Blog Archives

There’s a very simple reason a lot of solos sound more like someone playing scales rather than solos and it all comes down to how you practice. Learn how to solo by learning how to practice soloing.

In Part 3 of her series on understanding modes, Beth Isbell gives practical tips on how and when to use any mode to either an entire song or a chord progression.

The author of The Musician’s Way describes 7 strategies that enhance student-teacher communication and boost the benefits of music lessons.

Here’s a very cool single-guitar finger style instrumental blues piece that will teach you about driving, single note bass lines and creating cool melody lines and fills.

Some beginners give up on guitar after a short time. David explains why the physical shape of your first guitar may be why your first efforts at playing are more frustrating than they should be.

In Part 2 of her series on “A Simple Way to Understand Modes,” Beth Isbell walks us through the use of modes to specifically outline simple chords.

In the final installment of her look at “The Learning Curve of Various Styles of Guitar,” Jamie Andreas examines what is needed to become proficient as a jazz or a classical guitarist.

Playing outdoors is fun, but it also requires you to pay more attention to your guitar strings! Professor String gives us tips on keeping your guitar happy when you play outside.

Everyone seems to have his or her own “Aha!” moment when it comes to modes. Guitar Noise welcomes Beth Isbell, who kindly shares her modal method with our readers in this multi-part series

Nick Minnion concludes his three-part series on solving timing and rhythm problems with a look at playing various eighth note, triplet and sixteenth note rhythms.

Guitar Noise presents the first in a new series of songs written specifically for guitar studies. Here is a cool blues number, reminiscent of Taj Mahal’s “Fishing Blues” to help you develop your finger picking, hammer-on skills and use of syncopation and timing.

If you want to teach guitar, then it’s critically important to know what the most important steps are to becoming the best teacher you can be. Tom Hess outlines five important things you should learn about how to teach guitar.

Creating expressive solos involves a lot more than playing a lot of notes. One of the best ways to practice expressiveness is to use just a handful of notes, as Tom Hess demonstrates in his latest article. This lesson includes a great tutorial video as well.

Part 3 of Jamie Andreas’ “The Learning Curve of Various Styles of Guitar” examines the skill set needed to become proficient at rock guitar – all sorts of rock guitar styles. As with the past articles in this series, Jamie also provides you with excellent resource materials to supplement your learning as you hone your guitar skills.

Getting people out to see your band, even when those people are family, friends or fans, can be a challenge. Tom Hess looks at ways to bring more people to your band’s live performances.

Join Guitar Noise in welcoming Philadelphia-based guitar teacher Kale Good to our pages. In his first article, Kale lists out seven easy (and essential) steps toward becoming a better guitar player. They won’t make you a guitar god overnight, but they will set you on a path of successful playing for your lifelong guitar journey.

Scales are simply notes and, as notes, can be found all over the fretboard. While guitarists tend to learn these scales in set patterns, it’s possible to go beyond those basic patterns and create new ways to get around with your scales. Chris Juergensen shows you how in this terrific article.

In Part 2 of “The Learning Curve of Various Styles of Guitar,” Jamie Andreas looks at the skills needed to become a “strum and sing” guitar player.

There many things you need to know and do in order to become successful in the music industry. But even if you learn and do all of those things, you still might prevent yourself from achieving success in the music business by making key mistakes along the way. Tom Hess guides you around the many pitfalls along the road to success in the music industry.

Many people were introduced to this traditional song through Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged session. It’s also been recorded by Leadbelly and many others.