Classic Rock Guitar
Genre and Style Guitar Course from Will Ripley
Will Ripley picks up where he left off in his Phase 1 Beginner series with this series: Classic Rock Guitar. Learn timeless rock techniques through special tracks that Will has prepared in the styles of some of the greatest artists of all time: Jimi Hendrix, Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Neil Young, Guns 'n' Roses, just to name a few.
43 Lessons
Complete course with step-by-step lessons and practice examples.
Multi-Camera
Course filmed with 6 cameras for the perfect angles.
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Full Course Breakdown
Learn timeless rock techniques in this series: Classic Rock Guitar. Will Ripley has prepared special tracks in the styles of some of the greatest artists of all time. Through these tracks, you will learn all the techniques you need to know to make you sound like you just stepped out of the classic rock era!
Begin the CourseSeries Introduction
Get ready to learn some timeless classic techniques in this series, Classic Rock Guitar. In this lesson, Will gives an introduction to what you'll find in the series.
4:33 Runtime
0.0 Difficulty
What You Need to Know
To kick off the series, Will briefly goes over some of the foundational techniques you will need to know to get through this series.
10:17 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
Single Note Riff in the Style of Heart
Will gets us going with a very cool yet simple single note riff in the style of the band Heart.
7:15 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
Riff in the Style of Ozzy Osbourne, Part 1
Things take a bit of heavier turn with this riff in the style of Ozzy! Work on your hammer-ons, power chords and huge sounding open chords.
12:06 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
Riff in the Style of Ozzy Osbourne, Part 2
Will continues with a track in the style of Ozzy Osbourne, getting into the chorus section.
8:15 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
Riff in the Style of Jimi Hendrix
Will continues with single note riffs and this classic sounding riff in the style of Hendrix. This is a great one for visualizing octave shapes while playing riffs.
7:39 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
Riff in the Style of Aerosmith/James Gang
Funky is the name of the game here with this riff in the style of The James Gang or Aerosmith. There's some nice chromatic movement, and a chance to work on your alternate picking. Rip it up!
11:21 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Blues-Rock Riff In the Style of Cream
Blues is one of the cornerstones of rock guitar playing, especially classic rock. This catchy riff in the style of Cream will have have you wanting to start a power trio right away!
14:45 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
Pentatonic Challenge
In Will's Phase 1 course, he introduced you to the pentatonic scale. Now, he takes you to the next level with a unique way of practicing these scales that will have you using them in solos in no time!
10:04 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
Diagonal Pentatonics
Knowing your 5 pentatonic shapes inside an out is crucial, especially now that Will is going to show us a whole new perspective on playing these essential rock guitar scales.
9:39 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Guns 'n' Roses/Black Crowes Part 1
Another classic sounding tune coming at ya here... This one has an emphasis on fast moving power chord shapes.
8:08 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of Guns 'n' Roses/Black Crowes Part 2
In part 2 of this lesson, we get into the heavier sounding section of the song. Get ready to channel your inner Guns 'n' Roses!
9:54 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of Neil Young/Lynyrd Skynyrd Part 1
Now Will brings the energy down a bit with this Neil Young-esque track. He shows you some very cool embellishments for your open chords that will give your songs a lot of color!
14:03 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Neil Young/Lynyrd Skynyrd Part 2
There's more to your open chords than you may realize. In this lesson, Will shows us how to get the most out of some of these chords by making a few modifications and embellishments.
7:57 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Neil Young/Lynyrd Skynyrd Part 3
Continuing on this Neil Young-Lynyrd Skynyrd -esque track, it's all about the chords, and making the chords sound cool and professional. Will shows us some nice F chord variations, then puts it all together with the track!
17:20 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of Neil Young/Lynyrd Skynyrd Part 4
In this lesson, Will takes the open chords you learned in the previous three lessons and shows you how to play them in different positions up the neck adding to the sound palette of this track!
12:53 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of Boston/Lynyrd Skynyrd
Here's another great chord exercise, using a classic sounding track in the style of Boston or Lynryrd Skynyrd. There are lots of variations on chords found in the key of D here!
12:17 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
How to Bend Strings
Will now transitions in to more lead oriented playing, starting a must know technique: String bending!
12:25 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Single Note Vibrato
Now that you've learned how to bend strings, add some vibrato to make those notes sing, and make your guitar sustain even longer!
10:39 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of ZZ Top, Part 1
Blues is a huge part of classic rock, and this lesson in the style of ZZ Top introduces you to some traditional sounding blues/rock licks that you can use over lots of classic rock tracks!
14:17 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
In the Style of ZZ Top, Part 2
Now that Will has showed us the lead licks, he clues us in on the super groovy rhythm part of the ZZ Top sounding tune!
9:24 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Jimi Hendrix, Part 1
Earlier in the series, Will gave us a taste of this Jimi Hendrix style track. Now he's going to teach the entire song. Get ready for some serious Hendrix rock and roll attitude!
13:32 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of Jimi Hendrix, Part 2
In this lesson, Will continues with this Hendrix-esque track, showing us those gritty licks up the neck just like Jimi would play!
16:53 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
The Major Pentatonic Scale
Up until now, Will has mostly been working in the minor pentatonic scale. In this lesson, he introduces us to a major pentatonic sound, that will inspire lots of new ideas!
8:23 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
Major and Minor Pentatonic Examples
The blending of major and minor pentatonic scales is a technique commonly found in classic rock and blues. Will shows us some really simple ideas to get us started on this cool sounding technique!
11:50 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of Free-CCR-AC/DC, Part 1
In this very classic sounding track, Will covers some essential rhythm guitar techniques as well as some lead guitar licks that will help you get "the bends"!
10:12 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Free-CCR-AC/DC, Part 2
Will continues in the super classic sounding track, this time showing you some extremely useful inversion chords.
11:37 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Free-CCR-AC/DC, Part 3
Now Will gets into the gritty rhythm guitar parts of the track. You'll learn to play power chords in ways you perhaps never thought of before. Get ready to rock!
10:20 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Free-CCR-AC/DC, Part 4
In this lesson, Will shows us some atmospheric sounding chord voicings as well as a driving rhythm part that adds a definite 'cool' factor to this track. Then, he goes over all the parts with the track!
10:57 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Jimi Hendrix-Cream, Part 1
This is a great blues-rock track that conjures up images of Eric Clapton with Cream, and a dash of Jimi Hendrix thrown in. In the next two lessons, Will covers both rhythm and lead aspects of the tune.
17:34 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of Jimi Hendrix-Cream, Part 2
Continuing with this track, Will now shows us a classic lead guitar technique known as "sixths".
10:06 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of Led Zeppelin, Part 1
In this very Led Zeppelin-esque track, you'll learn about intervals, huge sounding chords, and unison bends. In other words, lots of great classic rock techniques!
14:28 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Led Zeppelin, Part 2
In part two of this lesson, Will expands on the chorus section and shows us that gritty rock guitar technique - unison bends.
11:14 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Dire Straits - AC/DC, Part 1
There are definite echoes of Malcolm and Angus Young in this vintage rocker. Will covers all the rhythm and lead parts for you, and you will soon learn these techniques will translate to lots of other songs!
11:57 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Dire Straits - AC/DC, Part 2
Continuing with this track, Will shows us an alternate rhythm guitar part that conjures up images of Dire Straits, all the while teaching super important chord inversions!
4:38 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of Dire Straits - AC/DC, Part 3
Now Will gets into the lead guitar parts of this classic sounding track, including blending major and minor pentatonic ideas.
12:31 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Aerosmith/James Gang
Having covered some of the riff elements of this track in a previous lesson, Will now shows us the super funky rhythm parts that will complete the track.
10:09 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Heart, Part 1
Earlier in the series, Will showed us a cool single note riff in the style of Heart. Now, he returns to the entire track to show us some driving rhythm guitar parts!
12:05 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of Heart, Part 2
Continuing with this track in the style of Heart, Will gets you going on vintage riffs played off the one finger A chord.
13:44 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Heart, Part 3
Strumming and chords are just as big a part of classic rock as playing riffs is! In this lesson, Will teaches us the art of switching chords with minimal movement to keep the groove clean and tight.
6:51 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of Heart, Part 4
Will wraps up this track by taking a look at playing some lead guitar lines that soar right off of the original riff we learned all the way back in lesson 3 of this series!
12:08 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
Led Zeppelin Style Pull-Off Lick
Time to build those chops! Here's a lick that makes you think of Jimmy Page, and it's not as hard as it seems at first. Will gets you playing the basics, and pretty soon this lick will be smokin'!
8:44 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
Classic Rock Licks
In this lesson Will shows us some other "classic" licks that you can add to your repertoire. These can be integrated in all sorts of classic rock and blues songs!
9:58 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
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