David Hodge

The title says it all. This lesson looks back on some of the recent techniques we’ve learned and reinforces them with some practical and recognizable examples.

This lesson looks at the workings of chords other than the basic major, minor, augmented and diminished.

This beginner music theory lesson looks at how to put chords together. We’ll examine the four main chord types in some detail.

Let’s go back to the beginning steps of music theory once again. This will help us answer a lot of questions about scales, leads, chords and melodies.

Sometimes we musicians need a shot in the arm when it comes to practicing. If your playing feels like it’s going nowhere it might help to take a more detached look at yourself and the way you play.

Let’s take a quick journey into song arrangement. In this lesson we’re going to arrange Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here for two guitars.

This lesson on songwriting investigates the motive behind writing a song. Why do you write a song? Do you have something to say?

This lesson looks at song structure. More specifically we’re looking at the bridge, which has been around almost as long as the study of music.

More than anything else, melody defines a song for us. Join us on a tour through the music theory basics of melody.

This music theory lesson delves into musical phrases and introduces a couple common types of cadences. We’ll try several well-known songs as examples.

The key signature of a song can be considered its home. We’re going to use a few familiar and easy examples to simplify key signatures and tonality.

There’s a huge difference between practicing and playing guitar. Let’s do a run down of good practice tips for guitar.

If a good guitar solo is the result of planning, how do you plan for the spontaneous, spur of the moment solo? Here are some ways to prepare for that moment.

The trick to becoming a better guitarist is you have to be able to work both inside and outside of the box. Your imagination will play an important part.

In this beginner lesson we’ll learn a few basic techniques for both the rhythm and lead guitarist. They are hammer ons, pull offs, slides and bends.

This is the first in a series of lessons teaching you how to play a guitar solo. We’re going to start by learning the fundamentals of a melodic guitar solo.

Let’s break musicianship down into three basic parts: what you were born with, what you can learn, and what you can dream. Where do you go next?

The third and final part in our look at alternate tunings. Let’s see how they can be used to write songs and we’ll throw a little bit of theory into the mix.

Part two in our look at alternate tunings. We’re going to see how alternate tunings can be used as a tool for arranging and interpreting old familiar tunes.

This is the first of three lessons on alternate tunings. We’ll go over the basics of alternate tunings such as why and how to use them with some great examples.