Eric Johnson & his Fender

One of the things I love about Eric Johnson is his tone.

He’s no metal head. But when he plays his Fender guitar, you can hear his notes float. His string-skipping technique is also something that I’ve been trying to study for years. Try playing the intro of the Cliffs of Dover and you’ll understand what I mean.

Anyway, I found this video on how he phrases his notes to create beautiful arpeggios.

Here’s Eric playing Cliffs of Dover.

How to start playing good guitar

If you’re just starting to learn guitar, you can remember some of these tips (they’re not rules or anything that you should memorize). At least these are things I did when I started learning it.

1. Learn to play in tune and in time. There is a standard tuning for guitar. If you start with the thinnest or “highest” string, that’s E (then as we go up to the thickest string), B, G, D, A, and then finally E. It is also best to have pitch pipe or pitch fork or a piano to tune to. But if you have none of these, you can download guitar tuners on the web. Check this website for more info. Also, try to buy or download a metronome from the Internet. A metronome keeps you in time when you’re practicing.
2. Learn to read tablatures. If you’re not good at sight reading, meaning you cannot read round notes as good as classical guitar players, then you can learn tabs. Some of them are now online (but due to some online crackdown they’re now hard to find). Tablatures are graphical representations of music. It still uses musical notations but instead of notes, it tells you where to place your fingers. Now you have to figure out how those “notes” sound by listening to the original music. You can read more about tablatures here and here.
3. Practice and listen. Joe Satriani would often say three things to his students: practice, practice, practice. I think you will also hear this from other musicians. Most of the great musicians are obsessed with their instruments. You’ll never find them idling, waiting for inspiration to hit them. They practice hard. Also, listening to other musicians is an important lesson I’ve learned in years. Expanding your musical taste not just to what you want is helpful. In my case, I listen to different kinds. Sometimes you’ll find great ideas from sources you never expect to find any.
4. Learn a bit of theory. My playing and my listening skils improved a lot after learning music theory. Don’t worry theories won’t kill creativity. Just like a map, you need to know the basic routes before going on an adventure. There are many ways to learn theory. They’re all over the web. You can even pick some of them from you favorite guitar mag. You can start here if you want to learn the basics. Music is classified “high art.” It is quite an abstract form of art, which explains that it is not really easy to understand everything overnight. But it takes years of practice and playing to really use them well. If you’re into Blues music, you can start with the Pentatonics (also known as the “Blues scale).
   
5. Jam with friends, your computer or your iPod. If you’re afraid to strut your stuff among friends, then the best resort is your computer and your iPOD. I download and buy a lot of jam tracks (the rhythm section of music or also I call it the band minus-one) to practice with or to. I’ve found interesting jam tracks from guitar magazines like Total Guitar. With this rhythm section, you can practice your chops, riffs, leads, and whatnot. You can also explore other musical ideas you’ve been harboring for years! The secret here is to “let go” and just play!
6. Learn from the best (or at least your neighbor or friend). If you can’t afford a DVD lesson, then you can go searching on the Internet for video lessons. But the best teacher is still you and a patient friend or neighbor who could quickly correct your mistakes. I learned from readings that the best soccer players are not born. They’re made. How? With constant practice and pro-active guidance from coaches. With that combination, your bad habits can be quickly quelled. No, don’t think about that nasty music teacher hitting your fingers whenever you’re making a mistake. But there a lot of good guitar teachers who can guide you –the term there is guide–and not teach you, really. The best teacher is still YOU! That’s right. No matter how good the teacher is, he or she won’t be able to help you if don’t teach yourself the new riffs or adlibs.

Now that you have all these useful tips, it’s time to get down and dirty and practice those chops! I’ve been playing for years and I must say these tips I only figured out after trial and error. So you’re, er, luckier than me.

Rock on!