Tom Hess's Answers To Frequently Asked Questions
On this page you will see Tom Hess's answers to the most commonly asked questions about Breakthrough Guitar Lessons and various aspects of guitar playing.
Scroll down and choose the question category to read Tom Hess's answers.
Frequently Asked Questions About Online Guitar Lessons
See Tom Hess's answers to commonly asked questions about becoming a Breakthrough Guitar Lessons student. Find out: what is included in each guitar lesson you receive, how Tom Hess will track your musical progress what styles Tom Hess will teach you, what musical styles Tom Hess does and does not teach, how well Tom Hess's guitar students play, plus: how to email Tom Hess directly if you have additional questions about becoming his guitar student.
Frequently Asked Questions About Guitar Scales
See Tom Hess's answers to frequently asked questions about guitar scales. Find out about key signatures and scale spellings, how to best practice scales on guitar, how to apply melodic minor scales, how to apply modes, how modal theory works and how guitar scales work in blues lead guitar soloing.
Frequently Asked Questions About Guitar Chords
See Tom Hess's answers to questions about guitar chords. Find out about the augmented triad in major keys, the chord formulas in major and natural minor keys, how to write a guitar solo over chord changes, how to improvise (an unrehearsed) guitar solo over chord changes, triad construction principles, how chord inversions work in music theory, how the Neapolitan chord works, how to best visualize guitar chords on 3-string sets of your guitar and how to best find triad chords in a key.
Frequently Asked Questions About Guitar Technique
See Tom Hess's answers to questions about guitar technique. Find out how to best practice directional picking (and what to do if you are finding it hard to get used to), proper picking hand position for maximum speed, proper fretting hand position for maximum speed, how long it takes to get a new guitar technique to be usable in your guitar playing, how to best increase your fretting hand stretch, how to get more control over your vibrato technique, the most optimal scale fingerings, what to do if you feel pain in your hands while playing guitar, and how to do arpeggio finger rolling cleanly when you sweep pick.
Frequently Asked Questions About Practicing Guitar
See Tom Hess's answers to questions about practicing guitar. Find out about the right metronome speeds to use for practicing, how to best practice scales, how to practice scale sequences, how much time you should spend practicing guitar, how to best practice improvising, how to deal with frustration when progress seems easier than you would like and how to best practice away from the guitar.
Frequently Asked Questions About Rhythm Guitar Playing
See Tom Hess's answers to common questions about playing rhythm guitar. Find out about the correct way to do palm muting for rhythm guitar, what to do if you feel fatigue (and/or pain) in your picking hand wrist and what your fretting hand position should be for rhythm guitar.
Other Frequently Asked Questions
See Tom Hess's answers to miscellaneous guitar playing and practicing questions. Find out about: cadences, fretboard memorization, applying arpeggios into your guitar playing, music composition, getting the floating bridge to stay straight when you put new strings on, criticism of virtuoso guitar music (and Tom Hess's response), how to create musical tension while improvising, how to play in odd meter, how to read guitar tab and how to tell when you are ready to record your guitar playing.