One of my favorite scenes in "The Sound Of Music" is when Maria (Julie Andrews) is teaching the von Trapp kids the song "Do-Re-Mi." Not only is it a great Rodgers/Hammerstein song, but it is a great training exercise in what are referred to as MUSICAL INTERVALS (or the spaces between notes).
Learning to hear and being able to identify the different notes in a musical scale will not only help you be a better player, but it can help you be a better singer as well. And it can also help you to figure out how to play songs by ear!
This sort of ear training becomes especially important when students are learning chords, because chords are made up of notes from musical scales. So are melodies and solos! Think to yourself, "Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do!"
Major chords, for example, are made up of the 1st note of the scale, plus the third note, plus the fifth note--on other words, the "Do" plus the "Mi' plus the "So." Being able to hear that will ultimately help you to understand how chords are built, and why you finger them the way you do on your guitar's fret board.
Now--it does get a little more complex when you start talking about minor chords and minor seventh chords and so on--but knowing and being able to hear the intervals in a major scale is a GREAT place to start!
In the video below, I talk a little more about this--but in the meantime, thank you Maria, and Happy Pickin'!
Video on Scales and Intervals
One of the things I hear most often from students--young and older alike--is that their fretting hand tires easily, and aches after playing a song. And that's to be expected at first--there aren't many times in life besides guitar-playing where you will find your hand and fingers in some truly unusual positions!
But like anything else--running, playing sports, yoga, dancing, etc--with proper strengthening exercises and the passage of time, you will find that your fretting hand will become stronger and stronger, and you won't even feel tired after hours of playing! You will also develop calluses on your fretting fingers that will serve you well as you progress in your playing. (p.s. Wear those calluses as a badge of honor! You're a guitarist!)
One simple warm-up you can do before you practice is simply to spend a few minutes gently squeezing a tennis ball, or a small piece of citrus fruit such as a Clementine orange in your hands for a few minutes. This will warm up your fingers and joints as well as the tendons and muscles in your hand that control finger movement.
Another thing you can do to strengthen your weaker fingers (your ring finger and pinky) is simply to start with the first string of the guitar, and put your first finger on the first fret. Play that "F" note. Keeping your first finger in place, add your second finger to the second fret play the note, then add your third and fourth fingers to their frets.
I demonstrate this exercise in the video below, and you will find that by doing this exercise both forward and backward, you will not only strengthen those weaker fingers, but you will acquire accuracy and dexterity that will help you make cleaner chords, play better solos, and so on.
Please watch the video, try these exercises, and above all--enjoy the music you are sending out into the Universe! Happy Pickin'!
Video on Strengthening Your Hand
