Guitar Licks
Guitar Soloing: The Secret of a Great Start To Your Solo!
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Get a powerful start to your rock guitar soloing every time with these 3 great tips. A powerful start to your solo will grab the listeners attention and make them pay attention to what you’re playing, a weak start to your guitar solo and they might not even listen at all.
Use these 3 tips for your guitar soloing which will make people listen and have more impact every time!
Guitar Soloing – 3 Tips for a Great Start to Your Solo!
Here’s what you learn in this guitar lesson:
00:50 A bad start to your guitar solo can spoil it from the start. Here I demo how lots of players start their solos. It doesn’t really grab the listeners attention and make them want to hear the rest.
1:21 When we play a guitar solo we need to ‘set it up’ and announce to the listener that a solo is coming. If we just stumble into our first lick then we’re not doing this. How can we do it?
1:39 Guitar Soloing Tip 1 – ‘Dig In’
We need to attack the notes and play them like we mean them! Commit to the notes you’re playing and deliver them with confidence and conviction. This alone will make a huge difference to your solos and how they start. Techniques like palm muting, and vibrato as well as decorative touches like sliding into your first note can help make your first phrase much more compelling.
2:24 Guitar Soloing Tip 2 – ‘Bending’
Starting your solo with a bend is an easy way to get a better start because bending can be one of the coolest sounds we can make on guitar. I’m soloing over a backing track in the key of A minor and I’m using A blues scale to solo with. Here I show you some common and powerful bending moves from this scale.
4:06 Guitar Soloing Tip 3 – ‘Pick Up Into Your Solo’
‘Picking up’ into your solo is a very powerful soloing tool. Instead of just ‘playing’ your first note you can ‘lead into’ it with a simple phrase that sets up or introduces your solo. Hear me demo this soloing tip this several times over the backing track.
Using a ‘pick up’ is something we hear in all the great players solos. It’s a simple device but it really works.
5:45 Remember there are no ‘rules’ to playing a great solo so don’t follow these guidelines rigidly! Just experiment with each one and see how you can use it. You’ll quickly hear a difference to the start of your solos if you’re not using these devices already.
Have fun and see you again next time!
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Blues Guitar Lesson: Killer Blues Licks with These 3 Tricks!
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In this lesson you’ll learn 3 simple tricks you can use for killer blues licks and better blues guitar solos. Let’s dive in!
0:40 Everything in this blues guitar lesson is shown in the key of G and uses these blues scale patterns shown. All the blues licks and ideas will work great over a 12 bar blues in the key of G but make sure you move it to other keys as well.
1:17 Killer Blues Trick 1
If there’s one must know string bend in blues guitar…it’s this! It’s up at the 8th fret in the key of G and comes from the top part of the sliding blues scale. You’ll recognise it from the kind of licks I play here.
It’s versatile and works at lots of different points in the 12 bar blues.
3:08 Practice using this bend and it will start to come out naturally in your blues licks and solos.
3:18 Killer Blues Trick 2
This awesome little blues slide will give your solos some ‘grease’! It comes from the 1st pattern of the G blues scale. I use my 3rd finger to play it. Find ways to ‘get in’ to the lick and ways to ‘get out’ of it and practice mixing it in amongst all the blues licks and tricks you do already.
4:54 Killer Blues Trick 3
Essential bending technique for awesome blues bends! This will make a huge difference to your blues licks and solos because we use bends all the time when we play blues solos. Use your picking hand to ‘cut off’ the bend before you release it rather than getting a ‘let down’ sound all the time (even when you don’t want it).
Also experiment with letting the bend so you do hear it. A mixture of these different bending techniques will make your blues solos and blues licks more interesting.
Have fun!
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Double Stops Moves: Essential Technique for Killer Rock Licks!
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:
- 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.
- Double Stop Lick 2. This one is one of Angus Young’s favorites. You can find it in a lot of his solos. You’ll notice that it’s using a note which isn’t in the blues scale shape but normally works great when we add it in.
- Double Stop Lick 3. This one is very used by Slash, Zakk Wylde and a lot of other great guitar players. Watch the fingering on this and use whichever option seems best to you.
- Double Stop Lick 4. 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.
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!
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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!
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Learn This Classic Jimi Hendrix Double Stop Lick!
Jimi Hendrix Style Double Stop Lick: ‘Double Stopper’
Lesson 2 in my Jimi Hendrix guitar licks series. This is similar to what Jimi Hendrix plays at the start of his classic ‘All Along the Watchtower’ solo. This lick uses trademark Jimi Hendrix double stops and is a cool addition to your guitar lick bag. So let’s jump in and check out the this Jimi Hendrix lick!
0:15 Here’s the Jimi Hendrix lick you’ll learn in this guitar lesson.
0:29 The lick comes from the C# blues scale played up around the 9th fret. Here’s the scale pattern Jimi Hendrix is using for this particular lick.
0:45 Jimi Hendrix used to tune his guitar down one fret remember! So if you hear this lick played on the recording to ‘All Along the Watchtower’ it’ll sound 1 fret lower than it does here (because I’m in standard tuning!)
0:59 Jimi Hendrix Lick chunk 1. Here’s how to play the first set of double stops at the start of the lick.
1:52 Jimi Hendrix lick chunk 2. Here’s how to play the second part of this guitar lick. Notice all the cool double stop bends…take ’em and make sure you’re using these in your own playing.
2:09 Jimi Hendrix lick chunk 3. Here’s how to play the next part of this guitar lick. More double stops! Take these and experiment with making up your own guitar licks using these as a starting point
2:28 Here’s the complete lick played slowly.
2:51 Here’s the Jimi Hendrix lick played over the backing track now.
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Use These Alternate Picking Exercises for Faster, More Accurate Picking!
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:
- How to use this short workout to develop an accurate, fast and fluent alternate picking technique
- How to move it all around the guitar neck so you can nail your picking at every fret and on every string!
- How to avoid some of the common things that hold guitarists up and stop them from getting great picking chops!
Plus,this exercise will improve your left hand and right hand synchronisation making playing great licks and solos much easier. Have fun!
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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.
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Blues Guitar Lick: Is This the No.1 Must Know Blues Guitar Lick
There’s a lot of Blues licks out there to play in your solos, but there is a specific Blues guitar lick that every guitar player must know. It sounds great at the beginning, at the end or at any point of the solo while playing a 12 bar blues. So, in this lesson you will learn to play possibly the most classic Blues lick ever
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Blues Guitar Licks – Is This the No.1 Must Know Blues Lick
So there are hundreds of blues guitar licks out there. But there is one lick which is played by all the blues guitar greats…and in this lesson I’ll show you how you can start playing it too. It’s one of those blues guitar licks that sounds great almost anywhere in a blues solo and it’s an essential addition to your blues guitar lick library. Let’s dive in!
0:26 Learn to play possibly the most important and ‘must know’ blues lick there is! All the legends know it and use it. It’s an essential bit of blues guitar language.
0:42 Here’s the A minor pentatonic scale shape at the 5th fret. This is the scale that this lick (and dozens of other blues guitar licks you must know!) comes from.
1:04 Here’s the No. 1 blues lick you must know played so you can hear it. Sounds familiar eh? Let’s break the lick up and look at how you can play it.
1:57 I’ll jam over a 12 bar blues in the key of A now. See if you can spot the blues lick in my solo. You’ll hear how it works at all sorts of places throughout the 12 bar blues.
2:45 Blues Guitar Licks Variation. Here’s a basic variation you can do with this lick. It’s just a simple tweak, but can be handy for getting up to the higher notes on the neck in the sliding blues scale.
3:54 So what can you do with blues guitar licks like this one? Take them and practice using them that’s what! Experimentation is the key to making it work in your solos so don’t hesitate, jump in and see how you can use it right away.
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Blues Rock Licks; Unison Bends for Killer Licks
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
- The 2 most important unison bends all the great players use!
- The common mistakes guitar players make (leading to unison bending disasters!)
- How a simple tweak can double the number of unison bending licks you know!
- Plus more…
Once you’ve studied this lesson you’ll be on the road to bending like a boss!
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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!
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Blues Turnaround Lesson
How To Add the Classic Blues Turnaround Into Your Solos
In this episode of the ASK JAMES GUITAR SHOW I’m going to show you exactly how to do it.
Watch this short lesson to find out:
- What is a ‘turnaround lick’ and how you can use it to give your playing that ‘polished’ sound
- How to play the classic turnaround lick all the blues legends use (step-by-step breakdown included!)
- How you can learn to ‘drop into’ the lick anytime at the end of your solo for that classic ending
- How to practice this skill…for speedy results!
Have fun…and remember you can ASK A QUESTION on the Ask James Guitar Show page…
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Here’s a breakdown of what’s covered in this lesson:
- 0:25 What is a ‘turnaround lick’? Here I answer this question and demonstrate the turnaround lick we’re going to be using.
It’s in the key of G and I’m going to demonstrate it over a 12 bar blues in the key of G. - 1:12 Here’s how to play the G blues turnaround lick we’re using in this lesson.
- 2:18 The lick begins on beat 2 of the 11th bar of the 12 bar blues. So you need to improvise up to that point before dropping seamlessly into the turnaround lick. I’m going to demonstrate how to do this over a 12 bar blues backing track.
- 3:21 Here I explain what I did in my improvisation. Also how to learn to ‘feel’ when it’s time to begin the turnaround lick.
- 3:44 If we isolate the final 4 bars of the 12 bar blues and practice playing round and round over that section it focuses our attention on combining the lick in with our solo. Do this unaccompanied at first. Then take a 12 bar blues backing track and loop the final 4 bars around so you can play over it.
- 5:07 Another tip for tagging your turnaround lick onto the end of your blues solo.
- 5:46 The ‘turnaround’ isn’t just a lick! It’s actually the final 2 bars of the 12 bar blues chord sequence. You don’t have to play a ‘turnaround lick’ there at all if you don’t want. It’s fine just to carry on your solo. Hear me demo this approach.
Questions? Leave them in the form on the ASK JAMES GUITAR SHOW page
Hope this lesson helped you out and see you next time!
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Amp Settings
For Awesome Blues Tone!
Not sure how to set up your amp to play Blues? No problem.
In this lesson I will show you how to set up your amp to get a great Blues guitar sound. I’ll also point out the number one mistake that most guitar players make when they start setting up their amps to play Blues.
Here you will get.
- Amp EQ settings guide.
- Presence, Reverb and Gain Amp Settings
- Pick up tips and Volume Knob ‘trick’ for chords and solos
If you were struggling with how to get a good blues sound, with this lesson you will solve your problems and get an awesome Blues Guitar sound!
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Secrets of a GreatBlues Guitar Sound
How can you get a great blues guitar sound and how should you set your amp up? In this step by step lesson I’ll show you a simple method for setting up your guitar amp so that you can get a great blues guitar tone out of your speaker every time!
Blues Amp Settings – Setting Your Amp fror Great Blues Guitar Sound
In this guitar lesson I’ll show you how to set your amp for a great blues guitar sound every time. Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll learn in this lesson.
0:00 In this lesson you’ll find out how to set up your amp plus how to avoid the no.1 mistake many guitar players make when setting up there guitar amp for a great blues sound. I made it! Now you can avoid it…
0:53 Amp EQ Settings Guide
See the front panel of my tube amp to see how I set it up. I set the bass and treble controls to about 6-7 and the mid to about 3-4. Try sweeping through the mid control though to find the ‘sweet spot’. The mid control is very influential on your sound.
1:32 Presence, Reverb and Gain Amp Settings
Presence controls the overall brightness and I normally set it to about 2-3. A touch of reverb is often nice but don’t use too much! Also with gain or distortion – be aware of using too much! We want a nice crunchy, singing tone that isn’t too ‘fuzzy’ sounding.
2:03 Pickup Tips
Try the different pickups on your guitar. I normally use the neck pickup on my strat for a warmer sound. The bridge pickup is a little too bright for my tastes – but it’s a personal thing so make up your own mind here.
2:39 Volume Knob ‘Trick’ for Chords and Solos
Here’s a simple way to use the same amp settings for solos and chords without being too loud. Simple…but free!
3:26 Many guitarists use way too much distortion and reverb when they play blues. I definitely used to! It takes away the definition of the notes and ‘muddies’ your playing. Try turning the reverb and gain controls down as low as you can stand them and see how you like it.
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Guitar Power Chord Shapes
as used by all the rock & metal masters!
Check out these essential guitar power chord shapes and techniques for killer riffs and chord progressions!.
And discover how this one power chord shape can be used to play any power chord you might need…simply by moving around the guitar neck (don’t worry, I’ll show you how to do it!)
Watch to learn:
- The ‘A root’ power chord shape you really need to know
- Secrets for great palm muting and chord damping technique to get these power chords sounding massive without annoying string noise
- Where to move this power chord shape to on the fretboard to play any power chord you want
So dive in and start getting killer power chord sounds right away…
Learn the Essential Rock and Metal Guitar Power Chords used by bands like Metallica, ACDC, Black Sabbath, Guns’n’Roses and more!
Get my awesome free POWER CHORD GUIDE With TAB and chord boxes for this and other lessons showing you all the essential guitar power chords!
Power chords are essential knowledge if you want to play rock and metal rhythm guitar, songs and riffs. In this guitar lesson I’ll show you more ‘must know’ guitar power chords used by all rock and metal guitarists and classic bands such as AC/DC, Guns’n’ Roses, Metallica and more. Plus you’ll learn how you can use this single chord shape to play ANY power chord!
Here’s a breakdown of what you learn in this video:
0:42 In the previous power chord lessons we looked at the open string guitar power chords and the chord shapes with an E string root. Now it’s time for the shape with the root on the A string.
Let’s learn the basic power chord shape. We’ll start by learning how to play a B5 power chord at the 2nd fret. Then in a minute we’ll start moving it around the neck to get other power chords. Notice the two different options for fingering this chord shape. This is one of the most often used guitar power chords!
I’m mainly playing this shape on the A,D and G strings but as with the E root shapes you can leave off the little finger note if you want (the G string in this chord shape).
2:02 Playing Any Power Chord With This Shape
By moving the power chord shape up the neck it can be used to play any power chord you might need. This is all to do with the root note, which is the note you play with your 1st finger on the A string. Whatever this note becomes as you move the chord shape around determines which power chord you are playing. The chords you get are: 2nd fret-B5, 3rd fret-C5, 5th fret – D5, 7th fret – E5, 8th fret – F5, 10th fret – G5, 12th fret – A5. Make sure you learn this – very important!
1:52 The Moveable Power Chord Shape
By moving the power chord shape up the neck it can be used to play any power chord you might need. This is all to do with the root note, which is the note you play with your 1st finger on the low E string. Whatever this note becomes as you move the chord shape around determines which power chord you are playing. The chords you get are: 1st fret-F5, 3rd fret-G5, 5th fret – A5, 7th fret – B5, 8th fret – C5, 10th fret – D5, 12th fret – E5. Make sure you learn this – very important!
3:42 Sharps and Flats for Power Chords
Make sure you can also play power chords with a sharp(#) or flat (b) root note. These are all played at the frets in between the ones we played the shape at earlier. See the lesson for details and demonstration.
4:57 Power Chord Playing Tips
Remember you only want to play the strings in the chord shape -try to deaden off all other strings by lying your left hand fingers slightly flat across the neck. I mainly do this with my 1st finger. Also experiment with using ‘palm muting’ to give the chords a more chunky, tighter sound. Lightly rest the flesh of your picking hand on the strings to ‘palm mute’.When you want to, release the palm muting slightly to let the power chord ring out a little more.
5:24 How To Use These Power Chord Shapes
It is essential that we practice USING new material in our playing – otherwise we just forget it! Try taking the 3 sets of power chord shapes we’ve covered in these lessons and experimenting with combining them. See if you can make up some killer power chord riffs and chord sequences of your own.
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