For increased speed, practice the following: 1 – Bend your thumb’s tip joint (at the nail) so the pick attacks the string at a slight angle.  The pick will slide off the string with ease.  When you hold the pick flat against the string, this causes the pick to get “stuck” when alternate picking. 2 … Continue reading “Quick Tip #4 – Speed Picking”

Learn the following groups of scales and you will be able to solo using the entire neck (rather than being stuck to that one blues or pentatonic scale you know): The 5 positions of Pentatonic and Blues Major/minor – the 5 patterns The 7 modes (3-notes-per-string fingerings) For pdf files of these scales, contact richards@richardsguitarstudio.com. … Continue reading “Quick Tip #3 – Intermediate Lead Guitar”

Start learning chords in the open-position (open strings and first 4 frets).  Begin with open position 7th chords and learn some blues progressions.  Then, move on to the 3 standard minor chords (Am, Dm, Em) and the 5 Major chords (“CAGED”).  By learning chords in categories, it will help you memorize the fingerings and, most … Continue reading “Quick Tip #2 – Beginner Rhythm Guitar”

When soloing over a chord progression containing a major chord which is out of the key, use a Lydian scale.  For example, if your chord progression in the key of C is C-G-F-Ab, it is clear that the Ab chord does not belong to the key, therefore using C Major to solo the entire way … Continue reading “Quick Tip #1 – Advanced Lead Guitar”