Indice dei contenuti per September 2023 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. DECLAN ZAPALA Declan is one of the UK’s top classical guitarists and teachers. He is a Master graduate of RCM and his solo arrangements are sublimely creative. 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. CHARLIE GRIFFITHS Charlie is a well studied guitarist who specialisesinhighendrockplaying and plays with top UK metal-prog band Haken.…

So I finally went and bought myself a pedal steel guitar! For those that are not familiar with the these instruments, they’re the quintessential sound of country music. I’ve loved the sound of the steel since I first heard Neil Young's album Harvest, but always thought it would be too difficult to learn. I remember transcribing Mark Knopfler’s beautiful song Redbud Tree which has some delicious pedal steel parts - and the idea of buying one started percolating. Then, at Eric Clapton’s tribute to Jeff Beck at the Royal Albert Hall, an incredible steel player called Robert Randolph tipped me over, and a few days later I took delivery of a new box of misery. For those unfamiliar with the instrument, it has 10 strings and an incredible array of…

ON VIDEO Welcome to our feature designed to explore a range of South American rhythms. Each has its own name and own particular sound, and the Latin people are highly proud and protective of each one’s authenticity. What I hope you’ll gain from the lesson are some core techniques and concepts to help you build a vocabulary in these vibrant styles. We have chosen six contrasting rhythms from this exciting continent, and for each we have recorded a 16-bar performance piece, with backing track to practise along with. TECHNIQUE FOCUS The South American Clave The ‘clave’ is a rhythmic pattern typically used in Afro Cuban music styles (Salsa, Cha Cha Cha, Mambo, Rumba, Samba etc.). The five stroke, clave rhythm is two bars long and forms the backbone of the…

This month’s classical arrangement by baroque Spanish composer Gaspar Sanz is said to be one of the inspirations behind the vibrant opening theme to Joaquín Rodrigo’s world famous Guitar Concerto in which the guitar majestically dances between an alternating 6/8 and 3/4 pulse over a simple D Major tonality. A quick glance at the opening notes of this month’s arrangement reveals a striking similarity to this compositional characteristic with the alternating time signature giving it a quintessentially Spanish flavour. Born in 1640 (well over 250 years before Rodrigo) Sanz was baptised Francisco Bartolome Sanz y Celma but later adopted the more familiar Gaspar as his forename. A colourful character born into a wealthy family in the Bajo Aragón region of Spain, in his life Sanz was a priest, a poet,…

NEVER MISS ANOTHER ISSUE Time to subscribe! AUGUST GT350 ROCKIN’ AND A-ROLLIN’! Learn 10 solos in the style of the 1950s’ most innovative rockers. The biggest names & some less well-known players. Plus: Two Peter Green solos from Remi Harris, BB King, Shane Theriot video, Matt Schofield, Nickel Creek & more! JULY GT349 MO’ BETTER BLUES! Inspired by Joe Bonamassa and six of his cohorts, we show you how to solo like these greats! Plus: Larry Carlton, Steve Lukather, Chris Rea, Jared James Nichols, Martin Taylor, Andy Wood, Metheny, Hendrix, SRV, Lady A & more! JUNE GT348 ERIC CLAPTON Learn five superb pieces that evoke different eras from Slowhand’s career: Beano, Cream, Layla, Journeyman, & Unplugged. Plus: Napoleon Coste’s Barcarella, Richie Sambora, Robben Ford, Plini, Martin Taylor, The Shires, &…

ABILITY RATING ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Moderate Info Key: D Major Tempo: 85bpm https://bit.ly/42nJxc1 Will improve your ✓ Fingerpicking ✓ Embellishing open chords ✓ Use of inversions A legend in the worlds of roots, blues, folk and Americana, US artist Bonnie Raitt was rewarded for her songwriting with the 2023 Grammy for Best Song for her track Just Like That (beating Harry Styles, Adele and Beyonce!). Certain factions of the British press subsequently embarrassed themselves by asking who this ‘unknown blues singer’ was – as it happens, Raitt has actually won 13 Grammys over her 50-year career. Commercial acclaim has not evaded her either, and she was already well known for her powerful reading of I Can’t Make You Love Me, Nick Of Time and many more. Raitt…

FOR MANY guitar fans, Paul Gilbert is the ultimate rock guitarist. He’s got bucketloads of technique and speed, has great vibrato, plays with a rich overdriven tone and is full of creative curiosity. We’ve seen that over several decades from his work with the US rock band, Mr Big and with his own solo career. It’s that curiosity that has also had him involved with tribute albums and tours focused on Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, and performing a staggering variety of songs spanning the music of Abba and Stevie Wonder, to Genesis and The Spice Girls. And he continues paying tribute to others: his new album sees him tackling a range of Dio songs with his guitar ‘singing’ Ronnie’s vocals. Quite a feat, and very impressive. There’s even more…

LAST ISSUE we looked at the basic principle of how chords are extended and altered by adding extra notes from the scale and raising or lowering them to change the sound. Going up past the original octave, we enter the‘compound’ octave, starting with the 9th. Traditionally, the 10th (though it does exist as a two-note‘interval’) is not used within the conventions of chord naming, as it is a duplicate of the 3rd and its function within the chord doesn’t change significantly unless it’s used as the lowest note. That takes us on to the 11th and the 13th, the most extended chord available.…

In this feature we welcome Texas blues master Chris Duarte. Chris fronts his own power trio whose new album, Ain’t Giving Up, is out now on Provogue Records. In his specially recorded video Chris demonstrates five licks at varying tempos, so no backing track is used (with the exception of lick 4, which is played to a click). To keep things simple we have kept things in 4/4 time signature with all the rhythms being approximate to what is implied. The groove here is shuffle style so the eighth notes maintain a swung feel. The licks are mostly based around B Minor Pentatonic scale (B-D-E-F#-A) with some colour tones added here and there. Example 4 is a turnaround idea in B Major so this one employs a BMajor key signature.…

Not many players earn the title ‘king of the blues’, but then not many players have been as influential as the great Albert King. One of the leading players of his generation alongside fellow blues Kings, BB and Freddie, Albert was central to the 60s wave of electric blues. Without Albert and his fellow bluesmen, BB and Freddie, we wouldn’t have many of the household names we know today. Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan were all admirers of Albert’s work, and that’s just to name a few. But what was it about Albert that inspired a whole generation of now legendary players? With regards to his guitar playing, it was his wonderful vocal quality, singing sustain, expressive vibrato and powerful string bending. Albert favoured huge…

New Jersey based Michael Romeo, born in 1968, is best known as the founder and main songwriter of the progressive metal band Symphony X, which he formed in 1994. He has since released nine studio albums with the group, as well as a slew of solo records. Romeo is renowned for his use of sweep picking, alternate picking, and tapping techniques. With these he cleanly executes intricate riffs, arpeggios and runs with incredible speed and accuracy, always maintaining a relaxed, fluid feel. His playing is also distinguished by his use of complex harmonies, often incorporating classical chord progressions. He cites John Williams as a major influence on his epic sensibility. Romeo is also heavily influenced by Yngwie Malmsteen and Jason Becker, but also leans into Pantera style groove metal riffing.…

Brought to you by… FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES ABILITY RATING ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Moderate Info Key: G Tempo: 99bpm https://bit.ly/42nJxc1 Will improve your ✔ Jazz knowledge ✔ Fingerstyle playing ✔ Finger independence Until now we’ve approached building our walking basslines by using chromatic approach notes either from a semitone above or the same from below. To conclude our series, I’ll show you some new chromatic approach patterns you can use to break up the quarter-note rhythm and approach the target bass notes in new ways. “I’ll flick the thumb back upward, striking the string with the nail to double up the number of notes played” We’ve covered the two most common chromatic approach note patterns - the semitone from above and below - but there are many more ways to…

ABILITY RATING Moderate ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Info https://bit.ly/42nJxc1 Key Various Tempo Various Will improve your… ✔ Use of dynamics ✔ Different articulation techniques ✔ Constructing memorable phrases Paul Gilbert exploded onto the 1980s rock scene with his exciting brand of speedy and highly technical soloing. He has been part of two great rock bands, Mr Big (soon to tour again) and Racer X, but has also maintained a fabulous solo career. TECHNIQUE FOCUS Using the slide Paul uses his slide quite a bit to perform the examples so here are a few tips that may help you to develop a consistent tone and technique. You can experiment with different slide designs until you find one that is comfortable to use and has the right tone for you.…

With a career that spans almost five decades, John Scofield’s style has continued to evolve, encapsulating the best elements from jazz, rock, blues, funk and soul, to create a sound that is ever developing but which always sounds unmistakably like ‘Sco’. John picked up his first guitar aged 11, and started off by learning the hits of the day from the radio. By his early teens he developed a keen interest in rock and blues guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and BB King, influences that can still be clearly discerned in his playing to this day. But by the time he reached 16 Scofield was a fully-fledged jazzer, with a small but intelligently selected record collection that included legendary guitarists such as George Benson and Pat Martino, along…

American rockers Dinosaur Jr and their guitar playing frontman J Mascis might not be household names like some of their contemporaries but the band, which formed in Massachusetts in 1984, has left an impression on many other classic outfits. These include Kurt Cobain, Billy Corgan, Radiohead, Blur, and Snow Patrol to name a few, and their use of feedback, fuzz and awkward sounding non-diatonic chord progressions and riffs can be clearly heard in the sound of those bands. Mascis himself grew up listening to artists like The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys and there’s a foundation of classic rock in the sound evident on both the band’s recordings and live performances. Bass player Lou Barlow follows Mascis’ lead of using heavily fuzzed tones, and the sound of the bass…

Brought to you by… LCCM where music matters John Mayer may be popular in the broader market for his non-blues, more pop-orientated output, but nevertheless his blues roots shine through all his work. Mayer is an extremely accomplished blues player who has done his homework when it comes to the history of the genre. Hi style is lyrical and free flowing and he is a master at creating a memorable and concise guitar solo. While there are elements that might be traced back to greats such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King, Robben Ford and Eric Clapton, Mayer has forged a highly personal sound to back his influences up. His appreciation for Jimi Hendrix is clear from the fact that he has covered several of Jimi’s songs. His trio with…

Brought to you by… ABILITY RATING ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Moderate Info Key: A Minor/C Tempo: 110 bpm https://bit.ly/42nJxc1 Will improve your ✔ Finger tapping ✔ Coordination ✔ Left and right hand tapping Finger tapping, also known at two-hand tapping, is an exciting technique which has been used by a number of guitarists over the years. The origins of this technique is often debated, with various views on the first players to use it. There is no doubt that Eddie Van Halen brought this technique to the masses on Van Halen’s debut album; however tapping in various guises appeared years before Eddie popularised it. This technique has the ability to open up the guitar fretboard as an instrument similar to the piano, where both hands can be used to…