This toolkit contains some of the most popular lessons I&#8217;ve created, as well as those which will make the biggest impact on your playing. Finish working through these and I guarantee you&#8217;ll take your guitar playing to the next level.
My Favourite Guitar Exercises &#8211; Full tabs and video tutorials for my favourite killer exercises that are guaranteed to improve your speed, reach and dexterity.
My Top 10 Warm Up Tips &#8211; You MUST watch this before you next pick up a guitar. I cover everything from posture, stretching, hand positioning, warm up exercises and more, so that whenever you play guitar you’ll be at your best!
How to Improve Your Picking Speed &#8211; The highest-viewed lesson on School of McRock, which features the single most useful pattern I&#8217;ve ever learned to improve my picking speed and tons of other real-world tips to improve your picking speed.
Unlocking The Fretboard &#8211; In this mind-blowing video lesson I&#8217;ll show you how you can use 4 very simple shapes to unlock the entire fretboard and solo in any key.

Hey! So before you even play guitar, it&#8217;s really important to warm up and get yourself into the right frame of mind.
I&#8217;m going to show you my top 10 tips covering everything from posture, stretching, hand positioning, exercises and more, so that whenever you play guitar you&#8217;ll be at your best!

Thomas McRocklin

Exercises

Tips and Tricks

Top 10 Warm Up Tips

Introduction

The Tips

We all have those days when you get to the end of the night and you haven&#8217;t practiced or even played guitar and you want to feel like your fingers are progressing &#8211; something has improved that day &#8211; but you only have 5 minutes&#8230; it happens to me all the time.
In this lesson I&#8217;m going to show you some of my favourite exercises that work out your right hand, stretch your left hand and are guaranteed to improve your ability and dexterity even when you only have 5 minutes to practice in the day. Let&#8217;s go!

The Spider - Text/PDF

The Spider - Guitar Pro

My Favourite Guitar Exercises

The Staircase

The Spider

The Cramper

One of the most common questions I get asked is: &#8220;How do I break out from playing the same licks right in the middle of the fretboard all of the time&#8221;
I&#8217;m going to show you some scales that all link up together and explain how you can use them to unlock the entire fretboard &#8211; giving you much more clarity on how to can come up with great note choices, breathe some fresh life into your playing and improve your improvisation skills in any key.

Text/PDF

Guitar Pro

Improvisation

Scales

Technique

Theory

Unlocking The Fretboard

Shape 1

Shape 2

Shape 3

Shape 4

The Mind Blowing Bit

There are a few things people get wrong when they try to start playing at high speed, so let me show you exactly how to approach playing fast &#8211; from how to practice right up to choosing when and how to apply your new speedy techniques to your playing.
I&#8217;ve also got a great exercise to show you and there are lots of cool tips sprinkled throughout this lesson to get you going from 0-60 in no time!

Speed

How To Play Fast

Practicing Fast

Speed Exercise Part 1

Speed Exercise Part 2

Speed Exercise Part 3

When to Play Fast

A lot of people approach picking as a black and white thing but the right hand is often capable of adding so much to your playing than you might think!
In this video I&#8217;m going to go right from the top, breaking down my entire approach to picking and teaching you how properly utilise picking techniques to unlock extra expression in your playing, power in your chords and speed in your licks.

Picking

Pinch Harmonics

The Ultimate Picking Guide

My Picking Approach

Rhythmic Picking

Picking for Speed

Expressive Picking

Chromatic Picking Exercise

Pentatonic Picking Exercise

The Ultimate Guitar Toolkit

Is your guitar playing stuck in a rut? Do you wish you had more variety in your playing? Or have you always found certain things difficult, when other guitarists make it look easy?
Whether you&#8217;re looking to add a new technique to your arsenal or squeeze an extra ounce of efficiency into your playing, this course will transform your guitar playing &#8211; forever.
Each lesson dives into a different topic from a beginners perspective, so that no details are glossed over and you get all of the information required to nail the mechanics relating to each specific technique.
As well as breaking down each technique, every lesson is packed full of advanced tips that have been gathered from years of practice and experience, so that you are able to learn (or re-learn) these techniques using best-practices that will fundamentally improve your playing, whatever level you are currently at.

Rhythm playing is one of those areas that is often overlooked, whether it&#8217;s because your timing isn&#8217;t so great or you just don&#8217;t have enough elements to create really killer sounding riffs.
This lesson covers every aspect of my approach to rhythm playing, and it&#8217;s packed full of tips and insights that you&#8217;ll be able to pick up and apply to your playing today, whether you&#8217;re just starting our or you&#8217;ve been playing for years!

Alternate Picking

Chords

Rhythm

Riffs

Heavy Rhythm 101

Palm muting

Open strikes

Chord vibrato

Alternate picking

Using silence

The arcade sound

Breaking up chords

Pinched harmonics

Muted picking

Wylde vibrato

Open notes

Power and depth

Adding variations

Alternate picking chords

Rhythmic flair

This lesson covers everything you need to know to become a tapping master &#8211; whether you&#8217;re a beginner unsure how to get started with tapping or a more experienced player looking for some tips and inspiration to take your playing to the next level.
We start with the basics such as how to transition from picking to tapping, common tapping patterns and changing notes with each hand. Once we&#8217;ve got the fundamentals down we&#8217;re going to crank it up to 11 with some fun advanced tapping techniques &#8211; let&#8217;s go!

Double Stop

Tapping

Tapping 101

Transitioning in and out

Tapping patterns

Changing notes

Using open notes

Advanced tapping

In this lesson I&#8217;m going to give you a full breakdown of all of the mechanics and movements involved in sweep picking so that you can learn everything you need to nail this awesome technique.
I start with the basics, including the best methods for holding the pick correctly so that you can sweep through the strings like a warm knife through butter! As you progress through the lesson you&#8217;ll learn multiple sweeping patterns and how to put everything together so you can use this technique in the real world to deliver some awesome solo action!

Arpeggios

Sweep Picking

Sweep Picking 101

Ascending Sweeps

Descending Sweeps

Changing Direction

Transitioning Between Shapes

Bending is such an important part of playing guitar – it’s a crucial technique to have in your arsenal and it’s worth taking the time to get it right.
In this lesson I break down the fundamentals of bending and answer the most commonly asked questions about the technique. I also share a few of my top secret tips so that you can learn all of the tools you need to become a bending master.

Vibrato

String Bending 101

Push or Pull

How to Bend

Getting The Pitch Right

To Vibrato or Not

Four Finger Bending

Gimme a Secret Tip!

Over Bending

How Far Can You Bend?

Pinched Harmonic Bends

My Final Tips

There&#8217;s a lot of information out there about pick slanting, but what is the correct information for you and how can you start using it to improve your playing?
The good news is: I&#8217;ve done the research for you!
I&#8217;ve put together this definitive guide to the subject, which will explain exactly what pick slanting is and how you can start using it within your playing &#8211; without undoing any of your existing technique.

Tim Hutchinson

Pick Slanting 101

The Basics

Outside Picking

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Hybrid picking sounds super complicated, but it&#8217;s actually quite easy to pick up. In this lesson I break this technique down to teach you everything you need to know so you can start incorporating it into your playing &#8211; today!
We&#8217;ll start with the basics &#8211; what exactly is hybrid picking and how do you pull it off? I&#8217;ll show you why this is such a cool technique, how to practice it effectively, when to use it and which tones it works best with. Even if you&#8217;ve never tried it before, by the end of this lesson you&#8217;ll be able to start using hybrid picking in your playing.

Hybrid Picking

Hybrid Picking 101

What is Hybrid Picking?

What Tones Work Well?

What About Patterns?

If you&#8217;ve wanted to incorporate legato into your playing this is the lesson for you &#8211; I&#8217;m going to give you all of the tools and information you need to incorporate this fun and explosive technique into your playing today!
This lesson covers the fundamentals relating to the tone and mechanics of legato playing, as well as some deep dives into various ways I use legato in my own playing. It&#8217;s packed with tips and tricks as well as a selection of simple, quick exercises that will take your legato chops to the next level.

Legato

String Skipping

Legato 101

Tone and Technique

Pentatonics

Guitar Techniques 101

Does music theory not seem to &#8216;click&#8217; for you? Do you feel like you&#8217;re playing the same licks over and over, but not sure how to break out of the box? Do you wish you could confidently improvise in any key, all over the fretboard?
If so&#8230; this is the course for you!
This course focuses on the practical elements of music theory &#8211; things that will make the most impact on your playing in the shortest space possible. It&#8217;s packed full of information and insights, teaching you how to visualise the fretboard and improvise in any key &#8211; playing all over the neck with complete confidence.
Once you&#8217;ve completed this course, I guarantee you that your guitar playing and understanding of music theory will be transformed forever!

I use arpeggios all of the time within licks or to transition between different parts of the neck when soloing.
In this video I&#8217;m going to show you the major and minor arpeggio shapes that I think everyone should know, as well as some 3 octave and diminished patterns that are a bit less common but still amazingly useful.
I also explain the best practices for fingering these patterns, and how to think ahead when playing to ensure your fingers are in the correct position during a transition.

Arpeggios Everyone Should Know

Pattern 1

Pattern 2

Pattern 3

3 Octave Patterns

Diminished Patterns

Do you find yourself stuck playing the same scales and patterns all the time?
In this lesson we&#8217;re going to pick a few different keys to improvise in but we&#8217;re going to completely ban the obvious and comfortable scale positions you&#8217;re used to! Instead I&#8217;ll show you some cool new shapes and patterns to use which will force you into using new note choices and phrasing options to help you break out of your habits and breath new life into your playing!

Alternative Scale Positions

A minor

C minor

D minor

This lesson is all about getting you really comfortable playing everywhere on the neck &#8211; without learning any scale positions at all!
This is one of the first things I learned on guitar and is actually how I was able to shred from a very young age. It&#8217;s based on a very simple method that is really easy to learn and will make a huge difference to you when it comes to visualising the fretboard.

Thinking in Tones

Getting started

TSTTSTT

Linking it together

One of the questions I get asked a lot is &#8211; what tuning are you in? I always play in standard tuning, but the way you approach chords and phrasing in different keys can completely transform the way they sound.
This lesson gives you all the insights into my approach to playing in my favourite keys. I&#8217;ll show you how to re-train your fingers to come up with some amazing sounds based on familiar shapes and how to layer harmonics onto chords to create epic soundscapes.

My Favourite Keys

F Sharp Minor

E Minor

B Minor

I absolutely love chromatics, when used in the right place they can add some crazy sounds to licks and solos!
When you&#8217;re practicing chromatics there are few different ways you can do it, and there are a few things that can trip you up.
In this lesson we&#8217;re going to talk about some of my favourite patterns to use, how to practice them and also how chromatics can really help improve your picking technique.

The Ultimate Workout

Chromatics

Don&#8217;t Be So Chromatic

Standard Position

Open Position

Using More Of The Neck

Picking Practice

The Ultimate Chromatic Workout

Practical Guitar Theory

This special guest lesson features a blazing solo breakdown from Oliver &#8220;Liverplate&#8221; Christian, the super-talented instrumental guitarist from Brazil who is making huge waves in the industry.
As well as fully breaking down this fun and impressive solo, he also includes lots of cool insights into the way that he approaches playing the guitar, including some killer tips that I&#8217;m definitely going to start using myself!

Inner Space

Liverplate

Lick Breakdown

Modes

Aeolian Lick Breakdown

Lick breakdown

If your rhythm playing doesn&#8217;t seem like it&#8217;s tight and articulate, or you want to inject some more dynamics and expression into your playing, this is the lesson for you!
In this lesson, we begin by finding the sweet spot for the perfect rhythm tone, before locking into a beat and gradually introducing techniques to build up your rhythm chops. Then, we&#8217;ll focus on introducing more rhythmic patterns such as triplets and upbeats that allow you to get creative and build your own unique, juicy riffs!

Beat

Locking In Your Rhythm

Triplets

Upbeats

The &#8216;box shape&#8217; pentatonic scale is one of the first things many guitarists will learn and in this lesson I&#8217;m going to teach you how you can use this familiar pattern as a starting point to break out into more interesting sounds and expand your musical vocabulary.
I&#8217;m also going to explain my approach to pentatonics by showing you some of my favourite patterns and breaking down a pentatonic lick that uses the 3 note per string method which is fantastic for blazing across the fretboard in high-speed bursts. If you&#8217;ve been underestimating the power of pentatonic scales &#8211; this lesson will change that!

Shred

Jumping Into Pentatonics

Pentatonic shapes

Mixing it up

If for some reason you&#8217;ve never joined a live masterclass on School of McRock then fear not because we&#8217;ve edited this one down for you! The theme of this masterclass was all about solos, shred and how to construct your solos and improvised playing.
During this masterclass I break down my entire approach to shredding, walking you through what goes on in my head from the moment I hear a backing track through to improvising a complete solo. Along the way, I pause to take questions from members about various topics and answer them live. If you&#8217;re new to shred, this class will help you get started on your journey &#8211; if you&#8217;re more experienced, it&#8217;s packed full of valuable tips and insights you can use to improve your playing. Let&#8217;s do it!

Masterclass

Shred Masterclass

Recent Lessons

During the McRocklin &amp; Hutch track &#8220;You and Me&#8221; Thomas and I trade guitar solos back and forwards &#8211; in this lesson I&#8217;m going to break down the first solo from that exchange.
This solo strings together multiple techniques such as pick slanting, arpeggios, tapping, cross picking and hammer ons out of nowhere so there&#8217;s a lot to learn! To make things easier I break the solo down into 6 short sections so you can learn a piece at a time in just a few minutes.

Solo 1

You and Me Solo 1 Breakdown

The Breakdown

Today I&#8217;m going to teach you a really cool melodic rock lick that you can use to improve your improvisation and overall lead game.
I&#8217;ll break down the full lick for you and explain how it is constructed as well as some of the theory behind it, followed by some awesome exercises which will help you improve the legato techniques required to play these types of licks.

Backing Track

Stel Andre

Melodic Rock Lick Breakdown

In this lesson I&#8217;m going to teach you a cool, creative string skipping tapping lick as well some tips to carry out to help you with this style of playing.
Sometimes with licks based on modulations, modal interchanges, complex harmony etc, we can find ourselves a bit lost. I bet you have had that feeling, haven&#8217;t you? Don&#8217;t worry, I&#8217;m also going to explain the harmony behind this lick and how it is constructed!

Borja Mintegiaga

Intervallic Lick

Theory and Tips

Guest Lessons

When you think of harmonics you probably imagine squealing dive bombs, but they are also an amazing tool to use when improvising to add an extra dimension to your playing.
In this lesson we&#8217;re going to explore harmonics in three different keys, and the multiple ways that you can use them to add sustain, create tension and explore new sounds! If you&#8217;ve been feeling stuck for ideas or are looking to inject some new sounds into your playing then this lesson is exactly what you&#8217;ve been waiting for!

Harmonics

The World Of Harmonics

A Minor

<div>
<div>In this lesson I&#8217;m going to teach you a super effective songwriting method that uses simple chord shapes and some basic music theory based around intervals, which is really easy to understand even if you&#8217;ve never learned theory before.</div>
<div>As well as helping you to find inspiration and write songs, this method will also help you to visualise the fretboard and how the notes relate to each other, so it will really help you to feel more comfortable and confident moving around the neck.</div>
</div>

Songwriting

Songwriting Using Intervals

Part 1

Part 2 Music Theory

While it&#8217;s often possible to play very fast sequences purely with alternate picking, in this lesson I&#8217;m going to show you a simple hack that I use which makes it much easier to play an incredibly fast and impressive flurry of notes more easily and using far less energy.
The cool thing about this technique is you can apply it to any note combination on any strings you like, which gives you a powerful shortcut to be able to come up with blazing fast licks of your own.

Blazing Speed Hack

The Lesson

In this lesson I&#8217;m going to break down the chorus section from my track Clear Skies. This solo is jam-packed with lots of different techniques and flourishes which makes it a lot of fun to play.
I&#8217;m going to guide you through this note-for-note, covering these techniques in detail as well as all of the little details, expression and delivery that will help you get this solo completely locked down. Let&#8217;s do this!

Clear Skies

Clear Skies Breakdown

Time to Shred!

Spectrum Lick Breakdowns

Guitar Tools

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Guitar lesson topics

Recent Lessons

Aeolian Lick Breakdown

Locking In Your Rhythm

Jumping Into Pentatonics

Shred Masterclass

Guest Lessons

Aeolian Lick Breakdown

You and Me Solo 1 Breakdown

Melodic Rock Lick Breakdown

Intervallic Lick

Music Theory

The World Of Harmonics

Songwriting Using Intervals

Alternative Scale Positions

Thinking in Tones

Time to Shred!

Jumping Into Pentatonics

Shred Masterclass

Blazing Speed Hack

Clear Skies Breakdown

Easy Lessons

Aeolian Lick Breakdown

Locking In Your Rhythm

Jumping Into Pentatonics

Shred Masterclass

Intermediate Lessons

Spectrum Lick Breakdowns

The Combo Lick

Using Your Guitar Controls

Blazing Speed Hack

Advanced Lessons

You and Me Solo 1 Breakdown

Waiting For The Right Time – Solo 2

Intervallic Lick

6 Mega Shred Exercises

Lick breakdowns

Spectrum Lick Breakdowns

Aeolian Lick Breakdown

Jumping Into Pentatonics

Instagram Licks II