Guitar World

The secrets behind Kurt Cobain‘s guitar tone on Nirvana‘s Smells Like Teen Spirit How Cobain changed popular music forever with a modded Strat, a Mesa/Boogie and a couple of everyday stompboxes

Hear St. Vincent, Josh Homme, Phoebe Bridgers, Khruangbin radically rework Paul McCartney tracks McCartney III Imagined sees some of today's leading guitar artists have their way with the Beatles icon’s latest album, complete with bluesy solos from Homme and Annie Clark

Two Minutes to Late Night: “The show's an invitation for everybody to come and play in the metal sandbox” Drew Kaufman and Jordan Olds – aka Gwarsenio Hall – wax lyrical on the origins of their YouTube-based heavy metal talk show, and how it's adapted as a result of Covid-19

How to produce greater musical expression and variation while playing up and down one string Andy Timmons' debut column will teach you new ideas for incorporating melodies in your soloing

Latest News

Watch this cat write an actually-pretty-decent bass solo on piano

By Matt Owen

Barney, the musically gifted cat, had his fur-midable piano ponderings transformed into a technically challenging solo by bass guitarist Jeffin Rodegheri

Musician Nancy Wilson performs with Roadcase Royale performs on stage at San Diego County Fair on June 22, 2018 in Del Mar, California

Nancy Wilson shares acoustic Eddie Van Halen tribute, 4 Edward

By Richard Bienstock

The instrumental will appear on her forthcoming solo debut, You and Me

Samurai Guitarist buys a pizza guitar gear history as he snaps up a rare promotional Pizza Hut pepperoni guitar

By Matt Owen

It remains to be seen whether the tasty-looking axe, which sports a surprisingly savvy set of specs, sounds as good as it looks

Rock musicians Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen (1955 - 2020), both of the group Van Halen, performs onstage at the Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois, March 15, 1986.

Sammy Hagar would have been “embarrassed” if Van Halen had adopted proposed Van Hagar name change

By Richard Bienstock

Fortunately, Eddie Van Halen nixed the idea immediately

Rick Beato unveils his new signature Gibson LP Special

Rick Beato's signature Gibson Les Paul Special is officially in production

By Richard Bienstock

The YouTube personality and musician shares a sneak peek at the first Pelham Blue model off the assembly line

Save hundreds on a new Gibson Les Paul, Fender Stratocaster or Martin acoustic at Guitar Center right now

By Daryl Robertson

The latest Guitar Center sale sees prices dropped on a wide range of electric guitars, acoustic guitars and amps from Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, Martin and more

Music Is Win's Tyler Larson with Kirk Hammett's ESP Ouija Board guitar

Music Is Win’s Tyler Larson uses Kirk Hammett’s Ouija Board guitar to play his 5 best Metallica solos

By Michael Astley-Brown

The YouTuber shares his thoughts on the iconic ESP, which is currently up for auction

Rusty Young performs during an evening with Rusty Young from Poco at The GRAMMY Museum on February 8, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.

Poco co-founder, guitarist and pedal steel great Rusty Young dies aged 75

By Richard Bienstock

The musician and songwriter helped to pioneer country-rock in the late ‘60s and ‘70s

Framus reveals head-turning Special Bionic Snake signature model for Accept’s Wolf Hoffmann

By Michael Astley-Brown

Sand-blasted lacewood is teamed with real steel to create the $18k guitar’s 3D effect

Emily Wolfe debuts first single from new album Outlier

By Michael Astley-Brown

Something Better finds the Epiphone signature artist taking a guitar-pop turn

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Latest Features

How to build a pedalboard on a budget

By Chris Schwarten

For around $500 it's possible to build a fully-functional budget pedalboard, including pedals, cables and even the 'board itself

Corey Congilio on growing out of his hair-metal B.C. Rich Warlock phase and his greatest gear finds

By David Mead

The Nashville blues dynamo and sessioneer mulls over gear loved and lost, and his mission to support small-’shop builders

Death From Above 1979 - Is 4 Lovers album review

By Matt Doria

"LP4 [is] a love letter to the Canadian dance-punk deviants’ halcyon days"

The 7 best cheap looper pedals 2021: essential budget loopers for your ‘board

By Alex Lynham

Yes, it really is possible to land a budget looper pedal from just $79 – we’ve got options from TC Electronic, Electro-Harmonix, Boss and more

8 best acoustic guitars under $500 for 2021: our top picks, including acoustic-electric guitars

By Chris Bird, Daryl Robertson

These cheap acoustic guitars are ideal for everything from folk and indie guitar to blues and country

A brief history of the Foo Fighters' remarkable quarter-century career

By Richard Bienstock

Okay, it's been 26 years, but who's counting? Dave Grohl unpacks the unlikely mega-stardom of the drummer turned frontman

Meet Bassist of the Year 2020, Danny Sapko

By Bass Player Staff

Technically adventurous, musically astute and your favorite bassist of 2020, Sapko walks through his bass approach

Jon Gomm: “It doesn’t matter how crazy your technique is, the hardest thing is always playing in time and in tune“

By Henry Yates

The maestro returns with new music that healed him in hard times and reflects on his status as one of today's leading percussive guitarists

The Offspring: “We wanted to go back to basics: heavy guitars, bass and drums – and a melodic song underneath all that”

By Amit Sharma

Dexter Holland and Noodles talk production tips from Bob Rock, how to dial in a great punk-rock tone and the gear behind new album, Let The Bad Times Roll

The Commander in Chief: ”Metal was polarizing. People loved it or hated it. Classical music is the same – I get the same reaction”

By Adam Kovac

This sedulous seven-stringer puts a completely new spin on classical-inspired guitar music

Latest Lessons

5 things all beginner guitarists need to know

By Total Guitar editors

Learning how to play guitar? Read this!

How to hold a guitar and a guitar pick

By Total Guitar editors

Beginners! Before you master the guitar, you've got to learn how to hold it. Fix your posture and your playing will follow

Learn 20 essential rock rhythm guitar styles

By Total Guitar editors

From grunge and metal power riffing to cowboy chord arpeggios, open G folk and math-rock fingerpicking

Young man at home playing guitar and wearing headphones connected to laptop

How to play guitar chords

By Total Guitar editors

In this beginner lesson, learn your first guitar chords and the building blocks of rhythm guitar

Greg Koch shows you how to solo over a blues shuffle in the style of Albert Collins

By Greg Koch

Learn to alternate between parallel major and minor pentatonics, and incorporate jazzy chord substitutions

9 guitar tricks you can learn from the Foo Fighters

By Total Guitar editors

Layering guitars, powerchords, droning melodies – it's time to learn what makes Dave Grohl and co sound so massive

How to dial in a guitar amp

By Total Guitar editors

Beginners, step this way: here's how to find a decent sound on your amplifier

How to tune a guitar

By Total Guitar editors

New to guitar? It's time to learn the most important lesson of all: the names of the strings and which way to turn the tuners

How to set bass pickups for optimum tone

By Rob Elrick

Ace luthier Rob Elrick brings decades of wisdom to the table, and here he unpacks the essential business of pickup height

Total Guitar created a scientifically perfect guitar solo – here’s what it sounds like and how to play it

By Total Guitar editors

We've followed the science. It's time to shred. Are you ready for Franken-solo?