Keep up with the latest posts and lessons
Here’s another very useful blues lick for you – this one has a couple of parts, each of which could be used on their own in many other ways, or combined again with other ideas. The more of these tiny mini-licks you have up your sleeve, the more creative you can get with your solos. We’ll
Today we’re going to dive right into the world of slash chords and learn a simple picking pattern. It’s going to be a lot of fun, so let’s get started!First, we’ll begin with a D chord. Play the normal D shape and then pull off your third or second finger on the second fret. Pick
Today, I’m going to show you two sweet versions of the E minor chord on your guitar that you’ve likely never seen. Forget the traditional open E minor that you learned on Day 1 of your guitar journey… we’re going to make things way more interesting! Our first version starts at the seventh fret, using
Guitar scales are one of the foundational elements of music theory and essential for any guitar player. Scales provide a framework for creating melodies and improvisation. As a guitarist, you may have wondered how many guitar scales are there? The answer to this question is not as simple as it seems. In this article, we
Years ago I spent a while in Liberia, West Africa and had all kinds of crazy adventures. For a brief time, I even had a monkey as a pet. Crazy little dude liked to ride on the motorcycle with you… If he were still around today, maybe I’d teach him to play a little guitar!
The acoustic guitar has a rich and fascinating history that spans centuries and continues to evolve, remaining relevant in the music industry through its versatility, emotional power, and continued experimentation.
Lately I’ve been playing more acoustic guitar, and as a result, I’ve started experimenting with some new rhythm techniques. In today’s lesson we’re talking about adding a “thump” in between the strumming. To be honest, I don’t really know what to call this technique, drumming on your guitar? Percussive rhythm? Who knows, and who cares,
Today’s guitar lick is inspired by one that Mark Knopfler played in Sultans of Swing. Specifically, the lick in the second verse after the “jazz goes down” line. That lick is played over an A major chord, and if you dissect it, you discover that all of the notes in that lick are simply straight
I’ve gotta confess, it’s HARD to name guitar licks! I could just go with the lick of the week number, but that seems bland and boring. Or, I could describe what’s under the hood so to speak – today we’re using a the blues scale, a flatted fifth, a one tone bend, etc. But again,
Sometimes it just feels SO great to dig into a short phrase in the middle of a solo, and just repeat it over and over and over and over and over again! Loads of great players have used this trick, from Eric Clapton to BB King to John Mayer and everyone in between. There are
This is a cool-sounding lick that you can modify in a lot of different ways. In fact, it’s kind of like three licks in one. You can have a lot of fun with just the first bar, especially if you take that idea and move it elsewhere in the scale. Then, in the second bar,
Have you ever wanted to capture a real bluesy sound in your licks? Today’s Lick of the Week comes straight out of the pentatonic major scale, with one small twist… We’re using a flatted third as a passing note, going up to the third of the chord, and that little movement adds tons of blues
This is a great lick to help you move from one position to another, and of course, you can take this basic idea and apply it to more positions as well! Let me know in the comments below what kind of licks you’d like to see here in the future. You can find all the
It’s easy to slip into a rut of just playing within the same box patterns all the time, and sometimes you’re really looking for just a slightly different way to play those notes that changes things up a bit. Well, this is one of those riffs that can help change things up – just ever
Flatted fifths are incredibly dissonant… And that’s exactly why we like them! There’s nothing quite like creating massive musical dissonance and then immediately resolving it – people just love that stuff. However, if you camp out on the dissonance, your solo is going to go downhill FAST. So, as I mentioned in the video, although
Today I thought I’d haul out my acoustic guitar for a bit of a change, and teach a guitar lick that might be a little more accessible for the beginners among us. It’s actually pretty much the same lick as we learned in Lick 7: Sliding Fourths, but it may sound and feel very different
Today’s guitar lick comes from the key of C major. We’re working with sixths, which are also sometimes called inverted thirds. If you like that kind of thing, checkout my Secrets of Tasty Riffs & Solos course for a lot more of it. The main difference between a sixth and an inverted third is which
If memory serves, I first stole this lick or something like it from Colin James. If you’re not familiar with his music, look him up, it’s awesome! Double stops like this are sooo tasty, I can’t get enough of them. For extra effect, make sure you line these up over top of the correct chord.
Sometimes it can sound SO good to simply use the scale as a lick. Sequence or pattern based licks are great for that, and that’s exactly what we’re doing today with this descending diatonic major lick. It’s straight out of the diatonic major scale. If you wanted, you could apply this same pattern to literally
I bet this one is a bit off the beaten path for you! Unless you’re into jazz, not too many guitar players plumb the depths of the diminished chords, but today I wanted to show you a fairly simple way to string some into a lick. The amazing beauty of this diminished 7th chord shape