Courses

Songwriting with Plini

Songwriting with Plini is an in-depth masterclass in musical composition and modern progressive songwriting, straight from the mind of one of Australia’s most innovative and legendary musicians, Plini. Best known for his work as an instrumental guitarist and songwriter, Plini...

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Courses

PROGRESSIVE PICKING with Stephen Taranto

The quintessential guide to modern picking techniques as taught by Stephen Taranto. "The purpose is to shed some light on how I traverse the strings, while keeping things as clean and as fast as possible.”

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Courses

Scar Guitar

Scar Guitar is a detailed journey into the modern playing styles of Per Nilsson, one of the world's finest guitarists. Best known for his work with Swedish melodic death metal group Scar Symmetry and progressive metal titans Meshuggah, Per offers...

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Courses

THUMP! - Tosin Abasi's Guitar Instructional

THUMP! is an in-depth exploration of the modern playing techniques of Tosin Abasi. This course focuses primarily on his approaches to the thumping technique, and also explores several other key techniques that offer insight into his music. Included are detailed...

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Courses

The Madness of Javier Reyes

Javier Reyes of Animals as Leaders and Mestis breaks down some of his key techniques and offers close-up demonstrations of four compositions. All lessons & performances are presented in crystal clear 4k video, with multiple angles covering all the action....

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Courses

Fingerpicking Foundations

Javier Reyes of Animals As Leaders and Mestis builds on fingerpicking technique basics introduced in the Madness of Javier Reyes series. The goal of this course is to develop a strong foundation for the fingerpicking technique. The program includes 5...

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Courses

The Madness of Tosin Abasi

This set of lessons offers an in-depth look at the Animals As Leaders tracks BACKPFEIFENGESICHT and THE GLASS BRIDGE. Featuring 4k video, detailed transcriptions, and downloadable Guitar Pro files, Tosin gives insight into some of the playing and writing techniques...

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Courses

PROGRESSIVE PICKING with Stephen Taranto

The quintessential guide to modern picking techniques as taught by Stephen Taranto. "The purpose is to shed some light on how I traverse the strings, while keeping things as clean and as fast as possible.”

Scar Guitar

Scar Guitar is a detailed journey into the modern playing styles of Per Nilsson, one of the world's finest guitarists. Best known for his work with Swedish melodic death metal group Scar Symmetry and progressive metal titans Meshuggah, Per offers a close-up personal look at his unique approaches to music and the guitar. This course includes over 2 hours of lessons and performances, in-depth interviews, & bonus materials.

The Madness of Tosin Abasi

This set of lessons offers an in-depth look at the Animals As Leaders tracks BACKPFEIFENGESICHT and THE GLASS BRIDGE. Featuring 4k video, detailed transcriptions, and downloadable Guitar Pro files, Tosin gives insight into some of the playing and writing techniques that are highlighted in the tracks: Thumping, Selective Picking & Sweeping in Riffs, Hammer-On-From-Nowhere Riffing, Songwriting & Arrangement Techniques.

The Madness of Javier Reyes

Javier Reyes of Animals as Leaders and Mestis breaks down some of his key techniques and offers close-up demonstrations of four compositions. All lessons & performances are presented in crystal clear 4k video, with multiple angles covering all the action. Each example is transcribed in great detail and can be looped, slowed down, sped up, transposed - all on the same page. Each example is also available for download in Guitar Pro format.

Fingerpicking Foundations

Javier Reyes of Animals As Leaders and Mestis builds on fingerpicking technique basics introduced in the Madness of Javier Reyes series. The goal of this course is to develop a strong foundation for the fingerpicking technique. The program includes 5 etudes, offering a musical, fun path to synchronizing both hands and developing right-hand finger dexterity. A perfect course for beginner to intermediate guitarists looking to dive into the world of fingerpicking.

Songwriting with Plini

Songwriting with Plini is an in-depth masterclass in musical composition and modern progressive songwriting, straight from the mind of one of Australia’s most innovative and legendary musicians, Plini. Best known for his work as an instrumental guitarist and songwriter, Plini offers a comprehensive look into his unique methods for crafting memorable, inspiring songs.

THUMP! - Tosin Abasi's Guitar Instructional

THUMP! is an in-depth exploration of the modern playing techniques of Tosin Abasi. This course focuses primarily on his approaches to the thumping technique, and also explores several other key techniques that offer insight into his music. Included are detailed transcriptions, as well as backing tracks for select songs. The course is not limited to 8-string guitarists. All concepts can be applied to 6 and 7-string guitar.

Articles

Michael Keene Interview – The Faceless: Part 2

PART 2 (continued from PART 1…) I want to talk a little bit about your recording and production process. Your productions consistently feature some of the...

Matt Heafy Interview (Trivium)

Matt Heafy was born on January 26, 1986 in Iwakuni, Japan and is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Orlando, Florida...

Adam Dutkiewicz Interview (Killswitch Engage)

With a unique style, ferocious riffs, and great melodic sensibility, Killswitch Engage has morphed into one of today’s most successful acts in heavy music. The...

Lee McKinney & Jason Richardson Interview (Born Of Osiris)

As those of you into the metal scene are probably aware, all the rage about Born Of Osiris’s new album turned their March release into...

George Bellas Interview (2010)

George Bellas is a unique figure in the world of instrumental guitar. His fusion of technical facility and compositional prowess allows him to consistently deliver...

Paul Masvidal Interview – Cynic (2014): Part 1

When the ‘prog’ label is invoked, does it imply a ‘progressive’ take on broader musical traditions, or rather, can it refer to an individual band’s...

Evan Brewer Interview – The Faceless

Many of you know of Evan Brewer as the bassist for technical death metal band The Faceless, as well as for his collaboration with Tosin...

Paul Gilbert Interview

Paul Gilbert is best known for his work in the greatly successful band Mr. Big. However, Gilbert is also one of the leading guitar virtuosos...

Joel Stroetzel Interview (Killswitch Engage)

Joel Stroetzel is best known for being one of the axe-slingers for Massachusetts-based Metalcore pioneers Killswitch Engage. In June 2009 the band released the self-titled Killswitch...

Jarle H. Olsen Interview

Hailing from Norway, Jarle H. Olsen is one of today’s finest guitarists and composers of melodic progressive metal. His full-length debut album, Quadrasonic, showcases his...

B.B. King Interview

[Editor’s Note: Very special thanks to Phillip-Michael for contributing this unique and intimate discussion with his uncle, the King, to Guitar Messenger.] Noble, Legendary, Dignified;...

Derek Trucks Interview

Derek Trucks is a virtuoso blues artist and is also known as one of the greatest slide guitarists. In addition to leading the Derek Trucks...

Lessons

Using a Metronome Effectively Part 2: Things Start to Click

Now that you know what to look for when you purchase a metronome (Part 1), let’s get started with actually practicing with one. A lot...

Heavy Metal Ninjas: Richie Allan Lesson – Istagey & Melodyk

 [Richie’s Ibanez RG 8-string guitaris tuned to Drop-E: E B E A D G B E, his Strat-type custom guitar is in Drop-B tuning: B F# B E G#...

Metal Foundations Lesson 3: Intermediate Riff Concepts

Welcome back, metal Guitar Messengers! The last lesson introduced you to some basic riff construction concepts based off of common chord diads and the palm...

Francesco Artusato (Devil You Know) – Gear

Devil You Know’s Francesco Artusato walks us through his arsenal of Ibanez guitars that he’s currently using on the Revolver Golden Gods tour with Black...

Ola Englund Lesson – Downpicking

 [Ola’s signature Washburn Solar guitar is tuned down one step to D Standard: D G C F A D.] Ola On Downpicking A very common question I...

Putting It Together: Playing Bass Lines & Guide Tones Simultaneously

It’s great to be able to play guide tones as a stripped down approach to comping, and it’s awesome to be able to play bass...

5 Tech Tools to Maximize Your Practice

  The metronome, invented in 1812, sounded the first four even beats of a new era for music technology. Since the onset of the digital...

Fusion Licks That Rock

Hi, my name is Murilo Romano. It's a great pleasure to be here with you! Today I’ll be using the solo from my song ‘Nostradamus’...

Diminished Possibilities: Part 2

Hey guys! Welcome again to my “Technical Difficulties” column – this is number 6 already! As the title suggests, this is the second part of...

Ignition Part 1: Listening

Now, I know that since this is a recording column, naturally everyone wants to know what gear is good and what they should buy and...

Veil Of Maya: Marc Okubo Masterclass (Part 1)

We Bow In Its Aura Riff 1 [Marc’s guitar is tuned to Drop-B for all examples in this Masterclass: B F# B E G# C#]...

Jamming With Eric Krasno

Soulive's six-string soul maestro Eric Krasno demonstrates his dynamic style while improvising over two stellar grooves....

Guitar Messenger is dedicated to in-depth courses, lessons, and interviews with today’s leading guitarists.

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