swiftlessons

The Beatles "And I Love Her" - Now On Soundslice!

Hello friends,

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend practice, and jumping into the new year with renewed focus on your goals as a guitarist. To get 2023 off on the right foot, I'd recommend adding a few new tunes to your repertoire. With that in mind, today I'm offering a new soundslice resource, this time featuring my tutorial on The Beatles classic "And I Love Her." 

As m...

Silky Smooth Blues Guitar Lick + CAGED Soloing Tips!

Hello friends,

Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another lick of the week. In today's session we'll learn a unique variation to our basic blues progression and how to solo over it using the CAGED system and the major mixolydian blues scale. Once you've added this ear-catching phrase to your repertoire, I invite you to jam along as I hold down the rhythm. Let's get started! -Rob

How to Use the CAGED System to Play EVERY Major Chord

Hello friends,

Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another rhythm guitar tutorial. One of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal as rhythm and lead guitarist is the CAGED system. This simple method of visualizing the fretboard allows guitarist to play every chord triad in five positions, while also revealing overlapping scales for easy lead work. In today's session we'll emp...

Dean Martin "Winter Wonderland" Guitar Tutorial - Fingerstyle Chord Melody & Vocals!

Hello friends,

Welcome back to Swiftlessons for another by request song tutorial. For today's session, I've broken down an original arrangement of the 1934 Bernard & Smith composition "Winter Wonderland," based off of Dean Martin's 1966 recording. We'll begin by learning a chord-melody approach to playing the tunes main melody, before mastering the chords & rhythm options for vers...

Patsy Cline "Crazy" Lesson Now on Soundslice!

Hello friends,

Today, I'm so excited to add another Soundslice resource to this growing library! let's head back to my 2018 tutorial featuring the wildly talented Chelsea Mitchell. Together we broke down how to play the Patsy Cline version of the Willie Nelson classic "Crazy." Click the link below to enjoy this popular lesson with scrolling tabs and a suite of powerful playback tools. Hav...

Clapton Style Blues Licks in E + How to Solo Over 1.4.5 Chords!

Hello friends, 

Welcome back to Swiftlessons for another mini lead guitar lesson. For today's session we'll borrow a lick from Eric Clapton's vocabulary, and learn how to solo over the common 5 to 4 chord change that occurs at the end of a 12 bar blues. In addition, I'll reveal how to improvise over the complete 1.4.5 progression by simply transposing a variation to the blues scale. ...

Daily Player Series | Session #8 | Essential Scales II

Hello friends,

Welcome back to Swiftlessons for session #8 of the Daily Player Series. At the core of famous progressions and solos are the scales from which their notes and harmonies derive. In today's lesson, we'll delve into the minor tonality and learn how to perform the natural minor and pentatonic scale patterns. Let's get started!

Today's Lesson Plan:

• Natural mi...
  2022-12-02 21:33:20 +0000 UTC View Post

How to Create Sweet Double Stop Harmonies - Major Scale in 3rds!

Hello friends,

For today's lesson, we'll further expand our lead guitar vocabulary and our understanding of harmony as  we learn to create lush double-stops in the key of G major. Double-stops are two note chords, also  known as "dyads," which can be used to create melodic fills, riffs, and solos. We'll begin this session by  reviewing positions of our G major scale, before...

This Country/Bluegrass lick is 🔥 | Plus Learn a Lead Guitar Pro-Secret!

Hello friends,

Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another country/bluegrass lead tutorial. Today, let's sneak in a little thanksgiving practice and learn a classic lick that is tailor fitted to the 1 to 5 chord change in C. This phrase is comprised of several techniques that are at the heart of the genre, and also serves as an excellent example of how we can use implied chord change...

1960's Folk Fingerstyle Tricks - Paul Simon Inspired Practice Routine

Hello friends,

Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another fingerpicking tutorial. In today's session we'll uncover classic folk techniques in the style of 1960's acoustic pickers like Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, and John Denver. Together we'll master ear-catching patterns and embellishments in the context of a fun and entertaining practice routine. Let's get started!

2022-11-12 19:13:20 +0000 UTC View Post

Daily Player Series | Session 7 | Essential Rhythms

Hello friends,

Today I'm excited to bring to you another tutorial for absolute beginners. In session #7 of our Daily Player Series, we'll build upon our knowledge of basic chords and note values to master three essential strumming patterns.

If ...

Songwriting Hack - The Magic of Diminished Passing Chords

Hello friends,

Welcome back to Swiftlessons for another living room teaching session. To cap off your weekend practice, let's learn to spice up your original compositions and arrangements with flavorful diminished chords. This tutorial is exclusively for my generous patrons, but feel free to share the link with friends. Let's get started!

P.S. I'm considering making these patron onl...

Jazz-up Your Blues - Classy IV to I Lick in C

Hello friends,

I hope you're all enjoying a beautiful Saturday morning and having an excellent week of practice. For today, here's a mini-lead lesson just for you, my generous patrons. In this session, I've broken down an elegant transition lick in the key of C, which provides a seamless transition between the F7 and C7 chords. Lastly, we also have a classic jazz-blues ending riff to add ...

The Power of String Skipping - Forever Improve Your Solos!

Hello friends, 

Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another mini-lead tutorial. Every once in a while, a guitarist receives a wonderful "ah-hah" moment where they happen upon something that forever changes their playing. One such technique for me is the concept of string-skipping, which allows a soloist to access less predictable notes and create more evocative melodic ideas. In...

3 Bluegrass Fiddle Licks Every GUITARIST Should Know!

Hello friends, 

Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another bluegrass tutorial featuring special guest, violinist, educator and author Joseph Arnold. One of the most effective ways of breaking out of a creative or technical rut is to explore melodic lines written for other instruments. For this reason, we have broken down three classic bluegrass fiddle licks adapted for the acou...

Nat King Cole "Smile" Guitar Lesson - This Tune is Beautiful!

Hello friends,

Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another song tutorial. For today's session I have broken down the timeless classic "Smile," as heard in Nat King Cole's 1954 recording. In this arrangement for solo performance with vocals, we will employ moveable chord shapes for easy transposition. Let's get started!

Links:

• 2022-10-08 12:53:09 +0000 UTC View Post

This is the Secret to Great Soloing - CAGED Chord Transition Licks!

Hello friends,

Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another blues/rock soloing tutorial. There comes a time in every soloist development when they find themselves aimlessly running through pentatonics with no real direction. Sure, these notes may be in the right key, but to truly compliment progression you will need to dig deeper. So, in today's session we'll be learning how to follow...

This Classic Blues Turnaround Works in Every Key!

Hello friends,

Welcome back to Swiftlessons for another mini blues tutorial. In today's session I've plugged into a beautiful Classic Vibe Squier Stratocaster to break down a stylish and transposable blues turnaround. We'll begin this lesson by examining the core elements - overlapping chord shapes a...

Minor Pentatonic Rut Buster + Stratocaster Giveaway!

Hello friends, 

Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another lead guitar hack! Time and time again I have heard from frustrated students who are struggling to move beyond the basic minor pentatonic box. So, in today's lesson I'll show you how targeting the major 3rds of each chord can add brightness and direction to your solos, and break you out of the dreaded pentatonic rut! Let...

All the Guitar Chords in the Key of Am - You Need to Know This!

Hello friends,

Welcome back to Swift Guitar Lessons for another essential rhythm guitar tutorial. In today's session we'll be learning the 7 must know chord shapes in the key of A minor. I'll begin by showing you how to play these harmonies in the open position (first three frets), before breaking down transposable barre chord options. Let's get started!

Note: Updated PDF will be ad...

Elvis Presley "Crying in the Chapel" Guitar Tutorial + Tabs!

Hello friends,

Today I'm so excited to return to making song tutorials! For today's session, I've broken down another classic Elvis tune titled "Crying in the Chapel." We'll use this opportunity to strengthen our barre chord technique, while focusing on the elements of drama and dynamics with our vocal and guitar work. Let's get started! -Rob

Note: Chord sheet, printable tab...