You don't have to be a big jazz fan to boost your guitar skills with some jazz techniques. In this guest post, Matt Warnock from mattwarnockguitar.com teaches you 10 must-know jazz guitar scales.  Even if you’ve never played jazz guitar before, you’ve probably come across numerous articles and lessons exploring jazz guitar scales. There seems like an endless mountain of scales to learn when exploring jazz on the fretboard, and they all come with strange names and sound even strang

Many beginner musicians want to learn to improvise on the guitar, but just don’t know how to start. In this guest post, Greg O’Rourke from fretdojo.com teaches you three easy tricks that will supercharge your guitar scales and bring more life to your solos.   Have you ever tried to improvise on the guitar and it sounds like you’re just running scales up and down the fretboard? Look: Regardless of what style you want to improvise in, only knowing the scales isn’t enough.

Ready for a blast from the past? Guitar teacher Collin K. shares five easy songs to learn on guitar for beginners that will take you back to the 90's...and a few more modern tunes to learn, too! From grunge to ska punk, the 1990's were a diverse and exciting time for rock music. Some songs stand out in particular for their highly creative, yet not-so-difficult guitar work. In this article, I will give you the tools you need to get playing five of the most iconic 90's rock songs! Before we be

Some guitarists have a lot of excuses when it comes to learning music theory. Guitar teacher Zachary A. shatters these excuses, busts a few myths, and shares why music theory is so important for guitarists after all... Music theory is a vast, almost unending, amount of knowledge. Many of music's greats studied and had schooling for decades. In all honesty I do not believe that you ever really finish studying, at least when you are dedicated and when you have the desire to learn music. Th

If you follow our blog, then you've already seen the best tips and tricks for learning guitar chords, but what about playing the infamous F chord guitar? In this blog post, we'll address common myths about the F chord and give you some helpful advice on how to play the F guitar chord. Misconceptions About the F Chord The six-string F chord is one of the hardest standard chord shape to play on the guitar. When many people try to play the F chord on guitar (and often succeed), it's with far

We've talked about how to read chords and tabs before on the blog -- but what about a new approach of learning guitar without sheet music at all? Here, Austin, TX teacher Samuel B. explains his teaching technique...   During my college years, I was given a brief introduction to instructional methods common to Japan. Specifically, I was told that playing the shamisen or the koto (two native stringed instruments) is a skill learned by way of the student facing the teacher and playing w

Is it really necessary to learn guitar scales? If you'd rather just focus on chords and songs, you're not alone. But here, Austin, TX teacher Samuel B. shares why practicing your scales will ultimately make you a better guitar player down the line... I'm a 25-year veteran of playing the guitar. In seventh grade, I took an introductory class to both the guitar and keyboard, in which I received only a "B" as I pretty much neglected the keyboard altogether. Besides, I'd taken piano lessons

Chords are the foundation of all of those guitar riffs you love so much. Here, guitar teacher Kirk R. walks you through the basics of guitar chords and the importance of knowing how they're constructed... Guitar is an amazing instrument, not only because of all that it can do, but also because of how great it can sound when not doing much at all. One of the ways that guitar is most often heard is by strumming the standard chords that beginner guitarists learn. However, I often inter

While certain types of guitars are standard in modern culture, the instrument has a wide variety of expressions that is nearly impossible to tame. From the ancient Greek kithara to the guitar-like lute from pre-modern Spain, the many different types of guitar vary just as much as the people who play them. Some types of acoustic and electric guitars are more common than others. Steel string dreadnought acoustics and Stratocaster-style electrics are likely to be the first thing that pops in

Whether you're looking for an extra challenge between guitar lessons, or you need a refresher on some basic guitar concepts, YouTube is a treasure trove of instructional videos. But how do you find the best ones when there are so many free guitar videos out there? Follow these recommendations from guitar teacher Milton J.... Congratulations on your decision to take guitar lessons! This incredible instrument has given me joy beyond belief ever since I picked it up when I was 13 years old. As y