Tips & Tricks For Improving On Guitar
Our Tips & Tricks videos are an ongoing series of videos highlighting one particular aspect of technique or musicianship and going into it in detail.
If you have any suggestions or requests for videos in this series please put them in a comment at the bottom of the screen.
Take a look at our Tips & Tricks videos below. Scroll down to see the videos:
- The Magic Half Bar
- Beginning Lead Guitar Soloing – Soloing on Two Strings Part 1
- Beginning Lead Guitar Soloing – Soloing on Two Strings Part 2
- How To Use an Electronic Tuner – Part 1 (tuning the guitar) – Beginner’s Guitar Lesson
- How To Use an Electronic Tuner – Part 2 (downtune by a half step) – Beginner’s Guitar Lesson
- The Boogie Pattern Part 1 – A Beginner’s Guitar Lesson
- The Boogie Pattern Part 2 – A Beginner’s Guitar Lesson
- Barre Chord Tips
- Travis Picking – A Beginner’s Fingerpicking Guitar Lesson
- Using a Capo – A Beginner’s Guitar Lesson
- Changing Chord Quickly – A Beginners’ Guitar Lesson
- The Expanding A7
- Two Movable 7th Chord Shapes
- Travis Picking in Drop D
- The Melody Notes Around the G Chord
- How To Play Every Major & Minor Chord
- Movable Chord Fragments
- Movable Minor Chord Fragments
- Movable Minor7th Chord Fragments
- Movable Major 7th and Dominant 7th Chord Fragments
- How To Strum and Sing at the Same Time
- How to Fingerpick and Sing at the Same Time
- A Blues Ending in E
The Magic Half Bar
Ever wondered why experienced electric guitarists often seem to be simply moving one simple shape around the neck? This short video might give you a little insight.
Beginning Lead Guitar Soloing – Soloing on Two Strings Part 1
Starting to play rock solos doesn’t need to be a black art. If you know the basic ‘blues box’ A minor pentatonic scale, you can start to turn it into a solo very easily.
Beginning Lead Guitar Soloing – Soloing on Two Strings Part 2
Here are some additional ideas if you’ve absorbed part 1 of this lesson.
How To Use an Electronic Tuner – Part 1 (tuning the guitar) – Beginner’s Guitar Lesson
For absolute beginners. If you’re having trouble tuning your guitar, get yourself an electronic tuner and follow this video to get your instrument perfectly in tune.
How To Use an Electronic Tuner – Part 2 (downtune by a half step) – Beginner’s Guitar Lesson
A lot of songs require you to tune down by a half step. Don’t let it put you off. It’s easy and this video shows you how.
The Boogie Pattern Part 1 – A Beginner’s Guitar Lesson
There’s one blues and rock and roll rhythm that’s heard in literally hundreds, possibly thousands of songs. Learn it here.
The Boogie Pattern Part 2 – A Beginner’s Guitar Lesson
There’s one blues and rock and roll rhythm that’s heard in literally hundreds, possibly thousands of songs. Learn it here.
Barre Chord Tips
Having trouble playing clean barre chords? This short video gives some pointers that might help.
Travis Picking – A Beginner’s Fingerpicking Guitar Lesson
Once you start fingerpicking it won’t be long before you want to try your hand at the holy grail of the style which is the thumb and finger independence. The thumb is your bass player and drummer and the fingers are your melody instruments. That style is called Travis picking and you can get a head start with it here.
Using a Capo – A Beginner’s Guitar Lesson
For absolute beginners. What is a capo and when and how should you use one?
Changing Chord Quickly – A Beginners’ Guitar Lesson
For absolute beginners. Having trouble changing chords without interrupting the music to move your hand? See if this short video can help.
The Expanding A7
It’s a quirk of musical theory that the standard A7 shape (x02020) can be moved around the neck to create all kinds of extra interesting sounds for almost no additional effort!
Two Movable 7th Chord Shapes
One of the cool things about the guitar is that there are shapes that, once we’ve learned them, we can move to different places on the neck and play a different chord each time. I call them “11 for the price of 1” chord shapes.
Travis Picking in Drop D
Drop D is a great tuning because it gives us all the bass we need on the open bottom three strings. The whole left hand can then be used to make melodic shapes without having to worry about fretting the bass.
The Melody Notes Around the G Chord
When is a G chord more than a G chord? When you know what additional melody notes you can add to it in your playing.
How To Play Every Major & Minor Chord
There was an episode of Friends where Phoebe asked Stephanie “How many chords do you know?” “All of them” was the answer. This video is the starting point to understanding how a guitarist can claim to know every chord.
Movable Chord Fragments
This is the first video of a series that shows you how to add a second guitar part when playing with another player. It’s not just about soloing. It’s about playing tasteful little phrases that complement the music, and we can use partial chords, or fragments, to do it. This video covers major chords
Movable Minor Chord Fragments
This is the second video of a series that shows you how to add a second guitar part when playing with another player. It’s not just about soloing. It’s about playing tasteful little phrases that complement the music, and we can use partial chords, or fragments, to do it. This video covers minor chords
Movable Minor7th Chord Fragments
This is the third video of a series that shows you how to add a second guitar part when playing with another player. It’s not just about soloing. It’s about playing tasteful little phrases that complement the music, and we can use partial chords, or fragments, to do it. This video covers minor 7th chords
Movable Major 7th and Dominant 7th Chord Fragments
This is the final video of a series that shows you how to add a second guitar part when playing with another player. It’s not just about soloing. It’s about playing tasteful little phrases that complement the music, and we can use partial chords, or fragments, to do it. This video covers major 7th and dominant 7th chords
How To Strum and Sing at the Same Time
The most requests I had for a tips and tricks video were for a video on how to strum and sing at the same time. You asked, I did it.
How to Fingerpick and Sing at the Same Time
Once you can strum and sing at the same time, the next challenge is to fingerpick and sing.
A Blues Ending in E
Here’s a quick little blues trick you can drop into any 12-bar in E: a classic turnaround or ending that starts with an E7 shape up at the 3rd fret and walks it down chromatically to D7, then resolves sweetly to your E chord. It’s easy under the fingers, sounds great, and adds a touch of class to the final bars of any blues progression. One of those little things that makes us sound like we know what we’re doing!