by Christine Occhino These days it seems like everyone has an opinion on how to make it in the music biz. With all the nonsense that's floating around, (rich with all the latest buzz phrases and old-school ideologies), it's tough to weed out the good stuff from all of the...

Willie Nelson is about to turn his hobby and past time into a business. Nelson will open a chain of stores along with marketing his own brand of marijuana and accessories, all under the name 'Willie's Reserve.' Willie let the news slip recently to James Joiner at the Daily...

Welcome to... "Micro-Lesson 100"   This 100th Micro Lesson takes a look at a popular set of chord changes found in "Jazz Harmony."  This very common sounding Jazz progression is set in the key of, "D Major," and runs across the diatonic harmony movement of, "VI,...

Musical mastermind Devin Townsend recently shared some very introspective thoughts about touring as a part of Freqs TV's "Ghosts of the Road" series. Brutal honesty and standard Hevy Devy awesomeness make this one a must-see. You can check out the partial transcript below,...

When YouTube and social media viewers first saw Brooklyn heavy metal outfit "Unlocking The Truth" wailing on a New York City sidewalk in their debut viral-bound video two years ago, everyone was instantly beguiled by the young trio. The enthusiasm and obvious skill of the...

Welcome to... "Micro-Lesson 099"   This Micro Lesson covers a Harmonic Minor Scale Lick in the key of, "G Minor."  The lick runs across several positions. Starting at the fifth position, we develop the first section of the lick off of the, "G" Root on the 4th string....

GuitarBlog: Jazz Blues for Dummies... This week on the GuitarBlog we run through how to perform the common 12-bar Jazz-Blues chord changes.  Memorizing a few Jazz-Blues progressions can be very helpful to our guitar playing skills. They not only follow the common layouts...

Have you ever bought a guitar slide and had intentions of ripping new leads with it, only to discover when you get home that it’s damn near impossible to use? Playing really good slide guitar takes more a little dedication in practice and technique, but also in the way you...

While KISS bassist Gene Simmons has been known to put his foot in it from time to time, his latest interview actually yielded a very interesting suggestion that isn’t as poorly thought-out as some of his other infamously incendiary commentary. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph...

According to the inventors of "Hand Chord" the number one reason people give up playing guitar is because of finger pain. So, supposedly their nifty little chord tool the hand chord takes away all the pain and frustration. In their new KickStarter campaign they guarantee...

Welcome to... "Micro-Lesson 098"   This Micro Lesson introduces a Blues Boogie Riff in the key of "A."  The riff begins from off of the 2nd and 3rd guitar strings covering the interval of a major to minor third.  The idea resolves strongly in the second measure...

While this is a topic that's often covered by many online music resources aimed at the DIY crowd, there's a great deal of misinformation and misunderstanding floating around on this topic.  First, let's get one thing out of the way: abandon all hope here of building...

Welcome to... "Micro-Lesson 097"   This Micro Lesson introduces a fingerstyle guitar melody idea in the key of "G Major."  The melody operates around a Folk style picking concept similar to those used by artists like, Dan Fogelberg, in his song, "Leader of the...

Premier Guitar's John Bohlinger reveals some of his personal playing tips and tricks in these short, bite-sized lessons...  In this clip, he dissects a G-major lick that mixes fretted notes with open strings to create a dynamic motif that can be transposed to multiple...

Tony MacAlpine is set to release his new album ‘Concrete Gardens‘ ...April 21st and it is available for pre-order in Digital Download, Standard Edition CD, and Special Edition CD/DVD versions at tonymacalpine.com You can check out a preview of the album below with the title...