In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how to play a fun, country lead by playing the chord changes. That means you switch scales every time the chord changes. This is a different way of thinking about playing lead in which you connect licks to chord shapes as opposed to focusing on scales. The MP3 jam track for this lesson is available in 2 tempos (normal speed and slow). … [Read more...]
Slow, Country Lead and Rhythm Guitar Lesson in the key of D – EP274
In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how to play a slow, country rhythm and lead over a simple chord progression. Most country guitar lessons online tend to focus on fast, chicken picken' techniques, but this is more in line with what a slow country pedal-steel player might perform. I'll refer back to the CAGED System in quite a few spots as well so this is a nice refresher to last week's EP273 lesson on CAGED. … [Read more...]
Slow, Melodic Lead Guitar Lesson – Learn About Soloing With a Relative Minor Chord – EP269
In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how to play a VERY slow, and melodic lead over a basic chord progression. I'll explain what a relative minor is and how you can use the same scale to solo over a relative minor and it's relative major. This lead is made up of both blues and country style licks. … [Read more...]
Willie Nelson style guitar lesson – EP263
In this week's guitar lesson, I'll show you how to play several classic Willie Nelson style guitar licks. These licks all connect back to basic chord shapes so that you can play them in any key and incorporate them into your own playing. … [Read more...]
Learn a Classic Country Lead in this Country Guitar Lesson – Add Twang To Your Lead – EP259
In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how to play a classic country lead. I'll break everything down and explain where all of the notes come from so that you can start to use some of these country licks when you improvise. The MP3 jam track is available in 2 tempos as well. … [Read more...]
Guitar and Mandolin (Tribute To Levon Helm) – Learn How To Accompany Another Instrument – EP253
In this week's guitar lesson, you'll be learning how to play along with a mandolin by creating an interesting and melodic lead. When only 2 instruments are involved you have to be very careful about not over playing and always remembering to compliment the other instrument. This lesson is a tribute to the late Levon Helm. … [Read more...]
Solo Country Guitar Composition – Country Guitar Lesson – EP250
In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how to play a stand-alone country style composition in the key of C that works on acoustic or electric guitar. No need for jam tracks or another person to accompany you - this is something that you can play completely on your own. I'll also explain where the notes come from so that you'll walk away understanding a whole new set of licks and how you can apply them to your own playing. … [Read more...]
Learn How to Play Harmonized Leads When Improvising – Country Guitar Lesson – EP242
In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how to use harmonized leads when you improvise and how to connect those leads to basic chord shapes so that you can easily find them. I'll show the pattern for playing both harmonized 3rds and harmonized 6ths. … [Read more...]
Western Swing Style Melodic Lead – Playing The Chord Changes – EP229
In this week's guitar lesson, I'll show you how to create melodic sounding solos by targeting chord tones when improvising. You'll be "playing the chord changes" which means changing scales to match each chord change. Most of the notes you'll be learning are pulled directly from chord shapes (not scales) which makes it easy to visualize where you can play on the neck. … [Read more...]
Country Blues Rhythm Guitar Lesson With Fill Licks – EP220
This week's guitar lesson is a country blues style rhythm with fill licks. I'll break everything down note for note and show you how to play this rhythm (explaining the strum pattern in detail). I'll explain where all of the fill licks come from so that you can start to improvise in this style. … [Read more...]