Playing The “Shuffle Jam”

Being a guitar teacher and in bands I play guitar a lot. I enjoy it, but there are certain expectations and requirements involved. So occasionally I like to play guitar just for the pure fun of it. No audience. No expectations. Just fun. One of my favorite ways to do that in the past few years is what I call the “Shuffle Jam.”

I typically do it late at night when I have free time and my wife is asleep, so headphones are a must. I plug my guitar into my audio interface and launch either Guitar Rig or AmpliTube (guitar amp and effects simulation software) and dial up a good lead guitar tone. Then I launch iTunes and put my music on shuffle and hit play. Then I solo over whatever song comes on. I play over the whole thing, singing and all. Whatever I feel like playing. It is a lot of fun. 

But in addition to being fun, it is also a great way to train my ear to find the key of the song quickly, and to force me out of playing ruts. And since I have very wide musical tastes I usually get to solo in a lot of genres. Which is also helps with versatility. 

If you are a trying to learn to solo on guitar I would encourage you to try the Shuffle Jam for yourself.