Alien Guitar Secrets Blog RSS

bridge, composition, form, hook, intro, middle eight, motivation, pre-chorus, song, songwriting, structure, technique, verse - May 28, 2019

Understanding Song Structure & Forms

So, you practice your ass off with licks and arpeggios, but you soon realize that all of these scales and and other 'shredderings' are useless unless you put them into a song. So how do you do that? Well, if chord progressions are the building blocks of a song, then understanding a songs' structure and form is the blueprint you must be able to read.

The Pandoras Box of Visualisation

The scientific evidence is now stacking up and beginning to support that which I have been saying for two decades now. Yes! Science is agreeing with me in that you can visualise yourself to a much better version of the player you are today. And with consistent attention and action, you can literally become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Read more

February 20, 2019

The Importance of Ear Training

The idea of developing or training one’s ears to achieve better results in your guitar playing and over all musicianship, isn’t a new concept. In fact, if I take you back to the early 80’s (when I was a boy, becoming a man), I can tell you that I would use my ears to figure out songs and guitar solos over 90% of the time.

Read more

February 13, 2019

Singing What You Want to Play

Whenever I try to get my students to begin singing the scales they are practicing or singing out loud melodic ideas that they are hearing in their head, I am generally ( almost always) met with resistance to the process.

The three(3) most common excuses for not wanting to sing are

I don’t sing
I can’t sing
I am learning to play guitar, I didn’t come here to learn how to sing

Is that you? Can you relate?

Read more

March 15, 2018

How To Write Face Melting Guitar Licks

Writing your own licks isn’t as hard you might think. It can be challenging, but for me that’s where the joy is. Coming up with something that is both catchy and melodic, a musical phrase that can stand on its own is a very creative process. And once a fresh lick is under your fingers it is so satisfying, that you just have to

Read more