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Will Ripley is a passionate guitarist who performs, teaches, and manages a successful music business. He is a graduate of the Berklee College Of Music's Canadian Affiliate School, The Selkirk College. He has recorded, performed and toured with Grammy award winning musicians, and has shared the stage with members from bands you may know, including David Bowie and Jethro Tull. He is also a sought-after studio musician.His unique style is touted as a combination of the blues sty... (more) Will currently offers 219 guitar lessons at JamPlay, with 94 beginner lessons, 108 intermediate lessons and 17 lessons in our Artist Series.
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Learn to play the electric guitar like a pro! Will Ripley is a veteran teacher that will show you quick and easy ways to start playing actual music on the guitar! Start learning original classic rock style riffs right away, all the while learning solid foundations to your guitar playing. Get ready to Rip it up!!
Join Will Ripley as he gives us all the details of his series, "Rock Guitar for Beginners". You'll be playing cool rock riffs from the very first lesson!
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Will wastes no time getting you playing actual music! Check out this cool riff in the style of Black Sabbath. You'll be rockin' in no time!
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Will continues in this lesson by showing you how to read basic tablature for his Black Sabbath style riff.
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In this lesson, Will takes a break from riffs to show you a great tool for increasing your dexterity on the instrument: the chromatic exercise.
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A good foundation on the guitar has a lot to do with your right hand, or picking hand, technique. Will starts here with the basics: How to hold a pick and how to place your hand.
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So far, Will has had you focus on playing on one string. Now he gives you the tools to play across multiple strings.
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Now that you have some right hand technique under your belt, Will hits you with another classic sounding riff in the style of Deep Purple or Queen. This is an easy, yet great sounding single note riff that will have you rockin' out in no time!
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Will is back with another classic sounding riff! This riff is a great exercise that gets you using your fingers on more than one strings, and improves on your chromatic movement.
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Will uses this catchy riff to teach you how to mute open strings and fretted notes, and how to add some rhythmic depth to your playing.
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Here's another catchy, classic sounding riff from Will. This one will get you up and running with your alternate picking. A must have picking technique moving forward!
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Remember the chromatic scale we learned earlier in this series? Well, Will steps it up a notch by adding a cool funky riff to help you earn your chromatic diploma!
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The minor pentatonic is one of the core scales of rock guitar. In this lesson, Will shows you a super simple fingering for this essential scale!
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Now, take the minor pentatonic scale, add some rhythm, and you've got a super cool rock riff!
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Power chords are essential to any rock guitar playing. In this lesson, Will shows you the basics. Learn open string power chords and other classic power chord shapes!
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Will's back with another classic sounding riff in the style of Tom Petty or ACDC. This riff builds off of what you learned in the previous lesson on power chords. Use both your open string power chord and full fretted power chord shapes!
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Getting a great rock sound has lots of different elements to it, and one of those is the palm muting technique. Will shows you a super easy way to get rolling on this great right hand technique!
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Now Will takes a riff he taught earlier in the series and adds the power chord element to it. This makes the riff extra heavy sounding and extra cool!
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Believe it or not, Ripley can show you a way to make your power chords even more powerful! It's a simple fingering shift, but will add a lot of thickness to your power chords.
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Get ready to learn a super pro-sounding riff in the style of Audioslave or Red Hot Chili Peppers! Hidden in this riff are some more foundational guitar techniques that will increase your facility on the guitar.
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We've learned the interval of the power chord, now Will shows us some other intervals in the form of two note shapes that are easy, and add tremendous color to our playing.
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Will's back with an important and useful technique: Octave shapes. Learn not only the shape, but how to apply muting to get it sounding very professional!
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Proper muting can add a lot of passion to your playing. In this lesson, Will shows us how to play single notes without compromising any of the energy or intensity.
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Will showed us the first position of the minor pentatonic scale in an earlier lesson. Now it's time to move on to the second position. It's a must know scale and technique!
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Up to now we've learned a lot of single note riffs and power chords. Now it's time to inject some chord playing into our technique. In this lesson, Will starts us off by showing us how to read a chord chart.
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Continuing with chords, Will introduces us to some new chord shapes with this Spanish themed chord song.
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Sus and slash chords are very important when it comes to making you sound like a pro. Will walks us through a few of the most common ones, and how to implement them in our playing!
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The G major chord is one of the most common chords used in popular music. In this lesson, Will shows some of the more popular and useful variations of the chord.
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One of the biggest issues for beginning guitarists is changing chords. It can be a source of great frustration. Join Will as he shows us his secret to changing chords that will revolutionize your playing!
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By now you've learned what an important role rhythm plays in the process of learning guitar. Will gets more specific here by showing us some basic rhythms and how to count them.
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Ever wonder how certain songs get really pro sounding chord progressions and strumming? Here's a peek behind the curtain as Will shows us a chord progression that is simultaneously easy and great sounding!
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Strumming and rhythm is something that frankly gets taken for granted when learning guitar. But, it's just as important as the notes you play on the fret board! Will gets you started on the right foot with your rhythm by showing you these three must know strum patterns.
It's time to get deeper into chords! In this lesson, Will shows us all the major and minor chords.
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The 12 bar blues is a fundamental rock and blues song form. Will shows you the 12 bar blues, but puts a little twist on it to make it sound extra rockin'!
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In part 2 of the 12 Bar Blues Song, Will gets into the meat of the 12 bar blues form.
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Will brings together several chord playing techniques in this lesson that will challenge you and keep you on the road to sounding more like a pro!
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Will now brings us the 3rd position of the minor pentatonic scale. This is one of the great rock guitar scales, and Will is building towards having you cover the entire fret board with this scale!
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Here's a couple of exercises that will help build your "chops", otherwise known as your strength and dexterity on the guitar!
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Don't let the phrase "music theory" scare you off! It's merely an aid to help you understand what you've been learning and playing so far. Will uses this lesson to show you a very important scale that is the door way to some beginning theory concepts. When you're done, you'll have a better grasp of the material he's showed you already!
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On to the fourth position of the minor pentatonic scale! As usual, Will shows us the scale, then shows us a way to connect all of the positions so far.
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Believe it or not, finding and knowing every note on the fret board is not as hard as it may seem. In this lesson, Will demystifies the fret board taking away that overwhelming feeling when you look down at it. A few simple tricks is all you need!
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Leading up to learning your barre chords, Will shares this lesson with us that gets us familiar with some of the basic shapes we'll need to know. Plus, you get to learn some super cool sounding chords!
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The "dreaded" barre chords are anything but dreaded here. Will gets you going on the four basic shapes, with some tips and tricks to make them frankly, quite easy!
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Now Will gives you the chance to put those barre chords into practice! Here's a super simple little song to help you get more familiar with the shapes we learned in the last lesson.
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The Grand Finale of your minor pentatonics: The Fifth Position. Now that you have all 5 positions, Will shows you some cool ways to practice these, and consequently, the ability to begin using them in solos right away!
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Get started, sound great, and have fun playing blues rock guitar.
Learn all about Will Ripley's new Blues course, Building the Blues.
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Jump into the world of the Blues by learning some easy solo techniques. Get started with a bang!
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The 12 bar blues is one of the cornerstones of the Blues genre. Will dissects it in this lesson so you will never feel confused again!
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Learn how to read and use chords charts. This will help you learn songs even faster!
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Learn essential riffs that can be used with the 12 bar blues. You'll be surprised how good you sound after learning these.
We introduce more riffs to be played over the 12 bar blues. Learning these simple riffs will up your Blues game.
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One of the best ways to get a big, raw sound is to make use of open strings. Learn how to use this technique with the 12 bar blues, as well as some amazing variations.
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Now that you've learned how to use open strings in your playing, Will will go over how to apply and use them in real music. You'll also learn how to apply shuffles and a straight rhythm.
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It's time to learn the rest of the riffs from the track we've been working on. We will cover the shuffle riffs with and without the quick 4 and a straight rhythm riff. It's fun and sounds amazing!
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Ready for a challenging yet fun blues workout? Enter the Chuck Berry Chops Builder. This routine will help you improve not only your Blues playing, but also help with your all-around guitar skills.
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It's time to incorporate everything we've learned so far into a fun, fast paced song. This time it's in the style of legend Chuck Berry.
Will rips into the key of E by teaching this open E riff. It's fun, sounds cool, makes use of open strings and introduces a classic-style turnaround.
Will Ripley shows off a few of his all-time favorite blues turnaround. Discover not only how to play them, but also how and when to use them.
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It's time to introduce a new song. It's soulful and fun, and includes open string riffs, a turnaround, the A7 and B7 chords and much more.
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Will Ripley introduces "The Texas Shuffle," a common blues technique which Steve Ray Vaughan used in songs such as "Pride and Joy."
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It's time to use some of the most powerful Blues chords. In this lesson Will teaches an exercises that uses some of his favorite blues chords and fingerings.
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Will introduces some of the most powerful blues chords, as well as introduces a really fun Blues tune which uses them.
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Will Ripley talks about his philosophy and personal tricks for successfully ending a Blues song.
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Will Ripley introduces a brand-new idea he calls a "spineless blues" progression. He is referring to a song that floats around between the major and minor key which gives it a unique, soulful sound.
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Will introduces an entirely new JamTrack and guides you through playing chords over it. Enhance your knowledge of chords and chord technique.
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Have you ever wondered how to play two notes at the same time? Learn the technique and understand Thirds and Flat 7's in this lesson.
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Discover a new Jam Track Will calls "Sunny Monday" which goes through the peaks and valleys of playing the Blues.
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What's the 1-6-2-5-1 ? Find out as Will shows you a mix and different styles, lead licks, chugging, melody and soloing.
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Learn one of the best strength building exercises that Will demonstrates and explains in detail.
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Bridge similarities between chording and soloing as Will teaches you some essential techniques for simple blues soloing.
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Will dissects "The thrill is gone", in the style of BB King and teaches us how integrate new chords, riffs, and other elements for the Minor Blues
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Learn to break down the Rhythm of blues guitar to transition another rhythm sequence and understand how related Blues, Reggae, and Funk are.
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"The blues is easy to play, but it's hard to feel" - Jimi Hendrix - Will explains his secrets to feeling the blues in this indepth lesson.
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Understand why scales are essential to playing awesome blues solo guitar and why it's important to learn all the scales in one key.
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Learn how to play over a major or dominant based blues and to focus on 3 keys "E Minor, A Minor, B Minor".
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Solidify original concepts by navigating the fretboard in patterns to connect different Pentatonic Scales.
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Will demonstrates a fun way to start practicing the Penatonic Scales and how to approach it from a different angle.
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What are the money notes? Will continues the theme of uncovering the best parts of performing pentatonic scales and how to make it sound rich.
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Understand the spectrum and importance of performing sweet blues vibrato. You will learn how to sustain, be consistent with the bending motion and tempo, and become very rhythmic with shaking the note
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Will shows and tells us the key secret to performing bends by using more muscle, adding vibrato, and using your own creativity.
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Learn the essential techniques for blues soloing such as, bending the change pitch of the note, following the chord changes, making sure you don't over play and much more!
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Discover the BB Box/ Albert Box technique that uncovers a zone on the fretboard for you to utilize for maximum effect.
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Will introduces us to the "Smoke and Grease" lick that emcompasses combinations of major, minor and blues note, and navigating through the fretboard.
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Tackle and resolve the "Smoke and Grease" blues riff that focuses on the 1-4-5 pattern while adding intensity to your down and up strokes.
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Learn to create a blues melody and how to expand on it over a Rockabilly style track.
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Will teaches a universal and common blues lick that has been played by all the legends. It's a great launching pad for other blues licks as well.
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Challenge your right and left hand with this epic riff to practice your blues Pentatonic abilities.
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What's the difference between using the guitar pick, versus using your fingers? Find out the secrets in this lesson by understanding the advantages and disadvantages of both.
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Learn to strike strings with speed, power, and control to get the intensity necessary for the fury of the Blues.
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Will explains and shows us the importance of using space, playing tastefully, and understanding the history of an important technique, "Call and Response."
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Learn the essential building blocks to know how modes fit into Blues style guitar playing.
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Develop your internal pitch with Will while he explains the beginning steps for the Blues Slide Guitar.
Unlock the secrets to Open D Slide Guitar with Will as he shows you how powerful of a tool slide guitar can be.
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Every Blues solo tells a story. Ripley demonstrates how to approach a blues solo by using different themes, feelings, and techniques.
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Need Blues Gear recommendations? Look no further! Will goes over different picks, strings, guitars, amps and other pieces of equipment you might need for getting the best Blues Tone.
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Will Ripley picks up where he left off in his Phase 1 Beginner series with this series: Classic Rock Guitar. Learn timeless rock techniques through special tracks that Will has prepared in the styles of some of the greatest artists of all time: Jimi Hendrix, Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Neil Young, Guns 'n' Roses, just to name a few.
Get ready to learn some timeless classic techniques in this series, Classic Rock Guitar. In this lesson, Will gives an introduction to what you'll find in the series.
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To kick off the series, Will briefly goes over some of the foundational techniques you will need to know to get through this series.
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Will gets us going with a very cool yet simple single note riff in the style of the band Heart.
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Things take a bit of heavier turn with this riff in the style of Ozzy! Work on your hammer-ons, power chords and huge sounding open chords.
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Will continues with a track in the style of Ozzy Osbourne, getting into the chorus section.
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Will continues with single note riffs and this classic sounding riff in the style of Hendrix. This is a great one for visualizing octave shapes while playing riffs.
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Funky is the name of the game here with this riff in the style of The James Gang or Aerosmith. There's some nice chromatic movement, and a chance to work on your alternate picking. Rip it up!
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Blues is one of the cornerstones of rock guitar playing, especially classic rock. This catchy riff in the style of Cream will have have you wanting to start a power trio right away!
In Will's Phase 1 course, he introduced you to the pentatonic scale. Now, he takes you to the next level with a unique way of practicing these scales that will have you using them in solos in no time!
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Knowing your 5 pentatonic shapes inside an out is crucial, especially now that Will is going to show us a whole new perspective on playing these essential rock guitar scales.
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Another classic sounding tune coming at ya here... This one has an emphasis on fast moving power chord shapes.
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In part 2 of this lesson, we get into the heavier sounding section of the song. Get ready to channel your inner Guns 'n' Roses!
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Now Will brings the energy down a bit with this Neil Young-esque track. He shows you some very cool embellishments for your open chords that will give your songs a lot of color!
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There's more to your open chords than you may realize. In this lesson, Will shows us how to get the most out of some of these chords by making a few modifications and embellishments.
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Continuing on this Neil Young-Lynyrd Skynyrd -esque track, it's all about the chords, and making the chords sound cool and professional. Will shows us some nice F chord variations, then puts it all together with the track!
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In this lesson, Will takes the open chords you learned in the previous three lessons and shows you how to play them in different positions up the neck adding to the sound palette of this track!
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Here's another great chord exercise, using a classic sounding track in the style of Boston or Lynryrd Skynyrd. There are lots of variations on chords found in the key of D here!
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Will now transitions in to more lead oriented playing, starting a must know technique: String bending!
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Now that you've learned how to bend strings, add some vibrato to make those notes sing, and make your guitar sustain even longer!
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Blues is a huge part of classic rock, and this lesson in the style of ZZ Top introduces you to some traditional sounding blues/rock licks that you can use over lots of classic rock tracks!
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Now that Will has showed us the lead licks, he clues us in on the super groovy rhythm part of the ZZ Top sounding tune!
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Earlier in the series, Will gave us a taste of this Jimi Hendrix style track. Now he's going to teach the entire song. Get ready for some serious Hendrix rock and roll attitude!
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In this lesson, Will continues with this Hendrix-esque track, showing us those gritty licks up the neck just like Jimi would play!
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Up until now, Will has mostly been working in the minor pentatonic scale. In this lesson, he introduces us to a major pentatonic sound, that will inspire lots of new ideas!
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The blending of major and minor pentatonic scales is a technique commonly found in classic rock and blues. Will shows us some really simple ideas to get us started on this cool sounding technique!
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In this very classic sounding track, Will covers some essential rhythm guitar techniques as well as some lead guitar licks that will help you get "the bends"!
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Will continues in the super classic sounding track, this time showing you some extremely useful inversion chords.
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Now Will gets into the gritty rhythm guitar parts of the track. You'll learn to play power chords in ways you perhaps never thought of before. Get ready to rock!
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In this lesson, Will shows us some atmospheric sounding chord voicings as well as a driving rhythm part that adds a definite 'cool' factor to this track. Then, he goes over all the parts with the track!
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This is a great blues-rock track that conjures up images of Eric Clapton with Cream, and a dash of Jimi Hendrix thrown in. In the next two lessons, Will covers both rhythm and lead aspects of the tune.
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Continuing with this track, Will now shows us a classic lead guitar technique known as "sixths".
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In this very Led Zeppelin-esque track, you'll learn about intervals, huge sounding chords, and unison bends. In other words, lots of great classic rock techniques!
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In part two of this lesson, Will expands on the chorus section and shows us that gritty rock guitar technique - unison bends.
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There are definite echoes of Malcolm and Angus Young in this vintage rocker. Will covers all the rhythm and lead parts for you, and you will soon learn these techniques will translate to lots of other songs!
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Continuing with this track, Will shows us an alternate rhythm guitar part that conjures up images of Dire Straits, all the while teaching super important chord inversions!
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Now Will gets into the lead guitar parts of this classic sounding track, including blending major and minor pentatonic ideas.
Having covered some of the riff elements of this track in a previous lesson, Will now shows us the super funky rhythm parts that will complete the track.
Earlier in the series, Will showed us a cool single note riff in the style of Heart. Now, he returns to the entire track to show us some driving rhythm guitar parts!
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Continuing with this track in the style of Heart, Will gets you going on vintage riffs played off the one finger A chord.
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Strumming and chords are just as big a part of classic rock as playing riffs is! In this lesson, Will teaches us the art of switching chords with minimal movement to keep the groove clean and tight.
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Will wraps up this track by taking a look at playing some lead guitar lines that soar right off of the original riff we learned all the way back in lesson 3 of this series!
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Time to build those chops! Here's a lick that makes you think of Jimmy Page, and it's not as hard as it seems at first. Will gets you playing the basics, and pretty soon this lick will be smokin'!
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In this lesson Will shows us some other "classic" licks that you can add to your repertoire. These can be integrated in all sorts of classic rock and blues songs!
Will Ripley is back with his series, Rocking on Acoustic Guitar! Known for his electric rock guitar series on Jamplay, Will shows us how to rock on the acoustic with this series geared towards rock, classic rock and pop-rock acoustic guitar techniques.
Welcome to Acoustic Guitar! This series is geared for beginning and intermediate players with a focus on rock, classic rock, and pop-rock aspects of the acoustic guitar. In this video, Will gives you the rundown of what you can expect in this series.
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To get us started on the right foot, Will goes over some foundational techniques that are 'must know' for this series!
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In this lesson, Will gets more specific with the right hand. Learning proper hand placement for strumming and fingerpicking will set you up with a solid foundation!
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Not to forget the left hand, Will focuses in on proper thumb placement on the neck of the guitar, as well as how to get nice clean tones from your guitar without any buzz!
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In this lesson, Will lays out a path for the beginning guitarist. Following this path will ensure you set yourself up for success on the acoustic guitar!
Before Will dives into all the chords you need to know, he brings us this lesson that will set you up for success moving forward. This includes his big secret to changing chords!
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Not all chords are necessary to know when you're just getting going on guitar. Will shows you some essential chords that will get you prepped to play tons of songs!
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Strumming and rhythm are huge parts of learning guitar. Many players feel they have to know very specific patterns. Will is here to teach you that it's more about developing a sense of rhythm that will give you the freedom to create your own patterns.
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Here's a cool little technique that gives some dynamic quality to your playing. Just another tool in your tool belt that you can use at any given time!
Sometimes chords can be much simpler than we think. This is the case in this lesson. With a basic one finger movement, you can play three super cool sounding chords!
This lesson explores these great chords that allow you to get super pro sounds with minimal movement.
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In this lesson, Will expands on these great sounding chords with more easy chord movements. In addition, he shows us how to inject more rhythm into our strumming by accenting certain beats.
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In this lesson, Will has a great track for us done in the style of Buffalo Springfield that is a great vehicle for getting solid strumming and rhythm down pat.
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So much of acoustic guitar strumming is about rhythm. This lesson in the style of a Guns 'n' Roses ballad has a great simple strum pattern that will help you understand connecting with rhythm even more!
Sometimes the coolest sounds are just certain chord shapes moved around the fretboard. This lesson clues you in on how to get some awesome sounds out of your basic E chord shape.
Learning to put accents into your strumming will help you become a more dynamic player, especially when you're playing by yourself! This lesson works on the accents, plus a simple chord progression with a key transitional chord.
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Another classic sounding chord progression here from Will! This lesson will also focus in on changing chords efficiently and smoothly, as well as how to add dynamics to your playing.
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It's time to ramp up the difficulty on your chords! Luckily, Will gives us a great track at a moderate to slow tempo to work out this very Beatlesque chord progression. If you can master this, you will have earned your chord playing diploma!
In a basic sense, your acoustic guitar is really a percussion instrument. To start to get the most out of that aspect of your guitar, Will shows us a great technique for injecting rhythm into your playing: Slap Strumming.
Now, let's take this new technique of slap strumming and apply it to some tracks we've already learned in this series. This will help you see the value of injecting rhythm into your playing, especially when you're playing your guitar all by yourself!
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Open barre chord shapes allow you to get very cool colors in your chords by using open strings. Will shows us some of his favorite open barre chord shapes, leading us up to a very cool track in the next lesson!
Now we put those open barre chord shapes to use with this 90's sounding track. This is also a great track for practicing big chord movements around the neck!
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So you've mastered the open barre chord shapes, now it's time to make a slight adjustment and voila! You've got your full barre chord shapes. These shapes will truly open up the entire fretboard to you, and Will uses that to lead us into some cool barre chord songs in the next few lessons!
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Putting those full barre chord shapes to work, Will teaches us a chord progression reminiscent of Jason Mraz. This will allow you to use the shapes you learned, plus practice moving them around the neck of the guitar!
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Learning the nuances of strumming is something that can really take your acoustic playing to the next level. In the track that Will made just for this series, he gets into the details of getting a good strum going which adds lots of dynamics and feel to the track!
This lesson is about big, resonant chords. These chords turn your guitar into a huge sounding instrument! In the chorus section of this track, Will shows you how to get the most out of these chords.
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Now it's time to learn the signature lead melody of this track! Not only does Will show us the notes, but he also gets us going on some fundamental techniques like bending, vibrato and hammer-ons.
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7th chords can drastically change the tonal character of not only chords you're playing, but the songs you're playing them in. Will gets you up to speed on your dominant 7th and minor 7th barre chords, which can be used all over the neck!
In lesson #29, Will unveils a classic sounding R&B style track that will give you all the practice you need on your barre chord shapes, particularly the dominant 7th shapes.
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In part two of this lesson, Will takes a look at 'thumb chords' as a great alternative to your regular barre chords. And as always, he looks at the rhythm and strumming, adding another type of feel to your repertoire!
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Adding chord hammer-ons and embellishments is a great way to really step up your game on the acoustic guitar. In this lesson, Will gives you the low down on some commonly used chordal hammer-ons that will make you sound even more pro!
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The moving bass technique is something commonly found in country, old rock and roll and rockabilly. Join Will as he gets us up to speed with this super fun technique!
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Are 'slash' chord still a mystery to you? Well, this lesson is designed to take away that mystery, and get you playing these chords that add a lot color to your sound!
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Here's a cool mellow track in the style of John Mellencamp or Neil Young that gets you moving certain shapes around the neck. This one's a lot of fun!
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Lots of triads shapes can be moved around the neck to get great, colorful sounds. Will takes the common shapes in this lesson, and shows you how and where to move them!
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For some of us, fingerpicking can be quite the mysterious process. Will demystifies that process in this lesson, giving you some simple, attainable techniques to get you started on this must know guitar style!
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Now that you've got a few fingerpicking basics under your belt, here's a catchy descending riff that is fingerpicked in the style of Santana or Led Zeppelin.
Fingerpicking can be applied in many different ways. Case in point, this is a riff we learned to play with a pick earlier in the series, now Will shows us how the riff can be just as effective using a fingerpicking technique.
This lesson encapsulates a lot of elements of classic acoustic blues, but with a rock 'n' roll attitude. Explore the minor pentatonic scale, along with fingerpicking to get that traditional Delta Blues sound!
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Will now continues with the "B" section of the Acoustic Blues track. Here we'll find some driving, straight ahead strumming, culminating with a simple yet effective minor pentatonic lick at the end of the section.
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This one is all about the shapes. Once you get these intervallic shapes down, you open a whole new world of sounds on your guitar. Couple that with a very rhythmic track, and you end up with a very uplifting, fun practice time!
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Here's a nice acoustic rock ballad done in the style of Radiohead or John Mayer. This track incorporates some very atmospheric chord voicings, as well as right hand techniques such as strumming without at pick and fingerpicking.
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This technique is sort of a hybrid between strumming and picking. Will uses a track that we learned earlier in the series to demonstrate this technique that you will find in all sorts of classic songs. A great technique to know, it can do a lot to spice up your strumming!
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Capos: A great inspirational tool, or a great mystery? In this last lesson of the series, Will attempts to demystify the capo with some basic information that can get you started using one right away!
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Will Ripley brings us an easy to follow approach to music theory. Designed for someone just out of the beginner stage of guitar playing, Functional Rock Guitar Theory breaks down the concepts that you will use in your everyday playing. In addition, it is geared towards rock and blues guitar, which means it is tailored to concepts that will advance your playing in those genres!
Welcome to Functional Rock Guitar Theory! In the introduction, Will gives you a taste of what you'll find in this basic, usable music theory course.
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Will starts this course out with a basic skill that every guitar player uses at some point: Finding the Key of a Song. He gives us some basics tips and tricks to make this an easy task!
No doubt, one of the most daunting tasks of guitar playing is learning all of the notes on your fretboard. Not to fear! Will breaks down and demystifies this scary process, and you'll have it all memorized in no time!
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One of, if not THE most important building block of music theory is the major scale. In this lesson, Will discusses the structure and tonality of the scale.
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What about all of those "in between" notes? The notes not in the major scale? Those are the notes that add interesting color to music. In this lesson, Will shows you the chromatic scale, and gives you a basic way to practice it.
Being able to recognize intervals and getting used to how they sound is a very key part of making music theory work for you. In this lesson, Will takes a look at how all 12 notes sound against a root note, in this case, the key of C.
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What are chords? How do they work? How are they built? Will answers these and other questions in this fundamental theory lesson!
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Now that we have looked at how basics chords are built, Will takes a look at extensions to chords. These are the notes added to chords that give them specific tones or "colors".
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Being able to figure out your intervals is one of the more useful music theory applications for your guitar playing. In this lesson, Will gives you quick, easy methods for fast location of your intervals!
Now that we're getting familiar with the major scale, as well as several different chord types, it's time to connect the dots with the diatonic chord sequence. That's right - each note of the major scale gets it's very own chord! Sound complicated? Not to worry - Will makes it easy to understand in this lesson.
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Learning the pop diatonic chord sequence by itself can seem a bit out of context. Will gives us a useful track in this lesson, that will show you what that sequence sounds like in a real song.
Ok, now that you have some context for the chord sequence, let's change keys. Wait, what?? Not to worry! Will has given you all the tools you need to transpose this stock pop song to a different key!
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In the world of music theory, blues is in a class by itself. In this lesson, Will examines the differences between blues theory and normal diatonic theory.
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In this lesson, Will talks about what makes up the different pentatonic positions, and how to relate the minor pentatonic to the major pentatonic scale.
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We've looked at the pop diatonic chord sequence, now it's time to look at the rock diatonic chord sequence. This has different flavor that says nothing other than "rock"!
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Now it's time to apply some of this theory we're learning, and we find out how much it can help us when navigating certain chord progressions. Changing in and out of major and minor sounding licks and scales will be a lot easier if you know where and what you're playing!
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Modes are sometimes a great source of confusion for a lot of guitar players. In this lesson, Will hopes to demystify them a bit by giving straight forward descriptions and examples.
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Arpeggios are an important piece of the puzzle when converting music theory to actual playing. In this lesson, Will explains what arpeggios are, and shows you different ways to use them.
Triad shapes are one of the most useful tools in advancing your guitar playing. Learning the various shapes and how to move them around the fretboard will not only enhance your playing, but it will also deepen your theory knowledge!
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Now that you've learned some different triad shapes, it's time to put them into context in a musical situation.
The capo can either be a super useful tool, or a complete mystery! In this lesson, Will tries to demystify the capo and gives you some practical uses for it.
One of the greatest guitarists to emerge from the 80's, Guns 'n' Roses guitarist Slash presents a challenging style and sound to emulate. Join Will Ripley as he dissects what makes Slash such an influential guitarist! Will tackles everything from Slash's tone and gear, to his unique way of approaching solos and lead guitar playing.
There's no doubt that Slash is one of the most influential guitarists to come out of the decade of the 80's. In the series introduction, Will gives you a sneak peek of what you can expect from this rockin' series!
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To start out this series, Will is going to go over some key elements to Slash's style, including how he gets his iconic tone.
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Here's a classic sounding riff from Will done in the style of the song "Paradise City". This is a great riff for beginner and intermediate players alike!
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We've learned the riff, now Will takes a look at some chord elements done in the style of the song "Paradise City". Open power chords and arpeggios highlight this lesson!
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Here's a Slash style lick that will get you out of the pentatonic mindset, and get you using the minor scale. Will also shows you how to make the adjustment to use it in a major context as well.
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In this lesson, Will takes a closer look at some of Slash's expressive techniques. Vibrato, bending and legato playing is at the top of the list!
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Now that Will has shown us a couple of Slash licks and techniques, we return to the track done in the style of Paradise City, and get a really cool Slash style solo going!
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These are some great "shapes" to get into your playing that are a very signature part of Slash's sound. Both easy and effective, you'll be getting ever closer to the Slash sound!
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Here are even more Slash style licks that you can integrate into all of your playing, not just Slash songs. If you can master these, you'll be a rock god!
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Will continues in this lesson showing us more licks in the style of Slash. Learn a sweeping lick, as well as how Slash uses double stops and intervals!
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Heavy power chord riffs and modulating changes highlight this track done in the style of iconic Guns 'n' Roses songs Welcome to the Jungle and Night Train. In this lesson, Will breaks down the chords and rhythm guitar parts.
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This lesson along with upcoming lessons gives major insight into how Slash approaches licks and soloing. It all starts with analyzing the tonality of the chords of the song.
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In this lesson, Will gives us a bird's eye look at how Slash approaches his solos. SPOILER ALERT: You need to know what chords you're playing over!
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Here's a riff that really captures the Slash, Guns 'n' Roses vibe. A single note melody that follows chord shapes comes right out of the Slash repertoire!
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Slash frequently plays in such a way that is just slightly outside of the normal blues/rock tonality. In part 1 of this lesson, Will takes a closer look at what is going on that gives Slash his unique vibe.
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In this lesson, Will clues us in to some scales and hot zones to play over the first part of the SCOM style solo.
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Part 3 of this lesson culminates with the fury that is the minor pentatonic scale unleashed! Will shows us how to ramp up the intensity to a fiery fast fever pitch! But before all of that, you've got to understand what you're playing over, so chord analyzing is a must!
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