New Petrucci plugin, Clapton nonsense, Gabriela Quintero's amazing warm-up and more

Welcome to the last issue of Six String Sunday for 2021! With Christmas coming up in less than a week, I’ll be taking a 2 week break from the newsletter, but will be back in your inbox in the new year! Let’s make 2022 the best year for guitar we’ve ever had. Thanks so much for reading this newsletter each and every week, hanging out in our Discord, on the livestreams, and everywhere else. I really appreciate your support! Let’s get into this week’s links.

Oh, one more thing, I just wrapped up the last livestream of the year! - Check out episode 13 of Chasing Sound Live! here.

Looking ahead to 2022 - Chasing Sound Live! Episode 13

In this week's livestream, we're looking ahead to 2022! Not only are we talking about my favorite guitar stories/vieos of the past 2 weeks, we're also talking about how we can make Chasing Sound one of the best guitar spots on the internet in the new year.

This is the last livestream until the new year. Happy holidays, and catch you in the new year!

Josh Smith's pedalboard, brand new overdrive from Wampler, Cory Wong's "Smokeshow"

It has been absolutely crazy with work and shopping for the holidays, which is why I was so excited to spend some time writing this week’s issue of Six String Sunday. I can just relax with my MacBook, and talk about the best guitar stuff of the week.

I had been talking to the guys in the Discord and seeing what their favorite albums of the year were, and there’s a lot to choose from! We got 3 albums each from guys like Ariel Posen and Cory Wong, a new War on Drugs album that’s incredibly well done, lots of great punk like Turnstile’s Glow On, and much, much more. It was a great year for music. What’s your favorite 1 or 2 albums of the year? Let me know by replying to this email!

As we move into 2022, I have to imagine it’s going to be better than 2021 and certainly 2020, right? Anyway, here’s a boatload of my favorite guitar links of the week, to take your mind off of all the craziness! Let’s get into it.

Steve Vai's new album, the best pedals ever, SRV's string saver trick

This week I have everything from new signature guitars to legends of rhythm guitar, how to set up your pedals in the best way, and a ton more. Is there anything you picked up during the holiday sales? - A guitar course, piece of gear or something else. Let me know by replying to this email!

I just wrapped up episode 12 of the Chasing Sound Live livestream. I talked about my favorite guitar stories, looked ahead to what 2022 will hold for Chasing Sound, and most importantly, did a lesson on playing power and barre chords. If you're just starting out with guitar, you can check out the replay of the stream here.

Let’s get right into this week’s links!

Learning power and barre chords, guitar stories and looking ahead to 2022

In episode 12 of Chasing Sound Live, I did a mini lesson on learning power and barre chords. I talked about the benefits of learning these chords early on, tips and tricks about making them ring out clearly, and why they're so fun.

I also talked about my favorite guitar stories, and looked ahead to what 2022 will bring for Chasing Sound. You can check out the full replay below.

Tom Bukovac's "Plexi Soul", the ultimate pedalboard, how to solo over any song

Hey friends! I’m in a partial food coma, and I’m sure many folks who read this newsletter are as well. So this week’s newsletter will be links only, with no commentary. BUT…make sure you join me on the next livestream, because I’ll be talking about my favorite links of the week!

I did a make-up live stream on Tuesday of this week, and it was a lot of fun. I talk about pentatonic scales, knowing theory, and more. You can check out the replay here. I also talk about my new Fractal FM3, which I’ve been going down a rabbit hole with, creating new tones/presets/scenes all the time. Get ready for some videos on that box in the future!

Before I get outta here and share this week’s links, I have to give a shout out to Tom Bukovac and his new album ‘Plexi Soul’. The album is truly a guitarist’s delight - awesome playing, great tones, cut to tape. Go check it out on BandCamp.

Mini pentatonic lesson, major scale roadmap, my new FM3 and more!

For Chasing Sound Live! episode 11, I'm talking all about great videos and lessons from the past couple of weeks - including making riffs your own, and all sorts of pentatonic stuff. Towards the end of the stream, I broke out my Charvel, and my new Fractal FM3 for a mini pentatonic lesson of my own. Just some of my thoughts on the pentatonics, why it's important to understand the theory behind the scales, and a bunch more.

This amp goes to eleven, the smarter way to learn chords, arpeggios 101

How’s it going for you this weekend? As we’re in the full swing of the holiday season, I’m hunkering down, and thinking of all the cool ways I can do new, fun guitar stuff in 2022. If you’d like to see more or less of anything in the new year from Chasing Sound, let me know!

I’m also always on the lookout for cool guitar deals around Thanksgiving when it comes to guitar, tech, etc. If there’s anything awesome you think I can’t miss, let me know about that too.

Alright let’s get into this week’s links!