Hello all! Hope everyone's doing OK. We've had a run of quite challenging lessons over the past few weeks so, by way of complete contrast, this week I thought I'd look at some raw, primitive rock 'n' roll from the great Link Wray. This one's all about attitude; nothing too complex to play. Here's the link:
The tab can be found below. Hope you enjoy playing the track. Backing is coming...
2021-05-14 16:46:00 +0000 UTC View PostHere's my backing track to accompany this week's video. Just a simple blues in A. I've looped it a few times to make it a bit longer. Enjoy playing along!
2021-05-07 19:01:18 +0000 UTC View PostEvening all!
In this week's video I'm discussing dominant 7th arpeggios. There's a bit of theory, we learn the 5 CAGED patterns, and I talk about how to use them in a musical way. Here's the link -
Below you can find the tab for my solo, the arpeggio connections exercise, and some diagrams of the arpeggio fingerings. Backing track coming up in the next post.
Ho...
2021-05-07 18:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the backing. I've looped it a few times to make it longer. It's a nice progression to improvise over as well. G major/G major pentatonic will work throughout, or you can explore a more chord tone kind of approach, bringing out the notes in each of the chords as they pass by.
2021-04-30 16:43:23 +0000 UTC View PostHello all,
This week I'm playing over the Byrds/Dylan classic You Ain't Goin Nowhere. I've put together a little solo which combines some of the steel guitar ideas you can hear on the original recording with a few licks of my own. And as usual I'm discussing a bit of the theory behind the notes I'm playing. Here's the link -
The solo is tabbed out below. Learn the whole th...
2021-04-30 16:39:38 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the backing track to accompany this week's lesson. One again, some superb real drums provided by my friend Steve Duffy. Enjoy playing along!
2021-04-23 18:19:59 +0000 UTC View PostEvening all! Finally got today's video uploaded after some processing issues...
So, this week I'm looking at an amazing - if slightly obscure - rockabilly track. If you don't know the track or the band then do take a listen.
Here's a link to the video -
I realise it would be something of a commitment to learn the entire track, but feel free to sift through it a...
2021-04-23 18:17:28 +0000 UTC View PostHello all. This week: vibrato. An essential technique, and something I think many players struggle with. So in this video I give you my tips for developing a great-sounding vibrato. There’s some help for beginners wanting to understand the basic techniques as well as a few tips for more advanced players. And I end by looking at the vibrato technique of a few vibrato greats.
Here's the link -
2021-04-16 17:46:01 +0000 UTC View PostHere's my backing. It should follow the arrangement of the original recording. One bar count-in. (The backwards stuff in the left speaker was done using a Digitech RV7 pedal on the reverse reverb setting - great pedal if you can find one!)
Enjoy playing along!
2021-04-09 17:14:17 +0000 UTC View PostHello all. I thought it was about time for another Smiths lesson. The track I've chosen is Girl Afraid, which was the B side to the more familiar Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now. I won't pretend this is an easy one to play but, for me at least, it was a really rewarding one to learn.
And I think that even if you're not a huge smiths fan you could get a lot out of learning one or two of these riffs. They're all such good exercises in pick control and accuracy when arpeggiating chord...
2021-04-09 17:08:15 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the backing for this week's lick. Obviously feel free to also improvise whatever you like over the top of it as well. A minor pentatonic all the way...Have fun.
2021-04-02 17:30:08 +0000 UTC View PostEvening all! It's Nice Lick time once again. We're taking a simple 4 note idea and playing it with a triplet rhythm which creates an interesting kind of polyrhythmic effect. Here's the link:
And the tab is attached below (I've included the extra stuff I play at the start of the video too). The important thing here is not so much the lick itself, but understanding the rhythmic concept,...
2021-04-02 17:27:01 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the backing to accompany this week's lesson. It should follow exactly the arrangement of the original recording. No real drums this week I'm afraid, but I've done my best with the drum programming and it sounds reasonably convincing, I think. Enjoy playing along.
2021-03-26 18:22:31 +0000 UTC View PostThis was recently requested by a couple of people. It's a great song from Iggy's underrated New Values record. I've always liked the track but I only sat down to figure it out properly a few days ago. We have some inventive riffs and a short, fierce little solo. Here's the link. -
You can find the tab below. The backing track is coming up in the next post.
Hope you enjoy. ...
2021-03-26 18:19:37 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the backing for this week's lesson. Real drums, provided by my friend Steve Duffy. Sounds really good (if I do say so myself). Enjoy playing along.
2021-03-19 17:01:09 +0000 UTC View PostAfternoon all. This week, a lovely, lesser known blues instrumental from the original Fleetwood Mac. Guitar played, not as you might expect by Peter Green, but by the great and underrated Danny Kirwan. Here's a link to the video -
I really enjoyed learning this one myself. Kirwan packs a lot into one and a half minutes: key changes, great blues licks, great phrasing, and s...
2021-03-19 16:57:19 +0000 UTC View PostHello patrons! I'm looking at a favourite finger-style tune of mine this week. Quite easy to play and a really good practical example of some of the essential picking patterns I was talking about in my video a few weeks back. Here's a link to the video -
As I say in the video it's quite a widely covered tune. I particularly like Nick Drake's version - take a listen if you've not...
2021-03-12 17:35:26 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the backing to accompany this week's video. The arrangement should exactly follow the original recording. Great drum and bass parts on this one too. Enjoy playing along!
2021-03-05 17:44:07 +0000 UTC View PostGood evening all,
This week, I have one final (for now) John McGeoch vid. I filmed this with the others, a few weeks back. It's a real classic that I thought deserved a proper lesson. Some super interesting guitar parts, that really aren't too hard to play once you know how.
Here's the link -
I'm attaching the tab below. Backing track will be in the next ...
2021-03-05 17:41:48 +0000 UTC View PostHello all. Something slightly different this week - I'm looking at my top 10 'alternative' guitar solos. I'm trying to go beyond the usual suspects that always crop up in those greatest solos of all time lists, and look at some solos by players who take a different approach. Here's the link -
I'm not doing a full tutorial on all the solos, just talking about why I like them and maybe ...
2021-02-26 18:43:04 +0000 UTC View PostHere's my backing to accompany this week's lesson. You can use it to practice the solo or just jam along to it and do your own thing. The C major pentatonic scale will work well throughout. You could mix in some C minor pentatonic too. Or think triads and chord tones. Enjoy playing along!
2021-02-19 17:20:39 +0000 UTC View PostHello all! This week I have a little country-flavoured solo for you that's all based around the musical interval of a 3rd. We'll be learning the solo note for note and there's also a little bit of theory to help you understand this sound and get it into your own playing. Not just for country players either, as it's a pretty essential sound which you can use in many different genres.
Here's a link to the video -
Here's my backing track. The arrangement is as per the original recording. Enjoy playing along!
2021-02-12 12:35:12 +0000 UTC View PostHello all! This week I'm looking at the song Brand New Cadillac. Not the wonderful Clash recording, but the equally wonderful original version by Vince Taylor. It features some awesome guitar work by British session great Joe Moretti and if you want to work on your rock n roll/rockabilly playing, this one contains some essential vocabulary.
Here's the link -
2021-02-12 12:32:38 +0000 UTC View PostHello patrons! Hope you're all doing okay. Today, an epic beginner's fingerstyle lesson (there's also some slightly more advanced material towards the end). The idea here is to look at all of the most commonly used picking patterns in folk/blues playing. Learn them, and you'll set yourself up to be able to tackle any number of famous fingerstlye songs. Here's the link -
Th...
2021-02-05 15:29:22 +0000 UTC View PostHere's my backing to accompany this week's lesson. It should follow the arrangement of the original. Without the other instruments it's basically the same bass and drum groove for 5 minutes, so not that thrilling. But hope some of you find it useful.
2021-01-29 13:36:04 +0000 UTC View PostHello all! Following on from last year's shoegaze special, this week I'm looking at another of my favourite shoegaze tracks. As I say in the video, there's nothing too hard to play here, but some really memorable and interesting parts from a great and underrated band.
Here's a link to the video -
I've tabbed it all out below.
The video also marks the debu...
2021-01-29 13:17:42 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the backing to go along with this week's video. It's a kinda funky blues in A minor. I've looped it a few times to extend it. Use it to practice the lick or of course you can just do your own thing over it. Have fun!
2021-01-22 12:44:49 +0000 UTC View PostHello patrons! Hope everyone is doing okay. I thought it was about time we had another Nice Lick video. So today I'm looking at a bluesy, jazzy sort of lick that works particularly well over a dominant V chord in a minor key. Here's a link to the video -
Tab is below: I've written out the complete solo I play at the start of the video, the actual lick is in the last couple of ba...
2021-01-22 12:40:43 +0000 UTC View PostHere you go. Arrangement follows the original recording. Enjoy playing along
2021-01-15 19:30:34 +0000 UTC View Post