Many years of playing styles from Bluegrass to Heavy Metal have shaped this style of guitar. I utilize this stuff everyday on sessions, and rip this stuff up on live gigs. It will enable you to fly by the seat of your pants in any genre, Blues, Country, Rock etc... but with a flair and flow, that many flat pickers will marvel at. The most important aspect of this tutorial, is learning to use you...

The lead from this lesson was actually used at the beginning of a song called "Bye" on PhaseIV Chronicles by Schmange.

This tutorial was inspired by several users that wanted to know where my ideas for solos come from. What combinations work well together, and what techniques to use.

Here are licks some licks that give a lot us the desire to play when we were young.

I recently got an email asking about how to bend strings, and when to bend strings. They made a reference to Roy Nichols and James Burton, and some of the bending combinations and positions they used.

This is the intro for one of my songs, that I came up with during a recording session. Don't worry about getting the speed right now, the speed will come after you learn to play it. This riff is much easier than it sounds, most of the work is done with the ring finger on the left hand. I start with my index finger in the 3rd fret on the 4th string, and my middle finger in the 4th fret on the 3r...

This is a little fill lick that would fit in many places, works very well in a country shuffle. Use this one, or a variation of it whenever you are holding the V chord going back to the I chord. Notice in the video that my fingers are on the 2nd, and 4th string when I start. I play the 4th string and slide, and then play the 2nd string and slide back. Then I change positions, but my fingers ...

This would be a good ending for a solo in the key of G, or it would be a good intro if you're doing a turn around. There are a lot of classic country songs that have a 1, 5, 1 turn around for an intro. This can also be used in today's country, but probably not as an intro. The bends in this are prebent, this means the string is actually bent before you play it. After playing the string, then yo...

This one can be a little confusing at first but fits in beautifully with the first 4 bars of a 12 bar. The riff ends neatly on the D for the 5 bar of the 12 bar. I haven�t added hammer-ons or pull-offs to the tab because depending on what context you play you could play every note with a pick or use more of a legato style. This could be used in a straight or swing jazz/blues.

Sounds lick a mosquito getting ready to bite you! This is a fun lick I used in a song on my Telethon album to follow Roger Fishers surreal solo. It's an ear bender for sure.