Welcome to Part One of Your First Song, a four-part series made especially for beginner guitarists. If you want to learn to play a song but you’re feeling a little…
I’ve been teaching guitar for almost 10 years. Over this period of time I’ve taught hundreds, maybe even thousands of students. Different walks of life, different skills, but the same goal –…
You’re listening to the chorus of a new song and think the guitarists are just letting chords ring out with some effect on them. But after a moment, you realize…
Almost by definition, an acoustic blues in E is the original blues. Done right, it can send a shiver up your spine. If it’s below par, it can be incredibly boring to…
Whether you’re playing blues, country, rock or just about any other genre imaginable, you need to know how to play a good guitar bend. The guitar bend is such a…
Learning guitar intervals is one of the best ways for guitarists to start ear training – the process of developing a good ear for music. An interval is the distance in pitch from…
Hammer-ons and pull-offs are iconic guitar techniques. Mastering them is essential to playing faster songs – and especially solos. Why? Because hammer-ons and pull-offs allow you to play notes without…
Most guitar players have, at some point in time, heard of guitar ‘modes’, or ‘modal playing’. For some, the concept of guitar modes is confusing or daunting. Frequent questions include,…
‘Some songs only need one or two fingers to play.’ When I first started playing guitar, finding easy electric guitar songs seemed impossible. I thought all of the bands I listened…
Why should I learn how to play a legato slide? The legato slide is one of the first skills every guitarist should learn. Here’s why: It’s easy. It’s used in…
You’re learning to play guitar for the first time. You say to the instructor, ‘Teach me something easy.’ Your instructor says, ‘Sure, just put this finger on this fret, that…
Let’s look at what guitar improvisation isn’t and is. Guitar improvisation isn’t some ethereal realisation that all of a sudden you’re playing something you’ve never played before … sort of.…
There’s a secret that heavy bands don’t want you to know: many of their best riffs are actually the easiest to play…Drop Guitar Tuning. If you understand how drop guitar…
What is the importance of learning scales? The “key” uses” of scales, which you will gradually understand more and more are, the ability to: – use them as practice…
