Robert Callus

Diatonic chord progressions for the guitarist-songwriter

In this lesson I gave you a step by step process you can use to start writing songs with the guitar. In today’s lesson we’ll delve deeper on an important topic for songwriters: Diatonic chord progressions. A chord progression is a series of two or more chords played in an order. Diatonic chords are chords …

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How to Read Electric Guitar Tabs (with exercises)

Q: Can electric guitarists use a simpler way of reading music than standard notation? A: Yes, reading guitar tabs (or tablature) is much easier than reading standard music notation. Q: If they’re simpler, are guitar tabs less complete? Do they tell you everything you need to know about the music you’re reading as standard music …

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5 Double Picking Exercises To Improve Your Guitar Speed and Accuracy

Double picking on the guitar simply means playing the same note twice in the same amount of time. In the next examples the note is first played, then double picked.    In Ex. 1 a quarter note (crotchet) is divided in two eight notes (quavers) while in Ex. 2 an eight note is divided in …

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5 Easy/Intermediate Guitar Solos That Gradually Get Harder

The guitar solo is the part where the guitarist is on the spot and expected to show his abilities. Thus, easy guitar solos are less common than say, easy guitar riffs. Some guitarists do play fast and complex riffs at times, but even guitarists who play super fast like James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett (Metallica) …

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7 Ghost/Dead Note Guitar Exercises to Make Your Playing More Rhythmic

While there is disagreement over the exact definition of a ghost note, for the purposes of this lesson it should be considered as the same thing as a dead note, a note that is muted. To execute a ghost note simply decrease the pressure from the note with your left hand without lifting your hand …

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How to Learn Guitar Theory For Beginners

Some guitarists think they don’t need to learn music theory either because they believe one of these myths or else because they’ve tried learning guitar theory the wrong way. In this lesson, we’ll define what guitar theory is (so that you don’t spend time learning things that you don’t need) and explore three areas of …

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