Though the terms broken chord and arpeggio are often used interchangeably by guitar players, there are some minor differences between the two. They both refer to the notes of the chord being played individually (rather than strummed together) but while in broken chords the notes are allowed to ring together in arpeggios the notes are […]
Punk Rock is a music genre as well as a subculture that emerged in the late 1970’s. Punk subculture is about rebellion and anti-conformity, and has its own norms. This is clearly reflected in the music which is aggressive, simple and to the point, as well as in the in-your-face lyrics of Punk songs. Punk […]
There is more than one approach you can take to write a melody on the guitar. An approach that rarely works is learning a scale, playing it up and down, or playing random notes derived from it, and expecting to stumble on a melody. It is possible to come up with melodies on the guitar […]
Guitar trill technique is frequently used as an exercise by students starting out, or trying to improve, their legato technique. And while trills do make a good exercise, one shouldn’t miss the fact that they’re also a very expressive melodic ornament you can use in your guitar riffs, licks, and solos. In this lesson you’ll […]
The Phrygian mode has a very particular sound and its use is found in many genres of music including Heavy Metal, Jazz, Classical music, even electronic music. Songs that make use of the Phrygian mode include Symphony of Destruction (Megadeth), Wherever I May Roam (Metallica) and Sails of Charon (Scorpions). In this lesson you will […]
In this lesson I explain the basics of rhythm. If you don’t know what a quarter note, an eight note, and a sixteenth note are yet, I suggest that you get a general idea of the basic elements of rhythm before proceeding with the rest of this lesson. In today’s lesson we’ll be taking one […]
The Dorian mode is very popular among guitar players and is used in various genres of music including Blues, Jazz, Rock, Metal, and Fusion. In this lesson you will be learning the Dorian mode using five 3 note per string scale patterns that cover the entire guitar fretboard. With each scale pattern, you will be […]
Guitar modes explained and how to use them to improve your playing Guitar modes are a scary topic for many intermediate and advancing guitar players. While the theory behind the modes can get a bit complex unless you have a solid basis of music theory you can, and should, start using them even if you’re […]
A guitar interval is the distance between two notes on the guitar fretboard. If these two notes are being played at the same time we call it a harmonic interval (also called a double stop in guitar terminology). If they’re played after each other we call it a melodic interval. An interval of an octave […]
The natural minor scale is very commonly used by guitar players and is found in guitar riffs, licks and solos in most genres of music including Jazz, Blues, Rock and Heavy Metal. In this lesson we’ll first go through a bit of theory on the natural minor scale. Then I will give you 3 notes […]