Theory & Fretboard 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
5:52The Two-Note Trick for Hitting a Chord Tone on Every Chord
Two notes on the D string give you a chord tone over all seven chords in A minor. Here's which one to play over each chord, how to move it to any key, and how to practise it.
8:51How to Get Out of Pentatonic Box 1: Learn Position 4 Next
Stuck in box 1 of the minor pentatonic? Learn position 4 next. It sits seven frets higher, looks a lot like box 1, and your licks move straight across to it.
24:00Learn the Guitar Fretboard: 5 Exercises for Fretboard Fluency
Five practical exercises for learning the fretboard in A minor: linking scale shapes, crossing the neck, free play, random positions, octave patterns and ear work.
17:00How to Turn Noodling Into Your Own Guitar Phrases (B Dorian Example)
How to use exploratory improvising to build licks of your own: fish for an idea, repeat and refine it, outline an E9 chord with semitone bends, then rearrange it.
19:00How to Train Your Ears on Guitar: Intervals, Chords and Singing
A step-by-step ear training framework for guitarists: learn intervals with song references, then chord types, then find, sing and play what you hear on the guitar.
September 2026
11:15Guitar Minesweeper: An Ear and Fretboard Exercise to Do Before You Learn Scales
Pick four frets, play over a backing track in an unknown key and find the notes that work by ear. A beginner exercise for fretboard knowledge and musicality.
9:14A Simpler Way to Learn the CAGED System: Three Shapes on Three Strings
Learn the CAGED system for major chords with three small shapes on the D, G and B strings, a 4-3-5 fret pattern to connect them, and how each shape links to CAGED.
5:39You Don't Need the Whole Fretboard to Be an Interesting Player
Box 1 of the A minor pentatonic, played in two octaves, covers almost every note on the neck. Here's why, and why phrasing matters more than fretboard range.
August 2026
7:10How to Use Modes in Your Songwriting With Two Simple Chord Swaps
Get a modal sound in your songs without heavy theory. Swap a chord's major or minor quality, or move it up or down a fret, plus when to use it and when not to.
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
10:28Nothing matches that yet. Try another word, or ask me and it might be the next lesson.
Want feedback on your own playing?
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