Table of contents for June 2021 in Guitar Techniques

SIMON BARNARD Simon is a graduate of ACM and The Guitar Institute, holding a Masters degree in music. He teaches, examines and plays everything from rock to jazz. RICHARD BARRETT TonyHadley’slongstandingguitarist Richiehasworkedwitheveryonefrom Roger Daltrey to Ronan Keeting, and is currently working on his own album. SHAUN BAXTER One of the UK’s most respected music educators, Shaun has taught many who are now top tutors themselves. His Jazz Metal album is considered a milestone. JON BISHOP Jon is one of those great all-rounders who can turn his hand to almost any style. He’s also rock legend Shakin’ Stevens’ touring and recording guitarist. MARTIN COOPER A tutor at BIMM Brighton, Martin’s Rock columns show an incredible breadth of technique and style. His 2006 album State Of The Union is out on iTunes.…

BRIAN KALDORF GT: What is about guitar instrumentals that so appeals? RB: I don’t like a lot of guitar instrumentals, actually. I love Surfin With The Alien, and Passion And Warfare. I love Larry Carlton’s first record. I like instrumental records that don’t just have guitar solos for five hours. I like hearing keyboard solos and sax solos etc.. GT: What can an instrumental provide a listener that a vocal song can't? RB: I had a guy recently who told me that he loved my record because it was so nice to hear an album without lyrics and vocals for once. He had this giant collection of melodic rock albums and said that it was relaxing to hear music without having to concentrate on what the singer was singing. GT:…

THE DIFFICULTY here is that we’re applying the pedal-point concept to several notes at once. Be prepared for some pretty horrific experiments, as not all chord progressions will work. Generally speaking, it seems to help if your chords are all diatonic (all derived from the same scale or mode) or, failing that, if the chords change pretty quickly. At least that way, the dissonances are fleeting, and the bass part starts to sound like a riff! For our starting point, we’re using a reasonably normal-sounding progression in E Major. Get the sound in your head, and we’ll continue… THIS ONE stays the same, because it’s the one we’ll repeat. We’ve used the top four notes, leaving the sixth and fifth strings free for the bass, but three would also work.…

Josh Smith is one of the most respected modern guitarists, as much at ease in SRV and Albert Collins blues terrain as when exploring Jimmy Nolen or Steve Cropper R&B territory. While he’s had numerous fruitful collaborations (Joe Bonamassa, Raphael Saadiq), Josh is primarily a solo artist with an infectious and rhythmic style that’s allowed him to build a growing fanbase around the world. Exclusively for this issue, Josh was filmed soloing on Jason’s track, Go Gently On The Bentley. The tempo is 85bpm with a laid-back 16th-note shuffle feel, evocative of bands like Steely Dan. Much of the track is in D Minor and, as we are in blues territory, the D Minor Pentatonic scale provides a solid foundation. The only departure from this key comes during the first…

Larry’s sound is really about finding that sweet spot where the amplifier breaks up when you play hard, but cleans up when you soften your touch. He tends to control volume with picking intensity, rather than with the volume control, although he always has a volume pedal in line for steel-style swells. Naturally, a Gibson ES-335 is a big part of his sound but, regardless of guitar, aim for a full sounding moderately overdriven tone and vary your dynamic approach to suit the music. On occasion he switches to using the rounded end of the pick rather than the point, so remember to experiment and explore all your sonic options.…

Welcome to another jam-packed issue of Guitar Techniques, full of player style studies, technique focuses, theory presentations, an artist video spotlight, and an involving ‘Learn To Read’ feature. Several of these articles are the direct result of reader requests, either by email or GT’s Facebook page, so do keep your suggestions coming. First off in this section of the magazine is my continuing Rhythm Roost series; most of the time it’s groove and riff based, but it’s fun to include a few twists and turns along the way too. This issue: funking in 3/4 time. Jamie Hunt is back with six corking examples in 30-Minute Lickbag, spanning Tom Morello to Django Reinhardt. If you’re short on time but hungry for diversity, then this is where you should be. Having mentioned…

Paul Gilbert. One of the world’s finest and most accomplished guitarists the world has ever seen. Rising to stardom in the late 80s with Racer-X, Paul quickly became established as one of rock’s most incredible virtuosos. Influenced by players like Yngwie Malmsteen and Eddie Van Halen, Paul showcased an incredibly accomplished technique that was both accurate and clean. This, along with added fire, attitude and humour, make him stand out as a benchmark for rock guitarists of all generations. With a successful career as a topshelf rock player, touring the world in both Racer-X and his all-star band Mr Big, he’s also enjoyed a successful solo career. But while the bulk of his musical legacy is associated with the shred guitar scene, over the last 10 years fans will have…

Forming in the Welsh village of Cwmaman in the early ’90s, Stereophonics have released 11 studio and live albums and a staggering 44 singles. With seven albums topping the UK charts, the group ranks as one of Wales’s most successful acts. Originally a three-piece, the first incarnation featured Kelly Jones on lead vocals and guitar, Richard Jones on bass and backing vocals, and Stuart Cable on drums. Cable left in 2003, and sadly passed away in 2010. A few drummers temporarily held the throne until Jamie Morrison joined full-time in 2012. Adam Zindani had already joined as second guitarist, and has stayed in the band ever since, adding rhythm and lead, plus backing vocals and some songwriting. The Stereophonics’ sound has remained fairly constant over 20 plus years, writing and…

GETTY IMAGES When playing over a static Dominant chord, the first few sonic options we tend to gravitate towards are the Mixolydian mode (1-2-3-4-5-6- b 7], the Major Pentatonic (1-2-3-5-6) and of course the Minor Pentatonic and/or Blues scale (1- b 3-4- b 5-5- b 7). These sounds are all relatively ‘inside’, but if you want to experiment with a more ‘outside’ jazzy sound, then there are scales like Lydian Dominant (1-2-3-#4-5-6- b 7) or Half-Whole Diminished (1- b 2-#2-3-#4-(or b 5)-5- b 6- b 7], or even Phrygian Dominant (1- b 2-3-4-5- b 6- b 7), which all work over static Dominant chords. ‘Static’ Dominant means the chord is played over many bars, which makes it perfect for experimenting with different sounds. You may find, however, that playing these…

YOU MIGHT FIND this difficult to believe, but I actually remember my first ever string bend. The year was 1967, and our next door neighbour, who worked with my father, had lent me his Eko Ranger 12-string. On the day I went to return it he produced a Burns Virginian acoustic with a fitted pickup. I had never seen such a thing and was clearly intrigued. He handed me the guitar, and played chords on the 12-string while I fumbled around on the Burns. “Improvise,” he said. “I don’t know how,” I feebly retorted. “Do whatever takes your fancy,’ he went on. “Go anywhere on the neck. Bend some strings! ” Well, I was nervous, embarrassed to play in front of him as he was so much better than me.…

NICK DELANEY The ‘right note’ when improvising will always be subjective. It’s a choice – your choice. A very spicy note, something dissonant, might be perfect in a jazz solo but would probably sound out of place in a pop ballad. Using only chord tones will sound sweet and melodic in most places, but boring in others. You get to choose - your personality and taste will help you choose the right note at the right time for you. But when learning to improvise it’s very important to learn to play ‘inside’ before heading ‘outside’ . By ‘inside’ I mean mostly chord tones and possibly upper extensions. ‘Outside’ is all the other notes. I’ve been working on a new course on how to make music with the Major scale, and…

➊ Slow Blues Jam (C#) We start with a slow 12-bar blues in the key of C#. In terms of scales, you’ll get off to a great start by hitting up the good old C# Minor Pentatonic (C#-E-F#-G#-B) and adding some feeling, using articulations like bends and slides. ➋ Slow Funk Jam (E) This is a very open, slow and funky jam in the key of E. Experiment with riffing on chords like E9, Em9, E13 and even just Em7 – and then proceed to soloing and coming up with riffs on E Minor Pentatonic (E-G-A-B-D). ➌ Ionian #5 Groove Jam (C) Here we have a fairly challenging groove jam on the third mode of A Harmonic Minor: C Ionian #5 scale (C-D-E-F-G#-A-B). It's basically a C Major scale with…

Okay, so we’ve all heard the joke. ‘How do you make a guitarist stop playing? Stick a piece of music in front of him!’ As amusing (or not!) as this may be, it’s true that there are many of us that don’t read music at all. And while this is no great drawback to playing the instrument, there are situations where it can be very useful to be able to read notation and not just tablature. For a start, understanding how the basics of music works can be immeasurably useful in simply understanding what you’re doing. Reading ‘the dots’ also helps you to communicate with other musicians. Being able to write out a basic chart, for example, can save hours when you’ve got lots of songs to learn for a…

Johannes Brahms (1833-97) was a German composer and pianist, and a leading figure of the Romantic period. Much of his music might be considered traditionalist and in the lineage of Bach and Beethoven, in whose company the term ‘The Three Bs’ is made. Despite these traditionalist sensibilities, Brahms forged new compositional approaches that are hugely influential in the history of Western music and still resonates today. He holds a great influence on the music of popular culture and film, and one can for example hear the unmistakable fingerprint of Brahms in John Williams’ Star Wars and Indiana Jones themes. It’s easy to get the impression from his music that Brahms was an entirely serious character, but he was extremely self-deprecating, and had in fact a wicked wit, enjoying practical jokes,…

Tap the links Finding your way around the magazine is easy. Tapping the feature titles on the cover or the contents page, takes you straight two the relevant articles. Any web and email links in the text are tappable too Animated tab & audio All the mag’s main lessons have the audio built in with a moving cursor that shows you exactly where you are in the music. Simply tap the‘play’button and you’re off - you can fast-forward or scroll back at will. Play the videos Certain articles have accompanying videos full of useful insight and additional information. Once again, tap the play buttons to enjoy video masterclasses on your iPad (recommended) or smartphone.…

Light the corners of my mind. Misty watercolour memories. Of the way we were. (Alan and Marilyn Bergman). In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And... cue The Sixties. God and The British Motor Corporation finally finished the job and created the bright red Mini Mark One - EMY 343B. And into this Issigonis inspired iteration we packed a Selmer Twin Selectortone amp (think Fender Twin Reverb but with useful added weight), a Watkins Dominator amp (the now classic triangular shaped effort), two Hofner guitars, snare drum, bass drum, high hat and cymbals plus the usual accessories. Tom-toms were for wimps. We used egg boxes. We were The Ultra Five, a name both confident and cryptic, bearing in mind that there were just three of us. And…

THIS MONTH’S LICK uses A Blues scale throughout – A-C-D-E b -E-G. My aim was to show some typical melodic‘moves’when using this scale. Notice how the one note that sets it apart from a regular Minor Pentatonic - the ‘blue note’or b 5 (E b ) - is mainly used for tension and flavour and is rarely played as the destination. There is one occasion, however, when I did intentionally end a phrase on an E b ( b 5) - on the‘3&’of bar 1. This is fine as it was done to create tension that is quickly resolved by the following answering phrase, ending on the 5th - a chord tone of E (3& of bar 2). Also note how the lick starts in the lesser used Blues…

THEORY AND TECHNIQUE GT: How did you develop your theoretical knowledge? From lessons and/or from gigging with others? JS: Both. I took lesson from age six to 14, but started gigging regularly at age 13 as well. This combination of fundamentals and on-the-job real-world experience was the best I could have hoped for in becoming a real musician. All the school in the world is useless unless you have somewhere to apply the things you are learning while you are learning them. I’m grateful for the 100s and 100s of gigs during that foundational time. GT: In your opinion, are keyboard players typically more knowledgeable about music theory than guitarists? JS: Not as a matter of rule. I think the level of theory you learn is completely dependent on your…

Larry Carlton is a multi-Grammy award-winning American guitarist and composer with a pedigree second to none. Highlights from an exemplary session career include his stints with Steely Dan (check out Larry’s solo on Kid Charlemagne), as well as Michael Jackson, Christopher Cross, The Crusaders, Billy Joel, and an endless list of equally successful artists. At one stage Carlton totted up as many as 500 sessions in a single year. He has also released a number of highly regarded solo albums. Larry’s genre-hopping style encompasses the best bits of BB King’s blues, the single-note jazz prowess of Joe Pass, a healthy measure of R&Bs and country, and phenomenal fusion chops. However, the aspect of his technique that’s we’re aiming to assimilate here is his string bending prowess. In the process we’ll…

If, like many people, you have a limited amount of time to practise, engage your efforts wisely. Focus on one specific thing so that gets greatly improved. For example, if there is a difficult passage you’re working on, isolate it and slow it right down. Practise it several times in a row without mistakes. Absolute precision is the aim, reinforced with accurate repetition until your brain and hands are consistently able to reproduce the techniques required. Always stop and correct errors. Consistent accuracy must be achieved before pushing up to performance tempo.…

EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 1 TONY IOMMI CD TRACK 29 This riff starts with notes a 4th apart, with a hammer-on to achieve a powerchord shape. This adds movement and weight to each phrase. Take note of the two palm-muted notes after each hammered powerchord. This increases rhythmic definition. Use a decent amount of pick attack to drive the phrases along, but be careful not to push the beat when playing harder. Playing ahead often makes the phrase sound weaker and less significant. Dial in plenty of gain and mid-range to add body. EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 2 TOM MORELLO CD TRACK 30 This exercise starts with single notes an octave apart. This creates a string skip between the high and low F#s in bars 1-3. Use downstrokes for the higher F#s…

An important concept in jazz, is that of tension and release, dissonance and consonance, or outside and inside playing. Simply put, harmonic or melodic tension that wants to be resolved. In the II-V-I sequence that crops up in all jazz standards, the Dominant V7 chord can be altered to add richer sounding tones to create this tension. We can sharpen or flatten the 5th, or we can add b 9 or #9 notes. An ‘Altered 7’ chord might contain combinations of these tension notes, such as a G7 b 5 b 9. I tend to use four Altered scales that contain all the important tension notes. You can play them over Altered 7 chords or straight Dominant 7 chords to imply those tensions. Using Altered scales allows us to avoid…

An octave is a thoroughly consistent interval: basically, going from one letter to its namesake (either one octave higher or lower) in any scale will always involve travelling an interval (distance) of 12 semitones (or six tones). The waveforms created by octaves are more stable and therefore less dissonant than other intervals because it is perfectly divisible (a note an octave higher is exactly twice the frequency and vice versa), and so notes an octave apart work well when played simultaneously, even with distortion. Once you have absorbed the various concepts featured within this lesson’s demo examples, you should aim to apply the same principles to every pattern of the other scales that you know - shifting ideas up and down the length of the neck (lateral motion), as well…

ALBUM OF THE MONTH KOCH MARSHALL TRIO FROM THE UP’NUH Koch Marshall Productions 10/10 If you haven’t experienced Greg Koch at full throttle then head on over to YouTube and be amazed. Monster chops doesn’t even begin to cover it. And, to cap it all, he’s a Michelin Star tonemeister, serving up Telecaster-flavoured haute cuisine to satisfy even the most picky palate. Here Greg is joined by his son Dylan on drums and Toby Lee Marshall on organ, the maestro himself adding the occasional vocal and the contrasting deep grunt of baritone guitar. The Up’Nuh’s opener, Luna Girl tells you what to expect, with a Sonny Landreth style riff before a maelstrom of country-rock soloing hits the air. It’ll leave you breathless. The fun doesn’t stop there as each track…

FEATURE #2 VIDEO ALEX SILL Wipe The Slate The amazing fusion guitarist returns to share and discuss another fantastic solo on a Jason Sidwell-penned track. CLASSICAL TAB VIDEO LEO DELIBES Coppelia Waltz While you might not know its name, you’ll definitely recognise this piece from the writer of the Flower Duet. FEATURE #3 OZ NOY (CROSSROADS) Symmetrical Connections John Wheatcroft shows how players like Oz Noy use the Melodic Minor to make ‘symmetrical connections’. NEW SERIES MIKE STERN Jazz-fusion soloing The jazz-rock-blues legend continues his series from Fundamental Changes. Learn straight from the greats in GT. Lockdown’s nearly over so... GET GIG READY! Many players have told us that, despite best intentions to hone their chops during lockdown, they didn’t do it. So, if your first post-Covid gig…