Keith Watling Guitarist

Dick Eliot shares some of his favorite lines

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Dick Eliot shares some of his favorite lines

At a recent visit to my old friend and guitar teacher Dick Eliot I shot a video of him while he performed and explained some of his strategies for soloing over chord changes and guitar riffs.

Dick is a veteran guitarist who has been performing for over 60 years. He spent 35 years in Los Vegas as a call guitarist for the hotel orchestras, recording sessions, and smaller groupings. While in Las Vegas, Dick played for all of the Sinatras (Frank , Nancy, and Frank Jr.), Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Tony Martin, Barbara Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Nancy Wilson, Perry Como, Eydie Gorme & Steve Lawrence, & Frankie Laine, to name a few. He was staff guitarist in Caesar’s Palace House Band, the International Hotel House Band, with twenty-five years at the Riviera Hotel, with the Dick Palombi Orchestra. From an era of huge bands and Orchestras Dick Eliot is a master guitarist — a musical archive embodied in an instrumentalist.

He has over the years shared his vast experience with me and supported me in all my efforts.

Guitar Techniques

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Thoughts about guitar lessons

Basic guitar techniques If you are a just starting to play guitar there are some basic concepts you must learn before you can begin to play. That includes things like how to hold the guitar, tune the guitar, hand placement and how to use a guitar pick. Below are examples how to correctly hold the pick. The pick is held firmly between the thumb and the index finger.

 

 

 

 

The pick strikes the string on a diagonal with a movement from the wrist not from the arm.

The CAGED chord system I use the CAGED chord system to start learning chords. As seen below the five first position chords that form the basis to create many other chords that can be used anywhere on the neckcaged-chordsBelow is a simple example how A major can be changed to A minor, A7, and A major 7. Many other chords of complex harmonies can be created using the CAGED system.
chord-change

Pentatonic scales as a platform for all scales The pentatonic scale forms much of the melodies in modern music. Using this basic form in it's many variations and placement on the neck can also be used to create other scales as seen below where A pentatonic scale is also C major diatonic.pentatonic-diatonic-scales

Techniques for advanced students If you are a intermediate or advanced student Milwaukee Guitar school can take your abilities to the next level. Our teachers are experience guitarist whose backgrounds offer a treasure trove of ideas and techniques to help you on your way.