The early online guitar lessons of the last decade inspired me and millions to pick up the instrument and play. Back in the days when I was a beginner, few channels and online courses were available, and the always smiling Justin Sanderoc was the first who taught me open chords through his “Justin Guitar” YouTube […]
Since its launch, Fender Play has set a new standard in short format lessons for beginner and intermediate guitarists. Fender's method removed all the fluff, getting right to the core of teaching guitar. However, the website is now home to 1000+ full songs you can learn, confusing your choice. To avoid losing the point of […]
A guitar you can take anywhere without fear of the elements is a must-have. I discovered that a beater guitar solves the problem. Having owned a bunch, I will help you find out what are the best beater guitars for you. The thought of having your expensive main axe in the wilderness or laying in […]
Introduction Hey, what's up, guys? I'm Ed, and welcome to Trade Secrets. This month we're going to talk about tone secrets. But, before we begin our tone-chasing journey, I'll tell you when I got bitten by the tone bug. I was in college and hitting the blues jams in the evenings. At one of […]
In 2004, the National Guitar Workshop recruited me to help bring their analog curriculum into the digital world. Imagine this, I'm sitting in the War Room with guitar experts as we hammered out how we felt that guitar should be taught. It was exciting, and I absolutely loved my job. But you've heard the saying, […]
So you want to learn Jazz. That’s great, but where do you begin? I know you might be feeling disoriented trying to gather information about Jazz on the internet. If you type “Jazz guitar” on YouTube, many videos cover every subject, from the pentatonic scale to the scary Coltrane changes. Still, it is not common […]
People don't give bass enough credit. While bass players are often the butt of jokes, the bass guitar is an instrument that revolutionized rock history. In the early 1950s, Leo Fender marketed the bass guitar as a louder and portable alternative to the upright bass. The upright bass was more popular in jazz, classical, country, […]
When listening to John Mayer it’s easy to be overwhelmed by all of the things he’s good at: I mean he can sing, he can write amazing songs and, to quote Eric Clapton, he’s also a “master guitarist” on top of all that. As a matter of fact if you’re reading this article there’s a […]
Born in the south of the United States in the 19th century, the blues-influenced modern guitar playing more than any other genre. Jazz, Rock n Roll, Funk, Metal, and most genres where the guitar is one of the main elements have elements of blues in them. As a seasoned guitarist, I will add in this blues […]
Vance Joy released the song "Riptide" in 2013 as one of the songs of his debut EP, God Loves You When You're Dancing, and it was also a part of his debut album, Dream Your Life Away, which was released the following year. Despite having other recognizable songs, "Riptide" is without a doubt his most successful one […]