03 Sep 2008
Faith No More were a defining band for me when I was growing up. I'm not saying Lionel Ritchies version of Easy isn't wonderful. But Faith No More hold a place in my heart alongside memories of grwoing up. This is a bit of a softer side to them. The solo is perfect. I believe Jim Martin is the man.
02 Sep 2008
Steely Dan always flew a bit above my head I must admit. I recognize that they are a band of huge talent but I never could get passed the over proccesed 80's sound. Well, doubts aside this has a wicked guitar solo. The talent these fellows display is wonderful.
01 Sep 2008
The Allman Brothers wrote a classic riff with the opening melody of Jessica. Countless times my fingers have found this lick without meaning to since it is so catchy. They are terrific guitarists in their own right.
31 Aug 2008
Lynyrd Skynyrd played a song called Free Bird. I hear the solo from that song is pretty good. Have a listen to this and tell me if you agree.
30 Aug 2008
I have to post another NoMeansNo tune. Rags and Bones. You just starting to get the blues.
29 Aug 2008
NoMeansNo are so good that you cannot imagine. They have been playing together longer than I have been alive. The brothers (bass and drums) are geniuses. They live close to where I grew up and I can confirm after seeing them play several times that as good as you think they are you have to see them live to really appreciate their talent. Look at the ages of the men - they have been playing for so long that each performance is close to perfect, honed from decades of practice. I feel it is my responsibility to spread the message about this talented band. Pay special attention to the drummer - he is phenomenal.
28 Aug 2008
The Fucking Champs are here to prove that 80's style soaring guitar solos are not dead. In fact all they do is play song length solos of dueling guitar. I cannot describe their awesomeness, you must watch the video to see for yourself. If you lost any faith that I wasn't going to bring you buckets of sick guitar after the indie/emo diversion from the last few posts let these guys disuade you of that notion.
27 Aug 2008
Sikth play modern metal guitar insanity. How can they keep such weird timings on such complicated guitar lines? The weirdness of this chaos is amazing. Tapping guitars and screaming and grunting vocals. This is anything but normal. It definitely pushes boundaries.
26 Aug 2008
At The Drive In are sadly no longer a band. They split and formed Sparta and Mars Volta. But they were an important moment in music while they were here. One Armed Scissor was their best known song but they have a lot of music worth listening to. Their sound is a bit noisy but when it holds together it is pretty modern intelligent.
25 Aug 2008
Minus the Bear are another creative band with a fresh sound. They use a lot of tapping and odd timings to create interesting sounds. The quality of the video on this one isn't the best, but can you blaim the videographer for rocking out? The band name all of their songs very funny and I believe the full title of this one is Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse.
24 Aug 2008
Pretty Girls Make Graves is a bit of a departure based on the music I've put up here so far, but I love the guitarists style. I can't believe this band wasn't huge, they are really great. All Medicated Geniuses is one of my favorites from their albumn The New Romance. Very creative sound.
23 Aug 2008
Given Metallica's history with intellectual property and the interet I am pleasently surprised to find their music on youtube. Nothing Else Matters shows a little bit of a softer side of the rockers, and it is still a great song. This is a great song to learn and it is a lot of fun to play.
22 Aug 2008
While I'm passing through some folk tunes, how about good old Bob Dylan. There is a reason almost everyone knows the song Blowin' in the Wind and that is because underneath the simplicity of the song is a diamond of a song.
21 Aug 2008
Jack Johnson writes the prototypical campfire song. This is the kind of music you want to learn for playing when you are at a beach party. Learn to sing when you learn this song. It is a feel good summer song: Better Together.
20 Aug 2008
Jose Gonzales hit the big time when this song was used in a commercial for Sony. The original song was an electronic version by The Knife (and I recommend checking out that version). Jose plays beautiful understated acoustic guitar. The song is called Heartbeats and if you find the tab and learn this song it would melt any girls heart when you played it to her.
19 Aug 2008
Nick Drake is such a great acoustic guitar player - it is a shame I cannot find any clips on youtube of him playing live. His inventiveness and harmonic sense are very mature. I would describe his music as haunting and uplifting, such a weird and wonderful combination. When the Day is Done is a song of his I have tried to work on myself.
18 Aug 2008
Paco de Lucia, John McLaughlin, and Al Di Meola are one of the greatest super groups ever assembled for guitar. Meditarena Sundance is one of their most recognizable pieces and it can be found in the required guitar albumn Friday Night In Sanfrancisco. Just listen and watch these guys play guitar and you will be impressed.
17 Aug 2008
Wes Montgomery is one of the great jazz guitar players. My friend once said he played guitar so that it sounded like a piano. To me it sounds sublime. His distinctive sound comes from playing all of the notes with downstrokes using his thumb. You can see this in the video of him playing Thelonious Monk's Round Midnight.
16 Aug 2008
Eric Johnson is a pretty special guitar player. I play his signature strat even though I have never really listened to much of his music - he collaborated with Fender to make a truly excellent guitar. This video is an intro to one of his instructional DVD's and he is playing combintations of chords and blazing fast solo pieces. The glossy sounding 80's production aside, this is a sweet little peice.
15 Aug 2008
Buddy Holly may not be well known as a killer guitar player but man - I dig that Fender he's playing in this video for Peggy Sue. He exudes a punk attitude. This is cooler than I was expecting. And I want his gear (guitar and amp, I think it's a tweed Bassman)
14 Aug 2008
Chuck Berry - some say rock and roll started with this man. Undeniably his influence is still prevelent today. Johnny B Goode is a classic everyone knows. He may have borrowed heavily from early blues influence but he made the sound his own and lead the way for a new generation of guitar players.
13 Aug 2008
BB King is one of the classic great blues guitar players. He doesn't try and over-do the theory aspect of music and instead relies on his ear, intuition and tremendous experience. Any guitar player would be happy with his long and illustrious career. This is a hair raising example of his solo blues skill. It is a lesson in phrasing and timing.
12 Aug 2008
John Frusciante from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers is a personal favorite. This man plays from his soul. He puts it all out on the line with each an every note, infusing them with feeling. This compilation of solos performed live by John is a good taste of his style. I also love his solo work and acoustic playing. Great guitar player to learn from.
11 Aug 2008
Joe Satriani wrote some lovely music. Surfing with the Alien was one of the only guitar god albumns I bought. Who could not love Always With Me, Always With You once they heard it? It is incredible in every sense of the world.
10 Aug 2008
Randy Rhoads is amazing because he played a style of metal guitar that was melodical. Watching him play the solo to crazy train live shows just what a practiced guitarist he was. Although it is almost note-for-note based on the record, it still has an of-the-moment character.
09 Aug 2008
Robben Ford is the guy to watch if you like blues. This guy sure can play fierce. He has an unending supply of licks worth learning.
08 Aug 2008
George Harrison and Eric Clapton together on stage playing While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Spectacular.
07 Aug 2008
Continuing on the topic of all time great solos: Jimmy Page playing the solo to Stairway to Heaven.
06 Aug 2008
David Gilmore is another old legend player. The guitar from Comfortably Numb has been on the top of a few all-time best solo lists I have seen. His swooping bends are certainly inspiring. Here he is playing an extended version of the solo live.
05 Aug 2008
Mark Knopfler is a great guitar player. His style is quite different to many other main stream guitar players. Technically he is incredible and he writes some catchy songs. Sultans of Swing is one of Dire Staits most famous songs and features a wiked solo by Mark.
04 Aug 2008
I love Stevie Ray Vaughn and his version of Little Wing is brilliant. Well, all of his playing is brilliant. But after a Jimi Hendrix post this seems appropriate given the influence Jimi had on players like Stevie. This is wonderful soul and tone from a legendary player.
03 Aug 2008
Jimi Hendrix, where would we be without his playing? All Along the Watchtower is definitely one of my favorite of his pieces. The song was originaly written by Bob Dylan but it is definitely most associated with Jimi Hendrix. I tried to find a live version but this albumn version dubbed over a video of him playing is the best quality.
02 Aug 2008
Antoine Dufour may not be as well known as his candyrat records brother Andy McKee but he is in the same talent range. I love this style of guitar playing and I have a lot of practising ahead of me before I can pull it off.
01 Aug 2008
Rodrigo y Gabriela described their music as Flamenco crossed with Death Metal. Are you kidding me? These two are awesome! They are very percussive in their music making for exhilerating pieces.
31 Jul 2008
Django Reinhadt is a pure star in my opinion. His music is simple and uplifting. His melodies and tonality are exceptional. If you watch the video you will notice he plays all of his solos with the first and second finger of his left hand. This is because he lost full use of the other two fingers in a fire. The man is a legend.
30 Jul 2008
Joe pass, one of my favorite guitar players, playing Nuages which was originaly played by Django Reinhardt. Django is pretty much top of my list of guitar players. Joe plays a beautiful interpretation of this classic. Even if you don't listen to much jazz you should appreciate the technical ability it takes to play this type of music.
29 Jul 2008
Ted Greene is a master. He is well known for his books: Chord Chemistry, Modern Chord Progressions and Single Note Soloing among others. What really impresses me about his playing is the incredible chord voicing vocabulary he has. His musical knowledge seems staggering to me. The audio on this video is not too loud so you have to listen close as the playing is very subtle. I get the impression, when I watch Ted, that he loved playing guitar.
28 Jul 2008
A co-worker turned me onto Brent Mason. This man is an extremely talented guitar player. He is almost like a machine since he plays so flawlessly. Best known as a Nashville session guitarist, he has played on countless professional recordings. He plays a couple of tunes in this video showing his diversity of style and technical ability. I suggest watching the other videos in this series to hear some of his insights on playing as a professional guitar player.
27 Jul 2008
One of the great acoustic guitar players is Tommy Emmanuel. Chet Atkins called him a Certified Guitar Player for good reason. He is extraordinary in both his playing and his composition. This is a video of him playing Angelina, one of his most famous pieces. This song has great rhythm and Tommy's hybrid plectrum/finger picking style is something worth learning and practising.
26 Jul 2008
I take lessons from Justin Sandercoe and he has many great resources for beginner guitar players. It is very likely I will post several of his videos on this blog and I highly recommend going through all his lessons for beginner guitar.
This lesson is part one of three parts for a solo blues piece. He plays through the entire piece late in the video after explaining why it is good to learn a solo piece. The later videos go through the piece in detail and allow beginners to practice along with him at slower speeds.
Justin is a great guy making high-quality information available to everyone for free so please learn from him and support him.
25 Jul 2008
What better way to start off a new blog than with a video from the talented Andy McKee? This man is very talented and this style of guitar playing is quite catchy. Anyone I have shown this to is immediately impressed and I have no doubt the style will become a mainstream fixture in the near future. He uses open tuning, percusive elements and tapping to create a sophisticated sound. Such an advanced sound it something any beginning guitarist should strive for. I hope to post new videos like this every day for inspiration and education and this is a great one to start with.