Indice dei contenuti per May 2020 in Guitar Techniques

JOSEPH ALEXANDER After stints at Guitar Institute and Leeds College, Joseph launched Fundamental Changes. He’s since published over 40 tuition books and sold 350,000 plus. 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. 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. MARTIN GOULDING One of the world’s foremost rock and metal guitarists, Martin teaches for dime-online.org and has written for many of the world’s top guitar mags. CHARLIE GRIFFITHS Guitar Institute tutor Charlie first came to fame in Total Guitar’s Challenge Charlie series. He’s also guitarist with top UK metal-fusion…

Go to www.pocketmags.com, search for Guitar Techniques to purchase a single issue for just £3.99; or subscribe and enjoy GT with audio and animated tab on any device! * NB: Only the Apple, Pocketmags and www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk versions contains interactive tab and audio. DISC AUDIO (PRINT VERSION ONLY) Sometimes the GT CD features some of the backing tracks as mp3 files due to space. These will be found in a folder on the CD-ROM section of the disc, accessible only via a computer, and will not work in a regular CD player.…

JOSEPH CULTICE GT: What were the primary musical influences that helped inform this new album, Shapeshifting? JS: There were so many things I wanted to try. When it came to writing, I wanted to be free of stylistic constraints. I wanted to be free to use any guitar technique no matter what genre it originated from. I wanted an atmosphere in the studio where we could make each song a unique statement of performance, recording and mixing. The album had to ‘shapeshift’ with each song. And, of course, melody and song structure are always most important to me. GT: How long did it take to amalgamate the tracks? JS: I composed and made extensive demos at my home studio all last year, in-between going out on the Experience Hendrix tour.…

In this issue, we return to the work of that brilliant and influential 19th Century Czech composer, Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904). As well as being an educator and multi-instrumentalist, and composing hundreds of works for symphonies, opera, chamber and solo instruments, Dvorak was an important pioneer of the folk and nationalistic movement in the Western Art Music. This was a significant shift in the ethos of ‘classical’ music – that there was equal value in the folk traditions, and that these musical cultures can and should be adopted into the 'high art' of classical music, enriching and providing cultural universality to this conventionally closed discipline. His concepts were prescient: when he moved to America to become director of the National Conservatory, he said - quite prophetically - “I am convinced that…

EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 1 THE EDGE CD TRACK 24 Create a simple rhythm with a delay pedal to the tempo of 100bpm, using downstrokes throughout. These pitches outline two triads ending on a simple Major chord reminiscent of U2 back in the 1980s. EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 2 JACK WHITE CD TRACK 25 Place your third, second and first finger on the fourth, third and second strings to create the chord shape. The open A on the fifth string then acts as a drone with the triads moving over the top. The final descending lick is based around A7. INTERMEDIATE LICKS EXAMPLE 3 CHRIS HOLMES CD TRACK 26 Previously guitarist with W.A.S.P. Chris Holmes is active now with his band Mean Man. The lead guitar here uses Locrian mode (1- b…

DAVID REDFERN / GETTY IMAGES We all have Wes Montgomery to thank for popularising one of the most iconic sounds in jazz. Arranging intelligent and hip melodic lines doubled in octaves, perhaps brushed with the thumb, creates a romantic and expressive sound that you’ll undoubtedly want to add to your improvisational and compositional repertoire. For what is essentially such a simple device, the sonic rewards are huge, giving you access to an almost three-dimensional sonic idea that gives projection, drive and sophistication. Wes would often begin a solo with single-note lines before making the transition to octaves, frequently stretching out over a number of choruses. To thicken the sound even further and to bring his solo to a peak he would then often switch to block chords, a topic we…

SVÍČKOVÁ Today we are drawing upon many of the different Pentatonic scales that we have studied throughout this series.The purpose of extracting various triads, arpeggios and Pentatonic scales from within a scale is to provide us with fresh musical perspectives. Each one sounds different and will also make us play in a different way. Diagram 1 lists all the different Pentatonic scales that exist within A Mixolydian. One thing to remember is that, although Mixolydian is 1-2-3-4-5-6- b 7, it is common practice in blues-based music to add a minor third ( b 3) because it sounds a bit darker. This opens the door to Minor sounds being used from the root of a dominant 7th chord (such as Minor Pentatonic, Blues and Dorian scales), but also augmented 2nd (#2…

MARK HORTON / GETTY IMAGES The Diminished scale is an interesting sound that provides a different sonic experience to the more typical modes. Its symmetrical nature lends itself to fusion music like that of Allan Holdsworth and progressive metal players such as Fredrik Thordendal and Jeff Loomis. The latter two use the scale as a more ethereal alternative to Aeolian mode when playing over single-note riffs. The scale is sometimes called Whole-Half scale, or Octatonic scale. Whole-Half is a useful name as it spells out the construction of intervals; start from any root note and go up a whole tone, then a semitone, then a whole tone and a semitone. If you keep going up, you will play eight different notes before you reach the octave. If we play this…

MY FIRST ‘PROPER’ guitar was a 1967 Fender Tele. It was an early 67 one as it had the older ‘script’ logo on the headtock and ‘Telecaster’ in small capitals. The body was stripped to bare wood so I quickly refinished it black. It was my first foray into guitar repairing and it set me on the path of doing it for a living. Oh, and it cost £105 from Guitar Village in Shaftesbury Avenue, London. I was 21 and so proud (see pic below). At the time I worked in a factory making corrugated cardboard alongside, of all people, Guthrie Govan’s dad. I worked 6-2 and 2-10 shifts, had gone to London in the morning and got back for my afternoon stint with my new guitar in tow. “Okay…

So, I’ve decided that I want to get back to playing piano, and started looking around for a teacher. I’ve been looking online but there wasn’t anyone I felt I connected with or that had what I was looking for. It’s coincided with a lot of questions on my forum about finding a real-life teacher, about what makes a good teacher or the right teacher for an individual. Let’s start by talking about real-life teachers, which is my preference because I value human connections and perhaps, at my stage in the music journey, most ‘beginner’ lessons won’t fit me well because I have a load of other experience. For most beginners, online learning is a great option, for reasons we’ll discuss later. So I started out with a Google search…

STEFAN HOEDERATH / GETTY IMAGES This month’s lick illustrates some pedal steel style bends as applied to a I-IV-I sequence. (C-G-C) To play them accurately and to link the positions seamlessly takes work. In this style there is commonly not much vibrato used, so bending accuracy is paramount. Notice how the fretting-hand shapes are all shown here on the fifth, fourth and third strings, but do seek out other shapes on other adjacent string sets. The names of all the chord moves are given in the notation. This should make it easy to see how they work: for example, in bar 1 the 5th (G) is being bent up a tone to the 6th (A) implying a C-C6 move. Understanding how these bends function harmonically, is vital to being able…

Fender’s Telecaster is among the most iconic of all electric guitars. Leo’s first solidbody, the Esquire, came along in 1950, and although it was almost the same as the instrument that would become the Tele, had only one pickup. Enter the Broadcaster in 1951. The Broadcaster name was changed for legal reasons (leaving some headstocks bereft of a model name so the term ‘Nocaster’ was coined. After this momentary lapse the Telecaster as we know it, was born. There are many reasons why the model is still in production seven decades on. But obvious reasons include its sound, playability, ease of use, simple workmanlike looks and, perhaps most important of all, versatility, which we will attempt to demonstrate here. The Tele can be heard powering all styles of popular music,…

In this lesson I’m going to take a look at a couple of traditional pieces in DADGAD tuning – a tuning that for many is the default when it comes to playing this repertoire. The tuning found its origins in the 1960s via the travels of legendary British folk picker Davey Graham who used it to emulate the sounds of the Middle Eastern instruments he was encountering. Soon it was being used by everyone from Jimmy Page to Bert Jansch and was quickly adopted by the acoustic community as an ideal tuning for replicating traditional Irish and Scottish repertoire on guitar. There are several reasons why the tuning works so well – first, there is a symmetry to it as you can use the open fourth (D), third (G) and…

Classical players who use a footstool and practise for long durations may be familiar with the aches and pains – often in the lower back, that arise from the asymmetric positioning of the pelvis. There are a number of solutions in the form of detachable guitar supports on the market that can hugely help with such back problems and a favourite for many people is the Gitano Guitar Support. It attaches to the side of the guitar with two (or four) suction cups and can be repositioned easily. It also has a hinge so it can fold away when not in use and since its slimline design fits within most guitar cases, it can remain permanently in situ. Well worth trying.…

MARTY MOFFAT Joe Bonamassa, an undisputed living guitar legend, admired by players from all genres and generations, is a rare gem among the backdrop of countless skilled guitar players out there today. Joe started playing when the was just four years old and his career started at the tender age of 12, opening for Blues legend BB King. As a teenager he performed relentlessly on the New York scene, gaining experience and recognition as one of the hottest young guitar players out there. He regularly sat in with musicians three times his age. By the time he reached his early 20s, in 2000 Joe released his first album and from there he’s gone from strength to strength. Joe is known for his virtuosic speed as well as his expressive blues…

APIC / HULTON ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES “MOST EARLY BLUES PLAYERS USED SMALL-BODIED GUITARS. SON HOUSE, TAMPA RED AND OTHERS USED POWERFUL RESONATOR GUITARS” Welcome to part three of our exploration of the techniques required to become an authentic fingerstyle blues guitarist. This lesson builds on the examples given in the previous two issues, so go and grab them before diving in if you’re not already up to speed. NEXT MONTH Joseph concludes his series with an authentic blues piece played Fingerstyle ABILITY RATING EXAMPLE 1 CD TRACK 51 You may have noticed in the last lesson that most of the melodic phrases were based around just a few notes. These notes were all contained in the scale of E Minor Pentatonic. The notes of this scale can be played…

MIIKKA SKAFFARI / GETTY IMAGES Welcome to this month’s Fretboard Fluency, with the eighth part in our series on the Harmonic Minor scale (R-2- b 3-4-5- b 6-7), which can can also be visualised as Natural Minor with a maj7th. Over the course of the series, we’ve looked at the five Harmonic Minor shapes based around the CAGED system, as well as the harmonised scale which consists of a family of seven diatonic chords, arpeggios and modes. More recently, we’ve been focusing on the fifth and most commonly used mode – Phrygian Dominant: R- b 2-3-4-5- b 6- b 7. This scale is commonly applied over V7 chords in Minor progressions as a means of heightening tension before resolving back to the tonic Minor chord a 4th higher (or 5th…

Album of the Month JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, SHANKAR MAHADEVAN, ZAKIR HUSSAIN IS THAT SO Abstract Logix John McLaughlin blazed with virtuosity that few, if any, had in the 70s, let alone the 60s when he was making strides as a jazz musician. Never one to rest on his laurels, his new album features a trio with Shankar Mahadevan on vocals and Zakir Hussain on tabla that was six years in the making. Formulated while working together as Shakti, Is That So is different to what could be expected; Shankar sings expressively over John’s dreamy guitar synth chords while Zakir’s tabla darts around them. This is quite a different environment but one that’s incredibly infectious - big, rich, cinematic and ambient is the order of the day. While it may evoke Hans…

MORE OF THE WORLD’S BEST LESSONS… FEATURE #2 VIDEO JENNIFER BATTEN Rock Masterclass Jennifer Batten is one of the great rock guitarists. Join Jennifer as she explains some of her favourite techniques. FEATURE #3 30 GREAT COUNTRY LICKS With Stuart Ryan Ready to get hot and steamy? Stuart aims to improve your digital dexterity with 30 licks straight out of Nashville. CLASSICAL TAB VIDEO FRANZ SCHUBERT Moment Musical No 3 Bridget Mermikides tabs this exciting piano piece for solo classical guitar. Warning: not for the faint-hearted! TECHNIQUE & THEORY GREAT STUFF TO LEARN Acoustic blues & dim chords. Master the beguiling sounds of fingerstyle blues; and learn how to use diminished chords in jazz guitar. MORE GREAT LESSONS 30-Minute Lickbag Six great new licks to play Buddy Whittington…

Try GT’s digital edition on PC, Mac, Laptop, Desktop or Tablet! 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 ’s main lessons have mag 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.…

Sooner or later along your stellar career path, you may receive word from the manager of one of the UK’s top symphony orchestras. In days of yore that would be disseminated via the medium of Alexander Graham Bell’s modern marvel, but today’s musical operative must be ever alert to offers that arrive by text, email, etc. These guys are also keen for you to join one of the diary services, as they frequently need to book a job lot of freelancers to swell the ranks of permanent orchestra members. So they are cheered by the notion of booking an extra 15 or 20 players with but one phone call during their busy and under-remunerated day. Do not be dismayed if your presence is requested at 24 hours’ notice. It may…

➊ Slow Blues Jam (C) We start with a fun and easy slow blues in C Major. You can get off to a good start by mixing C Minor Pentatonic (C-E b -F-G-B b ) and C Major Pentatonic (C-D-E-G-A, while also aiming to outline the arpeggios C7 (C-E-G-B b ), F7 (F-A-C-E b ) and G7 (G-B-D-F). ➋ Jazz-Funk Jam (Am) Here’s a fun jazz-funk jam. Use A Dorian mode (A-B-C-D-E-F#-G) for the main section and A Minor scale (A-B-C-D-E-F-G) for the ‘breaks’. Also, A Minor Pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G) works a treat throughout if you’d like to keep it simple and focus on your timing. ➌ Lo-Fi Groove Blues (G) You can use G Minor Pentatonic (G-B b -C-D-F) throughout this track. The first section is a G Dorian mode…

When we meet Philip Sayce, he’s clearly a man who’s taken a long, honest look at his life and music – and emerged stronger for the process. He’s playing up a storm on the Keeping The Blues Alive At Sea cruise and he has a new album in the can that’s as raw and direct as any he’s made. “It’s been a really intense year for me, personally, so a lot of that has gone into the music and I got to produce the record myself this time,” Sayce reflects. “My dad passed away and I took some time after that happened. He passed away just under a year ago and I went into the studio about four or five months after… I’m grateful to have this as an outlet…

I always suggest three ways to approach DADGAD. First, use it just as a tuning where you play repertoire and don’t feel the need to learn theory, chords and scales in the tuning. Secondly, develop a knowledge of how DADGAD works; learn some scale shapes and chords and then, thirdly; treat it as an ‘alternative standard tuning’ where you throw yourself into it 100 per cent. In reality few guitarists have the time to adopt the third method so aiming for the second is a sensible way to get to grips with the challenge.…

Iron Maiden were formed in London by bass player and principal songwriter Steve Harris in 1975. The early line-up had multiple changes along the way but was completed by guitarists Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton, vocalist Paul Di’Anno and drummer Clive Burr. In 1978 they recorded and released their debut EP entitled The Soundhouse Tapes, and sold all 5,000 copies in a matter of weeks. This led to record label interest and they signed a deal with EMI in 1979. Their eponymous debut album, which included the classic track Phantom Of The Opera, made top five in the UK album chart, and they began a touring schedule that has barely paused for breath over four decades. Dennis Stratton, Paul Di’Anno and Clive Burr all quit during the next three years,…

MICK HUTSON / GETTY IMAGES Taking its name from the ninth-century Indian emperor, King Kulashekhara, Kula Shaker got together in 1995. Taking influence from Indian traditional music and 60s rock, the band took the 90s back in time with a sound reminiscent of The Beatles’ psychedelic era, mixed with the rock prowess of Deep Purple and the experimental nature of The Grateful Dead. Kula Shaker was created by guitarist and vocalist Crispian Mills. He was joined by Alonza Bevan on bass, Paul Winterhart on drums and Jay Darlington on Organ. The members also played a variety of Indian instruments on their albums including the tamboura, sitar and tabla. Their debut album, K hit the shops in 1996. It was a number one hit in the UK, and certified as double…

GT: Do you have a type of pick that you can’t live without? SMcQ: I use a Dunlop thumbpick all the time. GT: If you had to give up all your pedals but three, what would they be? SMcQ: I only have four. Two of them are stage tuners - one for the acoustic and the other for the electric. And then I have a tremolo pedal and a Donner Yellow Fall delay pedal that I use for an instrumental piece I wrote called The Day Of Wrath, That Day. GT: Do you play another instrument well enough to be in a band, and if so have you ever done it? SMcQ: Well, hilariously, when I was a teenager and living in Washington, DC, I played a Fender Rhodes in…