New
Basics
Natural Harmonics in Tuning and Intonation
Breaking Out of the Box: Runs in Octaves
How to Practice Guitar Efficiently
Chords
12 Bar Blues and Power Chord Review
Using Open Strings as Pedal Tones
Finger Exercises
Innovative Pentatonics: 3 Notes Per String
How to Play Free Bird Guitar Solo- 7 Pentatonic Exercises
Finger Stretching Exercises- Want to Span the Fretboard
Fretting Hand Strength Exercises: Thunderstruck
Guitar Finger Exercises Pt. 1: The Spider
Guitar Finger Exercises Pt. 2: Trills
John Petrucci’s Psycho Chromatic Exercise
Ultimate Chromatic Finger Exercise Guide
Flight of the Bumblebee- Chromatic Workout
Picking Exercises
Alternate Picking Exercises – 9 John Petrucci Riffs to Boost Technique
Alternate Picking Exercises- 7 MORE John Petrucci Riffs to Boost Technique
Alternate Picking Exercises – 4 Classical Passages to Boost Technique
Alternate Picking Exercises- 3 Malmsteen Licks
Sweep Picking Exercises- 5 Yngwie Malmsteen Riffs to Boost Technique
Sweep Picking Exercises- 5 Jason Becker Licks
String Skipping Exercises: 5 Paul Gilbert Licks
Dragonforce Guitar Riffs: Herman Li and Sam Totman
Steve Morse Alternate Picking Exercise
Tapping
Learn Tapping Techniques Pt. 1
Learn Tapping Techniques Pt. 2- Eruption of Triads
Advanced Guitar Tapping Techniques
Tapping Exercise- Four Seasons
Tapping w/ String Skipping Exercises: 3 Michael Romeo Licks
Eric Johnson Koto Tapping Technique
Through the Fire and the Flames Tapping Exercise
Music Theory Lessons
Chord Progressions- Chain Method
The Harmonic Minor Scale Explained
Using Dominant 7th Chords on Guitar
Learning Suspended Chords: Sus2 and Sus4
Songs to Learn
Ac/Dc- Back in Black: How to Play
Little Wing- Learn Double Stops
Learn Stevie Ray Vaughan- Pride and Joy
Learn Stevie Ray Vaughan- Pride and Joy Solo Edition
Sweet Child O’ Mine- 4 Pentatonic Exercises
Tears in Heaven: Fingerpicking
Miscellaneous Guitar Techniques
Guitar Gods
Jimi Hendrix- Top 20 Must-Hear Songs
Special Posts
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please email them to me at mdguitarteacher@gmail.com
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thank you for the reply.my question is whether i can use the I IV V chords in any order in 12 bar blues or 8 bar blues…….for instance,I IV V IV V I .Can i put the chords wherever i like.And my next question is about tremelo picking for speed picking.does petrucci and michael angelo use it for speed picking?i am looking forward for your reply.
thank you
Dear bhai,
To answer your first question, as a general rule do not use the I, IV, and V chord in any order in 12 bar blues. Play them in the following order:
| I | I | I | I | IV | IV | I | I | V | IV | I | I |
Obviously this is music, so you have the freedom to do anything you want. There are a lot of substitutions that can be made to the basic progression. For instance, you can make the last measure | I – V | and use more of a blues turnaround. In my lesson on 12 Bar Blues, I used a song by Stevie Ray Vaughan to show one of these variations. In the S.R.V. song, the progression he uses is:
| I | IV | I | I | IV | IV | I | I | V | IV | I – IV | I -V |
In this variation, bar2 is IV rather than I, and bar 11 is I – IV rather than just I.
To answer your second question, tremolo picking is not a very specific term. It basically means to pick as fast as you can. It does not have a quantitative speed, such as 16th notes at 140 beats per minute. Try not to think of tremolo picking as a type of picking. I believe you are asking about alternate picking. Alternate picking is what players such as the ones you named use to play lines on a single string very rapidly. If you are interested, read my many lessons on alternate picking. I like to think of tremolo picking as uncontrolled alternate picking. Hope that helps.
MD
i am unable to compose music ,say short etude or rock piece.is there any method or rules to follow to compose guitar music.please help me out by providing me the theory or the above mentioned.my next question is how do i play classical music.what’s the theory behind;i mean whether they use scale or……
i am asking this ‘coz for many years i’ve been practising guitar and a lot of time i do well, whether it’s speed or whatever.but when it comes to composing i am short of idea.i don’t know where to start or end.please help me out
In 12 bar blues,you said we can substitute various chords to make the progression a bit more advanced.can you tell me how to substitute.what’s the theory behind?
Dear bhai,
It sounds like you are interested in music theory. If you are I suggest you get more formal schooling than I can offer. Maybe take a class on theory or buy a couple of books.
Now your question. The beauty of 12 bar blues is that it can be a fancy or as simple as you want. You can use power chord as your I, IV, and V’s. Or you might want to use major triads. Or you might want to use 7th chords. You can use any of these substitutions. Instead of playing just a V, you might want to play the V of the V and then resolve to the V. For example, if your in C, instead of playing just a simple G as your V chord, you might play D7 then G7. The D7 is called a secondary dominent chord, since it is the dominent of the dominent. These are just a few of the unlimited substitutions you can make.
I would definitely suggest getting your hands on a good theory book. I can’t explain all there is to theory in a single blog comment.
MD
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Thank you for this site! I stumbled on to it a while back when I first started playing guitar. I have been able to greatly improve by teaching myself using your excersises. I am going to start taking professional lessons in about two weeks to improve more. I plan on going to a music school after high school to become a teacher myself. also Thank You for the Big Sur Moon lesson!
-Matt
Thank you for this site! I stumbled on to it a while back when I first started playing guitar. I have been able to greatly improve by teaching myself using your excersises. I am going to start taking professional lessons in about two weeks to improve more. I plan on going to a music school after high school to become a teacher myself. also Thank You for the Big Sur Moon lesson! I have been a huge Buckethead fan for a long time.
-Matt
Matt,
Good to hear. I wish you lots of luck on your music endeavor.
MD
Thank you, MD. I started taking lessons and I am progressing much faster. going on one year of playing.
man i really really like your site …. its straight to the point and very friendly ….i ‘ve seen lots lots of sites for year yours is really nice …only one comment , if it is possible plz sometimes make the videos to be played in this site not redirecting to you tube ……. people with slower connection will have to wait for years……
Thanks you
Dear brook,
I do embed the videos on Riff of the Week posts, but I think it’s kinda bulky and makes normal posts harder to navigate. I’ll definitely take it into consideration though. Thank for the suggestion.
MD
I just popped up with your site after googling a while by luck. It’s amazing, I’ve been looking for quality stuff like this for so long. Thanks a lot.
Hey, this is a really cool site, thanks a lot!