Levi Clay's Easy Blues Fusion Guitar

I'll admit, it's been a while since I seriously watched an instructional DVD. I have dark and nebulous melodies as a beginner guitarist, trying to figured out how to play, and becoming frustrated by, 'Easy guitar' DVD's. Four years and thousands of practice hours later, I have to say I think Levi Clay's new DVD Easy Blues Fusion Guitar has won me back to the world of guitar DVD's. From the stellar company that is Lick Library (Producers of iGuitar magazine and countless instructional videos) Clay is coming at you with a DVD that could very well revolutionize your blues playing.

One of the things that makes this DVD especially appealing for me is the easy going way in which Clay presents the material. It is clear that he is an experienced guitar teacher. As he goes through each example he provides a lot of good ideas on how to handle the material and suggests different fingerings. I especially like how every lick is played at at least two different speeds, sometimes more depending on the difficulty of the phrase in question. The overall presentation of each lick is also rather uniform, making it easy to watch and master just one lick.

A key aspect of this whole video is the little gems of theoretical knowledge that will definitely help a beginner blues guitarist. In the introduction of the video Clay does an especially good job of explaining how to mix the Mixolydian mode, arpeggio, and minor pentatonic scale to maximum effect. Furthermore, he does a great job of explaining how guide tones work and how to target them. In fact, there is an especially large focus on reaching the third in licks, and for good reason. This kind of well explained and wonderfully placed theoretical tidbit helps to make this DVD even more useful than it already is.

So how do you best use Easy Blues Fusion Guitar anyway? Well, frankly there are months worth of ideas to practice in here. Not only are some of the licks very tricky, but many present ideas that could easily be fused into new licks. While the main focus is on jazz/blues fusion, blues is also fused here with country and occasionally rock. This gives you ideas that are applicable in a variety of genres, making for even more work. A detailed study of this DVD would entail not just multiple viewings of each lick, but a careful annotation of the (very well presented) tab book. I get the sense, it would be very, very rewarding.

If you want a DVD that will give you all sorts of new ideas for you blues playing and help you bring your understanding of theory to a new level, this may very well be perfect for you. Designed with practicality in mind, there is not a wasted minute. Clay knows how to teach and has created something that is easy to understand and very practical. From the excellent and clear tab booklet found on the disc to the thorough and easy to understand explanations I have no real complaints. If you want to revolutionize, or merely advance your approach to blues music, then get this DVD as soon as you can!

Buy it here: https://www.licklibrary.com/store/levi-clay/54945/easy-blues-fusion-guitar-dvd

Guitar Column and Semi-Blog

Hello everyone, if you haven't figured it out yet I'm not Matt. Him and I have been talking for a bit and I got the luxury to be invited to contribute to this blog in a not-so-standard way. I'm not much of an interviewer so he had the idea that I could track my guitar progress over the Summer (as I'm starting to really get heavy into the technique side of things during my 5th year of playing), give mini-lessons, and generally run a "Guitar Column" on the site (and sometimes album reviews). So time to get down to business... hi, I'm Nicholas Nicoletti and you'll probably be seeing more of me in the coming months!

May 14th, 2012

I mainly worked on my picking speed and 7-finger tapping today, adding the 8th every now and then.

As per Matt's recommendation I downloaded the tab for Yngwie Malmsteen's Trilogy Suite Opus 5 No. 2 and, well, I'm having a hell of a time learning it. I know I could do the main themes pretty easily, but the intro is killing me. Far too fast for me right now, but I can play it at about 60% speed (about 90 bpm as opposed to 140). That's going well and there's really not much I can talk about with it. Economy picking: work on it guys. And alternate picking...

After that I worked on 7-finger tapping. Here I can talk a little bit about technique that doesn't JUST require sitting in front of a metronome playing scales over and over again. I'm figuring out that the trick to 7-finger isn't just getting the right hand working... it's getting the left and right working in tandem. And, in my experience, the left is harder to get synchronized than the right, since the right is oftentimes leading the melodic phrase and the focal point of the contour of the melody. I will give you guys the phrase I'm using to practice it for now, it's a simple one based on a Dominant 7th chord, but altering it to a Major 7th or Minor 7th is pretty easy. Alright, here it is, at 120 bpm:

(I would show you more, but I plan on using some variations of it in a metal song at some point ;) )

The trick to this lick is to not have everything ring out at the same time. I personally like to do it on a clean channel, but to each his own. Learn to mute with your right arm and your left fingers that aren't being used. And I literally mean your right arm. Like your under-forearm. It works I swear.

NOTE: To make it a little harder, make every F# an F natural (essentially making it an Ealt/E7b9 chord). It makes your arm and fingers have to hit a harder angle and it changes what fingers your right hand needs to use on the way up (for me I have to use the pinky to go from the F to the B) and on the way down (jsut the normal ones). Essentially changing the exercise to an 8-finger tapping exercise.

So, enjoy it... tell how it goes! And I'm glad to be here.

Back to the Basics III: 5 and 6 Finger Tapping! Review and Starting Intermediate

Hey guys! I know it's been awhile since I've posted, well, anything on this site. I've had many technical issues, from a broken amp, to my interface not working, to getting a NEW interface, and now I'm here. Been practicing my 8 and 7 finger tapping and I've gotta get you guys up to speed! Alright, let's begin:

Questions with 5-Finger Tapping and "Hammer-ons from nowhere" (HOFN)

I had a person ask about this and was wondering how it worked. I'm going to put it in context of Sea of Lies, since that was the last example.

The problem with Sea of Lies that a lot of people seem to have isn't so much with speed (as there's only two h/o's per phrase and most people's legato usually is pretty nice), it's more about getting notes to ring out evenly or just at all! The 12th fret E of the 1st string is where the trouble starts because it is the first "HOFN", which basically means there's no note before it to give it that volume boost it so badly needs. When you go to hit the note, you have to slam your pointer finger onto it and have it ring out loud enough that it's even enough with the others. What you have to watch out for is OTHER notes ringing out at the same time (like open strings) because this causes you to jump which might have whatever finger was playing before it pull the string rather than coming right off. This is when muting with your right hand palm or wrist is useful, cause even if it DID happen, no one has to know right? :)

And one more thing about tapping with the pick being held by the middle finger, rather than the thumb and index...

I find I have more control this way. I had a friend tell me that he just puts the pick against his pointer finger and taps like that, but when I try it I'm very stiff. It feels like it requires more thought and effort to hold it and THEN tap with it, whereas by letting the middle finger take the pick you're taking away half of the effort required. 

Of course, this has it's own drawback: your short one finger. But if you have a crafty ring finger there isn't too much of a problem. Most songs require only needing, at most, two fingers. Rarely have I come across one where I need three and even then that's mostly in my own songs. 

Now that that's out of the way...

6-Finger Tapping

This is the natural evolution of tapping - adding the extra finger - whether it be the middle or the ring. It requires a little extra dexterity, but for the most part is very similar to 5. You're going your hand the same way as the previous lesson shows. The only difference might be putting the pick in your mouth as opposed to your middle finger (this is what I tend to do when doing these types of runs as it opens up the rest of my hand as well).

Couple things to watch out for (I'll go in-depth on both in a minute):

• Unwanted noise
• You might scrape your finger(s) against an open string or another note you don't want
• Timing
• Remember it's just another piece of the musical puzzle. It'll take practice to get your right hand dexterous enough to be able to place that finger where you want exactly.
• Dexterity
• Your finger might not be ready for a full-on phrase! Practice it slowly so you can get it right.

Unwanted Noise

This is especially what happens when one finger hits a note on a string where it's not supposed to pull-off after. For example, a HOFN or just tapping the 9th fret on the 3rd string with no hand behind it. If you're in a fast run, it's often hard to make sure you get as little noise as possible. This is where having good hand position is important. If you have your palm too far off the neck of the guitar you risk extra noise, if it's too close you'll mute the lower strings. This is where you, as the player, must take extra care and practice in finding the perfect area for you to keep your right palm at while also keeping it close enough to hit the right notes.

Timing/Dexterity

This issue isn't much more than a practice issue that comes with dexterity, so I'll cover these together. Like always, start slow and don't go TOO fast until you can get it right every time. Slowly build up speed. Doing this allows your right hand fingers to loosen up and stretch for the weird placements that it might have to do. Getting your fingers more flexible also build up your control over them, allowing you to (potentially) do pull-offs/dead notes with your right hand while using your left to do some sweet rhythm stuff - or just let it accent what the right hand is doing!

And now I'm just going to throw some exercises your way :) I'll discuss each briefly as I put them, but it's up to you to make sure you're practicing them right!

No. 1

This one isn't too hard. Barre across the 10th fret with whatever finger on the left hand and do the tapping with the right hand. Be extra careful that you really hit the G and E "12"s at the end of each phrase, because those are the hardest to make smooth and sound nice at higher tempos. This exercise is used to get your fingers warmed-up and used to the actions it's about to do. To make it a little harder/fun try sliding out of the 12th frets into higher frets. 

For this one tap in this order: index, middle, index, middle

No. 2

This one is a little harder as you don't want this one ringing out. It builds upon the last one by adding an HOFN to the phrase: the 10th fret G. To make this exercise work, when you pull of from the D to the Bb slam your left hand ring finger on the 10th fret. When you hit the 12th fret G make sure your pinky is on the10th fret  F quick enough to ring out nicely! Positioning of the left hand IN TIME with the right hand is important in this one. Make sure everything is perfectly clean at a good tempo before you move-on... it only gets harder!

For this one tap in this order: Index, index, middle x2

No. 3 (3.1/3.2)

Now for the big dog... it combines all that you've learned from the previous exercises and lessons. This one starts off with HOFNs and slowly builds on itself. The 8/8 bar is it's own exercise, as is the 9/8 and then the 7/8 is the hardest. Honestly, just do your HOFNs and do the tapping. This one I'm gonna leave you to figure out :) Not to be mean, but it's just more rewarding that way! It's pretty much all self-explanatory since you've done the other exercises (right?). 

The tapping is: Index, Middle... repeat indefinitely

And now for a good quote...

"Do not practice until you get it right; practice until you don't get it wrong"

And with that? I bid you adieu!

Adam Satur, Playing Guitar Musically, FINAL

So after a LONG break I a here to bring you my final installment of my multi part review of Adam Satur's Playing Guitar Musically. In this final chapter we will discuss the chapters on Notation, Chord Extension (or as Mr. Govan calls it, “How to play big scary sounding chords”) and finally Minor Scales. Together they offer a little “extra” to an excellent book. While the rest f the book offers the basics to learning the instrument these chapters really help you to get going into the more advanced stuff. They start to show all of the possibilities that are to be had when playing the guitar, or any instrument really.

Satur starts the chapter on notation with the basics. He shows the student what the musical staff normally looks like and then introduces the different clefs. While I think the introduction of clefs that most guitarists will never use is a tad unnecessary ( I didn't learn about other clefs until I had done 5 years of saxophone) I see why Satur might have done it. It definitely makes everything feel a bit more complete. The description of where the notes are on the clef is a tad clunky and I feel like it might have just been improved with a simple diagram. But again, I understand why Adam wanted to do it this way. It allows the student to figure it out on their own. Adam describes the “extras” rather well. He provides a great description as to how to identify sharps and flats as well as giving a good idea on how to determine which note is which when it falls outside of the clef. He describes rhythms well too. Unfortunately he again uses the English terminology for the duration of notes. This is something that will probably turn off a lot of international readers. Otherwise, he provides an excellent description as to the use of rests and really helps clarify how key and time signatures are marked. In conclusion, asides from a few minor issues, this is an excellent chapter that really helps to show how notation works.

The next chapter covers Chord Extensions, a subject that downright scares many guitarists. Yet Satur describes it perfectly. He starts off by explaining the basic types of 7 chord, how to form them. and there applications. Then he goes on to more elaborate stuff. He adds in 9ths' and things start to get tricky. He does a good job of explaining the different notations and how they are constructed though and you will not be lost by his explanations. The same goes for his descriptions of 11th's and 13th's. These are extremely tricky and very mathematical concepts and explaining them properly is no mean feat. Yet he does it, somehow, Satur's explanations make sense! When it comes time to talk about 2nds and 4^ths he yet again does a great job. I really like how he describes the different uses for these chords. To finish, this chapter is a great resource for any young guitarist seeking to understand the complex concept that is chord extensions.

The final chapter is on minor chords. Here we get a brief introduction to these concepts. While de does not dedicate much space to them it is clear what he is trying to accomplish with this chapter. He is A. Trying to give the reader a taste of things to come. B. Helping the reader learn that he does not have to be spoon fed theory anymore. This chapter exists to help students confirm their skill. While his explanations are not very long or thorough here, they do indeed get the job done. They show what a minor scale is and give a basic idea on how to use them. This is the scantiest chapter, but in some ways the most important. It gives the reader confidence to go off on his own and become a true virtuoso.

All in all these three chapters provide an excellent terminus to an excellent book. They help a young guitarist in many ways and give a view of all that an be done with the instrument. The chapter on notation helps the player be able to start playing with a practitioner of any instrument right away. Then the chapter on chord extensions helps the student in making their music a bit more interesting. Finally, the chapter on minor scales is great as it really instills the student with a sense of accomplishment showing them that they CAN work this stuff out on their own. So, to finish, Adam Satur's Playing Guitar Musically is a BRILLIANT book and you should REALLY consider buying it!

https://www.facebook.com/PlayingMusically
download sample chapters there!

Levi Clay Soloing Over Chord Changes

So it's friday night, review time! Today's review is going to be something a little different, it will be a review of Levi Clay's new video series “Soloing Over Chord Changes”. In this 40 minute lesson thing Clay combines video and text to create a great learning experience. I will review the quality of the text, the quality of the videos and then the overall lesson. I must admit, that together the text and video form quite an impressive package that will help any beginning jazz guitarist. Overall this lesson is a great introduction to learning about soloing in a band context. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

In the text Clay manages to accurately communicate his message without citing his video word for word. The diagrams in the text are also very handy and indeed help out the average learning guitarist. His use of tab as well as sheet music is good as it allows guitarists who mostly read tab to be able to challenge themselves with site reading while simultaneously having a reference point in case they get lost. To conclude, the text is very useful, containing a wealth of solid information and a lot of tasty diagrams to help out guitarists of any level.

The videos are good, but lacking in features. Clay, is quite obviously a gifted teacher and can clearly communicate even complex theoretical concepts. He is almost Govan-like in his teaching skill. My criticism is that the videos are truly lacking in pizazz. I feel like if Clay decided to add some tabs to the bottom of the video to show what he was playing, the lessons could be easier to follow. Another suggestion might be to link to all of the following videos in the commentary section. I am aware that everything is up for download and whatnot, but I still think the overall process could be streamlined. In brief, the videos are good, but not great, and making them great would not be too difficult at all.

For the overall quality of the lesson, I will have to rate it as high. Clay does not force you to learn his solo to learn all the concepts that he presents. His method of presentation is clear and accurate and easy to follow. The entire thing works together, the text and video compliment each other rather than being copies of each other. Again, Clay really, really, REALLY knows his stuff, and you should not doubt what he says. This man is one of the greatest in the world. So in brief, the overall quality of the lesson is very high and it can teach any guitarist quite a bit.

In conclusion, Levi Clay's “Soloing Over Chord Changes” is a must see lesson. It is educational, effective, and really cool. The text is very well written and very easy to follow. It has lots of helpful diagrams. The videos, are good, but lack frills, and the frills could make them great. Yet overall there are some fantastic lessons to be had here, so you MUST check out what Levi has to say. So go out my guitar playing brethren, GO OUT AND SHRED!

http://www.leviclay.com/playing-over-changes.html