Welcome to THE GUITAR PRACTICE by Guy Pople of Lytham St Annes Guitar Shop (www.lsaguitars.com).
The overall focus is to help you develop the skills and knowledge needed to become an informed, versatile and confident creative player.
Think of it like a library with a growing and evolving stock of articles for serious, curious and practising guitarists.
I recommend you access the archive via a laptop, tablet or desktop because the videos and lesson detail might require too much zooming back & forth on a phone.
The index of articles is listed below and is updated after every new one drops. They are sorted into categories. To read them go to the ARCHIVE (this is the direct link https://lsaguitarshop.substack.com/archive) and use the SEARCH function e.g. type in TECHNIQUE 85 and it will return a lesson on Harmonics.
Some of the articles are free to enjoy but to unlock access to all of the material does require a small monthly fee.
If you are just starting out and/or looking for rudiments then head back to the beginning of each category and do the first dozen lessons of each. Then you can try jumping about.
It might be useful to keep track of those reference articles which may need to be revisited regularly e.g. if you are a beginner then THEORY 1 and 2 will probably require many months of study.
TECHNIQUE: Number of lessons = 147
The Rudiments
Position Playing
Fingers & Pick Switch Trick
Finger Flexibility
Fingertip Proximity
Note Locations
Muted Picking
Pick Location
Counting Groups
Alternate Picking
Strumming 1
Strumming 2
Strumming 3 - Reggae
Fingerpicking 1
Fingerpicking 2
Fingerpicking 3
Fingerpicking 4 & 5
Fingerpicking 6
Fingerpicking 7
Fingerpicking 8 - Blues
Fingerpicking 9 - Blues 2
Fingerpicking 10 - Blues 3
Fingerpicking 11
Hybrid Picking 1
Hybrid Picking 2
Moving Shapes 1
Independence 1
Independence 2
Independence 3
Harmonics 1
Chord Bass Lines
Decorate Chords
Timing & Counting
Hammer-On Pull-off 1
Hammer-On Pull-off 2
Hammer-On Pull-off 3
Hammer-On Pull-off 4
Turns 1
Turns 2 - repetitive
Turns 3 - compound
Turns 4
Tapping 1
Metalwork 1
Metalwork 2
Metalwork 3
Metalwork 4
Metalwork 5
Sweeps 1
Fingerpicking 12 - Spanish
Fingerpicking 13 - Jazz 1
Fingerpicking 14 - Jazz 2
Hammer-On Pull-off 5
Hammer-On Pull-off 6
Moving Shapes 2
Strumming 4 - Funk
Tapping 2
Turns 5 - mixed
Independence 4
Harmonics 1
Sweeps 2
Metalwork 6 - essentials
Turns 7
Metalwork 7
Alternate & Sweep Picking with The Animals
Metalwork 8 - mutes
Metalwork 8 - downstrokes with James
Strumming 5 with Page
Strumming 6 with Page
Fingerpicking 15
Metalwork 10 - switching gears
Sweeps 3
Alternate Picking with Yorke
Strumming 7 with Gilmour
Volume Swells
Metalwork 11 - atonal
Tapping 3
…
Fingerpicking, Hammers & Independence
Metalwork 12 - power chord fingers
Fingerpicking Chords with extras
Alternate Picking
Fingerpicking 16 - the 4th
Artificial Harmonics and Taps
Group of 7, Accenting, Mutes
Harmonics 3
Mobile Picking hand
Common Fingers
Sweeps 4
Picking Adjacent Strings
Switching between Hammer/Pulls and Picking
Thumb Position for Stretching
Creating Drama
Turns 8
Alternate Picking - with Accents, Mutes, Tension & Release and Time Changes
Turns 9
Palm Muting with Group of 7s and 9s
Picking Location and Tone
Independence 5 - Focussed Pairs
Fingerpicking 17 - Blues 4
Chord Changing Tips
Fingerpicking 18 - Multiple Finger Groups
Picking - Switching Gears & Accents
Fingerpicking 19 - Reggae 1
Fingerpicking 20 - Reggae 2
Turns 10
Turns 11
Independence 6
Switching from Strumming to Picking
Switching between Fingerpicking and Strumming
Hammering, Pulling and Tapping with E Major
Turns 12 - matched Picking
Independence 7 - Chord Changes and Hammers
Fingerpicking 21 - Spanish 2
Picking strategies
Fingerpicking 22 - Blues 5 with rhythmic independence
Fingerpicking 23 - Harmonics, Open Strings & Arching
Fingerpicking 24 - Rolls & Independence
Alternate Picking - 3rd Chord Scale, Open strings, Arching & Accents
Up Close - Chord Changing
Fingerpicking 25 - Minor Blues Scale & Dorian Mode, Shuffle, Time Change, Improv
Finger Flexibility and Chord Changes
Fingerpicking 26 - thinking in three parts
Harmonics 4 - Beyond the Board
Fingerpicking 27 - 3 parts with Contra Motion
Playing in 5s with Hybrid & Fingerpicking
Integrating Alternate Picking and Sweeping
Fingerpicking 28 - Percussion
Strumming 8 - Reggae 2
Turns 13
Dampening, Muting & Shielding
Alternate Picking - Accented 7/8
Fingerpicking 30 - up close
Sweeps 5 - up close to Economy Picking
Tapping 4 - up close
Up Close - Chord Changes
Strumming 9 - up close
Pick Attack
Sweeps 6
Alternate Picking to the Metronome
Chord Changing with Hammers on the Metronome
Economy Picking, HPs, Stretch and Switching Gears
Inserting a Moving Bass Under a Chord Progression 1
Alternate Picking Rhythms - Adapting to Speed
Inserting a Moving Bass Under a Chord Progression 2
Sweep & Tap
Balancing Techniques
Switching Techniques
CHORDS: Number of lessons = 81
Open A, D, E (majors & minors)
Open C, G major
Open C, A , G, E, D dom 7
Preparing for Bar Chords
The CAGED System 1
Chord Scale 1 - D or Bm
Chord Scale 2 - D or C#m
Chord Scale 3 - F or Dm
Chord Scale 4 - Eb or Cm
Chord Scale 5 - 4ths & 11ths
Chord Scale 6 - 6ths & 13ths
Chord Scale 7 - 7ths
Chord Scale 8 - 9ths & 2nds
Chord Scale 10 - 13ths
Chord Scale 11 - Chord Substitutions
Chord Scale 12 - Major Triads
Enhancements 1 - Open Em
Enhancements 2 - Open Am
Enhancements 3 - Open C
Enhancements 4 - Open D
Building from Interval Formulae
The Dim 7
The Sus 2 and Add 2
Bars with Open Strings
Common Fingers 1
…
Polychords
Triad Mining
Inversion 1
Inversions 2
CAGED 2 - Dom 7
Enhancements 5 - open Dm
Enhancements 6 - open A
Enhancements 7 - open E
Chord Melody
Enhancements 8 - Bars 1
Maj 7 #11
Dom 7 #5 #9
Chord Scale 13 - 7ths with Voice Leading
Don’t Fear The Name
Hidden Jems
Enhancements - Bars 2
Enhancements - Bars 3
Common Fingers 2
Min 9th in action
Enhancements - Bars 4
Aug dom 7
Using Mods - Invert, Shuffle, Bar…
Building from THEORY 2
Min 7 b5 b9 add 11
Chord Melody 1
Classic Progressions 1 - Moonlight
Chord Melody 2
Chord Melody 3
Chord Melody 4
Chord Melody 5
Chord Scale 13 - 9ths
Building by Educated Guessing
Chord Scale 14a - 9ths
Chord Scale 14b - single position, common voice, changing with mute
Diminished Returns
Chord Scale 15 - single position, common voice, changing with mute
Chord Scale 16 - 7ths, Open String Variants, Fingerpicking
Chord Scale 17 - 3rds over 3rds in 3rds
Chord Scale 18 - 7ths - C#m with technique
Using Classic Charts for chord changing, building and arrangement exercise
Building from Scratch
Song Analysis - Perfect day - Key Changes
Building with Shorter
A Common Upper Voice
Re-voicing with Pink Floyd
Chord Scale 19 - 7ths with Contra Motion
Chord Scale 20 - 7ths with 3rd Inversions
CAGED 3 - the system in action
Rhyme of the Augmented
Building with Open Strings
Building with Pat Martino
Chord Scale 20 - Harmonic Minor
9th Chord Scale, Building with Common Strings, Moving Bass & Fingerstyle
Building - Mode, Intervals, Explore & Create
Build & Play with Joe Pass
ARPEGGIOS: Number of lessons = 29
‘Harp-Like’ Chords
Triad Shapes with 2, 4, 6, 7
Minors
CAGED Dm - Interlocking Shapes
CAGED Majors add 9
Single-String plus Extras
Major 6ths
CAGED Minor b6th
CAGED Minor 7ths Position-Shifting
Converting 7ths and Beyond
Major 7 # 11
Change the Fingering & Discover New Shapes
Circular Shapes
Min7 b9 with Improv
Dom 7 with Extensions
CAGED Min7 b5
Improv with Looping
Maj 13 #11 - Lydian in 3rds
Min 7 with Scales & Technique
CAGED Minors with Extensions
Distribute Notes & Transform to Chord
Inverting & Suspending
Outlining & Progressions
Diminished Triad using CAGED for Improv
Intersecting Shapes
Alt. Dom
Chord > Arpeggio > Inversion > Technique
Slide Between Positions
SCALES: Number of lessons = 31
Chromatic, Major, Major Blues, Minor, Minor Blues
The Single Stringdom
CAGED Majors - Interconnecting Shapes
Minors
Blues with Inversions
Major Scale with Modes
Improv
Three Octave Shapes with Position-Shifting
Harmonised - 3rds
Dorian #4
Ionian #4, #5
…
Minor with Contra-Motion
Mixolydian
Diminished 1 - half whole
Diminished 2 - whole half
Japanese Pentatonic
Phrygian
CAGED system
CAGED - G shape
Building - Deconstruction
Position Shifting
Major & Major Blues Duo
Diminished 3
Circular Positions 1
Single Stringdom Minors
Circular Positions 2
Circular Positions 3
Connecting Shapes - Dorian & Aeolian
Minor Pentatonic Expanded with Extras
Circular Positions 4
Holdsworth’s Imaginary Scales
THEORY: Number of lessons = 65
The Rudiments
Developing a Key
Key Signatures
Intervals
Intonation
Altered Tunings 1
Timing
Unlocking the song
Improv 1
Creativity
Consolidating Shapes
Barry Harris at the Lincoln
Juxtapositon
Loose Threads
(and 16.) Coltrane’s Giant Steps
…
Contra-Motion
Altered Tunings 2
Improv 2 - Jump Off A Chord
Improv 3 - Chromatic Notes
Shine A Light
Improv 4 - 12 notes over 1 chord
Improv 5 - Modes
Improv 6 - Refining Ideas
List of Keys & Tasks
Improv 7 - Juxtaposing Scales
Same Notes, Different Groove
Improv 8 - Relative Chromatics
Altered Tunings 3
C-flat and the Double-flat 7ths
Unusual Times
Scale names 2
Improv 9 - Pentatonics plus one
Chord Substitutions 1 - Extensions
Chord Substitutions 2 - Nested Triads
Chord Substitutions 3 - Common Voices
Chord Substitutions 4 - Pivot Chords 1
Chord Substitutions 5 - Pivot Chords 2
Interval Training for Chord building - all positions
Improv 10 - The Holdsworthian Method
Improv 11 - Outside the Box
Chord Substitutions 6
A Summary of the Basics
The Locrians
Building ‘Like-Minded’ Chords
Note Names, Frequencies & Taste
The Harmonic Series
Inversions
Chord Naming 2 - Confusion
Chord Naming 3
5/8 with a maj7 #11
Twin Guitar Harmony Basics with a Looper
Chord Naming 4a
Scale Names 3 - Modes
Chord Naming 4b
Counterpoint & Contra-motion
Analyse to Accompany
Altered Tunings 4
Altered Tunings 5
Guidance from the 1700s
Wayne’s World
Miles’ Wiles
George Russell’s Lydian
Melodic Mining
Ideas from 600AD
PRACTISING: Number of lessons = 29
Warmup
The Checklist
Make It Count
Stuck In a Rut 1
Wear and Tear
Combining Sections
Classic Tracks & Chords
Improv with Rhythm & Lead
Stuck In A Rut 2
CAGED?
Combining Fingerstyle, Sight-Reading, Chord-building and Arranging from a Chart
Alternate & Hybrid-Picking, Stretching, Moving Bass Lines, Chords and Scales
Combining Scale shapes, Arpeggio, Chord and Improv
Chord, Scale, Extension and Improv
New Chord Shapes from New Scale Shapes
Reading Intervals and Chords
The Mode, Arpeggio, Chord and Theory Quartet
The Pacemaker
Phrase Training with David Gilmour
Shapes - What’s Next?
Music Notation - What’s Next?
Theory - What’s Next?
Technique - What’s Next?
Illusions
Challenges
Identifying the Mode & Key of a Chord
Clefs & 13th Arpeggios
Using a Looper
Switching between Rhythm and Lead
NOTATION: Number of lessons = 37
The Dots
Scores 1
Multiple Locations
PIMA
Counting 1
Route Markers
Accidentals 1
Figured Bass
Scores 2
Accidentals 2
Non-English Terms
Pedal Point
Accidentals 3
Tapping Rhythms
Counting 2
Beams and 3, 6, 9/8 time
Reading Chords 1
Reading Chords 2
Staff/Fretboard Orienteering
Scores 3 and Chord Arrangement
Dynamics
Learn from Bach
Triplet Crotchets and More
DemiHemiSemis
Tapping Rhythms and Independence
What is the Key?
Tapping Rhythms
Open Strings Reference & Curiosities
Tempo
Polymeter & Polyrhythm
Bach Loops
Where & When?
Melodic Minor
Student Toolkit
To Read or to Read & Play?
Positioning & Fingerings
Bach's Melodic Tapestries
COOL PARTS: Number of lessons = 24
Page - Babe
Murray & Smith - Phantom
DiMeola - Sundance
Lennon & McCartney - I Want You
Uli -Sails
Rhodes - Diary
Prince - Doves
Buckley - Grace
Jimi - Little Wing
Gilmour - Hey You
Berry - Johnny
Slash - Sweet
Friedman - Holy
Stravinsky - Rites
Sting - Various
Bach - Toccata
Knopfler - Wild 1 (Search for A&R 17 to get part 2 of this)
Norman - 007
Anon - West Bank
Clapton - Tears
Hank - Apache
Frusciante - Road
Green - Oh Well
Angus - Thunderstruck
MUSICAL ADVENTURES 1: Number of lessons = 1
The Work of Mephistopheles
7str GUITAR: Number of lessons = 21
Technique
The Whole-Tone 1
Major Blues
The Whole-Half 1
The Whole-Half 2
Dorian & Blues
The Whole-Tone 2
Phrygian maj 3
More Diminished
Ionian #5
Extending the 6str Scales
The Whole-Half 3
Arpeggios - 2, 4, 6..
4oct Locrian maj 6
Arpeggios - Dim 7
Arpeggios - min7 b9
Arpeggios - mai 7 #11
Arpeggios - aug
Arpeggios - min (maj 7)
Arpeggios - Interlocking maj 7
Altered Tuning - 4ths
8str GUITAR: Number of lessons = 3
Scales 1 - Chromatic, Phrygian, Blues, Whole-Half Diminished, Whole-Tone in one position
Scales 2 - Whole-Half Diminished, Lydian and Whole-Tone in circular positions
Arpeggios 1 - Essential Triad Forms
BASS GUITAR: Number of lessons = 8
Fingerstyles
Arpeggio Shapes
Outlining Chords 1
Outlining Chords 2
Movable Minor Chord Shapes
The Dots
Harmonised Thirds
Triads, Partial Bars, Fingerpicking and Moving Bass Lines
GEAR: Number of lessons = 31
Guitar Maintenance
FX - Dirt
Do You Need A Setup?
Chasing Tone
Illusions
FX - Loopers
Modifications
7 Strings 1
5 String Bass
Fretless Bass
String lore
Removing Bridge Pins
Removing Bridge Pins 2
Multi-Scale Bridges & Fanned Frets
One Person’s Junk, Classic Guitars and Deceased Estates
Tying Knots
Baritone Guitar
Locking Tuners
Troubleshooting Noise
…
Refurb & Setup
Plectrum Material & Strumming Tone
Speaker Cab Tone
Strandberg Boden 6 Std into PRS Mt15 and Vox Ac10
7strings 2
Book-matched & 1pc Tops
The Stradivarius
12str Guitar
Recording at Home
The Hokusai Dragon by Makoto Sugimoto
True Temperament 1 - The Boden TT8 Futur
MISCELLANEOUS (MISC): Number of lessons = 22
Guitar Evolution
Cyberband
Preparing to Gig
Books, Websites, Podcasts, Videos
Vox 1
Vox 2
Preparing to Record
Pick Location, Harmonic Series, Timbre
Common Terms
Vox 3
The Common Denominator
Preparing To Teach
Sustenance
Rock Guitar Lineage of the Britain
Music Subscription Services
AI
Pyschacoustics
Hand Anatomy
Mousike
Reference Players
AI 2
A Glimpse Into Carl's World
MUSIC PRODUCTION: Number of lessons = 18
Conducting with Automation
Editing
Melodyne
File Management, Backups etc
Editing with Tempo Changes
Managing DAW Resources
Audio Nip & Tuck
Multipresser Automation
Conducting with Automation
Joining Audio
Removing Pops with Automation
Copying Automation
Workflow with Screensets
Manipulating Space
Shortcuts
Articulating Strings
The Click
Tidy Up
Lessons
If you are local to Lytham St Annes Guitar Shop then I can be booked for hourly face-to-face sessions from 530-630 Mon to Fri. Remote sessions are also possible using Teams or Zoom.
A Note to Struggling Beginners
The basic skills required to play the guitar to any decent standard are particularly hard because our hands and mind are not prepared for the time and persistent effort it takes to produce even the semblance of a musical sound. People often don’t expect it to be like learning a martial art or a new language. It doesn’t help that the experts make it look easy and nobody can see the thousands of hours they put in to get there.
For my part, I started out with enthusiasm but without focus or a goal. After a few years and some band & studio experience I became increasingly absorbed in the craft, so decided to try and focus my world so that I could spend more time every day. This led to becoming a teacher and music shop worker and so I have lost track of how many hours I have invested by now, and like most of you with average hands, I’ve had to patiently chip away at everything in order to make progress, with precious few eureka moments…two come to mind though - one was back in the 90s when I woke up and realised that so many of the magic ‘outside’ chords in the jazz standards I was studying actually came from the Harmonic & Melodic Minor variations. Till then I had been using these scales with a lead guitar hat on and not made the connection. The second was fairly recently and inspired the article SCALES 32: Holdsworth’s Imaginary Scales.
Technical accomplishments mostly develop gradually after hours, weeks or months of graft. Very occasionally though you will discover that the work done in one area permits access to others with relative ease e.g. I remember meeting a jazz guitarist whilst I was still in my rock phase and we agreed to meet to compare notes. Until he gave me a tour of some standards, I had just assumed that those sophisticated chords were like the long words in the dictionary and strictly the preserve of academics. Instead I discovered that the hard work I had been putting in on the Fripp, Summers, Page, Satriani, Verheyen material etc. had prepared my hands and mind for the task and gave me the confidence to start studying it.
The standard you set out to achieve will change over time and so will your preferences so my advice is to practise as much as possible and learn to savour every little accomplishment. One day you will look up and someone will compliment you even if you are in a perpetual state of frustration.
Origins of The Guitar Practice
This work was born out of my experiences teaching guitar and music in the mid 90s. One particular group of people intrigued me - those who had learned to play to a decent standard but had very little understanding about the rudiments of technique and theory, and now wanted to discover what they were missing. Some of them were just interested in learning new things, others wanted to break out of a life of playing covers and explore their creative side.
The format briefly changed from book to CD-ROM in the late 90s so that video could be included, but it was with the flourishing of the WWW in the early 2000s, with its facility to update and evolve the multimedia content that the Net became its medium.
I discovered Carl Verheyen in the GFTPM magazines of the 90s. He shared its tuition pages with luminaries like Steve Morse, Joe Satriani, Reeves Gabrels and Eric Johnson. His monthly column was about his role as a session guitarist. I found them fascinating and inspirational because here was someone who played the guitar at the master-level, was serving both his own muse and band, and those of his recording clients, and also playing live as a side-man for big bands, and had professional theory and reading chops!
In the early 2000s he kindly wrote this forward for me.
Introduction by Carl Verheyen
"Many of us picked up the guitar after being inspired by a band, an album or sometimes just a song. After a lot of listening to our favourite players and a lot of practising we found we could actually play with a certain degree of proficiency. The only problem with this self-taught approach is that eventually one hits a brick wall. Without a fundamental knowledge of harmony and chord scale theory, a player is only capable of the simplest form of improvising. Once the harmony gets a little more complex with key changes and modulations, the self-taught guitarist is stranded, unable to navigate through the 'keys of the moment.'
The songwriter, too, is at a great disadvantage without the tools needed to musically move between keys for the chorus or verses. A standard is a standard because its harmony works and stands the test of time. The great songwriters through the ages, from Lennon and McCartney to Brian Wilson, Paul Simon, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and many others have possessed a deep understanding of harmony. Their songs have survived over the decades and are being performed somewhere in the world right now. It’s an amazing revelation when you find out where chords come from, how they relate to each other and how to create and play over harmonically rich progressions. It’s a long overdue book you hold in your hands.
Guy has made this important information available to guitarists in a simple format for guitarists of all levels to understand. I’m quite sure that at some point as you work through this book, the clouds will part, a beam of light will shine down upon you and you will shout A-HA! Now I get it! Good luck with your music"
Carl Verheyen
To learn more about Carl, check out his book Studio City (a collection of his GFTPM monthly articles). Find his music on all networks. Visit his website www.carlverheyen.com for news of tours etc. You can also find a chat & jam with him on fellow session guitarist Tim Pierce’s YT channel.