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Have you ever noticed how many Blues tunes get played in E or in A, be they recordings; tunes played at jam sessions; what two strangers play who just sit down and start picking together; or what...

(This last bit didn't copy into my post)
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-Tim Hardin’s “If I Were a Carpenter” is all I-bVII-IV and it’s the same for Steve Miller’s “Jet Airliner”.

-John Fogerty’s “Green River” is also...

Queuing off your mention of "Get Together" I'll focus first on classic rock/folkrock. All these tunes can be found on the YouTube machine in arrangements that I describe below.

-Otis Redding's...

Here is an exercise I hand out in the 2nd session of my Intro to Jazz Guitar class. I call it the ii-V-I cycle with a little explanation at the bottom of how I-IV-V-I easily morphs into I-ii-V-I...

My "bias doth show" whenever I discuss the subject of Rock Progressions (other than Classic Rock, circa '60s & some '70ish tunes) because I use the term "Dark Guitar"! They're all about "Power...

You're absolutely correct but since no orchestral players play chords and few classical guitar players think of the progression or key they are actually playing, that's probably why it's commonly...

Sorry to be getting so "Nerdy" on the theory with Roman Numerals & Greek tribes but skimming the surface of what's called "Harmonic Analysis" can be truly eye (or ear) opening. It helps to have had...

Your use of the term "tonal center" indicates that you are acquainted with Jazz. You are correct in that Jazz uses chords the same as any other genre BUT the often frequent movement between tonal...

A student from many years ago recently told me "The most useful thing I ever learned from you was how to figure out those weird chords that often show up in a song."

It was eye opening to me also...

The most critical concept to abide by, no matter how tasteful, cool, fitting, etc. etc, your fill might be, DON'T EVER obscure a single note of the singer!

I encourage students to use the three legged stool analogy: Primarily, playing any instrument is first a manual skill, secondly an ear training application, & thirdly an application of music theory...

In the '70s during the pro-playing years of my life I was changing strings every week & "tried em all" (that is the ones that existed back then). I settled on DAddarios as they were the only one's...

I have found the loop on the hercos to be too light weight to grip firmly enough as at times I can be pretty heavy handed. It would be a tricky injection mold that could make the pick part thin (I...

I designed these because my right thumb has become arthritically deformed (fortunately it's painless) but it's affected the way I can grip a flat-pick. This gizmo allows me to feel the pick normally...

Over my many years of playing & teaching (I'm in my 70's now) I've struggled to find the most effective way to help students develop right hand skills. Truth be told, it's the hardest part of playing...

Just a little levity! My wife gave me a Chinese Rogue cheapo knock-around mandolin which became unplayable within a couple years. The top collapsed to the point that the strings were laying on the...