I like to look at guitar classic from time to time, and that's exactly what I'm doing this week with a detailed look at Hubert Sumlin's playing on the Howlin' Wolf track Killing floor. Here's the link:
It's an all-time blues classic, but I didn't realise quite how complex and nuanced Sumlin's playing was on this track until I started preparing this lesson. I've tabbed it out bel...
2022-02-04 18:22:41 +0000 UTC View PostHello everyone,
The Nice Lick series marches onwards into 2022 with this extremely nice hybrid picked country phrase. For those of you interested in incorporating a bit of hybrid picking into your playing, this lick might not be a bad place to start. Here's the link:
And it's all tabbed out below. Hope you enjoy it.
Speak next week,
Adrian
2022-01-28 17:17:31 +0000 UTC View PostHello everyone,
Today I'm looking at an indie classic from Pavement. I've always loved loved the guitar style of Stephen Malkmus; such a unique and interesting player. And this song is a good case in point: we have some beautiful and melodic riffs, a brilliantly noisy solo, and a very strange alternate tuning.
Here's the link to the video -
And it's all tabbed ...
2022-01-21 16:43:02 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the backing to go along with this week's I IV V triads lesson. It's pretty basic, but will at least give you a bit of context for the exercises...more fun than the metronome at least!
You can use this in various ways, for rhythm practice or lead. I'd suggest just working with one set of 3 triad voicing at a time to start with.
2022-01-14 17:30:45 +0000 UTC View PostHello all. Today I'm revisiting triads. In this video I attempt to go beyond the basics and talk about how you might musically use triads in a I IV V chord situation. This is a great skill to master that will help come up with interesting rhythm parts, and give you a useful framework for chord tone soloing. Here's the link -
Below you can find the triad shapes tabbed out, and al...
2022-01-14 17:13:22 +0000 UTC View PostHello everyone. Today I'm looking at a true classic: Rock & Roll by The Velvet Underground. There are various different ways you can play this one, but my instinct is that on the original recording a drop C tuning is used. I've not seen anyone else do it this way, but it sounds right to me - see what you think.
Here's a link to the video -
I've tabbed it al...
2022-01-07 17:37:09 +0000 UTC View PostHappy New Year all! Hope everyone had a good holiday season. I thought I'd kick off this year with a few thoughts on things to practice in 2022. Not every idea is going to be right for you, but I hope you find one or two interesting and inspiring things to try. Here's the link -
No tabs etc. for this one as most of the ideas are quite general. For a collection of useful guitar e...
2022-01-01 18:20:19 +0000 UTC View PostA couple of people asked for a version of the backing track with the vocals in too, so here it is.
And a reminder that I'm having a little break over Xmas, so there's no formal video this week. (There will however be a new guitar demo up on my channel tomorrow - I'm playing some Joy Division and assorted post-punk riffs on the new Hooky Raider from Eastwood.)
2021-12-22 14:08:01 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the backing. I did quite an epic arrangement on this one - bells, claps, glockenspiel, mellotron etc. For the backing I've kept it mostly bass and drums - I've taken out the vocals and all the guitar parts, but if you want other versions of the track with different elements in there let me know. Have fun.
2021-12-17 17:13:57 +0000 UTC View PostIt's Christmas Special time once again. Thanks once again for all the incredible song suggestions. After much deliberation, I decided to go with Father Christmas by the Kinks. It's long been a favourite Christmas song of mine, but I'd never tried to play it before. And it's more complex than you might imagine - odd time signatures and a very tricky arrangement. But it's full of great riffs and solos, and lots of fun to play.
Here's the link -
Hello everyone,
My broadband has now mysteriously, but thankfully, returned to its normal speed, so today's video uploaded in a mere hour or so. And I have something for you acoustic players this week. I'm exploring the beautiful sound of open D tuning. There's a beginner's guide to getting started with this tuning, and in the 2nd part of the lesson I look at one of my fave open D tracks, Forever by Roy Harper.
Here's the link -
Just in case it would be useful to have the track with the guitar in there too, to help you learn the piece.
2021-12-04 12:27:15 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the backing. There's a one bar count-in, then you play the riff 4 times before the band enters. Enjoy playing along!
2021-12-04 12:24:21 +0000 UTC View PostUpload complete, so I can finally bring you the video! And I'm doing something slightly different this week. I thought I'd discuss a rock n roll-style piece of music I wrote for a recent guitar review video. I talk about writing, recording, and also break down the piece itself in some detail. Here's the link:
It's all tabbed out below. The backing track will be coming up in the ...
2021-12-04 12:14:36 +0000 UTC View PostHi everyone,
Apologies, I'm having internet issues. I blame BT. This week's video, which usually takes an hour or two to upload has now been uploading for 8 hours, and is still only on 63%. So what I'm going to do is let it finish uploading over night and get the video launched tomorrow. Hope this doesn't ruin too many people's Friday, and hope the video is worth the wait!
Speak tomorrow,
Adrian
2021-12-03 18:53:13 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the backing to accompany this week's Echo and the Bunnymen lesson. The structure is intro/verse/chorus/instrumental bit/breakdown. As I play it in the video. There's a one bar count in, then you play the riff once before the band comes in.
Have fun with it!
2021-11-26 16:58:55 +0000 UTC View PostHope everyone's doing well. As I said on Monday, I'm now feeling a lot better - thanks again for all the kind words from everyone.
I've had lots of requests for some Echo and the Bunnymen recently, so this week I decided to look at the track Rescue, which can be found on their 1980 debut album, Crocodiles. It contains some wonderful riffage from the great Will Sergeant, and I also give you some easy chord strumming options too. Here's a link to the video:
Hello all,
Thanks to everyone for the tsunami of good wishes - really touching and very much appreciated! The good news is, I think I'm through the worst of it, and am feeling a lot better. I think I'm fortunate to have got off quite lightly compared with many.
And this morning I'm back in my natural habitat, sitting in my studio, noodling around on guitars. So I should have something new for you all on Friday.
Also, since we're coming to the end of November, I'm...
2021-11-22 10:51:30 +0000 UTC View PostHello Patrons!
Huge apologies but there’s going to be no video today.
Covid has finally caught up with me, and I tested positive earlier in the week. It’s nothing too serious since I’m double vaccinated, but I have been experiencing some symptoms - mainly a bad cough and tiredness. I had hoped to be feeling a bit better by this point in the week, but sadly that’s not happened.
All of which means I’m unable to get on camera and bring you my usual zany gu...
2021-11-19 13:59:42 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, I have a nice, country-flavoured lick for you. As well as taking you through the lick itself, I also discuss thinking in intervals, adding chromatic passing notes, and use of hammer-ons and pull-offs for speed.
Here's a link to the video -
And I've tabbed everything out for you below. Hope you enjoy it.
Speak next week,
Adrian
2021-11-12 17:54:30 +0000 UTC View PostFor those of you who'd like to play along to this week's backing track, here you go. I was trying to think the opposite of blues, so ended up with a drum machine and synth-based idea. Key of E minor. Have fun!
2021-11-05 18:15:06 +0000 UTC View PostIn this week's video I'm talking about some different ways you can use the good ol' minor pentatonic scale. For those times when you might want to get away from the innate bluesy and classic rock flavour of this scale. Here's a link to the video -
And below I've tabbed out a few of the ideas and exercises I discuss in the lesson.
Hope you find it interesting. 2021-11-05 18:01:43 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's the backing track to accompany this week's video. There are 2 verses, and then an extended soloing section at the end. Have fun!
2021-10-28 10:32:15 +0000 UTC View PostHello all,
There's a new video out today (I thought I'd release this one a day earlier than usual to get a little more Halloween mileage out of it) I'm looking at the song Spooky, originally a hit for 60s beat combo Classics IV. And this basically gives me an excuse to talk about all kinds of interesting guitar things - groovy rhythm ideas, playing vocal melodies on the guitar, double stops, and soloing using the dorian mode. Here's the link -
Here's my backing track. It follows the arrangement of the original recording. For the solo you can try my steel guitar ideas or perhaps invent something of your own - following the chords with major pentatonic ideas and perhaps mixing in some D blues stuff would work well.
Have fun!
2021-10-22 16:18:52 +0000 UTC View PostHello all. I'm in country mode this week, and looking at the instrumental classic Buckaroo by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. A really fun track to play. I take you through all of the Don Rich riffs and I also show you how you might translate the steel solo onto a regular guitar. Here's the link -
Tab can be found below. I've included a couple of harmony parts that I added to the ...
2021-10-22 16:14:36 +0000 UTC View PostHello everyone. This week, another one of those pieces where I combine rhythm and lead, or chords and fills. This is such a good skill to work on, and a great way to give your solo playing a bit of shape and direction.
Here's a link to the video -
And I've tabbed it all out below.
Hope you enjoy woking on it!
- Adrian
2021-10-15 18:16:21 +0000 UTC View PostHello all,
Today, an incredible song by one of my favourite bands. Here's the link -
There's so much good stuff in this one - an epic arrangement, groovy and inventive rhythm guitar, a great solo. There's a detailed tab below. I could have thrown in a few repeat markings to keep it shorter, but there are lots of nice fills and variations that would be missed tha...
2021-10-08 18:15:18 +0000 UTC View PostI don't do jazz that often in my videos, but I thought it would be fun today to look at a classic tune from Kenny Burrell. If you're interested in learning to play jazz , this is a must-know tune, and a good way into the style. But even if you're not that into jazz I think there's a lot to be gained from learning this one.
Here's the link -
And my tab can be found be...
2021-10-01 18:43:42 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the backing track to accompany this week's video. The chord progression is just D C Em D, repeated forever...
Have fun!
2021-09-24 17:19:34 +0000 UTC View Post