Guitar Playback Contest.

If you tend to procrastinate like me you still have a little time to enter the Guitar Playback 60 second guitar solo contest at http://www.guitarplayback.com/contest

There have been lots of great entries posted you can listen to some at www.truthinshredding.com

The backing track for this solo was way outside my normal comfort zone but I tried to embrace the change and put down something worthwhile. I tried to center things around the suggested scales of F# Minor and a bit of the F# Phrygian mode. Hope you enjoy it. I encourage you to try posting your own submission or at least download the backing track and try to come up with some guitar licks over the progression that you like.

Blues Rock Guitar Lick

Here is a blues rock guitar lick over the last progression we looked at. It is primarily based around the E Major Pentatonic Scale. I played the lick as written out in the tab and then improvised a bit using similar phrases. Guitar is tuned down a half step if you want to play along. Cheers.

Chordal Style Rhythm and Lead

In the last guitar lick we look at a Hendrix inspired riff from his days with the "Band of Gypsys". Today we shift gears a bit. This guitar lick while still inspired by Jimi draws on the style he learned with Curtis Mayfield that uses some very cool chord voices and incorporates lead lines and rhythm together. In the first video I've played the tab as written out. In the second video I improvised a couple lead lines using the E Major Pentatonic scale.

Univibe Guitar Lick

This past week was the 43 anniversary of the passing of Jimi Hendrix. The music Jimi created in his brief but prolific career has altered the course of modern music and produced unsurpassed levels of creativity and improvisation especially for rock guitarists. While Jimi's underlying style and sound were apparent whenever he played a lot of his tunes run a wide and diverse range from chordal based rhythms in "The Wind Cries Mary" to the controlled feedback and sheer screaming in his interpretation of the "Star Spangled Banner". Today I wanted to do a guitar lick that was inspired by Jimi's time with the "Band of Gypsy's. I've used a uni-vibe guitar effect with some fuzz to create a tone suited to that style. I've played over a chord progression that uses the E7#9 chord that Hendrix made famous in "Purple Haze". The chord progression is basically this chord then an octave shape that goes from G to F#.

For the guitar lick I played it through as written a couple times then improvised briefly over the progression to give you a few more ideas to play around with. I've kept mainly within the E  Minor Pentatonic scale although I do add the F# note. I've tuned down a half step for this guitar lick if you want to play along.
RIP Jimi.

Article for Guitar Coach Magazine

I've been busy the last few days but wanted to share an article I wrote for Guitar Coach Magazine. It covers a beginner/intermediate level 12 bar blues in E. There is  guitar tab and video included in the article. It was fun to write and I hope to contribute more to this publication. Here is the link. If you enjoy the article please share and let the publisher know. Cheers.

http://guitarcoachmag.com/riffs-licks/12-bar-blues-e/

Metal Guitar Riffs and Licks

A few more metal guitar riffs and licks for today. Tuned down C# G# C# F# A# D# which is Drop D but down a half step. The rhythm guitar kicks of with a riff using 16th notes and muting on the 6th string followed by a power chord section using a bar shape on the 4th 5th and 6th strings. The first guitar lick we look at is a melodic idea beginning on the E note on the G string and resolvind to the D note on the fourth fret 12th string. The second guitar lick we look at is a legato run that starts lower on the neck on the A note and resolves again to a D.

Metal Guitar Riffage

Sometimes just picking up the guitar is enough to get inspired. I kicked of Saturday morning with a cup of coffee looking forward to practicing the new Trivium song Strife. Which rocks by the way. Here it is if you haven't seen it yet.






Anyway I had the guitar tuned to C# G# C# F# A# D# as I've been playing a lot of the new Avenged Sevenfold which also rocks - so I was ready to go. I fired up my practice amp and this lick popped into my head so I quickly laid down a rhythm tracks and lead over it. The guitar lick is 16th notes with muting from the right hand. Hope you like it. Cheers.