Exclusive Backing Track by NVBacking tracks
Every backing track on the channel. Filter by genre or key, then open the video on YouTube. "Scale" shows the notes to play, "Click" sets the metronome to the track's tempo.
Exercises
A practice path inspired by the method books most used in guitar schools: technique, scales, arpeggios and how to use them over backing tracks. Every exercise has its own TAB, playback in time and a metronome.
- Start slow. At the starting BPM every note must be clean and in time.
- Rule of three: add 4–5 BPM only after 3 perfect repetitions in a row.
- Little but daily: 20 minutes a day beat 3 hours on Sunday.
- Stay relaxed: if your hand or wrist tenses up, stop and restart slower.
- Log your record on each exercise to track progress.
Progress is saved on this device.
Tuner
Turn on the microphone and play one string at a time: the lights show whether you are flat or sharp. When the green light in the middle comes on, the string is in tune.
Reference notes
No microphone: tap a string to hear the note and tune by ear until the two sounds stop "beating".
Metronome
The click for practicing in time. Start slow and clean, and raise the BPM only when the phrase is perfect.
Scales
Pick a key and a scale: the fretboard shows every note up to the 15th fret. Gold notes are the root.
The go-to scale for rock, blues and pop over minor tracks. The starting point for any improvisation.
Chords
The chords built from each key and the most common progressions. Tap a chord to hear it.
Economy picking
A guitar technique course split by technique: from warm-ups to sweep picking, from legato to tapping. Each lesson explains the technique and the mistakes to avoid, and gives you exercises with TAB and playback.
Theory basics
StartHow to use a backing track
A backing track is a band playing just for you. Your job is to find the right notes and say something with them.
- Read the title. EBT videos show the key (e.g. A Minor) and often the BPM.
- Listen for 30 seconds without playing. Feel the groove, where the chord changes land, the mood.
- Open the Scales section in the same key. On minor tracks start with the minor pentatonic, on major tracks with the major pentatonic.
- Play fewer notes. Three or four notes with plenty of space beat a hundred notes in a row.
- Record yourself on your phone and listen back: it's the fastest way to improve.
StartKey, BPM and drumless
Key: the "home" note of the track. Minor sounds darker, major sounds brighter. # is sharp, b is flat.
BPM: beats per minute, the speed. Below 80 is slow (ballads, slow blues), 90 to 110 is funk and pop rock territory, above 120 is energetic.
Drumless: tracks with no drums, made for drummers who want to play along with the band. "No click" means there is no metronome in the track.
BasicsThe minor pentatonic in 5 positions
The scale of rock and blues: five notes that fit almost everything. In A minor: A, C, D, E, G.
- Position 1: starts on the root on the low E string (5th fret in A minor). It's the "box" everyone learns first.
- Positions 2–5: each starts on the next scale note on the low E string and locks into the previous one.
- The trick: learn to connect positions by sliding up a single string. That gets you out of the box.
The Scales section shows every position at once on the fretboard.
BasicsThe blue note
Add the flat fifth to the minor pentatonic (Eb in A) and you get the blues scale. Use it as a passing note between D and E, never as a note to rest on.
Try it on the channel's Blues tracks: a D–Eb–E climb with a small bend is instant blues.
IntermediatePlaying the changes (target notes)
Many EBT tracks show the chords on screen. Use them: when the chord changes, land on a chord tone, ideally the third.
- Over Am the third is C, over F it's A, over C it's E, over G it's B.
- First practice one note per chord, right on the change.
- Then connect those target notes with scale phrases.
That's the difference between "running the scale" and making the harmony heard.
IntermediateModes: Dorian, Mixolydian, Lydian
- Dorian: minor with a major sixth. Funk and jazz-rock sound (Santana, the channel's Funky Groove in E Dorian).
- Mixolydian: major with a flat seventh. Rock, blues, country.
- Lydian: major with a sharp fourth. Dreamy, cinematic.
- Phrygian: minor with a flat second. Dark, metal and flamenco.
All of them are in the Scales section: compare them on the same root to hear the difference.
TechniqueBending and vibrato
- In-tune bends: first play the target note (two frets up), then bend until the string matches it.
- Use more fingers: push with the ring finger, backed up by the middle and index.
- Vibrato: it comes from the wrist, not the fingers. Slow on ballads, tighter on rock.
- The Ballad & Cinematic tracks and the Gilmour-style ones are perfect for this.
MethodA 30-minute practice routine
| Minutes | What to do | Tool |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3 | Tune the guitar | Tuner |
| 3–10 | Scale in every position, in time, adding 5 BPM each pass | Metronome + Scales |
| 10–15 | One technique (bends, legato, alternate picking) | Metronome |
| 15–27 | Improvise over a track with one clear goal | Tracks |
| 27–30 | Listen back to the recording and note what to improve | Phone |
Economy picking
Economy picking blends alternate picking and sweeping: when you change strings in the same direction as the pick, the stroke "falls" onto the next string instead of coming back. Less motion, more flow.
- Moving to a higher string: a downstroke that falls through.
- Moving to a lower string: an upstroke that falls through.
- Follow the ↓ ↑ arrows above the TAB.
- Two notes ringing together during the sweep.
- Losing time at the string change.
Reference: Frank Gambale, Speed Picking
Lesson exercises
EC1
Economy picking, 3 notes per string
Economy pickingIntermediate60→140 BPM
Use the shortest pick stroke when changing strings.
- Going up: down-up-down on each string, the downstroke "falls" onto the next string.
- Going down: up-down-up, the upstroke falls onto the string below.
- The ↓ ↑ arrows above the TAB show the direction.
Inspired by: Frank Gambale, Speed Picking
H hammer-on · P pull-off · B bend · R release · V vibrato · T tap · / \ slide · ↓ ↑ pick direction · M palm mute · p m a pick, middle, ring · ★ target note · 12 notes per bar
EC2
Groups of 5 with economy
Economy pickingAdvanced60→130 BPM
Smooth odd-grouped phrases, typical of fusion.
- Five notes: three on one string and two on the next, then restart from the next string.
- Accents land on different beats: count them.
- Great over the channel's Funk and Fusion tracks.
Inspired by: Frank Gambale, Speed Picking
H hammer-on · P pull-off · B bend · R release · V vibrato · T tap · / \ slide · ↓ ↑ pick direction · M palm mute · p m a pick, middle, ring · ★ target note · 16 notes per bar