Guitar Mash

Ok, so the new GM site launched about a month ago but I’m just getting around to posting about it. We’re still working out the kinks but I think you’ll agree that the new design is way better than the old one. I’ll keep adding more community features as I go and just keep putting out new cool videos as I find them. Rock on.

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I’m proud to announce that in the next few months some big changes are coming for Guitar Mash. As this site grows in popularity (thanks so much to all the regular visitors), I’ll continue to focus more attention to the site to increase the quality of the video streams and other content on the site.

In the upcoming months expect to see:

• A complete redesign of the site - even more awesome than it is now
• A complete revamp of the video streams. We’re rewriting the algorithm that pulls content into the site so that you can enjoy only the best and most relevant video content on the net. All videos will now be human moderated so you’ll never find a new video that is dead or completely off topic (sorry for the piano lessons that have come through)
• More community features: you’ll be able to comment on videos and rate them!
• No more forum - maybe we’ll add it back later, but we’re going to focus our attention other places for now
• Exclusive resources. Our music theory specialists are cooking up some exclusive learning materials that will help you to learn lead scales and the chords that go with them. Did I mention that they will be free?

So stay tuned and you’ll see what we have in store very soon. Thanks again for continuing to watch the videos and visiting our site - we hope to make it a better place to learn guitar for everyone!

James

Right now I really feel like I’m at another plateau in my playing. Over the last year my skills have tremendously improved and I’ve finally figured out the major and minor scales and can pretty much solo over that in any key, but I know something vital is missing. Basically my phrasing sucks and I have a really difficult time coming up with creative solos. Or I just don’t know what to play over the rhythm guitar when I’m not soloing. It’s like I’ve worked so hard to learn to play lead guitar only to find this new vast challenge ahead of me. I thought I was nearing the peak, but I only scaled this challenge to find a new one far above me.

I’ve decided to take on this challenge by learning some of the songs that I’ve always wanted to learn - I Want My MTV, Slow Ride, That Smell, etc. I figure that the only way to get better at the phrasing in my solos is to learn what other’s have done. Learning other peoples songs has always been an uphill battle for me, but I’ve found tools like BestPractice and the Guitar Tab White Pages that help.

I’ve also started to make some resources for Guitar Mash that will help beginners understand the scales in each key and the chords that go along with them. It’s something that I really wish I had when I started and has helped to solidify what I know about the scales.

I also realized when playing with the band tonight that I’ve really got to learn the notes on every fret. That is just going to be imperative if I’m ever going to sight read better. I’m just not really sure how to go about it.

So, has this ever happened to you in your playing? Can you give me and the other people that read this blog some advice on how to overcome these playing plateaus?

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This is the dumbest damn thing I’ve ever heard of.

Apparently someone lost a toe during the competition this year. Stupid is as stupid does I guess.

I found this tool today and it looks really good for learning modes and scales. From the site:

If you’re studying guitar modes and scales I think you will
get a kick out of this little tool.

Here’s how it works. Indicate the key and mode in the drop down box and you will see the relative notes appear on the guitar neck in the key you requested.

So try it out and see what you think. I think this tool will finally help me understand what I’m doing with the pentatonic scale as opposed to the mode scales.

Go to: Mode Master: the guitar modes and scales computer

A few weeks ago I came across FretQuiz from Guitar Lifestyle, a tool that helps you to learn the notes on the guitar. It’s a very simple quiz program that tests you on the different notes on the neck. After using the program for a bit it really has helped me to learn the notes better, and more importantly, recall them faster.

I’m at a level with my playing that I know the notes of each string and a few places where those are around the neck. But I still have trouble picking out notes on the 2nd through 5th strings, especially the sharps and flats in a higher register. Doing the quiz has helped there, but I still need some more practice for instance recall.

My favorite feature in FretQuiz is the Show Answer feature that allows you to cheat The cool part about that feature is that it shows you the right note and then all of the other places on the neck that note exists. If you study those charts you can begin to see patterns emerge. If you memorize the patterns then it’s much easier to know what notes are where.

FretQuiz is a pretty basic app and there are some areas for improvement, but I think the overall concept is good. Sure you could figure all of this out yourself, but if you are like me, a quiz tool like this can help motivate you to actually do it.

I think that FretQuiz could improve in 2 ways that would make it a better package. 1) The graphics for the guitar could be better - they aren’t terrible, but they are a little clunky. 2) The interface needs to be laid out better. I couldn’t view the entire screen on my laptop when the graphic of the body of the guitar was shown. I think a side by side layout of the notes form and the guitar image would improve the interface. Those are really the only two things that bothered me.

If you are interested in giving FretQuiz a try, there is a trial version offered at the site. Try it out and see if you like it.