If you’re just learning guitar, getting started with playing solos might seem daunting. It’s a big change to go from strumming chords to your favorite songs, to playing lead lines. The best thing is to start out easy, but not too easy. The more you challenge yourself, the better a guitarist you’ll become. Just remember to take everything in bite size chunks as you’re learning. To help you get started with solos, I’m recommending a couple that I’d learn if I was just getting started - one from three different genres. The feeling of learning and playing lead is amazing. Let’s get into it.
I’ve observed hundreds of guitarists over the years from all different skill levels, and the ones who are making a lot of progress often share a lot of the same traits - they have a plan when they sit down to practice, they know the people to go to when they’re facing a hurdle in their playing, and they’re endlessly curious about guitar and music in general.
But outside of all of that, there’s one habit I’ve seen that all of my favorite guitarists have - they practice active listening.
It’s cliche, but everyone has a mini recording studio in their pocket with them at all times. Not only is it stupidly simple to record your audio ideas, you can record yourself via video as well and see everything you were working on at the time, to truly pinpoint issues in your playing. But that’s not the only reason you should record.
Let's dive into three ways guitarists can use recording to see huge improvements in their playing.
Hopped on YouTube, Twitter, and for the first time, Twitch to talk about the Song Challenge's last week, and some of my tips and tricks for recording and mixing. Thanks to everyone who stopped in to the live streams!
I'd really appreciate it if you subscribe to me on YouTube and Twitch!
If you missed it over the weekend, I brought back Chasing Sound Live! For the first time in the show's history, I streamed both to YouTube and to Twitter. Next time I do a stream, I'll be streaming to both of those plus Twitch!
On this week's episode I weigh in on all the "Kirk Hammett sucks" drama, talk about May's upcoming song challenge, and geek out about why I think the new Discord practice rooms I opened up will be so helpful for guitar players.
I also had Simon Allaway stop by to talk about building your own guitars, make some music recommendations and more.
You can check out the replay below!
Kirk Hammett, Song Challenge, and Practice Rooms https://t.co/fpaZhKjfqQ
— Chasing Sound (@ChasingSound) April 22, 2023
In today's special episode of Chasing Sound Live, we have Simon Allaway stopping by. We're talking all about how to work on your guitar, building your own gear, and lots more.Check out the replay below.
In today's Chasing Sound Live, I'm talking about how I learn songs. We're also talking about setting aside time each week to learn your favorite guitar player's habits. All that, plus thoughts on Hetfield, tips from John Frusciante, an update on the Magnet and more!
On this week's episode of Chasing Sound Live, I answer questions from the community - ranging from the importance of triads/major scale as your home base, to the tube shortage, and is there really anyone who truly improvises? Check out the replay below, and let me know your thoughts in the YT comments!
In this week's episode of Chasing Sound Live!, I talked all about easy ways you can find out your favorite guitarist's gear, and what you should think about when purchasing your next guitar, amp, or pedal. I also talked about how I go about learning songs by ear, the importance of ear training, and a fun website that you can use as a cheat sheet for intervals. You can catch the replay below.
I was missing doing the YouTube livestream - so I hopped on this Saturday to talk about my new PRS Silver Sky SE guitar, updates to the Fractal FM3's firmware, and a little bit more. If you want to check out the replay, you can view it below!
Had a lot of fun for episode 15 of Chasing Sound Live! In it, I cover a big change for my guitar newsletter, Six String Sunday, which will be moving to Substack starting this Sunday. I also talk about my favorite guitar stories of the week - including new albums from Eric Gales and Steve Vai. Plus I take a look at Fender, Squier, Charvel, Jackson and other's new offerings for 2022. Check out the replay below.
