David Abramson

Guitar, Ukulele, and Keyboard Lessons in Davis

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Rates
  • Resources
    • Blog
  • Banjo Lessons
  • Ukulele Lessons
  • Mandolin Lessons
530-902-8223
720 Olive Drive, Suite E
Davis, CA 95616

Playing along with your favorite melodies

November 19, 2013 by david

Guitar Lesson: Playing and Listening

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Lately I’ve been doing an exercise in ear training while playing guitar and it’s really improved my listening and lead guitar playing ability. I’ve been listening to songs that I’m familiar with while playing the vocal melodies on the guitar.

Start with something easy. “Get up stand up” by Bob Marley or the chorus of Louie Louie by The Kingsmen could be a good place to start…or pick a song that you have stuck in your head already and can sing the melody to. If you’re a beginner or intermediate guitar player, practice finding a few notes and pausing the track to find them and play slowly. Don’t worry if you hit the wrong notes; that’ll happen A LOT in the beginning and improve over time. Keep trying and find fun songs that you want to practice with.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Tips and Exercises Tagged With: ear training

Quotes for Musical Inspiration #1

November 14, 2013 by david

“Without music, life would be a mistake.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

“Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music.”
― George Carlin

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”
― Maya Angelou

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”
― Aldous Huxley, Music at Night and Other Essays

Filed Under: Uncategorized

The first song I ever learned

November 14, 2013 by david

My housemate is learning how to play guitar right now for the first time in her life. I can tell she has a really good ear, and she is picking things up really quick. Anyways, I walked downstairs last night and she was practicing the Nirvana song Polly. It brought me back because it was the first song I ever learned on guitar when I was a 13 year old growing up in Davis and starting to take guitar lessons myself. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Learning Guitar

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2