Ryan Iavarone Guitar

Dairy of a Madman
Walk the line again today…

What technique instantly tells whether a guitarist is skilled or not?
Hmmmm???

Quick lessons-
Exercise of the day!
Quintuplets… or Fives
A quintuplet divides a beat into five equal parts instead of the standard two or four. They offer a smoother, more fluid, or slightly chaotic feel compared to even 16th notes. Ala’ Eric Johnson. This exercise is a descending lick in the key of aA minor using Quintuplets exclusively. Start slow using strict alternate picking to a metronome. (Metronome is key here boys and girls) Enjoy. Any questions or concerns please comment below. Thanks soo much

The late, great, Randy Rhoads…
Here’s a quick lesson outlining some of the licks and techniques he often employed during his live spotlight solo or in his songs. I’m sure you’ll recognize at least a couple. Practice these licks daily till you have them pretty fluent and can do them in other keys as well. Enjoy

Having a clear understanding of the difference between The Major and Minor pentatonic scales is imperative to being able to sound like you know what the hell you’re doing when playing lead guitar and/or improvising. Seeing the both share the same shape and fi*****ng we have to understand that simply moving that shape changes the notes encased within the “box”… now, it just so happens that starting the scale shape with your first finger on the root note outlines the intervals that create the minor pentatonic scale (1—b3-4-5—7)… So say we put our first finger on the 5th fret of the 6th (low E) string. The note we are starting with is A (5f/6s) and like I said the shape creates the right notes from there so you can trust that the notes will be of the A minor pentatonic scale… A—C-D-E—G… just as doing the same at the 10th fret (the note D). The scale shape outlines the proper intervals which when applied to the position on the neck the notes will sync up with the intervals you’re trying to play (in the case now the 10th fret is the note D so the scale spelling will now be applied by the intervals exposed in the scale shape itself. D—F-G-A—C…) and so on and so forth… seems a bit confusing at first but it’s really not. Do it a couple times and you’ll start to get it. As Far as the Major pentatonic, well, it works the same exact way. Literally. Only difference is the Root note is now played with your pinky but using the same pentatonic shape and fi*****ng as the minor. So by placing your pinky on the root note the shape outlines the intervals that of the Major pentatonic scale now (1-2-3—5-6—). So as an example let’s place our pinky on the 5th fret of the 6th string. The notes exposed now are A-B-C #—E-f #… Again place the pinky on the 13th fret of the 6th string and we’re on the note F. Applying the scale shape outlining the intervals encased in the “box” we get the notes of F Major pentatonic as we should. F-G-A-Bb-C-D—….
Again. I get it’s a lot to take it all at once but do a little research on it, refer to this lesson and try seeing if you can randomly know how and where to put what scale to achieve the sound you’re looking for. Pick random keys and go for it

Learn to improvise and play lead guitar in any key almost instantly. This easy “hack” for learning how to play in a specific key is fairly simple and doesn’t require understanding complex concepts having to do with the rules of Music Theory. Any questions just leave em in the comments section and we’ll figure it out together! Thanks

Time management, man! 🤘 Let's dive into some techniques that might just change the game for you, especially with your music projects in mind. Here are a few:

1. *Pomodoro Technique*: Work in focused 25-minute increments, followed by a 5-minute break. After 4 cycles, take a longer break (15-30 minutes).
Example: You want to work on that solo in 7/4 time. Set a timer and focus on it for 25 minutes. Take a break, grab a snack, and come back to it.

2. *Time Blocking*: Schedule large blocks of uninterrupted time for important tasks.
Example: Set aside 2 hours every Tuesday and Thursday for working on music, no distractions.

3. *Prioritize with Eisenhower Matrix*: Divide tasks into urgent vs. important and focus on the most critical ones first.
Example: Finishing that song is urgent and important, so tackle it first. Checking social media is neither, so maybe do it during breaks.

4. *Break Down Big Tasks*: Divide large projects into smaller, manageable tasks.
Example: Instead of "write a song," break it down into "write chord progression," "work on melody," etc.

5. *Use a 'Stop Doing' List*: Identify tasks that aren't essential and stop doing them.
Example: If you're spending too much time scrolling through forums, maybe cut that out for a bit.

What's your current biggest time management challenge with music? 🤔