Blog

Do you ever experience open string noise when playing power chords?⁠ One of the most important things about playing power chords is muting the strings you AREN'T playing.⁠ This is best done with your 1st finger. If you're playing a root 6 power chord, you'll be using...

Do you want to play solos but don't understand what scales to use and what keys to play them in?⁠So did Nick before he started lessons with me.⁠He was also struggling with finger co-ordination and picking.To improve his soloing ability we learned scales and how to...

In order to understand how to achieve pinched (or artificial) harmonics, you need to understand how to achieve regular (or natural) harmonics.⁠ Natural harmonics are achieved by touching your finger to a string (touching, not fretting) above a fret that marks a...

Want to know what one of the oldest arguments in lead guitar playing is? Is it better to solo fast? Or slow? This argument has been raging for as long as I’ve been playing lead guitar and from what I can tell, it’s been going on a lot longer than that, too. But if you...

Let's talk about double stops. Double stops or dyads as they're also known, are a great way to add body and attitude to a lick.⁠ Though double stops can be played all over the place in lots of different variations - for rock and blues guitar they're most commonly...

When picking, it's important to pick in a straight line between the pickups.⁠ If you have a guitar with a bridge and neck pickup - pretend you have an imaginary single coil pickup in the middle position and pick in line with it.⁠ If you have a guitar with a middle...

Want to know one of the most annoying things a student or someone enquiring about lessons can ask me?⁠ Can I just teach them "cool" things and leave out "boring" stuff like correct technique and theory.⁠ This is literally the equivalent of someone going to a gym for...

Want to add some flash to tired old soloing phrases?Try spicing them up with legato!⁠Legato is a great way to add an extra flourish to a lick.The term "legato" means playing something "in a smooth, flowing manner without breaks between notes."⁠This is the kind of...

Do you understand which scales compliment certain chord progressions and riffs?⁠Before Ben came to me, he didn't know which scales would work best over what chord progressions.⁠He was also unsure how to resolve the licks within his improvisations to compliment certain...

Want to know something I do with my students that helps a lot with improvising?⁠We take a chord progression with a good few changes in it and workshop a phrase to play over each chord.⁠By the time we get to the last chord - the student has built a solo to play over...

Want to know how long it takes to get good at guitar?This is something I’m asked a lot by students.⁠The answer depends a lot on what you want to get good at, how much consistent, quality practice you can realistically put in and (dare I say it) how good your guitar...

Do you doubt your ability to play the guitar as well as you'd like?⁠If so, you're not alone.When students first come to me, I ask them a lot of questions regarding what they want to improve and what they want be able to do.⁠Sometimes they feel apprehensive to tell me...