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Pluck ’Em! A Crash Course in Country Guitar - Ex. 8

Billy Corgan shining with his Reverend Z One.

The Smashing Pumpkins frontman balances a busy creative life working as a wrestling producer, café/tea company owner, and a collaborator on his forward-thinking, far-reaching line of signature guitars. Decades into his career, Corgan continues to evolve his songcraft and guitar sound for the modern era on the band’s latest, Aghori Mhori Mei.

“Form follows function,” explains Billy Corgan when asked about the evolution of his songwriting. These three words seem to serve as his creative dictum. “Early Pumpkins was more about playing in clubs and effecting a response from the live audience, because that’s where we could get attention."

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Why You Need This Gadget to Protect Your Headstock
- YouTube

Join PG contributor Tom Butwin as he explores how this simple, yet essential, device can save your instrument from catastrophic damage. Discover the peace of mind provided by the Atlas C1.

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Even if you aren’t into Gypsy jazz, there are a wealth of inspiring ideas to glean from Django’s impossibly fast lines.


Chops: Intermediate
Theory: Intermediate
Lesson Overview:
• Understand how to artfully navigate the changes of a 12-bar blues.
• Combine chromatic or “outside” notes with standard 7th-chord arpeggios.
• Learn how Django Reinhardt turned a perceived weakness into an advantage.


Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation.

The arpeggio can be a powerful ally on the journey to fretboard mastery. As a melodic device, it’s the most no-nonsense, straightforward way to convey the chords you’re playing over. Fast or slow, arpeggios spell out the chords to the listener, just as much as they do for the player.

Using the arpeggio as an improvisational tool lets you get outside of a modal sound and control the harmony in flexible ways. It’s common to enclose the arpeggio with passing tones inside and outside of the key. The master of this approach is, without doubt, the great Gypsy-jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.

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