In the power of power chords lesson, I explain how the power chord can come very handy since it doesn’t have the “third” note of the key it’s being played in. That third note is what changes a power chord into a major or a minor triad. In this lesson, you’ll see that while power …
Beyond power chord riffs: Major and minor triads Read More »
Many a time I have students who have the ability to at least start to improvise guitar solos, good solos if they commit to practicing the art of improvisation for a while, but they’re afraid that it’s not within their reach because they think they can’t play fast guitar, that they can’t “shred”, and that …
You Don’t Need to Play Guitar Fast To Improvise Good Solos Read More »
Do you sometimes feel that your guitar practice time involves learning a bunch of unrelated things without knowing the reason why you’re learning them? That you have to learn all this so that finally, one day, years from now, it will magically tie up together and “you can play guitar”? I know exactly how this …
How to focus and get more out of your guitar practicing time Read More »
What makes beautiful melodies…..beautiful? There are quite a few things you need in place to write a great melody, but the one thing that makes a melody stand out is a good relationship between consonance and dissonance. Consonance and dissonance in music is a concept you need to understand from a theoretical level as well …
The Tritone: A Lesson on Consonance and Dissonance Read More »
There was a time when I thought I had become pretty good at playing guitar. Then I got a bit better and found out that the things I knew were far from enough. So I practiced more, got better, only to find out that the horizon was even further away than I had thought. Until …
Every Heavy Metal fan knows who the guys in Metallica are. And every Black Metal fan knows who the guys in Mayhem are, who killed who, and who’s burned most churches in Norway. Varg Vikernes from Burzum, who gained notoriety for the infamous murder of Mayhem singer Euronymous has come out of prison and has …
Inspiration for writing songs comes in abundance on some days but seems to dry up completely on others. Do you have days when you’re spending more time dwelling on whether you’re going to start writing the words or with the music, the melody or the harmony, or on which topic to write about rather than …
When I was just starting out on guitar I saw a product for building strong guitar fingers in a music shop and thought “cool, with this I could keep practicing while I’m on the bus” Though I hated real life pushups and sit ups, I liked the idea that I was “body building” my guitar …
You Don’t Need to Body build Your Fingers to Learn Guitar Read More »
Do you ever feel stuck in a rut in your guitar playing? That your progress is not as it should be in view of the number of hours of practice you’re putting in? Do you want to get unstuck and take your guitar playing to the next level? If you implement these simple guitar practicing …
5 Things you can do today to take your guitar playing to the next level Read More »
“Mum, dad, I’ve really thought hard about this and my mind is set up. I’m going to become a Rock Star and whatever you say or do, is not going to change my opinion” If you’re a parent and your kid has just made an earth shattering claim like this, keep reading here. I was …
What You Should Do If Your Teenage Kid Decides to Become a Rock Star Read More »
