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.
There are some incredible guitar videos you can find on YouTube. Each day we get more videos than we could ever watch, and while this is awesome, how do you find out what’s good? In my new post, I break down my top 10 favorite guitar YouTube channels. These are channels I’m subscribed to and watch whenever they drop a new video!
Today I'm debuting a new series on Chasing Sound's YouTube channel, called Chasing Questions. I receive so many questions not only from students, but through email, on social media and elsewhere.
This first video answers three great questions from readers. The first is if you should mic up or "electrify" your acoustic guitar. The second question is all about what guitar picks I'm currently using, and why. The final question is one I hear all the time. I talk about knowing what you're going to practice, rather than aimlessly noodling.
If you stick around to the end, there's also a fun giveaway I'm doing. Last month's giveaway for picks and strings went so well, I thought I'd do another one for February!
Students always ask me how to get their guitar videos noticed on YouTube. If you're doing any speaking at all, it's SO important to make sure your voice can be heard clearly. In this post I'll show you 3 easy ways to get your voice quality pristine, so that your guitar video can really shine. Let's do it!
Many think of YouTube as a time waster, but really it’s a treasure trove of guitar knowledge (and the occasional cat video). You can learn so much for so little by just logging on and searching a topic you’re interested in. Want to learn the Mixolydian scale, how to play an A chord, or what the circle of fifths is? No problem! Between learning, entertainment, and reviews you could binge watch guitar videos for days.
Like anything that’s free though, it helps to know where to start, to cut through channels that aren’t so great yet, and to find out what’s helpful. Check out these five YouTube channels for guitar players.
