on Guitar
("Play-Along" section starts about 10:00 in.)

How to Play "Stand By Me" on Guitar (with Play-Along)

Intermediate:

Learning about "The Modes" (7 different-sounding scales/chord progressions), is a great way to improve your ear and become an intermediate player:

"The Modes" 1: Find On The Neck
"The Modes" 2: Bright to Dark

How to Play "Peg" (by Steely Dan) on Guitar
(Unfortunately, youtube says this is "blocked in some countries.")

Feel free to poke around the various lessons, songs and theory PDFs. If you benefit from something here and you have a few bucks you can spare, I'd very much appreciate your contribution (click the Donate button; it's easy to use your credit card).

Some of my axioms:
Music is something you hear; not see. Seems obvious, doesn't it?
If you can’t sing it, you can’t play it. The best players "sing through their instrument."
If a song doesn't have at least a little blues in it, I'm often not interested.

If you have some feedback on any of my lessons, etc., or you'd like to request a lesson on a certain song or topic, please let me know.

Enjoy!
--Dave