"Hi, my name is Denny, and I'm a song-aholic"

My musical addiction extends to the guitar as well, but my passion for the instrument revolves around it being the perfect vehicle to write, replicate, and perform songs at a higher level.

I honed my skills in folk music, small garage bands, and acoustic solo gigs, where the practical concepts of accompaniment took priority over the technical world of arpeggios, scales, music theory, and speed. Now don't get me wrong; knowledge is power and ex-panding your repertoire should be a lifetime goal. But after decades of listening to and working with great singer/songwriters and session players in New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville, I began to analyze and appreciate their musical shorthand - a minimalist, Zen-like approach to their craft.

I've tried to condense many of these principles into my workshops and instructional DVD- Lick*tionary" The Songwriter's Guide to Great Guitar! Over the next few months I'm going to try to show you some tricks and licks that can make a guitar sound like a whole band and make a song sound "radio ready."

I start off my live workshops by talking about, "The Zen of Guitar" which consists of a few simple concepts that can help you think out of the practice box and develop your "inner game" of songwriting and performing.

Don't be intimidated by lightning country licks, shred-heads, or jazz chord solo masters. Dirty Harry said, "A man's got to know his limitations" - well, one man's limitations are another man's focus. Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Tom Petty, Keith Richards and Bruce Springsteen all write and play within their guitar comfort zone, but their unique person-alities come through. You don't have to be a master musician - you just need to lay down a clean, solid foundation for your song. That includes playing in tune, getting a good tone, and playing with confidence! If you play scared, the audience will know it - if you're having fun, they will know that too, and probably forgive (or not notice) any minor screw-ups.

If you know your basic open position chords (E, A, D, G, C, Em, Am, Dm), a few basic bar chords, a half dozen strumming patterns and 2 or 3 fingerpicking patterns, you can play almost any song that is or has ever been played on country, rock, alternate, or classic rock radio.

If you feel weakness with your basics, a good local teacher can get you up to speed in a few months, not years. Just express your goals to the teacher and make sure you're on the same page. There are also thousands of great instructional books and DVD's that can help you, and Mel Bay Publications would be a good place to start. Don't even worry about finishing the whole course - just take what sounds or feels good today and try to integrate it into your playing. Start creating your own "technique toolbox", gradually adding new chords, sounds, and grooves.

Practice is great, but be sure to allow yourself plenty of "Play Time", i.e.- random, un-structured, unscheduled moments of knucklehead guitar fun. Play for 3 minutes during the commercials, while waiting for the coffee to brew, or when the kids are napping. Hum some song you don't know the lyrics to; improvise new lyrics to a familiar melody. Let your mind wander uncensored into new places. The muse show up when you least expect her!

Try playing these descending intervals as 1/8 notes, repeating them 3 or 4 times in a row.

ex. 1) EEEC DDDB, EEEC DDDB,

Did you recognize one of the most famous melodies in history? No? Try it this way ...

ex. 2) EEEC.... (hold the C and pause)
          DDDB... (hold the B and pause)

Welcome to Beethoven's 5th! The notes in both phrases are the same - what's the dif-ference? The Holes! Beethoven wrote the holes!

The space between the notes is just as important - sometimes more important - than the notes themselves. Holes or rests give the brain time to process lyrics and melodies and provide an on/off cadence that makes for more interesting placement of syllables and rhymes.

Musically, think of the dramatic break at the end of the verse of "I'm a Believer" - the top of the chorus, "Then I saw her ..." is sung as a pickup over the silence, then all hell breaks loose on the downbeat "face!".

"I paid for 6-strings, and I'm going use 'em!", cried the musical miser, as he raked across his strings like a waiter grating fresh parmesan cheese.

Well, my guitar has more options. I have one group of 6 strings:

E,A,D,G,B,E (6,5,4,3,2,1)

Try playing an open E chord with your thumb on all 6 strings.

Play the same E chord with thumb and fingers plucking on 3 groups of 4 strings:

6,5,4,3, 5,4,3,2, 4,3,2,1

Our ears usually distinguish the highest note in a chord as the melody, so as I move across the strings, each chord inversion suggests melodic movement. Now bar an E shape at the 5th (A) and 7th (B) frets and repeat the fingerpicking sequence; one E shape turns into nine different voicings with a leading melody on top. Using thumb, in-dex and middle fingers, try the same thing on:

4 groups of 3 strings:
6,5,4, 5,4,3, 4,3,2, 3,2,1

5 groups of 2 strings:
6,5 5,4, 4,3, 3,2, 2,1

The last group can be useful as simple double-stop arpeggio fills between chords or with a slow retard for endings.

A capo is that little metal and rubber device that wraps around the fretboard and neck, allowing you to play a song with simple, open chords while singing in higher or lower keys. It's been affectionately referred to as a "cheater stick", but it's not a cop-out to capo. Why suffer through endless bar chords and painful finger stretches in a key like A-flat, when you can slap a capo on the 1st fret and play in the open key of G? You also get more ring, sustain, and overtones, which fatten up a live performance.

There's also a different feel and tone with different open key shapes. The Eagles, "Peaceful Easy Feeling" sounds great strummed in the key of E, with a low open bass note and sustained E and B strings, but if I were playing with another guitarist (or dou-ble-tracking a similar song in the studio), I'd capo-up 2 frets and play in the key shape of D, which adds more twinkle and range to the collective arrangement. Fingerpicking in open E tends to sound bluesy, but capoing-up 4 frets and playing in C gives you more of a Chet Atkins, country, or folky feel, and makes it easier to play alternating bass lines and walk-ups.

So, if you get bogged down writing a song, trying capoing to another chord shape up or down the neck; it really gives you a fresh perspective.

Bonus tip! - If your vocal is straining, don't be afraid to tune down a 1/2 step (low E to F#, etc.) - a lot of old road dogs do it and no one knows the difference.

Music can manipulate us in a primal, emotional way. At the end of a church hymn, the syllable, "A - .....," leaves us melodically and harmonically unsettled, creating a musical tension, but then "... men" resolves or releases the tension. Folk-rock guitar is built around the "Amen" chords - D, D9 (open E string), Dsus4 (pinky on 3rd fret E string plays G). Diminished and augmented chords are also great passing chords for ratchet-ing up tension.

Dynamics work great too! Try a sudden drop in volume at the end of a verse, then pump up to an explosion at the top of the chorus.

Your fingers don't control the music - your EARS do! The brain fires off synapses that travel down the nervous system and ultimately move the fingers. Train yourself to listen for volume, tone, sustain, and other sonic qualities. Your ears will start subconsciously tweaking your finger movements to achieve the most pleasing sounds.

Listen for tone! Play a D chord (with your right thumb on the D string and fingers on the top four strings) over the sound hole where the tone is deep, mellow, and bassy with lots of overtones. Next, play the same D chord right in front of the bridge; notice the twangy, brittle tone. Then play the D with your thumb slightly over the sound hole, and your fingers slightly behind the sound hole. You get a full bass note, with a crisp, clear, James Taylor-like chord. Listen for the perfect volume and balance in the chord notes. Experiment with different flatpicks, thumbpicks, nails, bare fingers, strums, and arpeg-gios until you find tones that work best for you and each song.

Listen to the whole band or record! Try to break down the rhythms, melodies, and counterpoints played by the drums, bass, keyboards, background vocals, horn charts, strings, etc. Always look for an opportunity to sneak several of the above into your solo performance.

Last but most important, listen to everything! Listen to different musicians, instru-ments, and styles. I'm a big believer in musical osmosis; new players and ideas are al-ways planting seeds in us that will pop-up when you least expect them.

I hope I've given you some fun stuff to think about. Next issue, we'll talk about some classic singer/songwriter chord combinations.

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