How To Master Barre Chord Technique Fast
So, you’ve been playing guitar for a little while and got to grips with the basic open chords. Well done! What’s next? Well, sadly, not everything in guitar is a smooth progression. There are times when the gap between where you are currently and where you need to go next feels like a jump rather […]
Did the guitar legends know music theory?
There has always been this background idea in the world of rock guitar that the best players “know nothing” about music. That they “never had lessons” and “didn’t know any music theory”. Let’s call it the Musical Ignorance Mindset. This holds that the absence of music knowledge is not just a fact (of others), but […]
Guitar Strings – 20 years experience in 2 minutes
I see a lot of questions and discussion about guitar strings every day on guitar groups, so here is my experience on the subject, boiled down into a quick guide touching on the main things people always ask about. Guitar String Gauges Guitar strings come in different ‘gauges’, which means thickness. Higher gauge numbers indicate […]
Why every guitar player needs Guitar Pro
Guitar Pro Review and Guide Contents What is Guitar Pro? About Me Guitar Pro vs Normal Tabs Guitar Pro Interface Main Features Audio Playback Slow Down Loop Sections Mix Controls Additional Useful Features Retune (change Global Tuning) Turn off Standard Notation Count-in/Metronome Navigation Where to get Guitar Pro Tabs (free) Guitar Pro Negatives What is […]
5 things Rocksmith will never teach you about guitar
In the last decade there has been an explosion in popularity of music and guitar related video games. These games can be great fun to play with friends, and deserve credit for introducing many people to rock music and guitar playing that they might not otherwise have listened to. Most of these video games are […]
Why Speed Matters – Even If You Don’t Care About Playing Fast
Let’s be honest. When we find something too hard to play – whether it’s a well known song, or our own idea we’re trying to bring to life – most of the time it’s ‘too hard’ because it’s too fast. Obviously speed is not the be all and end all of playing guitar, but, when […]
How To Work Out The Tempo Of A Song
Today I will show you how to work out the tempo of a song or any piece of music for yourself, with confidence and accuracy. Let’s get started! Find the beat Straight away, let me tell you that working out the tempo of a song is very straightforward. Anyone can do it. In fact, most […]
Blues Guitar Backing Tracks
Practicing and jamming with backing tracks is one of the best ways there is to improve your playing – especially when it comes to blues guitar. There are lots of good backing tracks available on Youtube, but it’s not always easy to tell what key they’re in, what tempo they’re at, whether they’re major or […]
The singlecoil pickup instant noise fix
Single coil guitar pickups have a distinctive character and gorgeous sound, but they have also have a significant disadvantage – background noise. Single coils sound great clean, but they start to hum and buzz with noise when you use them with distortion or overdrive, even when you’re not playing (which is the reason the doubled-coiled […]
Metronomes don’t make you faster – YOU do
Today I want to clarify a common misunderstanding among guitar players who are starting to think seriously about their technique. This is the widespread belief that “practicing with a metronome” makes you faster, or builds your technique. Now, virtually every technically-able musician uses a metronome at least some of the time, and nobody denies that the […]