Table of contents for Spring 2018 in Guitar Techniques

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. CHARLIE GRIFFITHS Guitar Institute tutor Charlie first came to fame in Total Guitar’s Challenge Charlie series. He’s also one of the UK’s top rock, metal and fusion guitarists. PHIL HILBORNE The UK’s original magazine guitar tutor, Phil’s…

TINA K “ I REALISED IT WASN’T HOWLIN’ WOLF’S PLAYING THAT I LOVED. WOLF DIDN’T PLAY GUITAR, IT WAS HUBERT SUMLIN ” I’ve been listening to the blues since I first got a guitar and spent hundreds of hours trying to absorb the licks and songs of Freddie and BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, T-Bone Walker, Robben Ford and many more besides… but a major turning point in my understanding of the blues was when I started to make my own ‘Blues History Maps’ and it’s something I highly recommend you also check out. I was touring with The Counterfeit Stones and wanted to deepen my knowledge and understanding of the blues (the rest of the guys were older and really knew their stuff!) so I bought a blues history…

THIS LICK IS mainly based on a C-shape E7 chord with a lot of added chromaticism. You should notice how the chromatic notes are used to connect chord tones throughout. Although this phrase uses lots of notes that are not‘official’scale notes, E Mixolydian (E-F # -G # -A-B-C # -D) still very much outlines the intended chord and is a great way of creating colour in your lines. It is possible to play the entire first section all in the 4th position and you are obviously welcome to do just that. However, I personally prefer to use the fingering in the notation that uses only first, second and third fingers from the fourth string onwards. After playing this, please do experiment with your own ideas as there are tons of…

“ THE WELL-USED PHRASE ‘THE TONE IS ALL IN THE FINGERS’ IS PARTICULARLY RELEVANT TO THIS MONTH’S FEATURE ” ABILITY RATING Moderate/Advanced Info Key E minor Tempo 140 bpm CD TRACKS 4-9 Will improve your… Lead feel and phrasing String bending and intonation Fingerstyle technique and rhythm playing This exclusive feature examines Mark Knopfler’s exquisite playing. Knopfler rose to fame in the 70s as Dire Straits’ frontman. His Strat-toned country-blues licks were totally at odds with the heavy Les Paul-toting rock and punk bands of the time. This, coupled with songs with a catchy pop sensibility catapulted the band to mega success. They reached even dizzyier heights with the release of their fifth album, Brothers In Arms, which arrived perfectly timed alongside the new music format of ‘compact disc’ and,…

“ ORIGINALLY COMPOSED IN G MAJOR, THE VIRTUOSO SOPRANO GUIDITTA PASTA, FOR WHOM IT WAS WRITTEN, COMPLAINED OF ITS RANGE AND IT WAS LOWERED TO F ” ABILITY RATING Info Key C major Tempo 38bpm CD TRACKS 14-15 Advanced Will improve your…  Combining melody and accompaniment Slurs and fretting-hand precision Melodic expression In his short life, the Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) managed to produce no fewer than 11 operas, eight symphonies and various other works; a body of music that was central to the bel canto musical era, and admired by – and hugely influential to – such great operatic composers as Verdi and Wagner. Bellini displayed a mastery of long, flowing and emotionally engaging melodic lines – characteristic of the bel canto style – and representing some of…

“ ANYONE WHO’S SEEN ME PLAY KNOWS I CAN’T CONTAIN MYSELF. I’LL HAVE SPORADIC SCREAMS COMIN’ OUT… IT’S INTENSE, AMAZING! ” Eric Gales ABILITY RATING Moderate/Advanced Info Key: Various Tempo: Various CD: TRACKS 22-25 Will improve your Blues-rock vocabulary Pentatonic sequencing Alternate picking Born on October 29, 1974, in Memphis Tennessee to a family with a strong musical history, Eric Gales was hailed a child prodigy. Picking up the guitar at just four years old Gales was heavily mentored by his older siblings, Eugene and Manuel. His mother, a woman of the church, forbade ‘worldly’ music to be played in the house but when she was gone Eric and his brothers would break out the blues and rock. This exposure to Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, BB King, Led Zeppelin, Stevie…

ABILITY RATING “IN 1961 ENTWISTLE AND TOWNSHEND JOINED ROGER DALTRY IN THE DETOURS; THREE YEARS LATER KEITH MOON ENTERED THE FOLD” Easy/Moderate Info Key: G Tempo: 60bpm CD: TRACKS 47-48 Will improve your… Alternate picking chords Picking-hand strumming Fretting-hand chording Conjure an image of The Who’s legendary axeman-songwriter Pete Townshend and it’s hard not to picture him leaping through the air while whirlwind strumming a Gibson SG or throwing said guitar, headstock first, through a Marshall 4x12 cab (or even worse, the stage floor). However, Townshend’s innovations as an electric guitarist are matched by his acoustic playing – check out the powerful, dynamic strumming of Pinball Wizard or the clever use of moving triads in Substitute and you’ll hear a guitarist who took the acoustic in a sophisticated, untapped…

ABILITY RATING Moderate/Advanced Info Key: C Lydian Tempo: Various CD: TRACKS 55-59 Will improve your: Alternate picking accuracy Muting, barring and rolling Intervallic recognition Today we look at C Lydian, the fourth mode of G Major: C-D-E-F#-G-A-B, or 1-2-3-#4-5-6-7. A common scale choice for improvising over major 7 chords, Lydian mode is characterised by its #4th (in C that’s F#), which differentiates it from the Major scale (or Ionian mode) which contains the perfect 4th degree. We’ll arrange the Lydian mode as two ‘master exercises’ in positions 1 and 4, with the chord, scale, arpeggio and intervallic pattern all incorporated into a single exercise for maximum efficiency. We’ll be playing through the scale firstly in 3rds and then in 4ths, with strict alternate picking throughout. If these exercises prove challenging,…

BETH HART AND JOE BONAMASSA BLACK COFFEE Provogue It’s been four years since Beth and Joe recorded Seesaw so this new Kevin Shirley produced album should prove popular. With 10 songs recorded over five days in Las Vegas, they’re interpreting another collection of soul songs dressed with Joe’s thick humbucker-driven tone. Opener, Give It Everything You Got (Edgar Winter) is richly arranged with a driving rhythm, horn section, exclamatory backing vocals and Joe’s searing wah playing. Damn Your Eyes (Etta James) shows Beth in fine voice, bluesy and mean while Joe plays subtle guitar arpeggios and a sputtering solo with unison bends and passionate vibrato. The intensity rises further on their version of Ike and Tina Turner’s Black Coffee, one of Beth’s best performances here. That said, the album’s standout…

GT: Do you have a type of pick that you can’t live without? I always use a medium gauge plastic pick. I had a batch made up, years ago, for a tour promotion with my logo on it, so every time I head out on tour I grab a handful and stuff ‘em in my pocket. I’m always losing them, though. If I’m ever arrested for bank robbery or murdering a record executive, it will be because they found one of my guitar picks at the scene of the crime. GT: You have to give up all your effects pedals but three: which ones do you keep? I usually tour solo with my Freshman acoustic guitar with built-in pickup. But on those occasions I tour with a band, I only…

WHEN DIRE STRAITS hit the charts in 1979 all my guitar-playing mates were talking about this ‘genius’ Mark Knopfler. I just didn’t get it. Clearly he had something very different to the humbucker-driven rock and punk that every other band was ladling out, but I couldn’t help thinking it sounded a bit samey. Of course I couldn’t get near to what he was playing myself, but when have such mere details stopped your average barrack-room idiot from pontificating? However, as the band’s career progressed so did Knopfler’s style, and it quickly became apparent that there was something rather special here. Most evident to me was the craft that he brought to bear in the music, its production and indeed his own playing, which I felt was taking on a rather…

➊ Dreamy psychedelic groove blues (Dm) This track tips its hat to trip-hop and invites some epic Gilmouresque soloing. Use D Minor Pentatonic (D-F-G-A-C) and D Minor scale (D-E-F-G-A-B b -C) as starting points. The arpeggios will help too: Dm (D-F-A), Gm (G-B b -D) and Am (A-C-E). ➋ G Major to E Minor jam This one swaps between the I chord (G) and the VI chord (Em). You could also see it as going between the key of G major and its relative minor, E minor. Use the seven notes of the G Major scale (G-A-B-C-D-E-F#) throughout (becoming the E Minor scale) – and of course E Minor Pentatonic (E-G-A-B-D) will work throughout the whole sequence as well. ➌ Acoustic Chicago blues shuffle (E) Here we have an easy-to-approach…

“ AS JIMMY PAGE ONCE NOTED, WE GUITARISTS LIKE TO EXPERIMENT WITH THE THINGS OUR EQUIPMENT IS NOT DESIGNED TO DO ” ABILITY RATING Info Key Various Tempo Various CD TRACKS 10-13 Moderate Will improve your… Pitching and tuning Improvisational flair Stylistic breadth The whammy (vibrato) bar is surely one of the most significant inventions in electric guitar, along with the electromagnetic pickup and the fuzz pedal. The selection of various Bigsby, Vibrola and Fender units available in the early days were originally intended to give chords a subtle shimmer and add vocal-like vibrato to single-note lines. Not surprisingly, guitarists embraced this new invention wholeheartedly - look no further than Hank Marvin’s evocative note embellishment, or Duane Eddy’s ‘doing-diddy-doing-diddy’ low-string dips. And of course the love affair continues to this…

"(EVERYTHING I DO) I DO IT FOR YOU IS STILL THE LONGEST RUNNING UK NUMBER 1 SINGLE" ABILITY RATING Moderate Info Key: D Tempo: 145bpm CD: TRACKS 26-28 Will improve your… Part writing Melodic rock playing Theory and harmony While somewhat saddled with the mega ballad and still the UK’s longest running Number 1 single (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, Bryan Adams has written some of the most iconic rock songs in recent history. In 1978 he met drummer Jim Vallance, and after co-writing some songs with Vallance he was signed to A&M Records for the princely sum of one dollar! Some early demos were cut, and these included I’m Ready, which went on to feature on Adams’s ’83 Cuts Like A Knife album. The ballad Straight…

ABILITY RATING Moderate Info Key: A (A7) Tempo: 60bpm CD: TRACKS 49-50 Will improve your… Pentatonic scale knowledge Visualisation of unusual scales Unorthodox Pentatonic lines In our quest to find fresh things to do with the Mixolydian mode, we have extracted a range of different sounds from within the scale (triads, arpeggios and Pentatonic scales) to use as the basis of new musical ideas. This lesson is designed to act as a round-up of all the different Pentatonic scales that we have studied. Here, we’re going to create lines by stringing together a series of different Pentatonic scales in each one. This constant change of musical flavour will help to keep each line fresh for the listener, rather than just staying on the same tonality. First, let’s summarise the Pentatonic…

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 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. PLUS! Get a FREE iPad/iPhone sample of GT. For full details and how to…

STORMS MEDIA GROUP / ALAMY GT: What are the things about guitar instrumentals that appeal to you? VR: I’ve always been intrigued with how so many different guitarists express themselves non verbally, from Link Wray’s Rumble to Hendrix’s Third Stone From The Sun, to Santana’s Song Of The Wind, To Metheny’s Unity Village. GT: What can an instrumental provide a listener that a vocal melody can’t? VR: An instrumental becomes a very personal soundtrack to the movie of the listener’s life, and mood. The listener gets to direct the picture and choose whether or not to add their own dialogue. GT: Any tendencies with instrumentals that you aim to embrace or avoid? VR: I like to embrace the immediate moment, and avoid relying on the tried and true. GT: Is…

GIBSON GUITARS BUILDS AN ACOUSTIC for Lilian G Marshall, an orchestra leader and Hawaiian guitar teacher. The style and shape follows a regular Gibson L-00 with a 12-fret neck joint but this Marshall Special features an X-braced top making it the lightest Gibson flattop ever made. The tropical volcano scene painted on the top gives it an Hawaiian flavour. It remains one of the rarest Gibson models in existence. ON THE 18TH APRIL A BBC RADIO REPORTER announces,“There is no news today”for the first and only time in history. The Times publishes its first crossword; Mickey Mouse makes his first appearance as a comic strip; and Birdseye frozen foods go on sale for the first time in the USA. THE HOUSING ACT PROVIDES GOVERNMENT subsidy for slum clearance and construction…

“ CARL DEMONSTRATES THE PENTATONIC SCALES FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE FRETBOARD TO THE TOP AND BACK DOWN ” ABILITY RATING Advanced Info Key: Mostly Dm Tempo: 102 bpm CD: TRACKS CD-ROM Will improve your Use of the guitar’s controls Intervallic rock-blues vocabulary Switching of rhythms We continue our video masterclass series with a minor key rock track composed by Jason Sidwell and improvised over by Carl. Look out for ear-grabbing interval leaps and top instrumental rock vocabulary. As Carl explains, the track is mostly in D minor so he plays D Dorian mode (D-E-F-G-A-B-C) through the verse sections. One of the key concepts in this solo is Carl’s trademark use of wide intervals. He likes to break up scale runs with intervallic leaps, as a simple ‘up and down…

EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 1 ROBERT SMITH CD TRACK 16 To celebrate the 40th birthday of The Cure, I’ve included a simple triad progression in a major key reminiscent of the band’s brilliant early hits. Play this with a clean or slightly overdriven tone with focus on changing chords in time using slight slides into each. EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 2 TONI IOMMI CD TRACK 17 To get the signature guitar sound of Sabbath, it helps to play these 5th chords on the bass strings high up the fretboard to give a very‘mushy’overdriven sound. As Iommi himself would do, play this on a neck humbucker if you have one. Add slight vibrato for feel and atmosphere. INTERMEDIATE LICKS EXAMPLE 3 PAUL KOSSOFF CD TRACK 18 Play this example with an aggressive right…

“WHEN I WAS FOUR YEARS OLD, I PICKED UP MY DAD’S GUITAR AND STARTED TO PLAY IT. APPARENTLY I MADE VERY QUICK PROGRESS Martin Taylor” ABILITY RATING Advanced Info Key: Various Tempo: Various CD: TRACKS 29-46 Will improve your… Rhythmic command Fretboard navigation ‘Changes’ playing Martin Taylor, or to give him his full title, Dr Martin Taylor, MBE, is one of the most successful jazz guitarist the UK has ever produced. With good reason too, as he is an absolute monster. Whereas most musicians would content themselves with one speciality, over Martin’s extensive career he has proved himself to be equally accomplished in a hugely varying array of settings. Whether it be ensemble or solo, accompanist or band leader, Martin’s staggering technical mastery and innate stylistic understanding allows him to…

“ WITH SUCH A BACK CATALOGUE TO HIS NAME, STUDYING MICK TAYLOR’S PLAYING IS A WORTHY CHALLENGE FOR ANY SLIDE ENTHUSIAST ” ABILITY RATING Moderate Info Key: Various Tempo: Various CD: TRACKS 51-54 Will improve your Slide in standard tuning Intonation accuracy Stylistic awareness Few guitarists can boast finer career highlights than Mick Taylor, having been a member of the Blues Breakers, a Rolling Stone and touring with Bob Dylan, Jack Bruce and The Grateful Dead. Following in the footsteps of Eric Clapton and Peter Green, Taylor first played with John Mayall aged only 16 when Clapton failed to turn up for a show. Mick would go on to replace Peter Green at the request of Mayall a year later, aged 17. Taylor recorded three albums with the band, and…

“ THIS TECHNIQUE IS A HYBRID OF RHYTHM AND LEAD APPROACHES AND CAN BE FOUND ON MANY CLASSIC DOO-WOP SONGS ” ABILITY RATING Moderate Info Key: Various Tempo: Various CD: TRACKS 60-64 Will improve your… Barre chord strength Picking control Arpeggio timing This instalment we will look at ’50s and ’60s rock and roll arpeggio rakes. This technique is a hybrid of rhythm and lead guitar approaches and can be heard on many classic doo-wop songs, such as Bobby Darin’s Dream Lover, Sam Cooke’s Wonderful World, Crying In The Rain by The Everly Brothers and Diana by Paul Anka. Perhaps the most famous use of the raked arpeggio is by The Animals’s guitarist Hilton Valentine on their 1964 version of the folk-blues classic, House Of The Rising Sun. The approach…

TOTO 40 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN Columbia 5/5 Understandably every other Toto ‘greatest hits’ package is dominated by cuts from their flawless debut and anthem-led Toto IV. But it also goes to show the band’s consistency for writing perfect pop-rock, whether it’s the sublime ballad I’ll Supply The Love or the synth bop of Stranger In Town. Notably, 40 Trips Around The Sun also includes two excellent previously unreleased tracks, Spanish Sea (very ‘Africa’ and currently getting great air time) and Struck By Lightning with Steve Lukather throwing out some punchy riffs on the latter, while new song Alone shows they’ve lost none of their exuberant charm. And any CD that includes all of Hold The Line, Pamela, and the world’s only song that mentions Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti, is…