Chord Fills: The Simple Way To Make ‘Cowboy Chords’ Sound Professional
Chord Fills What do the songs “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, “Wanted Dead or Alive”, and “Happy Xmas” (‘So this is Christmas…’) have in common? They all have instantly recognizable riffs, written using the same technique; chord fills. But what are chord fills exactly? How can we use them in our own playing? How exactly…
Add One Note. . . And Your Melody Becomes More Emotional
Ever wrote a melody or a fragment of music and thought… “that’s good but it falls a little bit short. If this was just a little bit more emotional, that would be perfect”? (Yes, it’s an oddly specific thought, isn’t it? And yet, who here does not want to make their melodies more emotional?) Now,…
Cut Your Teeth On This Super-Complex Technique To Generate New Licks
I usually like teaching simple ideas to my students. This is because simple ideas are more likely to be used in real-life music. But every now and then, there comes along a complex idea that may be worth learning because it sounds good or it allows you to be more original. So… this is one…
Writing Melodies With Neighbor Notes
There are some things in music that are periodically forgotten and rediscovered. Or sometimes they are not forgotten… but since not all musicians study a lot of theory, they re-discover it independently. I’m not even getting into the debate if it’s better to learn it from theory, or better to rediscover it yourself. Suffice to…
In Depth On: How To Use This Great Sound In Your Guitar Solos
Question for you. How do you call the sound / technique in the first 5 seconds of the video? I’m asking because I’ve heard several names for it. I’m not writing them here because I don’t want to influence you on the answer :) (Or maybe there is a name for it and I, not…
Phrygian Scale And Chord Progressions On Guitar
The Phrygian scale is one of the most used scales in metal and in flamenco. Interesting how the same scale can be used in two such diverse styles! It has a characteristic dark sound, and it’s definitely not to be deployed when you want to communicate warm and fuzzy feelings :) Ot at least that’s…
How You Can Get A Quicker And More Accurate Picking Hand
The ability to play the guitar with speed and accuracy is both useful and incredibly fun. But figuring out how to actually do it can be challenging. For guitarists who are looking to play metal or rock music, this is especially the case. A steady and strong picking hand is a must for achieving that…
A Simple Exercise To Learn And Play Arpeggios Faster On The Guitar
There's a few tools every guitar player should have in their box of skills, and the ability to to play any arpeggio on demand is definitely one of them. It's important to say that this isn't any crazy 250bpm shredding that I am referring to. Rather simply being able to, without hesitation, play through a…
Japanese Scale And Phrasing On Guitar
On the internet there are thousands of lessons on how to play the Blues. This is NOT one of them. This is a lesson where you learn to play exotic sound in an 'oriental style'. In the video below I use a scale called 'Hirajoshi' (it's technically a tuning, but it works as a scale…
How To Incorporate The Whammy Bar, Pinch Harmonics, And More Into Your Guitar Playing
When playing an instrument, there is much more to it than hitting the right notes. Depending on the instrument you are using, there are a variety of techniques and textures you can add to really enhance your sound. When first learning about the electric guitar, often times what seems to happen is people tend to…
One Simple Skill Every Lead Guitar Player Should Know
How do you tell a novice guitar player from an expert? One of the first things you can do is take a look at their practicing. An expert will know that practicing more challenging things does not necessarily make you a better player.
Bored Of Your Guitar Chord Progressions?
Do you feel trapped in a mediocre chord progression bubble? Are your chord progressions not sounding as good as they used to? Looks like you are ready to start learning some tricks to take your progressions to the next level.
Pedal Points: The Only Drone That Makes Any Guitar Lick Better
As a guitar player, do you feel like you're stuck in a rut, reciting the same licks over and over again? You listen to your idols playing, and they seem to do something different all the time - yet you've been stuck moving up and down scales. This article is for those who are getting…
How Learning Guitar Scales Will Help You Become A Better Guitar Player
As a starting musician, I fought my teachers tooth and nail on learning scales - so I understand how readers can be concerned about scales holding them back.
Making Guitar Solos Sing With Melodic Intervals
Do you find your lead guitar playing becoming trapped in a linear progression? Have you spent a lot of practice hours breaking out of those patterns? Do you feel like your fingers dictate your solo rather than your ears? This has happened to almost every player at one point or another. From the perspective of…
Using Extra Notes In Your Blues Guitar Solo
If your guitar heroes use a lot of "wrong" notes and make them sound "right", and you can't... here's how to do it!
How To Develop Incredibly Fast Tremolo Picking Guitar Technique
Wish you could tremolo pick with incredible speed, but are unable to do it no matter how hard you try? Chances are, you believe in the same myth as most guitarists - the myth that merely moving your hands quickly gives you the power to play faster. This is totally wrong, and I’ll tell you…
How To Move Beyond Guitar Speed Plateaus While Making It Easy To Play Guitar Faster
What is the one thing that all your favorite guitar players have in common when you watch them playing fast? Here is the answer: without exception, every one of them plays in a way that looks extremely effortless. Fact is, shred guitar playing not only seems effortless – it actually IS effortless, and to be…
Why You Have Trouble Cleaning Up Your Arpeggio Sweep Picking
Do you struggle with playing fast and clean arpeggios on guitar but have no idea how to improve your technique? Most guitarists do. Including me, years ago. In fact, this is a very common problem that I have helped a lot of my guitar students overcome. Generally, there are 2 ways that you can approach…
Most Effective Picking Technique For Playing Guitar With Speed
Want to greatly increase the effectiveness of your picking technique so you can play much faster, with much less difficulty? You don’t have to learn countless exercises for guitar... you simply need to make one easy adjustment (you can do it right now). Follow this basic concept from now on to make your picking technique…
