“5 Tricks To Make People Think You’re Amazing At Guitar” Intro Lesson

“5 Tricks To Make People Think You’re Amazing At Guitar” Intro Lesson

Hello again!  This week I have finally gotten around to transcribing and teaching the intro to my viral video, “5 Tricks To Make People Think You Are Amazing At Guitar,” for which I have been getting a ton of requests over the years.

Here it is.

Before you get started, detune your guitar to Eb440, meaning each string will be down one half step from standard pitch.

This little ditty starts with a volume swell and a harmonic on the large E string at fret 12. From there, I move into the E mixolydian scale playing some counterpoint lines, a technique I learned from playing Bach Partitas. Then I move into the F#madd9 arpeggio followed by an E major arpeggio then a quick move to an F# bass note ala Eric Johnson while holding the minor 3rd above on the little Estring. I do that same idea again down in C# (C#madd9 arp. followed by a Bmajor arp.), and then I move to some bluesy licks in C#m before ascending up an F# half whole diminished scale. Immediately after this, I descend down an F#m7b5 arpeggio using hybrid picking. I finished off this section with an E major arpeggio with a right hand tap at fret 19 using my middle finger.

I go into more detail on the video regarding the theory behind what I was thinking, but if you really want to understand how this stuff works, I suggest a lesson with me or someone else that is knowledgable in advanced harmony.

This piece is fun and fairly easy once you get the scales under your fingers.

Enjoy!