Jonathan Barker Guitar Lessons

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Legato technique focuses almost solely on the left hand. Hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, bending, and tapping are all common legato techniques used to create a smooth sound. It's no coincidence that legato means smooth. You'll attack/pick the first note, and the remaining notes which are under the legato marking (arch) will be legato (hammer-on, pull-off, etc.). There are two Legato Challenges in the link below and they're both quite difficult so be sure to start slowly and take your time. You'll probably notice that notes hammered by the pinkie were much more quite than the others... It will take both left hand finger strength and proper ex*****on of the hammer/pull-off to get these lines sounding great. Strive to have each note be equal volume. This will get you started and we can take it from there together in our next lesson!

http://www.jonathanbarkerguitarlessons.com/bloggie/bloggie/Entries/2010/8/13_Legato_Challenge!.html

Throughout my years of teaching there's one thing that everyone struggles with more than any other: Rhythm. We've got to start seeing rhythm and pitch as equals; if one is off the entire performance will sound 'wrong'. That means we'll need to have both the rhythm and pitch down. Enter the metronome. This is the single most powerful gadget you can use to improve your guitar playing. I love it! They never speed up or slow down, just keep completely consistent tempo. A simple click marks each beat: notes that are sounded slightly before the click are called 'ahead of the beat,' or early; notes that occurs slightly after the beat are considered 'behind the beat,' or late.

The key to getting the most from using a metronome is in the approach. First things first! If you're playing a line or some chord changes and it's not coming out smoothly, or there is any sort of unintentional delay/pause rhythmically, then I 've got some good news for you. You aren't a terrible player, you're just playing too fast! Here's the solution: Take the part you're working on and slow it down to a tempo that will allow you to perform the part flawlessly. This can be a bit of an ego hit at times... it's often much slower than we'd like! That feeling will dissolve when you begin to quickly see and hear your own improvement. Once you consistently perform the part without error (perhaps 10 times in a row) you're ready to notch up the tempo. WARNING * ALERT * WARNING * Only increase the tempo by 2 - 4 bpm (beats per minute). Remember, our goal is to perform the part correctly (accurate rhythm and pitch). Using a metronome when looping small problem sections is the way to go, it's a 'guaranteed success' approach! I've got two recommendations for everyone: Tempo 2 ($1.99) for the ipod/iphone, and a great hardware tuner/metronome by Sabine, MetroTune MT9000 ($30). A metronome is the single most powerful gadget you can use to improve your guitar playing, so bring yours into your next lesson!

Tempo 2 - Metronome for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store Learn more, read reviews, and download Tempo 2 - Metronome by Frozen Ape on the iTunes App Store.

Have you guys come across Guthrie Govan yet? He's unreal! He has two instructional books, Creative Guitar 1& 2, the first of which is one of the best I've ever worked with. He does an outstanding job of covering both fundamental and advanced techniques using conversational text along with many challenging (but approachable) examples. The writings are often analogy based and mixed with some stories/jokes, which is what makes it so fun to read! It's the rare guitar book that has great text and strong musical examples that are custom built to be expanded on. Sounds like a great forumla to me! Since I couldn't find them in-store at Powell's, I went ahead and grabbed them off Amazon. These are two of the best guitar books I've ever read, and I've read quite a few! 5 stars, highly recommended for intermediate to advanced players. Check out this link for a recent free webcast he did for licklibrary.com that covers much of the material in the book, and is pretty entertaining as well. At just over an hour and a half, it'd better be.

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