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Guitar warm up exercises - athlete stretching

How to warm up on Guitar

Warming up is something we’re used to hearing about in exercise and sports, but is it really something you need to do before you practice

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Guitar playing stuck in a rut

Has your guitar playing stalled?

A lot of hobbyist players out there simply don’t seem to realise how much further along they could be by now. I’ve seen so many

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How To Instantly Make Singlecoil Pickups Less Noisy

Singlecoil guitar pickups have a distinctive tone and sound, but they have also have a significant disadvantage – noise. They sound great on a clean tone,

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How to work out the key of songs by ear

How to work out the key of any song by ear

Every time I see a lesson or a discussion about how to find the key of a song, I’m reminded that a lot of musicians

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Modes For Rock Guitar Players by Christy Bannerman

Mythbusting The Modes

The Modes… The keys to the musical Ferrari. The secret knowledge of guitar virtuosos. The Holy Grail of being able to play anything you want.

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Listen to the sound of the modes

Examples of The Modes in Popular Songs and Rock Music

If you’re trying to crack the puzzle of Modes, one of the most important things you need is to have examples of real music that

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Building technique with a metronome

Metronomes don’t make you faster – YOU do

Today I want to clarify a common misunderstanding among guitar players who are starting to think seriously about their technique.  This is the widespread belief

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Guitar notes much harder than piano notes

Why the fretboard is hard to learn | In defense of guitar players

If you’ve ever tried to learn the notes on the guitar fretboard then there’s a good chance you’ve heard a comment like this: “You don’t

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Hendrix wanted to learn music theory

The Jimi Hendrix Chord explained – What it is, how to play it, and why it sounds so good

Jimi Hendrix was a one of a kind musician who revolutionised the guitar. Although he is often best remembered for his incendiary solos and lead

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Drumkit, Rock kit, Drum Tab, Drum notation

Why Drum Tab is pointless and why drummers should learn music notation

First of all, I’m not a notation snob and I’m definitely not anti-tab. Without guitar tab, myself and tens of thousands of other players would

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Marty Friedman definitely sweep picks

Handle with caution: Advice from famous guitar players (even when they’re great)

When you’re trying to learn guitar and improve your guitar playing, you could be forgiven for thinking that going straight to the source would be

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Quitting Guitar, Giving Up Guitar

How to quit guitar by mistake

Imagine yourself quitting guitar. Giving up on trying to get better. Eventually not playing again. You probably think this would be a decision you’d give

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Vibrato Visualiser

Five Reasons Your Vibrato SUCKS

Being a good musician starts and ends with being able to make one note sound awesome. If you can’t make one note sound really great,

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The self taught musician and other myths

The myth of the self-taught rock musician

Myth (noun): A widely held but false belief or idea;  A misrepresentation of the truth;  An exaggerated or idealised conception of a person or thing.

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Why Youtube song tutorials don’t work

Type in the name of just about any song into Youtube and you can find a video of somebody explaining how to play it on

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Gary Moore, blues-rock guitar master

Learning from watching the masters

I don’t know about you, but I watch as much live footage of my guitar heroes as I possibly can. It gets me inspired and

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Pointless guitar exercise lead to wasted time

Stop practicing this exercise

It’s time to talk Guitar Technique. Everyone who learns electric guitar will sooner or later encounter this exercise: There are many possible variations on the basic idea,

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Nice, but can you play smoke on the water?

Nice… but can you play Smoke On The Water?

Several years ago I started seeing this comment appear regularly under guitar videos on Youtube: “Nice, but can you play Smoke On The Water?” In

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Guitar off day suck day

Those days when you just suck at guitar

Have you ever had one of those days when you pick up your guitar and for no apparent reason your playing feels WORSE than it

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Spock Illogical Guitar

Why starting guitar with chords is the STUPIDEST idea ever

Start guitar lessons with a local guitar teacher and the chances are the very first thing they’ll show you is how to play chords. Did your

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