Kite Guitar Exercises and Techniques by Kite Giedraitis: Difference between revisions
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* Play and sing this melody again, but sing each note first and play it afterwards, to check yourself | * Play and sing this melody again, but sing each note first and play it afterwards, to check yourself | ||
* Play a chord and sing it as an arpeggio | * Play a chord and sing it as an arpeggio | ||
* Play this chord again, but | * Play this chord again, but omit one note, and sing the missing note. Play the note to check yourself | ||
* Make up your own exercises! | * Make up your own exercises! | ||
Advanced exercises: | Advanced exercises: | ||
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There are however two problematic scenarios: | There are however two problematic scenarios: | ||
* You run out of strings. You're playing | * You're playing the 4th of the scale and you want to hammer on or slide up to the 5th. | ||
* You run out of strings. You're playing the 4th on the top string, and you want to go up to the 5th (but see also unison leaps below) | |||
The solution to both is to move 3 frets up from | The solution to both is to move 3 frets up from the 4th to the down-5th and do a half-fret bend. It's a good idea to practice doing accurate half-fret bends. Here are some exercises that involve playing an off-perfect interval and bending it into tune. No need to learn them all, just find one or two you like. | ||
1) Play a note on the 6th fret and simultaneously play the next highest string open. This is an up-unison. Bend the 6th fret note up a half-fret to make it a unison. | 1) Play a note on the 6th fret and simultaneously play the next highest string open. This is an up-unison. Bend the 6th fret note up a half-fret to make it a unison. | ||
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== Leaping by 5ths, 8ves and Unisons == | == Leaping by 5ths, 8ves and Unisons == | ||
Being able to leap up or down by 3 dots can be | Being able to leap up or down by 3 dots can be useful when chording (see the "I Will Survive" translation). Again, start with a bass line, and add chords over them later. | ||
* Play a low Ab (6th string 1st dot), leap up 3 dots to Eb, and leap back down. | * Play a low Ab (6th string 1st dot), leap up 3 dots to Eb, and leap back down. | ||
* Move up one fret to vvA, leap up to vvE and back down. | * Move up one fret to vvA, leap up to vvE and back down. | ||
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Try to get a steady rhythm going. Keep going up fret by fret until you run out of room, then move down fret by fret. A complimentary exercise starts at Eb on the 4th dot, leaps down to Ab and back up. Then go up one fret and continue. | Try to get a steady rhythm going. Keep going up fret by fret until you run out of room, then move down fret by fret. A complimentary exercise starts at Eb on the 4th dot, leaps down to Ab and back up. Then go up one fret and continue. | ||
Leaping up an octave is | Leaping up an octave is useful when switching from chording to soloing. Start at the low Ab, leap up (+1,+3+2) to Ab and back down. Go up 1 fret and continue. A complimentary exercise starts high, leaps down and leaps back up. Then go up 1 fret and continue. | ||
Leaping up to the unison is | Leaping up to the unison is useful when you are soloing and you run out of strings. For example, you're playing the 4th of the scale on the top string, and you want to go up to the 5th. Start on Eb (1st string 1st dot), leap up to the same Eb on the 3rd string, and leap back down. The leap is (-2,+3+1). Move up a fret and repeat. Keep moving up a fret until you run out of frets. | ||
A complimentary exercise is for when you are on the lowest string and you want to go further down. Start at the 13th fret of the 6th string, leap down by (+2,-3-1), and leap back. Move up a fret and repeat. | A complimentary exercise is for when you are on the lowest string and you want to go further down. Start at the 13th fret of the 6th string, leap down by (+2,-3-1), and leap back up. Move up a fret and repeat. | ||
== Combination Exercises == | == Combination Exercises == | ||
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Add a vocal exercise to all this by singing what you play! | Add a vocal exercise to all this by singing what you play! | ||
== Quarter-fret Bends, Sixth-fret Bends, etc. == | |||
This is a rather specialized technique that isn't easy, and frankly may or may not appeal to you. It hides pitch shifts by sharpening an entire chord by some fraction of an edostep. Obviously it won't work if a chord uses open strings. | |||
Play a progression with a pitch shift, e.g. Iv - vVI^m - vII^m - Vv7 - Iv. The 3rd chord has vD and the 4th chord has D. Bend the entire 3rd chord up a quarter-fret by ear, so that its vD becomes a half-down D. This creates another pitch shift, because the chord now has a half-down A which differs from the previous chord's vA. Presumably, two small 15¢ shifts are better than one large 30¢ one. | |||
Alternatively, bend the 2nd chord up a sixth-fret and the 3rd chord up a third-fret, to create three pitch shifts of 10¢ each. | |||