Intermediate
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Scott Joplin’s Sweet Syncopations
July 4, 2020
Investigating the style of one of ragtime’s biggest names will undoubtedly improve your fingerstyle technique.
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Practice Makes Music: Creative Ways to Learn from Your Favorite Artists
June 27, 2020
A guide on how modern R&B and pop could unlock your inner practice addict.
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A Beginner’s Guide to the Chet Atkins Sound
June 20, 2020
Whether you’re a fingerpicking enthusiast or simply looking to understand the fundamentals, master these examples and you’ll start sounding like the “Country Gentleman” in no time.
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Arranging "Amazing Grace" for Solo Guitar
June 6, 2020
Solo guitar is an art. Here are a few techniques to expand your palette.
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Beef Up Your Bends
May 2, 2020
Fiery blues-rocker Chris Buck shares his top five ways to make your bends more meaningful.
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Perpetual Subversion
April 25, 2020
This series has run its course. But its methods can last a lifetime.
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Palm-Mute Like Pino
March 28, 2020
What does it take to be an R&B bass icon? Here’s how Pino Palladino changed the game.
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Should You Learn to Read Music?
March 21, 2020
It’s a complicated calculus, with no hard-and-fast rules.
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Last Dance with Dorian
March 14, 2020
It all started with a Fender Champ and a three-chord rock anthem.
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Mutant Folk Fingerpicking
February 22, 2020
A funky fingerstyle challenge that starts with Travis picking and then warps it beyond recognition.
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Spy Guitar Essentials
February 15, 2020
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to learn, understand, and incorporate the musical characteristics found in countless spy-film soundtracks.
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The Happy Side of the Phrygian Scale
February 8, 2020
Don’t let this often misunderstood scale lead you down the “wrong” path.
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How to Learn a Song Like a Nashville Pro
February 1, 2020
Here’s a fool-proof process for systematically embedding a song in your soul.
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How Much Can You Say with a Single-Note Line?
January 25, 2020
Let’s consult J.S. Bach! Don’t know a partita from a fajita? No worries.
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How to Craft More Melodic Solos
January 4, 2020
There’s way more to it than simply mastering chords and scales.
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Top 10 Lessons of 2019
December 28, 2019
This past year we dug into the playing of a jazz legend, rethought our approach to scales, and finally got to the bottom of the “Stairway” progression.
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How to Play Those “Impossible” Intervals
December 21, 2019
Your guitar “wants” you to favor some intervals over others. Don’t listen.
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The Guitarist’s Guide to Auditioning
November 30, 2019
An in-depth roundtable on everything you need to know to get—and keep—that big-time gig.
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How 20th-Century Classical Music Can Make You a Better Rock Player
November 23, 2019
From Debussy to Reich, classical composers can offer timeless techniques to supercharge your next riff.
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