Hello friends,
I hope you all are enjoying your weekend practice, and jumping into the new year with renewed focus on your goals as a guitarist. To get 2023 off on the right foot, I'd recommend adding a few new tunes to your repertoire. With that in mind, today I'm offering a new soundslice resource, this time featuring...
2023-01-07 16:59:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another lick of the week. In today's session we'll learn a unique variation to our basic blues progression and how to solo over it using the CAGED system and the major mixolydian blues scale. Once you've added this ear-catching phrase to your repertoire, I invite y...
2022-12-30 14:29:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another rhythm guitar tutorial. One of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal as rhythm and lead guitarist is the CAGED system. This simple method of visualizing the fretboard allows guitarist to play every chord triad in five positions, while also reveali...
2022-12-21 16:27:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swiftlessons for another by request song tutorial. For today's session, I've broken down an original arrangement of the 1934 Bernard & Smith composition "Winter Wonderland," based off of Dean Martin's 1966 recording. We'll begin by learning a chord-melody approach to playing the tunes ...
2022-12-19 18:37:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today, I'm so excited to add another Soundslice resource to this growing library! let's head back to my 2018 tutorial featuring the wildly talented Chelsea Mitchell. Together we broke down how to play the Patsy Cline version of the Willie Nelson classic "Crazy." Click the link below to enjoy this popular ...
2022-12-16 21:45:38 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swiftlessons for another mini lead guitar lesson. For today's session we'll borrow a lick from Eric Clapton's vocabulary, and learn how to solo over the common 5 to 4 chord change that occurs at the end of a 12 bar blues. In addition, I'll reveal how to improvise over the complete 1....
2022-12-05 20:14:46 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swiftlessons for session #8 of the Daily Player Series. At the core of famous progressions and solos are the scales from which their notes and harmonies derive. In today's lesson, we'll delve into the minor tonality and learn how to perform the natural minor and pentatonic scale patterns. ...
2022-12-02 21:33:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
For today's lesson, we'll further expand our lead guitar vocabulary and our understanding of harmony as we learn to create lush double-stops in the key of G major. Double-stops are two note chords, also known as "dyads," which can be used to create melodic fills, riffs, and solos. We'll begin ...
2022-12-01 17:16:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another country/bluegrass lead tutorial. Today, let's sneak in a little thanksgiving practice and learn a classic lick that is tailor fitted to the 1 to 5 chord change in C. This phrase is comprised of several techniques that are at the heart of the genre, and also...
2022-11-24 19:38:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another fingerpicking tutorial. In today's session we'll uncover classic folk techniques in the style of 1960's acoustic pickers like Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, and John Denver. Together we'll master ear-catching patterns and embellishments in the context of a fun and ...
2022-11-12 19:13:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today I'm excited to bring to you another tutorial for absolute beginners. In session #7 of our Daily Player Series, we'll build upon our knowledge of basic chords a...
2022-11-11 15:49:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swiftlessons for another living room teaching session. To cap off your weekend practice, let's learn to spice up your original compositions and arrangements with flavorful diminished chords. This tutorial is exclusively for my generous patrons, but feel free to share the link with friends....
2022-10-23 21:02:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
I hope you're all enjoying a beautiful Saturday morning and having an excellent week of practice. For today, here's a mini-lead lesson just for you, my generous patrons. In this session, I've broken down an elegant transition lick in the key of C, which provides a seamless transition between the F7 and C7...
2022-10-22 15:26:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another mini-lead tutorial. Every once in a while, a guitarist receives a wonderful "ah-hah" moment where they happen upon something that forever changes their playing. One such technique for me is the concept of string-skipping, which allows a soloist to acc...
2022-10-19 17:59:33 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another bluegrass tutorial featuring special guest, violinist, educator and author Joseph Arnold. One of the most effective ways of breaking out of a creative or technical rut is to explore melodic lines written for other instruments. For this reason, we have...
2022-10-17 19:34:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another song tutorial. For today's session I have broken down the timeless classic "Smile," as heard in Nat King Cole's 1954 recording. In this arrangement for solo performance with vocals, we will employ moveable chord shapes for easy transposition. Let's get star...
2022-10-08 12:53:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another blues/rock soloing tutorial. There comes a time in every soloist development when they find themselves aimlessly running through pentatonics with no real direction. Sure, these notes may be in the right key, but to truly compliment progression you will need...
2022-09-29 17:08:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swiftlessons for another mini blues tutorial. In today's session I've plugged into a beautiful Classic Vibe Squier Stratocaster to break down a stylish and transposable blues turnaround. We'll begin t...
2022-09-21 16:04:43 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another lead guitar hack! Time and time again I have heard from frustrated students who are struggling to move beyond the basic minor pentatonic box. So, in today's lesson I'll show you how targeting the major 3rds of each chord can add brightness and directi...
2022-09-15 21:27:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another essential rhythm guitar tutorial. In today's session we'll be learning the 7 must know chord shapes in the key of A minor. I'll begin by showing you how to play these harmonies in the open position (first three frets), before breaking down transposable barr...
2022-09-03 17:45:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today I'm so excited to return to making song tutorials! For today's session, I've broken down another classic Elvis tune titled "Crying in the Chapel." We'll use this opportunity to strengthen our barre chord technique, while focusing on the elements of drama and dynamics with our vocal and guitar work. ...
2022-08-30 20:05:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another music theory pop quiz. In today's session I will be testing your knowledge of 20 essential chord harmonies, and breaking down the intervals they contain. Be sure to track your score and share your results in the comment section. Let's get started!
Not...
2022-08-27 15:03:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another essential rhythm guitar tutorial. In today's session we'll be learning the 7 must know chord shapes of a major key. I'll begin by showing you how to play these harmonies in the open position key of C, before breaking down transposable barre chord options. L...
2022-08-19 18:26:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
An essential step in your progress as guitarist will be understanding the inner-workings of your favorite music. A firm grasp of just a few music theory concepts will allow you to break down the sounds you hear into raw materials, which can then be applied creatively in countless ways. In today's session,...
2022-08-10 12:28:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Playing essential progressions doesn't have to be difficult or include finger-bending chord shapes. In this beginner friendly guitar tutorial, I'll be showing you how to perform your basic major and minor harmonies with just one finger and apply them to basic progressions. This technique will allow you to...
2022-08-04 22:21:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another mini lead tutorial. In today's session we'll uncover the secret to achieving that classic country/pedal steel sound on an electric guitar. Together we'll learn the theory behind bending in harmony, before mastering a beginner-intermediate level practice rou...
2022-08-01 23:38:42 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another blues guitar tutorial. In today's session let's learn to play a minor blues progression in the simplest way possible, fretting minor 7 chords with just one finger! This beginner friendly guitar trick offers a stress free way of performing a 12 bar blues, wh...
2022-07-21 16:36:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another lead guitar tutorial. Well before Hendrix and Clapton wowed audiences with their psychedelic brand of blues rock, guitar legend Scotty Moore helped lay the foundation for all that was to come. Today, let's dig into his go-to tricks as we master his iconic s...
2022-07-14 16:19:37 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another lead guitar hack. In today's session, let's delve into a technique that has been used extensively in neo-soul and R&B style guitar playing, major pentatonic stacking. Together we'll learn to harmonize three positions of the major pentatonic scale, befor...
2022-07-05 18:47:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Welcome back to Swiftlessons for Session #5 of my Daily Player Series. In today's lesson we'll discover the most important element of music theory - the reference point for virtually everything in western music - the major scale. Together we'll learn how to perform this essential scale in its common posit...
2022-06-29 04:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
