My first guitar was not actually a guitar, but instead something that "Looks like a real electric instrument."

As you can tell from recent Video Exchanges, I've really been enjoying having "instant backing tracks" thanks to the Ditto Looper pedal. The only problem that I've had with the pedal has been... my big feet. It's a small pedal, and sometimes when I try to press the footswitch, I miss it because my foot hits the volume knob first. 

I'll be in CHAT on Tuesday, August 27th, at 9:15 a.m. (Pacific Standard Time.)

See you there!

Thank you,

Paul

p.s. we're going to be adding Forum Jams™, so get ready to lay down some tracks to my lead and we'll jam from the Forums and post our collaboration on the site!

With an amp this big, do you really need to be in-tune? Every guitarist must decide for themselves.

I'm back from a short vacation to Oregon. It was beautiful. But I'm glad to be back in L.A. with a guitar in my hands. I'll be working on new Video Exchanges this week, plus shooting a in-depth video interview with an incredible guitarist that I know everyone will be excited to see (These interviews take a week or so to edit, so stay tuned.)

Thanks for waiting for me!

Paul

I always get excited about learning some new guitar chords. In the latest bonus lesson (in the latest welcome video above), I found some guitar chords that I really like. Here are a couple versions of the song to see how they sound with a band. Remember that I'm not necessarily looking for the guitar part on the recording, but instead looking for the main chords of all the instruments, to make a "campfire" version of the song.

I'm not sure how many rock faces exist in the world. But I believe there is always room for one more.

Thank you,

Paul

I was going through some old photos from a photo session with Larry DiMarzio, and I came across this one where I'm playing my black Ibanez Destroyer. I think a great philosopher once said, "Don't go through life without owning at least one pointy guitar." Or maybe it was purple velvet pants. I can't remember...

Thank you,

Paul

Today was the last day of the Great Guitar Escape. A photographer (Michael Bloom) sent me some photos, so I thought I'd post a few here. This morning I did one more jam with all of the students. This time I used the riff from "The Lemon Song" by Led Zeppelin. Andy Timmons played bass, so I didn't need the loop pedal. Everyone played great!

Today I gave private lessons, did a workshop about learning songs to understand chords and solos, signed autographs and took pictures with everyone, and hosted the final concert. Even though we had little or no rehearsal, the performances were actually really tight and the band had a great groove. And of course, we did lots of guitar solo trading in every song. Near the end of the show, I decided to do a guitar solo using my shoulders. Every time I played an accent, I moved one of my shoulders at the same time.