Sequenced lessons in the Consonus Method leads to superior results in learning to play pop music on the guitar. Build a solid musical foundation for playing the guitar with the Consonus Method. Read the Rest…
Advanced Warmups
Warm up drills for guitar serve a few purposes for both students and teachers: They get the left and right hands synchronized on a purely technical level without concern for the music that is being produced. This is especially important before learning or practicing a new song or skill. Warm up drills can also help develop technique because Read the Rest…
How to Practice Guitar
This week Mike shares a few tips to help get the most out of your practice sessions, including goal setting, environment, mind set, attitude, and more.
Combine Chords & Melody
For most guitar students the early stages of their studies focus on learning the foundations of playing the instrument. These things include the mechanics of playing single notes, strumming patterns, and basic chord vocabulary. Sometimes teachers are so consumed with these building blocks of playing that students aren’t taught how to combine chords & melody into Read the Rest…
Singin’ the Blues
In this week’s expert tip Mike Christiansen explains how to come up with great lyrics for the blues. Learn to write melodies and rhythmic phrasing that will have you singing the blues like you came straight from the delta. Post your own blues lyrics in the comments below!
Tablature Vs. Standard Notation
In classroom guitar it’s important to understand the benefits of tablature and how to use it in your guitar curriculum as a tool to transition to standard notation. Some of the great benefits of tablature include learning rhythmic values, get comfortable with notes in a given position, play songs in an alternate tuning and more. Read the Rest…
Major Pentatonics Classroom Guitar
In this blog post Mike talks about Major Pentatonics for Classroom Guitar. This is a great sounding scale that is easy to play and works well over nearly any major chord progression. This scale is extremely popular and used all the time even by the pros. Another great scale is the Minor Pentatonic Scale, which is Read the Rest…
The Muted Strum
Sometimes it’s the small things that make the biggest difference. In the world of guitar accompaniment techniques good time and rhythmic feel can make you sound like a pro when playing even the simplest strumming patterns. One of the easiest ways to develop that feel is by adding muted strums to your playing. It’s the percussive pop Read the Rest…
Skills Development – Fingerstyle Connecting Runs
Fingerstyle connecting runs are the glue that turns simple fingerpicked chord patterns into professional sounding accompaniment. With a few simple rules you’ll be able to incorporate this technique into your own playing. Watch this free video lesson to learn how and download the pdf below.
Skill Development – Bass Run Fills
Using bass run fills to connect common chord progressions is a great way to add interest to your own playing, or when you’re accompanying your class. Watch this free video lesson from Mike Christiansen and Consonus to learn how. Be sure to download the included PDF.
