It’s pretty crazy to me, I guess, because my generation (the ones ruining the world) are so used to getting on Facebook every day, that we got lost in the idea that some people just don’t have time to do this.

I can understand where you’re coming from however. I only spend about 20 minutes a week updating my social media sites, and the below video shows exactly how I do it…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY4y23gvHL0

-J9

So you’ve decided that you want to be able to shred up and down the neck of the guitar. I was inspired by the great Randy Rhodes (who is still my favorite guitarist) to move over the guitar spectrum into the shred side. To learn, I started downloading all kinds of exercises, articles, and lessons to practice obtaining the speed I wanted. All you need is technique right? WRONG! While proper picking, fingering, and articulation of the notes are important in building your speed, there’s more you important things you need to know in order to be a lightning fast guitar player.

Keep in mind, that speed in general is a very individualistic definition. Each player has different goals on how fast they want to be able to play, and the amount of effort they will put into it. Furthermore, it has to coincide with your existing music goals for it to work properly. Jason Mraz is going to be focusing on writing another pop influences acoustic song on his guitar. He is probably not going to spend his time learning Jason Becker’s “5^th Caprice.” If your style and music goals are more pop radio based, you may be better off learning different guitar techniques and tricks, rather than taking the hours of practice required to build up to shredding speed.

A lot of guitarist approach speed building as something that has a pre-set formula you have to memorize (like learning scales, for example). The reality is that speed is actually a byproduct of many different skills working together. Look at how quickly you can switch from a D chord to an A chord, and then to a G chord. You probably do it without thinking about it, and your fingers naturally fall into place. The speed you do it is the result of different techniques you learned. When you first learned how to play those chords, I doubt you did it as fast as you do now. When you’re doing those switches, you’re not just following a formula; you’re using a combination of skills to effortlessly move from chord to chord.

The first step to building speed is to break out that handy metronome. For anyone who has worked with me, whether in a studio session of through guitar lessons, they know that I live and die by a metronome. It is essential in playing cleanly, and fast. Unfortunately, a lot of guitarists are using the metronome wrong! First, you have to have a good feel of the song before you can start playing with the metronome. Get a rough idea of the patterns, timing, and notes of the song, then, practice that without a metronome. Focus on learning all the patterns, notes, and relative scales, until you have a solid idea on how to play the song. It doesn’t matter how fast you are playing it during this stage.

When you use metronome, you’re probably starting off at an extremely slow speed (25% or so of the actual BPM of the song) and moving up from there. The problem with this is that it is difficult to catch and correct your mistakes, as your playing at such a novice speed. You probably have a pretty good idea about how fast you can play right now, so start the metronome at or slightly above that level. For example, I was learning the intro to “Country Boy” by Albert Lee the other day. This song is using 8^th notes at 150 BPM, using hybrid picking. It’s a pretty fast song, so I broke out the old metronome! Instead of starting off at 25% , and going up from there. I started a little faster than I was comfortable playing, around 100 bpm. I focused on getting all of my notes and timing correct, and THEN I slowed it down to the novice speed. I slowed to 60 BPM (a little more than half of my original speed) and moved up from there. I have found this is a MUCH faster way of building speed, and also a lot less boring. When you’re playing at or above your comfort zone, you’ll notice a lot more mistakes, compared to if you just started super slow and zone out as you practiced. Don’t be discouraged that you mess up, that’s what practicing is for!

In parting, I really want to warn you about speed exercises. You may have read a lot of the “master shredding” speed exercises that your heroes do (like John Petrucci’s books) but I have not ever had much success in using these mundane patterns. My success (and the true success behind others, I have found) is through practicing with what I WANT to play! My speed exercise this week was “Country Boy.” Those boring chromatic scale patterns you see everywhere do act as good warm ups, but don’t spend a lot of time using those to try and build speed. Getting the actual speed you WANT will come from playing the types of songs YOU want to play. They will also help you write the songs YOU want to write. Those 30-minute-a-day exercises really have never helped me as much as learning my heroes’ shredding licks, and then implementing those into my playing. As always, only play songs YOU want to play. That’s what is going to make guitar fun.

Take Care!

-J9

http://www.facebook.com/jayninevideolessons

guitar@jayninelessons.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPGjhuD2wkE

Take Care!

-J9

http://www.facebook.com/jayninevideolessons

guitar@jayninelessons.com

I was further surprised when I found out it was this pretty girl! I know it’s sexist, but still. So I started doing more research on her and found she was also signed up to be on Michael Jackson’s tour, before he passed away. She has a pretty impressive resume for how young she is. Check out this video of her and Steve Vai playing together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7b-_YcACuQ

Now aside from the fact that I’m glad Steve Vai is in a t-shirt and jeans, and doesn’t look as creepy as usual, It’s pretty cool to see a pop artist doing these kinds of songs. For those who know me, you know that I’m not the biggest instrumental guitarist fan. I much prefer to have solid songwriting in songs. I’m really digging the fact, however, that this girl has some instrumental tracks on her pop CD. I’d personally like to see less “shred” oriented players out there, but for right now this is a good step in the right direction.

My friend thinks she’s horrible, has no songwriting talents, and is ripping off other guitarist. The first two are all a matter of taste, but the last one is kind of hard to ignore. Correctly, she isn’t really doing any techniques or styles that haven’t been done before. She does sound like she is cast from the same mold a la Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinne Moore, etc. But she is combining that with modern radio pop and giving the Billboard 100 a taste of shred. Again, shred isn’t my favorite, but I’m glad that strong guitar playing still has a place in modern music. Who know’s whats next?

As I’ve been putting together these guitar lessons I’ve spent a lot of time connecting with my friends who are heavily involved in playing music. We’ve been discussing the strong emotional output needed to create music, and the failure of those who are too “technical.”

Anyone who has ever spent a lot of time with a band will know, having a musical connection to someone brings you much closer as a friend. You are able to effectively communicate with them through an art form, and it is hard to explain to people who don’t understand it. The same, I have found, is true for dance teams, a lot of sports teams, and so on. For instance, you get used to someone’s style of playing music, and you can “feel” what they’re going to do when you’re jamming a new song out. It’s pretty crazy.

If you’ve never seen the movie Crossroads (the one about the guitarist Eugene, not the Brittany Spears one) you need to watch it right away. It follows the story of a young classical guitarist who leaves college with an old blues player to study the Delta Blues (the early blues played by people like Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters). They are in search of a lost Robert Johnson song, and it deals with all the old blues folklore, like Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil.

The following is a scene from the movie for those of you who haven’t seen it, or seen it in a while; let me paint the picture for you. At this point in the film, our dashing young hero, Eugene, is really down on his luck. Not only has he been living on the streets, traveling with no money, and having to play for food, but he’s just found out his whole reason for his adventure (to find Robert Johnson’s last song) was just a scam to get Willie Brown out of the old folk’s home. On top of that, he just came in to find his romantic interest, Frances, has left them to pursue her on with her own dreams and goals. The following takes place right when he finds all this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfH_bikDZS4&feature=related

For my guitarist and musicians out there, how often have you been in this boat? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt hit on all sides, knocked down and broken, and been lifted up with music. As soon as I pick up the guitar, nothing matters anymore. It’s just me and my guitar. I’m using the guitar to outlet all of my emotions.

This is where I feel a lot of guitar teachers fail too. A lot of times, the most technical and knowledgeable musicians have failed to remember the reason they first learned guitar, for fun! They’ve learned, mastered, and written all of the musical theory you can, and have lost site on the much needed demonstration of emotion needed to play guitar. They sit a bright eyed enthusiastic student, who they then proceed to suck the life out of with endless lessons coming right of a theory book. It’s really hard to stay interested at this point. This is also why some of the best guitar teachers also know the least about advanced theory, they know how to move someone’s emotions, and keep them interested in guitar.

This isn’t an excuse to forget about learning theory, and just banging out garbage. There is a definite need and importance in learning how music is actually put together. The lesson behind this article, however, is to inspire you always remember that emotion needs to rule all. That instead of looking that guitar and going “well let’s see, I’d really like to switch from the A Mixolydian mode to the D major scale, and then go back to the A note, and use pitch-axis theory to play a lick in A Phrygian mode.” That’s cool and all, but this much technicality usually sounds just like that… very technical! Again, don’t use this as an excuse to never learn music theory, but always keep in mind that music is a way to connect your emotions, and that is the most important lesson you can learn.

Take Care!

-J9

http://www.facebook.com/jayninevideolessons

guitar@jayninelessons.com

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/general_music/your_first_out_of_town_showtour.html

Take Care!

-J9

http://www.facebook.com/jayninevideolessons

guitar@jayninelessons.com

So I’ve been really busy working on some awesome free content for you! Right now I’m still just getting things set up, so the best way to reach me is either through Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/JayNine-Video-Guitar-Lessons/134052219941694?ref=ts) or through gmail (jayninelessons@gmail.com) Once I get my own email address and website, I’ll be sure to let you know.

I’ve actually spent more time on getting these lessons together and my video studio set up. I’m almost ready to crank out the “Jay Nine Beginner Guitar Series” videos, which will be available absolutely 100% free on YouTube. Further, if you have any questions on them or need any type of coaching, I’m available via email to answer your questions. Unlike most free video lessons, this are not only going to teach you the basics of any genre, but also teach you how to teach yourself, without boring you to death by making you play things you don’t want to play. If you, or anyone you know, is interested in playing guitar, this is the way to go.

I’ve also been working on a series that will teach you about musical Intervals, and use them to play by ear, write to singers voices, and write duel guitar harmonies (think Metallica, Thin Lizzy, Saosin, every Post-Hardcore band, etc.) I’m pretty excited to share that, and it’s also free on YouTube! So either subscribe to my channel, or send a blank email with “subscribe me” to jayninelessons@gmail.com, and I’ll get you on my mailing list. I’ll also transfer you over when I get a professional mailing list.

Take Care!

-J9

http://www.facebook.com/jayninevideolessons

guitar@jayninelessons.com

First of all welcome to the JayNine Video Lesson Blog! If you aren’t sure what this is all about, check out http://www.facebook.com/pages/JayNine-Video-Guitar-Lessons/134052219941694?ref=ts

That’s a link to my facebook page which will give you a general overview of who I am, what I do, and what I’m about.

Anyway! Today I did two things, the first is I set up the full lesson plans to my free beginner YouTube series! This will be a set of 10 videos that is going to teach the complete beginner everything they need to know to be comfortable on guitar. I made sure to only teach you valuable information, and things that are the stepping stones of ALL genres of music! I’m hoping to have those posted by this weekend, or early next week at the latest.

Secondly, Steve Vai is putting on a contest to win a chance to meet him, while he lectures you on guitar playing, the music industry, and so on. All you have to do is submit a video of you playing guitar to one of his songs, and he’s going to judge and select the winners! I’ve been putting some stuff together, and will probably submit the video this weekend as well.

Anyway! Make sure to check out my YouTube, Facebook, and shoot me an email with any questions.