The Killers’ Mr Brightside, from their album, Hot Fuss is one of my favourite songs of the decade. It was also the song that catapulted the Las Vegas band to stardom and propelled that debut album to the top of the charts.
It’s not an easy song to learn, however, as you’ll know if you’ve ever tried to learn it. And if you do a quick trawl of YouTube looking for lessons or cover versions, you’ll find, as I did, all sorts of weird and wonderful versions.
The Mr Brightside lesson I’ve posted below is an excellent combination of detailed, accurate information and a presenting style that does the song justice and will keep you interested all the way through.
Watch it all the way through once, de-tune your guitar a semi-tone and get playing!
Robert Johnson’s Crossroads has been recorded many, many times by many different artists. But the definitive version has to be the Cream live version, featuring Eric Clapton on guitar and vocals, which has appeared on just about every Cream and Eric Clapton compilation ever released.
Clapton has continued to play the song live throughout his career varying it from the full on blues of the Cream version to funk, and even a low tempo jazz-style version.
It’s the Cream version, however, that displays both the song and Clapton’s guitar playing at its very best. And then there’s Jack Bruce’s virtuoso bass and Ginger Baker’s driving drums.
That’s the version being taught in the lesson below, by one of my favourite You Tube teachers, Justin Sandercoe of Justin Guitar. Justin’s explanation of the notes and chords and his laid back style of presentation make it very easy to play along.
Below the video of Justin’s lesson is one of Cream playing Crossroads at the band’s farewell concert in London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1968.
Jimmy Reed was one of the early exponents of electric blues guitar and was also known as a superb harmonica player. Reed greatly influenced bands like The Rolling Stones, who included a number of Reed songs, including Shame, Shame, Shame on their early demos, and The Yardbirds, who recorded a tribute to Reed called Like Jimmy Reed again for their album Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds.
Reed’s songs were also covered by Elvis Presley, who had a hit with Big Boss Man and who sang Baby, What You Want Me To Do on his legendary ‘68 Comeback Special. And performers as diverse as The Grateful Dead, Wishbone Ash, and Etta James all performed Reed songs.
Reed battled alcoholism for much of his adult life and was diagnosed with epilepsy in 1957. He died in 1976, days short of his 51st birthday as was inducted into The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.
The guys at JamPlay have put together a free video lesson demonstrating how to play a blues shuffle in the style of Jimmy Reed.
Watch and learn, and then head on over to JamPlay for some more fantastic lessons.
And remember to enter your name and email address in the box to get a regular stream of free online guitar lessons in your inbox.
Van Halen’s debut album, Van Halen announced the band’s arrival on the late seventies rock music scene with an almighty bang. Songs like Eruption, Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love, and Ice Cream Man quickly became classics. But there was also on the album that rare thing: a brilliant cover version.
The Van Halen version of The Kinks’ You Really Got Me completely reinvented the song and introduced it to a whole new audience. It became, and remained, a staple of the band’s live set.
Here’s a video which shows you how to play You Really Got Me the Van Halen way.
Another Blues lesson for you today, this time from Billy Gibbons. ZZ Top might not be strongly associated with the Blues, thanks to the fact that the commercial success they achieved during the 1980s was with stuff that could be best described as AOR. But there’s no doubt where Gibbons’ heart lies as he demonstrates in this fantastic clip.
Enjoy the video and then head on over to JamPlay for some more fantastic video guitar lessons.
I’m a huge fan of the Blues, and in particular the old blues guys who travelled from Mississippi up to Chicago in the 40s and 50s. My all-time favourite has to be BB King, but Lightnin’ Hopkins isn’t far behind.
In terms of learning new licks and different ways to play over blues progressions, studying Hopkins’ technique is hugely valuable.
Luckily for you, and me, the guys at JamPlay have put together a free video lesson demonstrating how to play some of the great man’s most well-known licks.
Watch and learn, and then head on over to JamPlay for some more fantastic lessons.
Craig Basset’s Guitar Scale Mastery isn’t for everyone. If you’re already a fluid guitar solo player and know your way around the fretboard without thinking about it. And if you know your scales by heart, you won’t need it. And, to be honest, if you’re a complete beginner, Guitar Scale Mastery probably isn’t the product for you.
But, if you can play reasonably well and want to be able to solo like a pro, then Basset thinks he has the answer.
Guitar Scale Mastery is a membership website, and for your one-time $67 fee, you get three years ‘premium’ membership. The site aims to teach you how to memorise scales and learn melodic patterns. It includes backing tracks to help you learn as you play along.
Rating: 4
Price: $67 Reurn policy: 56-day money back guarantee
Bonus Material:
Pentatonic Guitar Success eBook
Additional bonus material promised over the course of your membership
Feedback: Learning scales is vital if you want to progress beyond the basics in playing the guitar and Guitar Scale Mastery seems like a fun and educational way to do it. $67 for three years membership is reasonable, and you get 56 days to try it out before claiming your money back if you don’t like it.
“Guitar Scale Mastery is great for intermediate to advanced players, who are really looking to expand their solo playing and improvisation”
Theguitarlessonreview.com
“Very few guitarists have the ability to truly dominate scales, to move fluidly and musically all over the fret board and to rip off great solos with ease. That is precisely what this course can do for you.”
If shredding’s your thing and no matter how hard you try you just can’t play as fast as you like, Charlie Wallace thinks he has the answer with Guitar Burning Speed. Wallace reckons that by playing for as little as 20 minutes a day for two weeks, he can teach you to play as fast as the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, and Stevie Vai.
Wallace’s sales letter mentions several times that you may not believe that you’ll be able to do what he says he’ll teach you in two weeks, but never actually deals with the issue, instead pointing out that there’s a full money back guarantee, valid for 56 days, if your not satisfied.
The course is based around a set of exercises for which there are audio tracks in the package, as well as diagrams and photos.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to be sceptical about Wallace’s claims, but at least you have more than enough time to verify his 24-day’ assertion before the money-back period expires.
Rating: 4
Price: $19.99
Return Policy: 56 days money back guarantee
Author: Charlie Wallace
Publisher: GuitarBurningSpeed.com
Bonus Material:
Learn every note on the fretboard in 15 minutes!
5 Blues Jam Tracks from 50Blues.com
The Guitar Scale Tool
Easy Chord Guitar Chord Dictionary
How to read TAB
Metronome
Guitar Tuner
101 Midi Drum Tracks
Full email Support
Feedback: Twenty minutes a day might be stretching it, but if you’re prepared to put in the effort with Guitar Burning Speed, you’ll reap the rewards. It’s not just about sounding like Van Halen or Vai, learning to play fast is an excellent way of training your finger muscles and improving ‘muscle memory.’
‘At $19.95, it won’t put a big dent in your wallet, and I think its worth the investment. There’s really no end to what we can learn as guitarists, and Guitar Burning Speed is a good addition to any player’s library.’
Beth Miller owner guitar-player-reviews.com
‘…if you are currently practicing guitar shred or any type of guitar study check this program out. It is easy to do and you will get huge results.’
RiffMaster Pro Slow Down allows you to slow down any piece of music without changing the pitch in order that you can learn to play it. RiffMaster Pro Slow Down is a software application that works with Windows XP and Windows Vista and allows you to import music in a variety of formats, including MP3, Wav, WMV, Ogg Vorbis, and AIFF.
In addition to allowing you to slow down sections of a track, such as the guitar solo, you can select sections and loop them to make it even easier. You can zoom into the graphical wave form right down to single note level to allow you to select precisely the phrase you want to learn.
Rating: 3
Price: $47
Return Policy: 60 days money back guarantee.
Author: Heath Nicholson
Publisher: Manly Guitar Works
Feedback: Slowing down a riff or passage without changing the pitch is the easiest and most powerful way to learn how to play it. This is exactly what RiffMaster Slow Down does very well. And with support for a wide range of audio formats, you should be able to learn just about anything you want.
‘As a musician I really wanted this new version to be a joy to use for other musicians. I listened to feedback from current users and even reintegrated some really great ideas that came my way, so thank you.’
Guitar Minute on Propeller.com
‘Seriously, it’s genuine and well worth the effort – it improves your technique from the start, trying to get your fingers to do what your hero does… It makes you think about your playing – try it’
Zack Roberts has an impressive pedigree. A professional guitar teacher for 20 years, he’s also been a contributor to Guitar World, Guitar Player, and Acoustic Guitar Player.
50 Blues Guitar Backing Tracks is unlike the other products here in that it doesn’t try to teach you to play the guitar from scratch and doesn’t claim to turn you into a pro over night. What 50 Blues Guitar Backing Tracks does do, however, is give you 50 backing tracks of different styles that you can use to improve your blues guitar playing or just to jam to.
As Zack says, “With the help of my lads, we embarked on a project to create an entire album of blues backing tracks for guitar, harmonica and harp. We spend hours and hours recording and re-recording every melody line and every note to perfection.
It has become my secret weapon for practicing improvisions [sic], creating new guitar riffs and licks, improving my blues guitar solos and funneling my creativity when I am not with my band.”
If you’re not sure whether or not 50 Blues Backing Tracks is for you, Zack provides five free downloads, which you can get by clicking the link on this page.
Rating: 3
Price: $47
Return Policy: Eight week 100% money back guarantee.
Author: Zack Roberts
Publisher: 50 Blues Studios
Bonus Material:
Ear Music Education Software
Multi-Track Home Studio Recording Software
Digital Guitar Tuner Software
Unique Metronome
Guitar Tab Editor
800 Chords Chart & Sheet
Electronic Piano
Learn How to Play Guitar – Lessons
Learn to Read Sheet Music
Feedback: 50 Blues Backing Tracks won’t teach you how to play, nor turn you into Eric Clapton, but by giving you access to 50 professional-quality backing tracks it will improve your Blues playing by an order of magnitude. And the five free downloads mean you can try it out before spending any money whatsoever.
‘Finally, I have found the ones that I know will better my guitar playing tenfold. I can’t believe how great the sound quality really is, I feel like I’m actually jamming with a professional blues backing band.’
