Guitar Tricks Blog

Posted October 28, 2022

How to Play Guitar

If you have never played guitar before, in this article we will walk you through the first steps for those taking beginner guitar lessons. And while learning an instrument does not occur overnight, if you follow these pointers on a consistent basis, you will see regular progress. Remember that playing the guitar is a physical exercise, it is essential to train and retain your muscle memory to accomplish it.

Posted September 15, 2022

How to Play a 12-String Guitar

If you're a fan of the sound of an acoustic guitar, then you're probably listening to a song that features two guitarists playing together seamlessly. Various models on the market can accommodate different budgets. With various features and options, 12-string acoustic guitars can provide a unique and authentic sound. The sound of 12-string electric and acoustic guitars has captivated listeners for decades. Whether you're looking for an electric or acoustic guitar, there's something special about this versatile instrument.

Posted September 9, 2022

How to Play Guitar Expressively

Being able to express yourself is really the core of why most of us want to learn how to play guitar in the first place. Expressive techniques like hammer-ons, pull-offs, vibrato, slides&

Posted September 2, 2022

How to Get Great Rock Tone

Being able to shape tone on your own is an important skill for any guitarist. Throughout your journey, you will most likely find yourself plugging into an array of different amps, pedals, and equipment -- and you'll want to know how to find the best tone possible in any playing situation.

Posted August 19, 2022

4 Chords Every Beginner Guitar Player MUST Know

Many guitar players think that you need 5 or 6 strings to play most chords like G, C, or Em, but the reality is that these chords are made up of only 3 notes (a triad) and can often be played on only three strings! Four of the most common open chords, in the most common guitar key of G major are the chords G, C, D and E minor.

Posted August 4, 2022

ONE Guitar Lick to Connect EVERYTHING

Since the pentatonic scale has no half steps, and is constructed of whole steps and minor thirds (1.5 steps), it lends itself well to sliding up and down the fretboard from position to position. One great way to connect the patterns as we slide between them is to take advantage of the finger friendly 2x2s or 3x2s in each of the 5 vertical patterns of the pentatonic scale.

Posted August 3, 2022

Circle of Fifths on Guitar Explained!

The Circle of Fifths is a concept used in music theory that shows the relationship between all of the musical keys. The circle is also used to show the number of sharps and flats in a particular key, which is helpful to understand the relationships between major and minor keys as well. Finally, the concept gets its name because the Circle of Fifths is presented as a circle of musical keys, these are all separated by degrees of a fifth.

Posted July 21, 2022

ONE Pentatonic Scale for ALL Keys - Major and Minor

Want to be able to play a scale in any key, major or minor? This A Minor / C Major pentatonic scale pattern can be moved up and down the neck to fit into pretty much any key you might find yourself in. If you'd like to learn more about pentatonic (and other) guitar scales,

Posted July 14, 2022

3 Blues Riffs You NEED to Know

In this video, Gary shares three classic blues riffs, or bits of vocabulary that are inspired by classic sounds we’ve all heard before. If you listen to the blues greats, you will hear ideas very similar to these. What you want to do is see if you can play them exactly as I present them with my guidance, and THEN, take the most important step, which is to reinterpret them, develop them, change the rhythm, start them the same, and end them differently, change when they start within a measure (we go over this in depth), change their direction. The possibilities are truly endless.

Posted June 9, 2022

2022: The State of the Music Retail Industry Today

The Covid-19 pandemic affected most businesses and retail outlets in a negative fashion. However one of the few industries that saw growth was music instrument builders and lesson-oriented websites such as online guitar lessons. Despite live music disappearing there was an incredible push in music retail sales that led to 8.9 billion in growth! But as of 2022 the pandemic music sales boom has been in decline.

Posted March 14, 2022

A Beginners Guide to Pedalboards Pt. 1: Choosing Your Pedals

Everyone learns in their own way. Some don’t want to be told how to go about certain things and leave lessons learned in exploration and experimentation (myself included). Others may want to skip the long hours filled with headaches due to an overabundance of coffee and trust in what they already know and are comfortable using. With this guideline, I hope to convey a sense of where one might begin when piecing together their sonic arsenal in the form of the ever so popular and no longer elusive pedalboard.

Posted February 18, 2022

10 Ways to Beef Up Your Barre Chords

Do you struggle to nail a crisp-sounding barre chord? If so, you know firsthand how frustrating it can be to play one of these beauties without buzzing or dead strings. Getting barre chords to resonate brightly can be a real challenge, especially on an acoustic guitar. But with a little elbow grease, or rather, finger grease, and a whole lot of dedication, YOU can conquer the barre chord.

Posted February 11, 2022

Power Chords Explained in 5 Easy Steps

Power chords are the backbone of rock music. They're often used in rock music, and are also known as fifth chords. They're called fifth chords because they're made from the root note and the fifth. They’re beefy, often crunchy and are super simple to play because it takes only three notes to make these types of guitar chords. Here are 5 easy steps to learning and practicing these powerful chords.

Posted February 4, 2022

10 Legendary Left-Handed Guitarists

When we stop to consider the challenges that face us as a people, rarely, if ever, do we count lefties among the disadvantaged. But southpaws, those 10% of the population who are left-handed, live in a world that caters to the right-handed. Things like spiral notebooks, scissors, car radios, computer keyboards, and handheld can openers are all designed with a right-hand bias. So are things like guitars.

Posted February 1, 2022

How to Toughen Up Your Fingertips

One of the top things we hear from beginning guitarists is... "my fingers hurt!" Fingertip sensitivity when playing guitar, even just when playing basic guitar chords, is totally normal at first. Don't worry, fingertip sensitivity is only temporary and will go away once you build up some calluses on your fingers. Here are some tips to help with callus building. Keep in mind that although these tips may be useful to developing nice, thick calluses, none of them can substitute for actual playing.