I began playing guitar in 1985 in my mid-teens while living in Seattle, WA. Right from the start I was drawn towards the technical side of guitar playing. I really like the idea of having the freedom to play anything all over the fretboard without being confined to just one scale. So I did what must guitarist did when starting out… I practiced like crazy learning as much as I can, buying instructional videos and books and CD’s to explore the guitar more.
As I started to progress as a musician I wanted to write songs and create music that had a certain kind of energy. So by 1987 I began to listen to Jazz, Fusion and Classical music and dissecting the parts that stood out of each music style and incorporated that into my playing.
Between 1989 and 1992 I had a rock band that was half Progressive Rock and half Hard Rock that consisted of Nick Valenz - Vocals, David Beardsley - Drums,
Wayde Cooper - Guitar, backing vocals, Jeffrey Ryan Smoots - Guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, Jim Beseda - Bass (RIP). We played clubs all over the Seattle area and spent a lot of time in the recording studio recording two CD’s worth of music. The first album released was Wayde Cooper – Axis, recorded 1991 but the 2nd album started in 1992 never got finished, but thanks to modern technology I now have those 24 track reels on my computer. Thanks Jeff!
By 1993 I had moved to California and wrote most of my 1st instrumental CD entitled “32nd note festival of shredâ€. I sent those demos to Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records and was added to his Hometown Heros column in Guitar World March of that year. I went back into the studio in California to finish those instrumental to send to Mike Varney for a record deal. 2 weeks into recording the studio was broken into and all of their equipment was stolen along with my masters. All the drum track, bass tracks and rhythm tracks were gone. It wasn't till later that I started that project again.
Moving ahead to 1997 I came back to Seattle and hooked up with Jeff
Smoots again and started the Progressive Rock band called Inner Resonance. We hired on vocalist Peter Orullian and began recording our music. A year into the recording I decided to leave and concentrate on my instrumental music. The CD is available for purchase at Guitar 9 and at Fossil Records website. I'm not on that CD but was a part of the band when it first started.
Now we enter 2000... I re-recorded my 3rd CD “32nd note festival of shred†and released it on Fossil Records. Wrote an instructional CD ROM and released it on Chops from Hell. Then I began to put more energy into my studio and my recording which helped me released my 4th CD in 2002 called “Welcome to the 21st Century†and by mid 2003 I released my 5th CD called “Off the hook†all on Fossil Records.
By 2003 - 2004 all the CD’s I released were made available for download on the Internet through selected sites and available for purchase on CDbaby.com Tower Records and Best Buy. I also got endorsed by Seymour Duncan and Morley due to using their products exclusively on all my CD’s.
Now its 2007 and I have 2 more CD’s I'm finishing up. One is a Progressive Rock instrumental CD and the other is a funky Zappa flavored style instrumental CD that should be finished by early Summer.
..::GUITAR LESSONS::..
Welcome to the extreme guitar lessonspage. Each lesson below has 10 pages of examples, in total there are over 50xamples in tab. Click on a link and follow the course. When finished you can move on to the next topic of pick and choose as you go.
All examples will beplayed in G major (E minor). I feel it's a waste of time to show you licks in all twelve keys on the guitar. Every scale and mode looks the same in different keys, the fingerings are the same so why bother. But, take the time to learn them in as many keys as possible. All examples can be applied to other scales if you feel daring, like Diminished, Whole Tone, Melodic Minor, Composite II scale and many others.
Remember to always warm up before attempting to play fast. Practice each pattern slowly before going full speed and at any time your hands start hurting or feel like they a straining while playing,
stop! Don't push your fingers to the limit. I've seen many guitar players do this and they end up with swollen hands or worse. Give your hands time to recuperate after a heavy practice session. And always drink lots of water. I always hear doctors saying to drink water while exercising. So, why
not while playing guitar. Your body needs water so drink up!
Right click to open each section in its own window for viewing proposes.
