Hello friends,
Today I'm breaking down the fingerstyle intro to Passenger's 2012 hit "Let Her Go." This tune features some beautiful fingerstyle techniques that are similar to what we have learned in our Simon and Garfunkle tutorials. For ease of learning I have broken this intro up into 4 section...
2017-09-28 15:38:16 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
And welcome to another lick of the week tutorial! In today's lesson I'll be teaching you a professional open string blues lick in the key of E. We'll begin with a review of the blues scale in the open position before breaking this lick into two sections for easier learning. Let's ge...
2017-09-26 20:02:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
And welcome to another lick of the week tutorial. In today's lesson I'll be breaking down a beautiful gypsy jazz style lick taken from the Midnight in Paris theme song "Bistro Fada" by Stephane Wrembel. In the interest of expanding your repertoire of licks, and your understanding of...
2017-09-20 22:24:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Many of you have requested that I add some more current or contemporary music to this page. While I do tend to favor the classics, I have found a number of newer songs that I'm anxious to break down for you.
In preparation for my upcoming lesson on Passenger's 2012 hit "...
2017-09-19 16:33:51 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
And welcome to another by request song tutorial! In today's session I'll be breaking down the rhythm and lead guitar parts for Tom Petty's 1989 classic "I Won't Back Down." This tune was one of Petty's first singles as a solo artist, however it still featured some amazing sli...
2017-09-15 18:04:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
And welcome to another lick of the week tutorial. In today's lesson I'll be breaking down a jazz-blues guitar lick that is designed to build tension for your listeners. By focusing on the flat 3rd and 5th notes over a major key, we will be playing "outside" of the usual major and pe...
2017-09-13 17:50:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
In preparation for my upcoming lick of the week lessons, I'm bringing you a grooving backing track in the key of E major. This blues shuffling jam track makes use of the 12 bar blues progression and features a live performance on bass and guitar. Let's get started!
Ass...
2017-09-12 16:04:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
It's great be back in my studio here in Philadelphia, as I'm eager to share with you my new lesson plans over the coming days. Kicking off our weekend practice is a follow up to my previous video breaking down a blues-rock turnaround in the key of E. In this tutorial I'll be showing...
2017-09-09 17:04:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends, and welcome to another lead guitar tutorial. Today I'm coming to you from Warsaw, Poland, and I'll be showing you how to perform a useful blues-rock turnaround in the key of E major. This technique is built from the E Blues scale, and is the perfect way to wrap up a 12 bar blues. Weâ€...
2017-09-06 20:01:49 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today's lesson is coming to you all the way from Wrocław, in western Poland. Over the last week my wife Natalia and I have been visiting with family, and seeing some of the countries historical...
2017-08-30 18:48:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
I'm checking in from my hotel room in Poznan, Poland. My wife Natalia and I are enjoying a lot of family time, and have been filming for our upcoming YouTube travel channel, more on that later. I'm also working on lesson plans, including a complete tutorial on The Beatles classic "T...
2017-08-28 14:51:21 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today we're digging back into the Swiftlessons archive to study one of the most interesting songs I've ever taught, Pearl Jam's "Thin Air." In this tune, songwriter and guitarist Stone Gossard combines eastern and western music to create a rich, and somewhat dissonant musical statem...
2017-08-25 13:59:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
I hope you're enjoying your practice, making progress and that you are ready to add another classic tune to your repertoire! In today's lesson, I've broken down Bill Withers 1971 classic "Ain't No Sunshine."
We'll begin by learning a beginner friendly version of the song, usin...
2017-08-21 16:59:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
I hope y'all are enjoying your summer and getting plenty practice in on your guitars. As mentioned, Natalia and I are taking a trip to visit her family in Poland, I will be packing my little Seagull guitar, and plan to shoot some micro-lessons as I go. If there are any topics you wo...
2017-08-19 20:03:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today I'm back with session 2-2 breaking down the 2nd guitar solo from Pink Floyd's 1979 classic "Comfortably Numb." This iconic solo is chalk full of soaring blues licks that are played across various positions of our Bm pentatonic scale, and a variety of rhythmic and percussive te...
2017-08-17 17:30:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to another by request song tutorial! Today I'm sharing the 2nd installment of my Pink Floyd "Comfortably Numb" lessons series, and session #1-2 of videos dedicated to David Gilmour's second guitar solo.
Remember to practice each phrase individually, fo...
2017-08-16 21:36:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
And welcome to another lead guitar tutorial. In today's session, I'll be showing you a useful example of how you can implement a "super-bend" into your pentatonic licks. Let's get started!
Section #1 - The Am Pentatonic Scale
Our lick of the week is draw...
2017-08-15 03:50:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today I'm getting back to creating resources for videos in the Swiftlessons archive. Attached you will find my new chord sheet for Phil Phillip's 1959 classic "Sea of Love" which was famously covered by Robert Plant and the Honeydrippers. I'm anxious to add new ukulele lessons to bo...
2017-08-13 02:59:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to another by request song tutorial. In today's session I'll be breaking down how to play the acoustic version of Bruce Springsteen's "Fire." I'll take you through the chord progressions, and funky riffs for the verse and bridge sections, while sharing some advice on how...
2017-08-10 04:50:23 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today has been a long day in the studio. I spent several hours tabbing out and rehearsing the 2nd solo to Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb," and plan to shoot a lesson breaking that down within the week. The remainder of my day went toward resting my hands, and creating a new chord sh...
2017-08-03 22:23:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to another by request song tutorial! In today's session I'll be breaking down my interpretation of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. I'll begin by showing you a stylish double stop intro, then I'll breakdown the chord progressions...
2017-08-01 23:15:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today I'm digging into the Swiftlessons video archive and adding resources for my ukulele lessons. Getting started I've created a chord sheet and intro tablature for my tutorial on Elvis Presley's 1956 classic "Love Me Tender." My arrangement for this tune features many of the most ...
2017-07-31 14:43:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and thank you so much for your continued support of Swiftlessons! In today's session I'm joined by my good friend, actor and musician Skip James Robinson. Together we will perform and break down how to play Johnny Cash's 1956 classic "Folsom Prison Blues." We'll cover t...
2017-07-26 22:48:46 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
And welcome to another lead guitar tutorial. In today's session, I'll be showing you the five "CAGED" positions of the A minor & major chords, and minor pentatonic scale. As covered in previous lessons, every scale can be played in five different positions, each surround one of ...
2017-07-24 19:29:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today I'm going to confront a hard truth... The majority of guitar players in the world are learning songs, scales, licks and other techniques without a crucial prerequisite; a firm knowledge of the notes on the fretboard.
I personally put off learning this for many year...
2017-07-21 18:31:30 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to another beginner friendly guitar tutorial. Today I'll be teaching you how to play my acoustic interpretation of the Temptations 1971 classic "Just My Imagination." I'll take you through the iconic intro, and show you how each of the verse and chorus sections can be pe...
2017-07-19 00:14:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
And welcome to another beginner friendly music theory tutorial. In today's lesson I'll be demonstrating how intervals, the space between two notes, are measured using the major scale. Discussing melodies, harmonies and chord changes by interval, instead of note names, allows us to d...
2017-07-17 20:53:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to Routine #8 of my solo blues guitar lessons series. In this tutorial we'll learn some of my favorite blues licks and tricks as we mix lead and rhythm parts into one performance. This routine includes a classic turnaround, Travis style picking, pentatonic licks and doub...
2017-07-13 06:48:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
Today I'm trying to pick up some momentum and get some new resources out to you. Getting started I've created a new chord sheet and tablature for my 2015 lesson on Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds." In th...
2017-07-10 16:48:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends,
and welcome to another lead guitar tutorial. In today's session I'll be showing you three leads that can be used to play over a 5.4.1 turnaround progression in the key of Dmaj. We'll begin by learning the essential scales and chord positions that were considered when creating these ...
2017-07-07 19:12:02 +0000 UTC View Post