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

Backpfeifengesicht

This set of lessons offers an in-depth look at the Animals As Leaders track BACKPFEIFENGESICHT. 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...

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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 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.

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.

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.”

Backpfeifengesicht

This set of lessons offers an in-depth look at the Animals As Leaders track BACKPFEIFENGESICHT. 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 track: 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.

Articles

John Wesley Interview (Porcupine Tree)

A multi-faceted guitarist, singer, and songwriter, John Wesley is best known for his work as touring guitarist and backing vocalist for British progressive rock luminaries...

Dave Martone Interview

Dave Martone hails from Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada), though he’s originally from outer space, where he devised his unique brand of modern progressive fusion. His...

Misha Mansoor Interview – Periphery (2015)

The past five years of Misha Mansoor’s career with progressive metal pioneers Periphery have been filled with exciting landmarks: tours with  legendary bands like Dream Theater and Deftones,...

Yngwie Malmsteen Interview

Yngwie Malmsteen is the undisputable king of neoclassical metal. Drawing from hard rock and blues influences in combination with classical music, he pioneered the genre...

NAMM 2014: Leonardo Guzman Update (GM / Per Nilsson Guitar Solo Competition Winner)

This year at NAMM we had the pleasure of running into Leonardo Guzman, the fleet-fingered Colombian guitarist whose entry in our Guitar Solo Competition earned...

John Petrucci Interview (2009)

It’s been 2 years since we last spoke to guitar virtuoso John Petrucci. Since then John has reunited with Liquid Tension Experiment to complete a...

Al Di Meola Interview

World-renowned guitar virtuoso Al Di Meola known for his eclectic mix of Latin jazz-fusion and fiery guitar lines. Over the years, he’s been named Best...

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...

Michael Keene Interview – The Faceless: Part 1

Michael Keene is the mastermind behind California’s progressive death metal band, The Faceless. They first broke onto the worldwide stage with the 2006 debut release...

Francesco Artusato Interview (Devil You Know): Part 1

Known for his explosive, harmonically-laden guitar fireworks, solo artist and All Shall Perish axe-slinger Francesco Artusato has fired off a new chapter with his supergroup,...

Paul Masvidal Interview – Cynic

A mere decade ago, Cynic was somewhat of a password between fans of extreme metal – a secret handshake that itched at a curious footnote...

Zakk Wylde Interview (2006)

Jeffery Phillip Wiedlandt was born on January 14, 1967 in Bayonne, New Jersey. Today, however, he’s best known as Zakk Wylde – leader of Black...

Lessons

Dave Martone Masterclass

Instrumental rock and fusion virtuoso Dave Martone demonstrates his unique approach to two of his favorite techniques: tapping and hybrid picking, along with selections from...

Creative Tapping Sequences

This lesson will explore tapping sequences that depart from the typical rock and metal patterns we all know and love. To drive this lesson, I...

Down in the Basement: Constructing Bass Lines on Guitar

As guitarists, our primary role in a jazz setting is to play chords, and very often we also play melody and/or solos. Because of our...

A Lesson On Tensions Part 2: Putting the Voicings Into Action

In my last lesson I bombarded you with tons of thick, gooey tension-filled voicings, and explained how they work. As we all know, with new...

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#]...

Animals As Leaders: Tosin Abasi Masterclass (Part 2)

In this second part of his masterclass for Guitar Messenger, Tosin Abasi of Animals As Leaders demonstrates the main riff and breaks down the opening...

Metal Foundations Lesson 2: Riff Concepts

Welcome back, fellow metallers! Last lesson, I introduced some basic rhythmic subdivisions and the palm muting technique. Expanding on palm muting and timing importance, this...

Killswitch Engage: Metal Moo Cows, Foghorns, and Elephants

Take a walk on the wild side with Adam D. and Joel Stroetzel of Killswitch Engage as they demonstrate how to create the wonderful noises...

Steve Morse Masterclass

Electric guitar luminary Steve Morse welcomes you with a stunning solo, runs through his warm-up routine and teaches you to play harp harmonics using Deep...

Veil Of Maya: Marc Okubo Masterclass (Part 2)

Unbreakable Riff [Marc’s guitar is tuned to Drop-B for all examples in this Masterclass: B F# B E G# C#] This riff calls for left-hand flexibility...

Opeth: Bonus – Mikael Åkerfeldt’s Gear

Take a backstage gear tour as Coty Allinson, Opeth's guitar technician, walks us through frontman and mastermind Mikael Åkerfeldt's live guitar rig....

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...

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

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