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Yngwie Malmsteen Discusses his Roots, His Rep and his Latest Album in this 1986 Guitar World Interview

Rolling Stones: Keith Richards on the Making of 'Exile on Main St.'

Let the Good Times Grohl: Dave Grohl Talks 'Sound City: Real to Reel'

Art & Soul: Adam Jones Discusses Tool's Limited-Edition 'Opiate' EP Reissue

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A Clean Sweep: Mastering Sweep Arpeggios with John Petrucci

The Capo Crusader: An Acoustic Arrangement of The Who's "Baba O'Riley"

The Capo Crusader: An Acoustic Arrangement of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine"

Let There Be Rock: AC/DC's Angus Young on the Rhythm Playing of Malcolm Young

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La Grunge: The Top 10 Blues-Approved Overdrive/Distortion Pedals

Small Wonders: Five Essential 15-Watt Guitar Amps

40 Years After "Smoke On the Water," Fender Custom Shop Introduces Ritchie Blackmore Tribute Strat

Say Wah? Five Essential Signature Wah Pedals

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Lessons

A Clean Sweep: Sweep Arpeggios

John Petrucci breaks down the mechanics of the proper sweep arpeggio.

The Who: Unplugged

Jimmy Brown shows you an acoustic arrangement of The Who classic "Baba O'Riley."

"Sweet Child O' Mine" Unplugged

Jimmy Brown shows you an acoustic arrangement of the Guns N' Roses classic.

Angus Young: A Whole Lotta Malcolm

From the archives: Angus Young on the importance of his brother's guitar playing to AC/DC.

A Clean Sweep: Sweep Arpeggios

Artist Slideshow Image:

Title: A Clean Sweep: Mastering Sweep Arpeggios with John Petrucci

The Who: Unplugged

Artist Slideshow Image:

Title: The Capo Crusader: An Acoustic Arrangement of The Who's "Baba O'Riley"

"Sweet Child O' Mine" Unplugged

Artist Slideshow Image:

Title: The Capo Crusader: An Acoustic Arrangement of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine"

Angus Young: A Whole Lotta Malcolm

Artist Slideshow Image:

Title: Let There Be Rock: AC/DC's Angus Young on the Rhythm Playing of Malcolm Young

Latest Lessons

Jam Session: Warren Haynes on Getting Started With Slide Guitar

Posted 03/22/2013 at 2:02pm | by Warren Haynes

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In this entry from his classic "Jam Session" column, Warren Haynes talks about the best way to approach getting started with playing slide guitar.

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Adapting Keyboard-Style Arpeggios to Fretboard Tapping, Part 1

Posted 03/20/2013 at 1:04pm | by Chris Broderick

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This month’s column focuses on an original composition of mine that acknowledges the influence of classical pianists on my playing style, specifically the way in which pianists will play arpeggios across several octaves very quickly (see FIGURE 1). In order to emulate that sound on the guitar, I’ve devised a few fretboard tapping techniques. In fact, much of my two-hand tapping technique is based on that goal and approach.

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VH1 Save the Music: The Art of the Jam — How to Teach Young Children to Improvise

Posted 03/20/2013 at 8:07am | by Mark Hale

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Hello. My name is Mark Hale, and I teach general music and guitar to elementary school students, grades K-4, in Nashville. Having done this for a few years and experimented with various approaches, I have come up with what I believe to be a very effective and fun approach to teaching young, beginner-level students how to tap into the creative part of their brains and improvise melodies. I’d like to share this approach with you.

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The Complete Guitarist: Major- and Minor-Scale Excercises to Improve Your Playing

Posted 03/20/2013 at 7:16am | by Richard Rossicone

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Hey, everyone. In my last two blog posts, I discussed arpeggios and how to incorporate them into your playing to learn the fretboard and add some color to your leads. This time, I'd like to discuss some really cool major- and minor-scale exercises that will help your overall guitar playing on many levels.

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Guitar 101: Heavy Metal Hybrid Picking

Posted 03/18/2013 at 11:57am | by Greg Harrison

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Hybrid picking—the practice of interspersing flatpicked notes with notes plucked by your middle or ring finger—is a technique that many metalheads mistakenly believe is just for country, blues and jazz players. The fact that it remains underutilized by the shred guitar community means that hybrid picking can be smartly employed as a shredder’s “secret weapon”— just ask Zakk Wylde, John 5, Jason Becker ...

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Video: Interview and Sacred Steel Lesson with The Slide Brothers

Posted 03/18/2013 at 7:29am | by Chris Gill

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In the era of YouTube, and with the ubiquitous presence of camera phones and inexpensive digital recorders capturing almost every mundane moment of modern life, it’s difficult to imagine a musical genre or group of talented musicians remaining undiscovered.

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The Ultra Zone: Steve Vai's Course In Ear Training, Part 3

Posted 03/18/2013 at 7:26am | by Steve Vai

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My first two ear training columns (Part 1 and Part 2) outlined techniques intended to strengthen your note-recognition abilities, using the guitar as an ear training tool. This month, I’d like to turn you onto some ear training techniques that use chords.

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Odd Man Out: Using Different Meters to Accommodate Your Technique

Posted 03/15/2013 at 11:25am | by John Petrucci

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For our final lesson on chromatics, I thought I'd throw you a little curve and give you a few odd-meter exercises in 5/8. Now you might ask, "Why play anything in 5/8?" Well, I came up with this sequence because it's easier for me to play across the strings.

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Guitar Strength: The Other “Hendrix Chord”

Posted 03/15/2013 at 11:24am | by Scott Marano

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Of the myriad contributions Jimi Hendrix has made to the lexicon of modern guitar, one of the most enduring is the legendary “Hendrix chord." The chord, an E7#9, was definitely nothing new when Hendrix famously used it in “Purple Haze” (Jazz and R&B guitarists used it extensively, and the Beatles featured it years earlier on “Taxman”), but its use by Jimi inspired its use by generations of guitarists in a wide range of styles.

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Tapper's Delight: 20 Challenging Tapping Licks

Posted 03/15/2013 at 9:08am | by Guthrie Govan

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Fretboard tapping has earned a bad name in certain sectors of the guitar community. Some players dismiss it as a technique suitable only for perpetrating the worst possible kind of overblown, unmusical histrionics, preferably played through a wall of amps that “go to 11.”

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