Lessons and Gear Reviews
Inversions Explained, Applied, and digested. How and why to use inversions in your guitar playing
Inversions When I was a teenager everything I played was either power chord driven, clunking along, or some super flashy shred guitar meant to melt your face off. But now that I am advancing in years and my musical taste is evolving I have ventured in quite a few styles of music that draw heavily […]
Read MorePlaying “In the Pocket” What does that mean? Why do it as a bass player?
“In the Pocket” What? This mystical term “Playing in the Pocket” may sound like nonsense to the uninitiated or untrained, but to any serious bass player or drummer it is absolute necessity. “In the pocket” is where a solid rhythm section lives. Lets discuss exactly what this phrase means. Some may say the pocket is […]
Read MoreGuitar & Bass Live Looping Technique Explained
‘http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bNEe7pcpfo’] Looping is a Beautiful thing Looping is a recorded sample, or clip, of music that is repeated over and over again. This is used largely in electronic music with sequencing software like Abelton and Reason. We are huge fans of Abelton and are skilled with using it, but we are going to look at […]
Read MoreFinger Vibrato Guitar Lesson
You CAN do this! Here is an in depth, clear, precise instructional video we made to help you master the advanced technique of the finger vibrato. Don’t be fooled by the name, the finger actually does not have the main part in properly producing this technique, the real work lies in the arm and wrist. […]
Read MoreIration, Danger Tab and Chords Reggae guitar lesson
We are looking at a new song by Iration called Danger feat. J Boog and Tyrone’s Jacket. This song has a great feel and the groove is moving! It is also sporting a few killer features, I love verse 2! The main rhythm of the song is a F#m – E – F#m – C#m […]
Read MoreStrong Practice Routine to Fulfill Goals as Guitarists
Having a good, strong practice routine is key to fulfilling your goals as a musician. It is so easy to get into a rut in our growth as artists and musicians. As guitar players its seems even easier to get lax and settle into our couple of favorite go to licks. To ad to this […]
Read MoreBass Jam track 12 Bar Blues in A 12/8
This is a jam tracking we made specifically for practicing blues bass lines. Its a Bass guitar backing track, 12 bar blues in the key of A, 12/8 time signature at 95 BPM. This is a full band style jam minus the bass. For an example of a good bass line to play you can […]
Read More12 Bar blues in A guitar jam track
This is a jam tracking we made specifically for practicing blues guitar improvising. Improvising is just a fancy word for soloing. Its time to get your lead guitar on! Turn on the backing track, and play either Pentatonic pattern 1 in the 5th position, or the blues scale in the 5th position. Don’t use the […]
Read MoreBass Bridge test, High Mass compared to Stock with High quality audio
Bass Bridge Upgrade a Necessity? I was recently very impressed with the demos of the current line of Fender Squire basses. In particular the Squire Affinity with the P&J pickup configuration. After looking over the specs I decided it was an excellent platform to mod, with the body being alder and the frets and neck […]
Read MoreBass Lesson “Give up the Funk” (tear the roof off the sucker) Bootsy Collins with video and tabs
Bootsy Baby This is one of thee funkiest grooves of all time. I noticed the lack of any decent, accurate bass tabs available for this. So I wrote one out by hand and have put the picture up of it. Right click on the picture and download it. Also here is a video of bassist […]
Read MoreFunk Bass Bible Review
Funkalicious I recently got turned on to the the Funk Bass Bible, a book published by Hal Leonard. The first thing I noticed was it had a rich selection of songs, included some early R&B, funk and even 90’s gangsta rap songs. I am a 90’s guy, as I learned how to play in my […]
Read MoreEd Sheeran “Make it Rain” guitar lesson SOA theme song
Make it Rain I heard this song for the first time on the Voice the other night. I loved it. I have been an Ed Sheeran fan ever since I found out about his live looping skills. That mixed with his genuine lyrics and I was hooked. Apparently this song is not officially released yet, […]
Read MoreRusty Strings? Acoustic and Electric?
Electric Strings Die Quicker than Acoustic Have you ever noticed how your strings on your electric seem to go dead quicker than the ones on your acoustic? I just finished a Lab for my Chemistry class that explains this. I submerged one nickel (electric) and phosphor bronze (acoustic) guitar string, both 52 gauge, low E […]
Read MoreTapestry Audio “Time Traveler” Auxiliary BPM Synchronization Pedal Demo Video
Auxiliary BPM Synchronization Pedal The Time Traveler is a MUST Have for anyone who uses multiple delays, or time based effects on their pedal board. This nifty pedal Has the ability to to store BPM presets and comes with 2 or 3 output options. I have used, and even built, normal multi out tap tempo […]
Read MoreDigitech Whammy V user review and demo, high quality audio video
Whammy V I have always loved Tom Morello’s style of playing. It was on the first Rage Against the Machine record that I first encountered the Whammy pedal sound. This Whammy V is the latest release of this iconic pedal. It does not disappoint. Classic or Chords mode This version five has 2 options, or […]
Read MoreDragonFire Power rails X2n XL500L type pickups, user review and demo METAL
So Hot and METAL be careful with these things, they will melt your face clean off your shoulders! So hot and strong. I installed them in a Made in Japan Jackson Dinky with the original turbo Booster and it is a massive improvement over the stock EMG Hz’s. The pickups do have a clarity about […]
Read MoreThe new EHX Pitch Fork demo and review, Electro Harmonix Octave Generator Whammy and gliss
Hey everyone, I got in the new Pitch Fork Octave generator pedal yesterday. I have put together a few demo videos showing a very small amount of what this pedal can do. I literally only spent a few minutes with this pedal before shooting these demos. This pedal deserves alot more exploration. The creative possibilities […]
Read MoreStratocaster Tone Woods sound examples with high qualiy audio/video
Choosing the Right Materials I decided to put together a strat demo using 2 different, highly popular types of wood. I kept as many things identical in each example. the same neck, pickguard, amp and settings as well as everything in my DAW (sound card) settings and even mic placement for the amp. Materials […]
Read MoreHow to survive a gear melt-down
LEDs not coming on, switches not working, the sound of silence… it’s the thing that gives all of us the cold sweats at night but is inevitable non the less: Gear melt-down. The worst part is that it happens to everyone and will occur at the least convenient timing possible. We have all been there… […]
Read MoreThe Guide to Buying and Trading Used Gear Part 5
Although eBay is not the best place to find extreme deals, it can be one of your most valuable resources for information. Once you have identified a guitar that you think you might be able to get a good price and flip for a profit, time to go to eBay and get some more data. […]
Read MoreThe Guide to Buying and Trading Used Gear Part 4
Beyond the information that is included in an ad, there is other information available if you look for certain words and phrases. Ads that outright say “Price is Firm” or “Will not consider lower offers” usually mean it. You can try but count yourself lucky if you manage to get them to waver just slightly […]
Read MoreThe Guide to Buying and Trading Used Gear Part 3
The first time you start searching through Craigslist, or another site, will be time consuming. In order to simplify things I suggest you set a budget for your first few purchases. When I started my goal was to not spend more than $150 per guitar. This ensures that you don’t have too much invested early […]
Read MorePRS Comparison CE and Custom “sound difference” video, audio
Whats the difference Hello internet. I have always wonder exactly what the tonally differences were between the CE and the Custom. As a man who scours the used market buying, trading and selling I often wondered why the bolt on CE PRS guitars often go for $1200-$800 while the Customs, which look identical except for […]
Read MoreThe Guide to Buying and Trading Used Gear part 2
Part 2 Buying, selling and trading can be an inexpensive way to get the guitar and gear that you are looking for, as long as you realize from the start that it is not always the most direct way to do it. The simplest way to buy a guitar is to go to a retail […]
Read More