Guitar and Bass Tuition for Samford and The Gap, Queensland, Australa.
This practice track goes with one of the tunes in my guitar method – see page 21. It is suitable for beginning guitar players who know the notes on the first two strings. Here is the tune at 70bpm:
Play along with the melody first, to make sure you have all the notes and timing right. Then try the second track with only the chords, playing the melody yourself.
Enjoy!
Rob
My residency at the Homestead Restaurant in Main St Samford continues on Friday nights in June, with performances on Friday 10th and 17th of June. So come along and enjoy a great night of guitar jazz in front of the log fire. My set includes favourites from Col Porter spiced with some Latin and Balkan flavours, and grooves from my Virtual Guitar Orchestra! I play from 6:30 until 10ish! Phone Steve at the restaurant for bookings or more information, on 3289 1485.
Hi,
Here is a practice track you can use for practicing bass lines or lead breaks using the G minor pentatonic scale. The rhythm guitar plays two basic rhythms using a Gm7 chord, and then a G minor chord.
Enjoy!
Rob
Rob’s Guitar Method Book One is now available! It is an affordable method, with a recommended retail price of $14.95, but which I make available to students of the Guitar School for $10. This is significantly cheaper than many commercial learn to play guitar books on the market. The book is aimed at beginning players of all ages, and represents a structured approach to developing music reading skills, chord and strumming basics, and material suitable for improvisation.
Students who successfully work through the method will gain proficiency in reading notes from the C major scale on the three treble strings in the first (open) position. Sharps are also introduced. This is supplemented by learning to recognize and play bass notes to go with common chords, on the 6th string (E,F,G), 5th string (A and C) and the 4th string (D). A number of progressively more demanding duets are included which help build skills in ensemble playing, and are useful in group classes or beginning ensembles. There are also pieces which are ideal for beginning explorations in improvisation.
A range of the most common chords and simple strumming styles are also developed, beginning with one finger chords, progressing to two finger chords, and developing to three and four finger chords. Finally, chords made with a half barre (Gm, A6) are introduced.
The method is not meant to be a self instruction manual, and contains no lengthy verbage which your teacher is going to tell you anyway, or more importantly show you. It is just the music, and the fingering diagrams you need to develop your playing in a structured way, with the aid of a teacher.
Email rob on rob@robsguitarschool.com with your purchase enquiries!
My residency at the Homestead Restaurant in Main St Samford continues on Friday nights in May, with performances on Friday 20th and 27th of May. So come along and enjoy a great night of guitar jazz in front of the log fire. My set includes favourites from Col Porter spiced with some Latin and Balkan flavours, and grooves from my Virtual Guitar Orchestra! I play from 6:30 until 10ish! Phone Steve at the restaurant for bookings or more information, on 3289 1485.
It’s good to spend some practice time each day working with a metronome, to develop precision and consistency in your timing. Not everyone has access to a metronome, however, so here are some basic “metronome” tracks that you can use to help develop your sense of timing. Start with the slowest track, (50bpm) and try to play the piece you have selected, either strumming chords or playing a melody, or doing your finger exercises. When you can do that, go to the next fastest track (60bpm) and so on. I have done them as a basic drum beat, with kick (bass drum) on beat 1 and snare on beat 3.
Free MP3 download: metronome beat 50bpm
Free MP3 download: metronome beat 60bpm
Free MP3 download: metronome beat 70bpm
Free MP3 download: metronome beat 80bpm
Free MP3 download: metronome beat 90bpm
Free MP3 download: metronome beat 100bpm
Stay tuned for other speeds – I will post soon!
Enjoy, Rob.
Hi,This post is for students of mine working on “Notes on the Third String”. It is a backing track for the piece, recorded at 35 beats per minute. Download from the following link and try playing along! You will need the sheet music from your lessons!
Here it is with me playing the melody as well. Use this to check that you are playing the right notes and have your timing correct!
Here is a basic practice track for beginning to intermediate bass players in a simple Reggae feel. It is to help you practice your reggae bass lines. The chords are A and D:
One way to get a reggae feel happening in the bass is to be sure to hit the root note of the chord on beat one of the bar, or at the change of chord. Use octaves and fifths as the main notes of your line. Avoid thirds and sevenths, and use sixths and seconds for runs – as in the following fingering chart (root notes in boxes):
Slide from the lower position with finger 3 on the 7th fret, up two frets so that finger 3 falls on the 9th fret, where the 2nd and 6th can easily be played. Don’t forget to leave plenty of space!
Here is the track:
Have fun!
Here is a practice track which I have done in an Indie Rock style, to show that simple things can be very effective. It is suitable for guitarists and bass players of beginning to intermediate level. The chord progression is a very common one in lots of songs, involving the chords C, G, Am and F:
To solo over the progression, first recognize that the progression is in the key of C major. So use the notes from the C major scale. One concept that you can use is to hit the first beat of every two bar group with a sustained note from the chord. That way you accentuate the harmony and sound “in control” of the progression. C chord: C, E, or G. G chord: G, B, or D. Am chord: A, C, or E. F chord: F, A, or C. To add interest, follow the strong note with some linking scale tones that lead to the next strong chordal note at the change of chord. Add interest by hitting the chordal note more than once, in different rhythms, to more strongly emphasize it. Interest and emphasis can also be added by first hitting the tone above or below the chord note, and quickly moving to the chord note. Another idea is to follow the first chord tone by another chord tone, thus doubly emphasizing the harmony.All these ideas can be heard in the following track including my solo (try to play along with me):
To practice your own solo, here is the track without the lead guitar:
Rob will be playing at the Samford Homestead Restaurant this Friday night, 10th February, 2011, and Friday nights in February. The performance will showcase the “Virtual Guitar Orchestra” – which is Rob and his real-time looping system. On the menu will be jazz standards and original grooves with a dash of Balkan Style rhythms.
What: Rob Reeves and His Virtual Guitar Orchestra
When: 6:30pm to 10pm; Fridays in February
Where: Samford Homestead Restaurant, Main Street, Samford.
Phone the restaurant on 3289 1485 to make a booking. Come along and say hi, and enjoy a nice meal as you listen to the music!