You’ve mastered your pentatonics. You can navigate the major modes with your eyes closed. But when you listen to the greats—whether it’s the sophisticated lines of Larry Carlton or the smoothness of Pat Martino—there is something else happening. A certain “spice” that diatonic scales just don’t provide on…
By Eric Haugen You pick up your guitar and something just feels off. The strings buzz against the frets. Maybe they feel impossibly high under your fingers. Your bends sound out of tune, and that power chord up the neck makes you wince. Don’t worry—most guitar problems come…
Call and response guitar is one of the most powerful tools an improvising musician can develop. At its core, it turns solos into conversations, phrases into sentences, and licks into ideas that actually mean something. You hear it everywhere once you know what to listen for. Blues, rock,…
Guitar phrasing is often misunderstood as something mysterious or advanced. In reality, it begins with a simple but challenging idea: learning when not to play. Many beginner and beginner-intermediate guitar players believe that better solos come from more notes, faster runs, and constant motion. But some of the…
Guitar dynamics are one of the most misunderstood elements of great playing. Many guitarists spend years chasing tone through pedals, pickups, and amp settings, only to discover that their sound still feels flat, stiff, or lifeless. The truth is both simpler and harder to accept: your tone lives…
You know the feeling. You’re strumming along, hitting every chord cleanly, nailing the changes, and yet something’s missing. The part sounds flat. Mechanical. The missing ingredient? Guitar syncopation, the rhythmic technique that transforms lifeless strumming into the kind of groove that makes people move. It’s the difference between…
How do I make my melodies sound sad or nostalgic? The first step to making melodies sound sad or nostalgic is to choose the right sound – pianos, strings, guitar, and synths work well. Then, you’ll use composition techniques that incorporate minor scales or modes like Dorian or…
We’ve all been there. You pick up your guitar, tune up, and… play the exact same lick you played yesterday. And the day before. It’s the dreaded intermediate plateau. You have the chops, but you lack the vocabulary to express something new. This is where the art of…
How do you choose the right lo-fi plugins for your setup? Choosing the right lo-fi plugins comes down to your experience level, budget, and the kind of beats you want to make. There is no single perfect setup, but there are solid options that make sense at every…
Here’s a truth most intermediate guitarists need to hear: your rhythm playing is the backbone of everything you do on the fretboard. You can shred pentatonic runs all day, but if your time wobbles and your comping sounds like strumming through mud, you’re leaving serious musicality on the…
