News About Guitar Playing, Music Career Development and Guitar Teaching

To be informed about the latest free guitar playing, music career and guitar teaching articles, videos,mini courses, live events and other valuable resources, sign up for the Tom Hess Music Corporation Newsletter here.
 

5 May 2013 - Guitar Playing Resource:

Learn The Secret To Getting Women By Playing Guitar
Would you like to be able to play guitar in a way that makes women hang on your every note? Believe it or not, this is something you can easily learn how to do. Once you understand the way this works, you will be able to make any woman you meet go crazy! Learn how to get her attention by watching this video on how to attract women with guitar. 

4 May 2013 - Music Career Article: 

How To Get More Music Fans And Promote Your Music To More People
“How do I get more fans to hear my music?” “What can I do to promote my music to more people?” “Where can I find more new fans?” These are the questions that I am asked about on a regular basis by musicians looking for advice on how to improve their music career. Regardless of what it is you do in the music industry, you need to have fans who are excited about what it is you are offering, so this particular topic is a very important issue for all professional musicians, particularly those who make a living as performing artists. Read more in this article about how to get more fans and promote your music.

22 April 2013 - Guitar Playing Article & Video:

How To Write Guitar Solo Phrases That Demand The Attention Of Your Listeners
If you want to play guitar solo phrases that get the attention of your listeners, it is NOT a requirement that you play highly technical or fast guitar licks. Learn the process for creating guitar phrases that force other people to stop and pay attention to every lick you play by reading this guitar solo phrasing article.

1 April 2013 - Guitar Playing Article:

Top 5 Reasons Why You Lack Motivation To Practice Guitar
Do you sometimes feel a lack of motivation for practicing guitar? For most guitarists, this occurs because they do not understand how to get the most out of their guitar practice time. As a result, they make very slow progress and become frustrated. Find out how to increase your motivation to practice guitar by learning how to practice guitar more effectively.

30 March 1013 - Guitar Teaching Article:

How To Teach Your Guitar Students To Practice And Make More Progress
One of the biggest challenges for many guitar teachers is getting their guitar students to make progress during each lesson. Fact is, most guitar teachers spend a lot of time doing things such as showing their students new techniques or licks to play on guitar but spend very little time showing them how to actually ‘practice’ what they learn. Learn how to teach guitar students to practice in order to make more progress by reading this guitar teaching article.

29 March 2013 - Guitar Playing Resource:

How To Play Guitar Solos That Sound Like Pure Sexual Pleasure And Make Women Crazy
For many guitar players, having the powerful ability to attract the attention of women with their guitar playing would be the Holy Grail... I've been asked to teach on this topic by students again and again over the years. So I decided to create a 4-part master class video series on guitar solos that make women crazy.

5 March 2013 - Student Spotlight: Alexander Buzmakov (Russia)

24 February 2013 - Guitar Playing Video:

How To Compose Great Guitar Solos
Truly great guitar solos are NOT created by stringing a bunch of cool guitar licks together… they are created using one of many different 'compositional processes'. If you desire to know exactly 'how' great guitar solos are composed and want to see one of the very rare (but extremely effective) ways that you can use to compose your own cool guitar solos, watch this video about how to compose guitar solos.

11 February 2013 - Guitar Playing Article & Video:

Guitar Video: How To Create Rock Guitar Soloing And Improvisation Licks
Do you want to learn how to write tons of new rock guitar licks? The truth is, most guitar players try to make new rock guitar licks by cramming together several random musical ideas in hopes that everything ends up sounding decent. That said, this is actually a highly ineffective approach when it comes to improvising and creating guitar licks. Learn how to write a lot of new rock guitar licks while improving your overall soloing skills by watching this video about guitar improvisation.

5 February 2013 - Guitar Teaching Article:

Why Some Guitar Teachers Are Highly Successful: The Psychology Of A Guitar Teacher
Did you ever notice how some guitar teachers seem to be highly successful while others struggle to make any real progress? The truth is, becoming a great guitar teacher requires not only knowledge of teaching guitar, but also an understanding of how your psychology can work 'for' you or 'against' you. Find out how to become a successful guitar teacher by learning how to take advantage of your strong personality traits while minimizing any of the negative side effects that may come along with them.

4 February 2013 - Student Spotlight: B.C. Cliver (USA)

27 January 2013 - Guitar Playing Resource:

How To Improve Your Guitar Phrasing
Have you noticed how some guitarists can play a guitar lick and make it sound totally awesome, while other guitarists (even those at the same technical skill level) sound simply ‘average’ when playing the SAME notes? The answer lies in the ability to ornament the notes of any lick in cool ways that will transform the sound of your guitar phrasing and make it massively better. Learn the exact process for doing so in this lesson on improving your guitar phrasing.

15 January 2013 - Interview with Tom Hess:

Tom Hess Interview And Review Of Common Guitar Practice Problems
One of the biggest reasons that guitar players do not make fast progress is a lack of efficient and organized guitar practice. If you do not understand how to practice guitar in a way that helps you reach your musical goals effectively, you will waste a great deal of time only to end up frustrated when you cannot play guitar how you want to. Learn how to practice guitar to reach your musical goals faster by reading advice for some of the most commonly asked guitar practice questions in this Tom Hess guitar practice review.

6 January 2013 - Guitar Playing Article:

Why Yngwie Malmsteen Is Underrated And How This Can Help You Become A Better Guitarist
When you think of underrated guitar players, who do you think of first? Of all the great guitar players, there is one that should immediately come to your mind, and his name is Yngwie Malmsteen. Find out why he is one of the MOST underrated guitarist of all time and how his guitar playing can help you improve your own guitar skills in this Yngwie Malmsteen guitar lesson.

5 January 2013 - Student Spotlight: Engrida Mebrahtu (USA)

2 January 2013 - Student Spotlight: Derek Steep (Germany)

17 December 2012 - Music Career Article: 

Why Only Few Musicians Succeed In The Music Industry And How You Can Join Them
Have you ever wondered why some musicians become highly successful in the music industry while others have a difficult time earning a good living? Fact is, the key to success in the music business is to offer high value and minimal risk to anyone you work with. However, there are often 'hidden' risks that most musicians are unaware of that prevent them from developing thriving music careers. Learn how to become a successful professional musician by reading this article and finding out how to reduce and eliminate the amount of risk you pose to others in the music industry.

18 November 2012 - Guitar Playing Article:

How To Play With Emotion In Your Music
Can you make people feel the emotions you want them to feel by playing guitar? Most guitar players have a hard time doing this because they do not understand how to explain and predict the feeling of the notes they play with. Read this article to learn how to use your guitar to create emotion in music.

13 November 2012 - Student Spotlight: Alex Kehoe (USA)

28 October 2012 - Interview with Tom Hess:

Review Of Common Music Career Advice - An Interview With Tom Hess  
When you talk to others about pursuing a career in music, do you ever get their "expert" advice on what you should do? In most cases, these people have good intentions to help you succeed in reaching your musical dreams. However, unless they actually are a professional musician, their advice is likely to do more harm than good. In order to become a professional musician, it is important to seek the advice of someone who has already achieved a high level of success in the music industry and knows what it takes to succeed. Become a successful musician by learning the difference between successful and amateur music career advice in this Tom Hess music career review.

27 October 2012 - Student Spotlight: Josh Brown (USA)

15 October 2012 - Student Spotlight: Charlie Long (USA)

14 October 2012 - Student Spotlight: Kwote (USA)

2 October 2012 - Student Spotlight: James Scott (UK)

22 September 2012 - Guitar Playing Resource:

How To Create Intense Emotions In Your Guitar Playing
Have you ever played your guitar with so much emotion that women literally cried? I have… and it is one of the most rewarding musical experiences you can possibly imagine. There are certain musical things you can do on your guitar that are so emotionally powerful that you and others around you are sure to have a deep emotional experience. You don't have to play anything complicated, nor fast, nor fancy… but you do need to understand how to create such strong emotions in your guitar playing. Read all about it.

17 September 2012 - Interview With Tom Hess:

Guitar Practice Myths – A Tom Hess Interview And Review Of Common Guitar Advice
Do you ever wonder if the guitar playing advice you find in online videos, forums or blogs is actually useful? The truth is, most of the conventional guitar tips you get from others might actually ‘slow down’ your progress as a guitar player. Learn how to avoid bad guitar advice by reading this special Tom Hess review of guitar practice myths conducted in interview format.

9 September 2012 - Guitar Playing Resource:

7 String Guitar Lesson On Musical Creativity
If you have spent the majority of your time playing a 6 string guitar, you may think that playing 7 string guitar is exactly the same (only with an added string). However, if you take this approach, you will be greatly limiting your musical creativity. Learn how to become more musically creative on 7 string guitar by studying this 7 string guitar lesson.

25 August 2012 - Guitar Playing Resource:

How To Create An Effective Guitar Practice Routine
If you are like most guitarists, you would like to find the best method for organizing your guitar practice so that you can quickly make progress. Many guitar players assume that they are already using effective practice methods even after they do not bring results. Learn how to maximize the efficiency of your guitar practice by taking this guitar practice routine assessment.

7 August 2012 - Music Career Article:

How To Achieve Success In Your Music Career
Most musicians attempt to build a music career on their own by reading music business books, searching online forums or asking the for advice from their friends. However, this approach often fails to provide great results because it either comes from ‘amateur’ sources or is too generalized to help you with your specific goals. In order to reach your goals in music quickly and effectively, you must find a mentor who has already achieved success in the music industry. Learn how to find a great mentor by reading this music career mentor article.

27 July 2012 - Music Career Article:

The 7 Rules About Finding The Right Musicians For Your Band 
Are you having a hard time finding the right musicians for your band? Building a great band full of highly motivated musicians can seem like an overwhelming challenge. However, there are 7 rules that will help your band succeed in finding truly dedicated musicians. Learn how to find the right people for your band in this article on how to find band members.

11 July 2012 - Guitar Playing Article:

Why So Many Guitar Solos Sound The Same And How To Avoid That
Imagine if your guitar solos could ‘sing’ like a great singer. Fact is, most guitar players create guitar solos based on guitar licks and phrases, but not a combination of guitar phrases and lyrical melodies that would make the solos much better. In this revolutionary new guitar article on how to create guitar solos you will learn a secret that took me 20 years to discover! Read the full guitar lesson article here.

1 July 2012 - Guitar Teaching Resource:

The 21 Things You Better Know About How To Teach Guitar Before You Ever Teach Guitar Again
The "How to teach guitar" guide for guitar teachers. Discover the proven methods in this guide on how to teach guitar that destroys the conventional approach to helping guitar students become great guitar players. You'll also discover all the mistakes that guitar teachers constantly make when teaching guitar and why their students make slow progress as a result… Most importantly, you will learn how to avoid them, how to help your students progress faster, and as a result, how to earn more money teaching guitar.

16 June 2012 - Guitar Playing Article:

How To Play Awesome Rhythm Guitar Riffs
Do you have trouble with consistently creating AWESOME rock and metal rhythm guitar riffs? If so, there are several things you absolutely must know about how to play and practice rhythm guitar so that you can begin to make much faster progress in this area of your guitar playing. Read this rhythm guitar playing lesson article to learn what to do to begin creating better sounding rhythm guitar riffs.

28 May 2012 - Student Spotlight: Lauren Bateman (USA)

27 May 2012 - Student Spotlight: Malik Dirim (Germany)

19 May 2012 - Guitar Playing Video:

Learn How To Create Highly Melodic And Lyrical Guitar Solos
Many guitar players create their guitar solos by simply throwing together a bunch of random licks. This often leads to mediocre sounding solos with a weak sense of melody. To create great solos with powerful melodies, you can learn a lot by observing how singers sing their vocal lines. Watch this video and learn how to create guitar solos.

14 May 2012 - Guitar Playing Video:

Metal Guitar Soloing Lesson On Using Speed In Your Lead Guitar Phrases
If you have problems with making your guitar solos sound good, you're not alone. Many guitarists can play some fast licks here and there, but struggle to use speed in their guitar solos in a way that sounds good. Watch this metal guitar solo lesson on video to find out how to use speed in your guitar solos to make your lead guitar playing sound great.

5 May 2012 - Guitar Lesson Video Series:

How To Write Great Guitar Solos
Imagine yourself creating guitar solos that are so unique, awesome and impressive that they grab people by the throat, shoot lightning bolts down their spine and compel them to love every note you play! … Isn't that what you want? Of course you do, EVERYBODY wants this! Read more about how to write great guitar solos.

24 April 2012 - Music Career Article:

How To Make More Money In Music
Do you struggle to make money in the music business? Most musicians do. Fortunately, it does NOT have to be difficult to make a great living working as a musician. If you avoid the common mistakes that most musicians make when trying to develop a music career, you will have no problem achieving financial security in the music industry. Read this article to learn how to make more money in music. 

23 April 2012 - Tom Hess Live On Stage

Rhapsody Of Fire Central And South America Tour Dates Added
New Rhapsody Of Fire tour dates and VIP tickets in Central and South America.

10 April 2012 - Guitar Playing Article:

How To Play 7 String Guitar More Creatively
Want to come up with more creative ideas on your 7 string guitar? To play this instrument well, you will first need to understand how to get the most out of the unique features it brings into your guitar playing. Improve your 7 string guitar skills by reading this 7 string guitar lesson article.

4 April 2012 - Guitar Playing Contest:

Tom Hess Student Guitar Playing And Music Contest

More than 160 videos of Tom Hess's students, Music Careers Mentoring Program and Elite Guitar Teachers Inner Circle Members have been submitted for this music contest. 50 videos made it into the final round, check them out at the guitar playing and music contest page and vote for your favorites. 

26 March 2012 - Rock Band Resource:

How To Find The Right Band Members
New FREE eBook! We both know how frustrating it can be to not only find good musicians, but to find the good musicians who also are the 'right' kind of person for your band. Finding band members who are both is something all bands have to deal with… and it sucks (as you already know). I've created a totally free eBook that will help you find band members that are right for your band!

25 March 2012 - Student Spotlight: Dario Napoli (Italy)

24 March 2012 - Guitar Playing Video:

Play Better Guitar Solos By Applying These Guitar Solo Phrasing Tips
Do you have difficulty trying to play great guitar solos? If you are like most guitar players, you are probably not using good overall lead guitar phrasing. Watch this guitar video lesson to learn how to play guitar solos using my guitar phrasing tips.

7 March 2012 - Tom Hess Live On Stage:

Rhapsody Of Fire First Ever North American Headlining Tour
New Rhapsody Of Fire tour dates and VIP tickets for USA and Canada: 

6 March 2012 - Revolutionary Guitar Soloing Course:

Master Guitar Soloing Now
What if you had 2 great guitarists and guitar teachers (Tom Hess - Rhapsody Of Fire & Nick Layton - FireWolfe) show you exactly what you need to do to transform ANY ordinary guitar lick into a killer lick with incredible phrasing? Learn more about how to master your guitar soloing in this innovative guitar soloing course. 

3 March 2012 - Guitar Playing Video:

Guitar Solo Phrasing Tips
Knowing how to play lead guitar solos that sound great is one of the abilities most guitar players want to have. If you'd like to play guitar solos like the pros, then you'll need to do more than just play fast guitar techniques. So what does it take to play great lead guitar? Watch this video guitar lesson to learn how you can make incredible guitar solos by using good guitar phrasing.

23 February 2012 - Tom Hess Live On Stage:

Rhapsody Of Fire Announces More New World Tour Dates
Check out part 2 of the tour dates on the European leg of the From Chaos To Eternity World Tour 2012 and learn about the special SuperFan tickets. More dates in other parts of the world will follow soon! 

9 February 2012 - Guitar Playing Resource:

Free Video Guitar Lessons - How To Make A Lot Of Progress In Your Guitar Playing
Most guitarists use the internet to learn guitar. Unfortunately, most guitar lessons online are made by totally amateur guitarists. This means when you use their lessons, you may actually be slowing down your own guitar improvement! In order to get real results on guitar, you need to learn from a professional who has already helped many other players like you. See how you can become a better guitar player by watching these free video guitar lessons.

8 February 2012 - Guitar Teaching Business Article:

Make Money Teaching Guitar 
Most guitar teachers struggle to support themselves full time on their income from teaching guitar. Many simply give up the idea of pursuing teaching guitar as a career path and instead get a non music related day job. Fact is that there are several key reasons why most music teachers struggle financially that can easily be avoided once you become aware of them and take steps to correct them. Read this article to learn how to make money teaching guitar.

3 February 2012 - Student Spotlight: George Engelbrecht (South Africa)

2 February 2012 - Student Spotlight: Jimmy Alford (UK)

1 February 2012 - Student Spotlight: Jeff Williams (USA)

26 January 2012 - Student Spotlight: Lou Lombardi (USA)

15 January 2012 - Student Spotlight: Simon Candy (Australia)

14 January 2012 - Student Spotlight: Aldo Chircop (Malta)

9 January 2012 - Tom Hess Live On Stage:

Rhapsody Of Fire From Chaos To Eternity World Tour 2012 Dates - Part 1 
Learn everything about the tour and spending a great amount of personal face-to-face time with the band for the first time ever: Tom Hess and Rhapsody Of Fire World Tour Dates and VIP Tickets.

23 November 2011 - Student Spotlight: John Magee (USA)

22 November 2011 - Student Spotlight: Jure Golobic (Slovenia)

8 November 2011 - Live Event "Total Guitar Mastery Training Week" sold out in 3 min! Second event added for August, sold out in 20 min too.

5 November 2011 - Live Event:

Total Guitar Mastery Training Week
6 Days of super intense guitar training that will totally transform your guitar playing forever… Training so powerful, innovative and intense I’ll ONLY share it with you face-to-face!

14 October 2011 - Student Spotlight: Rovan Deon (USA)

13 October 2011 - Student Spotlight: Ryan Duke (USA)

12 October 2011 - Student Spotlight: Ty Morgan (USA)

11 October 2011 - Student Spotlight: Marcus Carlzon (Sweden)

10 October 2011 - Student Spotlight: Jon Chorba (USA)

9 October 2011 - Student Spotlight: Dan Stearn (UK)

22 September 2011 - Guitar Playing Article:

How To Find The Best Guitar Exercises 
If you feel frustrated with not knowing how to make sense out of millions of guitar playing exercises, guitar method books and videos, you need to read this article that will show you exactly how to determine the best guitar exercises for you.

5 September 2011 - Student Spotlight: Chayakorn Jindawech (Thailand)

4 September 2011 - Student Spotlight: Chris Basener (UK)

3 September 2011 - Student Spotlight: Adrienne Osborn (USA)

2 September 2011 - Student Spotlight: Michael Edwards (Japan)

1 September 2011 - Student Spotlight: Bojana Cibej (Slovenia)

27 August 2011 - Guitar Playing Article and Video Lesson:

How To Become A Great Classic Rock Guitar Player
If you want to master the classic rock lead guitar playing styles of Angus Young, Jimmy Page Eddie Van Halen and other classic rock guitar masters, there are several important skills that you absolutely must develop in order to reach this goal. Read this article to find out how to become a great classic rock guitar player.

26 August 2011 - Guitar Teaching Resource:

Free eBook About How To Earn More Money In Your Guitar Teaching Business
Most guitar teachers want to do much better in their guitar teaching business, but they simply do not know 'what to do', nor 'how to do things' to reach that goal. Read this free mini eBook and get 11 tips that you can use right away to build your guitar teaching business better and stronger. 

25 August 2011 - Music Career and Guitar Playing Resource:

Studio Recording Guide For Guitar Players
This free guide will show you how to avoid the 6 most common mistakes that guitar players make in the recording studio. Study this resource to learn how to save yourself and your band A LOT of wasted time, money and energy by improving your studio recording skills.  

27 July 2011 - Guitar Teaching Article:

How To Teach Guitar More Effectively And Help Your Students Make MASSIVE Progress 
Do you have a difficult time helping your guitar students to make powerful progress in their guitar playing? This is a problem that prevents many guitar teachers from becoming truly successful. Read this article about how to teach guitar to learn how to help your students to become awesome musicians and become the most sought after guitar teacher in your area.

25 July 2011 - Student Spotlight: Lee Gattenby (USA)

24 June 2011 - Guitar Playing Article:

How To Create Great Guitar Solos And Improve Your Lead Guitar Playing 
Would you like to learn the secrets that great guitar players use to consistently come up with awesome sounding guitar solos? The reason why master guitar players are able to express themselves fully when soloing and improvising is because they approach the process of creating a guitar solo in VERY different ways than what most guitarists do. Read this article to find out how to create great guitar solos.

15 April 2011 - Major Announcement:

Tom Hess Joins Rhapsody Of Fire!
I'm the new guitarist of this 1.5 million record selling band! Check it out here

14 April 2011 - Social Media:

Official Tom Hess Facebook Page
'Like' it! :)

13 April 2011 - Music Career Resource:

Guitar Recording Tips
If you want to become a very successful professional guitar player, one of the critically important skills you need to develop is the ability to record guitar well in the studio.  Read this article to learn the secrets of recording in the studio that most musicians do not know about. 

23 March 2011 - Guitar Playing Article:

How To Practice Guitar Effectively With And Without A Metronome 
When it comes to practicing guitar with a metronome, guitarists typically fall into two camps: some use the metronome very frequently and others almost never use it. Fact is, both approaches are misleading and will severely limit your guitar playing progress. Read this article to learn how to use a metronome effectively and discover how to make a lot more progress in your guitar playing.

14 March 2011 - New Guitar Playing Course released!

Rock and Metal Guitar Licks - Intermediate Level 
Nick Layton and I created a new course for intermediate level guitar players. The course will show you how to move beyond simply "learning guitar licks" into the league of the great guitar players by instantly adapting cool guitar licks to ANY song or musical context you want! You will be guided step by step through the process of how to creatively adjust any lick to fit any music using sample variations of many exciting licks over inspiring jam tracks in a variety of rock/metal musical contexts. After completing this course, you will no longer struggle with finding and creating cool things to play over any jam track or song.

30 January 2011 - Guitar Soloing Lesson:

Rock Guitar Licks Lesson
Many guitar players struggle with making their favorite guitar licks fit naturally into a variety of musical contexts. With a little training, you can use simple guitar phrasing techniques to easily transform a basic rock guitar lick into dozens of creative musical ideas. Learn how to become a more expressive improviser and soloist in this free rock guitar licks lesson.  

25 January 2011 - Student Spotlight: Jeet Samant (Australia)

1 January 2011 - Guitar Playing Mini Course:

How To Play Guitar Fast - Free 14 Day Guitar Speed Mini Course
Learn the secrets of building guitar speed that most guitar players will never know about. Increasing your guitar speed is easier than you think if you understand exactly how to practice guitar to develop this skill. Find out how in this free mini course on how to play guitar fast.

29 December 2010 - Student Spotlight: Sen Lun (UK)

22 December 2010 - Student Spotlight: Panos Kolias (Germany)

18 December 2010 - Student Spotlight: AJ Simons (Italy)

17 December 2010 - Guitar Playing Article:

How To Practice For Maximum Guitar Speed - Avoiding Common Mistakes In Learning To Play Guitar Fast
Are you frustrated with not being able to play guitar as fast as you want? Do you feel that your lack of guitar speed is limiting your ability to express yourself musically? Although playing guitar fast is not everyone's most important guitar playing goal, those who do desire greater guitar speed typically want it badly and are often frustrated with their inability to improve fast enough in this area of their guitar playing. If this describes you, read this article about increasing your guitar speed.

16 December 2010 - Student Spotlight: Jim Dix (USA)

15 December 2010 - Student Spotlight: Corinne Gooden (USA)

14 December 2010 - Student Spotlight: Filip Zganjar (Croatia)

14 November 2010 - Student Spotlight: Pete Hartley (UK)

7 November 2010 - Student Spotlight: Del Bannerman (Canada)

2 October 2010 - Guitar Soloing Lesson:

Killer Lead Guitar Lesson With Backing Tracks
Learn how to improve your guitar phrasing and self-expression on the guitar in this free lead guitar lesson with backing tracks. 

15 August 2010 - Events:

World's Greatest Singer Live At HESSFEST!
In the never ending quest to constantly bring more and more value to my online guitar students, this year at HESSFEST I'm bringing the one singer on this Earth who I believe is not only the greatest singer in the world, but who is also the person who can best help me to train guitar players with the most innovative master class I've ever given. That singer is: Rhapsody of Fire's (www.rhapsodyoffire.com) Fabio Lione. Fabio will join me in giving a series of revolutionary guitar master classes at HESSFEST. After last year's outstanding 4.5 hour master class with legendary guitarist George Bellas, this year's event is expected to be no less amazing. 

8 August 2010 - Guitar Practice Tool:

Practice Generator
A new version of the world's most advanced, most powerful and most innovative guitar practicing tool has been released. Read more about highly effective guitar practice schedules. 

3 August 2010 - Student Spotlight: John Kakalas (Greece)

21 July 2010 - Student Spotlight: Ramon Chacon Freixa (Spain)

18 July 2010 - Student Spotlight: Dan Sugarman (USA)

7 June 2010 - Guitar Playing Video:

Guitar Solo Lesson Video
Are you still struggling to create great guitar solos? In this guitar solo lesson video you will learn how to immediately improve your guitar solo phrasing skills. 

1 June 2010 - Students Playing:

Tom Hess Students 
Watch and listen to a few samples of videos and songs of Tom Hess guitar students, members of the Music Careers Mentoring Program and the Elite Guitar Teachers Inner Circle.

26 May 2010 - Resource For Rock Bands:

Free eBook About How To Become A Better Live Band
Learn how to get more music fans to come to your band's live shows even if you hate spending time and money on self promotion. Download the eBook here and begin to transform your bands live shows.

9 May 2010 - Music Career Article:

How To Get More Fans To Your Gigs   
Are you frustrated because you aren't getting as many people to come to your gigs as you want? Getting 'new' people to come to your gigs is not even the main challenge, even most of your own friends and fans usually won't come to your gigs regularly. This fact makes it harder to get bigger and better gigs that pay more money. Read the full article and learn how to get more fans to come to your gigs. 

1 May 2010 - Guitar Teaching Article:

Learn How To Teach Guitar   
To learn how to teach guitar well and build a successful guitar teaching business, you need to know some critical steps that most new guitar teachers either don't know or don't do. Read more in this article about how to teach guitar.

30 April 2010 - Resource For Rock Bands:

Rock Band Success Coaching
Do you have a great rock band and cool music, but are still struggling to get more people (and the music industry) to know and love your band? Is your band not getting enough 'good' gigs, not getting paid enough money from gigs, not getting enough people to come to your gigs, and not getting audiences to go CRAZY with excitement when they do come to your gigs? Get coaching for your rock band. 

26 April 2010 - Music Career Article:

Top 10 Mistakes Musicians Make When Trying To Get Into The Music Business   
If you want to become successful in the music industry, there are many things you need to know and do. Many bands and musicians seeking a career in music show the same patterns of assumptions, problems and mistakes over and over again. Read about the Top 10 mistakes musicians make.

25 April 2010 - Neoclassical Guitar Playing Mini Course:

How To Become A Great Neoclassical Guitarist
FREE 14 Day Neoclassical Guitar Lessons Mini Course by Luca Turilli. Learn how to play guitar in Luca's neoclassical guitar playing style. 

22 April 2010 - Student Spotlight: Alexander Brizuela (Argentina)

20 April 2010 - Student Spotlight: Nikke Blout (Germany & USA)

19 April 2010 - Student Spotlight: James Erickson (USA)

17 April 2010 - Student Spotlight: Daniel Rothmann (Denmark)

16 April 2010 - Student Spotlight: Roy Prins (Holland)

13 April 2010 - Student Spotlight: Ralf Schanzel (Germany)

7 April 2010 - Student Spotlight: Ben Madwitch (Germany)

6 April 2010 - Student Spotlight: Johnny Ryan (USA)

18 March 2010 - Student Spotlight: Joe Pinnavaia (USA)

10 January 2010 - About Tom Hess:

Tom's Guitar Collection
On this new page you can see Tom's guitars.

8 January 2010 - Guitar Teaching Article:

Teaching Guitar: How To Fix Bad Habits And Solve Problems Your Guitar Students Have   
If you sometimes struggle to get your guitar students to correct bad habits or solve problems in their guitar playing, read this article and learn the best ways to improve your guitar teaching by discovering how to solve guitar teaching problems.

7 January 2010 - Guitar Teaching Test:

Test Your Guitar Teaching Skills
Find out how much you really know about teaching guitar and test your guitar teaching skills.

22 December 2009 - Guitar Playing Article:

How To Practice for Maximum Guitar Speed - Part 3   
Have you ever noticed that playing something clean and fast is much harder when playing an actual song compared to when you practice that same guitar lick or solo over and over again? Learn more about how to increase your guitar speed and solving this problem in part 3 of this article series. 

7 December 2009 - Music Career Article:

How To Prepare For Gigs And Make Your Live Shows Better  
The very best way to get more people to repeatedly come out and see your band play live is word of mouth. When your live shows are great, people will like it and talk about you to their friends both online and offline. Besides the obvious point of playing good music that people like, there are 5 main areas of preparing for your gigs. Read the full article about how to prepare for gigs.

2nd December 2009 - Live Music Event: 

HESSFEST
Short Movie and Details About HESSFEST Europe 2010 Released

24 November 2009 - Guitar Playing Resource:

FREE Guitar Solo Tips
Transform your guitar soloing by discovering secrets most guitar players will never know about how to create and play great guitar solos. 

22 November 2009 - Guitar Phrasing Article: 

Improving Your Guitar Phrasing - Part 4   
Do you want to be able to express yourself more fully in your lead guitar solos? Are you struggling to apply all of the licks and techniques you’ve been learning? Check out this guitar phrasing article to learn how to improve your guitar phrasing skills.

21 November 2009 - Guitar Teaching Article:

How To Effectively Teach Guitar Chords To Beginning Guitar Students     
Beginning guitar students very often struggle with changing guitar chords quickly, fluently and musically. This can become very frustrating for them, and for you, the teacher. Learn how to solve this problem by reading this guitar teaching lesson on how to effectively teach guitar chords.

2nd November 2009 - Rock and Metal Guitar Licks Course released!

This course will show you how to move beyond simply "learning guitar licks" into the league of the great guitar players by instantly adapting cool guitar licks to ANY song or musical context you want! You will be guided step by step through the process of how to creatively adjust any lick to fit any music using sample variations of many exciting licks over inspiring jam tracks in a variety of rock/metal musical contexts. After completing this course, you will no longer struggle with finding and creating cool things to play over any jam track or song.

1st November 2009 - Guitar Solo Lesson:

How To Create Kick Ass Guitar Solos     
There are lots of ways to create guitar solos. Most guitarists focus on ‘what to play’ versus ‘how to play things’. Fact is, the nuances of phrasing (‘how’ the notes are played) often matter MORE than the notes we actually play. How many times have you heard someone play a guitar solo ‘without’ much emotion? Often there was nothing wrong with their choice of notes. The solo lacked emotion and interest because the ‘phrasing’ was weak. Check out this guitar solo lesson.

1st November 2009 - New free Guitar Solo Lesson on video! 

31st October 2009 - Rock Band Mini Course: 

How To Turn Your Rock Band Into A Success
FREE 12 Day Mini Course by Alex Staropoli, Draven Grey and myself. Discover the secrets most bands will never know about how to make your band more successful than it is now.

29 September 2009 - New Music Career Resources Added

28 September 2009 - Student Spotlight: Daniel Faustmann (USA)

25 September 2009 - Rock Band Success Resource:

FREE Stage Presence Tips by Alex Staropoli, Tom Hess and Draven Grey
Good stage presence is absolutely critical to the success of any live band. Whether you are just starting out with your rock band or already have live experience, these free stage presence tips will begin to transform your live shows once you implement them in your practice sessions and live shows.

5 May 2009 - New Guitar Teacher Resources Added

2 May 2009 - Guitar Playing Article: 

Get More From Your Guitar Practice
8 Steps To Develop A Highly Efficient Practice Schedule       
If you are like most guitar players you sometimes feel frustrated with your guitar playing. You know mastering guitar playing takes a LOT of time, energy and effort. It seems like a huge mountain to climb in order to reach the highly advanced levels of guitar playing. You know that few people who attempt to climb that mountain will actually achieve it... but if you are truly determined to reach these goals you certainly can! Read this article to learn how to develop your own guitar practice schedule.

30 April 2009 - Student Spotlight: Jamie Greenwood (USA)

30 April 2009 - Student Spotlight: Bryan Briggs (Canada)

22 April 2009 - Guitar Teaching Article: 

5 Big Mistakes You Should Avoid When Teaching Beginning Guitar Students     
Do your beginning guitar students usually progress slowly? Do they sometimes 'get stuck' in their guitar playing? Is teaching beginners sometimes very frustrating for you? Are there times when you are unsure about what to teach them, how to teach them, or in what order to teach them things? Do you have a significant number of beginning guitar students who quit lessons with you after less than 1 year? Discover the 5 most common mistakes guitar teachers make when teaching beginning guitar students and how you can avoid them. Read the full guitar teaching article and learn how to teach beginner guitar.

20 April 2009 - Music Career Article: 

How To Transition From Your Day Job Into A Successful Music Career     
Do you want to be a professional musician, but don't know where and how to start? Do you really want a successful career in music, but your fear of failure is holding you back? Are you unsure about what to do if your plan doesn't work? Learn how to start a music career.

28 March 2009 - Guitar Teaching Article:

Why You Struggle To Get Guitar Students     
Do you struggle to attract a lot of new guitar students? Do your guitar teaching ads and website not seem to really work like you want them to? Are you sick of constantly having to put effort into promotion and aren't getting enough students from it? Does it seem impossible to fill up your teaching schedule (and keep it filled)? Read the full guitar teaching article to discover how to increase your ability to get guitar students.

3rd March 2009 - Student Spotlight: Jessa Young (USA)

3rd March 2009 - Student Spotlight: Vito Marchese (USA)

3rd March 2009 - Student Spotlight: Brandon Dickert (USA)

2nd March 2009 - Updates on  Music Careers Mentoring Program Student Accomplishments page

25th January 2009 - Student Spotlight: Tarek Malki (France/Syria)

21st January 2009 -  New FREE Guitar Playing Resource: 

Manifest Your Musical Goals Into Reality 
Understand 'what' you need to learn to reach your guitar playing and musical goals and discover 'how' each of these things are critical to reaching these goals. 

17th January 2009 - Student Spotlight: Trevor Darmody (Ireland) updated

17th January 2009 - Guitar Teaching Mini Course:

How To Be An Excellent Guitar Teacher
This free 7 day mini course will show you how to establish and grow your reputation as the best guitar teacher in your area. You will learn how to achieve exceptional results with all of your students and help them develop into great musicians. Also, you will discover how to attract more of the kind of serious students you want to work with.

16th January 2009 - Student Spotlight: Lee Carlson (Canada) updated

11th January 2009 - Student Spotlight: George Tamayo (USA)  

10th January 2009 - Student Spotlight: Ian Hand (England) updated

9th January 2009 - Student Spotlight: Byron Marks (USA)

9th January 2009 - Student Spotlight: John Tutino (USA)  

8th January 2009 - Student Spotlight: Jonathan Vipond (England) updated

8th January 2009 - Student Spotlight: Teemu Kleemola (Finland) updated

8th January 2009 - Student Spotlight: Guy Onraet (South Africa)

3rd January 2009 - Student Spotlight: Draven Grey (USA) updated

2nd January 2009 - Guitar Teaching Article:

How To Instantly Improve Your Guitar Teaching Business By Eliminating These Top 9 Mistakes Guitar Teachers Usually Make     
Are you struggling to be a highly successful guitar teacher? Do you want to have more new dedicated guitar students who remain committed for the long term, but your guitar teaching methods are not working as effectively as you would like them to? Are you unhappy because most guitar students don't reach their musical goals and/or an advanced level of guitar playing? Are you unable to support yourself and your family with your guitar teaching job? Are you not earning the money you would like to? Read the complete guitar teaching article to build your own highly successful Guitar Teaching Business.

25nd December 2008 - Student Spotlight: Rusty Cooley (USA)

22nd December 2008 - Guitar Playing Article:

11 Damaging Mistakes Guitar Players Make And How To Avoid Them         
Do you know how many guitar players practice a lot in order to improve their guitar playing, but they still struggle to play guitar exactly the way they desire? They don't improve quickly. They begin to doubt their guitar playing potential, and wonder if they will ever learn to become a better guitar player. Read the full article and learn how to improve your guitar playing.

20th December 2008 - New Guitar Phrasing Course Released!

Killer Rock Lead Guitar Legato Phrasing 
Learn how your phrasing can be enhanced by using legato technique to connect scales, modes and arpeggios. Find out how the greats such as Joe Satriani, Shawn Lane and George Lynch used legato to create jaw-dropping and expressive lead guitar parts. Apply your new skills by using examples from actual music and practicing with included backing tracks. Learn more.

19th October 2008 - Student Spotlight:  Lonnie Caldwell (USA)

19th October 2008 - Student Spotlight:  Dan Keller (Switzerland)

3rd September 2008 - Student Spotlight: Mark Court (Canada)

21rd August 2008 - Music Business Article: 

The Pursuit of the Record Deal     
Do you want a successful, stable and rewarding music career as a professional musician? Would you like to know exactly what record labels, music producers, and artist management companies are looking for when seeking out new artists? There are many great musicians who are not able to build a successful career in music because they do not know what it is these music companies want from them. Read the full article to discover your first step to getting a record deal.

21rd August 2008 - Guitar Practicing Article:

Practicing Guitar: Self Discipline or Fun?       
Do you find it difficult to fully enjoy the process of highly disciplined practicing? Most guitarists either have lots of fun practicing, but are not highly disciplined, or try to be very disciplined, but find it boring or unfulfilling when they do so. So most people make a (conscious or unconscious) choice to sacrifice 'fun' for discipline, or discipline for fun. Making sacrifices with your guitar practice is not only unnecessary, but can be counterproductive to becoming the guitar player you want to be. Read this guitar article and learn the best way to practice guitar.

4rd August 2008 - Guitar Playing Live Event:

Tom Hess Instructional Clinic Tour announced!
6 Pro Guitarists will join Tom Hess on an Instructional Clinic Tour in the US designed to answer your guitar playing questions and show you how to do all the things you have been wanting to do on your guitar!

3rd August 2008 - Student Spotlight: Ian Hand (England)

26 July 2008 - Student Spotlight:  June Moris (USA)

14 July 2008 - Student Spotlight: Mike Breen (Japan)

6 July 2008 - Student Spotlight: Tommaso Zillio (Canada)

12 June 2008 - Student Spotlight: Nancy Hutagalung (USA) 

31 May 2008 - Guitar Playing Article:

Are You An Unhappy Musician? 10 Ways To Get Musical Pain Relief     
Are you happy and fulfilled with your level of musical skills? Can you honestly say that you have reached all of your musical goals? Has your guitar playing consistently gotten better during the time you have been playing? If you answered 'no' to any of these questions, then read the full article to get 10 guitar playing tips to put you on the path to say 'yes' to every question above!

28 May 2008 - Student Spotlight: Jeff Treadwell (USA)

6 May 2008 - Student Spotlight: Antony Reynaert (Belgium)

January 2008 - Guitarist Tom Hess has made a departure from Magic Circle Music recording artist HolyHell. The band's management issued this statement: "Tom has made a departure from HolyHell. He will be continuing work on his own projects. Tom is a great talent and we at Magic Circle Music wish him the very best of luck."

May 2007 - Debut HolyHell CD single quickly climbs European Charts! HolyHell’s debut single “Apocalypse," is quickly clawing its way up the charts throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland, The enhanced CD includes 3 new studio tracks, one live track from the 2005 Masters of Rock Fest, and one 10 minute EPK (Electronic Press Kit) Video. HolyHell - “Apocalypse (Digipack) SPV 85663"

May 2007 - New Tour Date Released. Magic Circle Music has announced the first ever Magic Circle Music Festival concert in Frankfurt, Germany on July 7th, 2007.

April 2007 - A New Major Instructional Course Just Released!

Phrasing Concepts for Rock Lead Guitar Soloing 
This guitar phrasing course is a powerful new resource for guitarists who want to learn highly effective soloing concepts to help better express themselves. Click here for more details!

1 March 2007 - HolyHell Video. Magic Circle Music has informally released a short excerpt of HolyHell live on our 2005 European tour. This short video was shoot at the Masters of Rock festival in the Czech Republic in July, 2005. You can see it here.

8 November 2006 - Nick Layton (a correspondence student of Tom Hess) Wins the Shred Academy Award for: "Best Song" that incorporated shredding with a tranquil ambience. Not easy!

 

Learn more about online guitar lessons, a career in music, how to teach guitar, or how to find guitar students