Hello friends,
welcome back to Swiftlessons for part one of my two part series breaking down rockabilly finger-picking technique. In this tutorial I'll be showing you how to perform a 1, dom6, dom 2, 5 progression in the key of A and this classic Chet Atkins and Scotty Moore inspired pattern. Let's get started!
Hello friends,
and welcome back to Swiftlessons for another rhythm guitar tutorial. In today's session I'll be breaking down a useful Texas Blues style strumming pattern over a 12 bar blues in the key of E. In this video we will study three common dominant 7 chord shapes, a basic 12 bar blues progression, and percussive...
2019-01-16 17:42:57 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to another rhythm guitar tutorial. In today's session I'll be breaking down one of the most used rhythm techniques in the blues genre, sliding 9 chords over a 1.4.5 progression. This technique is great for "playing the pocket" and staying out of the way of other instruments in a full ensemble....
2019-01-12 22:19:48 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
And welcome back to Swiftlessons for another lead guitar tutorial. In today’s session I’ll be showing you three useful arpeggio patterns that you can use to improvise over a 1.4.5 progression in the key of A. Practice this routine in repetition while gradually increasing the tempo. Once these te...
2019-01-02 18:35:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome back to Swiftlessons for another guitar play along session. In preparation for my upcoming tutorial on The Beatles' "Julia," I invite you to familiarize yourself with the tune and see what you can figure out using your ear, and my attached tablature. I'll be back after Christmas with some new ...
2018-12-23 21:03:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
In today’s session we’ll be unlocking the fretboard as we connect four positions of the major pentatonic scale to form one extended scale pattern across 12 frets in the key of E major. The goal for your week of practice will be to master ascending and descending through this extended scale, whil...
2018-12-18 01:13:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to another music theory tutorial. In today's session we'll be reviewing the common position of the major scale, and its numeric interval names that are assigned to each note across two octaves. This concept is essential for understanding how melodies can be transposed and how chord harmonies ar...
2018-12-14 01:21:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today I've finished a new tablature for John Lennon's fingerstyle guitar work on "Julia" from the bands 1968 White Album. This classic tune features a single travis-style pattern all the way through, and employs several unorthodox chord changes. You can expect a full video tutorial and chord sheet to be p...
2018-12-12 17:38:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
And welcome to another lead guitar tutorial! In today’s session we will be spicing up those boring pentatonic licks by adding a flavorful major 9 interval. This technique can be applied to both major and minor licks and is a great way to add variety to your solos. Let’s get started!
Our...
2018-12-10 20:09:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to another lead guitar tutorial! In today's session we'll be reviewing how to play our major scale in the key of D, before putting those notes to work to create a jazzy 16th note run. Let's get started!
D Major Scale:
Practice this scale in time using a metronome. ...
2018-12-03 23:47:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today we are once again digging into the Swiftlessons archive to learn an ear catching jump blues style lick! Using the attached PDF study guide w/ midi mp3's, take time to memorize the source scales and note names before tackling this useful phrase. I recently started using Guitar Tab Pro to create tabs and not...
2018-12-01 17:08:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today I'd like to share a video for the budding lead guitarist in the group. This tutorial from the Swiftlessons archive, now exclusively available here on Patreon, breaks down my tips for bending strings, and how to develop bends that are in pitch. I'm hoping to offer a follow up lesson on this subject t...
2018-11-28 15:05:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to another by request song tutorial. In today's session we will be using the Bing Crosby classic "White Christmas" as a template for learning jazzy chord forms and licks. Let's get started!
2018-11-19 22:33:54 +0000 UTC
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Hello friends,
Today I'm very happy to introduce an updated welcome video for new arrivals to our Patreon community. This short orientation introduces the Patreon platform and hopefully does a good job of explaining how to navigate the site to find specific content. I've added information about the new search bar, chang...
2018-11-15 23:51:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
welcome back to Swiftlessons for a "Fool-Proof Minor Soloing Strategy." In today's session I'll be showing you how I use chord shapes to reveal melodic possibilities when soloing over minor progressions. We'll begin by learning useful chord positions up the fretboard, then use those positions to cre...
2018-11-12 04:14:37 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome back to Swiftlessons for another lead guitar tutorial. In today's session I'll be breaking down some of my favorite licks and soloing techniques over the instrumental section of the Chris Cornell version of "Nothing Compares 2U." Take a few moments to hum along to my demonstration, befor...
2018-11-08 21:25:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
In response to a great question from your fellow Patron JoAnn, I'm posting an archive lesson that sums up how to perform a key percussive element to rhythm guitar. In this session I break down the "percussive hit," a technique that emulates the sound of a snare drum, adding dynamics to even the most...
2018-11-05 17:14:52 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
In today’s session I want to talk to you about how proper technique and posture can compensate for having smaller hands. We’ll begin by adjusting the way we hold our instruments, and position our thumb and elbows before tackling one my favorite stretching exercises. Let’s get started!
...
2018-11-04 23:14:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today Natalia and I are having a blast meeting talented musicians and content creators at Patrecon in Los Angeles, California. Our goal for this week is to learn how we can better serve our supporters, while also twisting some arms to get better search functions implemented into the site. I took a moment ...
2018-11-02 08:23:46 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
And welcome back to Swiftlessons for another rhythm guitar tutorial. In today’s session I’ll be showing you four underused chord shapes that are jam-packed with flavor, and how they can be used in the same progression. Let’s get started!
2018-10-30 03:42:18 +0000 UTC
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Hello friends,
And welcome back to Swiftlessons for another lead guitar tutorial. One of the best ways to improve as a soloist is to learn from the best, so in today’s session we will learn how to play Brian May’s epic solo from "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. To fully understand how this solo was created, we'll...
2018-10-24 21:27:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to another rhythm guitar tutorial. In today’s session we will learn how a less than common fingering of the major scale can reveal the positions of 4 essential bar chord progressions. The goal is to use movable shapes to achieve “stock chord progressions” so that you can easily transpose ...
2018-10-20 17:34:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to another by request song tutorial! In today's session I'll be joined by my good friend Skip Robinson for a full demonstration and break down of The Everly Brothers' "All I Have To Do Is Dream." We'll begin by learning the chord progressions and strumming techniques for the A and B sections, before ...
2018-10-18 12:44:26 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
And welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons! My project for today is to create a full break down for The Everly Brothers' "All I Have To Do Is Dream" with my good friend, actor and musician Skip Robinson. Take your time to familiarize yourself with this classic tune and see what you can get down with this demonstra...
2018-10-16 17:01:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
And welcome back to Swiftlessons for another rhythm guitar tutorial. In today’s session I’ll be breaking down how your open E and B strings can be applied to each of the 7 chords in the key of E major. The basic approach is to strip down each ascending bar-chord shape so that their three-note triads ar...
2018-10-11 18:31:30 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to another by request song tutorial. In today's session I'll be breaking down my arrangement for Randy Newman's 1996 Toy Story theme "You've Got a Friend in Me." I'll take you through the tunes instrumental intro, and the finger-style rhythm options for the verse and bridge sections. Let's get...
2018-10-08 00:50:57 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
And welcome to another lead guitar tutorial. In today's session we will use our CAGED system to discover how each of our five pentatonic scale boxes can be used in both major and minor soloing. The basic concept is that a given major or minor chord can be played in five positions on the fretboard - C,A,G,E,D - s...
2018-10-04 02:03:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to another by request song tutorial. In today's session I'm joined by Philadelphia singer-songwriter Chelsea Mitchell for a demonstration and lesson on Patsy Cline's 1961 rendition of "Crazy" by Willie Nelson. We'll begin with a live performance before breaking down the chord progressions...
2018-09-28 21:29:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today I'm hard at work finishing up a new tutorial on Patsy Cline's "Crazy." This project has taken more time than expected, as I am experimenting with some new chord diagram overlays. Take some time to familiarize yourself with this classic song and enjoy the the amazing vocal stylings of Chelsea Mitchell...
2018-09-25 02:32:19 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another lead guitar tutorial! In today's session I'll be breaking down a very useful, and beginner friendly guitar technique that I call the Sliding Harmony Exercise. Let's get started!
Note: This video is not yet available to the public - Tabs will be add...
2018-09-24 17:38:42 +0000 UTC View Post
