The ubiquitous pentatonic scale. Five notes that have forever shaped the way guitarists play rock, metal, blues, jazz, country, and polka (well, maybe not polka). Everybody knows the minor pentatonic scale, and everyone uses it. The question is, are you using it to its fullest potential? Are you only playing it over minor blues or rock jams, or can you play it in all situations?

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Chris Buono - Host of 50 Rock Licks You Must Know

Produced by Guitar Lab and distributed by eMedia, the 50 Guitar Licks You Must Know DVD series brings together a collection of well-known guitar teachers with diverse playing backgrounds, offering the viewer the chance to learn from the pros.

Complete with backing tracks, tab, and notation, the 50 licks series is a great way for beginning guitarists to quickly get some chops under their belts and integrate them into their playing.

Here’s a quick review of each of the five DVD’s in the series:

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I am in the process of compiling a list of as many guitar slang words as I can. Seems like there are a lot out there, but when it comes time to write them all down I’m drawing a blank. Perhaps you can all help me in coming up with a definitive list?

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We’ve all been there: the endless quest for the perfect instrument. You know, the one that will make you a better player, that feels so comfortable in your hands that you never want to put it down.  Like everyone else, I’ve been seduced by glossy magazine covers of the latest “must have” instruments. Over many years, I’ve owned a wide variety of guitars, about 20 in all, ranging from archtops to solid bodies to semi-hollows to steel string & nylon string acoustics. Looking back, it’s amazing that I stayed with the guitar at all, because my very first guitar came from a mail order catalog back in 1964, and while this no-name f-hole steel string was aesthetically beautiful, the strings were so high off the fretboard, I had some serious callouses after a week. What did I know? Back then there weren’t the abundance of magazines detailing how to maintain your guitar, or websites devoted to doing a proper set-up. In short, I didn’t have a clue! I still recall my first guitar teacher telling me to have the action lowered, without bothering to tell me exactly what the “action” was.

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Hear The Difference.

Never have truer words been spoken when it comes to amplifiers. Almost as long-standing as the Fender vs. Gibson debate, the endless pursuit for that perfect amp has plagued guitar players for 50 years. So when the guys at Sommatone Amplification decided to use that phrase as the tag line for their company, the proverbial gauntlet was thrown down, almost as if to say, “I dare you to try out one of our amps and not want one.”

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Where's my guitar when I need it most?

So there you are, stuck at work, or perhaps on a blind date that is just going horribly wrong. Dinner with the in-laws, waiting in line at the DMV, stuck on the can after a particularly grueling (and losing) battle with the hot wings you had for dinner… there are lots of things that can keep you away from your guitar. Though we often have obligations and real life that gets in the way of doing the things we really want to do, there is no reason why these moments have to be a death sentence to our creativity.

Here are five ways that you can practice guitar while you don’t have one readily available to get your hands on.
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Glenn Tipton - Judas Priest. 'Nuff Said!

Ever notice how power chords, even when played with a clean tone in a blues song, just sound so right? Ever wonder why a major chord sounds so much more concrete than a minor chord? Ever have trouble hearing that F# played over a C chord, thinking it’s just a touch “off?”

The answer is much more than just the style of music you like or who is playing the chord. The answer has to do with the naturally-occurring series of harmonic frequencies that are generated when any single note is played. The answer lies in the multiples of a fundamental tone and their vibrations, spread out over several octaves and with ever-diminishing clarity.

The answer, is the Overtone Series.

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Guitar picks are very much like strings. Most guitar players are die-hard loyalists that have been playing the same brand since the Dawn of Man. Personally, I’ve been using D’Addario strings exclusively for over 25 years now, and a Steve Clayton pick user for around five.

I remember back in the late 80’s the Stylus Pick came out as the answer for all of our shred guitar needs. (Didn’t really live up to the hype; sorry, guys!) Since then I haven’t really seen many new pick ideas come out. To be honest, I haven’t really seen much of a need to try and improve on the concept. Traditional guitar picks serve their purpose — and serve it well — and I’m hard-pressed to think of a reason why I would want to switch.

Then last week I got a small package in the mail from a company called Pointless Picks. As you can see from the picture, they have come up with a radical concept and design. The question, however, is whether or not there is a “point” to the Pointless Pick.

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Just added a metronome to the Online Guitar Tools page, courtesy of MetronomeOnline.com.

For many, especially the jazz players out there, having a large chord vocabulary at your disposal is an absolute must-have. Whether you’re playing solo guitar chord melodies, comping in a big band, or playing in a small ensemble, having the ability to nail the perfect chord anywhere on the fretboard is every guitar players dream.

In 1981, Ted Greene published his book “Chord Chemistry” as an answer to our comping woes. Long considered the be-all-end-all, definitive resource, it’s been a long time since a worthy product has come to market to challenge Greene’s hold on the chord universe.

Enter Frank Vignola’s “Inversion Excursion” DVD…

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