Ask the expert – diagram showing chords within keys

By Andy@Musicademy | August 1, 2010

Bob Crockford emailed asking us to look at his chord chart: “When playing by ear, apart from the common keys of C, D, E, F, G and A, I struggle to remember quickly ‘under pressure’ the equivalent chord sequences in other keys, and also the other chords beyond the normal four in any key e.g. […]

Ask the Expert – Easy chords for the key of F

By Andy@Musicademy | July 26, 2010

Open chord shapes for F Jonathan Gabriel emailed us asking for advice on open chords for the key of F. Andy replies: F is not the most natural guitar friendly key so if I was playing in F I’d probably capo on fret 1 and use E shapes or fret 3 with D shapes. That […]

Playing by ear (part 2) & Nashville Numbering explained

By Andy@Musicademy | July 21, 2010

Learning how to play by ear Previously we looked at how to work out all the chords available in the key of G.  I suggested you took a song and worked out which chords came where by listening to see which ones sounded major, which ones sounded minor and by the process of elimination work […]

Playing by ear (part 1)

By Andy@Musicademy | July 14, 2010

How to play by ear For many people, the thought of playing ‘by ear’ or being able to anticipate the chords, notes and musical charges in a song you’ve never heard before seems an impossible task. It’s often considered a ‘God given’ gift rather than a skill that can be learned and constantly improved on. […]

Recommended acoustic guitars for worship leading

By Andy@Musicademy | July 12, 2010

Which is the best guitar for worship leading? Barry Gilbert from Dublin, Ireland emailed asking: “I know this is a very subjective question, but generally speaking what make/model of guitar would you guys consider best for leading worship, Martin, Taylor, Lowden etc. I have a Martin HD-28 which I think is too bassy and a […]

Ask the Expert – low wattage valve amps and small speaker combo

By Andy@Musicademy | June 24, 2010

Advice on a guitar amp for church use Andy Herbert from    emailed saying: “I’ve been reading Andy’s recent posts with great enthusiasm because, as a recent switcher from acoustic to electric guitar, I’ve made a few bad decisions with regards an amp & multi-effects without really understanding what I was doing.  Because of this I […]

Practical ideas on chord charts and notation – guest post

By Guest Blogger | June 14, 2010

Suggestions for notating chord charts We had several comments on our recent post – Adding notation to chord charts – including an email conversation with guitarist Bob Crockford from Derbyshire in the UK. We really liked what Bob shared with us of his system of notation so we asked him to write a guest post explaining […]

Ask the Expert – Guitar practice regime

By Andy@Musicademy | June 11, 2010

Guitar practice tips Neil Shuck sent this email about guitar practice. Its similar to a number of others we have had recently so we thought it worth publishing in a blog post. “I’ve just purchased the “Intermediate Acoustic” Worship Guitar Course, and I was wondering if you could help with a question. The ‘blurb’ states […]

Mini tube heads – lunchbox styleee

By Andy@Musicademy | June 2, 2010

Small light tube amps for church worship For a while now I’ve been banging on about the virtues of using small, light tube amps for church worship band duties (see “Small amp great sound” links at the bottom of this post). The main benefit apart from the size and weight advantage is the ability to […]