Guthrie Govan - Professor Shred #2

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In this month's installment of Guthrie Govan's new Guitar World column, Professor Shred, Guthrie talks about using chromatic passing tones to add color to your soloing ideas.

[@MotoCrazy66]

Guthrie's use of English is as wonderful as his use of melody!

[@alexwales8914]

He studied English at Oxford but dropped out to do music instead

[@Leo-gx8lg]

Completely agree... 👍

[@aurelius5534]

Well spoken and well played Well fuck i gotta start practicing

[@BPoweredLove]

Hmm. His use of English seemed perfectly ordinary to me. Maybe you mean his accent? I'll give you "immune to criticism" though. I don't hear that in the US often.

[@8KilgoreTrout4]

I totally feel what you're saying..

[@jake2355]

If you land on that... You're hurting people 😂😂😂

[@sortofcute]

Jake Dowen dude i fell out of me chair when he said that.

[@metallica3604]

I was just starting to read though the comments... Just as he said it I read yours

[@silvajoao142]

guthrie is both a musical and a comedic genius

[@stevenbaeza4132]

my guitar teacher says that

[@xtravehnapaahto69]

Ahhh SalmonSkinRole day made again by guthrie 😂

[@MattMatti3]

I love Guthrie's humor just as much as I love his guitar playing

[@relaxinandchillaxin]

i dont play guitar, i have no idea what your talking about, but these vids are fascinating.

[@HorridFroth]

Your ears know what he's talking about though, right?

[@SirSwiftusFunkellwerk]

Hahah

[@bill_y4762]

Haaaa agreed. I’m a drummer so all the melodic theory stuff is not first language to me but still fascinating.

[@fdimatel]

what are you waiting for?, grab one guiatar !

[@8KilgoreTrout4]

Exactly. I love listening to a master speak on his craft, it could be anything

[@bigtorrisi]

I think that it is fair to say that you could go to Guthrie for advice on just about any topic in the world, and get a reasonable, logical slightly witty response.

[@nunooliveira4257]

He's a wise guy, fou sure.

[@oldgit4260]

Oh be quiet

[@scrumpymanjack]

Said the spotty, 14-year-old boy who knows nothing about any topic in the world?

[@ThomasAntoniusOlsenJr.333]

No one ever has explained guitar as well as Guthrie has done... he makes sense of what I musically do not know and understand about music. From a musically uneducated individual to an Alan Guthrie Gavon Watts philosopher guy, thank you for your genius ways and painting an understandable picture for me to see music in. I will never see and hear music the same again!

[@Manbagdeluxe]

This whole video is how I've always understood jazz soloing, and he articulates it perfectly.

[@brianwarner308]

this guy is a great teacher because he is smart, can play his ass off and most importantly has a great way with words...

[@worstestminipainter2391]

I feel so dumb, by just how much he knows. Hes so brilliant. Guthrie really compels me to strive to be better. Hes got such a down to Earth way to teach. Even the most complex he explains it so well.

[@hjubris]

Pfft... he learned guitar from the age of three, of course he could do that. Believe me when I tell you if my parents let me play guitars since I were 3 years old, I would... not be able to play like that cause I'm not a god like Guthrie.

[@worstestminipainter2391]

@@hjubris I was still shitting my pants @ 3. I dont remember nothing from 3. 5....ok, that is where my conscience began. I can understand wanting that now. To be pressured into it. Which is what you would be subjected to no play, no fun. Im good with where im at and what my parents did for me. Its the now me thats gotta step it up.

[@Indarow]

I love Guthrie Govan. He has a certain way of speaking and explaining that just cracks me up. He's just fun.

[@filipvelkov6829]

I wish Guthrie all the best in the new year! Im watching this 2:36 minutes into 2022 (edit 2022), slightly drunk, on the sofa in a friends house, and im am simply stunned, no other way to describe it. Stunned. Go Guhtrie, you are my favourite guitar player.. its official!!! You have surpassed Buckethead in my estimation! Be blessed!

[@getaliferetards]

he's also one of the modest and humble guitarist ever lived. i remember that one of his thoughtful quotes are: "no one is better than another, they just play differently" Guthrie is truly a perfect figure as a musician.

[@lestervai]

"the listener will forgive any anomalies they hear in between".... damn.

[@GothJedi]

visionary

[@LOLLYPOPPE]

Poetry

[@mminjarez]

The gating the audio crew is doing during the dialogue section is really creepy.

[@AlekseiTepljakov]

That's one of the reasons they're on the other side of the camera :)

[@sjgfloydrose1234]

Its so bad

[@bryanmcneil9872]

One of the most instructive lessons I’ve seen.. Im an advanced player but I still struggle understanding modes and going outside of scales.. This helped a lot.. I always find myself watching guys like Guthrie and saying “how does he move out of a scale and hit those notes that sound like they DO NOT fit when I play them but he can literally make anything group of notes sound good together?”

[@starchaser7161]

My OCD is being triggered by the complete lack of room ambience in between when Govan speaks

[@Cole444Train]

they noise gated his voice lol

[@adrianrodrigues1402]

I swear! I thought I was the only one.

[@Bestialce2007]

Star Chaser cuz he's God and that what's heaven looks like

[@bartosik321]

that is not ocd

[@GeoffBarone]

I keep thinking the video is over every 5 seconds

[@stavomusic2647]

This cat's a pure genius

[@owlan99]

I'm liking this guy :) Good chap as well as being a monster on guitar. Not too cocky but passionate about telling others the things the learn, his attitude reminds me of Paul Gilbert in a way (let's not get comparing now, fellas :P)

[@stevenrivera3977]

This lesson is just fuckin amazing. I have never thought of the chromatic scale in such a way. This has changed my life. Good job man!

[@syakrikhalid]

you need to like the sound of chromatic playing before you try do it, not because someone on the Internet tells you are inadequate for not using chromatic playing.. that right there is truth haha

[@lukasrydelius6174]

I don’t like it....there, one less thing to have to learn

[@modelcitizen1977]

He is incredibly good at explaining something that is normally difficult to learn. It's the mark of an excellent teacher.

[@js11t]

3:50 Pink Panther Theme!!! Hahaha, Guthrie is absolutely amazing!!!

[@invin7215]

Guthrie is an incredible teacher; I love the words he uses to express the sounds he's talking about. It makes so much more sense than just getting hit with a wall of technical terms, and really helps me "get" it immediately.

[@brianwarner308]

3:47 Politician by Cream!!!

[@musicalnihilist5143]

Ive watched this video since i was about 15, I'm 20 years old now and the better I get, the more I understand

[@MadNut321]

3:24 I really want to deliver some pizza after hearing that

[@onlygknows7793]

I'll buy some pizzas from as long as you promise to buy my Strat that I just broke in half.

[@ritikeshpanda]

@@onlygknows7793 htf u broke ur strat?

[@TomMoonMusic]

As a guitarist, I often find myself in KZbin guitar holes, however, I am so happy I stumbled across this. Guthrie is an inspiration and it's so refreshing to hear him always inspire the audience to chose the note that best suits the music, rather than play the most amount of notes in the quickest time. Keep up the quality content!

[@glennkrzeminski7539]

What you call "horrendously wrong notes" I call proof of mastery over music. When you can manipulate the notes like that it saves you from sounding like everyone else. It certainly adds a lot more dissonance to your playing but with that greater dissonance comes greater relief at its resolution. It's the difference between "going where the music (scale) takes you" and "the music going where you take it." I think it's guitar nirvana.

[@corv2731]

Very well said.

[@dooodooodooo555]

That's exactly what he is saying, lol...he is using the term loosely to refer to notes outside of the corresponding key. Of course he knows there aren't "wrong" notes, he literally plays a lick with all 12 notes in it and makes it sound musical. Much like he plays chromatically IN CONTEXT, you should learn how to understand what he is saying IN CONTEXT.

[@ScottBrunelleMusic]

Guthrie is the most simultaneously humbling and humble player. His approach to playing is so encouraging.

[@Staypuft1981]

most insanely technically able, bc he loves…music! ❤

[@kvasios]

Fantastic lesson... this guy knows his stuff

[@ajboyd9389]

Guthrie is the embodiment of music. True passion. Skill and freedom

[@NVH-hi7wp]

fuck me, I need to learn theory

[@Conan2403]

XDD

[@doubledeepdrum]

I love the little flashes of smiles he gives. Seems like a super nice dude.

[@Garagieraryhir]

i play guitar for years now, but don't know anything from theory so..... i enjoyed every single word and sound, i think it's perfect lesson but....i didn't understand it at all :)

[@Garagieraryhir]

well, i'm not a musician, and i honestly regret i didn't learn theory when i was younger. i don't compose so what have i achieved? hm.....the genre i feel the best in is metal. if you ask me for an example.... most of Dimebag's solos, slipknot,death, slash....i could learn to play anything i hear if its not extremely fast (solos), rhythm guitar - no problem. And - not jazz:)...i just enjoy playing for fun. i would say - i'm great at copying but not creating if you know what i mean....enough for me

[@MrWabke]

Rusty Rancher I am quite the opposite. I can create decent melodies, but can't really copy other musicians pieces. As long as you are having fun it's all good

[@Garagieraryhir]

Ipanen that's it! there are so many approaches to music. some play, some, compose, some just study theory for years and then write music for others....there is no golden rule. music rules anyway:)

[@71sephiroth]

Rusty Rancher nicely said! :D

[@bretsalisbury3158]

Ipanen im in the same boat as rusty but you can really do alot with out it, the only chord name i know is g, but now i play by ear, i can listen to yngwie malmsteen and get a sense of what hes doing and play along, ive recently been looking more into theory but (i dont mean this in a cocky way at all because im no expert and i know it) ive become better in the 4 years ive been playing than i thought i would accomplish in my life

[@richardgrimm7222]

I appreciate the way he conceptualizes these ideas. Makes them super easy to take on board.

[@thegreatgarry]

3:55 : My Personal Favorite tooo

[@supahsekzy]

Agreed, he is spot on with the way he describes the mentality of balancing "right" notes and "wrong" notes.

[@randyclere2330]

Guthrie is a beast!!!

[@zekevesva2043]

lmao, you don't have enough salt for this snail XD

[@chuckyinges]

Guthrie's lessons are just so entertaining...I would listen to him talk about guitar for hours.

[@ShowHawkDuo]

GOVAN FOR PRIME MINISTER!

[@james6818]

It’ll never work. He doesn’t strike me as a liar who doesn’t know what he’s actually doing

[@Staypuft1981]

@@james6818well said James, very well said

[@philipmoroni5954]

This is the way I learned to play guitar. Guthrie does such a phenomenal explanation to understand how to play "outside". For anyone that really digs this, this is how you understand Jazz. Jazz musicians to me, are the most impressive musicians. They understand music and speak it in ways that only some can really truly understand. The jazz era guys discovered this outside the box thinking. To me, it's almost a slap in the face at traditional music. It's like saying "nah, I get that, but I know that once the II minor chord is going to change to a V seventh so I'm going to play something more dominant, versus straight minor." It's the thinking and knowing the sounds that you're playing and why you're playing them that makes you a guitar player in my mind. Jazz guys know each and every note, why they're playing it that way, and what chords are following underneath it/what the other guys are playing to compliment it. Great explanation, thanks so much!

[@DeusEx_Machina]

He's like the Victor Wooten of guitar.

[@BrootalLegand]

This man is a wizard of music and deserves an Emmy

[@matag95]

4:43 I just laughed and put my guitar back on its case.

[@Delveintohobby]

I have no idea what he's saying, but I love listening to him speak and play.

[@eddiewarlord]

"if you can do that ten you know all you need to know.... so long as you use it responsibliy" hahahahahahahaha

[@jamescarvey2133]

The way you use chromatic notes is a lesson in Guitar Wizardry all by itself. Listen to your solo it was very difficult to comprehend your modus. So thank you so much for taking the time to explain how you use chromatics against scale tones. I still can't comprehend how you play that fast and are still able to articulate each note with its own unique characteristic. WOW!🙏🙏🙏

[@EquinoxParadox91]

3:17 - "So, I dunno" No Guthrie, I'm sure you do know.

[@MrZantas]

There's something about this dude that is so original. And I'm not talking only about the way he plays and his music but, also the way he talks and behaves. I love this guy!

[@rinGskies]

Good advice sir.

[@manicbunny8287]

; )

[@deathbastardable]

One of the things I love most about Guthrie is the sense that he tells you to just be yourself in terms of playing the guitar; you're not "inadequate" for not playing chromatics in your improv or even liking the sound of them. He's like the Mr. Rogers or Bob Ross of the guitar music spectrum.

[@ronmen2558]

Great lesson! Very ear catching sound. I like that it´s originating from the key of A, so you can follow what´s being told and played simultaneously, without also trying to figure out what key we are in.

[@NickoTheGuitarist]

'you're hurting people' hahaha

[@mr_guy661]

He's so blunt and frank about everything, it's great

[@enterthefollowing]

isn't there just a super fast scale run in the beginning of the video??

[@saszahairulin]

It's from his song 'Wonderful Slippery Thing'

[@ryanrodrigues5355]

I don't think it's a coincidence that he's so good at sounding good on the guitar, as well as so profoundly concise when he speaks

[@matechabra]

That noise gate in his voice is annoying!!

[@hywel4605]

+mateo chiabrando i use a hanky - it's cheaper!

[@tighttritenight]

I wish Guitar World would make some more of these videos. Guthrie's advice is priceless

[@MegaLotusEater]

Not only his playing, but also his words, are like sweet music to my ears

[@sungsupaek]

Not just one of my favorite guitarists, one of my favorite people in general.

[@sambodutch5433]

I know I'm a few years late but I gotta say, man what a talented and incredible human being.

[@kenmags]

its amazing how he tries to make up a smile every time he finishes a sentence. great guy.

[@franknorth164]

I love watching videos on physics, I don't understand everything being explained in them, but what I do understand I find incredibly interesting. Watching this series of videos reminds me very much of that same feeling. Thank you Professor.

[@rockerguy1213]

I love how he discusses almost abstract concepts yet elucidates them so that they make complete sense...

[@JohnMnDza]

An ornament !!!! Nice choice of words and great choice of notes !

[@capodastaro]

I like this guy, he is efficient in many genres and just doesn't shred an endless wall of notes.

[@TheJofrica]

Man this dude has a really neat way of describing things, with words, I find it pretty cool and understandable, I can see why he's good on guitar

[@ROTTERtube]

GENIUS! I could listen to you teach all day. Such a clean player! Well done sir! You make it sound so easy and you teach very well.

[@adambyoung]

What a GREAT communicator!! Amazing how he is able to speak this in such understandable terms. Obviously a brilliant player, but the real test of skill is teaching it effectively.

[@evilangel8194]

The gutiar wizard he gives great lesson very good at explaining stuff I like how He's teaches the technic and the reasoning behind and how to apply it to actually music

[@Nightmoore]

That was flat out the best summary of playing outside of general scale boxes I've ever heard. That cat REALLY needs to drop some more instructional stuff on KZbin.

[@mccloysong]

Such complicated nuances so simply explained. And 4:43 he turns calisthenic scale playing into pure music

[@matag95]

This is probably my favorite video of all times.

[@MrAtomic1000]

its obvious his knowledge is endless. his approach is so much different than other teachers. i think its great. i been playing for 30 years and have learned much from this guy

[@blainecochran5]

he's such an eloquent and proper speaker...

[@parkerb9010]

Funny..one of the best series of lesson videos has been around for 9 years and I'm just now seeing it. Thanks KZbin...better late then never I guess.

[@MedalionDS9]

Guthrie Govan and Paul Gilbert are awesome music teachers, what they say makes sense, and makes you think of stuff in ways other teachers can't get across as well

[@danyoung9687]

You are the best guitarist and you really explain the best way to get to where you want to be ...

[@8KilgoreTrout4]

This guy is absolutely brilliant! I would love to hear this guy explain guitar and scales for hours!

[@Wonmanbanned]

I have recently given GG a fair go. He really is a wildly gifted guitarist and a very nice chap with another talent for teaching.

[@KeysOnFire17]

This guy's brain just works differently. His vision of music is so amazing!!!

[@Jez2008UK]

I don't even play guitar and I know what you mean, he is a delight to listen to since one feels one is learning something on 'any' level ! He's wonderful.

[@tenodogblu]

Thank you so much for your "free" time that you give to try and educate us. I am grateful for your efforts.

[@lovewilltearusapart5]

This guy is both so down to earth and up on another planet at the same time. That smile at 3:55 is infectious.

[@digitalboomer]

There are many amazing things about Govan, but thankfully, he's a person who is great to listen to when he is talking and also when he is playing. Intelligent playing and speech. Now there's a concept!

[@SpaceCattttt]

No need to apologize for chromatic stuff, GG. It's beautiful.

[@drexlspivey5828]

I watched Yngwie to a blues jam in the key of E live and everything sounded amazing, really sweet blues playing, then he paused for a few seconds, then went straight in for the B flat 'blues note' on it's own and Guthrie is right, you're hurting people.

[@saulhudson1161]

I can listen to him everyday. Wow, great teacher

[@theynvme417]

"If you are listening to what you do, trial and error and feeling responsible for the notes you play, should result in a [good] end product." Well put man, appreciate the insight.

[@AIYINOFFICIAL]

He explains it really nice and smooth i love it ....Guthrie.. sir u are one of the best guitarists who ever lived much RESPECT to u man

[@Flamencanta]

I found this guy today and he is a real inspiration and a very good guy! Great lessons !

[@parlancex]

It's a "blower switch". When enabled it bypasses the pickup selector / tone / volume controls and sends the bridge humbucker straight to the output jack.

[@SammyVengeance92]

Well...He's the first to actually say it right, all these other 'gurus' speak to the camera and overshadow alot of what they do, this guy says it like he's talking to you personally and he's speaking the truth..let alone his playing is amazing.

[@mdgrace1990]

Really refreshing video. Mr. Govan (or should I say professor Govan) is one of the most humble, intelligent guitarists out there, and this clip proves it.

[@yoe91]

this guy is brilliant !! I mean forget the guitar playing, despite his obvious insanity he's crystal, crystal clear with his explanations ! Such fluid analysis, perfectly picked words... This guy is absolutely awesome to listen to (speak) and his ideas are spot on and interesting.

[@KX5Kat]

He explains exactly what I've been trying to understand for a long time.

[@RussArteaga]

That was a brilliantly spoken and taught lesson.

[@catboyzee]

0:20 to 0:33 is one of the deepest statements about learning to play a certain way(in this case, chromatically) that I've heard in quite some time. Thank you Guthrie. #inspirational #DoWhatULike #LikeWhatUDo

[@Milehighshred]

Some very cool ideas in this lesson. Some stuff I never even thought of.

[@tadhgire]

i randomly clicked on this, im not really interested in learning the scales but I gave it a thumbs up because this guy actually explains the concepts really well... +1 for great teaching =]