Articles by John Wheatcroft

Guitar World

John is Head of Guitar at BIMM London and a visiting lecturer for the University of West London (London College of Music) and Chester University. He's performed with artists including Billy Cobham (Miles Davis), John Williams, Frank Gambale (Chick Corea) and Carl Verheyen (Supertramp), and toured the world with John Jorgenson and Carl Palmer.

Articles by: John Wheatcroft

Jimmy Herring has lent his talents to the Allman Brothers Band and Derek Trucks – he’s a play-anything virtuoso who can fuse jazz, blues and rock together like no other

By John Wheatcroft published 12 April 24

Herring marries the harmonic sophistication of jazz to the power of rock and blues, and this lesson will knock your picking articulation and chord changes into shape

Django Reinhardt, playing live circa 1970

“Django stretched the guitar imagination to its limit. He was the fastest, the most creative”: What Django Reinhardt can teach today’s blues players

By John Wheatcroft published 14 March 24

Idolized by B.B. King and George Benson, Django Reinhardt was gypsy jazz guitar’s most legendary player. Improve your jazz vocabulary with this primer in his pyrotechnic style

Robben Ford has been sideman to stars from Miles Davis to Joni Mitchell, George Harrison and even Kiss – and he's an expert in fusing the worlds of jazz and blues guitar

By John Wheatcroft published 15 February 24

Improve your voice leading, chordal vocabulary and harmonic tension and release now as we put Ford's style under the microscope in this in-depth lesson

“He is the fastest and cleanest and has more technique than any other”: Jimmy Bryant was one of the very first Telecaster heroes. Learn how his trailblazing playing shaped the guitarists who followed

By John Wheatcroft published 14 February 24

Effortlessly mixing jazz, country and blues, Bryant was one of Albert Lee’s great influences, and his style remains a white-knuckle ride of technique and imagination

With over 700 recorded versions in the last 45 years alone, Silent Night is one of the world's most popular Christmas carols – learn a spellbinding solo jazz guitar arrangement inspired by Larry Carlton and Django Reinhardt

By John Wheatcroft published 30 November 23

Get to grips with a Christmas classic that will improve your chord-melody chops and impress your family

“I’m basically a blues-rock guitar player that got wise to some other stuff”: Greg Koch is one of guitar's great showmen – and his licks are phenomenal

By John Wheatcroft published 3 October 23

Strap yourself in, it's time for our lesson in the art of Greg Koch – the funny guy with a staggering command of a huge range of styles

With credits spanning Miles Davis to John Mayer, John Scofield is one of jazz guitar’s most idiosyncratic players – and his mind-bending solo phrasing is a must-learn

By John Wheatcroft published 17 September 23

A John Scofield lesson is a lesson in melodic choices. In this tab and audio lesson, we dive into his genre-spanning style to hone your jazz chops

Pat Metheny is a true master of guitar, and every player can learn from his awe-inspiring fusion approach – expand your chops with these key concepts

By John Wheatcroft published 18 August 23

We put Metheny's blues motifs, subversion of genre, his use of slurs and slides, unisons, and the targeting of crucial chord tones under the microscope – tabs and audio included

Blues guitar techniques you can learn from Telecaster master Roy Buchanan

By John Wheatcroft published 31 May 23

Take a deep dive into the style of one of the best players to have ever picked up a Telecaster, in a lesson that will whip your hybrid picking chops into shape in no time

Add fire to your pentatonic phrasing with this lesson in Jimi Hendrix's soloing approaches

By John Wheatcroft published 22 March 23

We might never reach Hendrix levels of god-like genius on the guitar, but how he phrased his leads is a lesson to us all. Here, we look at four examples that will expand your blues vocabulary

Make your blues swing with this guide to Honky Tonk hero Billy Butler’s techniques

By John Wheatcroft published 22 February 23

A hero to the great Danny Gatton, Billy Butler was a trailblazing player, and this lesson into his jazzy blues style will underpin your technique and improvisational sensibility

Joel Hoekstra video masterclass: learn eight-finger tapping with the legendary Whitesnake guitarist

By John Wheatcroft published 3 February 23

This lesson is a veritable boot camp for two-handed tapping and will bring you up to speed for those occasions when it is time to let it rip

Take your playing from blues to jazz and back with this lesson in the great George Benson’s style

By John Wheatcroft published 25 January 23

Explore George Benson's bluesier side with these blues-jazz phrases and double-stop chord voicings, and learn how to combine them in a way that's rhythmically captivating

Guitar wisdom you can learn from Berklee professor and John Mayer mentor Tomo Fujita

By John Wheatcroft published 28 October 22

Using the jazz melodic minor scale as a launch pad, this lesson unpacks some of Professor Fujita's signature approaches to melding blues with jazz, and finding new avenues for musical exploration

Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia

Show-stopping techniques you can learn from Paco de Lucia, Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin

By John Wheatcroft published 22 September 22

This lesson takes a deep dive into the styles of the virtuoso trio responsible for one of the greatest fusion albums ever made

Learn the blues styles of 10 iconic Gibson ES-335 guitarists

By John Wheatcroft published 3 June 22

Lessons in the style of Otis Rush, Larry Carlton, Warren Haynes and more players who helped make the ES-335 the most successful semi-hollow electric guitar of all time

Allan Holdsworth: 5 game-changing guitar approaches you can learn

By John Wheatcroft published 2 June 22

He's been heralded by the likes of Steve Vai as the greatest guitarist who ever lived – here's how you can incorporate the fusion master's innovative approach to the instrument in your own playing

10 scales from around the world that will broaden your playing horizons

By John Wheatcroft published 14 March 22

Expand your harmonic and melodic potential with scales from across the globe, and learn how to integrate them in your playing

Go from jazz to Jimi with this guide to the 7#9 Hendrix chord

By John Wheatcroft published 17 February 22

Ever wondered how players like Jimi Hendrix and Grant Green blur the distinction between major and minor with such bluesy ease? Let us show you how it's done...

1
View Archive