Release Day!

September 8, 2018 LTGuitarist Uncategorized album, Blue Alatar, Cinematic, epic rock, irradiated hamster alert, launch, livestream, music, musician, orchestral, prog rock, release, rock, rock music

Yep, that's it. Release day. Today I release Irradiated Hamster Alert as Blue Alatar. The album represents about 8 years of work on-and-off, much of which took place this last year. The album is available on most music apps, (incl Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer), as well as ones that I manage: ReverbNation and BandCamp. You can pay-what-you-like for … Continue reading Release Day!

Blues-Rock Lick

Video February 16, 2015May 29, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials awesome, blues, guitar, lick, playing, rock, tutorial

Another blues-rock lick for your guitar repertoire. Below is the tab for this lick, divided into sections. You’ll notice that Fig 1 is repeated in bar 3. I’m playing this at 100bpm, so I’d recommend playing slower than this at first, (it’s fine to play at any speed to begin with, no matter how slow, … Continue reading Blues-Rock Lick

Over Bending

Video August 14, 2014May 29, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials awesome, bend, blues, guitar, jazz, metal, over bending, overbending, rock, solo, technique

Tutorial for Over Bending, and advanced string bend technique. Here's Doug Aldrich doing his thing:

Intermediate String Bends

Video November 29, 2013May 29, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials bends, blues, cool, guitar, intermediate, lead, metal, rock, solo, string

This is a staple blues / rock / metal trick that you will have heard at some point as a listener. If you need to, refresh your memory on the Bm scale and the ideas outlined in my first String Bending lesson. For the first bend you’ll want your first finger fretting the target pitch, which … Continue reading Intermediate String Bends

The Blues: Mixing-Up Lead & Rhythm Ideas

August 13, 2013May 26, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials 12 bar blues, blues, clapton, guitar, rock, solo, steevie ray, vaughn

This post is going to focus on the basics of tastefully making use of lead phrases in-between rhythm playing in a blues situation. Although this exercise is arguably quite sterile, it’s going to be an invaluable first step to get you more comfortable with the concept. Once you’re familiar with it you’ll be allowed much … Continue reading The Blues: Mixing-Up Lead & Rhythm Ideas

Advanced Rock Rhythms 1: Inverting Powerchords

April 20, 2013May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials guitar, heavy, inversions, inverted, power chord, powerchord, rock

In this lesson we’ll be applying the principles of chord inversion to a rock situation. As you should know already, it’s unlikely that you’ll be playing open chords or anything much bigger than powerchords when using a heavily distorted guitar sound. This doesn't mean that we have to forget about notes other than Roots and … Continue reading Advanced Rock Rhythms 1: Inverting Powerchords

Example Song #4: Power Chords & Palm Mutes

March 19, 2013May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials blues, guitar, learn to play, learn to play awesome guitar, palm mute, play, pop, power chord, powerchord, rhythm, rock, tuition

This song is a demonstration of two very common techniques within rock, pop and blues music. Power Chords, as you should already know, are used in place of full Open or Barre chords, in genres where guitars are usually distorted. Palm muting allows you to control the tone and volume … Continue reading Example Song #4: Power Chords & Palm Mutes

Standard Chord Progressions 1: Maj & Min I, IV, V Chord Patterns

October 18, 2012May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials 1 4 5, blues, bob dylan, chords, cool, cream, guitar, I, I IV V, IV, jimi hendrix, major, minor, music, pride & joy, rock, stevie ray vaughn, the kinks, theory, V

The I, IV, V chord pattern is a very common progression, and it is for that reason I will be focusing on it for several lessons. If you have an interest in blues, rock or jazz music, this will form the basis for many songs you will learn, (especially in the case of the blues). … Continue reading Standard Chord Progressions 1: Maj & Min I, IV, V Chord Patterns

Memorizing The Fretboard

August 14, 2012May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials awesome, blues, flamenco, fretboard, guitar, guitar-based theory, jazz, memorizing, memory, metal, music, music theory, notes, rock, theory

(I've stolen an image from http://www.CortGuitars.com for this. So there.) These are some tips and tricks to help you memorize the fretboard. Memorizing the fretboard will help you to instinctively know where to go in order to voice different chords. The first step is to remember the order of the open strings, which is as follows, (from … Continue reading Memorizing The Fretboard

Hammer-Claw Finger-Picking Technique

August 7, 2012May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials awesome, blues, claw, country, finger, finger-picking, guitar, hammer, hammer-claw, jazz, music, picking, rock, technique

Hammer-claw finger-picking is a technique used in country, jazz and sometimes blues music where the guitarist plays with their fingers rather than a pick. In this style your thumb is the “hammer” and your fingers are the “claw”. Your “hammer” is intended to play the bass strings, (E, A and sometimes D), and replicate the job … Continue reading Hammer-Claw Finger-Picking Technique