Posts by Kevin Downing
Play What You Hear
Many guitarists hear others say “play what you hear in your head”, but find that doing it is quite difficult. Wouldn’t it be great to play whatever you hear in your head, or on a recording, as it would make learning your favourite songs, solos, and writing your own songs so much easier than it…
Read MoreThe Forgotten Art of Listening
Practicing the art of actively listening to music is something many guitar players miss. In fact almost all musicians miss this point. This skill is necessary if you want to be a good musician no matter what level you aspire to play at. Click the link to read The Forgotten Art of Listening and change…
Read MoreNew Years Resolutions
Most people make New Year’s resolutions of some sort, but never seem to achieve what they set out to do. I am not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions, but I am a big fan of setting out what you want to do and sticking with it all year round no matter what the…
Read MorePracticing For Playing Live
Playing live is definitely a different skill to learn than practicing in your practice room. There are many different things going on when playing live which take a bit of getting used to, and you can practice these areas to get used it before you go to the next gig, jam, or studio session. Click…
Read More11 Things I Learnt From Carl Verheyen
Carl Verheyen (pronounced Ver-high-in) is the number one session guitarist in Los Angeles, a member of the band Supertramp, and runs his own band, the Carl Verheyen Band. In June I was in Los Angeles and caught up with him at Village Recorders in Santa Monica where he was working on and producing an album…
Read MoreTravis Picking
Here is an introductory lesson into Travis picking, made famous by the legendary country guitar picker Merle Travis. The difference between Travis picking and regular finger-picking is the use of alternating and/or descending bass notes played by the thumb. Click here to learn more about Travis Picking.
Read MoreGuitar Necks – 14 frets
Here is a great page of guitar necks to write out your favourite chords, scales, and other stuff you need to remember quickly. Print some Guitar-Necks here.
Read MoreJingle Bells
The festive season is here again and a great way to celebrate is to learn a traditional Christmas song. Jingle Bells was written around 1850 by James Lord Pierpont, and at around 150 years old is still one of the most popular festive songs around. I have arranged this song as a chord melody –…
Read MoreKeeping Things Simple
Many music teachers out there tend to make the learning of music and guitar very complicated, but the legendary teachers are the ones who can make even very complicated concepts and practices simple. Many music students tend to complicate things as well, and think that if it is not complicated it can’t be good. It…
Read MoreThe Lead Guitar Role
Great guitar players can play the rhythm or lead role easily depending on what is required for the gig or jam session, but sometimes you are the only guitarist so you have to do a bit of both. Click here to see the rest of The Lead Guitar Role article.
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