Richard Barrett

If the idea of third inversions seems all upside down, fear not: these five examples show how easy they are to put together – and how musical they are when you apply them in a song

When you’re the only guitarist in the band, triads are your best friends in a guitar solo – and Hendrix and SRV were the masters

Whether you call these solo ideas minor blues or embellished pentatonic/blues scale, the effect is the same, freeing you up from established patterns to hold your audience's attention

A lesson in second inversions sounds like advanced physics but it's simply swapping the root note for the 5th, expanding your chord vocabulary with a minimum of fuss

Don't be intimidated by the terminology. First-inversion chords is the fancy name for slash chords and they can add some range and spice to your songwriting

In this tab and video lesson, we show you how open C tuning is great for slide, it can present adventurous players with fresh chords and help them reach notes they couldn't in standard

These 5 shapes showcase the range of acoustic sounds and textures this open tuning grants access to

Stay cosmic with this lesson in how Carlos Santana took the blues as practiced by B.B. King and Peter Green, plus the new radical rock styles of the '60s, and put his signature spin on them

Jimmy Page often employed dissonant chords with Led Zep and you can, too. You don't even need to know the name of the chord to use them

No-one plays the blues like Buddy Guy – but that doesn't stop us trying. We look at four ways the blues icon approaches his solos. Warning: it's going to get fiery

Increase your musical vocabulary and expand your compositional horizons, in each and every key

Lukather might have made his name in box-office rock and pop, but the blues underpins it all, and this quick-fire tutorial with tab and audio unleashes some serious soloing heat

Exploring the lead guitar style of John Sykes, a player who – like Page, Blackmore, and Moore – balanced flair with power

These chord voices are so cool they're worth the stretch

In this lesson inspired by Molly Tuttle, Trey Hensley and the O.G. of acoustic folk playing Maybelle Carter, we'll make one guitar sound like two with arrangements alive with rhythm and melody

Inversions are essential for jazz players, virtuoso cats such as Martin Tyler, but they are super-useful for any player looking for a fresh chord voicing. Let's take a look and demystify them with 5 ways you can play a Bmaj7

Expand upon traditional blues approaches with this lesson in the style of Joe Bonamassa and Eric Johnson

Inspired by Eric Gales, Joe Walsh, Earth, Wind & Fire and Motown, this blues lesson puts the rhythm first

Altered chords should not scare anyone. Here are five shapes to explore when looking for a chord with some dramatic dissonance

Because sometimes you need a chord with a little more harmonic intrigue, we take a look at the theory behind embellished chords and how they can be used in everyday playing

Listen to SRV, Mayer and Jimi Hendrix and you'll hear players who are masters of mixing rhythm and lead – an invaluable skill for anyone in a jam. We look at four ideas for upping the ante in your blues rhythm game

Players such as Jimi Hendrix had extensive altered and extended chord vocabularies to draw upon

It was Clapton's work with John Mayall that electrified the Free guitarist's imagination. Then it was Marshall stacks, a Les Paul and a wicked vibrato…

The Who's Pete Townshend made very effective use of suspended chords in tracks such as Pinball Wizard – and when you know the difference between your add9 and you sus4 maybe you can, too

By using various voicings of the same chord, you can expand your fretboard knowledge and spice up your chord progressions