String Bending in Tune - Video Guitar Lesson
When it comes to string bending, nothing is more important than correctly and confidently hitting your intended target pitch. There are three common bend distances that you should want to get under your fingers: half-step bends, whole-step bends and minor third (1 1/2 step) bends. Check out the video.
The bends are shown on the 2nd string. Here is how these bends are shown in tab notation, preceded by the target pitch to get it in your ear.
Keep in mind that once you can consistently make each bend at this area of the neck on the 2nd string you should try moving to other strings and positions. Each string has a different tension and that tension also changes at different points along that string, as well. Practicing these exercises will help you learn the pitch and muscle memory involved in being a confident (and in-tune!) string bender.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Tip Of The Day - Best One Dollar Guitar Store Buy
Purchase a string winder. It will save half your time when changing guitar strings. Well worth the dollar or two. And you get to play those minty-fresh strings sooner!
Additionally, they cleanly lift out the bridge pins on acoustic guitars.
Popularity: 2% [?]
“Iron Man” by Black Sabbath - Video Guitar Lesson
One of the all-time HEAVIEST guitar riffs must be “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath. Fill your victims (neighbors!) full of dread by turning your amp up to 11 and playing this Tony Iommi classic!
The tabs are in the video (full and 1/2 speed, how cool!) but here they are for your off-video practice.
You might also like to check out the following resources:
Popularity: 5% [?]
Metal Guitar Jam Track #3 - Van Halen style
Give the people what they want! That’s the credo I hope to follow with my guitar teaching website, GuitarTeacher.com. And as I look at my most popular posts I see “Metal Jam Track #1” competing neck and neck with… “Metal Jam Track #2“! So, can you guess what I came up with for today’s jam track? That’s right! It is time for Metal Jam Track #3!!
Straight off of my Van Halen Style lesson series for Riff Interactive comes this “Hot For Teacher” sound-a-like jam track in the key of A.
The following scales all work well:
And here is how to play the backing riff. Always good to know the rhythm parts, even for you lead players. The groove is a hyper-speed rock shuffle.
Want something else? Let me know by commenting!
Popularity: 5% [?]
Tip of the Day - Consistent Practicing
Practicing is key to becoming a better guitarist, obviously. But all practice time is not equal.
In my experience, practicing consistently 15-20 minutes a day makes for quicker progress than practicing for 90-120 minutes one day and not touching the guitar the rest of the week. Practicing consistently 90-120 minutes (or more) a day? Even better. 
Popularity: 2% [?]
4 Scales You Should Know
When it comes to guitar soloing, there are four scales that can be applied more often than any others. They are the Minor Pentatonic Scale, the Natural Minor Scale, the Major Scale and the Major Pentatonic Scale. Following are the most common patterns for each type. They include an easy-to-find root note on the heaviest (6th) string. These examples are all in the key of A.
Practice these patterns from the lowest-pitch root note to the highest note. Then descend from the highest note to the original root. This teaches both your ears and your fingers the full range of the pattern. Once you can do this, wander through and explore the sound of each scale. Or try them over appropriate jam tracks.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Latin Minor Bossa Guitar Jam Track
Here is a cool Latin Guitar Jam Track that I think will appeal to fans of all guitar styles. It is a ‘bossa’ style groove, a very common latin-jazz feel. It stays on one chord, Dm7, throughout. Rock players will probably dig playing Carlos Santana inspired licks against this one.
Here are a few scale suggestions:
D Minor Bossa Vamp - Suggested Scales
The E Minor Pentatonic scale is a great substitution against this Dm7 vamp, implying the Dorian mode. The Rule: Against a minor 7th chord, go up one whole-step and play that Minor Pentatonic.
Popularity: 5% [?]
“Wanted: Dead or Alive” Guitar Lesson - Intro
A song that seems to get alot of requests on-stage and at backyard/campfire jams is “Wanted: Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi. This tune is a great rock anthem with some very cool arpeggio picking guitar parts
The tabs are in the video (full and 1/2 speed, how cool!) but here they are for your off-video practice.
Wanted Dead or Alive Intro
Wanted Dead or Alive Intro - Part 2
You might also like to check out the following resources:
Or take private lessons with me.
Popularity: 6% [?]
Play “About A Girl” by Nirvana - Video Guitar Lesson
It’s nearly 15 years since the death of guitarist/songwriter Kurt Cobain but the music of Nirvana still influences almost every ‘alternative’ rock group to this day. Great songwriting, great voice and a great riff writer. This video guitar lesson shows how to play Nirvana’s “About A Girl”, the MTV Unplugged “Live in New York” version.
On the video I first run through the parts then show the parts half speed, breaking down the chords, strum patterns and the solo.
If you like this lesson and want to learn more Nirvana consider taking private lessons with me. You might also like to check out the following resources:
And, as always, please subscribe to my RSS feed. And tell a friend!
Popularity: 5% [?]
‘Funk E’ - Rock Fusion Jam Track #2
This has a feel reminiscent to the Miles Davis track “Jean Pierre”. Great for open-ended, anything-goes jamming in E. It is basically a static E7 chord with some extensions thrown in for “jazziness”.
Here are a few scale suggestions:
The F Diminished scale give you the E Half Step/Whole Step Diminished Scale which is gives some nice color notes against the static Dominant chord.
Popularity: 6% [?]
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