Lessons

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Gibson Les Paul Junior: the components needed to make it sound more vintage are inexpensive and relatively easy to install.
How to make your guitar look and sound more vintage – for very little money

By Huw Price Published

Era-specific parts, upgrades and mods can make all the difference

Guitar Setup
A still from Alex Skolnick's new Guitar World video lesson.
Alex Skolnick shares his legato secrets – and how Holdsworth made the technique his own

By Alex Skolnick Published

Returning as a GW columnist after a 30-year gap, Alex Skolnick is wasting no time with a lesson that'll expand your scalar vocab and work on your legato

Artist Lessons
Charlie Starr teaches how to write a song within a solo on his Fender Esquire
Charlie Starr on why choosing the right guitar for the song makes all the difference

By Charlie Starr Published

The Blackberry Smoke frontman on how sometimes it’s the guitar's tone that’ll unlock the secret to the song

Artist Lessons
Musical guest Angine de Poitrine performs on Monday, September 14, 2026
“The most common mistake is thinking it’s an out-of-tune guitar”: What people get wrong about microtonal music

By Amit Sharma Published

You might think Angine de Poitrine are pioneering a new form of composition. They’re actually popularizing a very ancient approach to creativity

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Techniques
Nile Rodgers throws some shapes on his Hitmaker Stratocaster.
5 ways to make the C chord much more interesting

By Richard Barrett Published

Because guitarists are limited by fretboard geometry, it pays to get creative with chord voicings – as Jimi Hendrix and Nile Rodgers show, clever inversions can make rhythm parts pop

Chords
Portrait of Johnny Marr, with his signature Jaguar, from November 14, 2011.
If you learn one thing from Johnny Marr it should be this…

By Stuart Ryan Published

The Smiths’ chord secrets revealed

Chords
GWM608 Joe Bonamassa Lesson
Joe Bonamassa on how to saddle up a capo and get more out of your cowboy chords

By Joe Bonamassa Published

The blues maestro demonstrates how a change of key can change your perspective and give your chord work new life

Artist Lessons
Charlie Starr plays a Martin acoustic in this still from his latest column in Guitar World.
Charlie Starr on how the acoustic guitar can play a vital role in songwriting

By Charlie Starr Published

Strumming a few chords is all it takes to open up a world of possibilities for new songs, and here the Blackberry Smoke frontman shows us how

Artist Lessons
Corey Congilio in his studio space
Meet the “super arpeggio” – the extended shape that can supercharge your solos

By Corey Congilio Published

Based on an approach Larry Carlton taught him, Corey Congilio says these extended arpeggios can power up your vamping

Artist Lessons
Man playing Epiphone Les Paul Studio
"There's no replacement for picking up a guitar and feeling those strings": How to get your fingers fretboard ready by building your calluses the right way

By Daryl Robertson Published

How to get your fingers fretboard ready by building your calluses the right way

Techniques
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