Blog

Want to know a picking concept that sounds great, looks great and is quite practical too?⁠Linear picking passages.⁠By linear picking I mean picking up or down a single string.⁠Two master of this technique are Yngwie Malmsteen and Al Di Meola.⁠Playing along a single...

Let me tell you about something that's really annoying as a guitar teacher.In this day and age - so many online guitar courses, products and lessons are marketed as being able to solve all your problems and make you an amazing guitarist overnight.⁠They're marketed as...

Let's talk about vibrato.⁠In order to do vibrato well, it's important to understand what vibrato actually is.⁠Vibrato is a small repeating bend that bends to the same pitch, releases to the same pitch and pulses at the same rhythm.⁠In order to improve your vibrato,...

Want to know what one of my favourite guitar teacher sayings is?⁠It's the little things that make up the big things.⁠I use this saying a lot when talking to students about technique.Good technique seems to be made up of lots of little elements.It might look as if a...

Let's talk ab⁠out fast alternate picking riffs.⁠Fast alternate picking is a staple of metal rhythm guitar and is an important technique for any aspiring metal guitarist.⁠Like anything fast, building up the speed required to play fast alternate picking riffs takes...

"How long will it take until I feel happy playing the guitar?"This is a common question I'm asked by students.⁠For a lot of people, they don't actually start to enjoy playing the guitar until they develop an adequate grasp of the fundamentals.⁠For others, they don't...

Do you feel your guitar playing is stagnating?⁠If you're unsure, here are a few clues it might be: You constantly play the same stuff the same way.⁠You don't feel very motivated to play.⁠You find playing boring.⁠You occasionally try to learn something new but end up...

Want to know what a lot of aspiring lead guitarists want to learn to do well when they first come to me?Soulful minor blues soloing.⁠Players like David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Gary Moore, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmy Page (just to name a...

Do you struggle with a messy fretting hand?⁠I've had students come to me in the past with fretting hands that seemed to have minds of their own.⁠Their fingers fly all over the place, lift up really high, constantly hit the wrong notes and strings, never seem to play...

Some people get so caught up with what they're struggling with that they let it derail any further attempts at improving.⁠I've had some people come to me telling me they'd like to improve their lead guitar, when I ask them how their lead guitar ability currently...

Want to know the technique so many people ask me about?⁠Sweep picking.⁠Sweep picking seems to be a mystery to so many aspiring lead guitarists.⁠A mystery in the sense they have no idea how some players do it so well, and how they can do it well, too.⁠If you've got no...

Want to know what one of the biggest problems students have when they first come to me is?⁠Is it picking? No.⁠Is it legato? No.⁠Is it bending?⁠ No.⁠It's timing.⁠By timing, I mean having the understanding and ability of how to play in time to a metronome or drum...