What do pro guitarists struggle with?
Plus, how to practice the CAGED system
This week’s issue of Six String Sunday has all the good stuff - Tom Quayle asked guitarists at NAMM what they struggle with when trying to visualize the fretboard, Eric Haugen teaches us how to practice CAGED, Chris Brooks has an awesome deal on his new YouTube series, and Jack Ruch shows us how to play great blues turnarounds.
A handful of you have been reaching out lately about the newsletter, and how you enjoy it showing up in your inbox every Sunday. It’s one of my favorite things to do each week, and I’ve been doing it for a lot of years at this point. Thanks for reading each week! If you think it’s awesome, forward the email to your friends, and ask them to subscribe. Alright, let’s get into this week’s links.
All of the best guitar links this week!
- 10 of the World's best guitar players - What do they struggle with whilst visualizing the fretboard? - 2 weeks ago I talked all about how the practice app Solo just released a huge 2.0 version, and a great companion course to go along with it. This week, one of the co-creators of the app, Tom Quayle, talked to guitarists on the floor of NAMM 2024. His question was around what these pro guitarists (everyone from Jack Gardiner to Matteo Mancuso) struggled with while visualizing the fretboard. Check out the video, and you might get some good ideas on what to work on.
- Blues Turnarounds in 3 Levels - Even if you play rock, jazz, country or another genre, it's likely that your playing has been inspired in some way by the blues. One of the cornerstones of playing good progressions in blues, is to be able to pull of a great turnaround. Jack Ruch shows us 3 fun turnarounds, going from beginner to advanced. Grab these, and change them up for your own playing style.
- How To Practice CAGED - Eric Haugen is one of my favorite guitar teachers on TrueFire. He's put out a ton of courses on CAGED. If you want to get into this system where you have 5 main shapes for navigating the fretboard - including chords, scales, triads, arpeggios and more, then check out his latest video. He shows us exactly what to practice, so you can get the most out of the CAGED system.
- Chris Brooks' Guitar Alchemy - I've been loving Chris Brooks’ new 'Guitar Alchemy' series on YouTube. The videos all have exciting and fun licks to learn, and to back all of that up, Chris is offering a crazy deal on his Gumroad page. For just 3 bucks, you can get the PDF, Guitar Pro, and backing track files for all the videos in this series. If you want to work on your picking, position shifting, speed and more, you owe it to yourself to check this series out.
- Alternate vs Economy Picking: Which is Better? - Do you like alternate picking or economy picking? Both have their pros and cons. Lucky for us, Ben Eller put together licks to practice either one, so you can see what you like better. After trying both for many years, I can say that I like to switch it up between both styles, depending on the part.
- Target Tones [Part Two] - One of the best ways you can sound like a pro when playing lead, is to focus on target tones - the tones that make up the chords of the progression you're playing. David Brewster put out a super easy to understand video on the topic this week. I liked it so much, I picked up a copy of his Target Tones book on Amazon.
- Josh Smith on How to Improve Your Leads by Practicing Your Rhythm Playing - Josh Smith did another fantastic video for Sweetwater, where he talks about how your rhythm playing can inform your lead playing. The best part is that you can do this all on your own, by getting your internal clock strong, you can fill in the gaps with a little lead playing, as long as you land back on the beat. Check out the video for more.
- Bonamassa in the studio with Andy Timmons - Speaking of Josh Smith, he's currently producing what's expected to be a killer guitar album with Andy Timmons. In one of Smith's latest clips, he shows Joe Bonamassa laying down a guest solo. This sounds like it's going to be awesome! Can't wait for it to be released.
- "It’s always going to be random — it’s never going to sound the same. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not so great": Jazz guitarist Oz Noy on the spontaneity and experimentation of looping and "dancing on the pedals" - I've been listening to Oz Noy's new live album ‘Triple Play’ a ton lately. If you want some amazing blues/jazz, filled with fun effects, you should give it a spin. Oz recently sat down with Guitar Player to talk about his love of effects and what they bring to his sound, and the joys/pitfalls of improvising on the guitar.
- The 15 Most Expensive Guitars Sold At Auction - Over the past week or so, Mark Knopfler selling off his guitar collection was huge news. But what are the most expensive guitars that have ever been sold at auction? Guitar.com breaks down the top 15 - including axes from Clapton, Gilmour, Van Halen, and more.