Guitar Tricks Blog

In recent years, the art of learning to play the guitar has undergone a remarkable transformation. Gone are the days when aspiring guitarists had to attend formal lessons or rely solely on a mentor. With the digital revolution, countless people have embarked on their musical journey, harnessing the power of the internet and resources at their fingertips to self teach guitar. 

Hello to all you guitar fanatics out there. It's Gary here from Guitar Tricks. Today, I want to unravel a potent pentatonic soloing trick that might add a sprinkle of soul to your playing. We're calling this one the "Double Stop Hammer on Backslide." Quite a mouthful, isn't it?

In this guide, we'll break down the hints and techniques intimately, as well as offer valuable insight into making this trick your own. Ready to get your fingers strumming? Let's dive in!

Hey, fellow music enthusiasts! It's Gary here from Guitar Tricks. Today, I'd like to illustrate a straightforward blues turnaround that you can incorporate to shake up an E blues routine. We have previously discussed the initial chord progression, E7, A7, B7, and the first improvising scale, open E minor pentatonic. Now, let's level up by mixing in a blues turnaround.

The realm of music, with its deep emotional ties and rich history, might seem an unlikely candidate for AI disruption. Yet, the music industry has not remained untouched. From song creation to listener experience, AI has begun to leave its indelible mark.

One of the most magical aspects of playing the guitar is the ability to use different fingers to play different notes/strings either at the same time or to mix them together to create cool  patterns! This is known as fingerpicking, and it's a great skill for every guitarist to have in their toolkit! 

Power chords are an essential element of the rock genre and sound, and in this blog post, we'll guide you through three fundamental and easy to play, two-note open position power chords: A, D, and E. Once you've mastered these chords, we'll show you how to combine them into a rocking sequence and then find the right tone to really dial in that rock sound. 

It is no news that you need diligence and discipline to achieve your desired level of expertise as a guitarist. And it has been heavily implied by many legendary guitarists that these attributes will not turn into your greatest assets unless you have a set of well thought-out goals to achieve. 

Different musical styles can call for distinct picking approaches. Having a repertoire of picking techniques at your disposal enables you to adapt to various musical contexts and achieve your desired sound. Whether it's transitioning between strings quickly, playing single-note tremolos, creating funky sounds, or adjusting your attack for distorted or clean tones, having multiple picking techniques in your toolbox is advantageous.

This week, Guitar Tricks instructor Gary Heimbauer is sharing some strategies for learning fast riffs.

Learning and memorizing a fast riff at a slower speed is a key component to ramping it up to its full potential -- but there's more work to do!

You still have to play the riff fast, so try this technique of adding one note at a time to make things a bit easier to master.

Oh, the search for tone. What a journey you are - both maddening and exhilarating. Maybe it’s exhilarating because it’s maddening, but I digress. What started as wanting to play one song, or like one guitarist, has turned into a thing unto itself, equipped with its own personality. 

It seems the beginnings take root in trying different guitars - letting the brands guide the tone you’re after. But sometime thereafter is a realization that to really hone-in on the tone they’re after you find yourself staring at their pickups. 

Jam along on guitar with Gary and he'll show you how simple a guitar solo can be, while still being very effective. This lesson is complete with a jam track at the end. Grab your guitar and jump in!

Strumming is one of the very first techniques that any guitarist learns. But as they move on to learn intermediate or advanced techniques, they forget to advance their strumming skills further. Even if they continue using strumming techniques, lack of motivation and experimentation make it impossible to improve upon them.