Keep up with the latest posts and lessons
Today we’ve got another guitar lesson on triads – those super-handy three note chords that you can find all over the fretboard! Previously, we looked at Root 1 or E Shaped Triads, as well as Root 2 or D Shaped Triads, and today we’re looking at Root 3, or A Shaped Triads. This means that our
Today I’ve got a cool little trick to share with you – the “muted stroke strum.” This isn’t something I use all the time, but when it fits, it really shines. If you like listening to Jack Johnson, you’ll hear him using his kind of technique all the time. We’ll start off with a simple
Today, we’re diving into D-shaped triads on the first, second, and third strings. Building on my previous video about triads related to root 6 bar chords, we’ll focus on moving these D-shaped chords around the fretboard, sticking to the key of D. We’ll start with the familiar D major chord, and the most important thing
Today, I want to look at some ideas for creating a musical storyline in your guitar playing. The goal here is to create a sense of movement in your chord progressions. It’s about feeling like you’ve started at one point and ended somewhere different, essentially crafting a journey within your music. To illustrate this, let’s consider
This is a great hybrid picking pattern to get started with, if you’ve never tried hybrid picking before. One of the biggest benefits of hybrid picking, in my mind at least, is that you gain the ability to pick multiple places at once – something you simply cannot do with just a pick. Your pick is
I’ve called this the Ping Pong picking pattern, because it has a lot of bouncing back and forth, and because it sounds cool! Whenever you’re picking, it’s really important to know where the root notes are for the chords you’re playing. Root notes set the character and direction for the rest of the chord, and
Today we’re learning a strum pattern that incorporates some root note picking, some upstrokes, and a nice thunk on the guitar body. The first time I tried to intentionally whack my guitar during a strum pattern, it felt horribly awkward. It took me a while of slow, intentional practice to get a bit of a flow
Triads are three-note chords. What you may not have realized before is that even chords like the common six-string G chord (320003) is just a three note chord. Those notes are G, B and D, except that we have some duplicates showing up in different octaves, thanks to playing three notes across six strings. Well, if
Drone notes produce a very unique sound, and it varies from key to key what that sounds like, but today we’re looking at drone tricks you can use in the key of E major. The two notes that will drone across everything are B and E, on the 2nd and 1st strings, respectively. Those two
This is a really fun way to use a double capo setup to play in the key of E that is very different than normal!
In today’s guitar lesson, we’re going to look at how you can recycle some chord knowledge you’ve already got, and get some extra mileage out of it. We’re going to look at four different chord shapes, then pull just two strings from each one. This will give us two different ways to play major chords,
This past weekend I had a really cool opportunity to help out on the sound crew for a pretty good sized outdoor concert. To give you an idea, it took ten of us about three hours to setup the system, and the main speaker array was pushing about 80,000 watts. ? My job was to run the
Today we’re going to dive deep into the world of chord modifications! I’ve got not just a few, but a whopping thirteen ways to spruce up that humble ‘G’ chord we all know and love. It’s time to unleash your creativity and add some magic to your chord progressions! In this lesson, we’ll explore a variety
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,