Don’t just strum through the chord progression switch it up from time to time. Arpeggio picking patterns can be really great way to spice up your rhythm playing in any style of music. Arpeggio picking is a great technique and adds texture and dimension to any guitar part. It works especially well with open chords [...]

Dial in your twangiest tone for this week’s new exercise.  It’s a country lick utilizing the C major pentatonic scale.  This lick will help you work on hammer-ons, pull-offs, and bends.  The bend will be a little tricky when you get up to the faster tempos, so take your time getting there and make sure [...]

This funk style rhythm guitar exercise is a four-measure sixteenth note pattern where the rhythm gets displaced by one beat every time through it. We are playing this exercise with an E9 chord. Strum sixteenth notes and fret the chord on the first sixteenth note of every beat. The other three beats are muted strums. [...]

The newest page on practicetheguitar.com is a 12 bar blues backing track in G at fifteen tempos. The slowest tempo is 60bpm, and goes up to 200bpm in increments of ten. The progression follows the standard blues format. Four bars of G7, two bars of C7. Two more measures of G7. The turn-around is D7, [...]

  Increasing you’re picking is not just for the speed metal guitarists out there. The more you improve your technique on the guitar, the more it also improves the other aspects of you’re playing. Your hands are more loose, and everything you play is more smooth. This is an important skill to practice and maintain.  The [...]

Here is a E Minor rock/fusion lick that was recorded over one of the backing tracks at practicetheguitar.com Here is the audio example http://snd.sc/ZzpmFf go to Click Here to check out the backing tracks. Click Here to become a member Click Here to sign up for our free guitar lesson videos.  Try the lick over the track yourself over [...]

The newest page at practicetheguitar.com is a two measure classic blues lick in the style of Eric Clapton, Albert King, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. This phrase employs the C Blues Scale, a half step bend, a quarter step bend, and a good amount of vibrato.  There are fifteen tempos of this phrase,  with printable notation, tablature, [...]

Here is a new featured page on practicetheguitar.com! This finger exercise moves in a diagonal pattern across the neck. This is extremely useful for building speed and improving your overall technique! Click Here To View The Page Click Here To Sign Up For Our Free Guitar Lesson Videos Click Here To Be A Member Of Our Site Check It [...]

Here is an awesome beginner exercise if you’re trying to get better at switching from chord to chord.  This is a two chord progression that switches between the Em and G chord.  This is an eight measure pattern, the first two measures have you strumming quarter notes and then switches to eighth notes.  There are [...]

If you’re looking for a way to practice combining the Major and Minor Pentatonic scale in a solo, here is a really good example of just that. This bluesy rock solo covers the whole neck and tactfully mixes both scales over a backing track. Members get access to downloadable tablature and notation. Videos at 11 [...]

Looking for some new blues licks that you can add to your bag of tricks? Here is a classic SRV style lick that is right in the pentatonic scale and can be transposed to any key. Notice the addition of the 9th degree at the end of the lick to add a little color. If [...]

Here is a new video guitar lesson for the Blake Shelton song “Sure Be Cool If You Did” from his new album “Based On A True Story” released on March 26, 2013. A few months before he released this album, Blake Shelton received some flack  over comments he made to GAC’s Backstory, where he claimed [...]

Here is the newest page added to practicetheguitar.com! The Led Zeppelin Style Riff is an exercise that covers a mix of techniques that Jimmy Page would use in his playing. This style has a good mix of blues and rock guitar techniques. A ton of great guitar riffs use the E and A minor pentatonic [...]

   Learning short licks will help you build your library of phrases that you can pull out of your bag when it comes time to take a solo. Some people call it developing your “bag of tricks” Once you can play the lick from the first position, practice moving up and down the neck in [...]

Every guitar player at one point or another wants to learn a guitar solo from they’re favorite guitarist.  In most cases the solo is either too difficult, or two long to really be able to pull it off.  This new exercise is a short solo using only the A major pentatonic scale. The example incorporates [...]

The newest exercise on practicetheguitar.com is a two measure blues lick in C. Learning a phrase like this one can help you improve your phrasing, give you new ideas, improve our technique, and just give you a lick to play in a solo that you may have not thought of. There is full downloadable notation [...]

Practicing scales using guitar backing tracks is an excellent way to improve many aspects of you’re playing. This type of practice will help you improve your scale knowledge, technique, tone, and your sense of rhythm. It’s also a lot more fun than practicing with only a metronome! This single key-backing track in E minor is [...]

Don’t be misled by the two finger exercises, having only two fingers being played on each string is not easier because you are moving from string to string faster. This is an alternate picking exercise that moves through every fret starting on the sixth string first fret, and works all the way up to the twelfth [...]

Yamaha announced three additions to their THR amplifier line and there’s now a model that fits your style of music from clean to high gain. All models share some similar characteristics, for example, the footprint, inputs and outputs are the same across the models. Where they differ is in the amplifier models and effects they feature.

The basic twelve bar blues shuffle is essential for any guitarist. It’s important to be able to accompany other instruments. The newest page just added to www.practicetheguitar.com is this twelve bar blues riff in Bb. At practicetheguitar.com we have the riff at fourteen tempos starting at 60 beats per minute, all the way up to 200 beats [...]

Being a guitar teacher, I get the question everyday. “How do I learn how to improvise and take solos?” Here is a awesome way to get you on a fast track to getting to that point. You need great technique, good tone, knowing the proper scales, a good sense of rhythm, and having a good [...]

I recently posted a YouTube lesson on how to practice the Major and Minor Pentatonic scale over a one chord backing track.  Using backing tracks is a great way to improve your improvisation skills.  Our backing tracks are provided in several tempos for each track.  This way, as your skills progress, you can increase the [...]

  I have always loved this style of guitar. Check out this super fun Paul Gilbert/Nuno Bettencourt style arpeggio lick. String skipping and legato. It will be many hours of fun!   Check out our Facebook page: Here is the practice the guitar Facebook page.  

  We just posted a new YouTube video.Bruno Mars in an amazing vocalist, and a great writer. His band is really awesome too! If you are looking to learn the riff from the new Bruno Mars tune “Locked Out Of Heaven”. Check out this video.   You can also check out some of our other [...]

After a long development process, we’re finally opening our doors to our paid membership levels! As of today, you can visit the Join tab on the menu and sign up for full access to all of our videos. Check it out today!

  We just posted a new YouTube video. There’s no doubt about it, with well over 2 Million Albums sold, Taylor Swift’s RED album is HOT. Behind the singer is a great band and there is some great country/pop guitar playing on the album. If you are looking to learn the riff from the new [...]

There are tons of physical obstacles that a guitar player faces. Constant repetition can bring pain and soreness in the hands. One really great way to combat this is with stretching and warm-up exercises. There are endless patterns that can be used for finger exercises. Its a good idea to start off playing four consecutive [...]

Did you know that www.practicetheguitar.com has a channel on YouTube? We regularly publish videos to our channel that show you how to play songs and licks on the guitar.  If you’re ready for a break from practicing your guitar, drop by and check out our videos.