In this lesson we are going to work on some fundamental guitar techniques like string bending and vibrato. You should already be at a pretty advanced level in executing these techniques, in order to play everything right. But if you aren't, this will be A GREAT EXERCISE for you!

Play everything really slow and don't give up if you just can't produce the sound I produced in this video. If necessary, practice playing a single note with proper vibrato for an hour or even more. Believe me, it will pay off!

Another important thing would be string bending. Make sure every bend you play is in tune! You don't need to add vibrato after bending if you are still a beginner, but please concentrate on the pitch of the note you are bending to. These two techniques are probably more important than you can imagine!

Another thing I wanted to show you was phrasing. It is important in playing as much as speech is important in our lives. It is all about making sense. Don't play too many notes and leave some space in between phrases, that's the main rule. It is important in blues, as well as in any other style. So if you want to make some progress regarding your phrasing, listen as much music and different music genres as you can, and try to reproduce some interesting lines you hear; first in your mind and then on your instrument. After some time you will be able to instantaneously come up with a completely original phrase or a melody and play it on your guitar without thinking while improvising!

This video contains:

- minor pentatonic licks
- slide, hammer-on, pull-off ideas for spicing up your playing
- string bending
- subtle bends for "decoration"
- vibrato
- dinamics of playing
- overall control over the instrument