Etobicoke Guitar School

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Etobicoke Guitar School

Where Ordinary People Become Extraordinary Guitarists

09/28/2026

When practicing hammer-ons and pull-offs, it’s important to make sure that they are happening on time, so that your legato lead guitar playing sounds smooth, even, and not choppy. A great way to practice this is to turn your metronome to an 8th note setting and synchronize all of your notes with each click of the metronome.

Once you’ve gotten comfortable with that, set the metronome back to its regular setting and play the exact same phrase to it – your key to victory is to mentally subdivide the beat in your head, without the metronome signifying the middle of the beat for you.

09/22/2026

How do you take an idea from one style of music, and apply it to something completely different?

One way is with chord progressions – you can take a chord progression from an orchestral piece (whether it’s classical music or a movie score), and play those chords on your guitar. If you know multiple ways of playing the same chord, you can also explore different voicings of those chords to find the vibe you’re looking for (as an example, play those chords low-pitched to keep the vibe darker and more sombre).

09/14/2026

Different music lovers and writers have different preferences of what elements of music they love most. Some people need a catchy melody or hook, and others can forego that but can’t listen to a song unless it has a cool beat or rhythm. Myself, I prefer melody, harmony (and chords), and form (song structure) the most. In truth, ALL elements of music are important, and as a song writer it’s okay for you to have your favourite elements that you emphasize and explore the most. That’s part of what makes your music unique!

09/07/2026

Transcribing vocal melodies from songs you love on your guitar is a GREAT way to improve your own melody writing, as well as your phrasing. Singers don’t have 6 strings to get distracted with; only their voice that can sing one note at a time, as expressively as possible.

08/31/2026

Simply reading about music theory is possibly the slowest way of truly learning and internalizing it. That will only get you so far – you must actively PRACTICE it. This may include:

-Analyzing music written by others with specific theory concepts in mind (for example, finding the chord function of the song’s progression)

-Writing your own music or melody with a specific concept (for example, a melody in the Dorian mode that highlights the contrast between the major 6th and the flat 3rd)

-Identifying specific concepts by ear (for example, specific types of rhythms against a steady beat)

Activities like this will deepen your understanding infinitely further than simply reading about theory alone.

08/24/2026

While music theory in itself is a virtually endless study and practice, the beginning of music theory is the understanding of intervals and how they work. Understanding intervals helps you understand how scales and chords are created, and can then lead to discovering how they become keys, modes, arpeggios, exotic scales, and more.

08/17/2026

It’s important to be aware of what scale degree (or interval) you are on as you play through your scales, regardless of the formation you’re using (1 string, 2 strings, 3-note-per-string, CAGED, etc.). This will help you remember where they are so you can target them as you play specific melodies and licks with the scale. In particular, STARTING your licks/melodies on specific scale degrees is a good way to practice memorizing them, and seeing what sort of melodies you can create with them. Start your licks on the 2nd, the flat 3rd, on the flat 6th, etc.

08/07/2026

Kevin has been grinding on the intro solo to Wheat Kings by The Tragically Hip, and came in today telling me that he was able to play it in time with the song! His first solo! We decided to 1-up this by having him play over top of my chords in a real time jamming scenario.

This was the second take because my stupid strumming was too loud in the first video 🙃 but he's killing it! Seeing totally rad guys like Kevin succeed like this makes this job all the more rewarding. Mr. Downie would be proud 🎸

Can we get a "Hell Yeah Brother" for this fine lad???
The Tragically Hip Gord Downie

08/03/2026

Learning others’ songs in your preferred style can be a big help for improving your own song writing. How so? Because it gives you insight to seeing how that artist constructed the song, from how the riffs were written, to the nitty-gritty transitions, and the overall arrangement of ideas and WHY they were arranged that way.

Address

300 New Toronto Street , Unit 22
Toronto, ON
M8V2E8

Website

http://www.guitarlessonsetobicoke.com/

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