I like to compare it to sports; if you want to be a good basketball player, you don’t just run out on the court and start playing a game. You need to do some stretching and maybe shoot a few layups to get your body warmed up and your head in the game. Every student should be doing similar things before every practice session. Throughout this week, I am going to discuss some of the most common  warmup exercises and how to do them.

Chromatic Scale

What a pretty name for a scale! It has always made me think of colors which I now know makes sense because it actually comes from the Greek word “chroma” which mean color, according to Wiki.  Basically the chromatic scale means that you play every single note in order from lowest to chosen highest note. Lets first try it on one string so that you can better understand…..

One String Chromatic:

• Play the low E string on the guitar.
• With your first finger on left hand, play the first fret.
• Then slide it up to the 2nd, then 3rd, then 4th etc all the way to the 12th fret.

You just played a one octave chromatic scale starting and ending on E. You played the notes, E-F-F#-G-G#-A-A#-B-C-C#-D-D#-E .  12 Notes….there are 12 notes that make an octave.

So now we are going to do these same notes across all the strings and in one position (a position means your first finger stays over one fret without shifting your whole hand up).

Here is a video of it:

Chromatic Scale Full

1. play the open E string and play each upper fret with a new finger until you get to the 4th finger on the 4th fret. So 1st fret 1st finger, 2nd fret second finger, 3rd fret third finger and 4th fret fourth finger.
2. Now play the open A string and do the same thing.
3. Repeat for the D and G string
4. Now on the B string we are gong to do one thing different. Do not play the open B string. This is because you already played this note with your 4th finger on the G string.
5. Once you are finished playing 4th finger on the B string, Play the open and and go up each finger until you play the 4th fret on the 4th finger on the high E (1st string). This is a G# note.
6. Now reverse each finger the same way you came up until you are back on the low E string.

Here’s the video:

Tomorrow I will talk more about this scale and how to get the most out of practicing it!

Coming into the show after a bit of an obsession with “Hold Time”, I was very interested in the sonic landscape of the evening.  M. Ward has such a specific sound on record and I was ever so curious to see and hear how this would be pulled off live.  Well, it wasn’t much of a deal at all.  Plug a guitar in and sing.  That worked for some of the songs and the others, with a full band backing him, were equally as simple and good.

There was veterans and youth up on stage and it was so nice to see the glowing mixture.  Who is this guy M. Ward?  I can barely see him as his guitar tech hands him his 10th guitar of the evening.  The little man puts out a big sound!  His voice sounds like he’s been smoking since he came out of the womb.  And I mean that with no disrespect.  It’s purely unique and engaging and it feels as if he puts every last bit of his energy into each note.  Everything feels with passion and grace.

Midway through the set, M Ward is playing solo guitar, and what a delight that was!  A nice flavor full open tuning and some excellent right hand technique, mixed with the compositional strengths of M. Ward was super sweet!  We were all captivated.  This element of sounding amazing with or without a band gives this one of a kind songwriter the strength to woo over his audience.  We are all his friend.  He doesn’t speak much, but he says a lot!

The end of the show closed with a few guest artists and two encours and then a departure.

Thank you M Ward for your wonderful songs!

The Living Room – An intimate venue with some of the top acoustic and singer songwriters around. Sometimes you can catch a big name such as Norah Jones or Bono if they decide to drop in!

Rockwood Music Hall – Another popular intimate venue for acoustic and great local and touring songwriters.

Joes Pub – A great venue that attracts diverse artist ranging from Jazz, Folk, Pop and Klezmer

Bowery Ballroom -  Probably one of the bigger venue son the list. The company Bowery Presents also works for the clubs Mercury Lounge, Terminal 5, Music Hall of Williamsburg, and Wellmont Theater. All good places to see music.

Barbes (Park Slope – Brooklyn)- Barbes is a French inspired jazz and world music club. You can hear everything from African to Gypsy. Highly recommend Slavic Soul Party and Stephane Wrembel who are both regular performers there.

Caffe Vivaldi – Caffe Vivaldi hosts anything from songwriters, jazz, experimental and cabaret singers. Great place to discover talented artist with good drinks and food, and a friendly staff. Also the music is free!

Bargemusic – What is better than seeing the most talented classical musicians in the world on a ship?!

Le Poisson Rouge – The latest in classical music as well as experimental, pop and jazz.

What are some of your favorite local venues where you go for inspiration?