“Only they who believeth in their guitar quest shall be granted passage”

Author: Bayadji

Fun In Basics, Minor Chords

Happy New Year 2014! yes, i congratulate all of guitarists who still fight for their music until today, i hope all of you stand still with me. Well, this post will be the continuation for my post: Fun in basic, Major Chords, and now is about the minor chords on guitar.FYI: these minor chords follow the natural minor scales, so as you can see the A natural minor scale notes are A(1) – B(2) – C(♭3) – D(4) – E(5) – F(♭6) – G(♭7) – A(higher octave) and its interval is w-h-w-w-h-w (w = wholenote, h = halfnote)Basically Minor chords consist the root, the flat-third and the fifth note. if you have an A minor chord, that would be A as the first note (root), C as the flat-third note(♭3rd), and E as the fifth note.

A (root), C(♭3rd), and E (5th)

so, what you have to do next to get B minor chords is write down the B natural minor scale which is B(1) – C#(2) – D(♭3) – E(4) – F#(5) – G(♭6) – A(♭7) – B, see the bold font, and you’ll get B(1) – D(♭3) – F#(5)as your B natural minor chord

B(root), D(♭3rd), and F#(5th)

the rest chords are easy as long as you hold the natural minor scale as your guidance

C(root), D#(♭3rd), and G(5th)

D(root), F(♭3rd), and A(5th)

E(root), G(♭3rd), and B(5th)

F(root), G#(♭3rd), and C(5th)

G(root), A#(♭3rd), and D5th)

easy isn’t it? hahaha
i hope it helps, happy new year everyone!
January 4, 2014
Is It That Great Gretsch Sound?

Today is a cloudy day and i can’t get bright picture of silver sparkle of my new guitar (but it’s okay though, my old cellphone camera can handle this), oh yes it’s a Gretsch guitar. The Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary with silver sparkle finishing. It’s a beautiful pre-owned guitar with nice deal, no scratch and made in China. here are bunch of pictures about it:

Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary

Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary

Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary

And I like it!! this electromatic pro jet defines overdrive and distortion effects in wide range although it seems i’ll never get tele twang sound or strat glassy tone from it (of course, it’s a Gretsch!). it has unique sound, yes that great Gretsch sound does exist. Its pickups and chambered body deliver tones nicely through amps, even direct input to mixer.

Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary

Gretsch mini humbuckers pickups

Gretsch mini humbucker pickups

well, this series isn’t the perfect one actually. my first negative review is about the fretboard craftmanship. it has deadnote on 9th fret and it bothers a lot. i had to take it to my luthier shop to repair it. some say that the Gretsch quality decreases after they put their factory overseas and i think this is the prove. It’s made in China. but enough about it since that will be my only negative review.

overall this Gretsch came with gorgeous looks. it’s Gretsch 125th anniversary guitar, you can see the logo on its headstocks:

Gretsch 125th anniversary guitar logo plate

Gretsch 125th anniversary guitar logo headstocks

Gretsch 125th anniversary guitar headstocks

beautiful vintage accessories in affordable price. i should put this guitar in “on budget guitars” list.
can’t wait to take it on stage with me 🙂
November 15, 2013
Fender Stratocaster Highway One, is it the ONE?

last week i got lucky. my friend lent me his Fender Stratocaster Highway One and it was my valuable moment of learning guitar characteristics. stratocaster has my respect because of its tone originality and how many songs made with this guitar, also how far the guitar players has become legends with this guitar existence. you can easily find names, let’s say yngwie malmsteen, richie sambora, eric clapton and many more use the stratocaster as their main guitar, or using stratocaster as their tool of exploration (see a Frankenstrat)you might be one of them. a stratocaster lover. i can’t say I’m in it, but actually right now I’m still trying to get which series that suits me. and i got a milestone to start with, a Fender Stratocaster Highway One USA made, year 2002 i guess. here are the pics (it’s relic!) :

what i got from this guitar so far? well, i can’t say i’m in love with this one. it was about againsts my guitar playing style. the volume knob is TOO close so everytime i pick the strings, i accidentally touched it and made the volume knob turned the level down often. it happened to the switch too. for me it’s just made my playing become so unnatural. i need sometimes to get used to this guitar, the neck radius, the super jumbo frets, yes.. i need more time to get the best of it.

i read some articles on guitar blogs and find out that there isn’t so much love for Fender Stratocaster Highway One (this is the earlier products. the latest has big headstock and some users said that the new one is the upgraded one and it rocks with comfortable handling). one thing that doesn’t change is its tone, a glassy tone is stratocaster and i think Fender Stratocaster Highway One has a lot of it.

surely some real stratocaster can define this guitar in big details and i had my time. now it’s the time to take this guitar back to its owner. 😀 it was a great time in exploring and learning though. still wondering which stratocaster is best for my playing.. what do you think?
November 8, 2013
Is this Frankenstrat bike bothering you?

just few days ago i posted about EVH’s Frankenstrat and today i found that one of my friend is Eddie’s big fan (he’s not a guitarist, he’s a keyboardist). i never knew that until i saw him with his motorbike today. An EVH frankenstrat theme motorcycle and it’s cute!. here I share its pic:

am I right or what?
i saw a lot of people have similar ideas about getting inspired by their idols. Actually it’s the best idea so far in learning guitar. get inspired by your favorite guitarists. you can start with almost everything and every element of this “get inspired” idea will help you in finding your guitar playing identity. surely you know what I’m talking about now isn’t about being a copycat, while actually it is fun when we can do our guitar idol licks and show them off 😀

well, since I’m a guitar learner, and i guess I’m a novice, so there’s nothing more i can talk about this getting inspired idea. all i can do is sharing more love about guitars. I love this Frankenstrat idea, have a good day and keep playing guitar!

did you know?
the Eddie Van Halen’s frankenstrat guitar paint and finish was inspired by a red Schwinn bicycle paint. A quote from Eddie, he said “The Schwinn bicycle paint gives it pop.”

related post:

The Guitar Learner: Still Halloween and even scarier, the Frankenstrat…: while famous frankentele is Steve Morse ‘s, the Frankenstrat is Eddie Van Halen’s creation. The name itself comes from the combina…
November 2, 2013