I've noticed from my guitar teaching experience that many guitarists often feel immense frustration when it comes to their electric guitar playing. And while there are many potential reasons for this frustration, a very common one is having a short-term mindset. What I mean by this is that they are putting too much pressure on themselves to progress quickly. They want to get good, and they want to get good yesterday! On the surface wanting to progress faster and faster may seem like a positive thing. (And there is certainly nothing wrong with being ambitious!). But unfortunately for many guitarists this all-consuming focus on their speed of progress can cause quite a few problems such as... --A shallow level of learning. In their rush to get good they don't take the time t... [Read More]

  A common goal that crops up all the time when I'm teaching guitar is the goal of joining the band. And let's face it...it's a great goal. Being in a band will help you learn many musical skills that you just can't learn by yourself. Not to mention it's a fantastic way to stay motivated with your own guitar practice. But here's the thing. Often guitarists are waiting to get "good enough" before they join a band. They want to get to a certain level of playing before they take the steps needed to be part of a band. Can you see some a problem with that? On the surface it might appear sensible to "fully-prepare" yourself. But for many guitarists, delaying being in a band is a form of procrastination. And I feel that this procrastination is often caused by fear or self-esteem issu... [Read More]

  If you're new to rock lead guitar then you might be wondering what scales you need to learn. You probably notice that there are a seemingly infinite number of guitar scales out there. And it can often be hard knowing what the best ones are to learn. Who wants to waste valuable time learning scales that aren't essential to rock guitar? Before I tell you the two essential scales, I need to quickly mention another scale...the major scale. Although this scale isn't the most essential for soloing in a rock style, I need to explain it so that you will understand the theory we'll cover later on in this lesson. Understanding The Major Scale You may have read in a book that the major scale has the following formula... W  W  H  W  W  W  H (W=Whole Step... [Read More]

    I think we've all done it at some point. We've looked at some incredible guitarist play and wonder just how they got so good. Maybe we've even asked ourselves questions like...   --Are they just naturally talented? --Do they have something that I don't? --Will I ever be able to play like them? If you can relate to these questions, then you can feel better by knowing that you're not alone. I definitely asked myself those questions when I started learning lead guitar. And I know that many of my students have asked themselves similar questions. It can definitely be quite intimidating watching someone play with incredible skill...especially if you're new to lead guitar! So how do you think these amazing players got so good? Well, clearly there is no simple one-si... [Read More]