Sommaire pour October 2016 de Guitar Techniques

RICHARD BARRETT One of the best players around, Richard is adept at most styles but truly excels in the bluesier side of rock. He currently plays with Spandau’s Tony Hadley. 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. No ‘Jack of all trades and master of none’, he nails every one with ease! PHIL CAPONE Phil is a great guitarist who specialises in blues and jazz. He teaches at ICMP in London, writes for GT and Total Guitar and has published 10 top tuition books. LES DAVIDSON Les has worked with Mick…

“I’VE RECENTLY HAD A LARYNX OPERATION THAT RESULTED IN A LOSS OF BOTH HIGH END AND VOCAL POWER” HIGH STEAKS Nice to see a reply from Katie (your production editor, GT259) on the subject of female guitarists and their lack of coverage in Guitar Techniques and guitar magazines in general. But at least when you do cover them, you do so without any hint of the sexism that you see in publications from some other countries. But the reason I’m writing is as a response, or indeed a follow-up, to a letter you printed some months ago from Brian Andrews (GT258), regarding playing at a 50th birthday garden party. I have a similar conundrum: it’s a friend’s ‘singing barbecue’, where almost every guest is a musician and has to perform…

PICTORIAL PRESS / ALAMY PICTORIAL PRESS / ALAMY PICTORIAL PRESS / ALAMY PHOTOSHOT REX FEATURES “HANK FAMOUSLY OWNED THE FIRST STRAT IN THE UK, SO THESE GUYS WERE AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF THE ELECTRIC SCENE” ABILITY RATING Info Key various Tempo various CD TRACK 3-19 Will improve your… Whammy bar control Ability to mimic tape echo Acoustic rhythm playing The Shadows started as Cliff Richards’ backing band in the late 50s. But with the release of Apache in 1960 they unleashed a new and exciting sound on gloomy post-war Britain. Audiences loved it. Apache was a monster, topping the UK charts for five weeks and began a string of hit singles that included FBI, Foot Tapper, Man Of Mystery, Kon Tiki, Wonderful Land and many more.The band at this…

ALAMY “THERE IS AN ELEGANT AND MAGICAL QUALITY TO THE MUSIC; EXACTLY WHAT I’VE TRIED TO CAPTURE IN THIS ARRANGEMENT” ABILITY RATING Info Key Various Tempo Various CD TRACKS 27-28 Will improve your… Alternating bass note thumb technique Fingerstyle staccato Combining melody and accompaniment In this latest instalment of our classical guitar series we return to the work of the great Tchaikovsky (1840-93), a Russian composer who had an incredible ability to produce countless melodies characterised by both technical sophistication and broad public appeal. The popularity of his work is so established, that his many themes for ballet and orchestra (including the 1812 Overture, his 5th Symphony, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker Suite and The Sleeping Beauty) are not only performed in their original ballet and orchestral forms to this day,…

“YOU GOTTA GO OUT THERE AND WORK FOR IT AND THAT’S THE DRIVE” Joe Bonamassa ABILITY RATING Info Key:Various Tempo:Various CD:TRACKS 35-38 Will improve your Blues rock vocabulary Soloing on a one-chord vamp Playing over a 12/8 feel If you share a stage with BB King before you reach your 16th birthday, chances are that a glittering musical career awaits. And so it has been for blues-rock phenomenon, Joe Bonamassa. Born in 1977 in New York, Joe was given his first guitar at the age of four by his father, who also shared with his son his love of the blues – in particular for the musicians who drove the 60s British blues boom. Joe’s early influences embraced the three Kings but, like his father, also stretched across the water…

“THAT’S THE GOAL; JUST GET A LITTLE BETTER EACH DAY. ONE NEVER GETS THERE. FOR MOST OF US, IT’S AN ENDLESS PROCESS OF SMALL STEPS AND SELF-TORTURE” Steve Khan ABILITY RATING Info Key:Various Tempo:Various CD:TRACKS 54-71 Will improve your… Pentatonic vocabulary Motific development Playing through changes Steve Khan is a wonderful American jazz and fusion guitarist with a super-impressive resume, including Steely Dan, James Brown, Billy Joel, George Benson, Billy Cobham and Joe Zawinul’s Weather Update. Steve and his contemporaries, players such as John Abercrombie, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Bill Frisell and Mick Goodrick, were that first generation of genuinely cutting-edge players to truly bridge the gap between jazz and rock music. As well as producing a significant portfolio of releases as bandleader, Khan – like Mick Goodrick – has…

“ERIC JOHNSON HAS A REALLY INTERESTING WAY OF USING UNUSUAL SEQUENCES AND INTERVAL SKIPS THAT SOUNDS FRESH AND LIGHT” ABILITY RATING Info Key:A/Am Tempo:100 bpm CD:TRACK 77-84 Will improve your… Musical sophistication Rhythmic understanding Improvising skills You know the scenario. Just when you start to think you are pretty good at playing the Minor Pentatonic and Blues scales, you decide to celebrate by listening to guys like Scott Henderson, Eric Johnson and Robben Ford. And then you realise that perhaps there’s more to it than closing your eyes and bending from the b 7th to the root. We jest, of course, but this month we’ll spend some time revisiting two of the first scale shapes we ever learnt and applying some new concepts to them. Eric Johnson has an interesting…

THERE ARE VERY few bands that have inspired like The Shadows continue to do. In 1960 when Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan released their single Apache they were already a hit as Cliff Richard’s backing band. But with its thumping drums and bass, strident acoustic rhythm and beautifully melodic lead guitar, Apache swept like a tidal wave through the youth of the day. Teenage boys went bonkers over twangy, echo-laden guitars and the image of this band of lads – themselves still mostly teenagers. Such was the power of those three matching Fenders, that the British electric guitar industry also took off, with red the natural choice for the vast majority of instruments sold by companies like Watkins, Burns and Futurama. Compared to many acts of…

TINA K “IF YOU DRAW THE NOTES OF A MAJOR TRIAD ON A BIG NECK DIAGRAM THEY FALL INTO THE FIVE CAGED SHAPES” I want to share a little bit of fretboard logic that I discovered a few years back that really helped me unlock the guitar neck. I’d been messing about with tuning in 4ths (E-A-D-G-C-F) and was trying to figure out how chord logic worked in this tuning when I stumbled onto something that really helped me unlock regular tuning. Perhaps you are aware that there are five major chord shapes we have on the guitar. If you draw all the notes of a major triad on a big neck diagram you can see how they fall together into the five shapes, commonly known as the CAGED system…

“I GAVE UP TRYING TO ‘OUT-SHRED’ ANYONE LONG AGO. TOO MANY PLAYERS GET CAUGHT IN THE SHRED QUAGMIRE” GT: What is it about guitar instrumentals that appeals to you? AH: My whole life the ‘sound’ of stringed instruments has struck a nerve. Guitar is such an emotional and nuanced instrument; so much can be said with the turn of a phrase or the smallest inflection. GT: What can an instrumental provide that a vocal song can’t? AH: To me, it’s a bit like reading a book as opposed to seeing the movie. You really have to use a sensibility, an antenna inside that creates images that maybe you don’t depend on when a song has vocals. I totally understand the challenges of pulling off a melody on guitar. Ballads are…

1 Rocky 12-bar Blues (E) Here’s a fun 12-bar blues in E. The turnaround chords in bars 9-10 of the progression are C5 and B5 ( b VI-V), so slightly different than your standard V-IV. E Minor Pentatonic scale (E-G-A-B-D) works a treat throughout, but you can add in some E Major Pentatonic (E-F#-G#-B-C#), E Mixolydian (E-F#-G#-A-B-C#-D), E Dorian (E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D) and E Natural Minor scale (E-F#-G-A-B-C-D). 2 Medium Swing Minor II-V-I (Em) Here’s a jazz jam track in E minor. The chord progression is F#m7 b 5-B7-Em7-Em7, although you will hear extended versions of these chords, as is common in jazz. The E Minor scale (E-F#-G-A-B-C-D) works great for the F#m7 b 5 and Em7 chords, while E Harmonic minor (E-F#-G-A-B-C-D#) is perfect for the B7 chords. Next up, try…

DALLE / PHOTOSHOT “ALBERT’S ADMIRERS READ LIKE A WHO’S WHO OF ROCK ROYALTY, FROM HENDRIX TO SRV, TO GARY MOORE AND MANY IN BETWEEN” “YOU’VE GOT TO TAKE YOUR TIME AND LEARN YOUR BAG ONE LICK AT A TIME. AND TAKE YOUR TIME IN YOUR DELIVERY” Albert King   DALLE / PHOTOSHOT “FREDDIE TAUGHT ME EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO KNOW: WHEN AND WHEN NOT TO MAKE A STAND; WHEN AND WHEN NOT TO SHOW YOUR HAND; AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, HOW TO MAKE LOVE TO YOUR GUITAR” Eric Clapton   PICTORIAL PRESS / ALAMY “IT’S NICE TO THINK BACK TO ALL THE WONDERFUL GUITAR PLAYERS, BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF GREAT ONES COMING UP EVERY DAY, AND THEIR PLAYING WILL INFLUENCE ME TOO” BB King ABILITY RATING…

LIVEPIX “LYNNE CO-WROTE, PRODUCED AND PLAYED ON ALBUMS BY TOM PETTY, ERIC CLAPTON AND THE BEATLES” ABILITY RATING Info Key:D major Tempo:112 bpm CD:TRACKS 39-41 Will improve your… Rhythm part playing Lead guitar phrasing Pop-rock arranging The Electric Light Orchestra was formed in 1970 by Birmingham multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood, along with The Move drummer Bev Bevan. Having disbanded The Move, Lynne and Wood started ELO with a desire to create symphonic songs that fused superb, Beatles-influenced pop writing with classical ideas and instrumentation. Wood left to form Wizard and, along with keyboardist Richard Tandy, ELO saw incredible success during the 1970s and 80s, before Lynne moved on to other projects. He was to reunite with Tandy only last year to form Jeff Lynne’s ELO – with so…

PICTORIAL PRESS / ALAMY “WHILE DYLAN IS THE BEST-KNOWN ARTIST IN THE GENRE, JOAN’S PLAYING IS ALWAYS ACCURATE AND IMMENSELY MUSICAL” ABILITY RATING Info Key:E minor Tempo:127 bpm CD:TRACKS 72-73 Will improve your… Melodic fingerstyle playing Timing with a backing track Chord embellishment This month we are taking a look at the guitar style of one of the most famous of the ‘protest singers’ of 60s America, Joan Baez. A stalwart of the folk genre, Baez was born in New York in 1941 though moved frequently owing to the transient nature of her father’s work. Her interest in music began when she started playing ukulele as a child. This quickly led to the guitar, and seeing Pete Seeger perform in her early teens cemented her goal to become a singer-songwriter.…

In the last issue we discussed altered dominant 7th chords, starting with ‘alterations’ of the 5th degree: the dominant 7th with a diminished (or flattened) 5th; and the dominant 7th with an augmented (or sharpened) 5th. This issue we take it a little further to look at alterations of the 9th degree. Take the key of G: spelling on in thirds from the G root we get G-B-D-F-A (R-3-5-7-9), which is G9. Altering the A (9th) up or down a semitone will give us a G7 b 9 or G7#9 chord. These are both very handy chords for the following three reasons: 1. They both operate as moving (functioning) V chords, say in II-V-I progressions etc. 2. A Dominant 7 b 9 can also substitute for a diminished chord. 3.…

STEVE VAI MODERN PRIMITIVE/PASSION AND WARFARE 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION Sony Legacy Twenty-five years ago, Steve Vai released an album that, to many, is instrumental rock guitar’s pinnacle; Passion And Warfare. Ablaze with astounding legato chops, rich melodies and bold arrangements it’s great to hear re-vitalised versions of Liberty, The Animal and the touching Sisters. There are bonus tracks too such as Lovely Elixir. For fans it’s a treat, more so that it’s coupled with a new release, Modern Primitive. Featuring music written in the 80s, Modern Primitive has been re-recorded to sound fresh for 2016. Devin Townsend (vocalist on Sex And Religion) features on The Lost Chord; a ballad brimming with effected guitars and a richly-exploratory arrangement. If you hanker for ‘chops rock’ Vai, No Pockets has thick rock tones,…

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 to the relevant articles. Any web and email links in the text are tappable too! Animated tab & audio Songs and lessons have the audio built in with a moving cursor showing you exactly where you are in the music. Simply tap the ‘play’ button then 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 or smartphone. PLUS! Get a FREE iPad/iPhone sample of GT. For full details and how to receive our digital edition regularly, go to…

This month we have some ‘stretchy’intervallic ideas from D minor Pentatonic with added 2nd/9th: D-E-F-G-A-C. It’s a repeating 16th-note sequence that starts with the notes you would usually play with your first finger in‘shape 1’of the scale, connected to the notes in that you would play at the beginning of shape 2. This yields a lot of 4th and 3rd interval skips, and various‘doubled notes’, and is one of the reasons Steve Morse and Allan Holdsworth love the idea. You can play the entire lick using first and fourth fingers, but I’ve fingered it slightly differently. Experiment until you find something that works for you. Take care with the stretches and build up your technique over time. Have fun!…

“JEFF BECK HAS A MASTERY OF THE STRAT THAT IS UNEQUALLED IN THE HISTORY OF GUITAR PLAYING” GT: Do you have a type of pick that you can’t live without? SR: Mostly I use a standard 0.73mm medium plastic pick, but during the recording of my solo album I used a Reefer Pickboy 0.75mm carbon/nylon pick. GT: You have to give up all your pedals but three... SR: Kingsley Jester valve overdrive/boost, the best overdriven chord and riff sound I’ve ever heard. Analogman modded Boss DS-1, the solo sound I used through the 80s and 90s; and the Analogman micro chorus, the only chorus pedal that approaches my rack-mounted Boss CE-300. GT: Do you play another instrument well enough to do so in a band, and have you? SR: I…

WHO? Helen Sumner, head teacher at Little Strummers TOWN: High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire STYLES TAUGHT: Rock, classical, electric, acoustic, folk, flamenco, bass – and ukulele. SPECIALITY: Rock, classical and acoustic are most popular lessons QUALIFICATION: BSc (Hons), MBA LEVELS: We teach adults and children of all ages and levels. Exams in all styles with respected Exam Boards (RGT, Trinity, ABRSM) are offered termly READING: Music reading is encouraged and we always include appropriate music theory as well as practical skills CHARGES: £15 per 30-minute lesson, shared and group rates from £6 per 30-minute lesson SPECIAL: Lessons available in several locations and in schools; fully-equipped music rooms; books, guitars and accessories supplied; lessons can be recorded. Our vision is to offer accessible music tuition in an informal and fun way, offering students…

“IT’S GOOD TO RUN THE ARPEGGIOS TO ESTABLISH A FRETBOARD ROADMAP BEFORE SETTING SAIL ON AN IMPROVISED SOLO” ABILITY RATING Info Key: E minor Tempo: 116 bpm CD: CD-ROM Will improve your… Use of triplet phrasing and swing feel Switching between tonalities Melodic Minor scale This issue we get bluesy with the Melodic Minor scale (R-2- b 3-4-5-6-7) as we approach the end of our six-part video masterclass series with legato legend Brett Garsed. In part five we are going to look at another track written by Jason Sidwell, entitled The Investigation Of Johnny F. E Melodic Minor is the scale of choice (E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D#) and the key signature is E minor. If you study some of Brett’s opening phrases it is easy to see that the Melodic Minor is simply…

EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 1 JOE PASS CD TRACK 29 A softly-softly approach is required for this example using thumb and fingers. Hammer on the major to minor 3rd in the blues lick at the beginning and slightly swing the chromatic ascent that implies the VI-V chord, ending gently across the B7. EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 2 STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN CD TRACK 30 Slide up to the first notes of the lick with an overdriven single-coil sound, fairly wide vibrato and aggressive attack at the top. Pick with upstrokes on the second and first strings to get the classic SRV‘bite’in the tone. INTERMEDIATE LICKS EXAMPLE 3 MUDDY WATERS CD TRACK 31 This riff requires a fat blues tone that would sound great on an overdriven Telecaster. Again, play with fingers to fatten…

SARAH EDWARDS / ALAMY “REB HAS HANDLED AXE DUTIES FOR THE LIKES OF DOKKEN, WHITESNAKE, NIGHT RANGER, ALICE COOPER AND WINGER” ABILITY RATING Info Key:Various Tempo:Various CD:TRACKS 42-53 Will improve your… Syncopated riffing Two-handed tapping Arpeggiated chords Winger guitarist Reb Beach made his name in the 80s as a versatile studio session musician working with names like Chaka Khan, The Bee Gees and Twisted Sister. He is also one of the most in-demand guitarists in hard rock, having handled axe duties for the likes of Dokken, Whitesnake, Night Ranger and Alice Cooper. This virtuosity is evident in Winger’s music, Reb’s main creative home in the late 80s and early 90s, having released three albums: Winger in 1988, In The Heart Of The Young in 1990 and Pull in 1993. All…

DAVID LYTTELTON “TRIADS CAN HELP TO INTRODUCE HARMONIC PROPULSION TO YOUR SINGLE-NOTE LINES BY IMPLYING MOTION” ABILITY RATING Info Key:A (A7) Tempo:120 bpm CD:TRACKS 74-76 Will improve your… Recognition of triads in a scale Execution of triads on the guitar Development of triad-based lines Recently, we’ve looked at ways of deriving triads from A Mixolydian in order to use them as the basis for new musical lines. Triads can help to introduce harmonic propulsion into your single-note lines by implying chord motion, creating results that sound both ear-catching and powerful. In the previous lesson, we looked at creating Mixolydian lines by taking the scale’s parental triad (the one starting from the root) and shifting it laterally along the neck. In this lesson, we’re going to expand on that by looking…

WHAT OUR RATINGS MEAN Buyit Excellent Good Average Binit! REVIEWS BY NEVILLE MARTEN AND JASON SIDWELL JEFF BECK LOUD HAILER Atco This is Beck’s first studio album since Emotions And Commotions. It’s a song-orientated album written by Jeff, rhythm guitarist Carmen Vandenberg and singer Rosie Bones and brims with great urban blues tones and licks. The Revolution Will Be Televised with its pounding triplet beat provides the basis for Rosie’s vocal and Jeff’s screaming Strat. The bluesy feel carries into Live In The Dark with honky Strat tones aplenty. If you like Jeff’s guitar clean with tons of reverb then you’ll love Scared For The Children and the album’s only instrumental, Edna. If not, the James Brown inspired O.I.L. has Jeff syncopating crazy slide licks. Adding vocals to a ‘blues-rock…

RELATING TAB TO YOUR FRETBOARD HAND LABELLING Here are the abbreviations used for each finger: Fretting hand: 1, 2, 3, 4, (T) Picking hand: p (thumb), i (first finger), m (second), a (third), c (fourth). NUT & FRETBOARD The fretbox diagram above represents the fretboard exactly, as seen in the accompanying photo. This is for ease of visualising a fretboard scale or chord shape quickly. CHORD EXAMPLE The diagram represents the G chord in the photo. The ‘O’ symbol is an open string, and a circled number is a fretting finger. Intervals are shown below. CHORD EXAMPLE (WITH CAPO) The blue line represents a capo – for this A chord, place it at fret 2. Capos change the fret number ordering – here, the original fret 5 now becomes fret…

FEATURE #2 ACOUSTIC BEATLES Pop’s Top Pickers! The Beatles played many types of guitar, but Stuart Ryan thinks that their acoustic work deserves a closer look. TRANSCRIPTION GEORGE HANDEL Lascia Ch’io Pianga Bridget Mermikides arranges and transcribes this beautiful Aria from Rinaldo, by the legendary composer. VIDEO MASTERCLASS ROCK SOLOING With Brett Garsed In his final brilliant video lesson Brett plays astonishing slide over a tasty mid-tempo Dorian groove: Chill Diggery! TECHNIQUE & THEORY MORE THAN CHORDS From Pass to Springsteen Chords are great! Check out The Boss’s strumming, Joe Pass’s chord melodies, and learn all about flat 5 substitution! See what one wonderful scale can do for you in... MIXOLYDIAN MADNESS! Whatever style you play, Mixolydian mode can make it sound sweeter and more interesting. Jon Bishop looks at…