The effect is what you would get if you lightly placed your finger over the strings at a harmonic node and struck the strings. The most common and strongest harmonic nodes are at the 5th, 7th and 12th frets (and 17th if you can reach it).

Also, unlike conventional capos that allow you to only play in-front of where the capo is placed, the harmonic capo, allows you to play both in-front and behind the capo opening up a whole range of possibilities worth exploring.

The harmonic capo works in tandem with open tunings such as open C (Low to high: CGCGBE) open G tuning (low to high: DGDGBD) or open D tuning or DADGAD. With an open chord being played with no fingers being placed on the fretboard, this enables you to explore different melodic runs while adding in colorful harmonics throughout.

Of course, if you’re new to open tunings, it’s worth taking some time to familiarize yourself with the different shapes to produce chords of one tuning, before moving onto another. It might be helpful at this point to write down all the notes of the fretboard as they have changed with the tuning to get a better picture of what your working with.

With all this in mind, use of a Harmonic Capo really benefits finger style playing but that shouldn’t really stop anyone, who is interested in exploring the possibilities the Harmonic Capo offers from having a go. If you’re intrigued to hear some examples, head over to Bob Kilgore’s site and watch a few of his videos. Check out the video below, a number of excerpts from his latest CD offering.

His playing is sure to inspire you to push your playing in a new direction, even if you return having decided that it’s not the path you wanna take.

Enjoy!

Posted by Dan Orr.

Question. When I play chords I always touch the strings that I should be playing open. How can I avoid this?

Answer. Touching the wrong strings when you play chords is a common problem that many beginners face when learning the guitar. Today we will look at some simple solutions.

1. Try and press your fingers straight down. Your finger should be at a 90 degree angle with the string. This means that only the tip of your finger should be connecting with string.

2. Are your fingernails short? If your fingernails are long, your fingertip will not be able to sit on the string and your fingers will touch the other strings on the guitar.

3. Place your thumb directly on the back of the neck of your guitar. This puts your hand in a good position to keep your fingers clear of the wrong strings.

4. Practice with chords you find easy. Look at how your hand sits when you play these chords. Try to use the technique that you use on easier chords with more difficult chords.

5. Using a capo at higher frets can make it easier on your fingers as the frets are closer together. However for people with big hands this can make it more difficult. So experiment with a capo to see if it helps you.

Each person has different size hands, finger shape and flexibility. For this reason there is no universal rule that will change your playing to avoid touching the wrong strings when playing. You should practice chords as much as you can until you feel confident and comfortable with them.

Good luck with your practice.

No not the Nam of the 1960′s – NAMM the music trade show.

NAMM is short for National Association of Music Merchants and their annual show is one of largest music product trade shows in the world. It’s held every January in Anaheim, California, and sees thousands of exhibitors and tens of thousands of attendees through it’s doors.

A couple of days ago, David and I (Jon) left Rockstar HQ for LA to come to see what the show is all about. Two Rockstar boys in the big city. Basically, our objective is to find out what’s going on in the world of music products and to get some ideas from within the music industry for how we can improve what we do so you the student gets a better learning experience with Jamorama.

The NAMM Show is not open to the general public, so we thought we would share some of the interesting things we see at the show here so you can get idea of what it’s like.

Today was the opening day and we spent the morning getting our bearings and checking out some of the major exhibitors. NAMM is the premier music trade show in North America and all the big boys come to exhibit their latest toys. Martin, PRS, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, Marshall, Orange, you name it, it’s there and then another 200+ boutique guitar, amp, piano, drums and audio gear manufacturers.

Some highlights from the day were seeing some of the new developments making electronic drum kits more visually appealing, new technology from digi design that enables guitarists to play directly into the protools environment and a coffee that was so hot it that it was still burny an hour later.

The best part of the day however was catching up with Andy McKee of Youtube fame. Andy’s a monster on guitar by any man’s standard. His percussive acoustic tapping style is truly unique and a joy to watch. Check him out playing his most famous piece, ‘Drifting’, in the video below.

Tomorrow we continue our research at the show. We’ll be posting regularly throughout so keep your eyes open for that!

Cheers
Jon

When the marketing machine itself seems to become more a part of the product it promotes than the product itself, when the inherent qualitites of individuality have been crushed under the weight of commercialism and when all the corners have been knocked off, rounded down and filed into a useless dust by the “machine” then what is there left of real, intrinsic value?

Luckily some artists are born with a respect for their art and instrument and a no holds barred approach to quality control,

When it comes to modern acoustic fingerstyle guitar Paul Ubana Jones is one of the highly regarded champions, perhaps even a pioneer, of a unique and highly expressive, soulful approach to acoustic guitar that he effortlessly combines with song.

Paul fuses a bold approach to tunings, percussive harmonics, and melody with a highly fluid picking technique and soulful intensity to deliver a wonderful mixture of an almost funky, Hendrixy and blues-rock approach to the bass end of the groove with European flavoured folk and progressive classical motifs, leads, lines, hybrid arpeggios, blues picking styles and more. It`s a very modern and expressive mix of technique, soul and talent.

Born in London and playing guitar by the age of 11, Paul graduated from a London music college, where he studied guitar and cello, and began to forge the solo acoustic style that he has stuck to and developed over the years.

In the late eighties Paul and his family moved to New Zealand, which is still their permanent home. He has continued to perform internationally, to growing acclaim. Concert performances include opening for the likes of Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo’, Tuck and Patti, and Crowded House.

Understandably Paul’s “off the hook” skills aren’t something that’ll come to you overnight, unless you’re friends with the devil, but, to compliment the awesome Blind Blake style fingerpicking lesson from Jim Bruce, Paul’s approach to fusion expands upon an already eloquent vocabulary.

So, here is Paul discussing one of his clawhammer thumb picking patterns.

Whilst this may be out of your playing depth technically Paul describes some helpful techniques in approaching fingerpicking such as focusing upon a relaxed hand and extracting and concentrating upon the the rhythm of the left hand – it`s well worth spending some time in trying to apply Paul’s advice to your own picking practice regime.

Cheers,

Jake Edwards

About twenty years ago I went out to buy a Chet Atkins record and what I came back with contained the impressive instrumental Kicky. Atkins makes this sound about as easy as taking candy from a baby…

Stories have been told about the very young Chet who, when a friend or relative would come to visit, and if that person played a guitar, would crowd in and put his ear so very close to the instrument that it became difficult for that person to play.[2] This was an early demonstration of his affinity for the instrument that would later become his life, and that he would take around the world, playing packed concert halls from Nashville to the Boston Pops.

Atkins became an accomplished guitarist while he was in high school. He would use the restroom in the school to practice, because it gave better acoustics.[3][4] His first guitar had a nail for a nut and was so bowed that only the first few frets could be used. He later purchased a semi-acoustic electric guitar and amp, but he had to travel many miles to find an electrical outlet since his home had no electricity.

Atkins did not have a strong style of his own until 1939 when he heard Merle Travis picking over WLW radio.This early influence dramatically shaped his unique playing style. Whereas Travis’s right hand utilized his index finger for the melody and thumb for bass notes, Atkins expanded his right hand style to include picking with his first three fingers, with the thumb on bass. The result was a clarity and complexity that became his unmistakable sound.

Gretsch make a fine looking Chet Atkins country gent guitar for those of you who want to develop the twang!