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Chord embellishments – Make your 1st position chords sound better – EP407

country embellishment guitar lesson

In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how to add fill licks and embellishments to basic 1st position (cowboy chords) to make them sound much better. … [Read more...]

Lonnie Johnson Style Blues Composition Blues Lead Ideas – EP405

Lonnie Johnson guitar lesson

In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how to play several classic Lonnie Johnson style blues licks in a standalone composition. Lots of ideas to steal in this one! … [Read more...]

How triads can change the way you play guitar – EP399

triad guitar lesson

In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how useful triads can be when playing rhythm, lead, or harmonized leads (harmonized 3rds and 6ths). You might consider reviewing the Part 1 video from EP362 (here's a link) before viewing this lesson. … [Read more...]

Blending Mixolydian scale with the Minor Pentatonic scale to play chord changes – Bluegrass Guitar Lead Lesson – EP391

Mixolydian scale guitar lesson

In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how to easily find the Mixolydian scale by connecting it to the chord shapes from CAGED. You'll also learn how to blend it with the minor pentatonic scale to create a bluesy lead that works well over just about anything. Your practice song for this will be a Bluegrass lead style. … [Read more...]

Using the Major Scale to Improvise – Improvise Using Happy Birthday Melody – Guitar Lesson EP390

major scale improvise guitar lesson

In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how to play the major scale in all 5 positions up the neck by connecting it to the 5 chord shapes used in the CAGED System. You'll also learn how to take a basic melody (Happy Birthday) and learn how to first play the melody straight, and then learn how to improvise by adding fill licks to that melody. … [Read more...]

Slow & Dirty Blues Lead Guitar Lesson – Electric Blues Lead – EP387

slow blues lead guitar lesson

In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how to play a slow blues lead in the key of G (on electric guitar). This one is full of classic blues licks (Albert King, B.B. King, etc.) and will be played over a jam track that was written by Quist! … [Read more...]

Enhance your blues rhythm and lead by using dominant 7 triads – Blues Guitar Lesson – EP386

dominant 7 triads on guitar

In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn several dominant 7 triads in various positions that you can easily add to your blues rhythm or lead. You'll learn how to connect these to basic chord shapes so that you can easily find them and play them over any chord / key. … [Read more...]

Visualize Chord Shapes To Create Melodic Leads – Guitar Lesson EP377

visual chord shapes guitar

In this week's guitar lesson, you will learn how to play a slow and easy, melodic lead by visualizing chord shapes in different neck positions. This is a different way of thinking about playing lead, that relies less on scales, instead focusing on the chords themselves. … [Read more...]

How to Use Modes (Part 1 of 2) – The Major Scale in 5 CAGED Positions – Guitar Lesson EP374

using modes on guitar

This is Part 1 of a 2 Part lesson series on modes. You'll not only learn what modes are, but you'll learn how to find them and use them when you play lead to create different moods. In this first part, we'll start with the major scale and how to find it in 5 positions on the neck (connecting it to the CAGED System). … [Read more...]

Secondary Dominant Chords – What They Are And How To Use Them – Guitar Lesson EP370

secondary dominant chord guitar lesson

In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn what secondary dominant chords are and how they can be used when writing chord arrangements or when improvising lead. I'll also show you how to easily identify them by connecting them to basic chord shapes that you already know. … [Read more...]

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Recent Lessons

“Outside” Blues licks using the Mixolydian scale – Jerry Garcia Inspired – Guitar Lesson – EP625

Ragtime solo Blues Guitar – no jam track needed! – Learn how to create one – Guitar Lesson – EP624

Use chords to guide your lead and show you where to find harmonies – Guitar Lesson – EP623

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