Rock Tactics & Pentatonic Flavor

Tony Martinez (@tony_waka) levels up your rock guitar technique and flavor.

Do you ever hear a pro player bending a note and wonder, "why don't my bends sound like that?" Or, "why is he playing only 2 notes, but it sounds amazing!" The answers to these questions can't always be found in tablature... they need to be heard and explained in the proper way. Enter Tony Martinez. Focus on the details, nuances, and techniques to unlock that finer detail in your playing. Our goal is to add 5 years to your playing with 30 lessons and ideas.

Suited for guitarists of all skill levels, our emphasis strong technique, clean playing, and flavoring your scales and pentatonics. Learn more or start the course with membership

Course Details
30 Lessons
5 Hour+ Runtime
Tabs (gpx, pdf)
Playalong Tracks
HD+ Video
90 day guarantee
Get All Access

Stream online, plus all other courses with membership.

The JamPlay Learning System

Like every JamPlay course, Rock Tactics & Pentatonic Flavors features world-class instruction and a dynamic learning system to help you succeed quickly.

It's not just videos, and not just downloads. You'll get:

  • Interactive tabs, notation, and fretboard
  • JamTracks for play along practice
  • Ask-a-teacher functionality
  • Speed up, slow down and loop the video
  • Bookmark exact moments in the lesson
  • Note-taking feature
  • 4k video with multiple camera angles
  • Track progress with the progress report
Responsive image

Meet Tony Martinez

Tony Martinez was born in 1984 on the small spanish island of Mallorca, and began playing music at a very young age. At age 5, he started playing the piano and quickly began playing his first gigs and concerts at the age of 7. A few years later, at the age of just 10 years old, he discovered the guitar and has been playing ever since.

After years of playing by ear and self-examination, he decided he wanted to get more serious and become a real musician. At 17, he finished his medium grade piano studies and started his modern music official studies at the Barcelona Modern Conservatory of Music where he received a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Tony started gigging hard within the Barcelona rock and blues scene and quickly drew some attention of musicians and fans.

Tony has gained a solid reputation through performance and touring, and is an endorser for Suhr Guitars, Wampler pedals, Friedman Amps, Lava Cables, Chris Cambell Strings or Gruv Gear.

Nowadays he splits up his time by doing demos, teaching music and touring with different international artists such as Gloria Gaynor or Marta Sanchez.

Sing Your Notes with Style

Don't just play the instrument. Unleash its full potential with solid technique and tasty note choice.

If you struggle with certain aspects of rock playing (bends, legato, hybrid picking), or just want to explore additional scale tones to liven up your ideas, this course was built with you in mind. We start from the ground floor to establish technique, then move to more advanced topics for the intermediate player. This course offers 30 lessons covering 5+ hours of material in step-by-step, digestible presentation.

Lessons in this Course
1

Series Introduction

Tony gives us an overview of his course in which he will cover a modern approach to the blues rock style, played with gain, attitude, and infectious energy.

4:16 Runtime

0.0 Difficulty

2

Rock Essentials: Vibrato

Vibrato is the embodiment of your guitar personality. It will literally identify you to the world of music! In this lesson,Tony gives us the tools that will allow the creation of our own unique sound.

14:28 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

3

Rock Essentials: Bends

Bending notes that are in tune and accurate doesn't happen by accident! Tony gives us the low down on developing good technique to make your bends overflow with energy and character!

13:46 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

4

Tricky Bends and Beyond

Now that we've zeroed in on what makes a good bend, and how to execute them, we take a look at some not so common bends that will add a level of difficulty!

11:02 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

5

Even More Weird Bends

Let the bending continue! If you thought the previous lesson had tricky bends, check this one out. Tony explores even more wild things you can do with bending!

11:54 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

6

Applying the Bending Concepts

We've explored the cool and crazy when it comes to bending and vibrato. Now let's put it to the test in the context of a backing track!

8:50 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

7

Pentatonics: How I See Them

Now let's get into pentatonics and the way that Tony looks at them. He will share his approach to the visualization of the scale that will allow you to see the shapes all across the fretboard!

11:53 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

View this Lesson
8

Make Them Musical

When playing any scale, you want to use it in the most musical way possible. This requires moving around the scale in a manner that might be outside your comfort zone. Tony takes the pentatonic scale and shows us how to NOT sound like a robot, but how to sound musical!

13:28 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

9

Pentatonic Fireworks

In this lesson, Tony explains his 'key technique' that will help you add speed and fireworks to your pentatonic scales.

13:01 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

10

Pentatonic Run Examples

Now it's time to explore some fast ascending and descending pentatonic licks.

9:39 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

11

Adding Spicy Notes to Your Pentatonics

There's no doubt that you can get a lot of mileage out of the pentatonic scale just as it is. But making some simple additions, some 'spicy' notes if you will, can take you into tonalities that lie just outside of the pentatonics, and will open up unique doors that will make your playing sound much different!

11:25 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

12

Time to Apply the Extra Notes

Let's apply those 'spicy' notes in context with some sample licks that use the II and VI.

11:31 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

13

There's More Than Shred - Be Mellow!

Of course, using the 'spicy' notes that Tony talked about in the previous lessons works the best when they are used in a tasteful and subtle way. In this lesson, Tony mellows us out a little and shows us how incorporate these notes in a less obvious way.

9:53 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

14

Why is This Wrong if it's So Good!

In this lesson, Tony explains the how using major and minor thirds in unique ways can add cool tonalities to your playing.

9:29 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

15

Make Those Thirds Scream

The way the thirds in our scales are approached really identifies the kind of energy and intensity you'll hear in those tonalites. Find some unique ways of approach in this lesson from Tony.

9:42 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

16

Do it the Other Way!

Let's approach the application of 'unique thirds' from the opposite angle: minor thirds over major pentatonic tonality.

10:23 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

17

Let's Put it All Together!

Now it's time to unpack all of what we've learned in the last few lessons and put it into a cool, high energy solo!

20:23 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

18

Let's Do It Modal!

The modes can be a source of confusion for many players. In this lesson, Tony explains his approach to the modes, and how he makes sense of them.

7:29 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

19

Three Notes per String Theory

In this lesson, Tony gives his take on three notes per string theory which is the precursor to playing legato.

4:45 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

20

Techniques to Use with Legato

Now it's time to look at Tony's legato technique. When done correctly, this can be an awesome tool for speed and precision. Tony starts with looking at hand positioning and the proper way to pull off a note.

14:14 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

21

Techniques to Use with Legato 2

In this lesson, Tony shows us another unique legato technique that uses often - the 3-1-3 technique.

12:48 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

22

Techniques to Use with Legato 3

The 'Z' technique is an arpeggio-like technique that Tony likes to use in his legato playing. Get the lowdown on this impressive variation in legato playing!

9:44 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

23

Putting Your Legato Techniques Together

The three legato techniques Tony just showed us don't have to exist by themselves. In this lesson, Tony shows us some effective ways to combine these techniques to add another level of 'wow' to your playing!

12:52 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

24

Legato Solo

Time to learn a real world, practical solo that involves a great deal of legato playing. Tony also adds in other techniques including some very cool and unique vibrato that gives the solo a very modern sound!

10:07 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

25

Intervalic Playing

It's all in the numbers! Tony's approach to intervallic playing stresses the numbers of the notes in the scale, not note names. Join Tony for this unique approach, where visualization is the key!

13:52 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

26

Hybrid Picking

Tony's hybrid picking was born out of necessity more than anything, as it is with a lot of players. Here, he shows us how to implement the technique, resulting in a very economical picking hand!

12:26 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

27

Triad Pairs

In this lesson, Tony looks at pairing different triads in the diatonic chord scale to create some very cool chord comping ideas.

9:47 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

28

How to Put It All Together

Now it's time to learn how to craft a solo using all the techniques we've learned in the course. Tony has shown us all these techniques, now he will teach us the proper way to 'think' about putting them together!

6:05 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

29

Add Chromatics Without Sounding Jazzy

Chromatics are not just for Jazz players! Tony shows us how to integrate these into rock playing, by thinking of them as space fillers.

10:01 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

30

All Ideas Solo

To wrap up the course, Tony puts all the techniques we've learned in to one blazing solo!

9:46 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty