There’s one guitar chord that’s so powerful..

There was no other choice but to call it a power chord.

It’s one of the most popular guitar chords and here’s how to play it: <--Tweet This

Adding distortion is the key to really bringing this chord to life.

The distortion pedal that I use is a Boss DS1.

What’s your favorite distortion pedal? Please leave a comment below. I’d really love to know what type of pedal works best for you..

Guitar players who viewed this lesson also learned how the power chord is used to play Seven Nation Army (White Stripes), Use Somebody (Kings Of Leon), Magic (B.o.B), and Funny The Way It Is (DMB).

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Music is Powerful. [Tweet this]

Have you ever heard a song and been instantly transported back to the first time you ever heard it?

That same thing just happened to me recently.

It was a snowy morning in Philly.

I was sitting in a coffee shop in my neighborhood listening to music and watching the snow fall outside the window.

All of a sudden one of my favorite songs came on and it happened..

I was instantly transported back to the first time I heard it and the feeling that came over me.

It was the exciting feeling of hearing a new form of music for the first time and the endless new possibilities that it inspired.

It was on a cold winter day back in 2000.

I walked into the giant two story H&M record store on Walnut St. in downtown Philly.

As I was heading up the escalator into the second floor Jazz department I heard the sound.

It was incredible Jazz guitar.

The playing was so familiar yet so different from anything I had ever heard.

It sounded more modern than anything that was going on in music at the time. And it still holds up today.

It was state of the art music production.

There were floating samples of futuristic sounds.

The beat was urban.

The guitar was as smooth as 100 year old cognac. [Tweet this]

There were octaves being played in the traditional Jazz way.. but nothing was traditional about this sound at all!

To me.. It was groundbreaking!!!

I knew right away who these incredible guitar chops belonged to.. It was none other than the master himself.. Ernest Ranglin.

I immediately went up to the cashier and asked who was playing over the speakers.

“It’s a new release on the Bluenote label called Tourist by St. Germain and the song is Montego Bay Spleen

As fast as I could I grabbed the c.d. and put my $10 dollars down on the counter.

I must have listened to that song hundreds of times since that cold day in the winter of 2000.

To this day, every time I hear it I flash back to some great times I’ve had while listening to it.

Like all great art.. It still gives me that same inspirational feeling that I got the first time I ever heard it.

Like all groundbreaking art.. It still sounds as relevant, inspiring and forward thinking today as it did over a decade ago.

Guitar players who read this also read 3 Classic Reggae Winter Warmers, Party Music For A Snow Covered Mountainside and learned to play Bedrock by Young Money.

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I was looking for some cool guitar t’s the other day when I came across these gems.

They feature the artwork of Banksy.

If you’re not familiar with Banksy.. he’s a London based graffiti artist.

He’s rich.

He’s famous.

His artwork is known the world over, collected by celebrities and sells for huge amounts of money.

And the coolest part of all…

No one knows who he is!!!

But.. if these t-shirts give us any insight into the artist himself..

It’s clear that just like you and me..

Banksy loves guitar. [Tweet this]

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Serenade your Valentine with the Guitar classic.. I’m Yours.

And if your feelin’ like you have a little extra swag..

Maybe take a shot at Weezy’s rap.. lol

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY 2013!!!

SPREAD LOVE.. PLAY GUITAR [Tweet this]

-AD

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Every time you play guitar.. the oils from your fingers are transferred to the strings.

After a short amount of time these oils start to break down the strings causing the tone and playability to suffer.

There’s an easy way to slow that process way down.

Wipe your strings down from top to bottom with a dry lint free cloth every time you finish playing.

It’ll save you money.

It’ll make your guitar strings last longer. [Tweet this]

And it also makes good use of your favorite old guitar t-shirt that’s too worn out to wear anymore.

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