Archives for January 2014

50 of The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time

April 2, 2020 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Bigstock photo
We all have our personal favorite “greatest guitar solo of all time ever”. And the beauty is, you can’t argue with that. Everyone has a different taste.

But fortunately we still do. :) We like to argue which is the best, most beautiful, wicked, coolest or melodic solo ever played, because it’s fun and we like to share our taste and passion for music.

So I created a list with 50 of the greatest, most beautiful, well known solos of all time in no particular order. Of course there are some personal favorites in there as well. Still I find it hard to say which one I like best if I had to choose only one. It’s comparing apples and oranges. One of my all time favorites which is not on the list by the way is the solo of Rest in peace by Nuno Bettencourt from the band Extreme. But then again what can beat Hotel California by the Eagles or… ah never mind, looking at the list below I can’t possibly stick to a top 3. And why should I?

That’s why it’s not a top 50 list. And as I said earlier “in no particular order”, although it could be :). Of course the list isn’t complete either, far from it.

So what is it then? Well it’s a list to inspire, to motivate and to enjoy. A list that makes you want to pick up your guitar and learn that awesome solo. To bring back memories and let your guitar playing be influenced by all those beautiful melodies and masterpieces.

Let’s take a look, have a listen and create some new ideas for your practice workout, adding some stunning guitar licks, new techniques or a complete solo to your repertoire.

All the songs are attached to a link which sends you straight to the solo part on youtube. Try to refresh the youtube page if doesn’t work straight away. In the worst case scenario skip to the solo part manually.

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Enjoy and have fun!

The Four Most Essential Barre Chords

By Klaus Crow 20 Comments

September 6, 2023 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Bigstock photo

Once you know how to play open chords like C, A, G, E, D, Em, Am, Dm and different chord forms like sus2, sus4, dom7, min7, add9, etc, it’s time to learn barre chords, also known as bar chords.

Beginner students often ask if it’s really necessary to learn barre chords. Well if you want to become a better guitar player? Yes!

Although you can play lots of songs with just open chords, your playing will also be limited at the same time.

With barre chords you’ll have much more versatility in your playing. New doors will open and cool tricks will come out of the bag. Also switching between chords will become real easy and not to mention a lot of popular songs are played with barre chords.

Learning barre chords can be a little bit overwhelming at first, because they’re hard to play and probably won’t sound that great in the beginning.

When you play a barre chord you might not hear all the notes yet or even any notes at all, but regular practice will get you there. It will take time and effort, but it will pay off big time.

The barre chords are a lot more challenging but also a lot more beneficial, because you can move one barre chord shape all across the fretboard and play the same chord shape in 12 different keys.
I’ll tell you more about that in a minute.

Bar Chord Shapes

In this post I’ll show the four most essential barre chord shapes. While there are many other barre chord shapes, these are the ones that you will probably use most of the time. Also a lot of other barre chords are derived from these shapes.

40 Thought Provoking Questions For Guitar Players

By Klaus Crow 11 Comments

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Bigstock photo
Thought provoking questions can make you realize what you’re missing out on in life, what you are grateful for or what things are still left undone.

I always ask myself stimulating questions from time to time to make sure I’m on the right track and staying true to myself and the people around me.

Are you still being honest with yourself? Are you sure you know where you stand?

Let’s take a look at some guitar-player-life-examining questions to trigger your thought process.

Print the questions and write down your answers in a notebook. Are you content or are you going to make a change?

Let’s find out!

1 – Where do you want your guitar skills to be a year from now?

2 – What music gets you excited and why?

3 – What would you do if you knew there would be no way you could fail?

4 – Why aren’t you playing guitar as much as you would like to?

5 – Are you thinking outside of the box? if so, are you also acting outside of the box?
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What is The CAGED System? (The Keys to The Fretboard)

By Klaus Crow 24 Comments

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Bigstock photo
Whenever you try to deepen your guitar knowledge and you buy a guitar music theory book or look up something on the internet you keep bumping into the CAGED system.

There comes a point when it’s unavoidable, that means it’s time and probably something worth knowing about.

Let me rephrase that “definitely something worth knowing about”.

So then, what’s all the fuzz about the CAGED system?

Well, if you want to be serious about guitar playing and you want to understand how the guitar in relation to the fretboard works, the CAGED system is an absolute valuable tool. Let’s take a good look and see what this is all about.

The CAGED system gives you a logic overview of the fretboard. It makes it much easier to find your way around the neck and understand how chords, chord shapes and scales are related to each other as well as a lot of other things on the guitar. (arpeggios, triads, licks, etc.)

The CAGED system is derived from the five open major chord shapes: C, A, G, E and D. Each chord shape can be moved up on the fretboard. To do so we first have to take the 5 open chord shapes and turn them into closed chord shapes. That means there are no open strings in the chord. By barring the fret and then playing the shape next to it you can easily move the chord up and down the neck and play each shape in all 12 keys.Continue Reading