The best way to learn how to play guitar like Eddie Van Halen is to first examine the nuts a bolts of his guitar solos. And that’s what we’ll explore in these following video lessons. Eddie Van Halen is clearly the undisputed king of the tapping and whammy bar technique, however the bulk of his lead styles are comprised of…
Author: tmerry
A lesson for “Lefties” – The advantages of playing guitar left-handed
My-oh-my, you just have to do everything differently, don’t you? 🙂 If you are searching for “Left handed guitar lessons near me“, I have great news If you are a “Lefty”, IT’S ACTUALLY *EASIER* to learn from a right handed guitar teacher or video guitar lesson. Here’s why: It’s more like looking in the mirror at yourself playing. For many…
Understanding Legato and Staccato Techniques on Guitar
Legato and Staccato Techniques sound like quite a mouthful, right? Although they have a very “classical” sounding air to their descriptions, they are really a basic concept that all musicians should learn. Especially rock guitarists! As a guitar player who is studying this advanced area of the website, you might be using a combination of both already without even knowing…
10 Legato exercises that will double your finger strength
Here’s a fun method that I came up with many years ago using legato exercises to dramatically increase the strength and dexterity of all the fingers on my left. I used to have all of my one-on-one students practice this every week. This is another one of those deceptively simple exercises. And if you don’t spend a week trying things…
Fake Major Scale – mastering the melodic
The Fake Major Scale, (traditionally referred to as a Major Pentatonic, or Country Scale) is an amazing trick to know. I am pretty much a self-taught guitarist, however I did take lessons for a few months when I was first starting out. After all these years – I still use this simple tip/scale that my first guitar teacher taught me. Look…
Connecting the entire Fretboard – The Blues Scale in 5 positions
Connecting the entire fretboard of your guitar is easy to do. It only takes understanding of 5 patterns. These are the Blues Scale in 5 positions. While there are TONS of scales you can play on guitar, learning how the Blues Scale connects will open up the roads to your understanding of how ALL of the notes on the…
Strumming Patterns for Guitar
Strumming patterns for guitar are used in all styles of guitar music. Here are a few to get you started and spark some creativity in your musical journey. Make sure you understand how to hold a pick before you get going. First Things First To start strumming, practice all down strokes on guitar when learning new chords. Here is a…
Sliding Blues Scale – Break OUT of the box!
Too many guitarist get trapped inside “the box”, which is to say the blues scale shape. In this Sliding Blues Scale lesson I’ll show you how to break free and find your creativity again. Every scale, including the blues (or Pentatonic) scale connects all over the entire neck. And like everything else in life, it can get boring if you’re…
How to Pose like a Rock Star on-stage – One Word of advice..
If you want to learn how to pose like a Rock Star on-stage, I have One Word of advice.. DON’T!!! Work on learning to play guitar first 😉 Don’t try to jump off of your amp Don’t try to spin your guitar Don’t try to take “selfies” Just, DON’T! 🙂 Now, Back to the lessons you go!…
Two-note Power Chords – for Beginners and Pros
Power Chords are the easiest chords to learn. With a few basic tips, I’ll show you how to jump-in and play one of the most classic rock anthems of all-time! I’ll also share a story with you of how I shared the stage with the band that wrote that famous song. While Power Chords are easy to learn for beginners,…