Snow Covered Hills
Space is not just for exploring in a rocket ship... space in music is one of the most difficult yet powerful things you can add to your playing. For t…
Archives: Lessons
Mirror In The Sky
The harmonized G major scale is on deck today and you will play through it two notes at a time in different combinations on the high three strings of …
Avalanche
An avalanche of fingerpicking awaits you today. You'll be fingerpicking your way through the song "Landslide" using that basic pattern you learned on …
Afraid Of Changes
Building on what you worked on yesterday, today gives you the opportunity to add a subtle transition that adds interest to your chord transitions AND …
Fill Up The Tank
Thumb, Thumb, Thumb, Thumb, Thumb... Yep if you guessed today is about using your thumb you nailed it. You will be challenging your thumb to do someth…
Bathroom Break
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee... a phrase most associated with boxing, but fits perfectly with today's lick challenge. Your thumb is the st…
Alphabet Game
The title of today's challenge is a perfect match for what you are about to play. Today you will be playing the low string arpeggios to all of the nat…
Are We There Yet?
Double thumb to pinch... that is your mantra today. The ragtime technique that you will learn today puts your thumb in the driver seat. You will be pl…
Mix Tape
A culmination of techniques happens today... a "mix" of techniques if you will. You will stay on the double thumbing train, but this time you will use…
I’m A Lot Like You
Chord modifications sound mysterious and seem difficult, but the good news is that they are quite easy, especially if you use the chord you are holdin…
So Much More
The "Neil Young" chord is what's in store for you today. You know the one... I know you know the one. The great thing about this chord is that it's an…
Rolling Home To You
A bit of a shake up happens on today's challenge. You are going to mix two things that maybe you thought could never be mixed before... a major and a …
Take A Look At My Life
The main chord progression for "Old Man" is on deck and although it may seem pretty standard it has a bit of a twist... two twists actually. Twist #1 …
Run Around The Same Old Town
Remember those chord modifications from way back on Monday's technique challenge? Well, you're going to lean on those heavily to accentuate the change…
3D Glasses
First thing's first, make sure your guitar is in open D major tuning (D A D F# A D low to high strings). Now you can strap on your 3D glasses because …
Buttered Popcorn
Quite possibly the most useful open D tuning, blues lick is on the menu for you today. This may seem like just a small little two measure phrase, but …
Main Feature
A classic D minor pentatonic (blues) scale in open D tuning is going to be your target today... with a twist... or I should actually say a bend. You'l…
Starring Role
Open D tuning is just a wonderful, blank musical canvas to work with... Things sound new, they sound different, they have more impact, and... are easi…
Sunday Matinee
Just one more reminder that this week is all done in open D tuning, so if your guitar sounds a bit funky make sure that it's tuned D A D F# A D low to…
Mississippi Timing
There's a special magic when it comes to Mississippi John Hurt's finger picking style and it has to do with his timing. The feel he brings to his play…
Drive the Spike
Tough to describe this in any other way other than this is THE lick from Spike Driver's Blues, a song that Mississippi John Hurt is synonymous with. Y…
Railroad Tracks
Now, Mississippi John Hurt isn't known for his lead playing per se, but you can take his technique and apply it to lead guitar situations. Here you wi…
Spike Driver
Hammer on like you would hammer a spike. Today's rhythm challenge gives your fingerpicking rhythm guitar approach a subtle oomph that conures up some …
Catch and Release
Get ready to be comfortably uncomfortable... sounds weird I know, but today's transition challenge is one that uses friendly dissonance to emphasize c…
Cloudy Day
The objective for today is to give the picking hand a workout and gain a perspective on how to divide time so that you have options for basic rhythm a…
Gone Too Long
Melody is king. Melody is queen. Melody is top dog. I could go on, but I think you get the idea... melody is very important and it makes a great launc…
I Know, I Know, I Know
'A' minor pentatonic is on the menu today... all 5 positions of it as a matter of fact. One position of this scale is effective so don't feel like you…
Wither Away
The rubber meets the road today with 3 differing approaches to the basic chord progression of "Ain't No Sunshine." Starting from the basic chords with…
Every Time She Goes Away
A simple chord progression can receive the smallest of tweaks to make it more interesting and gain a greater feeling of movement... this chord progres…
Day 1 – Blues Jitter Bass
Bass is the name of the game today. You'll be using an eighth note pulse to play a bass pattern on your guitars low strings. While this sequence may h…
Day 2 – Triple Threat
Playing a blues shuffle is satisfying, useful, and it can get any foot tapping. The problem that sometimes arises is the thought that a blues shuffle …
Day 3 – Kodachromatic
Chromatic sequences are quite the ear catching thing, but how on earth do you integrate them into your playing? Today you find out. You'll be using a …
Day 4 – Shape Shifter
Your fretting fingers have an easy day ahead of them... well kind of. Today's 12 bar blues in A has you using the same exact shape for all of the chor…
Day 5 – Funkified Blues
Wowza!!! Today is a day to get funky with the blues. You'll be using pieces of chords, hammer-ons, and even muted strums to achieve a bit of funk flav…
Find Your Way
Pick accuracy is the name of the game today. You'll only be fretting a single chord today, so the action is all in your picking hand. Starting with a …
Just Ain’t Got The Time
The tag ending lick you're about to learn today is so much fun to play and not all that complicated, and it allows for lots of opportunity for modific…
Somebody Holds The Key
The classic 2 for 1 special, a shopper's delight, a sale that is sought out purely for the incredible value it offers... the same will apply to what y…
Waiting All These Years
Drop D tuning is wonderful... this chord progression in drop D tuning is even more wonderful... quite possibly the wonderfulest (I know, I know I made…
Come Down Off Your Throne
A simple recipe for success today: Take the same chord progression you played yesterday, add some simple bass note hammer-ons and pull-offs and voila …
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Course Overview & Your First Guitar Win!
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Two Note Window
For day 1 of your 5 day Bass Walk Challenge you'll be looking at a bass transition between two chords that takes up, as you may have guessed, two beat…
Four Note Window
As the name of today's challenge suggests you will be walking into the bass note of a chord using a full measure... all four beats. This type of trans…
Stepping Down
Instead of walking up to the bass note of the next chord, in today's challenge you will be walking down to the bass note of the next chord. This is a …
The Secret Sauce
Remember back to that two note window challenge? Well, today you'll take that two note bass walk and turn it into a full chord two beat bass walk. Sel…
Walk This Way
So far you've had a chance to play through some shorter form bass walks... I'm referring to the two beat and four beat windows that you have now becom…
Day 1 – Two Note Window
For day 1 of your 5 day Bass Walk Challenge you'll be looking at a bass transition between two chords that takes up, as you may have guessed, two beat…
Day 2 – Four Note Window
As the name of today's challenge suggests you will be walking into the bass note of a chord using a full measure... all four beats. This type of trans…
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Day 3 – Stepping Down
Instead of walking up to the bass note of the next chord, in today's challenge you will be walking down to the bass note of the next chord. This is a …
Day 4 – The Secret Sauce
Remember back to that two note window challenge? Well, today you'll take that two note bass walk and turn it into a full chord two beat bass walk. Sel…
Day 5 – Walk This Way
So far you've had a chance to play through some shorter form bass walks... I'm referring to the two beat and four beat windows that you have now becom…
Punching Bag
Today's technique challenge will bring together a few different pieces of the puzzle. First on the menu, a fretted pull off. This will find you fretti…
Punch It
Today's challenge will find you adding a solid musical exclamation point to your repertoire. You'll be learning this bluegrass lick in the key of G an…
Upper Cut
Pull offs and hammer ons are the key to today's improvisation challenge. There are some other goodies thrown in too like some blues as well as some dr…
Speed Bag
The rhythm guitar challenge for today is one that will help you with quick chord changes, and add a little giddy up to your current rhythm guitar offe…
Against The Ropes
Today's chord transition challenge is the culmination of what you have been working on all week long. You'll be adding a quick fill in between chord c…
Dogwood Flowers
Hammer-ons and pull-offs are on the menu today... a whole buffet of hammer-ons and pull-offs as a matter of fact. You'll be using every finger on your…
Rock Me
Where do guitar licks come from? Where do I even begin thinking about what to play for a guitar solo? The melody, the melody, the MELODY of the song y…
Wind And Rain
Today you'll take a standard G major scale one step further by targeting specific chord tones. You'll start by getting an open position G major scale …
North Country Winters
Rhythm guitar doesn't have to be busy, it doesn't have to be fancy, it just has to be steady, even, and supportive of the song. The strumming pattern …
Headin’ Down South
Picking up right where you left off yesterday this series of chord transitions is not crazy extensive, but it packs a punch and just so happens to use…
Home Sweet Home
Triplets are in the driver seat for today's technique challenge. Getting a hold of this rhythm will be the key to your progress this week, and it will…
Same Old Place
Upon hearing this lick for the first time, it takes you to a very distinctive place... it takes you right to the heart (actually the start) of sweet h…
Blues Brothers
The 'E' minor pentatonic scale is your focus for today, and you'll be learning two different versions of this scale starting in the same exact spot...…
Akroyd Shuffle
Before you today lies one of the most fun, useful, and recognizable rhythm patterns of the entire blues guitar world: the blues shuffle in the key of …
Belushi Bass
Combine ingredients and bake at 425 degrees for at least 10 minutes... nope, we're not cooking a pie today, we're cooking up a complete and varied app…
Earthquakes And Lightnin’
Two items are on the musical menu today: chord control and chord modifications. Sounds intense, but I can assure you its actually super fun and ultra …
Nasty Weather
Taking into account yesterday's technique challenge you will play a portion of the "Bad Moon Rising" guitar solo today. You'll be using your chord con…
Moonrise
A little mix and match is on deck today. You'll be taking a straight ahead D major scale and then mixing in a D major pentatonic scale. You'll find th…
Hurricane’s A Blowin’
One of the most useful and common chord progressions is what's in store for you today. This chord progression is found in far more songs than just "Ba…
Bathroom On The Right
I love it when a plan comes together, don't you? Today is the culmination of all of your hard (and fun) work from this week. You'll use the D chord mo…
Day 1 – Limbering Up
The limbering up exercise is one that will prepare your mighty index finger for the barre chord madness that is heading its way.
This exercise, which…
Day 2 – ‘E’ Shape Familiarity
There are two barre chord shapes that prove to be the most useful and the ‘E’ Shape is certainly one of them.
This workout is designed to get you…
Day 3 – ‘A’ Shape Familiarity
The A shape is an extremely effective barre chord shape and one that, once learned, can be incredibly useful.
This shape has given me a fair share of…
Day 4 – ‘E’ Shape Exam
It is exam time, wahoo!!!
Do not worry this is not a pass/fail situation.
This exercise is simply meant to work on a few aspects of the E shaped barr…
Day 5 – ‘A’ Shape Exam
It is time to test your A shape barre chord.
This test is really designed to evaluate where your barre chord is currently at and where it can go in t…
Shutout
Today's technique solely revolves around improving your sense of rhythm and timing. Since this week is dedicated to finger picking and particularly th…
Two Pad Stack
Mississippi Hill Country Blues is the genre this lick finds itself most at home. You will be using your new found sense of timing and control in conju…
Puckstopper
Two single string scales paired with a steady bass pulse will open up a world of bluesy opportunity for you today. The scale is a basic pentatonic sca…
Butterfly Slide
Minimalism and sparseness, two words not commonly associated with rhythm guitar... but they should be. When you truly edit your rhythm guitar playing …
Glove Save and a Beaut
Using single notes to transition from one chord to another is really cool... Using single notes to transition to and from chords with the blues is rou…
Slow (Slow) Hand
Two seemingly separate techniques are in store for you today... while these seem very unrelated, I think you'll find that when you begin working on th…
Late In The Evening
This is the one... THE ONE. When you think of this song... when you think of memorable guitar licks... this is the one. You'll use a beautiful, emotio…
Wonderful (This Evening)
Picking up where you left off yesterday, you'll discover the scale positions where the lick(s) you played yesterday were born. Two closed position 'G'…
Wonder Of It All
Four common chords, a relatively common chord progression, and a simple rhythm guitar pattern combine to create one of the most memorable and singable…
Go To A Party
It's all about that bass... yes THAT bass... one of the most catchy things about this beautiful song is the slow and lilting bass line that is used to…
Desert Highway
Your technique challenge involves developing picking accuracy while playing a chord one note at a time, also known as playing an arpeggio. This approa…
Mission Bell
Today's challenge will find you picking up right where you left off yesterday. Using mini chord shapes you'll be hinting at the chord progression to t…
Master’s Chambers
On the docket for today is a gaggle of scales in the key of A minor. By the end of today's challenge you'll have 3 different A minor pentatonic scale …
Lovely Place
"Hotel California" is and always will be one of the best guitar chord studies available, and lo and behold... that's what today's rhythm guitar challe…
Check Out Anytime
With a chord progression that contains as many chords as "Hotel California" does it's a nice touch to add some subtle bass led chord transitions. Toda…
Once Had Me
3/4 time, also known as waltz time, can be tricky if you've never tried it before. It can feel a bit disorienting and even confusing, which is why tod…
Shutout
Today's technique solely revolves around improving your sense of rhythm and timing. Since this week is dedicated to finger picking and particularly th…
Two Pad Stack
Mississippi Hill Country Blues is the genre this lick finds itself most at home. You will be using your new found sense of timing and control in conju…
Puckstopper
Two single string scales paired with a steady bass pulse will open up a world of bluesy opportunity for you today. The scale is a basic pentatonic sca…
Butterfly Slide
Minimalism and sparseness, two words not commonly associated with rhythm guitar... but they should be. When you truly edit your rhythm guitar playing …
Glove Save and a Beaut
Using single notes to transition from one chord to another is really cool... Using single notes to transition to and from chords with the blues is rou…
Slow (Slow) Hand
Two seemingly separate techniques are in store for you today... while these seem very unrelated, I think you'll find that when you begin working on th…
Late In The Evening
This is the one... THE ONE. When you think of this song... when you think of memorable guitar licks... this is the one. You'll use a beautiful, emotio…