The guitar fretboard can seem mysterious.

People talk about the CAGED system. Chord shapes. Scale patterns. Modes.

It’s so confusing! AAUGH!

Try this.

Just focus on locating the letter names.

The...

One of my young students recently said, “Rules are stupid.”

She was talking about rules of technique, like curving your fingers.

I had a conversation with her to explore this topic a bit.

I told he...

This week one of my guitar students was having a challenging time playing the F-C-G-Am chord progression.

The challenge was not the F chord as you might expect. He was playing a four-string version o...

I think you should play less.

I don't mean you should spend less time playing guitar. You'll never hear me say that!

What I mean is you should play less music at a time.

I have said this to more th...

One of the most common frustrations I hear from guitarists is this:

“Some days I play well… and other days it feels like I'm starting over.”

If you’ve ever felt that inconsistency, here’s something ...

The other day I was playing something on the guitar and it just didn't feel comfortable.

So I played it again and again until it felt comfortable.

I realized afterward that my approach might not hav...

Years ago, I went to a classical guitar technique workshop by Solo Duo, which consists of two amazing Italian guitarists, Lorenzo Micheli and Matteo Mela.

As they began their technique workshop, I wa...

I have a student who is making great progress.

While he makes more progress some lessons than others (he is human), he always seems to play better each week than the week before.

I've been reflectin...

Your biggest problem in learning guitar is talent.

It’s not that you don’t have enough talent.
It’s not that others have too much talent.
It’s a different kind of problem.

I know because I used to h...

Have you ever listened to a great guitarist and wondered why their playing sounds so musical—even when they’re playing something simple?

The secret is dynamics.

Dynamics bring your playing to life. ...

There are different opinions on this.

Some say guitar playing is hard and you just need to grit your teeth and suffer through the difficulty to eventually play songs you wanna play. You should eat br...

Fingerpicking and arpeggio-style playing can make even simple chords sound beautiful. The problem is that many beginners struggle to keep these patterns flowing without pauses or stumbles.

The good n...