"Picking from the elbow", "elbow picking", and "arm picking" are some terms for what is considered by most lead guitar players to be taboo when it comes to picking technique.So why do so many beginners automatically start picking from the…
Here's some advice that I've learned from observing my own practice sessions over the years regarding how to achieve the perfect pickstroke. What do you think of when you imagine the perfect picking technique? Fast picking runs? Small and visually…
The following is an interview between a student and myself for a college assignment of theirs where they had to question somebody working in the music industry. Hopefully you will enjoy learning a little bit more about me and perhaps…
Reading and writing guitar tablature (TABs) is essential for learning other people’s music and for keeping a record of your own creations. I would even argue that it’s more practical than standard music notation as TABs dictate the exact and…
Let's take a look at how a few famous pro guitarists execute 3-string sweep arpeggios. We'll compare the techniques of Rusty Cooley, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Andy James. Players tend to stick to one sweep picking style for their entire musical careers without even considering alternatives. It…
Welcome to the second lesson on two-hand tapped arpeggios! Last time we covered the fundamentals such as: muting, string transitions, and a small 2-string example arpeggio to begin with. Now it's time to delve further into the technique and learn…
What are scale sequences? A sequence is a repeated and ordered pattern applied to the notes of a scale or arpeggio. Imagine walking in a straight line for 8 steps. You could go ahead one step at a time like…
This is a lesson on how to play passages of notes in a perfectly clean and intelligible way. You must eliminate silence between notes to create a seamless stream of sound. Picture your notes as a brick wall. You want…
I proudly present an in-depth technical guide to basic multi-string two-hand tapping arpeggios. Learn how to tap, how to cross strings and how to perform a basic 2-string, string skipped diminished arpeggio on the g and e strings. From there…
Get exotic with the Japanese Pentatonic scale! Like the standard pentatonic scale, the Japanese pentatonic also has 5 box positions. This lesson also includes diagonal picking patterns to aid your horizontal playing and fretboard vision. This lesson will be in the…
The diminished scale is another very interesting scale. It's a neverending repeating pattern of whole tone, half tone, whole tone, half tone etc. For this reason there are only two main scale positions, as opposed to the 5 positions of…
Alternate picking for the lead guitar is where the picking hand executes alternating pickstrokes to play passages of notes. This down, up, down, up pattern is kept constant no matter what pattern the fretting hand is fingering or how many…
This lesson is a no-frills study of how sweep picking is performed. Always start with the basics when learning a new technique. Nailing them and creating a strong foundation is essential for making good, quick progress. Do not dive right…
Last time I showed you how a Cmaj7 arpeggio could be arranged into useful picking patterns. Now, staying in the key of C major/A minor, we will be moving on to the Amin7 arpeggio. The notes and intervals contained in…
Here I have arranged the notes of a Cmaj7 chord into some seriously handy scale-like shapes. Pick through these, work them into your own soloing and get ready to jam with a whole new sound. While using every note in any…
Blast through your scale runs and create subtle texture differences in sound by mixing picking and legato. While there's little more satisfying than a perfectly executed alternate picking run, I'm a huge fan of injecting legato into the mix. Why?…
The following scale shape is the Aeolian mode, otherwise known as the natural minor, the full minor, the minor scale and so on. I firmly believe that the 3-note-per-string scale shapes are the only modal scale shapes needed. Box shapes…
A hugely under discussed aspect of alternate picking is that of picking hand imbalance and the trouble it can cause. Alternate picking is when notes are executed by the picking hand in an alternating manner - a downstroke followed by…
Try something new and check out the Romanian scale! The Romanian scale is actually the 4th mode of the harmonic minor scale. It has a rich and exotic sound when played and features the following intervals: Root, 2nd, minor 3rd, sharp 4th, 5th,…
As we know, the blues scale is a fundamental scale learned rather early on. Perhaps for this reason, it is widely thought of as a beginner's tool. This is not the case! Not only can the blues scale be used…
The very first scale a guitarist learns is often the minor pentatonic scale. The minor pentatonic scale is easy to familiarise oneself with and is incredibly versatile. After this may come the addition of the blues note – to make…
Emotional/melodic lead playing Playing straight from your 'soul' Emotional/melodic playing is the art of expressing one's emotion directly through the instrument. For many musicians it is the ultimate goal - to be one with music. But wait! This sounds like…