Learn how to easily create dozens (even hundreds) of awesome sounding repeating guitar licks to use for high energy solos. Repeating guitar licks are an easy and effective way to create exciting, high energy guitar solos and we hear them used by all the great rock and metal players like Slash, Vai, Page, Rhoads – pretty much all of ’em use some repeating licks in their solos.
But how can you come up with your own awesome repeating licks?
Well stay tuned because in this video I’ll show you an easy way you can create ear catching repeating rock licks from our old friend the blues scale!
Repeating Guitar Licks – How To Make Your Own Awesome Repeating Rock Licks!
0:15 Repeating licks demo. Hear me solo using some repeating licks similar to the ones I’m going to show you in this guitar lesson.
1:00 In this lesson I’m going to show you how to take one simple repeating lick and create lots of simple and logical variations on it. This is a great way to build out a guitar style because you’ll see how you can easily start to make up new licks and ideas simply by reworking things you already play and know…cool!
1:15 Here’s how you can play the A blues scale pattern down at the 5th fret. Also I show you how to modify it slightly to give a ‘symmetrical blues scale’ shape. This is great for repeating licks because the fingering is the same on every string making it easy to adapt a lick to other string sets.
3:00 Repeating Lick 1. Here I’m going to show you a simple repeating lick. This will be the starting point for the other repeating licks we’ll create during this lesson.
3:54 This repeating lick is cool…but how can we change it to create a new repeating lick. The symmetrical scale pattern we’re using makes this pretty easy. In this example I’ve just moved it onto the B and high E string.
4:38 String skipping can be a cool way to ‘open up’ a repeating lick and create a new idea. Here we skip the B string to get a dark, bluesy repeating lick. Watch the string skipping. It might test out your fretting hand!
5:45 Extending the original repeating lick is a cool way to create a new idea. We’re going to extend it into a lick that lasts for 4 beats instead of 1 beat. This high energy repeating lick is heard in the playing of guys like Zakk Wylde.
7:03 This repeating lick can easily be transferred to the top two strings like we did before. This is how easy it can be to create your own repeating licks – it doesn’t need to be complicated to work!
7:32 String skipping can open this lick up nicely too. Here we can skip over the B string to create a cool string skipping repeating idea which will sound great in your solos.
9:09 All these repeating licks are simply variations on the original starting lick. This what’s so cool…you’re building new licks by looking at what you can do with the starting note. With a little imagination the sky is the limit. You can create dozens or hundred of new repeating licks (and non repeating licks too). If you add the G string 7th fret back in then even more possible repeating licks emerge. How awesome is that?
Get creative, experiment and above all…have fun. See you next time!
Learn some killer rock double stops moves and slip them into your solos. Create new licks with this awesome technique like the Rock guitar masters, such as Slash, Angus Young, Zakk Wylde and others!
Today I’ll show you:
With these double stop moves, you can experiment and create some new cool licks. They will help you to power up your solos and make them sound cooler!
Create killer rock guitar licks with these essential double stops moves! Perfect for high energy rock and metal solos. This double stops guitar lesson will show you exactly how to do this using double stops from Slash, Angus Young, Michael Schenker, Zakk Wylde and others!
Double Stops moves Guitar Lesson for Killer Rock Guitar Licks!
Here’s what you learn in this guitar lesson:
00:07 Hear me jamming using some of the double stops I’ll show you in this lessons.
0:35 Double stops – what are they? A double stop is simply two notes played together on the guitar, kind of like a ‘mini chord’. They give a chordal sound to your rock solos and break up the sound of ‘single note’ licks and runs to create cool contrast.
1:00 Let’s look at a set of essential double stops and a sample lick from each one to give you some ideas for double stop licks of your own.
1:15 Here’s a reminder of how to play the A blues scales down at the 5th fret.
1:32 Double stop lick 1. Using the common double stop we hear on the top 2 strings. It’s using a common bend and double stop combination before finishing with a little blues scale run. A favourite of most of the great players from Chuck Berry to Vai!
3:48 Double Stop Lick 2 – This is a favourite of Angus Young! It’s using a note which isn’t in the blues scale shape but normally works great when we add it in. Try throwing this into your solos…it’s got a wicked punchy sound to it.
5:55 Double Stop Lick 3. Here’s a cool double stop bend which will be an awesome addition to your lick library. Watch the fingering on this and use whichever option seems best to you. Once you get used to using this double stop try digging in to create a gritty, aggressive sound to it.
6:48 Double Stop Lick 4. Check out this common double stop bend. It takes a little practice and strength to get this bend happening but it’s worth the effort. Notice how I’m re-picking the bend whilst holding it up and also damping it off to stop it ringing out too much.
9:20 Double Stop Lesson Tips
Learning these licks is a good start but make sure you take each double stop out and experiment with jamming out some of your own ideas. This is essential! Also notice where the double stops are found in the scale so you can easily find them when you move the scale around to different keys.
Have fun with ’em and see you next time!
Would you like to master pinch harmonics technique and give your solos that magic ‘pro’ touch?
Stay tuned to discover what they are,how to nail the technique and how to make them sound awesome for powerhouse rock and metal solos!
In this lesson you’ll discover
After watching this lesson, you’ll be able to master this awesome technique and get your harmonics sounding as cool as Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen, Zakk Wilde, Billy Gibbons and many more.
How to Play Pinch Harmonics on Guitar
0:23 Check out this intro jam to hear a demo of what pinch harmonics sound like. In this guitar lesson you’ll learn what pinch harmonics are, how to get them and how to make them sound awesome. Let’s jump in!
0:30 Pinch harmonics…what are they?
If you don’t know what pinch harmonics are, well you’ve definitely heard them before! They’re what guitar players use to get that ‘squealing’ sound on a note.
0:45 Pinch Harmonic Technique
Want to know how to play pinch harmonics on electric guitar? Let’s look at the techniques you need. It sounds easy when you break it down but does take a little while to get the hang of.
The basic technique for getting pinch harmonics is striking the string with the pick and your thumb, sort of at the same time (at least that’s what it feels like). This sounds easier than it is! Don’t be frustrated if your pinch harmonics a little inconsistent to start with…with practice you’ll get those ‘squealies screaming’!
1:40 Pinch Harmonic Tips
1:45 Try picking along the length of a string playing a pinch harmonic. Notice how they come out a bit easier at some points than others. If you target these ‘sweet spots’ it can help you to learn the technique. Notice where these areas are and hit the string there when you want one! As a guideline, around the neck pickup area on your guitar is often a good spot to target.
2:45 Pinch harmonics are possible with a clean sound, but they’re much easier to get with a distorted guitar sound. Crank up the gain a little and use your bridge pickup to make them easier.
3:15 If you just use this technique then it doesn’t sound like much…but add some vibrato or a bend and they come to life. So think about how to ‘manipulate’ the harmonic – this is the secret to getting awesome sounding pinch harmonics in your licks and solos!
3:55 So there you go. You know what pinch harmonics are, how to get them, and how to use them as an awesome guitar effect in your playing.
Want to get faster and more accurate picking in your solos? Then take a look at this lesson to learn a short but super powerful alternate picking and left hand workout!
In this lesson you’ll discover:
Plus,this exercise will improve your left hand and right hand synchronisation making playing great licks and solos much easier. Have fun!
Alternate Picking Exercises – Exercise for Faster, More Accurate Picking!
Need some alternate picking exercises to supercharge your alternate picking technique, fret hand accuracy and speed? In this video I’ll show you a cool alternate picking exercise you can use to do exactly that. Let’s dive in and start boosting your alternate picking!
0:10 In this lesson you’ll learn a short alternate picking exercise for powering up your picking and fretting hand speed, accuracy and co-ordination. It’s not the most musical of exercises and you probably wouldn’t play it in a solo, but it’s a powerful workout for your alternate picking and a great warmup exercise too.
0:42 Alternate picking exercises like this can be moved around anywhere on the guitar but we’ll start on the D string at the 5th fret.
Follow the picking guidelines and fingering guidelines here for step 1 of the exercise.
1:00 Metronome practice exercise. Here’s how you can use your metronome to build up your technique with an exercise like this. The metronome is set to 66bpm and I’ll play the exercise once with a little rest in between, then repeat this process.
1:20 Alternate picking exercises like this will only work if you develop good habits as you practice them! Notice how my fret hand and picking hand are staying close to the guitar and keeping movement to a minimum. Extra movement is unnecessary and will slow you down!
1:37 Step 2 of the alternate picking exercise introduces a string crossing move. Move the 2nd note from the exercise over onto the next string. Follow the picking pattern!
2:20 Practice it with the metronome like we did with step one earlier. It’s still set to 66bpm.
2:39 Step 3 of this picking exercise moves 2 notes across onto the next string. This changes the alternate picking pattern and the fretting hand movement. Alternate picking exercises which make you pick in several different ways like this are a powerful way to boost your picking skills and fluency.
3:09 The metronome can be used as before on this step of the exercise.
3:24 The final part of the exercise moves another note onto the next string. We can build up the strength and accuracy of our fingers with alternate picking exercises which use all 4 fingers of our fretting hand like we’re doing here.
3:38 Metronome demonstration.
3:47 Let’s join up each step to create a complete alternate picking workout. Each step is played twice before moving to the next one. Keep in time with the metronome and keep the picking and fingering correct as you play it.
4:10 As you get the hang of it you can gradually increase the speed of the metronome. Keep the exercise the same but just just push your speed a little. I’ll demo it at 88bpm and then 100bpm.
4:40 Alternate picking exercises like this can be moved anywhere on the guitar neck and still work. Here I demo it in some other places.
4:50 Some players think exercises like this are boring…and they can be for sure! But it’s worth devoting a little time to them because they develop your playing technique in a very focused way and can get you results pretty fast. Also they’re a great way to warm up when you start your practice session.
Whether it’s Slash, Schenker, Hammett, Rhoads, Hendrix, Page, Satch or any other great rock player…you can bet they’re using the sound of unison bends in their licks and solos!
But what are unison bends, how can you nail them and how can you use them to play killer solos and licks of your own?
In this lesson you’ll learn the secrets of playing monster unison bends as well as how to use them for powerful and high impact solos.
Discover
Once you’ve studied this lesson you’ll be on the road to bending like a boss!
Blues Rock Licks – Unison Bends for Killer Licks!
Lesson breakdown:
0:09 Blues Rock Licks demo with unison bends. Check out this intro jam to hear the kind of blues rock licks you can play with the unison bends you’re going to learn in this guitar lesson.
0:31 Unison bends…what are they?
If you don’t know what unison bends are, well you’ve definitely heard them before! It’s when we play the same note twice in a row, but using a bend to sound one of them. Even though the note is the same…the sound of the bend creates a cool effect. Here you’ll learn one of the most common unison bends there is. It’s show in the key of C# minor.
1:40 Unison Bending Lick 2
Here we see another of the common bends you hear in all the blues rock licks of your favorite players. You’ll also learn an essential guitar technique for controlling your string bends.
2:39 Technique Tips for Awesome Unison Bends
How good your blues rock licks sound is in large part down to how good your string bending technique is. Here you’ll learn some guitar technique tips for great unison bends.
3:40 Using Unison Bending to Create Blues Rock Licks and Solos.
Here we’ll combine some of the unison bending moves to create some blues rock licks you can use in your solos. It’s not hard to come up with dozens of licks just by using a little imagination!
4:48 Unison Bends and Double Stop Bends
Play both notes at the same time and you get a double stop unison bending. This is a favorite move of players like Slash, Hendrix, Wylde…pretty much everyone!
Check out the essential technique tips for powerful double stop bends.
5:34 Blues rock licks can easily be created simply by combining some of these bends. Follow the picking tips and guidelines shown here to make them easier to play.
6:27 Now you can experiment with using these bends to create a load of blues rock licks of your own. Try anything you can think of and keep a note of what works best. Have fun!
Learn how to sweep pick and how to practice sweep picking plus loads of monster sweep picking tips.
Here’s a summary of what’s in the video:
0:37 Why you need to get the basics right and three super common sweeping triad shapes.
2:15 What is sweep picking? Here you’ll find a basic explanation of the technique and why you might use it. Discover the advantages of sweep picking over alternate picking when playing certain types of passages and how overcome many problems guitarists encounter when they start trying to learn how to sweep pick.
3:22 How to start sweeping in one continuous down or up pick with the plectrum. We don’t want our sweep to be several small up or down picks. It needs to be a single smooth ‘glide’ or ‘sweep stroke’ with the pick. This takes a little practice to feel natural, but once it does you’ll find the technique comes together quite quickly.
3:55 Essential picking hand guidelines for sweep picking. Your hand should be relaxed and free of tension and try to pick from the wrist rather than elbow or arm. Pick firmly enough to get a clear, solid note from the string but don’t pick too hard or you’ll get a harsh and ‘unmusica’sound.
4:30 Some guitar players like to angle the pick slightly as they sweep as they find it helps them cross the strings more easily. I don’t really do this but feel free to experiment and find the pick angle that you prefer the most!
4:46 Often with sweep picking players put a lot of emphasis on their picking hand but the fretting hand has a crucial role to play if you are to develop great sweeping technique. Your fretting hand fingers need to ‘roll on and off’ the notes as the pick passes through them. Don’t hold down a fixed or locked chord shape and sweep across it or the notes will ring together and be unclear. This will only come from slow and accurate practice.
6:14 Let’s take a look at some three string ‘sweep arpeggio shapes’ and fingerings for A minor, G major and C major.
9:10 One of the best ways to practice sweeping these shapes is to break them into two parts. Then you can focus on perfecting each half before joining them together. Use a metronome and focus on getting your sweeping really in time. Check the notes are lining up with the click of the metronome so that you know you’re getting it right!
13:40 Now we’ll join up the two parts of the sweep to play the entire shape. Watch your timing and cleanliness here – it is absolutely crucial!
14:45 How can you build up speed in your sweeping? Here I’ll show you how to using a simple practice method to help you really supercharge your sweep picking big time! Take your time with this and increase the speed of your metronome more gradually than I do here!
18:20 Here’s a complete sweep picking study or practice exercise for you to learn and use to hone your sweep picking chops! It uses only the three shapes we’ve seen so far but we’re going to move them around a bit to get F major and Bb major triads as well.
23:30 Here I demonstrate the etude at a few different tempos taking care to stay in time with the metronome at all times.
Have fun with this lesson and take your time to get the basics of the technique right. It will pay off big time!
What do all the great electric guitar players have in common?
Answer:
Awesome string bending technique!
It’s a fact: nothing destroys your solos quicker than weak or out of tune bends…so it’s crucial that you get this right.
Dive in to this lesson and learn how to do it the right way and avoid all the common mistakes most guitarists make with their bending (I did it wrong for years)
Then…sit back and hear the transformation that awesome string bending technique can have on your guitar playing!
Guitar String Bending – How To Bend Strings the Right Way!
String bending is one of the most important guitar techniques that guitarists need to master. In this String Bending Workshop you’ll learn how to do it it the right way. Covers string bending hand position, bending action, bending strings in tune and tips on 3 common types of string bend you’ll see all the time.
String Bending Workshop
0:18 String bending is an essential part of most guitar styles – especially rock, metal, blues and country guitar. Hear a short demo of bending used in a few different style guitar solos here.
1:05 Correct string bending hand position. Thumb position is essential. Keep your thumb over the top of the neck as you bend. This is essential for control and stability in your bending. This will help you get your bends sounding in tune and with a big juicy tone!
2:00 Bending Fingers. Back up your bending finger with any other available fingers. This gives stability and control to your string bends and will help you execute large bends much easier.
3:01 Bending Action. Let’s examine some key points when you bend a string. Keep your thumb down and still, the guitar as still as you can and rotate your hand and wrist upwards to push the string. Try not to just flex and push up with your fingers. Using your wrist and hand will lead to much better string bending in your playing.
5:50 Bending in Tune. Getting your bends in tune is obviously essential! Play the note you are bending up to a few times to ‘plant’ the sound of it in your ear. Then grab the bend and try to hit the note accurately. Bending practice will pay off here! Be patient and monitor your tuning as you play and use bends in your solos.
7:16 String Bending Exercises- 3 Types of Bend. Let’s examine 3 common types of string bend you’ll use in your playing. Nailing these exercises will really help you get your bends sounding great when you use them in licks and solos. Remember to apply all these techniques and guidelines in your favourite licks and solos.
Good luck!
The scream of pinch harmonics is a characteristic part of modern rock and metal guitar playing!
But how can you get ’em? In this guitar lesson you’ll learn exactly how you can get sceaming harmonics from your guitar – just like you hear in the playing of Randy Rhoads, Steve Vai, Slash, George Lynch…in fact nearly every major rock guitar player heard today.
Want to nail pinch harmonics? In this guitar lesson you’ll learn how you can master this essential tool for rock, blues or metal guitar. Discover correct technique, tips for getting them whenever you want, awesome harmonics licks you can use use in your solos and exercises to get you on the road to pinch harmonics mastery!
Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll learn in this lesson:
1:02 What are pinch harmonics? Hear what they sound like and learn how and why you might want to use them in your solos.
1:40 How you can consistently get them in your playing (so that they sound big, fat and punchy!). The technique might sound simple, but it does take a little practice to master. You’ll probably find them a bit ‘hit and miss’ to start with but by following these guidelines you’ll soon be ripping them out whenever you want.
2:40 Technical tips for effortless ‘squealers’ whenever you want them! Where you pick the string and how you’re holding the pick can make a big difference. We cover this and more in this section of the lesson.
7:12 Adding vibrato to harmonics (here’s the secret to making them sound truly awesome…). It’s when you ‘shake’ pinch harmonics that they really start to come to life. This is what gives them that lyrical ‘scream’ that we hear in the playing of guitarists like Zakk Wylde. Check him out, he’s possibly got the most aggressive pinch harmonics out of any player out there!
8:00 Bending strings with pinch harmonics (for high energy rock and metal licks which will really turn heads!) Adding a harmonic to a string bend adds a whole new sound to your ‘bending toolbox’. Check out some tips and techniques here.
9:20 Three licks for pinch harmonic practice and to use in your guitar solos. These licks are coming from the A minor pentatonic scale and give you some cool ways to integrate harmonics into your solos. Try them out over a backing track in A minor to see how you can get them to work.
12:05 How to use picking hand muting to make your harmonics stand out even more (all the legends do this simple trick…)
I’m not gonna lie to you…lots of people have said I ramble too much at the start of this lesson. It’s true! It was my first ever video and I was a little nervous! You can skip ahead if you like and get to the meat of the lesson. Either way check it out because these speed building and metronome practice techniques will massively increase your guitar playing speed if you use them. Have fun!
Play Guitar Faster – Speeding Up Your Guitar Playing – Conquer fast guitar licks, speed up your guitar playing, improve your finger independence, fretboard hand strength, stretching and soloing ideas!
2:45 – 5 super important principles you need to know about increasing the speed of your guitar playing and how to practice building your speed. Starting slow, using a metronome, working on problem areas, making up your own guitar exercises and licks and more. Doing all of this will hep you to play guitar faster.
7:20 – 3 step action plan for building your speed and learning to play any lick or exercise faster. Use this in your practice routine and you’ll see great progress! You’ll probably see an increase in your playing speed in just a couple of minutes. Find your cruising speed – this is the speed at which you can comfortably loop the lick or exercise around. Then bump up the metronome speed and practice playing the lick once at this speed. Then play it twice, and when you’re ready play it 3 times. When you’ve got it try looping it round and round at the new speed. A good target speed for sextuplet licks is 120 bpm (beats per minute) on your metronome.
8:19 The minor pentatonic scale shape and Lick 1. This is in the style of Randy Rhoads, but it’s a very commonly played lick. It’s straightforward and easy to slip into your playing. Here you’ll see a demonstration of how to use the metronome to effectively increase your playing speed.
14:58 How to make sure your playing is totally in time. This is a super important guitar tip so check it out!
15:25 Lick 2 is a blues rock lick in the style of Slash, Zakk Wylde and many other great guitarists. How to use the metronome and 3 step action plan to increase the speed of this lick.
18:10 – Lick 3 is a great left hand hammer on and pull off exercise in the style of guitar players like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Randy Rhoads and most other modern rock guitar legends. The A minor lick is in 16th notes and will help you improve your finger independence, fretting hand stretching ability, and little finger strength and accuracy. Then see how to break it up into chunks, work on each section with the metronome to build your speed, before putting it back together to get a great guitar workout. A great target speed for 16th note type licksis 160 bpm on your metronome. Give it a shot!
25:20 – Lick 4 is a great speed guitar lick using the A blues scale. It’s an awesome left hand hammer on and pull off exercise which will work great in a guitar solo. Break it up into chunks and perfect each part of the lick before adding them together for a left hand blues scale shredfest!
28:20 – How to integrate licks and exercises into your playing so you can use what you learn from your practice time.
How cool would it be to be able to play fast phrases in your solos? It would be fantastic! Right?
Well, in this lesson I’ll show you how to power up your alternate picking technique with some simple exercises.
Learn:
Don’t forget to Get Your Free ‘Alternate Picking Workout Guide’ Featuring Full TAB For This Lesson!
Alternate Picking Guitar Lesson and Workout
0:14 Hear me demonstrate the alternate picking workout I’m going to teach you in this guitar lesson. It looks complicated but is super quick and easy to learn and will help you develop your picking technique and speed up your guitar playing!
1:15 Super important principles you need to know about alternate picking! Your picking hand, elbow, wrist and arm need to be relaxed and free from tension. This will fight you and lead to poor tone, rhythm and control. Also use just the tip of the plectrum or pick. Keep your picking hand very close to the guitar strings and develop the ability to pick with small, controlled and even up and down picks. This might not happen instantly – but regular picking practice on your guitar WILL pay off!
2:22 Many people focus exclusively on their picking hand when working out on their alternate picking but remember your fretboard hand has to be able to keep up! Keep your fingers near to the finger board and the guitar strings so their isn’t lots of extra movement. This will slow down your picking and affect your picking fluency.
3:40 Alternate picking exercise and workout. I’ll take you through it in stages as the exercise can basically be broken into 3 parts. It’s very chromatic in nature and not particularly musical sounding but it will help you develop good alternate picking.
3:56 Here you learn the first part of the picking workout. Make sure you’re following the strict alternate picking pattern of continuous down and up picks! This pattern uses all 4 fingers of your fretting hand too and will help you with your finger independence and fretboard accuracy.
6:26 Here you learn the second phrase in the alternate picking workout. Simlar to the first phrase but on the B string and top E string.
8:07 I’ll demonstrate the first 2 phrases put together here at a moderate tempo.
8:45 Here’s the final part of the alternate picking exercise. It’s all on the high E string and ascends and descends the string chromatically.
10:30 Summary of important points for your fretting hand and picking hand. The benefits of being able to use all 4 fretboard fingers.
11:08 Hear the whole picking workout played at a slow to moderate tempo.
12:13 Action plan for building your picking speed and making your picking rhythmic. This methods works for learning to play any lick or exercise faster. Use this in your practice routine and you’ll see great progress! You’ll probably see an increase in your playing speed in just a couple of minutes. To start with break up the picking exercise into each of the 3 phrases it uses. Find your cruising speed – this is the speed at which you can comfortably loop the lick or exercise around. Play the first part of the exercise once at this speed. Then play it twice, and when you’re ready play it 3 times. When you’ve got it try looping it round and round at this speed. Gradually increase the speed of your metronome ove your practice sessions. A good target speed for sixteenth notes 160 bpm (beats per minute) on your metronome.
15:06 How to make sure your playing is totally in time. This is a super important guitar tip so check it out!
16:00 Summary of how to practice the workout to boost your alternate picking.