I had a question the other day that went something like this: “Are guitar scale patterns anything like arpeggios?” Well, to answer in a word, no. An arpeggio is simply where the notes are played in sequence, rather than simultaneously. For instance, if you pick each string of a G chord separately, you’ve played an […]
Last weekend I went for a quick little camping trip. There’s something about camping – even close to home – that does the heart good. At least, it does mine. And of course I jumped at the chance to take along my old Takamine and get in a little campfire jamming in the evening. Certain […]
Yesterday evening I had an epiphany while mowing my grass. Yeah – this time of year it takes pretty much twice a week to keep things under control. Fortunately, I enjoy cutting my grass, when I have time for it that is. Back to that epiphany. If you want your yard to look good, you […]
One smoking hot day back in 2004 I found myself sitting behind the wheel of a Land Rover Defender, stuck in the snarl of a major traffic jam in Monrovia, Liberia. (that’s West Africa) The red dust hung heavy in the air, creating a halo effect around the sun, nearly blocking it out. I’d been […]
So one thing that really gets my goat is when I hear a guitar player going at it, soloing away, sounding great, and then he goes for a string stretch… And doesn’t QUITE make it. It doesn’t have to be fast, it doesn’t have to be huge, it doesn’t have to be the most amazing […]
One night at our weekly jam session, a new guy showed up and played some guitar with us. It’s always interesting watching players you’re not familiar with, because everyone has different ways of approaching things, and different ways of feeling the song. So there I was, watching this guy take his solos, and the first […]
Three free videos. The fretboard isn't twenty separate positions, it's one system that keeps repeating. Once you see that, the chord shapes you already know stop being mystery moves and start being the where of something bigger. I'll show you in about fifteen minutes total.