Guitar Nine Columns: Guest Columnists

Not all exotic scales are used exclusively by extreme metal players.

Searching for interesting chords to put before a dominant chord.

The differences between regular and scalloped fretboards explained.

Write dissonant but delightful music using the Neapolitan minor scale or chord.

A method to move freely around the fretboard.

Start incorporating bends more fluidly into your playing.

An exercise that you can use to build a powerful picking hand.

Exercises that will challenge you to build a deeper connection with your guitar.

Don't neglect your hands. Tips for hand health.

Learn to make music using exotic scales.

A little technique can go a long way if you know how to apply it creatively.

Many players are questioning whether or not amps are still the necessities they once were.

All it takes is knowing the correct exercises to get your hands working properly.

Helpful advice about how to choose a room and convert it into the studio of your dreams.

Adding first inversion chords gives you 7 new sounds to work with.

Moving the Phrygian Dominant scale in a more horizontal fashion across the neck.

Appreciating how different this music sounds from typical guitar music.

How old is too old? The answer may surprise you.

Get the most you can out of the rehearsal time you have scheduled.

Here are three ways to advance and progress in the area of finger independence.

Here is a minor cadence used in hundreds of Real Book tunes.

Is it something that is necessary for your specific musical path - or not?

Tips on recording some of the greatest classical pieces for electric guitars.

Examples that will help strengthen your picking, constructed in a more musical fashion.

We're positive you should be exposed to negative harmony.

Can your hands actually be too small to play?

How to avoid getting discouraged.

Less is more, more is more - which is it?

A great way to connect the five basic major scale patterns.

Ways to change your guitar tone without touching an amp or pedals.

Improvise to Darth Vader's Theme by John Williams.

Improvise to Darth Vader's Theme by John Williams.

Great when learning modes - hear the sound of each mode over a tonal center.

Muting your guitar with tape or a hair band!

3-dimensional phrasing - as opposed to 2-dimensional (flat, lifeless) playing.

The perils of an out-of-balance guitar practice.

The perils of an out-of-balance guitar practice.

Learn all the little tricks that are easy to underestimate but make the difference.

Strengthen your upstrokes so they are as strong as your downstrokes.

Using the Pitch Axis technique to express emotion.

Create some threatening sounds with your guitar.

If you know all of your scale patterns, but are not sure how to connect them, this lesson will help you.