I’m enjoying creating our brand new Music Theory for Guitar program. One of several musical ideas in the program is known as a Deceptive Cadence. Worship musicians make use of the deceptive cadence frequently in order to lengthen a worship song. Read more »

Creative use of guitar effects can be a great way to enhance your music. The trick is to make sure your musical ideas are strong before you start reaching for an sound effect to save the day. The most common phrase heard around the recording studio by newbie band members is, “It’s okay. We’ll fix it in the mix.”  Nothing could be further from the truth. Read more »

Here are some tips to keeping your guitar protected and cared for.

1. Get a guitar case and leave your guitar in the case. I used to suggest leaving your guitar on a guitar stand because it’s easier to remember to play it when it’s in view. Accidents, including earthquakes, can happen and your guitar is more protected in a guitar case. Read more »

Tired of playing the same dreary old chords on the guitar? Well, you are not on your own. Just about every home in the world has a guitar — or at least it seems that way. Some homes have two or more guitars to make up for the homes that don’t have any. With that many guitars buzzing away the all too familiar sound of the basic three chord song in the key of ‘G’ hardly grabs the listener’s ear these days.

But what if there was an easy way to create an endless array of crisp, clear professional-sounding chords on the guitar that would enhance your songwriting or group? The good news is there are many ways to add variety to tied old chords. Here is just one way you could approach modern rhythm guitar chord voicing. Read more »

Learning chords on the guitar can be a daunting project. There always seem to be more and more chords to learn. The trick is to understand how chords can be duplicated all over the fretboard.

By understanding how harmony works on the fretboard we take the first steps to unlocking the fingerboard. Let’s get started. Read more »

Sooner or later you and your guitar are going to end up at a musical jam session where someone will call out, “Let’s play a blues.” Now one thing you can be sure of is that it will be either in the ‘G’ or ‘E’ key. Knowing the basic blues chord progressions and how to solo in the keys of G and E is essential stuff the advancing guitarist must know. Today’s project will focus on the key of G and specifically the G minor pentatonic scale.  Read more »

It’s easy to get tangled up in the guitar scales department. There are literally thousands of scales to learn. Do you have to know all these scales to play guitar? Fortunately the answer is a resounding NO!  Read more »

Hands up those who have looked at a guitar chord book and then dropped the book and ran for the nearest exit. To be honest I don’t blame you!My earliest experience with chord books was with my first guitar teacher. The idea was to learn one new chord shape per lesson out of this massive chord book entitled 1001 chords.  Read more »

There is a whole new generation of guitar players discovering Johnny Cash’s music. People who would normally be listening to rock or heavy metal are tuning in to this country music legend.  Cash’s songs are easy to play, well constructed and full of surprises plus they sound great with just one guitar. I thought it might be interesting to take a closer look at some of the keyingredients to Johnny’s style. Read more »

Guitar players are often called upon to create introductions and endings on the spot. The problem is, very few guitarists know how to practice this aspect of their guitar playing.  Read more »