Category: Guitar Techniques

  • Hammer-On

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    A hammer-on is a playing technique that is performed by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down onto the fingerboard, causing a note to sound. This technique is the opposite of the pull-off. Passages in which a large proportion of the notes are performed as hammer-ons and pull-offs are known as legato phrases. A rapid series…

  • Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love by Van Halen Guitar Solo

    Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 The video below has the backing track. Remember the solo starts at about 1:30: Here’s the full tab: Aint-Talkin-Bout-Love

  • Unison Bend And Release

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  • Gradual Bend

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    Here’s how to play a slow bend and how it looks in tablature.

  • Rock And Roll Bends No. 2

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    Here’s a variation of Rock And Roll Bends No. 1.

  • Rock And Roll Bends No. 1

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    This lick (or a variation of) could very well be the most widely used rock guitar lick of all time.

  • Palm Mute

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    The palm mute (known as pizzicato in Classical guitar terminology) is performed with the picking hand. While picking, the side of the palm is lightly pressed against the strings to mute the notes. You’ll see it labeled in tablature with “P.M.”. You can vary the sound of a palm mute by adjusting the applied pressure.…

  • Bending Strings To Different Pitches

    A string can be bent to deliver many types of pitches. The more you bend the higher the pitch. A 1/4 step bend is bending the note’s pitch up half a fret. A 1/2 step bend is bending the note’s pitch up one fret. A 3/4 step bend is bending the note’s pitch up one and…

  • Alternate Picking

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    Here’s the music and tab from the video: Alternate-Picking What Is Alternate Picking? Alternate picking is a guitar-playing technique, used only by pick users, that employs strictly alternating downward and upward picking strokes in a continuous run, and is the most common method of plectrum playing. If this technique is performed on a single note…

  • Pre-Bend Hold and Release

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    In this lesson, we’ll pre-bend a note, hold, and then release it. This is a good example of one of the benefits of using pre-bends. You’ll also get a good visual of what it looks like in tablature notation.