I hope the summer is going well for all of you. It dawned on me that the Guitar Players Toolbox newletter has become a little too “occasional”. Life’s been hectic (in a positive way), and sending the issues on a regular basis has taken a back seat lately…so please excuse me!

It’s been a great summer for live music, and seeing some great guitar performances. In a two week period, I took my wife to see Steely Dan, my 14 year old son to the Foo Fighters, and the whole family to see the Police (with Elvis Costello). Not bad at all!

Anyway, here are this issues guitar tools and resources:

* Backing Tracks – jam with 8 free backing tracks
* Video Lesson - open position chords
* Ultimate Guide to Chords
* Cool Song Lesson- Blackhole Sun by Soundgarden
* Winner of the $50 Gift Certificate Contest

Practice Resource- Backing Tracks

Here are 8 quality backing tracks (mp3 format) that you can jam along with. They include various styles (rock, blues, rockabilly, etc.) and also suggest what scales to play over the tracks.

Get the backing tracks.

Lesson Resource -- Open Position Chords

Check out these two video lessons on Open Position Chords. Includes a chord chart you can download and print. Also, on the same page you can get to 3 more excellent videos on how chords relate to scales, chord progressions, and blues lesson. These additional lessons also have a printable tab and chord charts. (Note: to get to the other three, you need to fork over you email address, but you get immediate access to the lessons with have to confirm the opt-in).

Click here for video lessons

Partner Resource -- Ultimate Guide to Chords

A new guitar home study course has been released: "The Ultimate Guide to Chords". This is from Dan Denley, the well-known guitar teacher and prolific producer of quality guitar learning packages. The name says it all: if you want a comprehensive and effective learning resource on guitar chords, here it is. It comes with a 90 day risk-free guarantee.

Ultimate Guide to Chords

Song Lesson- Blackhole Sun

Here's a lesson on how play the song "Blackhole Sun" by Soundgarden, which I think is a great song. This lesson has tab, audio, and video.

Blackhole Sun lesson

Contest Winner Announced

In the last issue, I announced a contest in which everyone who completed a quick online survey would be eligible to win a $50 gift certificate from zzZounds. Well it's been a while, and the winner has been randomly drawn: I'll be contacting Sheila, who is apparently a Cowgirl that likes the Blues. Congrats to Sheila!

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That’s it for this issue. I hope you picked up something useful that will help you be a better guitar player!

Best wishes for a great remainder of the Summer!