Guitar Techniques

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Slash

“I’d like to dedicate this to Lucy-Bleu”: Slash pays tribute to his late stepdaughter with emotional instrumental performance

By Janelle Borg published

Slash performed Metal Chestnut from his latest album, Orgy of the Damned, alongside Tash Neal on rhythm guitar

David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust plays an acoustic with a soundhole mounted pickup

5 easy ways to make open chords more interesting

By Richard Barrett published

Players such as David Bowie and Joni Mitchell have deployed alternate voicings to great effect in their songwriting, and they can be a powerful songwriting tool to have under your belt

Yngwie Malmsteen holding his Fender signature Stratocaster

“I never practiced”: Yngwie Malmsteen didn’t develop his superhuman guitar skills by practicing, apparently

By Matt Owen published

Fancy becoming the next Yngwie Malmsteen? Well, you won't need to practice your A harmonic minor, according to the man himself

Saxon Weiss and Joe Bonamassa jamming in Norman's Rare Guitars

This 12-year-old guitar prodigy is destined to be a blues great – and he just jammed with Joe Bonamassa

By Matt Owen published

Saxon Weiss' latest appearance on the Norman's Rare Guitars YouTube channel sees the aspiring player go toe-to-toe with JoBo for a four-minute funk blues jam

Matteo Mancuso

Matteo Mancuso has written a virtuosic tribute track to Paul Gilbert… on baritone

By Matt Owen published

Mancuso uses his mesmerizing fingerstyle technique – and a peachy Bacci baritone – to honor one of his biggest guitar influences on Paul Position

Eric Clapton and John Mayall both performing on stage in the late 1960s

Eric Clapton pays emotional tribute to his Bluesbreaker bandmate and blues mentor John Mayall

By Matt Owen published

Clapton and Mayall joined forces in the 1960s to record one of British blues' most iconic records, which further established Slowhand as an up-and-coming blues great

John Wines playing a Fender Stratocaster outside Jimmy Page's house

America’s Got Talent star Old Grey Guitarist plays Whole Lotta Love… outside Jimmy Page’s house

By Matt Owen published

John Wines took a brief break while on a popular Rock N Roll taxi tour in London to pay tribute to the Led Zeppelin legend

A still from Joe Bonamassa's Guitar World video lesson, with a TV Yellow '57 Les Paul Junior as the subject

“The most well-known user of this instrument was universally beloved for having one of the heaviest guitar tones of all time”: Joe Bonamassa explains why you can rule the world with one pickup

By Joe Bonamassa published

In this video lesson inspired by Leslie West, Joe Bonamassa puts the single-pickup rock 'n' roll machine through its paces with some riffs and licks that make good use of open strings

British Blues musician John Mayall performs onstage at Park West, Chicago, Illinois, June 13, 1982

John Mayall, 1933-2024 – the guitar world pays tribute

By Matt Owen published

Joe Bonamassa, Mick Jagger and Walter Trout have led tributes to the influential British blues pioneer, who has died at the age of 90

Jimmy Herring (L) and JoJo Hermann of Widespread Panic perform during 2019 Sweetwater 420 Fest at Centennial Olympic Park on April 20, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia

Guitar virtuoso Jimmy Herring's cancer diagnosis leads Widespread Panic to cancel upcoming dates

By Janelle Borg published

The band reports that Herring will begin treatment immediately and is expected to make a full recovery

Musician/Singer John Mayall performs at the Whisky a Go Go, West Hollywood, CA 1969

John Mayall, The Godfather of British Blues, dies aged 90

By Matt Owen published

The pioneering guitarist masterminded one of the most influential blues collectives ever formed, and helped catapult the career of countless guitar greats

Donovan Philips Leitch

Donovan taught John Lennon to fingerpick – here's why he's an under-appreciated acoustic guitar great

By Stuart Ryan published

As legend tells it, he was the man who taught John Lennon to pick. And he sure could write a song. We pay tribute to the flying Scotsman of the Swinging Sixties, Donovan Phillips Leitch, with this lesson in his folk-informed style

Dave Navarro and John Frusciante

Dave Navarro on how he and John Frusciante finally played together for the first time after decades of friendship

By Matt Owen published

The former Red Hot Chili Peppers and current Jane’s Addiction guitarist has long had a close relationship with Frusciante, but they didn’t play together until 2020

Former Moby Grape Guitarist Performs As The Jerry Miller Band, Summer Of Love Festival, Monterey Pop Festival, California

Jerry Miller, Moby Grape guitarist and co-founder who Eric Clapton called the “best guitar player in the world”, has died aged 81

By Janelle Borg published

Jerry Miller was friends with Jimi Hendrix, inspired Led Zeppelin and was a trailblazing player in San Francisco's thriving '60s music scene

Closeup of Cory Wong with his acoustic guitar, his bassist on his right and his keyboardist on his left

Cory Wong on subverting expectations of what a lead guitarist should sound like during a rare stripped-down set

By Janelle Borg published

Wong performed a stripped-down version of his tracks against the stunning backdrop of Colorado's Red Rocks Park

Alan Parsons and Ian Bairnson

Alan Parsons on why late Project and Kate Bush guitarist Ian Bairnson was unlike any guitarist he’d ever encountered

By Matt Owen published

Parsons played alongside Bairnson as part of the Alan Parsons Project, and witnessed the late session legend's flawless technique up close

Christone Kingfish Ingram performing live

“Pentatonic ideas are always the best way to reach an audience”: Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram on why the pentatonic scale is still the GOAT

By Janelle Borg published

The pentatonic scale has been used many times in many ways, but Ingram insists that it's still the cornerstone of great guitar solos

A black-and-white image of Peter Green playing a Gibson Les Paul Standard with Fleetwood Mac

How Peter Green changed the course of British blues-rock guitar playing

By Andy G Jones published

Peter Green was one of the all-time greats, and influenced everyone from Gary Moore to Joe Bonamassa and Kirk Hammett. This soloing masterclass unpacks his peerless phrasing, rhythmic approach and string bending

Chuck Berry, Dave Grohl, Jimmy Page and Johnny Marr

How the guitar riff has developed since the 1950s – and what you can learn from its evolution

By Simon Barnard published

From Chuck Berry to Dave Grohl via Johnny Marr, Jimmy Page and more, this rhythm guitar masterclass offers a decade-by-decade study in the evolution of the riff

Sammy Hagar and Joe Satriani

“I don't know how he's doing this”: Sammy Hagar can’t believe how good Joe Satriani sounds playing Van Halen songs

By Phil Weller published

The frontman has spoken in depth about the Best of All Worlds tour so far, including Satriani’s immense dedication to the cause – and how these gigs are proving to be some of the best shows of his life