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Think of Scotland and you will most probably immediately think of tartan, think of Scottish music and you will, most likely, think of the bagpipes or the fiddle. Yes Scotland is well known for both it's tartan and it's bagpipes and traditional Scottish music is known (and practiced) across the globe. While traditional Scottish music remains incredibly popular Scotland is a diverse nation and this is extremely apparent in it's music. While the whole of the U.K. has seen a marked increase in the number of annual music festivals, Scotland seems to have exploded musically with festivals celebrating all types of music from the traditional to the bang up to date sounds of the DJ and modern rock/pop. The Rockness music festival, held near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, saw a strange mix of modern dance acts and DJ's alongside the latest pop acts and up and coming rock bands. So Scotland is not just bagpipes and tartan!

Not yet 365 days had gone by yet when I started my Londons Times Cartoons project in rural Ms. I was still living in an abandoned rural Mississippi warehouse. Nobody would rent to me as they, I am certain, felt this former 9-5 business executive had lost his mind for launching a cartoon at age forty three. I would live there for almost 18 months. I was a year into the project. It was a very bumpy start. I had no capital and no investors on the horizon. It soon became clear this was just a hobby, and I would eventually need to take some kind of job in sales, but for now, I was obsessed with seeing it through. Then a marketing idea hit me, which, at the time, I thought was quite smart (at least for me). I would create another series of cartoons called "Panel Hollywood" and feature real life celebrity caricatures and then mail signed copies directly to them or to their agent to forward. Out of the two hundred or so that we created and mailed, about twelve responded, and even offered reviews, which was my strategy. Those celebrity reviews, of their own image on a cartoon, are still posted a decade later on my main cartoon website. That is how we "became discovered".

The pedal steel guitar tunings currently in common use hinder the acceptance of the instrument in musical forms other than American "Country" music. The addition of pedals greatly extends the capabilities of a steel guitar. Just as the logical extension of a chordal tuning is to give the player more chords at every fret, a scale tuning can be logically extended to give the player more scales at every fret.

What inspires you to learn how to play guitar? Do you want to Impress your acquaintances with your music accomplishments? Would you just like to play sing-along songs at a campfire? Are you starting a rock band where you would be the lead guitarist? Playing the rock or blues guitar and being in the spotlight really energizes some people. There are various reasons why you might want to learn how to play the guitar, whatever your reason you have to find a way to express it. Playing the guitar is a great way of socializing and becoming the center of attention. All this sounds fun and motivating, but the true personal satisfaction come from the discipline and love for the instrument.

Guitar improvisation is a necessary facet of guitar playing as it will help you to master the various scales of lead guitar and allows you to play solo with ease.

Practicing consistently and well is a much harder thing to do then it seems and there are many reasons why this is the case. Before I go on, I just want to say that bad practice habits affects even the most experienced blues players but it can be overcome with some help. Here are some of the issues that you may face when practicing and here are some usable solutions:

Mastering the guitar is like taming a large bull but once you have understood it, you can play almost anything and play sensational blues riffs and licks.

Playing best blues guitar scales include the Am Pentatonic scales, natural A minor scales, E minor, G shuffle licks and many others. These scales can help you not only to master the blues scales but also help you to play lead guitar and improvise your own lick and riffs over blues backing tracks.

Any professional blues guitarist will tell you this: Discipline is very crucial when it comes to practising the guitar. Learning to play the guitar is one of the most gratifying things I have ever done in my life but it was also one of the most difficult. The reason is that I became adept with my instrument is simple. I practised! Not only did I practise, I practiced a great deal; every day in my bedroom.

Join us as we examine the joys of blues guitar and the influence it has had on modern day music. Learn how to make your guitar play what you're feeling. Deal with blues rhythm and try out some new chords and strumming patterns.