How to Finish and Release Your First Song on a Budget

There’s nothing more satisfying than writing your first song. All that time spent learning chords, writing lyrics, structuring your song and composing melodies has paid off. Now it’s time to record your track, mix, master and release it into the world for your friends, family and hopefully some new fans. With a few tips, some basic tools and a little bit of learning, getting your first song finished and released is easier than you think.

Unison Bends Made Easy

Unison bends can add a layer of depth to your rock soloing and really level-up your sound. In this lesson, Mike Olekshy demonstrates an easy approach to unison bends so that you can have the skill in your back pocket the next time you take a solo.

CAGED System Explained

As you're learning guitar, you'll likely hear players reference the CAGED system as being a great tool to utilize in your learning process.  To put it simply, CAGED is essentially a way of visualizing chord shapes on the fretboard. The trick to using the CAGED system is to realize that it consists of moveable shapes that can be any chord depending upon where you put the root note. The letters C-A-G-E-D refer to the open chord shapes. 

Super Easy Finger Tapping

Mike Olekshy is back again with a primer on finger tapping. In this lesson, he'll show you where to start to make sure you build yourself a solid tapping foundation. It all starts with putting the pick down and getting the technique feeling comfortable under you fingers. 

How to Use Finger Rolls

Can't quite get the hang of the finger roll technique? In this video, Mike will break it down for you and make it super easy to understand!

A useful little technique, the finger roll employs a bit of barring/muting with one finger in order to get some more note separation during licks. It essentially allows you to mute one string as you m

4 Easy Guitar Licks You NEED to Know

Improvising guitar solos is all about recalling a variety of licks and riffs from your memory. It helps to have a deep repertoire of licks to pull from for any given solo. Mike is here again to share four easy licks that are sure to find a place in your soloing library.

Guitar Rhythms You NEED To Know

Are you going to be gigging soon? Maybe you got invited to your first jam session? Guitar Tricks instructor Mike Olekshy wants to make sure you know these three quintessential guitar rhythm strumming patterns before you start jamming with a band. 

Easy Chicken Pickin' For Beginners

Guitar Tricks instructor Mike Olekshy is back with his "Lick of the Day." This time around, he's showing us a country-flavored "chicken pickin'" lick that's a little tricky, employing a combination of interesting techniques. In classic Mike fashion, he'll break it down so it's nice and easy for beginners to pick up on and become masters of chicken pickin' in no time. 

Win an Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini!

Guitar Tricks instructor Gary Heimbauer recently reviewed the Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini overdrive pedal on our YouTube channel. He liked it so much, that we decided to give one away!

Enter for your chance to win.

Tonewoods for Acoustic Guitars Explained

Top 5 Guitar Super Bowl Halftime Shows

It doesn't get much more American than football and rock 'n' roll. This year's Super Bowl tradition will likely be quite a bit different than we're all used to, but we've still been reminiscing about some of our favorite rock performances of the mid-2000s. In celebration of Sunday's big game, we've put together a list of the most memorable guitar-centric Super Bowl halftime shows in recent memory -- and even included some tutorials so you can get in on the action.

A Crash Course in Open Tunings

While standard tuning is certainly the go-to, and the tuning we likely all learned how to play guitar with, let's face it: it can get a little boring. It's not the guitar's fault, it just sometimes takes a change of scenery (or in this case, tuning) to spark a little creativity in your mind. There are countless alternate tunings for the 6-string guitar, but a style of alternate tuning that can be fun to play with (especially for beginner-intermediate guitarists) is an "open tuning."

Holiday Songs

It's that time of the year again, and this time around, I think we can all agree that things are looking a bit different. 2020 has dealt us a pretty strange hand, changing so many aspects of our lives and the holidays are no exception. While we might not be able to cuddle up with our loved ones this year -- for fear that we might spread more than just holiday cheer -- we can still pull that beloved guitar close and strum out some holiday classics. 

5 Essential Eric Clapton Songs

A three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Eric Clapton has certainly earned his place among the most influential guitarists of our time. His stints with the Yardbirds, Bluesbreakers, Cream, and as a solo artist have shaped blues rock and pop rock for over 50 years. Clapton's playing combines deep blues influences from Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, and more with the rock sound of British contemporaries like The Beatles and Rolling Stones. While Eric Clapton is considered by many to be a true master of the craft, you don't need to be an expert to start learning some of his most iconic songs.

5 Classic Johnny Cash Songs

With countless songs of sorrow and redemption -- all sung with a deep baritone voice and a trusty 6-string dreadnought -- Johnny Cash, aka "The Man in Black" was one of the genre-bending kings of country, rock and roll and gospel. Johnny Cash songs run the gamut, from classic country tunes like "I Walk the Line" and "Ring of Fire" to some of his later covers of contemporary heavy-hitters like Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode and Soundgarden. 

We've hand-picked some of our favorite Johnny Cash songs that guitarists of all experience levels can enjoy learning.