Technique lessons
Each of my YouTube lessons, written up so you can read it, skim it or come back to it while you practise. Every post has the video and links to the free tools that go with it.
October 2026
4:28Grace Notes: The Small Trick That Makes Simple Licks Sound Professional
Add a quick hammer-on or pull-off grace note before each note of a basic melody and it instantly sounds more polished. How to do it, how to practise it and when to hold back.
17:00Barre Chords Made Easier: The Tips That Actually Help (and One I'm Not Sure About)
Struggling with barre chords? Where the pressure really goes, thumb and wrist position, using your elbow, finger order, detuning, setup and songs to practise with.
5:33Pick Less: How Compound Techniques Make Your Solos Sound Less Boring
If your improvising feels stale, try picking less. Here's how to string hammer-ons, bends, slides and pull-offs together into licks that need just one pick.
8:4213 Ways to Make Your String Bends More Interesting
Thirteen string bending ideas, from rakes, pre-bends and unison bends to jolt bends, flat semitone bends and bend plus tapping, with the frets to try them on.
27:00How to Pick Faster on Guitar Without Losing Accuracy
Practical ways to pick faster and cleaner: visualisation, metronome settings, perfect vs push-the-pace practice, string changes from the arm, and quick self-checks.
8:31How to Add Attitude to Blues and Rock Solos With String Muting
How to mute every string except the one you're playing with both hands, so you can rake through the strings for an aggressive Stevie Ray Vaughan style blues sound.
8:43Guitar Vibrato: Why You Should Push or Pull the String, Not Both
Why pushing and pulling the string for vibrato makes it harder to sound even, what really happens to the pitch, and simple tips for a strong, personal vibrato.
1:04:00What a Realistic Hour of Guitar Practice Looks Like
A real hour of practice, split into six 10-minute blocks of pentatonic and sweep picking work, with what I noticed and changed as I went. Copy the structure.
18:00Beginner vs Intermediate Guitarist: 10 Key Differences and How to Practise Them
From fretting pressure and tab reading to muting, timing and recovering from mistakes, here are the skills that separate beginners from intermediates, and how to practise each.
3:25Stronger String Bends: Practise Them Without Your Hand Touching the Neck
Weak, wobbly bends usually come from a lack of tension in the fretting hand. This odd exercise of bending with only your fingertips on the neck trains it.
6:16The Only Economy Picking Exercise You Really Need
One simple two-string pattern covers both string changes in economy picking. Here's the exercise, how to add the left hand, and three tips on pick, grip and push-through.
September 2026
7:53The Simple Reason Your Metal Rhythm Playing Feels Slow: You're Not Warmed Up
A before and after test on Metallica's Battery shows what a 10-minute warm-up of downpicking, gallops and alternate picking does for speed and endurance.
33:00100 Guitar Tips for Beginner and Intermediate Players, Sorted by Topic
Practice, mindset, fretting and strumming technique, bends and vibrato, improvising, theory, songwriting and tone: my 100 guitar tips, grouped so you can find what you need.
8:19How to Play Prince's Super Bowl Bend: Technique and Tone
The bend Prince played live at Super Bowl XLI, broken down: the two notes, how to pick it, why you bend it slightly flat, and how I got close to the tone by ear.
4:32Messy String Crossing? Move Your Arm, Not Your Wrist
Turning your wrist to change strings brings in tension, a scratchy tone and poor muting. Here's how to test for it and switch to moving from the arm instead.
5:41What the Back in Black Bridge Riff Teaches You About Riff Playing
The bridge riff from AC/DC's Back in Black makes you work on one finger per fret, hand synchronisation and muting. Here's how to practise each part of it.
4:08How to Change From C to D Faster by Spotting the Shape They Share
C and D look like they share nothing, but two fingers keep the same shape in both. Here's how to slide that shape across, and use the same idea on C to G.
5:02Economy vs Alternate Picking: Which Should You Choose?
The pros and cons of economy and alternate picking, why the choice matters less than you think, and the one thing that does matter whichever you pick: pick angle.
4:04How to Land Your Guitar Slides on the Right Fret Every Time
If your slides keep overshooting or falling short, look at the target, lock your fingers together, move the thumb with the hand, and practise the slide itself fast.
3:20The Van Halen Style "Infinite Note" Lick in D Minor
A simple shred lick on the B and high e strings where the same note appears twice, giving a rolling, endless sound. Tab, picking and legato options, and how to move it.
5:06Explore the Extremes: A Practice Principle That Works at Every Level
Instead of aiming straight for the perfect version, push a technique to both ends. How exploring extremes helps barre chords, pick attack, vibrato and riff writing.
5:52How to Add Vibrato to a String Bend in Two Steps
First make sure you bend from the wrist, then learn bend vibrato two ways: small controlled pushes above the pitch, and deliberately wide vibrato you rein in.
8:18Five Simple Ways to Make Your Guitar Solos Sound More Professional
Five small things pro guitarists do in their solos: sliding in from outside notes, noises between licks, stacked techniques, bigger interval jumps and melodies across strings.
5:37A Cascading Legato Pattern in Fives for More Fluid Lead Playing
A Tremonti-inspired descending legato pattern built from three-note-per-string shapes, played in fives over 16th notes. Tab, the A minor shape and how to count it.
4:36Economy Picking Only Works If You Keep the Momentum Going
Economy picking saves energy only if the pick carries straight through to the next string. Here's the common mistake, a simple exercise in both directions, and an arm tip.
August 2026
4:39Pressing Too Hard With Your Fretting Hand? Try This Reset Exercise
Most guitarists press the strings harder than they need to. Here's a simple exercise to reset your fretting-hand pressure, and why it helps your speed and feel.
4:49Make Your Solos More Expressive by Pulling on the Strings
Subtly pulling on the strings as you play a scale or lick adds feel to everything you already know. Here's how to practise it, which finger to use and what to avoid.
5:24Two Exercises to Put All Your Chord Fingers Down at Once
If you place chord fingers one at a time, your changes will stay slow. Two simple exercises, reversing the finger order and lifting the shape, to fix it.
4:36Why Your Metal Gallops Sound Tense, and How to Fix Them
If your gallops sound tense and smeared, your picking motion is probably too small. Here's the wider-motion practice fix, how long to practise and two extra tips.
8:01How to Sound Fast When You Improvise: Build Speed in Two or Three Ideas
Most fast players only have a few ideas they can play at speed. Here's how to choose two or three of your own, mix them with normal phrasing and build overall speed.
5:25Hand Synchronisation Might Not Be Why You Can't Play Faster
Before you blame hand synchronisation for messy fast playing, test your left and right hands on their own. Here's a simple metronome test to find the real problem.
6:34Little Finger Exercises to Build Pinky Strength and Control on Guitar
Two simple exercises to make your little finger stronger and more usable on guitar, a hammer-on workout and a silent hovering drill, plus the one finger per fret rule.
6:43Use Picking Dynamics to Make Your Improvisation Less Boring
If your improv sounds flat, dynamics might be what's missing. How to practise varying your picking attack on the pentatonic scale, then bring it into your licks.
4:38Aim for Snap, Not Flow - A Simple Exercise for Speed and Synchronisation
Fast players look smooth, but slowed down they're making quick, precise movements. Here's a simple scale exercise to train that snap in both hands, slowly then to a metronome.
7:33How I Got Into Music School After a Few Months of Focused Guitar Practice
How I got my playing up to music school standard in a few months: stop chasing perfect technique, simplify to a few exercises and build strength and coordination.
16:00"Guitar Q&A: Chord Changes, Scale Shapes, Muting, Harmonies and Sounding Bluesy"
Answers to ten common guitar questions: faster C to D changes, connecting scale shapes, string skipping, muting, rakes, riffs, ear training, harmonies, blues and 6/8.
April 2026
7:34Nothing matches that yet. Try another word, or ask me and it might be the next lesson.
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