Featured Lesson

Welcome to Guitar Messenger! My name is Paul Wardingham, and I’m going to be showing you how to play some futuristic-themed shred ideas using excerpts from my new album Assimilate Regenerate, as well as a solo written and recorded exclusively for this lesson. Whenever a student asks me how to... Read More →

Most Recent Lessons

Welcome to my lesson at Guitar Messenger! Today, I’m going to talk about my approaches to songwriting and arrangements. I’ve taken a few examples from the Disperse album called Living Mirrors and would like to discuss how the instruments in those examples work together. At the end, I’ve... Read More →

• 12/23/2011 - Stepping Out: A Guide To Playing Outside (Part 1)
• 10/11/2011 - Metal Foundations Lesson 3: Intermediate Riff Concepts
• 09/28/2011 - Arbitrary Chromatics: The Bonehead Easy Way To Get A Jazzy Sound
• 06/21/2011 - Auditioning For Lady Gaga
• 06/08/2011 - Rehearsal Tips From The Stars
• 05/24/2011 - Tapping In Harmony
• 05/16/2011 - Future Metal Shred
• 05/07/2011 - Extended Range Composition
• 04/29/2011 - Creative Tapping Sequences
• 04/22/2011 - Sweeping Harmony
• 04/03/2011 - Metal Foundations Lesson 2: Riff Concepts
• 03/29/2011 - Fusion Licks That Rock
• 03/07/2011 - 20 Tips: How To Choose Your Next Record Producer
• 02/17/2011 - Putting Jazz In Metal With Ever Forthright
• 02/12/2011 - A Lesson On Tensions Part 2: Putting the Voicings Into Action
• 01/24/2011 - Metal Foundations Lesson 1: Rhythm Guitar Development
• 11/09/2010 - Buying Your First Guitar: Part 2
• 10/28/2010 - A Lesson On Tensions: Can You Paint With All the Colors of the Jazz Chord?
• 10/13/2010 - Buying Your First Guitar: Part 1
• 10/05/2010 - Basic Blues Substitutions
• 09/28/2010 - Ignition Part 1: Listening
• 09/19/2010 - 5 Tech Tools to Maximize Your Practice
• 09/07/2010 - The Almighty ii-V: Part 2 (Minor)
• 06/30/2010 - Tour Survival 101
• 06/14/2010 - Altered Dimensions: The Altered Dominant Chord
• 04/10/2010 - Create Marketing Tools
• 03/24/2010 - Guitar Tone: Body Woods
• 03/07/2010 - Red Light District
• 02/24/2010 - Harmonic Overlapping
• 02/23/2010 - No 800 Numbers
• 02/09/2010 - The Almighty ii-V: Part 1 (Major)
• 10/20/2009 - Steve Morse Bonus: Gear Gallery
• 03/01/2009 - How To Make A Kick-Ass Video
• 02/21/2009 - Diminished Possibilities: Part 2
• 12/02/2008 - Social Networking vs. Business Networking
• 09/25/2008 - Scott Henderson’s “Stella by Infra-Red High Particle Neutron Beam” Solo
• 09/18/2008 - Using a Metronome Effectively Part 4: Being One With the Tick
• 08/26/2008 - Team Players
• 05/30/2008 - Opeth: Bonus – Mikael Åkerfeldt’s Gear
• 05/22/2008 - 2-1-2 Arpeggio Permutations

Artist Masterclasses

[Fredrik's Paul Reed Smith Signature Model guitar is in Standard Tuning: E A D G B E]  String-Skipping / Tapping Lick This lick utilizes both string-skipping and tapping techniques. Fredrik creates some interesting harmonic movement by outlining an Emin7 arpeggio, followed by a combination of Eaug(maj7) and Emaj7 arpeggios. He warns that “the tricky part is to mute the strings… it’s all about muting with this hand and that hand whenever you need to.” Pay special attention to ensure that all notes are cleanly separated and are not bleeding into one another when crossing strings. “When I tap, I tap with… (Continue)

• 08/22/2012 - Devin Townsend – Gear
• 08/10/2012 - The Faceless: Michael Keene Masterclass
• 07/31/2012 - The Faceless: Wes Hauch Masterclass
• 02/11/2012 - Devin Townsend Masterclass
• 11/16/2011 - Tony MacAlpine Masterclass
• 04/02/2011 - Scale The Summit: Chris Letchford & Travis LeVrier Masterclass
• 02/19/2011 - Veil Of Maya: Marc Okubo Masterclass (Part 2)
• - Veil Of Maya: Marc Okubo Masterclass (Part 1)
• 01/19/2011 - Pierre Bensusan Masterclass
• 11/20/2010 - Scar Symmetry: Per Nilsson Masterclass (Part 2)
• - Scar Symmetry: Per Nilsson Masterclass (Part 1)
• 11/15/2010 - Haunted Shores: Mark Holcomb Masterclass (Part 2)
• - Haunted Shores: Mark Holcomb Masterclass (Part 1)
• 07/31/2010 - Animals As Leaders: Tosin Abasi Masterclass (Part 2)
• - Animals As Leaders: Tosin Abasi Masterclass (Part 1)
• 07/16/2010 - Jamming With Eric Krasno
• 04/24/2010 - Periphery: Misha Mansoor Masterclass (Part 2)
• - Periphery: Misha Mansoor Masterclass (Part 1)
• 10/21/2009 - Steve Morse Masterclass
• 10/20/2009 - Steve Morse Bonus: Gear Gallery
• 01/17/2009 - Dave Martone Masterclass
• 05/31/2008 - Opeth: Mikael Åkerfeldt Masterclass
• 05/30/2008 - Opeth: Bonus – Mikael Åkerfeldt’s Gear
• 01/21/2008 - Killswitch Engage: Learn to Play ‘This Fire Burns’
• 01/20/2008 - Killswitch Engage: Learn to Play ‘Holy Diver’
• 01/19/2008 - Killswitch Engage: Metal Moo Cows, Foghorns, and Elephants
• 12/21/2007 - Job For A Cowboy: Riffing Style

Artist Licks

[Jake's Ibanez Prestige 6-string guitar is tuned to Drop-C. Low to high: C G C F A D.]    Luck As A Constant – 2nd Solo (4:50 – 5:20) With this solo I wanted to do something that was slightly shreddy, a little bit jazzy, a little bit flamboyant. It goes back and forth between two licks at a time. Bars 1-2 I’m switching from a selective picking technique straight into full alternate picking when I get to the higher strings. It has this almost ‘rolling’ effect in the beginning – you roll your way to the top and then… (Continue)

• 07/31/2012 - Artist Riff: Mark Holcomb of Periphery Plays ‘Make Total Destroy’
• 11/07/2011 - Artist Lick: Chris Letchford of Scale The Summit
• - Artist Lick: Travis LeVrier of Scale The Summit
• 11/12/2010 - Artist Riff: Alex Bois of Periphery Plays ‘Frak The Gods’
• 07/31/2010 - Artist Lick: Tosin Abasi of Animals As Leaders
• 10/21/2009 - Artist Lick: Steve Morse
• 01/21/2009 - Artist Lick: Carl Verheyen
• 02/21/2008 - Artist Lick: Joel Stroetzel of Killswitch Engage
• 01/21/2008 - Artist Lick: Adam D of Killswitch Engage
• 12/21/2007 - Artist Lick: Bobby Thompson of Job For A Cowboy
• 11/21/2007 - Artist Lick: Joe Stump