Modern Guitar - Advanced Concepts

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John Connearn Tutor, Professional Guitarist

Course Content Overview

John Connearn—a highly respected guitarist, LickLibrary tutor, and modern music innovator—will guide you through these essential advanced frameworks with clarity, efficiency, and real-world application. You will learn the secrets behind building a consistent practice routine, developing clean alternate picking, and executing fluid legato phrasing. Each lesson is a step-by-step journey into fretboard mastery, focusing on the core techniques that drive confident improvisation and memorable lead lines inspired by legends like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, and John Petrucci.

Course contents:

• Alternate Picking — Master the fundamental technique that enhances picking speed, accuracy, and efficiency. By consistently alternating between downstrokes and upstrokes, you will achieve fluidity in fast-paced passages while maintaining articulation and clarity.
• Legato — Explore the smooth, connected sounds of hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides. This technique is essential for executing fast runs with a flowing, vocal-like quality, minimizing picking while maximizing expression.
• Tremolo Picking — Focus on rapid alternate picking of a single note to create a sustained, high-energy effect. This technique is used across various genres to add intensity and drive to your solos and riffs.
• Two-Handed Tapping — Build on the legacy of Eddie Van Halen with this essential modern technique. Two-handed tapping allows you to extend your fretboard reach and execute lightning-fast note sequences, enhancing dexterity and opening up new melodic possibilities.
• Sweep Picking — Enable yourself to play arpeggios at high speed with precision by using a smooth, raking motion across the strings. This is an essential technique for neoclassical and shred-style playing.
• String Bending — Develop expressive lead playing by manipulating pitch and adding vocal-like nuances to your solos. Mastering this technique improves dynamic control and emotive phrasing.
• Pinched Harmonics — Produce high-pitched, squealing notes that add aggression and excitement to lead lines. They are a signature element in rock and metal guitar playing.
• Unison Bends — Bend one string to match the pitch of another, creating a thick, expressive sound. This technique is a staple in blues, rock, and fusion playing.
• Double-Stop Bends — Add a harmonised and soulful touch to solos by bending two notes simultaneously, commonly used in blues and rock styles.
• Arpeggios — Break chords into individual notes, allowing for melodic and harmonically rich playing. They are useful in lead guitar phrasing and provide a strong foundation for improvisation.
• Harmonics — Utilize both natural and artificial harmonics to create chime-like tones that enhance dynamic contrast in solos and add unique textures to melodies.

Technical skills you will develop:

• Mastery of alternate picking for fast, articulate, and clean scale runs
• Proficiency in sweep picking for fluidly executing multi-string arpeggios
• Execution of fluid legato phrasing, including precise hammer-ons and pull-offs
• Enhanced fretboard awareness and the ability to connect advanced techniques seamlessly
• Improved rhythmic precision, timing, and overall picking hand control
• A deep understanding of how to apply string bending and harmonics musically
• Development of expressive techniques like two-handed tapping and tremolo picking

This Course is Ideal for Players Who...

Our Modern Guitar - Advanced Concepts guitar course is essential for any guitarist who wants to deepen their understanding of the fretboard and master the art of fluid improvisation. Whether you are an intermediate player looking to sharpen your lead technique, or a dedicated student who wants to build a rock-solid foundation in modern guitar playing, this course is built for you.

This course is perfect for guitarists who are looking to improve their fretboard fluency and break out of repetitive scale boxes; who want to master essential techniques like alternate picking and legato; who are looking to develop a powerful, tight sound with consistent timing; who admire the technical excellence and musical sensitivity of John Connearn; and who believe that a structured, comprehensive approach to advanced concepts is the key to unlocking true creative freedom on the guitar.

What will I achieve from completing this course?

This course goes beyond simply memorising scale patterns—it is an education in the mechanics of confident, musical guitar playing. It is about understanding how a structured approach to advanced techniques can transform your playing and open up the entire fretboard. You will gain unparalleled insight into the teaching methods of John Connearn and learn how his efficient, practical approach to the guitar creates a foundation for limitless improvisation. By focusing on accuracy, timing, and the specific techniques that define modern lead playing—from alternate picking to expressive legato—this course ensures that you do not just learn the techniques, but truly integrate them into your musical vocabulary. For those ready to take their playing to the next level, your journey into advanced modern guitar starts here.