Larry Graham created the slap bass technique to emulate the role of a drummer. Larry took the dilemma of not having a drummer, a challenging situation, and turn...
When I first moved away from a small town on the Florida coast to pursue my dream of playing music in Nashville in 1990, I set my sights on being the best a...
The augmented scale is a six-note scale made up of two augmented triads a half step apart. You can start the augmented scale on different scale tones to get spe...
Most guitar players avoid using wide intervals because the nature of scale and arpeggio patterns tend to keep the fingers confined. Piano players have a great s...
As a kid, I remember those paint-by-number paintings in my dentist’s office or at some relative’s house. They were usually pretty ugly, but playing-by-numbers w...
I remember the first time I saw Eric Johnson play “Cliffs of Dover” on Austin City Limits on a VHS tape my roommate had. It was a life changing moment for me. T...
When I was learning music I was influenced in two different ways: by the book and on the street. By this I mean that I had everything that I learned from my the...
One of the most useful applications of practical music theory is the concept of Intervals. Being able to both hear the Intervals and see them on the fretboard p...
I’m always interested in new things that are pretty simple, but sound cool. Once I get a basic version of a technique together, I’ll try and imagine how many di...
I always enjoy taking simple ideas that students already know and framing it in a way that is useful and can be easily implemented. Most players know chords and...
Quick: Name the notes across the 8th fret, from low E string to high E. Include sharps and flats. Ready. Go! One one thousand…two one thousand…If you cannot ra...
While the banjo has often been associated with movies and television that caused some disrespect, it’s a new age of banjo respect thanks to Bela Fleck, Tony Tri...
The ancient Greeks categorized music in 3 ways: Melody corresponds to intellect, Harmony corresponds to emotion, and Rhythm corresponds to the physical body. It...
Starting to develop the craft of single note soloing can seem like trying to stroll through the rainforest or climbing a mountain without a map, GPS, or guide. ...
I hear that from students often. It usually goes something like this, “I already know my pentatonics and am tired of just bluesy licks, so I need to learn other...
There was a time when I thought that achieving true musical freedom required an in-depth knowledge of every single scale, arpeggio shape, chord inversion and an...
Throughout the evolution of popular music, there have been select artists whose contribution has represented a musical quantum leap. Django Reinhardt ...
Having a collection of versatile right-hand (picking-hand) techniques is important for any well-rounded fingerstyle player. When it comes to the Travis-Picking ...
Let’s face it, playing chords with awkward fingerings is a pain in the hand. But this shouldn’t stop us from exploring all of our harmonic possibilities. Oftent...
This version of the fiddle tune Black Mt. Rag is inspired by the playing of Doc Watson, a pioneer in American guitar playing. Doc was born in Deep Gap, North Ca...
Fear is a powerful thing. It can make you do things you don’t want to do. It also can prevent you from doing the things you really love.
If you’re reading this...
One of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists that ever lived is the incomparable Albert King (April 25, 1923 – December 2, 1992), known for his inc...
The one thing that I have run across in my 25+ years of teaching guitar is that it is not an easy instrument to learn. Thousands of people buy guitars every yea...
Pentatonic scales are the foundation for blues and blues-rock guitar soloing. Most people break the pentatonic scales into five separate patterns, but I like to...
