Sound Pro in One Step with Dynamics

Using dynamics while playing guitar is one of the most direct ways to sound more like a guitar pro. It's a simple concept of volume control.

In this video, Guitar Tricks instructor Gary Heimbauer will show you how to apply dynamics to your guitar paying to make you sound better in one step!

How to Play Guitar

10 Famous Songs with Four Chords or Less

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How to Play a 12-String Guitar

If you're a fan of the sound of an acoustic guitar, then you're probably listening to a song that features two guitarists playing together seamlessly. Various models on the market can accommodate different budgets. With various features and options, 12-string acoustic guitars can provide a unique and authentic sound. The sound of 12-string electric and acoustic guitars has captivated listeners for decades. Whether you're looking for an electric or acoustic guitar, there's something special about this versatile instrument.

How to Play Guitar Expressively

4 Chords Every Beginner Guitar Player MUST Know

Many guitar players think that you need 5 or 6 strings to play most chords like G, C, or Em, but the reality is that these chords are made up of only 3 notes (a triad) and can often be played on only three strings! Four of the most common open chords, in the most common guitar key of G major are the chords G, C, D and E minor.

ONE Guitar Lick to Connect EVERYTHING

Since the pentatonic scale has no half steps, and is constructed of whole steps and minor thirds (1.5 steps), it lends itself well to sliding up and down the fretboard from position to position.  One great way to connect the patterns as we slide between them is to take advantage of the finger friendly 2x2s or 3x2s in each of the 5 vertical patterns of the pentatonic scale.

Circle of Fifths on Guitar Explained!

The Circle of Fifths is a concept used in music theory that shows the relationship between all of the musical keys. The circle is also used to show the number of sharps and flats in a particular key, which is helpful to understand the relationships between major and minor keys as well. Finally, the concept gets its name because the Circle of Fifths is presented as a circle of musical keys, these are all separated by degrees of a fifth. 

ONE Pentatonic Scale for ALL Keys - Major and Minor

3 Blues Riffs You NEED to Know

In this video, Gary shares three classic blues riffs, or bits of vocabulary that are inspired by classic sounds we’ve all heard before. If you listen to the blues greats, you will hear ideas very similar to these. What you want to do is see if you can play them exactly as I present them with my guidance, and THEN, take the most important step, which is to reinterpret them, develop them, change the rhythm, start them the same, and end them differently, change when they start within a measure (we go over this in depth), change their direction. The possibilities are truly endless.

Power Chords Explained in 5 Easy Steps

7th Chords Explained

3 Minor Chord Progressions and How to Find Them

CAGED System Explained

As you're learning guitar, you'll likely hear players reference the CAGED system as being a great tool to utilize in your learning process.  To put it simply, CAGED is essentially a way of visualizing chord shapes on the fretboard. The trick to using the CAGED system is to realize that it consists of moveable shapes that can be any chord depending upon where you put the root note. The letters C-A-G-E-D refer to the open chord shapes. 

A Crash Course in Open Tunings

While standard tuning is certainly the go-to, and the tuning we likely all learned how to play guitar with, let's face it: it can get a little boring. It's not the guitar's fault, it just sometimes takes a change of scenery (or in this case, tuning) to spark a little creativity in your mind. There are countless alternate tunings for the 6-string guitar, but a style of alternate tuning that can be fun to play with (especially for beginner-intermediate guitarists) is an "open tuning."