Lessons

Developing your ear is one of the most important lessons you can learn as a guitar player – and there is no better teacher than Steve Vai

Go behind the players with some of the most legendary guitar sounds in history – and learn how you can steal their style and make it yours

When it comes to the guitar, the pentatonic is the one scale to rule them all, and despite its ubiquity, the possibilities are limitless – as our deep dive tab and video lesson demonstrates

Polychords are a neat way to expand your musical vocabulary and can be used in your rhythm and lead playing, as the great Larry Carlton has demonstrated time and time again

In this exclusive video lesson, the legendary virtuoso treats you to a masterclass on transferring vocal phrases to the guitar

We look at the whammy bar styles of Duane Eddy, Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen, David Gilmour and Jeff Beck – and how you can incorporate them in your own playing

From Hillel Slovak to the second coming of John Frusciante, we trace the RHCP funk-rock sound through five guitarists

Everything from feelgood rock to funk gets better with Mixolydian, a mode used to great effect by everyone from Guns N' Roses to Kool and the Gang

Expand your musical vocabulary with this guide to six of the most important South American guitar styles

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

King was a player who could say more with less, with a vibrato that give his licks a vocal quality, and this lesson with tab and audio unpacks his style

Whatever style of music you play, these workouts will improve your fingerstyle technique – and that counts for both electric and acoustic guitar

In this video and tab lesson, we unpack the acoustic fingerstyle approach of one of America's great songwriters, and give you ideas for how to embellish chords and use inversions

Influenced by the orchestral sweep of John Williams and the neoclassical madness of Yngwie Malmsteen, the Symphony X mastermind is a formidable shred talent, and this tab and audio lesson isn't for the fainthearted

The Varitone control makes this semi-hollow unlike anything else in the Gibson catalog – Joe Bonamassa shows us the tones and licks that made it such a classic electric

Learn a dozen chords that will expand your musical vocabulary and enhance your songwriting – and the best bit? They’re not that difficult

Mayer is a player who wears his influences well but always brings his own twist – we take look at how he applies this to his solos, and how you can, too

The major 7th chord is a favorite among guitarists of all stripes, including Nile Rodgers – here are 5 ways to take the shape to the next level, and your overall playing along with it, too

In this Guitar World exclusive, Sophie Lloyd takes you behind her rhythm and lead techniques on monster single Do or Die and shares her tips on how to hone your skills

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