guitar columns

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.

Buying a new guitar can be an emotional ordeal. We’d like to share some helpful advice on what to think about before shopping for a new musical instrument.

Both hands are equally important when playing guitar. This beginner lesson looks at developing the basic techniques needed for your strumming hand.

Let’s look at guitar fills and the theory behind them. This lesson will teach you how to come up with your own interesting fills and transitions between chords.

Let’s tackle strumming patterns; how to learn them and get them down pat. Here’s an approach that will simplify the whole issue surrounding strumming patterns.

This beginner’s primer explains different types of scales and unusual chord progressions. We’ll learn how they work in songs like Gimme Shelter and Hey Joe.

There are a few guidelines to chord changes and progressions that make learning music theory and songwriting easier. Here are some useful rules to remember.

Being able to play along to songs you don’t know is a skill that can be learned. Here are some tips to help you join the band on any song.

This is the third and final part in our series of articles on figuring out songs by ear. Let’s put all the pieces together and and take out the guesswork.

The second of three parts, this lesson looks at songs by Smashing Pumpkins, The Eagles and Talking Heads to explore the conventions of song structure.

How do you figure a song out by ear? This is the first of three lessons on how to figure out songs without guitar tab.