Lessons.

Have you ever wondered how professional guitarists make simple chord progressions sound so captivating? Well there’s a number of reasons, but one of the “secrets” lies in suspended chords (commonly referred to as “sus” chords) – and how you can use them to create musical tension and resolution.

When John Mayer released Continuum in 2006, one track stood out for its deceptively complex fingerpicking: “Stop This Train.” The intro alone features a beautiful fingerpicked pattern in D major that’s challenging enough.

There’s this chord progression in Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” that uses a trick that makes it so wonderfully beautiful and sad at the same time. And once you hear it, you cannot unhear it. It magically ties all of the chords in this progression together.

At first glance, this Red Hot Chili Peppers riff sounds simple. But John Frusciante sneaks in three genius moves that take it from basic to absolutely brutal. This is “Can’t Stop.” This riff covers many aspects I see beginner and even intermediate guitarists struggle with. I struggled with this.

“All my solos sound like scales being played up and down.” I hear it every day. So let’s fix it, because there’s actually a very easy way to overcome that problem. It’s something every guitarist should know – maybe even before playing scales.

I just got back home from seeing Paul McCartney play in Paris – absolute legend. And walking on the Champs-Élysées looking for a croissant and a coffee, well, it reminded me of a song. Growing up, I loved punk rock, and “Champs Elysees” was one of my favorite NOFX songs at the time.

“Les Feuilles Mortes” (The Dead Leaves), better known in English as “Autumn Leaves,” has to be one of the prettiest tunes to play on guitar. This jazz standard is beloved by musicians worldwide, and for good reason—it’s sophisticated enough to sound impressive, yet accessible enough for intermediate players to tackle with a bit of practice.

Music theory doesn’t have to be intimidating. In fact, understanding just a few key concepts can completely transform how you approach the guitar, opening up creative possibilities you never knew existed. These aren’t abstract academic ideas—they’re practical tools used constantly across all styles of music, from pop to jazz to rock.

Every guitarist develops habits from day one—the question is whether those habits help or hurt your playing. Self-taught players especially tend to develop techniques that work in the short term but sometimes create problems down the line. The more you repeat incorrect technique, the harder those habits become to break.

It sounds almost too good to be true, but history has shown us that sometimes the most iconic moments in guitar music didn’t come from deliberate songwriting sessions. They came from guitarists sitting alone, warming up, drilling finger exercises, and chasing better technique.

San Holo—DJ, producer, songwriter, and at his core, a highly skilled guitarist from a small town in Holland. While he’s known for breaking the internet with remixes, producing tracks with industry legends, and pioneering the future bass genre, most of his work begins in the same place: him and his guitar.

There is something extremely satisfying about playing chords, melody, and bass all on one guitar — and that’s exactly what we’re going to do in this lesson.

“I recommend every guitar player to learn just the basics of bossa nova.” This isn’t just casual advice—it’s a philosophy from Dominic Miller, the legendary guitarist and composer best known for his decades-long collaboration with Sting.

I’ve been playing “Little Wing” my whole life. And for most of that time, something felt off. No matter how carefully I learned the chords, the embellishments, the chord melody approach — it never quite had the same impact as the original. It never grooved the same way. It never breathed the same way.

Whether you’re laying down a lead line for the first time or trying to make an existing melody sit better in a mix, there’s a set of tried-and-true production techniques that professional guitarists use every single day.

I want to tell you about the moment I got a message from Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park asking if I wanted to play a song with him. I pinched myself. Then I said yes. There is no other correct response. Hybrid Theory changed everything for me. I need to give you a little context.

So much of music history is tied together by similar riffs, similar rhythms, and similar chord patterns. But where does inspiration end and plagiarism begin? Let’s take a look at five of the most famous examples — and you can decide for yourself. 1. “Johnny B.

If you heard the guitar riff on Justin Bieber’s track “E.T.A.” and assumed it was laid down on some vintage Fender or boutique custom build, you’d be wrong. That unmistakable groove was played on a Squier Stratocaster — bought used for $99 with stock electronics, no setup, and five-year-old strings still on it.

What happens when you gather ten world-class guitarists from completely different musical backgrounds—jazz, metal, blues, soul, rock—and give them one simple rule: solo over the same track? You get a masterclass in musical personality, phrasing philosophy, and the infinite expressive possibilities of six strings.

There are guitar riffs, and then there’s that riff. You know the one. The very first thing millions of people learn when they pick up a guitar for the first time.