We’ve been working out the last few remaining hiccups for the backing track software this past week. Whenever you develop software it always takes 5 times longer than you planned! But the most important thing is to get it right.

I’m excited about being able to offer this kind of practice tool in my guitar lessons as it’s going to give students the ultimate practice tool – one which I know is deadly effective. The end result is that you’ll achieve fluency on guitar faster and that’s going to be exciting.

One of the great things about YouTube is the fact that you can get so many great guitar lessons for free. While they do vary wildly in quality if you search around enough you can find some very decent guitar channels.

The best way to use free guitar lessons on YouTube is when you have something quite specific that you’d like to learn.

For example, it’s perfect if you want to learn a new blues turnaround lick to keep you busy for the afternoon. On the minus side you won’t really find a lot of complete guitar tutorials or courses which are complete and waiting for you. Guitar lessons on YouTube are really about ‘samples’ rather than structured courses. This means that it’s not really the best place to learn how to play guitar. Learning in what I call ‘bits and pieces’ just leaves lots of gaps in your playing knowledge and it’s these very gaps which will later come back to haunt and frustrate you.

This is probably why many people decide to start from zero with a structured guitar course having spent literally years taking the bits ‘n pieces approach only to find it’s ultimately a road to nowhere.

So in summary – YouTube is great for learning something very specific on guitar but horrible for trying to learn to play in a general sense. There just isn’t a proper structure to follow.

Hey Guys,

So far over 2,000 of you have already tried the ‘chicken thing’ on your guitar – my inbox has been kind of flooded with emails from you about it and well I’m happy to know that many of you had some good fun (especially with the kids) trying to do it.

One of the most frequently asked questions I got was “do you have a collection of these sounds?” and actually I do. Would you like a complete video list of them? I’ll see what I can put together and of course I’ll post it up on the blog for you all to play.

If you haven’t yet tried it just watch the video the below this post and all will be revealed!

This Ends Tomorrow At Midnight!

In other news… 4 of our most popular guitar products will increase in price in just 48hours so if you’re interested in any of them make sure you order before the deadline closes tomorrow (Tuesday 12th April) at midnight. The following courses will stop being sold at the introductory prices of $37 and increase to $47 so if you want to get in on any of them while they are still discounted do so straight away! Just click the links to check each one out…

Fingerstyle Guitar Lessons

Blues Guitar Lessons

Spanish Guitar Lessons

Electric Guitar Lessons

Talk Soon!

Hi guys,

Maybe this is the strangest guitar lesson I’ve ever filmed… When I used to teach guitar in a primary school to young children we would often have fun trying to imitate the sound of different animals on our guitars. It was a way to make learning guitar totally different and fun for them instead of doing all the same old boring stuff normally associated with learning a musical instrument at school. Well, I’ve decided to show you how we were doing it and I hope you’ll give it a try! It works best on nylon string guitars and even better on electric.

Ok here we go for part 2. Make sure you’re really comfortable with the basic strumming pattern I showed y0u in part 1. In this lessons we’ll add the alternating bass notes which will give you INSTANT COUNTRY GUITAR as heard on literally millions of songs!

Hello budding guitar players…

I’ve posted this video to show you how to play along to slow country songs on guitar. The lesson is split into 2 parts to make it nice and easy to learn – Part 2 will be coming tomorrow.

In this section I’ll teach you how to get that ‘laid back’ country flow happening and tomorrow we’ll put the finishing touch on it so you can get a really authentic country guitar strum sound happening.

Once you learn how to do it you’ll find yourself recognizing it everywhere as it’s such a classic sound. It’s also a very useful strum to be able to do and may even open up an entirely new world of guitar songs for you! Let’s hope so.

If it’s your first time attempting this kind of thing then do yourself a big favor and go through it slowly – when you practice so slowly that it becomes impossible for you to make a mistake then you’ll soon see some dramatic improvement in your guitar playing!

Leave a comment below the video if you have any questions… enjoy!

Its shredding time! For all you metal heads out there or to any guitar player who just wanted to play it fast like lightning, this post is for you. Shredding is one thing that we usually hear from metal and rock guitar players. It is the act of picking notes in a fast pace. This is definitely a difficult thing to do. Especially if you are not used to doing it. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of focusing on certain guitar techniques that would surely make your hands and fingers go zoom. Today, we will discuss that.

Alternate Picking – how to do it

Alternate picking is an example of a guitar technique that enables you to pick twice as fast as you normally do. Instead of picking down notes individually, the idea is to hit one note with a down stroke of a pick and another note with the upstroke of a pick. That’s two notes in one go. And if you can do it in a quick tempo that would definitely shred a flurry of notes. It takes time and practice to master this technique but if you do it regularly, you would get used to it and eventually you can’t avoid doing it anymore.

Alternate Picking – other guitar techniques that help you gain speed

There are also other techniques other than alternate picking that helps you gain speed eventually. There techniques called economy picking, sweep picking, and others. These are also difficult techniques but you could master it if you put your neck into it. But for now, you could settle down first for alternate picking.

Beginner Guitar Players Guide

Beginner Guitar Players Guide

As a beginner, it is only right that you should be guided accordingly. This way, you can be sure that you would be journeying smoothly in the world of guitar playing. This career is a journey, just like any other career. That is why it is only right to put your back into it and do your best. However, what good is working hard and doing your best if you don’t know what to do? If you don’t have a guide, all of these things are useless. That is why it is important that you have some reference on what to do. That is the role of beginner guitar lessons.

Beginner Guitar Players Guide – Artists to listen to

You could start by listening to artists or bands that uses simple chord progressions. Not that they aren’t skillful, these bands only uses these simple chords because they believe that there is beauty in simplicity and damn right there is. Try to listen to some early Beatles song, some blues music of long ago and other pop stuff. There are also other rock songs that feature simple chords. You could start on that one. Keep on listening and observe the way they play it and you will definitely get a lot of stuff out of it.

Beginner Guitar Players Guide – Conclusion

All that you must have in the world is the determination, the perseverance and the discipline to condition yourself and your mind to practice every single day. That’s dedication. If you really want to learn, you must have that, no petty excuses. No ifs and buts, just pure motivation to reach somewhere. Being a beginner is a large step forward, do not underestimate it. A lot of stuff that happens in this stage determines your place in the future. So make use of this beginner guitar players guide.

Are you bored of the same old guitar solos that you are playing over and over again? Do you think that your guitar playing is lifeless and not worth listening? Maybe you lack techniques… guitar techniques bring life to guitar solos and gives emphasis to it. There are several guitar techniques that could make your guitar soloing skills a little bit more colorful. The thing is, you should learn it one at a time or else become confused on how you are going to learn it all at once. So pick one technique, master it and then move on to the next one. This way everything would be organized

So, to give you a quick tip, you can try learning the vibrato. The vibrato is a technique that breathes in life to your guitar solos. It is done by rapidly bending a note up and down. I don’t actually know how and why but it does bring emotion and life to a note. Imagine a guitar solo with and without vibratos, and you would definitely see the difference that it makes. That is why; if you want to make something more out of your lead guitar playing abilities, learn how to do the vibrato.

Having the right type of skills in playing the guitar is indeed a great achievement. But getting your guitar is as important as acquiring those skills. So if you want to learn more about how to acquire a guitar, this is the place to be. Because, when it comes to acoustic guitars and electric guitars for sale, this is what every beginner guitar players should know about it. So sit back relax and enjoy the post.

First, consider the feel or the playability of a guitar. Ask yourself if you could play comfortably with it without any problems. It is important that you are comfortable with a guitar5 because the more you are comfortable with it, the more you would love it and the more you will be motivated to play it. Next is the size of the guitar. There are different sized guitars, one for kids and one is the standard sized. Ti doesn’t matter that much but if you are a kid who has troubles using a standard sized guitar, you could always buy a smaller one. Lastly, the brand and the finish. Different band offer different things and different tones also come out of them. So be particular on which tonal quality do you prefer. Also, pick the finish or the color that suits you best.

You might tell yourself whenever you hear a song that you could write a song better than that. But to tell you honestly, it is not that easy. You don’t know the formula in which you would follow to make a hit song. There is no formula, matter of fact. It varies; sometimes it is plain coincidence, sometimes it’s just the right timing that made it popular. So if you want to know more about this subject matter, I have just the right amount of information here that you would definitely find useful. This would save you from the headache of searching for it elsewhere on the internet where it is teeming with false and unreliable information. So sit back and enjoy the post and by the moment you finish reading this article. You shall be enlightened.

If you really want a song that would stand out, you are aiming for something difficult. But just to give you an advice here’s how to create a song that stands out among the rest.

1. It must be uniquely beautiful. It should not conform to the trend but still outstanding enough to catch the ears of many.
2. People should relate to it.

The technology of today allows us to do things that we never imagined possible before. With the development of various mediums such as the computers, everything nowadays can be simulated, especially guitar equipments. Long ago, if we want great tones from an amp, we have to buy a very expensive amplifier, a tube amplifier. Now, you don’t have to do that. With a click of a mouse and the proper hardware, you’ll be having the greatest tones that you ever had in your life, all in your computer, and that’s 1/28 of the price of a vintage tube amp. So if you want to know more about this, I urge you to read more. This would save you the trouble of learning somewhere else which is very dodgy for there are lots of unreliable information sources out there. So sit back and read.

Amp modeling software is the new trend nowadays. Stomp boxes, cabinets, gadgets, effects, miking, name it, it has it and it is all packed in single software. Just add a little for the hardware (controllers) and you are ready to rock, backed up by a professionally – sounding rig. Software’s like Amplitube and Guitar rig provides you with this, and you could even use your iPhone. Imagine that?

Blink 182’s infamous drummer, Travis Barker has recently announced that he is preparing to release a solo album. But it won’t be pretty much similar to Blink 182, it is leaning more to the hip-hop side of Barker. The title, Transplants and Expensive Taste. Barker has allegedly recruited some of the biggest names in the industry of rap and hip – hop. Expect collaborations from Eminem, Lil Wayne and the self – proclaimed gangster’, Snoop Dogg. Also, still cooking in the kitchen is team ups with Drake, T.I., The Game, Pharell Williams, RZA, Lupe Fiasco, Rick Ross, The Cool Kids, and Clipse.

And if all you Blink 182 fans out there are worried, worry no more. Barker ain’t splitting up with the band, he’s just doing some side – lines (if you could call that one) and you could expect them to be on tour in Europe.

My Thoughts: I am always a fan of Travis Barker, not that he is super good in his drumming, because he definitely isn’t the best around, but I admire the way he portrays his act. The whole pop and punk image, he knows how to project it perfectly. That is one of the major things that admire from him.

Here’s something that would inspire all you artists out there. I know almost all of you wants to put out your own material out there but don’t know where to start. So to help you with this, I have tips here that would get you up and running. It’s not that hard to put out a CD, yeah, that’s a fact. That is if you’re only doing it for yourself, for your own satisfaction, which is in my opinion, the best attitude towards it. If you do it for yourself first, everything would follow. Anyway, here’s how to do it:

1. First and the most obvious thing that you should do are to write your own song.
2. If you don’t have a home studio, complete with instruments, you could always use what is available. Say you only have a guitar and bass guitar; you could use software for the drums and other instruments. I suggest using Mixcraft for drums and guitar rig for amps.
3. Record your song using audio recording software like audition.
4. Mix it, master it, level everything, and make sure it sounds good for you.
5. Burn a master CD. Then duplicate and distribute. That’s it!

I’m not talking about serious mistakes.  I am talking about the mistakes that you could do on stage.  So what about it?  It is of very humiliating experience to make an obvious mistake on stage with regards to your performance.  But the truth with these mistakes is that it is very inevitable to complete the show without making a single mistake.  You can’t do a 100% perfect show because we are only human and we are prone to mistakes.  But the thing is not all people would notice that mistake and that makes it fine.  Its okay to make mistakes while performing but it is better if you know how to make it not obvious.  Here are some tips to be successful on that.

While performing, if you make a mistake, don’t let them notice it.  Make a poker face, because if you laugh or react, you will show the people that you indeed made a mistake.  That is if you don’t want them to notice.  But most of the time, people known it is normal to make errors while performing live.  That is why if the best thing you could do when you commit a mistake is laugh it all out.