Thom Bresh is, what anyone would call, an entertainment industry success. He has appeared on HBO specials, been nominated for two GRAMMY awards and one Academy Award, and has written theme songs for major motion pictures to name a few things. Growing up amongst greats like, Jerry Reed, Chet Atkins, and Merle Travis, Thom has always considered the guitar his “partner in life.”
In his course, The Breshman Chronicles, Thom shares several insights into techniques he’s picked up from other great artists over the years.
Here are eight video guitar lessons from the course. But, for the full course, check out Thom Bresh’s The Breshman Chronicles on TrueFire!
Thom Bresh Guitar Lesson – Vermillion – Story & Overview
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I’m going to play a song that I wrote kinda in the style of Chet Atkins. The style is similar in the way I’m using my thumb and in the articulation. I’ve known Chet since I met him when I was 11, and we stayed friends since. So, let’s check it out.
Thom Bresh Guitar Lesson – Vermillion – Performance
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“Vermillion” is named after Vermillion, South Dakota, which is where the National Music Museum is. I had to go up there to dedicate the D’Angelico booth. So, I thought I’d better write them a song or something. You can’t really just bring them a bottle of wine! Listen to my performance here, and next we’ll break it down.
Thom Bresh Guitar Lesson – Vermillion – Breakdown
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Now, let’s break this one down.
Thom Bresh Guitar Lesson – Right Hand Thumb & Picks
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I want to talk for a minute about thumbpicks. They’re all different, with different sound, pitch, size, etc. depending on what you want. My current favorite is one called a Golden Gate thumbpick, but they seem to be all different!
Thom Bresh Guitar Lesson – Travis Tricks – Wrap the Thumb
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Travis used to call me “Moht”, which is just Thom backwards. He always approached everything from the back – he would picture the ending of a song first, because then you know where you’re going, and you can figure out where you want to go in the story to get there.
Watching him play, he always had his thumb over the neck when playing his barre chords to give himself more room to play the melody over the chord. This also allowed him to make up his own chords, some of which had names and others that just sounded good. With this approach, let’s take a look at some of the interesting chords we can play.
Thom Bresh Guitar Lesson – Muhlenberg Moon – Story & Overview
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People always ask me to show them something that Travis did, or what he was doing with his hands. So, I wrote a song that makes it easier to explain instead of showing you one of his songs, and then playing it wrong. If you play this one wrong, it doesn’t matter since I’m the only guy that plays it!
It’s called “Muhlenberg Moon”, and it chunks along like something Travis would do. Let me show it to you.
Thom Bresh Guitar Lesson – Muhlenberg Moon – Performance
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Here, I’ll perform the track for you. Next, we’ll break it down.
Thom Bresh Guitar Lesson – Muhlenberg Moon – Breakdown
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Let’s break this down!
Digging these free video guitar lessons? Check out Thom Bresh’s The Breshman Chronicles on TrueFire!