In this video lesson I talk about free-improvisation on the guitar and its many benefits
Diatonic 7th Chords with Diminished 7 Passing Chords
Mar 11, 2020
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In this video I teach how to play 7th chords through a major key along the 5th string on the guitar, and then how to add awesome sounding diminished seven approach chords in-between every chord from the scale
How to Tune a Guitar by Ear (7 steps that work better than a tuner)
Feb 25, 2020
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Do you wish you could tune your guitar quickly by ear, get it more in tune than a tuner does, and improve your musical ear all at once?
In this video I explain and demonstrate seven ways to tune a guitar by ear without a tuner. These seven approaches combined are guaranteed to get your guitar...
The One Warm up to Do When Practice Time Is Limited
Feb 18, 2020
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In this video lesson I teach and demonstrate the one technique warm up to do when your practice time is limited.
Outline (use the links to jump to that section of the video on YouTube)
0:00 - Introduction
0:22 - Why warming up is important
2:40 - Exercise setup
3:20 - Sheet music and full...
How to Master Major Scales on the Guitar (5 levels)
Feb 11, 2020
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There’s a reason scale diagrams are so popular: because it’s relatively straightforward to sound good improvising within a scale while looking at a diagram.
But to get to the next level of music knowledge on the fretboard we need to learn how to rapidly switch between scales,...
Best Left Hand Fingering for Playing Scales on the Guitar (how to shift positions)
Feb 04, 2020
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In order to play guitar in any key all over the fretboard we have to learn how to play the same scale in five different ways.
The better we know these scale forms the better off we are as guitarists.
Unfortunately three out of the five of them can be awkward becuase we...
The Secret to Solo Guitar Playing (and making it sound smooth)
Jan 28, 2020
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Playing "solo guitar” means that we’re playing multiple parts at once: melody, harmony, and bass.
Sometimes even multiple melodies at once.
But when we try to play solo guitar using old habits left over from strumming chords, it ends up sounding stiff and...
How to Play Your Own Jazz Guitar Chord Melodies (this really works and it’s straight forward)
Jan 21, 2020
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In the world of jazz guitar there’s one thing that we can all agree on: chord melodies are hard! But also, that they sound so freaking cool that it’s worth it.
A “chord melody” on the guitar is when a melody is played with nearly every note being harmonized...
What does it take to get amazingly good at playing the guitar?
Jan 15, 2020
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To get good, really good, at ANYTHING, simply never stop practicing the fundamentals.
I'm grateful to have learned this many times over while teaching private guitar lessons.
Every time I simplify my approach to teaching or practicing, and go back to focusing on the fundamentals, that's...
Songwriting Tip for Guitar Players (how to write unique melodies over chords)
Jan 15, 2020
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When songwriting on the guitar it’s easy to get stuck on one idea that sounds good and not be able to break away from it.
When we finally finish a song it might end up not feeling like it goes anywhere, or several of our songs might turn out sounding very similar to each...
Important Ear Training Exercise for Guitarists (we need this!)
Jan 07, 2020
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Are you actually hearing everything you’re playing when you play the guitar? The truth is that many of us aren’t!
We have to face the hard truth that, unless we do something about it, guitarists have bad ears.
Playing a fretted instrument means that we...
How Guitarists Should Learn Music Theory (so many people don’t do this!)
Dec 31, 2019
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It’s hard to ignore the enormous benefits of understanding music theory.
Having knowledge of theory is like having a birds-eye-view map of how music works, and whatever you play shows up as a little “you are here” arrow.
Every time I play anything on the...
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