Dennis Hodges

Dennis Hodges

Dennis is a Guitar instructor at JamPlay.com

For better or worse, Dennis Hodges cannot stop playing music, and (he hopes) will never stop playing music. Growing up in Flint, Michigan, Dennis had a tremendous passion for drawing. He couldn't stop copying moves from bands he saw on MTV, though, and it didn't help that his parents filled the house with Santana, Stevie Ray, and Allman Bros. (on real records, no less!) so it wasn't long till he got his first guitar. It was junk. Within a few weeks his parents traded in a... (more)

Dennis currently offers 121 guitar lessons at JamPlay, with 58 intermediate lessons, 33 song lessons, 26 Lick & Riff Library entries and 4 entertainment videos.

Metal

Metal with Dennis

Get ready to rock in this metal lesson series with Dennis Hodges. From 80's Metal to modern Dennis loves it all.

1

Basics of Metal

Dennis covers important guitar basics such as note names and technical exercises.

33:00 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

2

Power Chords and Rhythm

Dennis introduces power chords and basic rhythm concepts. Both subjects are very important to the metal genre.

22:00 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

3

Essential Techniques 1

Learn a variety of essential techniques commonly used in the metal genre, including palm muting, string slides, and chord slides.

36:52 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

View this Lesson
4

Essential Techniques 2

Metal lesson 4 brings you some info on hammer-ons, pull-offs, trills, bending, and the infamous pinch harmonics.

45:25 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

5

Left Hand Overload

Dennis delivers left hand techniques and exercises, with topics including spider walking / riffing, octaves, stretching and 4 practice riffs.

62:36 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

6

Rhythm and Timing

While using a metronome, Dennis covers essential techniques and exercises to obtain great rhythm and timing.

35:00 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

7

"Metal Poisoning"

Written just for JamPlay and his Metal series, this song will allow you to put all your techniques to use in a musical manner.

28:54 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

8

Time Signatures Part 1

In this lesson Dennis teaches the following common time signatures: 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8. Dennis explains each signature and provides a short example for illustration.

33:12 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

9

Time Signatures Part 2

This time around Dennis explains odd time signatures. Similar to Part 1, he uses a musical example to illustrate each new signature.

45:07 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

10

Rhythm Pt. 2

Dennis continues his metal series with part two of his look at rhythm and timing.

56:24 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

11

Right Hand Overload

This lesson is the long lost sibling to "Left Hand Overload."

52:11 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

Lead Concepts & Techniques

Lead Concepts & Techniques

Dennis Hodges blends conceptual lead instruction for developing solos, improvising, and harmonizing along with lead techniques such as legato, sweeping, and alternate picking.

1

Major Scale Improvising

Dennis covers the basics of the major scale. Then, he introduces you to improvisation within a one octave scale pattern.

25:45 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

2

Minor Scale Improvising

Dennis introduces the minor scale. You will improvise within this scale and work on a written solo as well.

26:20 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

3

Harmonizing

Dennis teaches harmonization in 3rds, diatonic and non-diatonic 4ths, 5ths, diatonic 6ths, and atonal harmonization.

27:16 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

4

Lead Guitar Improvising

Dennis teaches key improvisational concepts such as blending scales, phrasing, and staying within a scale.

29:16 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

5

Sweep Picking

Dennis Hodges teaches sweeping technique, 3 string triads, and 2 octave arpeggios. Also included is an etude written specifically for JamPlay!

39:18 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

6

Tapping: Basic and Advanced Techniques

Dennis covers many tapping techniques in this lesson. From basic to advanced, get ready to learn something new!

39:47 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

7

Lead Concepts and Techniques: Tricks

Dennis teaches a bunch of cool metal and rock tricks in this lesson!

34:27 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

8

Writing A Rock Guitar Solo

Dennis Hodges teaches you some of the basics to writing your own solos!

47:13 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

9

Lead Guitar Improvisation

Dennis Hodges teaches the basics of improvising a solo over a backing track.

28:44 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

10

Interpretation

Dennis teaches some basics on how to interpret a piece of music and make it your own.

20:03 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

View this Lesson
11

Soloing In E Minor

Dennis dissects a solo he wrote that stays in the 12th position box of E minor.

15:10 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

12

Soloing In A Minor

Dennis Hodges dissects an advanced, extended solo he wrote in A Minor for this lesson.

33:28 Runtime

4.0 Difficulty

13

Metal Solo Introduction

JamPlay instructor Dennis Hodges is back with a two sided metal solo! This pack of lessons contains an intermediate and advanced level metal solo. You'll be utilizing bends, sweeping, arpeggios and talking about modes that fit into a neo-classical modal genre. By learning the easier of the two solos, you get to see how you can simplify and scale down your playing. Learning the harder of the two will provide you with embellishment ideas to really fire up your metal soloing!

2:11 Runtime

0.0 Difficulty

14

Easy Metal Solo Phrase #1

To get things started, Dennis offers up the first four measure phrase of this easy metal solo. He also discusses the E Phrygian Dominant mode, which will be used throughout most of this solo.

3:06 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

15

Advanced Metal Solo Phrase #1

Now that you have the first phrases of the easy solo under your fingers, let's put a little heat into the lick. You're working out of the same E Phrygian Dominant scale here, but you're adding some embellishments and tapping.

4:00 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

16

Easy Metal Solo Phrase #2

Here's another four bar phrase of the easy metal solo. This phrase is predominantly arpeggio-based. It ends with a big bend and slide out.

4:03 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

17

Advanced Metal Solo Phrase #2

Like the second phrase of the easy solo, this advanced phrase is also predominantly arpeggio-based. However, it adds speed and flash for a more speed metal vibe.

4:50 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

18

Easy Metal Solo Phrase #3

Dennis is back with the next phrase of the easy metal solo. Phrase three incorporates a step sequence where you play a note, go up a step, then leap down in a repeated fashion.

3:49 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

19

Advanced Metal Solo Phrase #3

Just like the other advanced phrases, this one is an embellishment of the easy lick. To amp up the step sequence of the easy lick, this advanced phrase adds triplets.

6:16 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

20

Easy Metal Solo Phrase #4

Dennis Hodges is back with another lick from the easy metal solo. Phrase four is the final phrase of the easy metal solo. This lick isn't incredibly fast, but it combines a pull-off to open strings, which gives the lick a lot of character.

3:28 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

21

Advanced Metal Solo Phrase #4

Phrase four of the advanced solo is another embellishment of the easy solo. To amp up the speed and give it a more metal edge, Dennis introduces trills that bounce off the open strings.

5:56 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

22

Easy Metal Solo Connections

At this point, you should have all four phrases of the easy solo under your fingers. In this lick entry, Dennis discusses how to connect the phrases together in order to play the entire solo seamlessly.

4:40 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

23

Advanced Metal Solo Connections

Congratulations! You've learned all four phrases of the advanced metal solo. Now, let's take a look at how to connect those phrases for a seamless solo!

6:07 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

Jazz

Jazz Guitar With Dennis Hodges

Dennis Hodges teaches jazz for students with a rock background. In this series you will learn to play jazz chord progressions and licks without theory being forced upon you.

1

F Blues Solo

Dennis kicks off the lesson series with a lesson on an F major blues solo.

27:19 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

2

F Blues Comping

Dennis covers the rhythm accompaniment to the F blues solo presented in the previous lesson.

16:58 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

3

Bb Blues Solo

Learn how to play a 12 bar jazz blues solo in Bb. Dennis provides an in depth analysis of the solo from a theoretical standpoint.

20:30 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

View this Lesson
4

Bb Blues Comp

Dennis teaches the accompaniment part to the Bb blues solo taught in the previous lesson.

13:03 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

5

Eb Blues Solo

Learn a 12 bar jazz blues solo in Eb.

21:55 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

6

Eb Blues Comping

Learn how to accompany a 12 bar jazz blues in the key of Eb. Dennis uses a walking bass line and three note chord voicings for this particular accompaniment.

18:58 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

7

Ab Blues Solo

Learn this Ab jazz blues solo taught by Dennis Hodges.

21:18 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

8

Ab Comping Lesson

Dennis explains the accompaniment part to the Ab blues solo taught in lesson 7.

14:14 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

9

Db Blues Solo

Dennis teaches a jazz blues solo in Db major.

20:45 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

10

Db Blues Comping Lesson

Dennis teaches the accompaniment part to the solo in lesson 9.

7:46 Runtime

0.5 Difficulty

11

Gb Blues Solo

Learn this Gb blues in 6/4 time based on the Miles Davis tune "All Blues."

12:42 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

12

Gb Blues Comping

Dennis teaches the accompaniment to the solo in lesson 11.

12:58 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

13

B Blues Solo

Dennis continues his straight ahead jazz series with a lesson on a jazz blues solo in B.

18:59 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

14

B Blues Comping

Here's a lesson on jazz blues accompaniment with a walking bassline.

12:54 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

15

E Blues Solo

Learn jazz guitar with this straight-forward look at a solo in E major.

13:52 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

16

E Blues Comp

Learn the accompaniment part to the solo in lesson 15.

3:28 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

17

A Blues Solo

Dennis Hodges continues his growing Jazz-Blues series with a lesson on a solo in A.

15:33 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

18

A Blues Comp

Learn the accompaniment to the solo in lesson 17.

11:14 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

19

D Blues Solo

Learn jazz with a straight-forward lesson on a solo in D.

21:39 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

20

D Blues Comp

Learn the accompaniment to the solo in lesson 19.

10:00 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

21

G Blues Solo

Here is a very "outside" and modern sounding jazz-blues solo. The timing is very important here! This is one of the trickier solos that Dennis teaches in this series.

18:00 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

22

G Blues Comp

Learn the rhythm accompaniment for lesson 21.

3:00 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

23

C Blues Solo

Here is the final solo to learn for this jazz series. This solo is inspired by the great bebop saxophonist Charlie Parker.

15:00 Runtime

4.0 Difficulty

24

C Blues Comp

Here is the final lesson for Dennis Hodges jazz series. Learn the comping for lesson 23.

12:00 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

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