PSA: Lesson file types explained (PDF, Guitar Pro etc) (Patreon)

I get a lot of questions about the various file types I include within the zip files for these lessons, so I thought it best to make a little public service announcement and post the info for all to see.

For starters, you can browse through my growing catalogue of lessons three different ways.. You can simply scroll down through the feed and it’ll display them in chronological order. You can check out my curated “collections” where I group lessons into genres/topics. And finally, you can simply use the little search bar at the top of my feed (the one under my banner, not the very top central search bar which searches site wide across all of Patreon rather than just my content), and type a specific lesson, style or keyword, ie: “blues soloing”, or “triad practice” or even things like “Telecaster” or “Django Reinhardt”.

Once you’ve found the lesson you’re after, simply click on it to fully open the lesson description, and at the bottom of my text you’ll see a clickable download link. Click on this to download the zip file for that particular lesson.

Each zip file includes a variety of formats to accommodate different users. The PDF files are the most universally accessible - they’ll open on virtually any device with any software, and for most people, they’re all you’ll need.

However, I also include .gp and .gpx files for those using the “Guitar Pro” software. These files make the sheet music interactive, which can be a big help in your practice sessions. Guitar Pro is the same software I use to type out all of my transcriptions, and I highly recommend checking it out - even just the free trial. Many of my students have found it to be an excellent practice tool.

That said, Guitar Pro is completely optional - the PDFs alone are more than enough for the majority of users.

I also include audio files in .mp3 format, usually of the performance itself and my backing track. These will also open on any device.

If you’re using an iPhone and are unsure of how to unzip a zip file, it’s incredibly simple but not necessarily the most intuitive process, so here’s a link to a short but incredibly useful video outlining the process;

https://youtu.be/b8bQ2Rb21Zs?si=LHHspEp5JSDW4mrt

Cheers everyone and happy picking!

Alex :)