Jingle Bells

I think a tab would be in order, considering it is less than a week before Christmas, plus it's good to know short, simple stuff like this.

I found a good tab here.

Rock You Like A Hurricane Solo

I think of the greatest solos I've heard is the bridge solo from Rock You Like A Hurricane by Scorpions. After the second chorus when Klaus sings "ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANNEEE!" and the lead solo guitar comes in and it sends chills down your spine. It has been featured. In 1984 it reached #25 on the USA Billboard Hot 100. It was ranked fourth in the greatest guitar riffs of all time by Sync Magazine and was also featured on Guitar Hero 3: Legends Of Rock.

I haven't learned this solo yet but that's pretty much because I'm missing my high e string on my guitar and I'm waiting to get one.
The best tab I found to the second solo is here.

good luck!

7th chords, 9th chords, 11th chords ect.

(I will specify on 7th chords but the chords can be changed into 11th chords and 9th chords and such by changing the interval.

There are 3 different types of 7th chords. There is the 7th chord, major 7th chord and the minor 7th chord.

A 7th chord is made up of a major chord and a minor 7th.
So to make an E major chord into an E7th you have to find the minor 7th of the root note (E) which would be a D. The D note in the E major chord would be on the 3rd fret of the B string, which in an E chord is usually an open string.


A Major 7th chord is made up of a major chord and a major 7th.
To make an E major chord into an EM7, you have you take the major 7th of the root note (E) which is a D# and put that into the E chord. The D# note is on the first fret of the D string.


A Minor 7th chord is made up of a minor chord and a minor 7th.
To make an E minor chord into an Em7, you have to take the minor 7th of the root note (E) which is a D and put that into the Em chord. There is a D note on the 3 fret of the B string, which in an Em chord would be an open string.


Pictures from:
http://www.jguitar.com/

Musical Intervals

Musical intervals are a way of measuring the distance between two notes.

The list of intervals are...

There are other ways to measure the distance of two notes, you can use "whole steps" and
"half-steps". A step means you go up, or down two notes and a half-step means you go up or down one note. So if you went up from a G note to a C (5 notes/perfect 4th) you would be going up 2 whole steps and a half step.

The list of all notes on the musical scale using sharps are A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G and G#. The list using flats are A, Bb, B, C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G and Ab.

Naming Major and Minor Chords

Major and Minor Chords
All major and minor chords have a perfect fifth interval (7 half-steps) from the root note. A perfect fifth can be divided into a minor 3rd (3 half-steps) and a major 3rd (4 half-steps). If the interval between the fifth of the root note is a minor 3rd before a major 3rd, it is a minor chord. If it is a major 3rd before a minor 3rd, it is a major chord.

EXAMPLE:
E Chord


In the E major chord, there is a root note (E) on the D string, the note on the G string is a G# note which is a major 3rd of the root note and the note on the B string is a B note which is a minor 3rd of the G# note. The major 3rd comes before the minor 3rd which makes it a major chord.

Em Chord


In the E minor chord, there is a root note (E) on the D string, the note on the G string is a G note which is a minor 3rd of the root note and the note on the B string is a B note which is a major 3rd of the G note. The minor 3rd comes before the major 3rd which makes it a minor chord.

Graphics From:
http://www.rifftv.com/guitar_chords/graphics/

For more instructions on naming chords:
cnx.org

Eruption-Van Halen

Eruption by Van Halen is an about 2 minute long song that is pretty much just a whole amazing guitar solo. I learned how to play this and played it at a school-wide guitar competition and I won first place so obviously its a very good guitar solo.

the tab for the song is here.

It is probably a song for intermediate to advanced players. It requires using techniques pull-offs, hammer-ons, whamming, tremolo picking, vibrato and tapping.

Joe Satriani vs. Coldplay

Viva La Vida was released on May 7, 2008 by band Coldplay. On December 4, 2008, Famous Guitarist and songwriter, Joe Satriani filed a lawsuit against Coldplay for "Copyright Infringement". Satriani claims the bands song " incorporates substantial original portions" of his song If I Could Fly, released in 2004 on the album "Is There Love In Space". Satriani is suing Coldplay for "any and all profits" for the song which are numerious considering not only individual record sales but times the song was played at concerts and appearances, the fact that it was the second most downloaded song on iTunes for 2008, also, an iPod+iTunes commercial was made by coldplay featuring the newly released song as well as any other proceedings from the song.

Coldplay has denied allegations of Copyright Infringement and has released this statement:
"With the greatest possible respect to Joe Satriani, we have now unfortunately found it necessary to respond publicly to his allegations. If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him. Joe Satriani is a great musician, but he did not write or have any influence on the song Viva La Vida. We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavors."

Similarities I have found between the two songs are;

• the lead guitar about 49 seconds into If I Could Fly sounds very similar to the vocals in the verse of Viva La Vida.

• The tone of the songs a very similar due to chords and and rhythm.
  

Resources:
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/features/arts/music/blog/2008/12/coldplay_v_satriani_similar_fe.html/coldplay_responds_to_plagiarism_accusations.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/dec/10/coldplay-deny-plagiarism-allegations

One-Metallica

One by Metallica is probably one of Metallicas most known song. It was featured on Guitar Hero 3: Legends Of Rock, it won a Grammy in 1990 and it peaked at #35 on the top 100 songs of 1990.

The songs concept was based on a 1939 novel by Dalton Trumbo called "Johnny Got His Gun" which is a story about a solder in World War I whose body was severly damaged by a German Artillery Shell and had to undergo numerious amputations as well. The solder had lost his arms, legs, ears, eyes, tounge, nose, his face had been almost completely destroyed and had lost all sences except touch. He had lost his sense of sight, sound, smell, taste but his mind could fully function, basically leaving him a prisioner in his own body. "Landmines has taken my sight, taken my speech, taken my hearing, taken my arms, taken my legs, taken my soul, left me with life in hell."
One-Metallica (during the heavier bridge towards the end)

Because of his condition, he feels himself drifting between fantasy and reality because his lack of senses makes it hard for him to tell when he is awake and when he is asleep
"Can't tell if this is true or dream, deep down inside I feel the scream, this terrible silence stops me."
One-Metallica (after the intro; the first lyrics in the song)

Resources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067277/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Got_His_Gun
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_(Metallica_song)

Smoke On The Water-Deep Purple

The intro riff of Smoke On The Water by deep purple is usually the first song most people will learn on guitar.

The way people usually first learn to play it is...

|e|-----------------|---------------|----------------|---------||
|B|-----------------|---------------|----------------|---------||
|G|-----------------|---------------|----------------|---------||
|D|-----------------|---------------|----------------|---------||
|A|-----------------|---------------|----------------|---------||
|E|--0---3---5----0-|---3---6-5-----|-0---3---5----3-|---0-----||

The real way its played in the song is...

|e|-----------------|---------------|----------------|---------||
|B|-----------------|---------------|----------------|---------||
|G|--0---3---5----0-|---3---6-5-----|-0---3---5----3-|---0-----||
|D|--0---3---5----0-|---3---6-5-----|-0---3---5----3-|---0-----||
|A|-----------------|---------------|----------------|---------||
|E|-----------------|---------------|----------------|---------||

Three Days Grace

I think Three Days Grace has a few songs with great guitar riffs.

My favorites are Never Too Late, Animal I Have Become, Riot, and I Hate Everything About You. The Intro to Riot is a great riff for practicing alternate picking.

the intro to Animal I Have Become is
((Drop C/D))

|---------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-00----------7-------------------------------------------------|
|-00------7-8---8-7---------------------------------------------|

Super Mario Bros. Theme!!

Everyone has heard this song, the "do da do da do do...do"

its the main theme to the super mario bros.

its a pretty easy song to play.

a great tab for the song is here

Beat It-Michael Jackson

The intro of Michael Jacksons: Beat It is a great riff to play. It pretty easy and good to play if you have nothing else to play, plus it will always get people going "Heyy! I know that song, what is that?!"

the into is played...

e:-----|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-------------||
B:-----|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-------------||
G:-----|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-------------||
D:-----|-------5-2-----4-|---2-------------|-------5-2-----4-|---2---------||
A:-----|-----2-----------|-----5---5-------|-----2-----------|-----5-------||
E:--0--|---3-------------|---------------0-|---3-------------|-------------|| 

Sunshine Of Your Love-Cream

Sunshine of your love is a famous song from the 60s and 70s. The well known opening riff was the soundtrack for that time. Eric Clapton, guitarist for cream is also a famous guitarist, especially in the 60s and 70s.

here is how the main riff is played...

|-----------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------|
|--12-12-10-12----------------------|
|---------------12-11-10-----b8-----|
|-------------------------10----10--|

"Bad Horsie" horse sound effect

there are two ways to do the guitar effect that makes it sound like a horse wailing.

One way to do it is to do a pinch harmonic (place your thumb on the pick so immediately after you pick the string, your thumb will lightly touch the string) on an un-wrapped string (G, B or e) then bend it very high and slowly release the bend and as your releasing, vibrato with the whammy bar

Another way to do it, which I think sounds much better, is to do a natural harmonic (quickly, lightly touch the string with your fretting hand) near the 2nd fret of the G string, then on the whammy bar, go down, then pull up and vibrato with the whammy bar and as your vibrating, go down on the whammy bar.

For full lessons on how to perform harmonics, click here

[To hear the horse sound effect, listen to the song from below and the first time its used is at about 1:12 into the song.]

Bad Horsie by Steve Vai

Bad Horise by Steve Vai is a instrumental metalish song. The name bad horsie comes from many of the sound effects created using pinch harmonics, whammy, bending ect. Steve Vai uses these to create the sound effect of a horsie wailing which is where the name "Bad Horsie" comes from.

What I do to create the correct sound is ether the G, B or high E string, make a very high pitched pinch harmonic then immedatley bend very far up then slowly release the bend and as you are releasing quickly go up and down on the whammy bar and when doing this try to mute all other strings.

Its a hard technique to master but practice it enough and you'll get it.

...for the tab for this song, click here

Through The Fire And The Flames by Dragonforce

Advanced Players:

TTFATF is one of the most complex, crazy and overall "note-y" song for guitar.

The guitars in the song have a lot of effects such as wah, phazer and distortions that make them sound like synths. There are also a lot of synth in the songs too.

For a great tab to this song click here