Play Guitar Podcast

Octaves are one of the easiest ways to unlock the fretboard and start seeing how notes connect across the neck. In this lesson, I'll walk you through 3 easy octave exercises to help you find notes faster, get more mileage out of your licks, and add new texture to your playing. ▶▶ Ready for a clear practice path? My Play Guitar Toolkits are complete practice systems that give you the lessons, exerc...

The same note can be played on different guitar strings, but each location gives you a different sound and a new way to move around the fretboard. In this episode, we'll explore how the strings overlap and use three exercises to find shared notes, connect scale patterns, and play the same melody in different locations. ▶▶ Last call for one-on-one Play Guitar Coaching! Get in before I switch to gro...

Most guitar players know the notes repeat after the 12th fret, but knowing it and actually using it are two different things. In this lesson, you'll use this overlooked fretboard trick with technique, scales, and arpeggios to make playing above the 12th fret easier. ▶▶ Want to get more comfortable with the scale patterns across the fretboard? Grab my free Big Four Scale Pattern Worksheet https://w...

Learn three easy chromatic exercises that move across the guitar fretboard in completely different ways. Practice them slowly while saying the notes out loud to work on your technique, ear training, and fretboard mastery at the same time. ▶▶ Want a clear path forward with your guitar playing? Check out the Play Guitar Academy Toolkits: https://www.playguitaracademy.com WANT TO GO DEEPER? -  https:...

Finding the notes on your guitar fretboard doesn't have to mean memorizing every fret one at a time. In this lesson, I'll show you how to use the musical alphabet to find the natural notes on the fretboard, then use those notes to help you find the sharps and flats around them. Want to go deeper? Read my complete guide to learning the notes on the guitar fretboard. https://www.playguitaracademy.co...

Pentatonic scales may be simple, but those five notes can give you a lifetime of musical possibilities. In this episode, we'll explore how pentatonic patterns open up across the fretboard and become more useful as your playing grows. ▶▶ Ready to explore beyond one pentatonic pattern? Get my free Big Four Scale Pattern Worksheet and start connecting the pentatonic scale across the fretboard.   http...

Guitar scales can look like an endless collection of patterns, keys, and sounds to learn. In this episode, you'll discover how much of that knowledge is connected—and why the scale work you're doing now can take you much farther than you think. ▶▶ See how much of the work is already connected. Get my free Big Four Scale Pattern Worksheet and compare the five patterns for Major, Natural Minor, Majo...

The guitar fretboard gets much easier to understand when the things you've learned start connecting. In this episode, I'll show you how patterns, landmarks, and relationships can turn a confusing collection of frets into one connected map. ▶▶ Ready to start building your own fretboard map? Get my free Big Four Scale Pattern Worksheet with all five patterns for Major, Natural Minor, Major Pentatoni...

The Five Pattern Scale System helps you stop seeing isolated scale shapes and start seeing one connected fretboard. In this episode, I'll explain why I recommend learning all five patterns and how they create the foundation for improvisation, intervals, arpeggios, CAGED, and so much more. Ready to connect the entire fretboard? Check out the Blues Elevation Toolkit, where I'll guide you step by ste...

For over 35 years I've watched guitar education evolve through private lessons, books, VHS tapes, DVDs, websites, YouTube, memberships, apps, and now AI. Information has never been easier to access. So why are so many guitar players still asking the same question... "What should I practice today?" In this episode I share why I believe guitar learning is entering a new era, why information alone is...

Many guitarists believe better solos come from learning more scales, but great improvisation often starts somewhere else entirely. In this episode, we'll explore why the melody may be the most overlooked tool for creating solos that sound musical, memorable, and connected to the song. Discover how to use melody to create expressive blues solos with Blues Solo Breakthrough: https://www.playguitarac...

Many guitarists spend years learning new chords while overlooking the habits that actually make chords sound clean, confident, and musical. In this episode, we'll explore the three biggest reasons your chords aren't sounding their best and what you can do to fix them. Download the Guide to Clear Sounding Chords and learn the simple adjustments that make every chord cleaner, clearer, and easier to...

Most guitarists spend years practicing scales without seeing meaningful improvement because they're focusing on patterns instead of sounds. In this episode, we'll explore why scale practice often fails and how a few simple changes can transform it into a tool for ear training, phrasing, and real musical growth. Download Blues Solo Breakthrough and get the backing tracks, scale diagrams, and comple...

Most blues players don't struggle because they lack licks, they struggle because they don't know how to develop ideas over time. In this episode we'll explore how great blues players create longer solos by connecting, expanding, and evolving simple musical phrases. Download the Blues Elevation Toolkit and learn how to connect your ideas into expressive solos that sound musical instead of repetitiv...

Most guitar players think better solos come from learning more licks. In reality, one of the biggest differences between average players and great blues players is their ability to leave space. In this episode, Lee demonstrates three simple blues phrases that become dramatically more expressive when strategic rests are added. You'll learn how silence creates anticipation, highlights important targ...

Ready to make your blues solos sound more intentional and musical? Download the Blues Elevation Toolkit and learn how to target the notes that matter most in your solos: https://www.playguitaracademy.com/blues-elevation-toolkit --- Most guitar players believe that sounding better means playing more notes. More scales. More licks. More complexity. But many of the greatest blues players do the exact...

Have you ever wondered why some notes instantly sound powerful while others seem to pass by unnoticed? In this episode you'll discover how great blues players create emotional impact by understanding which notes carry the most weight. Download the Blues Elevation Toolkit to learn how to create more emotional and expressive solos using notes that truly connect with the music:  https://www.playguita...

▶▶ Download the Blues Elevation Toolkit and discover how to turn simple scale patterns into expressive blues solos: https://www.playguitaracademy.com/blues-elevation-toolkit Many players spend years trying to escape Pattern 1 when the real issue is how they are using it. In this episode you'll discover why great blues players keep returning to Pattern 1 and how to start hearing its musical potenti...

▶▶ Grab the Blues Elevation Toolkit and start hearing chord changes without guessing: https://www.playguitaracademy.com/blues-elevation-toolkit Most guitar players don't actually get lost in chord changes because they don't know enough scales, they get lost because they never learned how to hear and target the movement happening underneath the solo. In this lesson, I'll show you a simple way to fo...

▶▶ Download my free Blues Solo Breakthrough course below and start turning patterns into musical blues solos: https://www.playguitaracademy.com/bluessolobreakthrough Playing what you hear feels hard because most guitar players try to find an entire phrase before they can confidently find one note. In this episode, Lee breaks down why your ear gets disconnected from the fretboard and how to rebuild...

If your blues solos feel like disconnected licks instead of real music, this episode will help you understand why. We'll break down the real problem behind repetitive soloing and show you how phrasing, direction, and endings create musical solos. ▶▶ Check out the free Blues Solo Breakthrough course below if you want help building solos that actually sound musical and connected. https://www.playgui...

▶▶ Ready to connect your chords, scales, and soloing across the fretboard? Grab the Blues Solo Breakthrough free course here: https://www.playguitaracademy.com/bluessolobreakthrough   Most guitar players can play chords and they can play lead, but the moment they try to connect the two, everything falls apart. In this episode I break down the real reason switching from rhythm to lead feels awkward...

Ever wonder why your favorite blues pros sound just right while your solos still feel a bit sour and repetitive? Today, we're going beyond basic major and minor scales to uncover the Hybrid Mixolydian secret that fixes the "diatonic trap" and unlocks a professional blues sound. ▶▶ Start building solos that make sense with the free Blues Solo Breakthrough course, link in the description.https://www...

▶▶ Learn to Solo in Blues with my FREE course - Blues Solo Breakthrough: https://www.playguitaracademy.com/bluessolobreakthrough Why do we get stuck playing the same three notes at the end of every song? Today, I'm revealing the system behind the licks so you can stop memorizing and start creating your own variations. SHOW NOTES FOR THIS EPISODE- https://www.playguitaracademy.com/blog/how-to-creat...

If your solos feel cluttered and rushed, you're probably overplaying. Here's how to fix that fast and make your solos sound better immediately. ▶▶ Get your blues solos under control with my free course, Blues Solo Breakthrough: https://www.playguitaracademy.com/bluessolobreakthrough   SHOW NOTES FOR THIS EPISODE-  https://www.playguitaracademy.com/blog/why-do-you-overplay-and-how-to-fix-it-fast-46...