How to Play Guitar Solos

Zakk Wylde - Parade of the Dead - Lesson

2011-01-18T00:56:00.001-08:00

If you play guitar, particularly if you're learning how to play guitar solos, you'll know the name of Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist of choice, Zakk Wylde. If you don't by some chance and have been playing in a cave somewhere, well you're in for a treat! Here's a lesson of the song 'Parade of the Dead' by Zakk's own Black Label Society , brought to you by our friends at Guitar World. Learn it here!

For more Lessons, Advice and Inspiration check out How to Play Guitar Solos.

Posted via email from glennbird's posterous

New Fender Road Worn Player Series

2011-01-09T19:02:00.001-08:00

Fender are back with a second generation of 'road worn' guitars with a vintage look and feel. These take the experience a step further with modifications including hotter pickups for gritty tone, and a flatter fingerboard for effortless bends. Soon to be released through modern spec guitars, these are to be unveiled at NAMM 2011. Get the full details and specs here.

Fender Road Worn™ Player Stratocaster

Fender Road Worn™ Player Telecaster

Fender Road Worn™ Player Stratocaster HSS

For Lessons, Advice & Inspiration for Guitar, Check out 'How to Play Guitar Solos'

Posted via email from glennbird's posterous

Gibson to create Strats for Jimi Hendrix’s new Signature Model?

2009-09-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

Gibson to create Strats for Jimi Hendrix’s new Signature Model?: "

How do they plan to do that? Jimi's main axe played live and in studio was a Fender Strat. Everyone remembers when Hendrix’s famously golfed his Fender Strat in lighter fluid and set it ablaze

NAMM posted 6 days ago from gear-vault.com

Find more top guitar news, videos, and blogs on GuitarWorldBlips: Guitar, Jimi Hendrix, Gibson, Fender

Musicians Institute Awards Honory Degree to Guitar Legend Steve Vai

2009-09-21T16:23:00.000-07:00

Musicians Institute Awards Honory Degree to Guitar Legend Steve Vai: "

Steve Vai - Photo credit: Michael Mesker

Musicians Institute awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree to legendary rock guitarist, recording artist, producer, and composer Steve Vai. The award was officially conferred during MI’s summer graduation ceremony held on September 18 at L.A.’s Wiltern Theatre.After first achieving prominence as guitarist for the late Frank Zappa, Vai has gone on to win multiple Grammys, repeatedly top critics’ and readers’ polls, and earn gold and platinum records while becoming the personification of contemporary guitar virtuosity. His latest concert DVD, Where the Wild Things Are, is set for release September 29th on Favored Nations.

Describing why MI selected Vai for the honor (only the second awarded in the school’s history), Vice President of Education Beth Marlis said, “Steve Vai has not only inspired countless musicians around the world and played a major role in the evolution of modern rock guitar, he also embodies MI’s ideal of the artist-educator who combines relentless pursuit of his creative vision with a sense of responsibility for mentoring the next generation.”

For more information on Steve Vai and his latest release got to www.vai.com orwww.myspace.com/stevevai.

Way Huge pedals giveaway!

2009-09-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

Way Huge pedals giveaway!: "

Today is a great day for you, but for me it is a very sad day because I am announcing the biggest competition in Guitar Noize’s history. Ok so I’m not sad about that, I’m sad that I am going to have to say goodbye to the incredible trio of pedals from Way Huge . You may have ...

guitarnoize posted 26 hours ago from guitarnoize.com

Find more top guitar news, videos, and blogs on GuitarWorldBlips: Guitar

Madcatz Officially Licensed Rock Band Accessories

2009-09-17T00:32:00.000-07:00

Madcatz Officially Licensed Rock Band Accessories: "

Get Adobe Flash player You need Flash Player 8 and allow javascript to see the content of this site..

Total Guitar found this 12 days ago on rockband.gameshark.com

Find more top guitar news, videos, and blogs on GuitarWorldBlips: Guitar, Rock Band

Palm Muting for Beginners

2009-09-13T04:33:00.000-07:00

Palm Muting for Beginners: "

Ok, let’s take a look at a technique that is great for a few styles but especially for Rock and Metal, and that is Palm Muting. The definition is fairly self explanatory as it’s just resting the palm on the strings to mute the sound, but when it comes time to actually play it can get a little tricky for newer players. Hopefully by the end of this you’ll have a clear idea of how it works and how you can use it in your own playing.

When learning how to play lead guitar you can get away without knowing this technique, but once again it is something that will spice up your solos and give them an extra dynamic so you should really know what it is and how to use it.

The technique – This is completely a picking hand technique and is played by resting the right side of your palm (for right handers; left handers just reverse it) on the strings close to the bridge, giving the strings a muted or deadened sound. Some people recommend playing by resting on the bridge itself so you’re just touching the strings, but if you know what causes the sound and how to play it you can do it anywhere. I personally mute over the pickups a little further back from the bridge as it’s where I generally pick everything else, so it’s a matter of ease to play as much as I can in the same position. Play around with different positions and see what is comfortable, and I do recommend staying in the same position as you pick everything else.

When using this in your lead playing; whether composing your own or learning how to play lead guitar from someone else, mix it up with everything that you do. As a general rule (and the only real rule in guitar is what sounds good!) keep the deadened sounds like muting for the scale runs and the bulk of the passages, and for anything you want accented that’s where you open up the sound (this works with things like the Wah pedal too, having the pedal up with the closed sound for the majority and opening it up on the accents) – try it and see how it works for you.

That’s it! It’s an easy technique to explain and not so difficult to execute, but be patient with yourself and get it right at slow speeds and it will serve you well in the future.

Technorati Tags: easy guitar lesson, electric guitar lesson, how to play guitar solos, how to play lead guitar"

How to Create Twin Guitar Harmonies

2009-09-10T03:33:00.000-07:00

How to Create Twin Guitar Harmonies: "

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the words ‘guitar harmonies’? For a lot of people it’ll be 80’s glam solos and other seemingly outdated styles… but don’t disregard this as it can be a very full and effective sound in most modern styles if played right (and that is the key!). If you’re lucky enough to remember the 80’s solos then you’ll remember that the guitar harmonies were flying hard and fast and were ever so slightly overused, but that was great for that style and time. Now you may have to consider spicing things up a little more in order for it to work, and there is one major way to do this.

If you’ve leaned how to play guitar solos in the 80’s then this can be a rough task to change, but all it takes is wanting to and it can be done. There is one main difference between ye harmonies of old and what is being created now, and that is repetition. Before, it used to be an entire pattern or scale run that was played completely in harmony and sounded somewhat predictable, and that’s why that sound has now dated. Now you can’t really get away with that so much with the new generations of listeners needing everything constantly changing and new (think of the attention spans) so there’s a need to add a mix of harmony parts with other techniques and keep it interesting, and then you’ll separate them from the stereotype of the past.

There are 3 main ways to play a harmony and they are 3^rd/ 5^th and Octave. The first guitar can play whatever notes you want, and to work out the harmony section it’s simply a matter of working out the note the first guitar is playing and then choosing either the 3^rd or 5^th note up from that in the scale you wish to play, or choosing the octave (the same note played an octave above or below). It’s really that easy to create a guitar harmony, and this will also help you when learning how to play guitar solos from other bands as the majority will fall into this category. One more thing, when you choose your 3^rd/ 5^th or octave notes they can be either side of the original guitar notes. If you play a 3^rd down from the first guitar, it’s the same ratio but you are just playing the lower harmony part.

Play around with this and think about using it as a way to accent small passages rather than whole scale runs, and you’ll stay clear of the stereotype harmonies – which are still great if that’s the desired effect, but you now have a choice!

Technorati Tags: easy guitar lesson, electric guitar lesson, how to play guitar solos, how to play lead guitar

Atreyu Unveil New CD Track Listing

2009-09-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

Atreyu Unveil New CD Track Listing

Following a critically and commercially successful album is no small feat for any band. For Atreyu, whose fourth full-length, Lead Sails Paper Anchor, sold over 315,000 copies, the task was even more daunting. That album marked a substantial shift for the group, expressing an explosively commercial and alternative side of Atreyu that had been largely unexplored. With their new album, Congregation of the Damned, the members wanted to...

read the full story at Guitar World!

POST # 171 Mike Stern on Hearing what You're Playing

2009-09-05T17:41:00.000-07:00

POST # 171 Mike Stern on Hearing what You're Playing: "

“If you play too many notes, and are no longer hearing what you’re playing, you won’t be able to connect in an emotional way.” - Mike Stern ( Engaging interview with the very relaxed and friendly Mike Stern. - Ed)

bigbossguitar posted 23 hours ago from guitareureka.blogspot.com

Find more top guitar news, videos, and blogs on GuitarWorldBlips: Guitar"

The Art of String Skipping

2009-09-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

The Art of String Skipping: "

String Skipping is one of those techniques that seem so easy when you see it done but when you try it yourself you realize it’s not that easy, especially when you try to skip two or more strings at a time! Before we get into it, let’s clarify what string skipping is so we’re all on the same page. The technique is really a non technique in the way that its whole purpose is to ‘miss’ playing the notes, and is simply where you play one string then jump over the next one or more and land on another string. In essence, ‘skipping’ over from one to another and leaving an unplayed string in the middle. This technique is used more in electric guitar so if you want a challenging electric guitar lesson, this is it!

There are some things to point out when practicing this that may seem obvious at first, but it’s essential to make sure you play them this way so when you speed it all up you’re not picking up bad habits. Check out these tips and add them into your next scale practice runs:

Economy picking – We’ll cover this technique in detail at a later stage but it is simply picking in the most economical way and only moving your picking hand as much as you need to, to get the job done. When using this in string skipping it refers to how you pick the first string and then land on the next after the skip, and it all depends what you’re trying to achieve. Go for what feels the most natural to play in order to let you make a clean jump and land dead on the not

Hammer ons – This is a great way to play a few notes before the skip and give yourself enough time to make the jump. If your left hand (or fretting hand for left handers) is tied up with a few notes while your other hand is clearing the strings preparing for the land then it can make it so much easier, so try it slow and see what gives you the best chance of making it smooth.

String Noise – This is one to eliminate at all costs (unless that’s what you’re after of course). Because there is movement in the strings on either side, it’s easy to transfer that noise to the unplayed string(s). You can and should practice playing clean notes slowly to get the feel of what works and what doesn’t before you speed it up, but there is another way as well…

Palm Muting – Another technique for another post, but the basics of this are resting the palm of your picking hand on the strings slightly to ‘mute’ the sound. This doesn’t cut all the sound out, just deadens it and cuts out the noise – you hear it a lot in heavier music and it’s very useful for any technique where you’re trying to cut out string noise. Try it here especially at the immediate point of the jump.

A good to practice these is in scale runs, and definitely with a metronome. Start out with going up and down the scale once. The next time skip one string both on the way up and back down, then two strings etc…until you have a few strings and then work back down until you’re playing the scale again. It’s hard at first, but well worth it!

Technorati Tags: easy guitar lesson, electric guitar lesson, how to play guitar solos, how to play lead guitar

Native Instruments announces GUITAR RIG 4 PRO

2009-09-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

Here's something every guitarist needs - imagine the possibilities!
Native Instruments announces GUITAR RIG 4 PRO: "Native Instruments has announced GUITAR RIG 4 PRO, the next generation of its acclaimed guitar studio. The ..."

How to Play Guitar Solos - The Scale Secret!

2009-08-14T00:06:00.000-07:00

Are you wanting to learn how to play guitar solos? Are you struggling through without really knowing the notes that your landing on? I may have a solution for you...

We're always taught the importance of learning scales on the guitar, and i have to agree that there's no getting around it - scales will improve your playing more than you realize. The thing i want to share with you here is Scale 'shapes', and how they work. You may have always played scales in such a way that you just play a run of notes up and down the neck, over and over again, sound familiar? While this is a great way to know the notes of the scale and improve speed and picking skill, and i'm all for this, you still have to work out where to play what scale in your solos. That's where scale shapes come in...

If you've never learned how to play guitar solos, bear with me and i'll break this down as simply as i can.

A scale shape is a pattern or formation on the neck of the guitar, that can be used to give you a framework when playing solos. Just like when using blogger here, there are templates that you can use to give you a framework to work within, scale shapes on the guitar give you a framework or a template to work out where to put the notes.

For the purpose of this article we'll look at the 5 Pentatonic Scale shapes to give you a brief overview of how they work, and don't worry if you don't get the hang of it straight away, it takes a little while to learn how to apply them. Basically, after you have found the root note you want to play over, you then find the root note in these shapes to work out which shape to use on which part of the neck.

Please click on the image to view a larger size!

Here we have the 5 pentatonic shapes in order of how they run (after shape 5 it goes back to shape one, just like a scale). The circles with the white dots are the root notes, so you can see where it fits in the different shapes.

When playing through these shapes, use the low E string as a guide and start the next shape where the first one left off. As an example, the first image of shape 1 has the first root note on the low E string, followed by the next note in the sequence 3 frets up from the first, so start shape 2 from this note, and use these reference points for each shape. When you get to finish shape 5 it goes back to shape 1 again.

I know it sounds complicated and without me sitting there in front of you teaching it can be hard to know what i mean, but just choose a note and follow these shapes from that note, starting with the first note being that root note you just chose, and after a while you'll start seeing where to play notes over any chord progression... this will give you so much freedom when playing solos and the possibilities will be endless!

To find out more tips and guitar solo advice, check out this site: how to play guitar solos