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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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 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...

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...

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,...

Marc Okubo (Veil Of Maya) & Misha Mansoor (Periphery) Interview

We at Guitar Messenger already had plans to interview Veil Of Maya’s Marc Okubo, but once we saw the announcement of their tour with Periphery,...

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...

Jason Becker Interview

Jason Becker was born on July 22, 1969 and started playing the guitar at the age of 5. By the time Jason was only 16...

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...

Francesco Artusato Interview (Devil You Know): Part 2

In PART ONE of our interview, guitar maestro Francesco Artusato revealed details about the formation of his new band, Devil You Know, and gave us a glimpse into...

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...

Oz Noy Interview

The first time I heard about Oz Noy was when I saw an advertisement for his first record in a guitar magazine.  The ad had...

Ryan Knight Interview – The Black Dahlia Murder: Part 2

In PART ONE of our interview, The Black Dahlia Murder’s Ryan Knight revealed details about the band’s latest album Everblack, his journey as a developing guitarist, and...

Lessons

Artist Lick: Carl Verheyen

Renowned session pro, solo artist, and Supertramp guitarist Carl Verheyen presents his Guitar Messenger Artist Lick. This C minor lick is a great example of...

Using a Metronome Effectively Part 3: Clocking Your Speed

So now that you’re set up with a quality metronome (Part 1) and understand the basics of how rhythmic time is divided, (Part 2) lets...

Artist Lick: Joel Stroetzel of Killswitch Engage

Joel Stroetzel of Killswitch Engage presents his screaming, guitar tech-thrilling Guitar Messenger Artist Lick. Joel is tuned to Drop-C [C G C F A D]...

Altered Dimensions: The Altered Dominant Chord

The Altered Scale. Sound scary? Well it is. It’s a 20 story tall, fire-breathing beast with enough tension in it to break the entire universe...

Guitar Tone: Body Woods

Today we’ll discuss the piece of your guitar which many believe has the biggest influence on your sound – one which is a huge deciding...

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...

The Faceless: Wes Hauch Masterclass

[Wes’ guitar is tuned down a whole step for all examples in this Masterclass: D G C F A D]  E Minor Lick In this...

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...

Devin Townsend – Gear

Guitars & Rig Guitars make or break songs. I firmly advocate that while certain guitars have a ton of songs in them, certain guitars have...

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...

Guide Tones: The Bare Essentials

Very often, "less is more" is a good policy to adopt when playing jazz. Overplaying usually gets both players and listeners pissed off because you're...

Opeth: Fredrik Åkesson Masterclass

[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...

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

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