Get The Thumb Going This tutorial is about improvising using a very restricted set of ingredients based around an open E major chord. The left hand doesn't do too much so the right hand has to to create the feel of a rhythm and added melody. The right hand thumb technique is fairly basic but is crucial to the overall sound so it is worth spending a fair bit of time trying to get the thumb to keep going

Using The Little Finger The little finger or pinky is obviously important in getting melody notes as it is the only digit that can do anything as the other three are busy holding down the E chord

Off and On Fairly simple use of the open strings with the E major chord gives quite a few permutations of melody notes using either articulated (plucked) notes or hammer on/pull off techniques. Remember these are ingredients for improvisation so there are actually lots of different ways to use these techniques other than the examples shown. I would rscommend trying to keep your improvisation fairly simple - don't run too many of these together in one phrase.

Adding An A Note This is the last note to be added to the melody side of things and is fairly straightforward in terms of adding it to an improvised melody. What may be less straightforward is the technique I use to get this note - the "flip" method I use is extremely useful in blues playing so it is worth persevering trying to get it into your bag of tricks. As I say in the video if you can't get your third finger to flip then use your little finger instead. Some blues styles use this hanging out on just one chord to great hypnotic effect - John Lee Hooker ...

Introduction This tutorial aims to show a lot of blues style techniques that are possible while holding down an open A major chord. It is important to use the shape shown so if this way of playing A is new to you it's worth spending some time just on the chord before launching into the lessons The chord itself is very easy - it's more the right hand selective strumming that may require a bit of practice to avoid hitting the top and bottom strings.

Although this is a classic intro this trick can also be used within a tune - usually at the end of a turnaround. In a piece in the key of E this would typically link from a B ( or B7 ) chord back to the root chord E ( or Em ) It covers 2 beats more or less so the way to play it is to come in with it on beat 3 of your B chord and then time the slide down the neck so that the last note ( the open E )comes right on the bar line as the chord changes to E. To get this going I suggest you start by tremolo picking at the 17th fret - once you have a solid tremolo working then...

Rhythmic Thumb This style comes from acoustic folk/blues artists such as; Mississippi John Hurt,Big Bill Broonzy and Brownie McGhee and was also used by 60's Folk players (check out early Bob Dylan for example) The rhythmic use of the thumb underpins this style so it is worth spending a lot of time practicing just the thumb movement until you can do it without thinking about it. The snip at the beginning of the video is to demonstrate what can be achieved using this rhythmic thumb technique.In essence it is based on the same basic technique as that shown in th...

Chords In this style I find it's useful to stick to a finger per fret so for the A7 shape I might use a different fingering in other styles of music. An alternative name for an A5 chord would be A(no3rd) - so you can see that the A7(no3rd) is the same chord with the added 7th note.This chord may take a bit of work to get but the sound of it makes it worth the effort. I have tabbed out the "moving A chord up the neck" riff that I play at the end of the video.

Some Lead Notes It is important when practicing these lead notes to keep the A chord held down - however you don't need to hold it in a vice like grip as you may need to slightly reposition it to accommodate some of the notes being played above or below. The first tab and the diagram show the main notes used.It's best to work on these first. Although I slightly sharpen the low C and G notes sometimes I don't always do this it depends on the phrase being played - I might also sharpen these same two notes an octave higher (on the middle pair played with the little...

Alternating Bass This lesson elaborates on the basic technique by adding an alternating bass note to the basic pattern. This note is the low G found on the bottom string and replaces the C note on the third beat of each bar - in the video I explain how I get that note, but if you can play the alternative open C using all 4 fingers as in the diagram you can achieve the same effect without having to move your left hand. It is not a bad idea though to get your left hand moving as part of the rhythm.

There are quite a few different blues styles.This major style of lead playing is exemplified by players such as Freddie King,B.B. King and Peter Green. As a young man and aspiring blues player, I had a friend called Nick Pickett who was a blues violin player and guitarist with the John Dummer Blues Band.He toured with Peter Green and used to jam with him. Greeny's advice to him which he passed on to me was to "learn your majors" - in other words for some styles the minor pentatonic scale is not enough. For those that don't know of Peter Green he is the guy that replace...

A Few More Notes You can change the overall feel of the improvisation by adding or changing a few notes in particular swapping a G note for an F# note and adding more C# notes and possibly a B note. This makes the sound more "majory" - see my tutorial on major style blues for an in depth look at this concept -The Major Blues Style- When improvising you can affect the sound you're creating as much by what you choose to leave out as what you choose to put in - quite often "less is more" so I wouldn't use all the notes outlined...

Call And Response Lead Plus Some Rhythm Ideas The call and response idea is basically to play identical phrases in two different octaves - it doesn't matter which octave you start with so the example that I have tabbed out could equally well be the other way round.The effect would be more or less the same. The extra bass notes in this lesson will be tabbed in the next lesson. The rhythmic ideas in this lesson are just examples of the rhythm that I tend to play with this open A improvisation. A vast array of rhythms may be used using the basic techniques outline...

Jumping A String The main concept for this lesson is to get a regular rhythmic thumb pattern while jumping over a string. I have included some information not directly relevant to this in the form of other ways to play an open G chord. This relates to the style as a whole in that you quite often need to be flexible in the way you play chords in order to achieve bass patterns and melodic variation.

Adding some C sharp notes C# is the most important note to add to make your improvisation sound "majory" -It is the MAJOR note in the key of A Remember we're adding notes to a standard A MINOR Pentatonic scale. Practice Example 1 ( going down A minor pentatonic with the added C# note )until it becomes second nature.This is fairly central to this style. In Example 2 make sure you are bending up a whole tone from B to C# - if you are really used to playing minor pentatonic all the time this may feel a bit strange but persevere to get that ...

The Intro Piece Explained The piece I play at the beginning of lesson 1 of this tutorial is improvisation using the left hand techniques described in my tutorial Blues Improvisation Around An Open E Chord The right hand technique is almost identical to that described in the previous lesson.

Adding A Finger This is just a short lesson about replacing one of the index finger strokes in the basic pattern with the second finger on a different string. A note about the Right Hand symbols in the tab system. T = Thumb I = Index Finger (1st finger). M = Middle Finger (2nd finger). A = Annular(ring) Finger (3rd finger) O = 4th Finger (don't know what O stands for but we won't be using it anyway!)

Adding some F sharp notes This lesson looks at some ways to add the F# note to the standard A minor pentatonic. The first example looks at adding this note when on the A part of the sequence.The E to F# to A routine should be practiced both as a plucked note and as a hammer-on. The second example is a high E note bent up to F# (in theory there are lower E notes that could be bent to F# but I never seem to do that in this style ).Also a phrase ending on F# at the 11th fret on the 3rd string ( more on this later ). The third example shows a chromatic run up ...

Adding A Pinch The pinch is one of the basic ingredients of this style in that it allows you to play a melody note at the same time as a bass note. Once you have the one shown in the video (first beat of the bar) down you could branch out and try to get a pinch on any other thumb beat. As I say in the video you could use your second finger to get the pinch rather than the third. I have no rigid system of using a particular right hand finger for a specific string but quite often when I improvise in this style my 3rd finger will get the top string. Some player...

Changing The Feel This lesson takes the basic pattern and simplifies it slightly by leaving out one of the offbeats.The remaining offbeat between beats three and four is then "shuffled" to change the feel of the rhythm. It is worth spending quite a lot of time getting this rhythmic feel to become second nature as a lot of the more bluesy exponents of this style use this as an underlying rhythm.

Adding Some Melody Notes This lesson attempts to explain how to add melody notes to the rhythmic pattern established in the previous lesson. I am improvising a fairly simple tune using my little finger on the top two strings - this is fairly easy to play on its own but trying to achieve it while keeping the rhythm pattern going is another matter entirely - as I say in the video it took me years of practice to achieve. All I can say is keep persevering and hopefully it will "click" into place at some stage - meanwhile just trying to get anywhere with this style w...

Adding some B notes In EXAMPLE 1 I use the note B as a bounce off note when the chord sequence is on the A or D part. In EXAMPLE 2 I use the B note as a quick passing note by sliding down from a C. In EXAMPLE 3 I use the B note to bend up to C# and then play the unbent note as well - still as a bounce off note as in example 1 In EXAMPLE 4 the B becomes a strong note when the chord sequence hits an E - this means that you can hang around on this note rather than using it as a bounce off or passing note.

Based on the tune " Unchained Melody " this piece uses simple open chords with the left hand little finger ( pinky ) adding melody notes (marked (4) below tab ). The chords are C, Am, Fmaj7 and G You will need to practice strumming the chords selectively. Start your strum on the bottom note of each chord and finish it on the string where the melody note is (this varies from chord to chord) - so for instance the first chord is a C strummed from the 5th string to the 2nd string. Important note on open G - To play ...

This lesson is all about getting your right hand used to doing something other than just strumming. The main object of these excercises is to get your right hand thumb to habitually play the bottom note of any chord.By bottom note I mean root note which could be found on any of the bottom three strings depending on the chord - e.g. the root of open D is the 4th string open - the root of open Em is the 6th string open. The root note is always the same as the name of the chord - i.e. chord = A minor - Root note = A. The right hand indications on the tab follow th...

This lesson looks at a couple of ways to spice up shuffle rhythms. The first example uses a fairly simple off/on technique to accent the first beat of each bar. The second example is a bit harder to achieve but gives a nice "rolling along" feel to the rhythm. You could put the top string open every other bar ( for example ) rather than every bar - once you have this off pat you can put it into the rhythm whenever you like.

Blues improvisation using melody and bass notes whle holding down an A chord

Fairly simple left hand techniques combined with slightly more complicated right hand picking to give a rhythm and melody combination that sounds bluesy

This style is inspired by acoustic folk/blues artists such as; Mississippi John Hurt,Big Bill Broonzy and Brownie McGhee and was also used by 60's Folk players

A two lesson tutorial on Ska rhythm

A fourteen segment tutorial on major blues,inspired by players like Freddie King,B.B.King and Peter Green.

An overview of time structures in popular music.

This tutorial will show you where are the natural harmonics on your guitar fretboard and how to play them.It will also show you pinch harmonics and articulated harmonics.

Using basic open chord shapes and adding a few notes can give beginners a sense of achievement by playing a recognizable tune - at the same time learning some new techniques.

Most players are familiar with a two note ' five ' chord - this tutorial looks at some other ways of playing these chords.

This tutorial is a series of lessons covering a wide variety of theory subject. We will cover different subject, from what is a key to scale structures.

This tutorial is aimed at players who want to play lead in a spanish style without going into full-on flamenco techniques.I play this style a lot on steel string guitar which is obviously not "authentic" but it seems to work and is fun to play - The information here also applies to some "Gypsy Jazz" styles.

Using your left hand thumb to fret notes is a very useful technique to learn. This tutorial will give you exercises you can use to practice this technique.

This tutorial was made to show you some different chord shapes. These chords might look strange at first but they will open up new possibilities, new sound to your playing.

This tutorial will show you how to play many classic rock riffs. Some of these riffs might be hard at first but take it slow, practice and you'll be playing all of them in no time.

This tutorial starts with the basics of slide playing technique and gradually works through to some complex slide pieces.It includes early delta blues styles,some Ry Cooder style pieces and electric blues slide.

This lesson is all about getting your right hand used to doing something other than just strumming. The main object of these excercises is to get your right hand thumb to habitually play the bottom note of any chord.By bottom note I mean root note which could be found on any of the bottom three strings depending on the chord - e.g. the root of open D is the 4th string open - the root of open Em is the 6th string open. The root note is always the same as the name of the chord - i.e. chord = A minor - Root note = A. The right hand indications on the tab follow th...

This lesson looks at a couple of ways to spice up shuffle rhythms. The first example uses a fairly simple off/on technique to accent the first beat of each bar. The second example is a bit harder to achieve but gives a nice "rolling along" feel to the rhythm. You could put the top string open every other bar ( for example ) rather than every bar - once you have this off pat you can put it into the rhythm whenever you like.

Although this is a classic intro this trick can also be used within a tune - usually at the end of a turnaround. In a piece in the key of E this would typically link from a B ( or B7 ) chord back to the root chord E ( or Em ) It covers 2 beats more or less so the way to play it is to come in with it on beat 3 of your B chord and then time the slide down the neck so that the last note ( the open E )comes right on the bar line as the chord changes to E. To get this going I suggest you start by tremolo picking at the 17th fret - once you have a solid tremolo working then...