Advanced Lesson Plan

Hi there guys and welcome to this tutorial on Legato and Hybrid picking that I've entitled Modern Legato Application/Approach. In this lesson I'm introducing you to 5 examples of phrases or lines that I often play when improvising. We'll be playing scale like figures and lots of arpeggios through many positions on the neck...Read More

Welcome to the Finger Tapping Tutorial! This is a fairly large tutorial that spans from beginning to advanced levels. So no matter what skill level you're at, I'd encourage you to go through the whole thing from start to finish. There's something for everyone here. With that said, let's rock! Well, what is finger tapping? ...Read More

Holiday greetings and salutations guitar slingers! X-mas is drawing near, and what says happy holidays better than a sweeping-frenzy? In this technique/song tutorial, we will take a look at an excerpt from the song Tribute off my Fretdance(2003) album. The song itself is a pretty strange mix of techno and shred, and the sw...Read More

Hi there! Welcome to this tutorial on phrasing over the bar line! This is the first of a set of tutorials where we'll be covering phrasing and more specifically phrasing over the bar line and developing independence from bar lines in general. This tutorial will deal with the concept of the Hemiola. But before we get into t...Read More

Hey guys! I decided to break down some cool economy-picked licks. Economy picking is a great technique to aquire in your repetoire of shred-tastic abilities, so take your time and make sure to pay close attention to the picking-direction details given in the provided tablature. Economy Picking Fundamentals To get down to ...Read More

Welcome! In this tutorial, we're going to explore a technique I call 'Pedal Tone Legato'. This is a classically-influenced technique that combines different elements of legato and pedal tones. Before we learn the technique, let's make sure we understand what legato and pedal tones are. Legato is the smooth transition betw...Read More

Welcome to this tutorial on Hybrid Picking! Hybrid picking is a very useful technique, applicable in many musical styles, ranging from Country to Fusion. In the world of country this technique is called 'Chicken Picking', probably stemming form the fact that in the old days of folk music, guitar players used to flat pick p...Read More

Hi there guys! Welcome to this tutorial on visualizing pentatonic scales for guitar. This tutorial aims to help you break out of the rut that the typical box pattern approach to learning pentatonics can produce. If I were to put money on it, I'd bet that most of you out there know one or two, if not more, pentatonic shape...Read More

Greetings Guitar Slingers! The goal of the ”Unlocking the Fretboard” tutorial is for you to be able to break free from the stereotypical ”box”-playing and be able to have our playing and ideas flow all over the neck. Before launching head on into this tutorial I want to to review the order in which...Read More

Hi Guys! Welcome to this tutorial on using Melodic Minor Scales. In this tutorial we'll be learning how to use melodic minor scales in conjunction with the major scales we already know in a harmonic context. By the end of these lessons you'll have a good understanding of how some of the ways in which we can use melodic m...Read More

Welcome guitar slingers! The goal of the Timing and Note Value Alteration tutorial is to expand your improvisational and musical abilities drastically. When you apply these concepts, I can guarantee you that you improvisational skills in all styles will increase exponentially, and you will be that much closer to unlocking ...Read More

Greetings Guitarslingers! Welcome to my tutorial on Line Alteration! As is mentioned in the video, the goal of this tutorial is for you to understand the concept of line alteration, not just to learn the licks and improvisations transcribed herein. It is very important that you apply this concept as soon as possible on a...Read More

Alrighty then! Let's get cracking on the first sequence. The whole sequence is based around the tonal centre of A dorian and while it is mainly diatonic, there are some additional passing notes present which make the sequence that little bit more interesting to the ear. I think that rather than trying to digest every singl...Read More

Hi Guys and Gals! Welcome to this months tutorial which is all based on 'outside' playing. Now I'm not suggesting that you all find a nice field somewhere and play in the fresh air. Rather the way in which fusion and jazz guitarists (and these days many rock musicians) play phrases and ideas which are unrelated to the key ...Read More

Hi there guitar lovers! This months tutorial is on Minor 6th pentatonic scales. What an earth are those you may ask? A minor 6th pentatonic is a hybrid pentatonic scale built from a Dorian or Melodic Minor scale and differs from our standard minor pentatonic by only one note. But this one note makes a huge difference when...Read More

Hi there guys! Welcome to this tutorial on 'Playing Over Changes'. This is the idea of playing or improvising over a series of chords that change key every bar or other bar. We aren't going to be dealing with diatonic or functional harmony progressions in this tutorial. We'll have a separate one for that purpose. The first...Read More

Hi there and welcome to part 2 of 'Playing over Changes'. This time we'll be dealing with melodic minor chords and their associated scale choices and also with motivic development over changes. For the purpose of this tutorial a small piece of information:- All named scales start from the root of the chord in question. Ou...Read More

The Melodic Minor Scale is one of the 3 minor scales that you are going to encounter. This scale has two versions to it: the ascending version and the descending version. The ascending version can can be thought of as being a major scale with a lowered 3rd. The descending version is just going back to the natural minor sc...Read More

The Harmonic Minor scale is one of the 3 'traditional' minor scales that we use in music. The other 2 are the Aeolian mode (natural minor) and Melodic Minor. The other 2 'minor' scales that we use are the Phrygian and Dorian Modes The Harmonic Minor scale is basically the same as the Natural Minor Scale except that the H...Read More

You probably wonder what NE->SW means? Well, it's North East to South West - may sound funny but it's the best way to describe it! I would like to mention one thing you will sure meet in some of my lessons - and that is DRAWING. I like to call it drawing because when I work on exercises I usually get bored if I just pla...Read More

Hey there Lads and Lasses and a very warm welcome to a special tutorial! Following on from my tutorial of the solo section of 'Andromeda' by Marco Sfogli, today's tutorial will be an in depth look at the full track entitled 'Still Hurts' taken from Marco's debut album, 'There's Hope'. This track is an absolute winner in e...Read More

Greetings Guitar Slingers! In this tutorial, we will take a close look at an intro to one of my songs. This one is called NeoBlues, and is a track off of my FretDance (2003) album. We won't be covering the entire song for this tutorial (for a full song tutorial of mine, check out my previous Super Continental tutorial). W...Read More

Welcome everyone! In this tutorial, we'll be learning a piece I wrote called 'Premonition'. It has a bit of a Symphony X vibe to it and has a good mix of melodic and heavy riffs. I hope you enjoy it! Once you've watched the video above, head on over to the next page for Exercise 1.Read More

Greetings Guitar slingers! Welcome to my tutorial on funk rhythm guitar playing! As I mention in the video, there are many, many variations on funk guitar playing. There is single note funk (more like playing bass lines on guitar), strumming (like what we will be covering here) and much more. You might want to check out S...Read More

Hey IG'ists and welcome to this tutorial in the style of the phenomenal acoustic guitarist Andy McKee. Andy McKee was born in Topeka, Kansas and is one of the world’s finest acoustic soloists. After receiving over 20 million views collectively for his Youtube videos which were posted by the independent record label &...Read More

Hey dudes, wassup! Thanks for checking in on this tutorial. What we're going to be doing is looking at the solo to my track 'Ascendance of the Spheres' taken from my 2005 ep, Re-Invention. Let's take a look at the solo in its entirety and then I'll break the whole thing down for you. I've also provided the backing track for...Read More

Welcome everyone! In this song tutorial, we're going to learn some intense metal riffs and ideas. Please note that this song is in Drop D tuning. If you aren't exactly sure what that is, go ahead and click here. Once you've checked out the video above, head on over to the next page to start learning!Read More

Hey everyone! Welcome to the 'Metal Riffing with 16th Note Triplets' tutorial. Today we're going to focus on a group of rhythmic notes called 16th Note Triplets, also known as sextuplets. First off, let's go over what 16th note triplets actually are... 16th note triplets represent 6 notes for every beat. So for example, i...Read More

Hey there, Thanks for joining me! In this lesson we are going to be taking a look at one of Mauro Giuliani's well known op49 studies. No19 is my choice today. Lets take a look at the study in its entirety on video and then we'll break it down into manageable chunks for you to digest. Sound good? OK, lets do it!Read More

Welcome everyone! In this song tutorial, we're going to learn some intense metal riffs and ideas. Please note that this song is in Drop D tuning. If you aren't exactly sure what that is, go ahead and click here. Once you've checked out the video above, head on over to the next page to start learning!Read More

Hi guys! Today we're going to learn part of a song from my forthcoming debut album. The song is called Sleeper and we're going to start about 3 minutes into the track after the main improvised solo section. The tune moves between four time signatures - 7/8, 5/8 and 4/4 with a couple of 2/4 bars thrown in for good measure!...Read More

Yo! and welcome to my latest tutorial this time focusing on the style and techniques of the amazing UK guitarist Guthrie Govan. This lesson was created with inspiration from the following: Blues Jam Tracks Cornford Records I first came across Guthrie Govan when he won the UK Guitarist of the Year back in 1993 with his...Read More

Hey all! This is a piece I wrote called 'Expiration Date'. It has a good mix of metal, progressive, and hardcore elements. Once you've checked out the video, head on over to the next lesson and let's learn it!Read More

OK guys, it's time for some serious string twangin' and finger pluckin' in my latest tutorial. You'll find a variety of different techniques in here, from string bending to hybrid picking and much more. The piece is in three distinct sections, the first being the 'intro' part,the second being the 'rhythm' part and the thir...Read More

Welcome to the 'Internal Life' song tutorial. This is one of my heavier tunes and it focuses on having tight rhythm playing. Influential-wise, there's probably a little bit of Symphony X and Meshuggah in there. Also, note that this song is in Drop D tuning. If you aren't exactly sure what that is, click here. Have fun!Read More

Welcome! In today's lesson we will be studying the classical guitar solo written by Spanish composer/guitarist Francisco Tárrega (1852 - 1909). Tárrega is considered by many to have been responsible for the revival of interest in the guitar as a concert instrument during the 19th century. His relationship wi...Read More

Alright! Welcome to the 'Pending Closure' song tutorial. This is definitely one of my favorite tunes that I've written. What I'll be showing you in this tutorial is a segment taken from the song's mid-section. Ready? Buckle your seatbelts. This one is intense! Also, note that this song is in Drop D tuning. If you aren't e...Read More

Joe Pass Style Blues Guitar Joe Pass is arguably one of the most important and historically significant Jazz Guitar players, in line with the likes of Wes Montgomery and the great Charlie Christian. More particularly though, when the discussion is about Chordal solos and bringing Jazz guitar into the Blues realm (or vice v...Read More

Hey IG'ists and welcome to my latest tutorial in which we will be looking at a rock tune called 'Golden Champagne'. To begin with I'd like to give you a little background on the track. I wrote it around 6 years ago when I first bought my Ibanez JS2000 'Champagne Gold' guitar. As a celebration, I decided to open a bottle o...Read More

Greetings Guitar Slingers! In this lesson, we will take a close look a song I call Super Continental. Not only will this serve as a good insight into my playing style, but will also be a good challenge for you both technically, rhythmically and theoretically. The real challenge in this tutorial is not primarily technical, ...Read More

Welcome everyone! In this song tutorial, we're going to learn some intense metal riffs and ideas. Please note that this song is in Drop D tuning. If you aren't exactly sure what that is, go ahead and click here. Once you've checked out the video above, head on over to the next page to start learning!Read More

Welcome to the 'Blackout' tutorial! With this song, we're going to look at some ideas focusing primarily on metal and Eastern styles. Also, note that this song is in Drop D tuning. If you aren't exactly sure what that is, click here. Once you check out the full video, head on over to the first lesson. Get ready to rock!Read More

Hey all, thanks for joining me! In this tutorial we will be taking an in-depth look at the style of one of the finest emerging guitarists of our generation, Marco Sfogli. Born in 1980, Marco started playing music at 4 years of age. He got his first electric guitar at the age of 9 and started playing along his heroes like ...Read More

Welcome to the 'Haste' song tutorial. This is kind of a progressive/hardcore/metal sounding tune. There's a lot of intense rhythm playing in this one. Influential-wise, this tune was inspired by bands such as August Burns Red, As I Lay Dying etc. Also, note that this song is in Drop D tuning. If you aren't exactly sure wha...Read More

Welcome guitar slingers, to this behemoth of a tutorial on guitar set-up! Proper guitar set-up is something that everybody know is needed, but few know how to do. It’s sort of like the mechanics of a car. We all know how to drive one, but if it need adjustments or repair, very few of us knows what to do, and conseque...Read More

Hi guys! Welcome to this tutorial - a lesson all about developing your internal metronome and time feel. Time in music is without a doubt the most important aspect of your playing. This has been demonstrated most graphically in my mind by guitarist Scott Henderson. He presents the idea that a tune can be understood and rec...Read More