Hello to everyone and welcome to our eighth Guitar Noise Podcast! My apologies that I’m still a little behind schedule. But we should be back on track now!

As you might guess from its title, this GN Podcast combines elements that we’ve been working on since our series of podcasts began. We’ll take one of our earliest strumming patterns and add a bit of crosspicking to it, giving us even more choices of variations and embellishments to the original strumming pattern.

Most of the work in the first two-thirds of this lesson involves a chord progression of G to Bm to C and back to G. In the final third of the podcast, we’ll add a second progression of C to G to A7 to D (or D7) to the first - making the whole thing sound a lot more like a typical song.

As in our previous Guitar Noise Podcasts, I’ll be walking you step by step through the lesson. So put down your painted wings and giant rings and get your guitar and come along and play! And, as always, please let us know what you think.

Peace

 

 Guitar Noise Podcast #8 - Combining strumming and crosspicking [30:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hello to everyone and welcome to the latest Guitar Noise Podcast! And my thank you to all for your patience in giving me a little time off since the last one.

Our seventh GN Podcast picks up right on the heels of the sixth, working with the Am to G to D progression in 3 /4 timing that closed our last podcast. This time out, though, we add the technique of crosspicking (using individual notes instead of strumming or partial chords) to give some variation and interest that basic strumming wouldn’t cover. Finally, we also work in the walking bass lines from GN Podcast #6 to our crosspicking, making things even more interesting!

As in our previous Guitar Noise Podcasts, I’ll be walking you step by step through the lesson. So don’t think that you ain’t going nowhere, get your guitar, get down on that easy chair and come along and play! And, as always, please let us know what you think.

Peace

 

 Guitar Noise Podcast #7 - A little crosspicking... [30:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hello to everyone and welcome to the latest Guitar Noise Podcast!

Is this really the sixth GN Podcast? Amazing how time flies, especially when it’s spent doing something this enjoyable! I hope you’re all having fun with these podcasts as well.

This time out, we begin looking at 3/4 timing. First, using the chord progression G - Em - C - Am, we will employ a “bass/strum” pattern and then add in a bit of a walking bass line to move things along. We’ll then tackle a “straight eighth note” approach to the bass strum, using alternate picking to create a more flowing strumming pattern. For this part of the podcast, we’ll be using a G to D chord progression and then switch to Am - G - D. And if this sounds at all familiar, just consider yourself a lucky man (or woman) to have good ears!

Finally, we’ll combine both this straight eighth note strum with a walking bass line to have an impressive sounding bit of music!

As in our previous Guitar Noise Podcasts, I’ll be walking you step by step through the lesson. So don’t think that you ain’t going nowhere, get your guitar, get down on that easy chair and come along and play! And, as always, please let us know what you think.

Peace

 

 Guitar Noise Podcast #6 - 3/4 Timing [30:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hello to everyone and welcome to the latest Guitar Noise Podcast!

In this, our fifth GN Podcast, we’ll continue to make our playing more interesting by adding walking bass lines into our chord progression strumming. We’ll first work on a generic exercise to get ourselves geared to the task of adding a bass line. This involves altering our basic “bass / strum” pattern very simply.

From there we’ll use a progression of G to Am to C and back to G and work up to the following strumming pattern:

As in our previous Guitar Noise Podcasts, I’ll be walking you step by step through the lesson. So don’t think that you ain’t going nowhere, get your guitar, get down on that easy chair and come along and play! And, as always, please let us know what you think.

Peace

 

 Guitar Noise Podcast #5 - “Adding a Basic Walking Bassline” [30:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hello to everyone and welcome our fourth Guitar Noise Podcast!

In this GN Podcast, we’ll work on two specific topics. First up will be a quick look at sixteenth notes and a smart little rhythm fill that you can use as an accent when strumming a chord. We’ll also see how you can use it to spice up (and cover up!) a chord change.

From there we’ll begin work with “partial chord strumming,” in other words, just using some of the strings to strum with. And rather than examine a specific pattern, we’ll focus on developing a feel for your guitar. Hopefully you’ll start to feel more confident that you can strum where you want to without thinking twice about it. If not the specific string than at least the general area

Both of these general topics will be coming up soon when we focus on ways to create strumming that is more “organic” rather than something that sounds like it came from a sampler.

As in our previous Guitar Noise Podcasts, I’ll be walking you step by step through the lesson. So get your guitar, get yourself comfortable and come play! And, as always, please let us know what you think.

Peace

 

 Guitar Noise Podcast #4 - “Sixteenth-note Accent & Partial Chord Strumming” [30:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hello to everyone and welcome to the third of our Guitar Noise Podcasts!

In this GN Podcast, we’re going to start with looking at the differences between strumming various note values, in terms of timing, and try a very simple exercise to help you work out the strumming of quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes and triplets.

We’ll then focus on the “generic” strumming pattern from the end of the second podcast and work up ways of making it more interesting and fun by applying ideas from the first two podcasts (hammer-ons and alternate bass lines) to the pattern.

As in our previous Guitar Noise Podcasts, I’ll be talking you through the process. So get your guitar and get comfortable and come play! And, as always, please let us know what you think.

Peace

 

 Guitar Noise Podcast #3 - “Combining What We've Got (so far...)” [30:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hello to everyone and welcome back to the Guitar Noise Podcasts!

Our second GN Podcast picks up where the first left off - we’ll take a “basic” strumming pattern from the first podcast and then spice it up by means of adding simple hammer-ons to the chord being strummed. By changing the timing of the hammer-on or by using it on different notes of the chord, you multiply the number of strumming patterns you can create. We’ll be working with both Em and Am chords for this task.

We’ll also discuss a few practice tips concerning muscle memory and speed (not to mention magic and life!) as well as try out a new strumming pattern that is used in more songs than you can imagine. In fact, you can use it with many of the Easy Songs for Beginners lessons at Guitar Noise, such as Nowhere Man.

As before, I’ll be talking you through the process, and I hope that I do as good a job as last time. Let us know what you think!

Peace

 

 Guitar Noise Podcast #2 - “Strumming Part 2 / Adding Hammer-ons” [30:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Welcome to Guitar Noises’s first Podcast - a thirty-minute, one-on-one lesson with me, David Hodge. This first podcast is also the first in a series on strumming, covering the very basics of strumming - using fingers as well as a pick. We’ll be working with the basic techniques of downstrums and upstrums, covering a number of simple strumming patterns, as well as playing the “boom-chuck” or “bass / strum” technique of strumming, which is the first step toward more complex patterns. Oh, and we’ll also discuss important concepts such as the root notes of chords and sock puppets…

Our first series of Guitar Noise Podcasts will cover strumming - moving step by step from the very basics to alternate bass picking, to adding hammer-ons and pull-offs to spice up simple patterns to crosspicking and partial chord playing to incorporating other playing techniques, such as palm muting and choking, to bring even more excitement to our strumming. Plus we’ll look at how to listen to patterns so that you can readily replicate complicated patterns you hear on recordings.

I’ll do my best to walk you through things step by step, just as we do in the many song lessons at Guitar Noise. So pull up a chair and let’s have some fun!

Peace

 

 Guitar Noise Podcast #1 - "Strumming Part 1 / Basics of Strumming" [30:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download