Slides give you another way to connect notes in a lead phrase. Instead of picking each note separately, you keep contact with the string and move directly into the next fret. In this lesson, we’ll practice sliding up and down, compare legato and shift slides, then apply the technique inside familiar pentatonic phrases. Skill Builders … Read more
Bending gives you a way to change the pitch of a note after you play it. Instead of simply landing on a note and holding it, you can raise the pitch into another note and give the phrase more movement and expression. In this lesson, we’ll work on the mechanics of a bend, learn how … Read more
Hammer-ons and pull-offs give you another way to shape scale notes instead of picking every note with the same attack. These techniques connect notes more smoothly and can add contrast inside riffs, melodies, and improvised phrases. In this lesson, we’ll learn both techniques, clean up the most common problems, then apply them inside the A … Read more
Travis picking is a fingerpicking method named after guitarist “Merle Travis”, who has influenced guitarists over the last decades, including Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel. This fingerpicking style is characterized by a repeated bass pattern, while playing chords and melody at the same time. In this lesson, we’ll cover how to play Travis picking patterns … Read more
Fingerpicking is a beautiful and versatile guitar technique, but mastering it can feel daunting at first. If you’ve ever tried learning a song with fingerpicking, you may have noticed repeating patterns in your picking hand as the chords change. These patterns add rhythm, texture, and musical interest to your playing. In this lesson, we’ll break … Read more
Learning to play with your fingers on guitar is a very useful skill that will help you go a long way on your instrument. Finger picking, also know as finger style playing, provides a warm and rich sound from the sound of the guitar when playing melodies, chords and other rhythms elements. Using your fingers … Read more
Playing melody and chords together lets you turn separate musical parts into a fuller guitar arrangement. In this lesson, you’ll learn a step-by-step process for combining a melody with its chord progression, choosing useful chord voicings, and gradually adding bass or rhythmic movement. In short, the steps to connect melody and chords on guitar are: … Read more
Fingerpicking or finger-style playing is a method of playing guitar strings using your fingers as opposed to using a pick that you grip between your fingers. The fingerpicking technique is a beautiful style of playing which opens up many sound possibilities on the guitar. This style ranges from being able to play single note melodies … Read more
If you’re just starting your guitar journey, you might be wondering whether guitar tabs are a good way to learn. The short answer? Yes, tabs are an excellent starting point for beginners. They make it easy to start playing songs without having to read standard music notation. That being said, learning traditional notation later on … Read more
Perhaps you’re learning to play the guitar and are still trying to figure out what picking method is best to learn. In this post, I highlight some advantages and disadvantages between a fingerstyle picking method versus using a pick to help you choose the right method for you. In short, choosing between using a fingerstyle … Read more