Below are some examples of my music, all which appear in my instruction books. There’s tab and music available for all of them, either in the book or separately.

Eric Clapton Blues-Lead Solo — from Blues Guitar For Dummies

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Eric Clapton formed the power trio Cream in 1966 and they quickly became a focal point in the blues revival. The guitarist’s articulate, overdriven guitar solos were a sensation, incorporating powerful bends, vibrato, and blues-scale licks by the score. By 1968, he was the most famous rock guitarist in the world and demonstrated his expertise on the live cut of the Robert Johnson tune “Crossroads” from Wheels of Fire. As heard here, Clapton pushed the tempo and technique for playing pentatonic-blues-box solos—he was making blues-rock history in real time.

To play fast and blues scales like Eric Clapton, you must practice. What differentiated Clapton, for example from other ’60s guitarists was his clean technique—you won’t find any sloppy or flubbed notes in his famous quote “Crossroads” solo. In order to get to that level, you must practice your blues licks slowly at first, and then gradually increase the tempo over the course of a few days or weeks. You can use a metronome to help slow your playing down and then speed it up.

Eagles Lead — from Rock Guitar For Dummies

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The Eagles were one of the most successful bands ’70s, let alone the folk-rock genre. Their smooth, string-bendy lead styles were required repertoire for aspiring guitarists of the time. The easy California-based sound of the Eagles defined the folk and country-rock genre (the two terms country rock and folk rock were now used interchangeably), and to date, no band in the genre has surpassed them in record sales or hit songs. The great leads that grace such hit songs as “Take It Easy” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling” are stellar examples of country rock lead.

This is a straight-four groove with a solo in the style of the Eagles, featuring a country-rock melodic approach and pedal steel-like bends. Note how the bend notes are slow and lyrical, and that often another note is played while the bend is sounding. Note too that you play the solo out of the major-pentatonic pattern, not the minor-pentatonic (blues) pattern in the same key.

Allman Brothers Lead — from Rock Guitar For Dummies

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Formed by two brothers, Dwayne on guitar, and younger brother Gregg on keyboards, the Allman Brothers hailed from Georgia and defined the southern rock sound of the early ’70s. The twin guitars of Duane and Dickey Betts were an unbeatable combination: Duane had the mature blues sound and expert slide technique (he was an accomplished session player who played on Eric Clapton’s Derek & the Dominos record Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, among several other recording) and Betts was the master of major-pentatonic playing and composing hooky major-scale riffs. They combined equal amounts of classic blues, straightforward chord progressions, and easy country-pop melodies, but they can also rock out and entertain rock concert audiences with extended, 20-minute jams.

This solo is in the style of their upbeat sound, as evidenced by songs such as “Blue Sky” and “Rambling Man,” which is one of the great solos of all time in the full break by Dickey Betts. The freewheeling break here is based entirely in E pentatonic-major and features some very country-like bends, in the style of Dickey Betts.

Jimi Hendrix Lead — from Rock Guitar For Dummies

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Jimi Hendrix is hailed as perhaps the greatest rock guitarist of all time. He combines the best elements of electric blues, psychedelic abandon, sonic sculpting, and pure inspiration. Although he died at only the age of 27 (in 1970), his legacy is the most enduring and studied of any guitarist ever. He started off in the R&B circuit as a sideman, playing with the Isley Brothers and Little Richard, to name two, but quickly developed his own style and became a local legend revered for his other-worldly technique and far-out stage performances.

Hendrix was a superior showman as well as guitarist, and could play the guitar behind his back, with his teeth. Like Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, Hendrix saw the guitar as a total sonic instrument and was a master of marshaling such effects as distortion, feedback, and the wah-wah pedal to conform to his vision. With his power trio, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Hendrix recorded just three albums, Are You Experienced (1967), Axis: Bold As Love (1967), and Electric Ladyland (1968), containing such classics as “Purple Haze,” “Hey Joe,” “All Along the Watchtower,” “Little Wing,” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).”

Adding to his uniqueness was the fact that he played left-handed, but using a “flipped” right-handed guitar (usually a Strat), re-strung. So his strings were in the normal orientation (with the low E closer to the ceiling), but the tuning pegs, controls, bridge, and nut were all “upside down.”

This solo is a lead figure using several techniques of which Hendrix was an acknowledged master: blues playing, string bending, whammy-bar manipulation, and effects use (wah-wah pedal and distortion).

Travis Blues — from Fingerstyle Guitar

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Here, the insistent, thudding bass is in contrast with the sustained, slowly bent melody. The muting sound results from the right hand being placed on top of the bridge at the bass-string side, which allows the treble strings to ring through.

Freight Train — from Fingerstyle Guitar

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This is a typical country rag progression that provides a springboard for improv. It consists of a basic melody interspersed with snappy single-string fills, country-blues comping, walking bass, and a rolling fingerpicking style.

Lord Inchinquin — from Fingerstyle Guitar

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Classical composers and arrangers have often based pieces on existing folk melodies, such as this old English melody. The result is that, to the guitarist, there is no difference in approach and technique when playing a folk-based piece or a Bach fugue. Hence, classical sensibilities apply here, such as a balance between bass and treble, sensitive dynamics, and an overall delicate touch. This is placed in an alternate tuning, D-G-D-G-A-D (low to high).

St. Anne’s Reel — from Fingerstyle Guitar

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This beautiful Irish melody is captured on guitar by using “harp style” to render most of the melody, and open string to provide the simple I, ii, IV, and V chord bass notes. The song is arranged in drop D tuning (D-A-D-G-B-E, low to high), but the ringing open strings make it sound like it’s in an open tuning.

Jazz Turnaround Comping — from Fingerstyle Guitar

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This emulates the sound of a walking acoustic bass playing legato quarter notes with staccato offbeat chords played by another instrument, like piano or guitar. Joe Pass was the master of the style, and you can hear it especially well in his duet work with vocalists. Work to achieve different dynamic levels in each part, so that you can play with a loud bass/soft treble and vice versa. This particular progression is actually a patchwork of two- and four-bar self-contained phrases strung together in a loose, G-blues framework.

Progression in A Minor — from Fingerstyle Guitar

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The key of A minor is particularly suited to fingerstyle guitar, and I’ve cobbled together a bunch of A minor lakes in this progression. Note the popular rock and blues descending bass line at the end (A, G, F#, F, E), which has been used by everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Led Zeppelin to the Stray Cats.

Chet and Jerry’s Walking Bass Blues — from Fingerstyle Guitar

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In the first part of this piece, the bass line ascends and in the second it descends. A series of melodies, variations and chordal licks are placed against the underlying bass-note progression. Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed have written pieces based on this formula, and this was composed as a tribute to them. Notes the many standard blues licks contained within, and the harp-style techniques to help render the melody.

El Cumbanchero — from Great Country Riffs, Vol. II

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This familiar Spanish flavored melody and variations presents one approach to playing rapid-fire flat picking over a minor progression. The first half is all rat-tat-tat alternate picking on the 16th-note sequences. The ascending three-against-two lick in bars 23-24 is a variation of the idea heard in “Fast break.” It’s a trick: that is, it utilizes some physical, idiomatic property of the guitar to produce a flashy effect. It’s quite impressive here.

The second half of the tune features the popular digital-delay effect, where eighth notes are played and the delay is set to echo those notes on the second and fourth 16th notes, which produces a steady stream of 16th notes. For this to work, set the delay’s output for one repeat (feedback = zero), volume 100% (maxed out), and the delay time (in milliseconds) to the quotient of 45 divided by the tempo.

Huh?! That’s right, it’s a simple formula that determines your delay setting. If you set your drum machine or metronome to 120, set your delay time 375 ms. (45 divided by 120 equals 0.375 of a second or 375 ms.) Then play eighth notes and, assuming you set up the other parameters correctly, the delay will play where you’re not—on the in-between 16th notes. Why 45? Because it’s 3/4 of 60, and 60 is the number used to convert tempo to seconds (60 divided by tempo = seconds). Using the number 45 instead of 60 allows your delay to kick back the principal note 3/4 of the way before the next quarter note, or, on the fourth 16th. Got it? Don’t worry about all the math; all you need to know is 45 ÷ T = ms. If your tempo is 150, set your metronome to 150, your delay to 300 ms, and then begin playing eighth notes and voilà—instant cascade. Everyone from Eddie Van Halen to Nuno Bettencourt to Albert Lee to John Jorgenson has used this device. Listen to John’s “Orange Blossom Special” on the Hellecasters album or “The Price I Pay” with the Desert Rose Band.