BGL Guitar Podcast

No show notes here. Just enjoy the show. Please remember to share if you enjoy what you hear, and oh yeah remember to PLAY LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

Certainly not for beginners, single string exercises can take your knowledge of the fret board to a whole new level. Tough perhaps tedious and boring, the exercises will help you learn the guitar like no other. They are well worth […]

Listen to the greatest guitar riffs according to WBEZ Chicago Sound Opinions here. Here are the tabs for the songs I mention on the show. Talk About the Passion R.E.M. E------------------------------------------------------------------- B-----------------------------------3-------------3--2--0--------- G-2-2---------2-2---------------0---0---------0--------2-------- D-0-0-0-2-4-0-0-0-2-4-0---2-------2-----2-------------------- A----------------------------3-----------3--0--------------------- E------------------------------------------------------------------- Stand R.E.M. E----------------------|------------0----|--------------------|---------------------- B----------------4----|-4-4-4-5-4--0--|----------------4--|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4----- G----------------4---|-4-4-4-4--4--0--|----------------4--|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4----- D----------------4---|-4-4-4-4--4-----|----------------4---|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4---- […]

In last months gear episode I talked about Gain and Volume in terms of how they are different and also in terms of signal processing. In this weeks episode I’ll continue on the topic of signal processing using Gain as […]

Thanks for listening!

I came to a place in my playing where I realized I really do have a lot to learn. I knew music, I knew songs, I knew tabs, notation, and theory, but what I lacked was knowledge of the fret […]

Inspired by The Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer The Rhythm Guitarist A good rhythm guitarist creates rhythms that accompany the traditional rhythm section which is the drums and bass. It’s almost as if the drums and bass are playing chords. […]

So Gain and Volume can be a bit confusing but if we focus on these two things I think it will help us manage what’s going on. Let’s keep it simple PREAMP STAGE-Gain:  This is where we add color to […]

Thanks for listening to this brief overview of the Telecaster’s history. Please share if you enjoy this show! Thanks again.

No show notes here but thanks for looking, and thanks for listening! Please remember to share if you enjoy the show.

Thanks for listening. No show notes for today’s episode. Just my philosohpy on where the guitar stands in todays music. Enyoy!

These are the four types of Signal Processing you will use to affect your guitar signal. Gain and Volume (Amp): This process shapes your signal and amplifies it so it becomes strong enough to drive your speakers. This is were […]

I do a lot of guitar research online and there is more than enough information to keep me busy, but in my humble opinion nothing truly comes close to looking through an actual book. The glossy pictures jumping off the […]

No show notes here friends. This episode is just an update on what’s going on around my guitar teaching studio. Thanks for listening. Now pick up your guitar and PLAY LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

Here are three areas to help guitar players keep learning and growing. Make sure they make it into your practice routine. Practice without routine is not practice. It’s just you playing. Both are important if you want to become a […]

There truly is only one reason to quit playing. That reason is if you just aren’t willing to push back against the resistance you will elicit when you declare you want to learn guitar in the first place! So how […]

In this weeks episode I explain how electric guitar pickups work and I talk about the different kinds you are more than likely to run into. Please share this episode if you enjoy what your hear and know someone who […]

Here are links to the guitar podcasts I most often listen to. Enjoy! Donnie Schexnayder Start Teaching Guitar Podcast.                         Donnie’s podcast and his business are the reason I […]

In today’s episode I discuss alternate tuning. So first let’s start off with a definition. Basically an alternate tuning is anything other than the standard tuning of EADGBE. There are many historical reasons why EADGBE has become a standard. Some […]

Buying an amplifier is an easier process if you have an idea of how many different types there are. They all have their pros and cons, differences in preference, price, reliability, and uses. One thing is true of all them […]

This weeks episode is a continuation from the last where I talked about training our ears to hear and recognize the differences in intervals. The same way we can memorize melodies, which in essence is memorizing intervals, we can also […]

  Do you know the difference between a perfect 5th and a perfect 4th? Could you tell whether an interval is Major or minor? If given a reference tone could you sing an octave above it? You can learn, or […]

Ears that are trained to hear music are a great asset for guitar players. Here are just a few points to consider. Pitch recognition. The ability to name and sing correctl y any given pitch with or without any point […]

The Nashville Number System can help make transposing and improvising at bit easier. What’s really great about it is that you don’t need to have a deep understanding of music theory  to use it. If you know a few rudimentary […]

The CAGED system can be very useful if you want to learn to play chords up and down the neck. Why be stuck playing the same chords over and over when you can very easily add so many more options […]

The fret board can be a tough thing to decipher, but thankfully there are systems to help us learn it a lot quicker and with a lot more enjoyment than just being left on our own. That being said, don’t […]

Ever wonder how Jimi Hendrix became a legend? How did he learn to play the way he did? Without online tab databases and thousands of Youtube video lessons he managed to not only learn guitar but to become a true […]

A well setup guitar can make playing easier and a lot more enjoyable. It took me years of playing before I figured this out, but I’m really glad I did. All I really had to focus on are these simple […]

Even after playing guitar for so long I find myself learning new things all the time. When I first started I played for the love of music and did so for many years. About five years ago I stumbled upon […]

So you want to sing and play at the same time! Awesome! Just remember that you want to do many things at the same time, but you want them to sound like your doing one thing: Performing. Playing and singing […]

In this episode I play a few patches from the Line6 POD HD500X to show just how powerful the unit is! Modeling has sure come a long way and I’m excited to dive into this pedal. I used the unit’s […]

Here are a few of the resources I use both in my teaching and learning. Ultimate Guitar Hal Leonard and Fast Track books Desi Serna Fretboard Theory There really are way to many resources to list, but these have helped […]

Before I get into it let’s talk about what I wont be covering in this post. I wont be discussing how or what to practice. Things like warmup exercises, timing and metronome training, reading up on music theory and other […]

The Electric guitar’s history involves a great many inventors, artists,  musicians and mechanical engineers. It has changed the way we listen to music by turning one of the quietest instruments, the acoustic guitar, into the loudest! ROCK ON!! Here are […]

These are the notes in the first position of the guitar fretboard. It is helpful to remember that  B-C and E-F are the only sets of notes that are a half step apart. All the rest are a whole step […]

Learning the notes on the fretboard can seem like a daunting task but in reality it’s quite simple. Notes, scales, and chords are arranged in patterns and follow rules. When you begin recognizing these patterns and rules, learning becomes easier. […]

This week I interviewed Giacomo Timbrello and we discussed his experiences at Berklee College of Music. Berklee has thousands of applicants every year, but only those who show great promise and talent both musically and creatively are accepted. To give […]

Last week I talked about guitar goals. This week’s post has a few tips to help you develop your own voice. Besides practicing the basics and making sure we play with others here are a few key areas to focus […]

Though I don’t believe that goals are given power when they are written down, I do believe that writing them down gives us a clear vision for the future. Clear vision allows us to see whether or not our current […]

Ever had moments in your playing where you knew something had to change? In this episode I pretty much pour my heart out in the hopes that someone might be saved from making the same silly mistakes I have made. […]

If you are thinking about learning guitar, or perhaps you have been playing for a while without really understanding what you are doing then please read on. This is just one way I go about teaching to help my students […]

Practical reasons to play guitar: Guitars are inexpensive. Guitars are portable and they have a pleasant sound. Guitars are great for learning all kinds of songs. This includes all kinds of world music. You can play good old American country, […]

Life got a bit busy this last week! Sick kids, extended family in the hospital, and Thanksgiving! The show pretty much got set aside so that I can take care of the family. So I will be back! Thanks so […]

Lets look at a popular song and see how it follows some of the rules of music theory Yellow Leadbetter by Pearl Jam is a great example. It’s in the Key of E. The notes in this Key are E, […]

Do you think understanding at least a little music theory might help in your guitar playing? Would you be more likely to play with others if you knew you could keep up with them? Do you think it might help […]

Alright, you have a guitar and you’ve found your instructor. Now it’s time to get learning. Here are some key areas to focus on to become a great student! Be Organized Save your brain from having to think of really […]

This is for beginners. If you already know a bunch about guitar you might have a better idea of what you look for in a teacher. However I still might mention something you hadn’t though of. So stick around. 3 […]

Here is a short list of the most necessary and useful items. Notebook, Curriculum and pens. Tuner It doesn’t matter what tuner you use what matters is that you understand how to use it. I mostly use a Snark SN-2 […]

In part one of this episode I talked about humbling yourself as being the first step to learning guitar. In fact, you can apply that to any new endeavor! So once we have done this we can move forward with […]

In the podcast that accompanies this post I go further in depth with the following concepts. Because so much of this is wrapped up in the core of who I am I highly recommend you listen. You’ll get more out […]