Guitar for Beginners and Beyond Newsletter - June 5th 2007
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Hi, fellow twanger. I hope you're well and playing up a storm.
Before I get into the news, you can unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time by logging into
http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/ and going to your UserCP > Edit Options and unticking the 'Receive Email from Administrators' check box.
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Kirk's Weekly Lessons
I've done a few new lessons for you since the last newsletter, and there have been a couple of changes to the format.
First of all, I've removed the copyrighted song lessons. Until I get a definitive answer about where I stand on these, I'd prefer them to be hidden from public view.
Secondly, I've turned all the old 'Attachment' files (Windows Media Movie, midi, notation,
GuitarPro file and mp3) from the old lessons into paid downloads. They're very cheap, but it takes a load off our bandwidth, which was getting out of control.
Thirdly, all the new lessons from now on will also include the option to download the extra files, but the movie will now be in big, high resolution (720 X 576 px) format and will include the virtual animated fretboard that I introduced a few months ago.
The New Lessons
The first I call 'Los Blues', because it's a sort of Flamenco Blues thing based on a chord progression that's almost become the standard minor key blues progression. Gary Moore used it; Lionel Richie used it, so did Santana. My version is done on my nylon string so it sounds fairly Spanish. You'll find it here:
Los Blues
The next is that old nugget Danny Boy, which I discovered was in the public domain, which means no copyright. It's such a beautiful old melody. I've done a fairly straight forward fingerstyle version, but one with some interesting moving lines and harmony. You'll find it here:
Danny Boy in G
The latest is Danny Boy again, but in dropped D tuning, my all time favorite. This one is not for beginners, more intermediate to advanced I guess, but it's a great one to play. It's basically the same arrangement as the other, but in a different key and tuning. You'll find it here:
Danny Boy in Dropped-D
Solidwalnut's Lessons - Member Steve Cass, aka solidwalnut, has posted several new lessons. The easiest way to sort through them all is to go to his Lesson Guide here:
Solidwalnut's Lesson Guide...Find it here!
Fretsource's lessons - Fretsource is our resident theory/notation expert and has a great way of explaining things. You'll find all his lessons here:
http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/fo...urces-lessons/ - and don't forget, if you like Fretsource's lessons, check out his Guitar Music Theory Ebook available on ebay here -
http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/cg...source&afsrc=1
Tekker's Lessons - See all of Tekker's lessons here:
http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/fo...kkers-lessons/
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Guitar for Beginners and Beyond Community:
http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/
We are 38,500 strong now, still growing at the same rate. That's a lot of twangers!
More and more experienced players are finding us and joining in the discussion, passing on their expertise and posting some great music. We're certainly lucky to have them come on board and share their passion. There are some collaborations going on in The Recording Booth that you're welcome to take part in if you feel you're ready and of course you're always welcome to post examples of your playing, whether you're seeking praise or constructive criticism. All we ask is that you don't post any copyrighted tunes.
If you simply want to join in the discussion, do! Don't be shy. The more the merrier is the way I see it. I still find it amazing that players from all over the World can get together here on a daily basis and banter on. But, looking at the stats, there are far more lurkers than active participants.
http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/
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PlaneTalk - The Truly Totally Different Guitar Instruction Book/DVD:
PlaneTalk - The Truly Totally Different Guitar Instruction Book
Several GfB&Bers have taken the plunge and ordered PlaneTalk. You can read their reaction to it in the PlaneTalk Testimonials Forum:
http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/fo...-testimonials/
PlaneTalk (as if you didn't know already) was written for all those players who have reached the stage in their playing where they want to begin to explore the fretboard and delve into the art of improvisation, especially those who have dabbled with the various scales and modes and pentatonics, but can't seem to make them work. PlaneTalk bypasses that whole mind set and describes another way of doing it, a better way in my opinion because it maps out the entire fretboard for many purposes: inventing melody (over any chord progression), seeing harmony and chord fragment possibilities, creating interesting rhythm parts. The book describes the simple visualization technique, the
Slide Rule that comes with it crystallizes it and the DVD demonstrates it.
Read more and order from the main site:
PlaneTalk - The Truly Totally Different Guitar Instruction Book
Read many more testimonials here:
PlaneTalk Testimonials
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The Slide Guitar in Standard and Dropped D tunings DVD:
Bottleneck Guitar
Slide guitar is such a fun way to play. I've been doing it since about 1969 and doing it in standard tuning, or sometimes dropping that bass string down to D. Open tunings are great and give you that traditional sound, but standard is just as rich and allows you to merge both normal playing and slide into one hybrid style that really perks the ears up. Have a look at my latest blues video at YouTube (
YouTube - Got the Blues Bad ) to see what I mean. If you want to learn more about the art, check out the DVD I put together, 70 minutes of solid learning. I go through the basics of slide techniques; vibrato; muting; chords; double stops; single notes lines; playing behind the slide and merging it all together.
Bottleneck Guitar
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Donations
You can help support the site by clicking the 'Donate' button at the top of each forum page and making a donation. It's all done through Paypal and takes just a couple of minutes. Once you've donated, Clancy will put a star (or stars) next to your username to reflect your generosity.
The direct link to our donation page is located here -
http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/billspaypal.php
Thanks to all our starred members! We certainly do appreciate it.
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MusiciansFriend Clearance Center -
http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/cg...Center&afsrc=1
Most people already know of the great deals available at MusiciansFriend, but aren't so aware that they also have a Clearance Center part to their site which has around $6,000,000 worth of overstocks, refurbs, returns, and discontinued gear available at any one time.
So, if you're shopping for a guitar, amp or anything music related, but don't want to pay full price, be sure to check out some of their great Clearance Center deals here -
http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/cg...Center&afsrc=1
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That's it from me for now, have fun with those lessons!
Kirk
