I’ve been having so much fun this week creating new guitar licks. I’m happy to say I’ve been sticking to the Lick Every Day In August challenge - writing and posting at least 1 lick every day to social media. You can check them out on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts. It feels good to dedicate at least an hour of time to guitar each day! You can join the challenge and start today. Just block out 30 or so days for yourself, and see what happens at the end!

I’ve also been having fun immersing myself in other people’s licks that I love - Guthrie Govan, Josh Smith, Martin Miller (speaking of which, Josh just interviewed Martin - you can check that out here), and many others. I’ve been trying to keep my own licks varied, so I’ve been pushing myself to learn some of their parts on JTC Guitar. Anyway, that’s enough about me. What’s been new with you? What are you working on with guitar? What’s your favorite lick of all time?

Let’s get into this week’s links!

25 GREATEST GUITAR RIFFS (But played on a little guitar) - All this talk about licks, what about riffs? Stevie T plays some of the most classic guitar riffs of all time…on a super small guitar. It doesn’t even sound that bad!
The Reason Why Most Guitar Players Don't Progress (and how to fix it!) - Easily one of the best videos of the week. It’s not a straight ahead guitar lesson, but more of an inspirational video. And that’s what David Wallimann really excels at. If you’re looking for a pick me up regarding your own progress on guitar, watch this vid and get inspired.
2 Tricks for Two Finger Tapping on Guitar - I love the enthusiasm that Nasty Soul brings to his YouTube channel. If you want to get started with 2 finger tapping, this is a great video to start with. Lots of great examples and tips to get you started with this virtuosic sounding technique. Also, check out how to groove with a metronome, using MJ’s “Human Nature”.
Awesome Tones From Devin Townsend – That Pedal Show VT Gold - I love the tones that Devin Townsend coaxes from his rig. Check out the guys from That Pedal Show visiting Townsend to deliver a new pedal board. Lots of ear candy in this one.
I Got Schooled On Finding The Right Guitar Strings - Rhett Shull visited the folks over at StringJoy to find out a little bit of history on guitar strings, and how you can choose the right strings for your electric guitar. I loved the behind the scenes look at how strings are made.
Greg Koch - Hybrid picking, and how to play “Luna Girl” - Greg Koch is one of the funniest and most talented players on the planet. In this video Greg breaks down his song “Luna Girl”, and how to get to grips with hybrid picking.
Peter Frampton on his 70's Guitar Rig and Other Details From "Frampton Comes Alive" - Rick Beato sits down with the legendary Peter Frampton, to talk about his iconic ‘Frampton Comes Alive’ guitar rig. It’s cool to hear about all the gear and fun stuff that happened on the album, but the best part is how much fun both Frampton and Beato seem to be having during the interview…not to mention how humble Frampton seems. Great interview.
Practice These Legato Techniques Every Day - Vai, Satch, Govan, and many more all are masters of legato playing. If you want to get better at legato, you should check out Rick Graham’s video on awesome legato techniques to practice each and every day. That’s the key to this video, and this whole month….guitar every day, if you can!
Learn how to create 80’s style guitar parts - Ross Campbell teaches us how to create 80’s style guitar parts - he goes over 4 different types of classic 80’s parts you often hear from songs of the decade, and gives us tips on what he’d do to get the tones as well. Fantastic lesson if you’re looking to emulate John Mayer’s recent Sob Rock album!
3 Types of Songs You Should Practice (To Play Guitar Better) - I loved this simple lesson about 3 different types of songs you should practice to get better. Everything from campfire songs to “developers” and “dreamers”. This is one of the ways I leveled up my guitar playing when I first started out, so I wholeheartedly agree with this lesson.
Eddie Van Halen's Guitar Tech Tom Weber Restrings and Sets Up an EVH Frankenstein "Frankie" Guitar - Want to know what a legendary guitar setup looks like? Check out this video where EVH’s guitar tech Tom Weber restrings an EVH “Frankie”.
Guthrie Govan: "Make sure you explore the whole range of your guitar – not only will you become a better player, but also a more informed buyer” - Guitar World sat down with Guthrie Govan to talk playing all over the neck, the first and latest guitars he’s bought, one of the funniest reasons for buying a 335, and lots more.
FRIEDMAN BE MINI AMP Hi Gain, tiny, AND use as a 30w REAMP! - Friedman amps produce some of my absolute favorite guitar tones. I really like what they’re doing with this Friedman BE mini amp. It sounds great, and it’ll only set you back about 330 bucks. While Pete kind of downplays the amp at the beginning, I think it sounds better than a lot of beginner amps out there.
Mateus Asato & Marty Friedman cover “Don’t Dream It’s Over”- Mateus Asato virtually joined Marty Friedman, for an awesome cover of Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over”.
EXPAND Your Drop D Chord Vocabulary! - Tired of playing plain old 1 finger drop D chords? Check out this video from Ben Eller, where he shows us how to expand our drop D chord vocabulary. With only a couple of small tweaks, your drop D chords can turn into lush and interesting ideas.
Pull -vs- Push Bends For Blues Guitar - Anthony from TXBA talks about pull vs. push bends on your G string - a SRV question he gets quite a bit. Funnily enough, I’ve always pulled down on my G, and only push the B and high E strings. What do you do for the top 3 strings?
6 STRING GUITARS ARE CANCELLED... - Let’s start off by saying this is basically a glorified ad for the Positive Grid Spark, but I can’t even be mad at these guys, because the tones sound really good. If you want to hear how the Spark amp sounds played on some sick looking 7 and 8 strings, check this video out.
How to Play "Suck My Kiss" by Red Hot Chili Peppers | RHCP Guitar Lesson - I always thought this album showcased some of the best of John Frusciante’s playing. Let’s Play All teaches us how to play the funky classic, “Suck My Kiss”. Still one of my favorite albums from RHCP. Around 5 years later, Alice In Chains would play their MTV Unplugged sessions. Another huge influence, and one of the best Unplugged’s of all time! The same channel hits us with the top 10 riffs from the show.