The Spider (with a twist). This is a great exercise, and I always advice doing this to guitarists that struggle with their left hand posture, or with playing with the tips of their left hand fingers. The concept is simple: play a 1 2 3 4 finger combination like I show you in the video,… Continue reading Spider with a twist
Month: November 2009
Never-ending chromatic scale
Never ending chromatic scale exercise. I think this video is pretty self explanatory. All you have to do is play a continuous chromatic scale without ever breaking the flow of semitones, without any restrictions in terms of fingering or direction on the fretboard. This means you are free to move up, down, diagonally, shift position… Continue reading Never-ending chromatic scale
Finger combinations Pt.2 – the next level
Finger Combinations Pt2 – The next level Same exercise, just taking it to the next level: play the combinations in different divisions (quarter note, eight note, triplets, quintuplets, and so on…) and at different tempos (but it’s not about speed…it’s about precision and clean technique, remember). Also use stretches between the 1st and 2nd finger,… Continue reading Finger combinations Pt.2 – the next level
Finger combinations Pt.1
Finger Combinations Pt1 – The basic idea This exercise is one of those exercises everybody knows but nobody practices…for sure, it is one of the most useful, you’ll see. It consist in playing up to the 12th fret and back all the possible combinations of fingers of the left hand (one at time, of course).… Continue reading Finger combinations Pt.1
Guitar Technique: Rhythms
This is quite simple but challenging exercise. It is based around superimposing a rhythm to the material you are learning, or trying to master. In the video I take as an example a G major scale and superimpose the following rhythms: You can also reverse the exercise and keep the eight note in the first… Continue reading Guitar Technique: Rhythms
Guitar Technique: Left Hand Posture Tips
I have seen too many times young or inexperienced guitarists having to go back to basics because of poor left hand posture. In this video I’ll give you some tips on how to better your left hand posture following a few simple concepts: 2. Keep your thumb opposite your fingers on the other side of… Continue reading Guitar Technique: Left Hand Posture Tips
Advice on sound: Creative noises
Make some creative guitar noise! The typical scenario at a pop/rock recording session is trying to come up with some interesting guitar parts that fit the song, but fulfill your creative side as well. The three parts you are usually asked to record are riffs/chords, solos and what I call ‘noises’. These are usually based… Continue reading Advice on sound: Creative noises
Power Chords – From Basic to more advanced structures
A long-ish lesson about power chords. From The basic 1-5 that we should all know, to more contemporary and fuller sounding shapes, as used by contemporary prog rock bands, and more! Just watch, learn, go out and play. Printable PDF: Power chords shapes
How to use a capo – different approaches
Jog Scale
This is a scale I know as ‘Jog scale’. I am sure even though you might not know it by name, you have heard its sound before, as it is featured in a lot of Beatles tunes, and also a favorite of guitarist Eric Johnson. It has an Indian flavor to my ears…just watch the… Continue reading Jog Scale