by Harper Willis A lot of guitarists add chord voicings to their repertoire by learning the root position of a new chord type on a given set of strings, and then all of its inversions on that same set of strings.   Example of Major7 Voicing and its Inversions   Learning chords as part of [...]

by Sam Smiley Let’s face it, guitarists are thieves. We steal from other players, other styles, and even other instruments. One of my favorite places to steal from is the pedal steel guitar. It’s a lot of fun and always perks up a few ears in the audience. Plus you can get instant cred with [...]

 by Gohar Vardanyan In classical guitar technique there are two different ways we can sound the string: rest stroke and free stroke. Each stroke has unique qualities that serve a specific purpose. Rest stroke gives us the ability to play notes with warmer timbre, more volume and more assertive power; free stroke allows us to [...]

Richard Gilewitz On the surface, the concept of effectively achieving a basic hammer-on effect while fingerpicking can seem ludicrously simple.  However upon closer examination, fine tuning and locking down your patterns to create a solid groove involves a bit more than meets the eye or the ear. The trick to eliminating hammer-on hiccups it to [...]

Harper Willis As a jazz improviser, what you play over dominant chords makes up a big part of your sound and style. Popular scale choices for dominant chords include the mixolydian scale, the mixolydian scale with a raised 4th, the altered scale and the whole tone scale. The diminished scale is another great and perhaps [...]

by Richard Gilewitz I never imagined my music would one day take me to Tasmania. But, it makes sense to eventually end up there since I’ve traveled nearly tip to tip on the globe – from Invercargill, New Zealand to the Orkney Islands and Hoy, which is two ferry boat rides away from the northern [...]