Check out our beginner and intermediate guitar skills lessons here

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In our Guitar Skills series of lessons we'll be covering a huge range of techniques and approaches in manageable chunks to help build your playing up to new levels. Click below for all our lessons so far. 

Learn Eddie Van Halen-style tapping the easy way

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Playing fast lead lines doesn't have to be hard


Learn the three-chord trick that's behind thousands of songs

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Three chords and the most important chord progression in music


Getting started with hammer-ons for lead and chords

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An essential technique for slick solos and rhythm too


The pentatonic scale made easy with three chord shapes

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Scales don't have to be hard – and this lesson proves it!


How to improve your chord playing technique

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A beginner guitarist tutorial to learn better finger technique for four popular chords


Learn 16 of the best guitar chords for clean tones

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Make your clean sounds shimmer with these captivating chords


Start playing bluegrass with this 5-minute tutorial

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Where to start with this style of American roots music


5-minute blues guitar lesson: Learn to play two-note trills

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Guitar skills: Learn a signature technique from Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child (Slight Return)


Learn extended chords with our easy lesson

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Play the essential sounds of jazz and funk with 7, 9 and 11 shapes


Start playing folk with this 5-minute lesson

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Get to grips with the classic '60s acoustic folk of Bob Dylan, Nick Drake and Paul Simon


How to compose catchy lead guitar solos

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Guitartricks.com instructor Dave Celentano teaches you the essential ingredients for a great solo


Get creative with your guitar chord playing in 20 minutes

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Find new ideas for old chord shapes with our lesson


5-minute blues guitar lesson: Learn to play fluid bends

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Guitar skills: An Albert King-inspired lick


Start playing Texas blues

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The Lone Star State overdriven blues of SRV and Johnny Winter made accessible


Is it time to try a new guitar pick?  

Dunlop Tortex Flow picks

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Find out how the best guitar picks from the likes of Fender, Ernie Ball and D'Addario can transform your playing style and tone

How to create slick guitar solos using tapping and bending

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Supercharge your solos with these advanced ideas


Learn 5 essential fret-hand techniques with our lesson

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From chord workouts to stretches – great for all levels and styles of player


The ultimate Jimi Hendrix rhythm guitar chord lesson

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Master Jimi's 'thumb over the neck' and and finger barre chord techniques – plus his approach to funk rock


Find your next guitar amp

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The 11 best guitar amps under $/£500: our pick of the best amps for beginners and experts


Learn to play the BB King 'Zinger'

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A signature slide move from one of the greats


Learn extended minor chords

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A guide to getting more from the moodiest chords of all – they can take on a mellow character too


Learn the signature chords of Jimi Hendrix, Andy Summers, The Beatles, Rolling Stones and more

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Get the sounds of your favourite players with these trademark chords


How to start playing rockabilly in 10 minutes

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An accessible lesson to get you digging back to a golden age of rock guitar that's full of great playing techniques


Improve your metal downpicking speed 

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An essential from the Hetfield school of rhythm guitar


Learn to play sliding diad chords

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Take diad shapes and move them to add dynamics


Learn add guitar chords

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A beginner's guide to exploring the contrasting moods of major and minor add chords


How to start playing gypsy jazz

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An accessible beginner lesson to get you making the moves like Django – including your first gypsy jazz chord


Make jamming easier with this 12-bar blues chord generator

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Learn the most common chord progression in the most important keys and you’ll always know where you are in a 12-bar blues jam


5-minute blues guitar lesson: Learn to play diads – two-note chords

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From Jimi Hendrix to John Mayer, countless players have used diads to add chord-like tone to their solos


Are you up to the challenge of these Steve Vai-style riffs and licks?

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Learn the leads and rhythm styles behind Passion & Warfare


Spice up your chord playing with these inventive harmonic ideas

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Integrate natural, artificial and tapped harmonics with this Yes, Rush-style lesson


5-minute blues guitar lesson: Dissonant doublestop bends

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Get to grips with the technique used by blues greats including Eric Clapton and Gary Moore


Learn to play quick flurries of notes

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How to wow with short bursts of pace


Learn from the master with these Chuck Berry-style blues licks

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Go back to the building blocks of rock


Learn 9 alternate guitar tunings to inspire your chord playing

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Open the door to new creative possibilities with these varied tunings


10 great blues guitar chords to learn now

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Enhance your blues and beyond with these shapes


Learn four great David Gilmour signature Pink Floyd guitar chords

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Shine on you crazy Gm6


5-minute blues guitar lesson: Quarter-tone bends

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An essential blues trick to breathe new life into you notes – tab and audio included


Step up your playing with these sweep picking lessons 

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Master one of the most difficult solo techniques


22 essential chords all guitarists need to know 

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From beginner essentials to folk and blues


Guitar Skills: Get funky with these chord shapes

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Get started with the art of chord vamping 


Speed up your leads with these quickfire exercises

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You may or may not want to be a shredder but you might still want to improve your playing speed so you can play the occasional burning lick


String bends for beginners

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String bends on guitar lets you play phrases that other instruments can't


A beginner guitar lesson on the pentatonic scale

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The pentatonic scale is the guitarist's friend – let's get started with it 


Major guitar chords 

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Welcome to the world of bright-sounding major chords; simply add a handful of new notes to create lush, spacious sounds


A beginner's guide to sus guitar chords

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Introduce an airy quality to your progressions with this special ‘neither major nor minor’ type of chord


The best electric guitars for beginners: start playing today

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Looking for a great beginner electric guitar but don’t know where to start or what to spend? We’re here to help


Improve your blues guitar leads in 20 minutes

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Sort your phrasing and melodic playing with this blues tutorial


30 chords acoustic guitarists need to know

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From open chords to blues and alternate tunings – we've got you covered here


The best cheap acoustic guitars

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Your guide to the best budget acoustic and electro-acoustic guitars, with great value options from Epiphone, Alvarez, Taylor and more

Expand your repertoire with these unusual chords

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Step outside the confines of rock and pop with these exotic, weird and wonderful sounds


Improve your guitar solo improvisations

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Do your improvised solos feel like you're just rehashing the same old licks? We can help!


Strengthen your fretting fingers with these slick legato workouts

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Give your first finger a rest and treat the remaining three digits to a spot of fretboard fitness training


Improve your acoustic fingerpicking in 20 minutes

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Put your pick down and give your chord playing a new lease of life with our fingerstyle lesson


A beginner lesson on how to play percussive acoustic guitar

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We’re tuning to DADGAD and taking a look at the body-bashing percussive styles of guitarists such as Jon Gomm, Andy Mckee and Newton Faulkner


The best electric guitar strings 2020

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Explore the very best guitar strings available from Ernie Ball, D’Addario, Elixir, Rotosound and more


Stretch your fingers with these wide chord shapes

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We’re spacing chords across all six strings and leaving lots of space between each note, aiming for an open, airy sound


 Learn blues and classic-rock lead guitar basics

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Start your journey to improving your solos with some essential blues basics


Learn hard rock and heavy metal guitar essentials

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Get started with our key techniques lesson with picking and the phrygian scale 


Expand your mind with these ingenious prog chords

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Stretch fingers and tonal textures with these progressive rock chords


Improve your timing with this quick and easy lesson

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Getting into the groove is an integral part of guitar playing, and that's our focus here


Use chords and arpeggios to improve your solos

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In this lesson we're covering ideas to help you play more melodic leads, drawing on classic Americana styles


Speed up your guitar solos with the fearsome 'spider' lick

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Played at speed, the fearsome ‘spider’ lick is a challenging two-hand workout. Slow it down and you have a great finger exercise for any guitarist


Break out of pentatonic solo ruts with these handy melodic tricks

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Brighten up your solos and bust out of those pentatonic cages

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