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

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

Articles

Misha Mansoor Interview (Periphery)

Always striving to expand the outer limits of their sound, Periphery is a band that’s living up to their name – and storming onto the...

Mårten Hagström Interview (Meshuggah)

Meshuggah is a band that truly stands in a musical category of its own. Over the past two decades, the Swedish experimental metal group has...

Bobby Thompson & Ravi Bhadriraju Interview (Job For A Cowboy)

Hailing from the depths of Glendale, Arizona, Job For A Cowboy have been stirring up a storm within the metal community ever since the release...

Paul Masvidal Interview – Cynic (2014): Part 4

  Having covered the ins and outs of his musical past, present, and future in parts I-III of our interview series, Paul Masvidal now opens...

Ron Thal (Bumblefoot) Interview

Wikipedia defines Bumblefoot as “ulcerative pododermatitis – a bacterial infection and inflammatory reaction on the foot of birds of prey and rodents.” However, it’s safe...

Joe Satriani Interview

Legendary guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani is one of the most widely respected musicians in the business and an inspiration to many other guitarists. In addition...

George Bellas Interview 1

George Bellas is a guitar virtuoso and  one of the leaders of the neoclassical scene, with three solo albums released and a truly unique musical...

Martin Henriksson & Niklas Sundin Interview (Dark Tranquillity)

Few bands are as committed to crafting quality melodic death metal as Gothenburg, Sweden’s Dark Tranquillity. Since their formation in 1989, the band’s music has...

Silenoz & Galder Interview (Dimmu Borgir)

Dimmu Borgir’s international success in a genre that celebrates dissonance and gritty production is nothing short of remarkable. Since their formation in 1993, Norway’s Dimmu...

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...

Joe Bonamassa Interview

Joe Bonamassa is one of the leading lights in today’s modern blues scene. His latest release, Sloe Gin, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues...

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...

Lessons

Team Players

If you’re a member of a band, set ground rules early in your relationship to prevent legal and financial problems down the road. Being a...

Jakub Żytecki – Living Mirrors: A Lesson In Songwriting & Arrangements

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...

Scar Symmetry: Per Nilsson Masterclass (Part 2)

The nimble Per Nilsson of progressive metal band Scar Symmetry demonstrates parts of 'Holographic Universe' and 'Prism And Gate,' and explains his approach to tapping...

Devin Townsend Masterclass

I think that the instrument that you first become proficient with ultimately defines the way in which you write music. I do play an equal...

Tour Survival 101

I remember it perfectly. It was 19 weeks ago that I arrived in Manhattan, guitar in hand, frantically looking for Chelsea Studios. Chelsea is one...

Periphery: Misha Mansoor Masterclass (Part 2)

Periphery's Misha Mansoor teaches you the djenty ending of 'Insomnia,' a slew of riffs from 'Racecar' and some 'Zyglrox' madness in AGCFAD!...

Tony MacAlpine Masterclass

[Tony's 7-string Ibanez guitar is tuned to Standard Tuning for all examples in this Masterclass: B E A D G B E]. Tony likes to...

The Faceless: Michael Keene Masterclass

[Michael’s guitar is tuned down to Drop-C for all examples in this Masterclass: C G C F A D]  The Ancient Covenant (0:01 – 0:07) Michael’s...

Stepping Out: A Guide To Playing Outside (Part 2)

In part 1 of the Stepping Out: A Guide To Playing Outside series, we looked at the use of side stepping (moving a motif, scale,...

The Haunted: Ola Englund Lesson – Eye Of The Storm (Solo)

 [Ola’s signature Washburn Solar guitar is tuned down one step to D Standard: D G C F A D.] Eye Of The Storm Solo Ola Englund shows...

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#...

Feared: Ola Englund Lesson – Mass Destruction (Solo)

 [Ola’s signature Washburn Solar guitar is tuned down one step to D Standard: D G C F A D.] Mass Destruction Solo Ola kicks off the solo to...

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

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