Handle with caution: Advice from famous guitar players (even when they’re great)
When you’re trying to learn guitar and improve your guitar playing, you could be forgiven for thinking that going straight to the source would be a pretty safe bet. After all, what better advice to follow and who better to learn things from than the original person who did it? The truth is that interviews […]
How to quit guitar by mistake
Imagine yourself quitting guitar. Giving up on trying to get better. Eventually not playing again. You probably think this would be a decision you’d give a lot of thought to before making. Perhaps you think it’s a decision you’d never make yourself. You’re serious about learning to play or being the best player that you […]
Five Reasons Your Vibrato SUCKS
Being a good musician starts and ends with being able to make one note sound awesome. If you can’t make one note sound really great, then it doesn’t matter what else you can do — you’ve already lost the battle. Before we go any further, know that I’m not one of these guys who thinks […]
Examples of Modes in songs and rock music
When you’re trying to learn the Modes, one of the most important things is to have examples of real music that use them so that you can get their sound into your head. Having these examples will really help you recognise the unique sound quality and distinctive “attitude” of each Mode. So, without further ado, […]
How to work out the key of a song by ear
Have you ever wondered how to work out the key of songs with your guitar? Today I want to share my method and show you how easy it is to find the key of songs by ear. I was inspired to write this because I was on Youtube recently and I happened to stumble upon the worst […]
The myth of the self-taught rock musician
Myth (noun): A widely held but false belief or idea; A misrepresentation of the truth; An exaggerated or idealised conception of a person or thing. Today we’re going to explore the popular belief that most rock musicians were self taught on their instruments. Is it true? Here is a classic example of the answer we […]
Why Youtube song tutorials don’t work
Type in the name of just about any song into Youtube and you can find a video of somebody explaining how to play it on guitar. Say you want to learn something like the Sweet Child o Mine solo. What’s stopping you? Just go on Youtube and find the video. Obviously you’ll have it down by the […]
Learning watching from the masters
I don’t know about you, but I watch as much live footage of my guitar heroes as I possibly can. It gets me inspired and fired up to practice, and it reminds me why I play guitar and how far I still have to go. As a music fan it’s fun to watch concerts and […]