I had an action packed January full of gigs that concluded yesterday (Sunday) with the 5th of 5 straight gigs in a row. Now, maybe you’re a Rock Star doing a 90 minute concert. Or, an original, regional band pulling a 45 minute set. Regardless, chances are you may not be able to stop playing before the pain sets in. This is why I decided to do an article on compression therapy for guitarists. ..or …
10 Essential Guitar Scales for Beginners
If you’re a beginning guitar player, you’ve probably heard the word “scales” before but may not be sure where to start. If you’ve tried a few, you may be wondering what the point is to this often tedious guitar playing chore. There are a few reasons why adding scales to your practice routine is super important: Scales build technique, strength and coordination in both hands on the guitar. Scales are the basis for all melody, …
40 Day Guitar Practice Challenge
Are you ready to take your guitar playing to the next level? Let’s do it together! A Guitar Practice Challenge. I’m working on a new Guitar Practice Challenge for 2025, so check back in a few months. New Years resolutions can be cliche but what’s wrong with trying to better yourself, whether it’s a hobby, your health or the desire to become a better guitarist? For beginning guitarists, improvement can be a measured by leaps …
Develop a Better Ear – Guitarists and Musicians
One of the most important skills you can develop as a musician is a “good ear”. The ability to match pitch and audiate on the guitar is fundamentally important in all aspects of your playing. If you want to Develop A Better Ear, check out this article below. Developing your ear will make your improvisation more creative and melodic. As a result, it will improve your composition and make learning and accurately playing any piece …
Line 6 HX Stomp Review – Guitar Gear Gifts
Is the Line 6 HX Stomp still viable in 2024 and beyond? We think so. As Thanksgiving and Black Friday approach, we’re all getting ready for our holiday gear shopping, whether for ourselves or the guitarist in your life. If you’re like me, you do most of this shopping online. At this point in my guitar playing career, I really don’t feel the need to go to a big chain music store and listen to …
Picking Exercises, Shred Guitar Practice, and Gear
Guitarists have been emailing me… asking where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to. The short answer is, practicing. Practicing a lot. While my writing has a suffered a bit, my guitar chops are making a serious comeback thanks to my Picking Exercises, Shred Guitar Practice routines. Most of my friends, family and readers know I do a ton of acoustic guitar gigs. I’m still doing 4-5 per week. Thats just how I pay …
Guitarist Bobby Koelble Interview & Lesson
I want to start this article by saying, I’m just a big fan of Guitarist Bobby Koelble. He’s the type of Guitarist I want to be like “when I grow up”. I like to think of myself as a busy musician. I’m writing, teaching and performing 4-6 days a week, 52 weeks a year. But… theres busy… and there’s Bobby Koelble busy. I like to think I’m fairly versatile on the guitar. I’ve done my …
10 Essential Guitar Albums
I love lists! There are so many ‘greatest guitarist’ and ‘greatest guitar album’ lists out there, why should you care about mine? The biggest fault I see is in the lack of diversity found in most best guitar albums lists. When making a greatest guitar music album list, I think it’s essential to cross into different genres of music. It’s important to also cover as many techniques as possible. ….and why does the music all …
Guitarist Berto Boyd Flamenco Guitar Master Lesson
Flamenco Guitarist Berto Boyd updated 2024. (Recently moved to Philippines) I came across Flamenco and Classical Guitarist, Berto Boyd, on Facebook a while back through our mutual friend and guitarist, Ben Woods. I admire anyone who (like me) is able to make a living playing guitar at any level. I’m also just a huge fan and admirer of Flamenco guitar in general. It’s not something I’ve covered yet here on Life In 12 Keys. Guitarist …
The Girl From Ipanema Guitar Tutorial
The Girl From Ipanema Guitar Lesson and Guitar Jazz Chord Study An analysis, lesson and study of a really classic Jazz / Pop tune, The Girl From Ipanema.In this Guitar lesson: Girl From Ipanema Chord Chart Chord Analysis Section A Chord Analysis Section B Soloing and Improvisation Ideas – The Essential Scales Practice Backing Track\ Girl From Ipanema Guitar History Every once in a while I need to write a lesson for myself as well …