Earlier, I wrote a review for the Guitar Toolkit for iPhone and I mentioned that it’s a decent little app but still needed some work. I love it when developers do this but the listened to their customers and released a new and much improved Guitar Tools. New Features Include: More time signatures for the metronome, including subdivision. Support for left handed players Support for 12 string guitar Support for Scales and there are a ton of them (Currently my favorite) Fretboard can be resized using the pinch feature The chords are now strummed (great for ear training) Improved slider bar for the metronome Much More! Like I said before, I love it when developers listen to their customers and Guitar Tools for iPhone is now a must have for any guitar playing iPhone or iTouch owner. I look forward to the next updates. Links: http://guitartoolkit.com/
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Sometimes when I’m writing or jamming, I get stuck in the same old I, IV, V progression. Not that it’s a bad thing but sometimes I want to mix it up a bit. I found a nice little reference guide at The Guitar Suite that gives you the chords for each degree in scale of the key. The nice thing is that the chart addresses major, natural, harmonic and melodic minor scales which are useful when you want to mess with the feel or color of a song. I recommend using the progressions to warm-up with by playing the scales using the chords. I will turn to the charts from time to time, especially when I’m spinning my wheels and I find it useful. I hope it helps you as well. Links: Guitar Suite Chord Progression Primer Chord Progression Books
Have you ever told a good fish story? You know, the kind of one where the one that got away, gets bigger and bigger each time you tell it. In my conversations with fellow guitar players and musicians, I’ve noticed that there can be a guitar equivalent of the “fish story.” You know what I mean; bragging that you’ve mastered a song that isn’t so mastered or claiming you can play all the scales using 32nd notes at 250 bpm. All of us have told one of these stories at one point or might let occasional tale slip. If you say that you don’t or never have, I’m willing to bet that you are telling one right now. I’ll admit that I’ve let a few stories pass my lips. Just recently, I caught myself telling a guitar version of the “fish story”. I was in a conversation with another musician who plays fiddle/guitar and I exaggerated my daily practice routine. I let it slip that I practice at least four hours a day or more. Over the next couple days, I replayed that conversation over and over in my head and wished I hadn’t said that but no one’s perfect. …
was listening to my iTouch, in shuffle mode, today and came across an old friend. It was Eric Johnson’s “Ah Via Musicom.” That’s what I love about having all these songs on my iTouch. It’s the ability to mix it up and stumble on songs that I haven’t listened to for quite a while. Anyway, time sure does fly and I find it hard to believe that this CD was released almost 18 years ago. A must have then and a must have now. Highlights: Cliffs of Dover: The best song on the CD and probably the most recognizable. Fast runs, great phrasing and that incredible violin like tone sets the stage for a terrific listening experience. When I was in High School, I learned how to play the into to this and it wasn’t too bad. If you asked me to play it now, I am afraid how much damage I would do to myself and to your ears. High Landrons: A great guitar song where Eric throws lick after lick and there never seems to be a place to rest until the end. Trademark: A smooth, easy listening song where Eric doesn’t show too much flash but the …
I was on the Acoustic Guitar Magazine forum the other day, sharing my thoughts on the Guitar Tool Kit for the iPhone. One mentioned that this program was yet another reason to buy the new iPhone. I wouldn’t go that far but if you have an iPhone or iTouch, the Guitar Tool Kit is a handy program to have around. Features and Thoughts: Tuner: Has many different tuning modes from standard tuning to modal or open tuning. Initially, I tried the tuner on the 1st Gen iPhone and it didn’t work so well. The response was terrible and wouldn’t register the low E string and was rendered useless. I now own the 3G iPhone and the tuner is working much better. I’m thinking that the 3G has a better microphone. Any thoughts on this? As a test, I set my Korg tuner next to the iPhone to see how close they responded and the tool kit did very well. The tuner does not work on the iTouch because of the lack of a microphone. But you can use the “Tones” option which is a graphic representation of the six strings and you can run your finger over each string to …
