Double Stop Guitar Lick

This week we will play some guitar licks in E Minor over a backing track I recorded with a repeating bassline. Drums are courtesy of Sonoma Wireworks Riffworks Instant Drummer. The first guitar lick this week uses double stop bends to create some tension and sets the listener up for a resolution to the root note E.

E Phyrgian Mode Guitar Lick

A legato guitar lick based on the E Phyrgian mode played on the high E string is today's guitar lick. The usual goal of legato playing is to produce a smooth flowing sound. I came up with this guitar lick on an acoustic guitar and was trying to get a spanish flavor and aimed for a more stacatto feel so I tended to accent  the picked note in each legato sequence rather than try to make them even with the notes that were not picked.
To alter this lick even more you may want to experiment with using palm muting to change the sound of the open E string.

Alternating Pedal Point Guitar Lick

A little guitar  lick today that uses a repeating alternating pedal point between the E and F#  notes on the B string.

Guitar Noize Anti Shred Competition

Here's my video entry to the guitarnoize.com "Anti-shred" competition.Cheers.

Open String Guitar Lick

I've been playing more acoustic guitar lately. Today's guitar lick uses a lot of open strings and works well on both acoustic and electric guitars. A few slides are thrown into the mix but otherwise a pretty straightforward lick. For beginning guitarists it is important to remember to keep an even pressure on the string throughout the slide to produce a nice tone.

A repeating Guitar Lick

This guitar lick uses eighth notes but when repeated the emphasis falls in different places given it a cool feel.

Wah Guitar Week Lick #3

Our third guitar lick using the wah pedal looks at incorporating octaves into the mix. Just a basic example of how the wah can liven up and accent different beats of the 16th note rhythm and bring the octaves to life.

Wah Guitar Week Lick #2

The guitar lick #2 for our Wah Guitar Week looks at using the wah pedal to emphasis the phrasing of a melodic lick. Please note when you follow the guitar tab we are tuned to Drop D tuning. My favorite example of this is the first part of the closing cadenza to the awesome Michael Schenker's "Into the Arena" the ending has a very majestic passage that is complimented by the wah to accent certain notes.

Wah Guitar Week Lick #1

This week were are looking at some guitar licks using my favorite effect the wah pedal. On this guitar lick I used a repeating sequence and notched up the treble by actually using two wah pedals. One I used as a treble boost and the other I rocked back and forth.

Guitar Lick: Rhythm and Lead Part A Minor

A little guitar lick based around A Minor with a rhythm part and a short lead example. Try
recording the rhythm yourself and practice the lead guitar part and then improvising over the track you created.

It's all relative - guitar, music, life

No tab or video today but an important lesson for life, guitar and music in my opinion. Some backstory. I am not a yard guy, or even an outdoor guy and a rake or lawnmower send me screaming to the safety of my guitar or laptop. However, being a homeowner and husband I have certain obligations not to get my lawn condemned by any neighborhood associations. So today I donned some gloves and in a chemical free friendly manner proceeded to weed the yard and return my dandelion ridden grass from yellow back to green. While I was in the middle of this process a neighbor a few houses down the street who I have never met stopped and asked me how I kept the yard so good looking. Seriously, me the inept yard guy was being asked advice. I did the only responsible thing I could and told him my next door neighbor was really the guy to ask as his lawn was pristine and made mine look sad in comparison.

So my point is that your level of progress and knowledge are relative and sometimes when you think you should give up it is important to objectively assess how far you have come since you started. The guitar is like chess in many respects almost anyone can play it but even with years of study mastering it can remain elusive and perhaps impossible. So grab a pick, congratulate yourself on getting this far and undertake to learn even more all the while remembering there are better and worse players no matter how much or little you know.

Same Lick, Different Lick

This is a basic guitar lick using the E minor Pentatonic Scale. I choose a simple lick to demonstrate how versatile the guitar is and how many locations we have to choose the same notes from on the fretboard. I played the lick in a few different positions and octaves. Doing this opens up a knowledge of the fretboard and can also make phrases used in songs less repetitive but still familiar to the listener. Try this with  some of your own guitar licks. It is good practice to improvise with this concept as well because the layout of the fretboard will naturally favor certain fingerings in different positions and intuitively lead you to use different phrasing and technique in different areas on the guitar neck.