Do you want to play fast but when you try your playing sounds sloppy? Something that might be causing your playing to sound sloppy is lifting the fingers of your fretting hand too high while playing. This can also inhibit speed. If you lift the fingers of your fretting hand up quite high while playing, it makes it harder to play notes with more accuracy. If your fingers are lifting up quite high from the strings it also makes it harder to play fast. Watch a drummer playing a drum roll – their sticks and hands stay close to the snare. It would be impossible to match the speed they can achieve w ..read more

Do you struggle with stretches in riffs and licks? A lot of people believe the ability to stretch your fingers apart in riffs and licks comes down to hand size. This isn’t true. I’ve lost count at the amount of times a student as said to me “easy for you to say, you’ve got big hands!” I always respond by holding out my fretting hand to compare it with theirs, most of the time their hands are bigger. The ability to play wide stretches in riffs and licks comes down to technique, not hand size. Keeping your fingers straight in relation to the frets can help a lot with stretches in riffs and licks ..read more

Have you ever felt like your guitar playing is improving really slowly?⁠ You’re not the first! If you’re using good technique, practicing the right things, putting in an adequate amount of practice and seeing a good teacher – chances are you’re improving FASTER than you realise! It just seems slow. Remember when you’d visit your relatives as a kid? They’d say “wow, you’re growing fast!” While you think “I am?” Being the one who looks at yourself every day and measures yourself once a week – it can feel like you’re not growing at all. But to people who don’t see you regularly – it’s a different ..read more

Are you skeptical about Zoom lessons? So was Leeroy before he decided to give them a go!⁠ Leeroy lives in Melbourne but felt that traveling to guitar lessons would be too hard to fit in his busy schedule. He tried my FREE trial lesson and never looked back! Leeroy has made some huge improvements from his lessons and is really glad he gave them a go! “At first I was pretty skeptical about Zoom lesson but Dean is a fantastic teacher that really takes the time to find out what I want to play and what goals I want to achieve. He’s also a wicked player which is really inspiring!” – Leeroy ..read more

Do you have a certain way you approach soloing? Something I really like doing is mixing classic 70’s rock licks with more traditional shred playing. As much as I like playing fast, I wouldn’t want to listen to a solo that was balls to the wall shred the whole time. I liken fast playing to adding chilli to your cooking. You wouldn’t serve your friend a plate of chilli flakes, you’d use the chilli flakes to spice up a dish that would be comprised mainly of foundational foods. The same goes for solos. Fast licks are a great way to spice up a solo, but if the solo is comprised entirely of fast lic ..read more

Want to know what some people consider one of the biggest mysteries in lead guitar? Phrasing! The art of phrasing seems to be a mystery to so many guitar players! To demystify it a little bit I want you to think about a phrase as a musical sentence. A guitar solo, in a lot of ways is a combination of phrases. Think of these phrases as sentences in a conversation punctuated with commas and full stops.⁠ These musical sentences tell the listener what you want them to hear and cause them to feel what you want them to feel.⁠ Does this mean a phrase is the same as a lick? Well, yes. I suppose so. Bu ..read more

Have you ever stopped something only to regret it a few years down the track? So many of my students tell me they started playing guitar when they were younger but gave it up. They say “I wish I kept going with it, I’d probably be quite good now if I did.” As far as I’m concerned the only way to fail is to STOP TRYING!⁠ Failing is NOT playing badly.⁠ Failing is NOT feeling like your fingers are slow, weak and uncoordinated.⁠ Failing is NOT feeling like you’re progressing slowly.⁠ Failing is NOT feeling like you’re never going to get it.⁠ Failing is NOT feeling like you don’t have what it ..read more

Do you think you’ve got no chance at developing the ability to improvise solos? So did Clare before she started lessons with me! When students of mine want to learn how to improvise we do 3 things: 1. I teach them scales that are relevant to the type of soloing they want to be able to do. 2. We go through each scale position and I show them common ways guitar players they want to be able to solo like use them. 3. We workshop different ways we can link these ideas together over a riff or chord progression.⁠ There are lots of other things we can do as well as these 3 things to develop the ..read more

How many styles of guitar playing do you need to be able to play well in order to be a good guitarist?⁠ The answer is simple: Just 1 – the style you want to be able to play well. It’s a common misconception that in order to be a good guitar player you’ve got to be able to play a bit of everything well. This just isn’t true. Something I’m asked quite a lot by students is “would it help for me to learn that style, too?”⁠ When I ask rock, metal and blues players why they feel they need to learn jazz, fusion, folk and classical styles, they generally give the following answers:⁠ “Well, I was watch ..read more