Victor Wooten, one of my favorite music educators, has brilliantly stated how there are no wrong notes. This is a powerful idea for guitarists who put pressure on themselves to avoid the “wrong notes”. Fortunately, the 12 notes that make up the chromatic scale team up to erase the idea of mistake...
A brilliant use of the modes, time changes, technicality, and groove are elements that only scratch the surface of one of the most wisely written songs of the 1980s. Of course, I’m talking about the genius guitar work written and performed by Vernon Reid in the song “Cult Of Personality” by Livi...
There’s a really cool effect I’ve noticed in the production of a lot of music I listened to growing up. I never quite knew what the name of it was, but I actually believe I probably would have described it as sounding like the audio was coming through a telephone. I reckon the effect lives up t...
Guitarists everywhere are stuck using the same old first form of the minor pentatonic scale.  You know the one. If you’re a rock or metal guitarist, it’s probably one of the first scales you ever learned. It is known and loved by guitarists everywhere, and that’s for good reason. This scale is ...
Two guitar parts are always better than one. A guitarist’s approach to writing is typically grounded in a single guitar part. By that, I don’t just mean a single riff or a lick, but it can also be a situation where a single guitar flows in and out of verse and chorus riffs with an occasional solo...
MuseScore is one of my favorite pieces of software that I use for instructional guitar content and lessons. I use it all the time.
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While it’s a lovely tool that caters to musicians of all kinds, it’s also great for guitarists because it allows us to write out sheet music, chord charts, and t...
We live in a world where it's increasingly difficult to just stick to one simple, universal guitar tuning. Whether you're trying to learn different songs from different artists or trying to write songs that cater to various genres, you'll likely run into that classic fork in the road:Â do I change...
In a way, a guitarist discovering the blues scale for the first time is kind of like hearing the Gospel for the first time.  Â
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“You mean all I have to do is put my faith in Christ and I get to live forever?”Â
“You mean all I have to do is add one note to the pentatonic scale for it to sound ...
Ah, the power chord. When all else fails, we always have that comfortable perfect 5th interval to fall back on. But doesn't it ever get kind of boring after a while? I think we tend to favor this efficient 2-note combination because it can lend itself to major or minor chords without allowing us ...
There's one song I find that challenges the picking hand like no other. That song, of course, is “Violate” by Iced Earth. This total headbanger relies heavily on the gallop riff which is a key staple in thrash metal. So, if you're looking to use that technique and apply it to a real-world song, “...
Whether you're just starting out or you've been scraping by for years, there are just certain things you cannot get by without as a serious guitar student. Yes, I'm talking about gear. If you've got some Gear Acquisition Syndrome, I'm sure you're jumping for joy at another excuse to buy something...
One finger, one whole step, and one string can open up a whole new world of endless possibilities for guitarists. If you've heard of drop D tuning, you may be in one of several different camps. You may have started playing in E standard tuning and are starting to see that a bunch of songs you wan...