Guitar Techniques

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John Mayer of Dead & Company, and Honorees Mickey Hart and Bob Weir of Dead & Company and of the Grateful Dead perform onstage during the 2025 MusiCares Persons of the Year Honoring The Grateful Dead on January 31, 2025 in Los Angeles, California
John Mayer names his favorite solo with Dead & Company – and plays it live on air

By Matt Owen Published

Mayer was asked the question during his Life with John Mayer SiriusXM show, and he just so happened to have a Silver Sky in hand to answer it

Guitarists
Cory Wong wears shades and performs with his blue Strat live in Italy, 2025, and is lit from behind by a white stage light.
Cory Wong on how to arrange guitar and keyboards

By Cory Wong Published

The funkmeister puts Direct Flyte under the microscope to deliver a masterclass in arrangement. It's funk, sure, but there's some operatic influence in there, too, because that's just how Wong rolls

Artist Lessons
Steve Ray Vaughan wears a blue gown and a white hat as he performs with his number one Strat in 1985
How to use triads in blues solos like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix

By Richard Barrett Published

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

Techniques
Jake E. Lee photographed July 5 in Birmingham, England, with the custom Purple Burst Charvel he played at Back to the Beginning
Jake E. Lee names the guitar virtuoso who had him sweating backstage at Back to the Beginning

By Phil Weller Published

Lee insists he doesn’t usually get nervous before shows – but watching one guitar player from the wings was too much for him

Guitarists
A still from Jared James Nichols' Guitar World video lesson, where he plays an Explorer with a split headstock
Jared James Nichols shows you how to build a guitar solo to a powerful climax

By Jared James Nichols Published

Ditch the pick and crank the amp for this Jared James Nichols masterclass in blues solo composition

Artist Lessons
Thomas McRocklin with Ozzy Osbourne
In 1988, a shred prodigy opened for Ozzy Osbourne. He was eight years old

By Michael Astley-Brown Published

Thomas McRocklin would go on to become Steve Vai’s protégé. But his first major gig was opening for the Prince of Darkness

Guitarists
Steve Vai of SatchVai performs onstage during a concert at the Eventim Apollo on June 14, 2025 in London, England.
Great tone starts with the pick – just ask Steve Vai. Here’s how honing your picking can improve your tone for free

By Charlie Griffiths Published

Unlock every pick color – from warmth and brightness to the secretive clarinet tone

Techniques
Jacob Collier playing his five-string Taylor acoustic
Jacob Collier taught me how to play his 5-string guitar – but I learned so much more than just new shapes and tunings

By Matt Owen Published

A crash course in Collier's eye-opening 5-string guitar doubled as a deep-dive into his playing philosophy

Guitarists
Joe Bonamassa with a Gibson ES-350
Joe Bonamassa on the vintage Gibson that makes a great power chord guitar

By Joe Bonamassa Published

What makes the Gibson ES-350 so good for rock? Bonamassa says they are a real live wire, with “a lot of pop” and no shortage of low-end

Artist Lessons
Cory Wong plays his new gold Ernie Ball Music Man signature StingRay II and wears a striped longsleeve
Cory Wong on how to create a bigger, wider sound by layering baritone guitar parts

By Cory Wong Published

Using a Fearless Flyers classic as a case study in baritone layering, the funk-master GW columnist peels away the onion to explain how these individual parts all stack up

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Artist Lessons
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