It’s no secret that I often tell students that triads is my “secret”. It’s a simple, powerful concept to make sure you hit strong notes as you play lead guitar. In this example, I’m using triads to build two similar licks for Am and Dm, respectively. Then the 2nd time, I alter the phrases a […]
Country players often sneak in some jazz influences, especially in faster tunes. Have you noticed? It’s a way to make it sound a bit more sophisticated, and and perhaps an excuse to play more notes! Haha! Here I’m showing you a way you can approach this. The scale/mode I’m using over this is G Mixolydian. […]
Most people think of the diminished scale only as a tool for dominant chords. But hey, you can make it sound nice over minor chords too. Here we have 2 licks that are resolving back to E minor chord tones. That’s the important part! An exotic scale like this one works as long as you […]
The Symmetrical Diminished Scale is an 8 note scale that has a very simple construction. It’s constructed by alternating whole and half steps and sounds very sophisticated and colourful.
Outside picking makes a huge difference in terms of accuracy and ease of pick movement. The idea here is that when I switch strings, the pick is going in the direction of where the next string is. I’m using the E Minor Pentatonic boxes 1 to 5. I’m alternating between two outside picking patterns. Look […]
Let’s see how we can use a diminished 7 arpeggio as a way to resolve a 5 chord. Each note is a minor 3rd apart, which translates to 3 frets on the guitar. I’m playing the arpeggio over an E7 chord. If you start on the major 3rd, the first 3 notes are chord tones […]
Is there one correct way to play the “A major shape barre chord”? Of course not, but I’ll show a few ways to play this chord, including MY preferred way. It’s the method I’ve used for 35 years now… it works great! I have also posted some goodies for your listening pleasure on the forum. […]
Today I will show you a very useful “backdoor pattern” for the pentatonic scale, both minor and major.This is a great pattern for moving up and down the neck with ease. I play it pretty fast in this video, but the speed doesn’t matter. Make sure you can find the notes in this pattern, and […]
This style is fun to play, with the snappin’ and poppin’ sounds you get when you pluck the strings with the picking hand. This style is called “hybrid picking”. Chicken picking is a general term for making the notes short and snappy sounding, by pulling on the string. I got the idea for this from […]
Here’s a fun minor blues scale lick that will help you see Blues Box 5 on the neck. This box is way less common, but you can play some really nice ideas with it. Take a look at the Easy Blues Solo, if you don’t know these boxes.