[This piece comes from my Guitar Technique Booster Course. It’s focused on the basic fretting hand guitar technique and has been lightly adapted for this article.] Have you ever attended a drawing lesson? One of the important concepts you learn is texture. Sometimes, you use dots, short lines, or brush strokes to create shading and […]
Sweep Picking Guitar Technique: Mastering the Art of Fluid Playing Read More »
In martial arts, throwing a punch with just your arm is weak and exhausting. But when you engage your entire body—rotating your hips, driving with your legs, and aligning your shoulders—the motion becomes powerful and efficient. The same principle applies to selective picking in guitar playing. By dividing the workload between your fretting and picking
Selective Picking: Unlocking Effortless Speed and Precision Read More »
[This piece comes from my Guitar Technique Booster Course. It’s focused on the basic fretting hand guitar technique and has been lightly adapted for this article.] When exploring a foreign city, you can always stick to travel guides, visiting the recommended landmarks and following the standard tourist paths. But the real magic happens
Breaking Patterns: The Art of String Skipping Guitar Technique Read More »
[This piece comes from my Guitar Technique Booster Course. It’s focused on the legato guitar playing and has been lightly adapted for this article.] When I was preparing for my entrance exams to study architecture, one of the biggest challenges I faced was pencil drawing. The task was to observe a composition of two
The Architecture of Legato Guitar Playing: Designing Smooth Guitar Lines Read More »
[This piece comes from my Guitar Technique Booster Course. It’s focused on the basic fretting hand guitar technique and has been lightly adapted for this article.] As I wrote in my article The Fundamental Picking-Hand Mechanics of Alternate Picking: Imagine walking into a gym, grabbing the heaviest weights, and lifting with poor posture. Does adding
The Secret Fix for Sloppy Alternate Picking: Master the Right-Hand Motion First [This piece comes from my Guitar Technique Booster Course. It’s focused on the fundamental picking-hand mechanics and has been lightly adapted for this article.] Imagine walking into a gym, grabbing the heaviest weights, and lifting with poor posture. Does adding more weight
Before Practicing Exercises: The Fundamental Picking-Hand Mechanics of Alternate Picking Read More »
[This is an excerpt from my Speedy Chord Changes Course, which is available exclusively as a bonus with the Rhythm Laced Column Course. It might be edited for the purpose of this article.] Learning to change guitar chords quickly and smoothly is a must-have skill for any guitarist, whether you are a beginner or
One of the first things you encounter when learning to play the guitar is mastering open chords, often called cowboy chords or first-position chords. These basic chords form the foundation for countless songs, and knowing how to play them is a must-have skill for any beginner guitarist. They are like the basic Lego bricks,
Mastering Open Chords: Your Essential Guide to Cowboy Chords for Beginner Guitarists Read More »
Before we’ll delve into the alternate picking vs economy picking battle, let me ask you a question: Do painters use the same direction of brush strokes when painting, or do they alternate between up and downstrokes? The correct answer is… It depends. On what? On the texture, they want to achieve. This is the
You know that you need to improve your alternate picking. But searching for random exercises online is not what it make this happen. In this article, I’ll be showing you a strategic point of view on what categories of alternate picking there are and thus what kind of exercises you should practice. After reading this,