Here's an easy way to improve your guitar skills that you can do any time and any place. You don't need any equipment, and best of all it's free.

Pressed For Time?

All you need to work on your guitar skills is your mind. You can use it to practice in those little spare moments of the day, or during activities that don't take much concentration, such as jogging or doing the housework.

Learn to practice with your mind using the exercises described below and you can take advantage of those otherwise wasted moments.

Matt Warnock, a recent Jemsite Guitar Hero, recently interviewed a hero of his own for Modern Guitar Magazine.

He calls Jazz Guitarist and Teacher Sid Jacobs, "one of the most well respected and revered guitarists and educators on the modern music scene." And rightfully so!

Continuing the compliments, Matt explains, "During this time, Sid has nurtured and mentored some of the finest up and coming jazz guitarists in the country. His devotion to teaching has not only allowed him to teach at these prestigious institutions, but has made him a highly sought after private teacher and clinician as well."

Some 30 years ago I was an impoverished teenager still studying at school.  My guitar collection at that time consisted of the Fender classical guitar my Mum had bought me, an Eko Ranger 6 steel string acoustic – again a present from Mum and now sadly missed when I see what they fetch secondhand, and a Columbus Strat copy. 

Now the Columbus, as copies went, wasn’t too bad and  by then I was already into “modifying” and had bought an Ibanez super 70 humbucker that I’d stuck in the bridge position after some hacking with a chisel, also the bridge pieces had been replaced with some brass ones that I’d got somewhere. 

However it still wasn’t my “ideal” weapon and I longingly looked at Gibson Les Paul goldtop Deluxes in the local music shop windows, Hagstrom Swedes looked the business too.  However I was strapped for cash and also had this desire to “be different”.  So I cracked on the neat idea of building my own guitar – simple!  Well Brian May had done it so why couldn’t I?

There's a cool new contest going on over at my buddy Jon's Guitar Noize blog and I think we all have to check it out.

Each week Jon will be posting a video of himself playing a riff from a famous rock and asking you all to Name That Riff!

I thought the concert would be super difficult and he would pick really random, not-so-obvious riffs that no one would be able to guess, but it's really quite nice that the riffs (at least the one that I've listened to so far) is one of those cool, unforgettable ones you'll be humming long after it's over.

If I can guess it, so can you! Just head on over to link below and submit your answer in the form with your name and email to be in the running for a cool new guitar instruction video. We all know Rock House Method has the best instructional videos around and you'll definitely want this prize for your collection.  

(BTW, Jon did something really cool to ensure we all have a fair chance for a win.  He disabled his comments in the comments section of the video on YouTube to make sure no one one posts the answer there!)

Be the very first winner of Name That Riff and you'll be a guitar legend too--in the blogosphere, that is!

Go here to enter Round 1 of the Name That Riff contest...

The Guitar Hero series on Jemsite features interviews with guitarists and musicians who may not have star status YET, but their current situations have shaped them to be who they are--determined, fond of their craft, and heroes in their own right.  Perhaps you'll see in these upcoming entries the next Jimi Hendrix, Melissa Etheridge, or Duane Allman.  Or perhaps they'll become household names by doing what they do best--ripping a mean riff!

A funny thing happened to Mark Lee on the way to being a rock star.  He and singer-friend Mac got serious about their faith.  And so the buddies had no qualms about putting two and two together and coming up with their own organic Christian rock band--the kind where faith raises prominently in the lyrics--but the good ol' rock & roll beat never dies.

The Guitar Hero series on Jemsite features interviews with guitarists and musicians who may not have star status YET, but their current situations have shaped them to be who they are--determined, fond of their craft, and heroes in their own right.  Perhaps you'll see in these upcoming entries the next Jimi Hendrix, Melissa Etheridge, or Duane Allman.  Or perhaps they'll become household names by doing what they do best--ripping a mean riff!

Matt Warnock is the perfect example of how learning classical guitar can help make a difference in style, technical aspects, and skill for any type of guitar.  Though he started playing the instrument simply because he loved rock & blues, Warnock is an advocate of classical guitar skills for good musicianship.

Still, the improvisation of jazz guitar appealed to him and though classical guitar helped with technique, Warnock switched his focus to jazz.  As he mentions in the interview below, he loved the idea of making up arrangements and solos on the spot.