Category Archives for "Preview"

If you’ve been following the Open G tuning series, you’ve already tuned up, found your I–IV–V chords, and explored a few slide basics.

In this third and final lesson, we dive into how to turn that foundation into music—with simple riffs, expressive single-note lines, and even a boogie-woogie shuffle pattern that fuses rhythm and lead.

Working primarily on the 2nd and 3rd strings, you’ll learn how to:
• Build riffs right from your chord shapes
• Target the major third to bring out the flavor of each chord
• Slide smoothly and stay on pitch
• Develop picking precision and rhythmic variety
• Combine boogie-style fretting with slide licks

Colin also explains why finger choice matters, how to keep your tone clean, and how to mix slide with traditional fretted parts for more dynamic playing.

Why Slide Guitar in Open G Tuning Is So Rewarding

Once you get the hang of it, open G slide guitar opens the door to a whole new sound — rich with sustain, expression, and character you just can’t get from standard fretting alone.

Here’s what you’ll gain by learning this style:

🎸 Greater Expressiveness – Learn to bend, glide, and sing between notes in a way that brings your playing to life
🎸 Instant Chord Voicings – Play full-sounding chords with just one finger or a single bar
🎸 Creative Riffs at Your Fingertips – Build melodic lines directly from your chord shapes using major thirds and open positions
🎸 Better Feel and Groove – Develop your picking control and rhythmic instincts using classic blues patterns
🎸 Confidence with Tuning and Technique – Know exactly where your notes are, how to dial in your tone, and how to avoid the common pitfalls most beginners struggle with

Ready to Go Deeper?

If you’re enjoying this series and want to dive into more techniques, licks, and practical slide workouts — we’ve got a full course that walks you through everything.

👉 Check Out the Full Slide Guitar Course Here:

In this follow-up to our first Open G tuning lesson, we dive deeper into what you can actually do once you’re tuned up and ready to go.

In this video, we’ll explore:
• How to understand and use the 1–4–5 progression (G, C, D)
• Why this combo is so important across blues, rock, and country
• Playing the chords fretted or with a slide – your choice
• Tips for adding muting and distortion for better tone and control
• How to make your playing more expressive with alternate bass strumming

If you’re still new to the Nashville Number System or unsure how to play rhythm and lead in Open G, this lesson will open some important doors. And it might just make your slide guitar playing sound a whole lot cooler, too.

This is just one of three free lessons introducing slide guitar in Open G. If you’re ready to take your skills further, check out the full Essentials of Slide Guitar course — a complete training series designed to walk you through everything from tuning and setup to riffs, rhythm, and slide solos.

👉 Grab the full course here:

If you’ve ever been curious about Open G tuning—or how slide guitar works in it—this is a great place to begin.

In this video, Colin Daniel walks through exactly how to get your guitar tuned to Open G (D G D G B D), explains why this tuning is so effective for slide playing, and shows you the basic chord shapes you’ll use most often.

We’ll also look at finger choice for the slide (and why Colin prefers his “bad boy” finger), talk about muting techniques to clean up your tone, and demonstrate a few expressive ways to start moving between chords using the slide.

This is a hands-on lesson, so grab your guitar, get tuned up, and follow along.

In this video, you’ll learn:
• How to tune to Open G Major
• Why this tuning is ideal for slide guitar
• The I–IV–V chord positions in Open G (G, C, and D)
• Basic muting and tone control techniques
• How to combine slide lines with fretted intervals
• And how to start playing simple musical ideas with great feel

Want to go deeper with slide guitar?
This video is just the beginning.

If you’re ready to take your playing further, check out the full course:

If you’ve got questions or comments, please leave them down below. If you’re ready to take your guitar playing to the next level, checkout the Definitive Beginner’s Guide To Acoustic Guitar.

This lesson is your first step toward playing real blues — not exercises, not theory dumps, just the good stuff. If you’ve ever felt stuck or unsure how to sound “right” on electric guitar… you’re in the right place.

In this first lesson, you’ll learn a simple but powerful riff inspired by Mannish Boy — using just three notes and a solid groove. We’ll start slow, break down the picking, and show you how to count in and keep things clean. This is the foundation of everything that follows in the series.

Alright, you're nearly there! We're learning more riffs again today, and taking this solo a few bars further. If you need to review any of the previous lessons, the links are here:

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Ever notice how your solos can sound thin, even when you’re hitting the right notes? That’s because single-note lines lack harmonic depth.

Here’s the trick your heroes used: play your melody on the B-string while letting the high E drone ring out underneath. Suddenly, your guitar doesn’t sound like one lonely line anymore — it sounds full, rich, alive… like two guitars at once.

What You’ll Learn in This Lesson

• A classic 6-5-4 progression (Am → G → F) — same backbone as Stairway to Heaven and Watchtower
• How to combine diatonic + pentatonic scales vertically on one string
• A hammer-on + drone technique that makes your solos instantly sound bigger
• Ways to connect scale positions smoothly without sounding “boxy”

Go Deeper: Unlock the Drone Riffs System

What you just learned is one piece of a much bigger puzzle. Hendrix and Van Halen didn’t just play single notes — they used drone techniques to make one guitar sound impossibly full.

That’s what the Drone Riffs Course (The Guitar Player’s Bag of Riff Tricks) is all about. The vertical trick you just learned is just the beginning — in the full course, you’ll discover how pros like Hendrix, Van Halen, and Petty expanded this into their signature sounds.

Inside, you’ll discover:

• The Van Halen “Double Guitar” Effect — how he layered sound on Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love
• Hendrix’s Voodoo Child Secrets — the drone patterns that made his solos legendary
• The “Raised 6th” Transformation — Tom Petty’s mysterious minor-scale twist
• Cross-Key Soloing — a pro move that adds instant color (most players never learn it)

This isn’t theory for theory’s sake. It’s 2+ hours of practical methods with jam tracks and tab that make your solos sound professional right away.

Ever get stuck in box patterns when you solo? In this lesson, we’ll build on the vertical riff idea (B-string + E drone) and add a new tool: switchbacks. These descending three-note groups help you break out of rigid scale shapes and connect positions smoothly. Plus, we’ll put it all together in a 6-bar solo over the jam track.

What You’ll Learn in This Lesson

• The difference between melodic vs harmonic drone approaches
• How to use switchbacks (groups of 3 notes) to descend and restart through the scale
• A riff that carries you from the 15th fret all the way to open strings
• How to join two different scale positions seamlessly
• A 6-bar solo riff you can play over the jam track

Go Deeper: Unlock the Drone Riffs System

The switchback idea you just learned is one small part of a much bigger system. Hendrix, Van Halen, and even Tom Petty used drone-note tricks like these to make a single guitar sound impossibly full.

Inside the Drone Riffs Course (The Guitar Player’s Bag of Riff Tricks), you’ll discover:

• The Van Halen “Double Guitar” Effect from Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love
• Hendrix’s Voodoo Child Secrets — drone patterns that built legendary solos
• The Raised 6th Transformation — Tom Petty’s minor-scale twist
• Cross-Key Soloing — a pro approach that adds instant color (most players never learn it)

Welcome back! In this lesson, Colin Daniel from RiffNinja.com shows you how to combine the E major scale on the B string with the open E drone, creating a powerful riff trick inspired by John Fogerty’s “Hey Tonight.”

You’ll learn how to switch between melodic runs and harmonic phrasing, and how the C# minor scale (relative minor of E major) fits perfectly with this approach.

👉 By the end, you’ll have a foundation for a 4-bar solo that blends both styles — and you’ll be ready for Lesson 4 where we put it all together.

Key Takeaways

• The E major scale on the B string gives you a strong melodic foundation.
• You can play it melodically (picked notes) or harmonically (double-stops).
• The C# minor scale connects seamlessly since it’s the relative minor.
• This approach creates a “Fogerty-style” riff sound — perfect for classic rock textures.

Go Deeper: Unlock the Drone Riffs System

What you just learned is one piece of a much bigger puzzle. Hendrix and Van Halen didn’t just play single notes — they used drone techniques to make one guitar sound impossibly full.

That’s what the Drone Riffs Course (The Guitar Player’s Bag of Riff Tricks) is all about. The vertical trick you just learned is just the beginning — in the full course, you’ll discover how pros like Hendrix, Van Halen, and Petty expanded this into their signature sounds.

Inside, you’ll discover:

• The Van Halen “Double Guitar” Effect — how he layered sound on Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love
• Hendrix’s Voodoo Child Secrets — the drone patterns that made his solos legendary
• The “Raised 6th” Transformation — Tom Petty’s mysterious minor-scale twist
• Cross-Key Soloing — a pro move that adds instant color (most players never learn it)

This isn’t theory for theory’s sake. It’s 2+ hours of practical methods with jam tracks and tab that make your solos sound professional right away.

Ready to add some serious flavor to your riffs? In this lesson, Colin shows you a slick vertical riff trick in E major — then takes it a step further by shifting the melody across strings, mixing in harmonic intervals, and capping it all off with a short but powerful solo. This one’s all about getting that full, rich sound that makes your playing stand out.

Key Takeaways:

In this lesson, Colin takes you deeper into vertical riff tricks:

• Shifting melody lines across the B and G strings for richer phrasing
• Mixing melodic and harmonic intervals to create full, ringing riffs
• Building and playing a 4–bar solo in E major using these techniques
• How to practice seamlessly with the included jam track

This isn’t just a “play it once and forget it” lick — it’s a technique you can integrate into your solos and riffs right away.

Go Deeper: Unlock the Drone Riffs System

What you just learned is one piece of a much bigger puzzle. Hendrix and Van Halen didn’t just play single notes — they used drone techniques to make one guitar sound impossibly full.

That’s what the Drone Riffs Course (The Guitar Player’s Bag of Riff Tricks) is all about. The vertical trick you just learned is just the beginning — in the full course, you’ll discover how pros like Hendrix, Van Halen, and Petty expanded this into their signature sounds.

Inside, you’ll discover:

• The Van Halen “Double Guitar” Effect — how he layered sound on Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love
• Hendrix’s Voodoo Child Secrets — the drone patterns that made his solos legendary
• The “Raised 6th” Transformation — Tom Petty’s mysterious minor-scale twist
• Cross-Key Soloing — a pro move that adds instant color (most players never learn it)

This isn’t theory for theory’s sake. It’s 2+ hours of practical methods with jam tracks and tab that make your solos sound professional right away.

In this lesson we're going to look at the chord progression and strum pattern for Under The Boardwalk, by the Drifters. If you're looking for a fun song to play for your friends and have them sing along, this is a great choice.

For more songs like this, checkout Easy Strum Classics.

Verse chords:

Chorus chords:

Strum pattern:

In this lesson we're going to look at the bass line riff for Under The Boardwalk, by the Drifters. (In case you missed the first lesson, you might want to check that one out first). You can use this for a cool intro if you want, or extend it further and use it for a whole verse too. The riffs are below - note that they are not arranged how you would play them in the song, but rather, show the riff for each chord change. You can put them into the arrangement yourself, quite easily.

For classic songs like this, checkout Easy Strum Classics.

In this lesson we're going to look at the chord progression and strum pattern for Looking Out My Backdoor, by CCR. This uses familiar chords, and a cool muted strum pattern that you'll be able to apply to other songs as well.

For more songs like this, checkout Easy Strum Classics.

Verse chords:

Chorus chords:

This is the second part to our series on Looking Out My Backdoor, by CCR. This uses familiar chords, and a cool muted strum pattern that you'll be able to apply to other songs as well. In this one, we cover the key change, the change in tempo, and general arrangement.

For more songs like this, checkout Easy Strum Classics.

Key Change/Instrumental:

Verse 2:

2nd Half of Verse 2, Slowed Down:

This is the second lesson in our five-part blues riff series, inspired by Mannish Boy by Muddy Waters. Designed specifically for beginners, this lesson focuses on using a power chord and shuffle rhythm to lock in that signature chugging groove that makes electric blues feel alive.

In this lesson, we’re going to spice things up. You’ll learn how to make the riff more expressive by adding a new note, stretching a bend, and muting with your picking hand for clarity. It’s all about learning how to say more with the notes you already know — just like Muddy did.

Here's what you'll learn:

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to expand the Mannish Boy-inspired riff by moving it up the neck using double stops. This creates a whole new sound and adds character to your playing — perfect for keeping a jam from sounding repetitive. You’ll also learn how to switch back and forth between riff positions using the open A string as your anchor.

Here's what you'll learn:

You’ve built the groove, added your flavor, and learned how to move around. Now it’s time to wrap it up — literally. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to start and end your blues riff like a real song, complete with a hammer-on, a simple A7 chord, and some performance tips to bring it all together.

Here's what you'll learn:

Here's the download link for the 5 Keys Quick Reference Chords Cheat Sheet.​

>> Click Here To Download <<
(Right Click, Save As)

In the Quick Reference booklet, you'll find easy to use diagrams for the six primary chords in each of the five most common keys used on guitar: A, C, D, E, and G. 

Ready to take your guitar playing to the next level? Checkout The Definitive Beginner's Guide to Acoustic Guitar - it's the same course Lowell is talking about below!