Guitar Lessons For Beginners - What Do Michael Jackson, Keith Urban and Creedence Have in Common?

With the media's focus on visual presentation forCreedence Clearwater Revival - The Night Time is
music promotion it's easy to understand howthe Right Time
somebody learning to play guitar can miss theE /// | E /// | E /// | E /// |
important clues in learning how to play quickly andA /// | A /// | E /// | E /// |
easily.B7/// | A /// | E /// | E /// ||
Today's music buying public tend to "listen withOne of the biggest issues to overcome is how
their eyes"; if you want to learn guitar fast youmusic is often stereotyped by the music
need to develop your ability to focus on the audiomarketing people in an effort to create soaring
and develop your musical perception skills.sales. When you think of the blues what visual
Learning how to bypass the visual presentationimage comes into your head? For many it's some
and quickly notice the similarities in the music is ansmokey bar in New Orleans or a Jazz band
essential skill for the advancing guitarist.playing in a nightclub in New York.
Whilst the majority of guitarists will be eitherThe last thing that would cross many guitarist's
confused or discouraged with the informationmind would be how the blues could have an
they are learning from TAB or sheet music youinfluence on a pop or country song, but as you
will be able to mentally pigeon-hole songs as youcan see the blues is a universal language that can
hear them; making it a breeze to remember andspeak to all audiences and age groups.
instantly recall songs.Sometimes the newbie guitarist does not notice
To illustrate my point, here are three songs thatthe similarities because a song is preformed in a
on the surface all appear to be different; differentdifferent key.
artists, different music styles... ever differentRay Charles plays "The Night Time is the Right
video clips!Time" in the key of Eb.
But... dig a little deeper and you will discover theyRay Charles - The Night Time is the Right Time
are all based on the blues; the same blues chordEb /// | Eb /// | Eb /// | Eb /// |
progression, even the same key, how's that forAb /// | Ab /// | Eb /// | Eb /// |
high speed memorization? Three songs in anBb7/// | Ab /// | Eb /// | Eb /// ||
instant; just add guitar!Can you see the similarities? Would you have
Here we go:noticed that?
Michael Jackson's - Black or WhiteThere are thousands of other songs that use
E /// | E /// | E /// | E /// |exactly the same blues chord progressions and
A /// | A /// | E /// | E /// |even more songs will be added to the list over
B7/// | A /// | E /// | E /// ||time as songwriters continue to utilize this proven
Keith Urban's - Somebody like Youmusical form.
E /// | E /// | E /// | E /// |Keep your ears wide open and you will have
A /// | A /// | E /// | E /// |much more fun playing the guitar.
B7/// | A /// | E /// | E /// ||