Learning and Lessons

July 17, 2027 Last week it was Simon & Garfunkel and this week it was The Eagles that were in heavy rotation around TG Central. A little bit of Desperado to start, some Jethro Tull to follow (We Used To Know), a hint of my latest project in there with Classical Gas as the finale. […]

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July 10, 2026 This week I revisited a bunch of Paul Simon’s songs, partly because a couple students were working on his songs. That inspired today’s opening improv, and a couple others later. You should hear parts of The Boxer, Duncan, America, and a little Jackson Browne along the way. Our latest challenge: Learn To […]

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July 3, 2026 Due to changing circumstances on the home front, I am moving and purging a lot of stuff. This means over 60 years of musical memories in books and instruments. In honor of July 4, we are encouraging people to learn, or improve their music reading skills. We will be starting a new […]

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June 26, 2026 This week I spent a little time revisiting some of my Gordon Lightfoot albums, which inspired a new lesson on Rainy Day People. The lesson includes a short solo, really chord solo, similar to what is heard in the recording, and also inspired a detour today into harmonizing a melody. You will […]

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June 19, 2026 A bit of my personal philosophy and thoughts on teaching technique and strategy was on the agenda today. The approach, sometimes referred to as The Hogan Guitar Method around here, is based on using songs to teach techniques and skills. Most people pick up the guitar because they want to play songs […]

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June 12, 2026 This week I had a couple students working with 3-string triads on the top strings (1st, 2nd & 3rd), and I thought to combine ideas on the three families (E, A & D), and how they can be used for progressions using chords I, IV & V. It turns out the key […]

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June 5, 2026 This week I planned to do more playing than talking but ran into an unforeseen obstacle when I picked up the guitar this morning to test out some Hot Tuna and Jorma Kaukonen tunes. After an extended warm up routine, a little physical therapy, and nail work I was about ready to […]

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May 29, 2026 Since last week’s Update was mostly a personal journal of the recent weeks I thought today I would answer some recent questions from students and the TG Community. The topic of the day was intervals, starting with fourths and how the guitar strings can help you remember the major chords in a […]

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May 22, 2026 Today’s Update is a combo of IGC News, mini-vacation report (with a long personal story), and a look at slow 12-bar blues in the key of A minor, with an excursion into a Leon Russell tune. There are some cute photos attached at the end that are part of the personal story. […]

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May 8, 2026 Today’s Update was mostly a rundown of the two Spring International Guitar Camps we just had over the last two weekends. There were just a couple snippets of playing and no real theory to digest. I did have Steely Dan on my mind though and talked a little about Max Rich’s great […]

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May 4, 2026 This Spring we held two International Guitar Camps, due to demand and wanting to keep them very small. Each week we had about 18 students and five teachers spending two full days and three nights together in the Santa Cruz Mountains just outside of Los Gatos. Lynn and Marc were here for […]

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This blues guitar lesson will show you how you can build a complete blues solo, starting from just one good blues lick.

It was very much inspired by Albert King, so we’ll use the “Albert King Lick” to start us off and we’ll work from there…

The TAB is at HERE if you want to download it, but make sure to watch the video through a few times first.

If you dig this lick and this style of soloing, don’t forget to check out my “How To Solo Like Albert King” course. He’s one of my all time favorites!

April 17, 2026 I have been entrenched in Beatles songs lately (again, or for about the 500th time) and can’t imaging another band or artist who has more to offer to guitar students in terms of number of songs that are fun to play and offer techniques to master. The variety and breadth of their […]

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April 10, 2026 This week we released The Definitive Rolling Stones Collection, which includes 23 lessons covering a wide range of their stuff. There are electric lessons from Max Rich, acoustic lessons, some Open G riffs and a half-dozen or so solo guitar arrangements. I started today’s Update with a solo stab at Wild Horses, […]

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April 3, 2026 Recently I have had a few students asking about bass notes, and particularly alternating patterns used in country songs (like Folsom Prison Blues). After establishing that usually you want to alternate between the root and fifth of the chord, the question came up of when you might want to use the third […]

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In this video we’ll talk about the open E blues scale on guitar and some important licks and patterns that come from the open strings…

Most folks know the blues scale, but doing it in the key of E and using those open strings can be tricky to say the least.

Give these a try for yourself and let me know how it goes.

If you’ve not heard of mixing the major and minor blues sounds, you’re in for a treat today…

Not only will we cover why and how you want to mix the major and minor blues scales, you’ll get one of the most classic blues licks on the planet that demonstrates the concept perfectly.

This concept is a large part of the last 1/3rd of Blues Guitar Unleashed because it’s a skill that can be challenging, but is such a huge part of the sound of your favorite blues guitar players.