Indice dei contenuti per April 2024 in Guitar Techniques

SIMON BARNARD Simon is agraduate of ACM and The Guitar Institute, holding aMasters 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 aMaster 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 Atutor 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 awell-studied guitarist who specialises in high-end rock playing and works with top UK metal-fusion band Haken. His debut…

GT: Do you have atype of pick that you can’t live without? HL: I pretty much exclusively use a Dunlop Jazz III. When I first discovered them in my late teens, it felt like my playing elevated overnight. I keep a Jazz III in all my guitar cases and even my wallet. You never know when a guitar might appear in front of you! GT: If you had to give up all your pedals but three, what would they be? HL: I gave up with pedal boards quite a few years ago. I got sick of the dreaded tap dance every time I had a guitar solo coming up. I use a rack mounted Fractal Axe FX at the minute, where I regularly have pedals in my signal chain. If…

In a world of declining work opportunities for professional musicians (and guitarists too), one area of employment that continues to buck the trend is musical theatre. A casual stroll through London’s Shaftesbury Avenue, Covent Garden and Soho will reveal double-digit numbers of productions that count bands and even orchestras on the payroll. Seemingly, The Great British Coach Party and the Even Greater Overseas Tourist are insatiable consumers of what we know as The West End Musical. And they’re prepared to pay top euro, yen or Turkish lira to lay their mitts on a wallet-melting ticket and brave the muggers, beggars and pickpockets. And that’s just the cast. Should you wish to make a career within this niche of Showbiz, your way through the Stage Door (if you can find it)…

VIDEO & AUDIO https://bit.ly/4a7AmPe Welcome to this month’s feature centred on playing better solos. In it we aim to identify core techniques and soloing concepts with a view to supercharging your vocabulary. There are 15, four-bar examples to study complete with backing tracks to practice with. We have split the examples into three sections, each with five examples. The first section is based around technique. Section two is more music theory based and the third section concentrates on taste and feel. Each example is four bars long and there’s a two-bar drum break to allow you time to prepare for the next example. As an added extra there are two 16-bar jam solos to learn, again with a corresponding backing track. The jam solos will help you to contextualise what…

Django Reinhardt was a true guitarist’s guitarist. As George Benson states, “Django stretched the guitar imagination to its limit. He was the fastest, the most creative, he had great rhythm, and he was a good composer too.” BB King had a similar take on the Belgian virtuoso, “Django was one of my idols. His guitar seemed to talk. He played music that was sophisticated, but a layman like myself could still understand it.” The list of devoted Django enthusiasts goes on and on, and for extremely good reason. Simply put, he was a musical genius, and guitarist extraordinaire. Born in 1910 in Liberchies into a family of Manouche gypsies, Django was prodigiously talented, and by age 13 he was performing with the street entertainers of Paris. In 1928 he survived…

Kings Of Leon formed almost 25 years ago in Nashville, Tennessee and consist of the Followill brothers Caleb, who plays rhythm guitar and sings lead vocals, drummer Nathan, and bassist Jared, along with their lead guitar playing cousin Nathan Followill. The band’s early music was influenced by Southern rock and blues but then moved to a more commercial sound in the mid 2000s. This also led to huge mainstream success and sent the band into arenas around the world; in the space of four years Kings Of Leon went from playing The White Horse in High Wycombe (their first UK gig) to headlining Wembley Arena. The Followills have been influenced by classic bands from various genres, including Thin Lizzy, The Clash and The Rolling Stones, and this blend of rock…

ABILITY RATING ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Moderate/Advanced Info Will improve your Key: Various Picking technique Tempo: Various Melodic variety https://bit.ly/4a7AmPe Position shifting Hailing from Austin, Texas, Eric Johnson integrates the influence of the blues greats with more modernistic harmonic structures and grooves. Eric is a virtuoso player with a unique style. One thing that distinguishes him is his incredible picking technique. His musical language is sophisticated and personal, and I’ve crafted this month’s examples as an intro to Eric’s style without making them too daunting. The first is a bluesy phrase typical of Eric’s melodic phrasing. The use of the low A note states the harmony, and a lot of players who are used to working in a trio setting use this approach to fill out the texture. The…

ABILITY RATING ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Moderate Info Will improve your Key: G Chromatacism Tempo: 146bpm Chord tone targeting https://bit.ly/4a7AmPe Swing phrasing Brought to you by… One of the most recorded guitarists of the LA studio scene, Larry Carlton has been heard by millions thanks to his playing with Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson and many more. At heart, Carlton is a jazz guitarist influenced by Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery but he’s also deeply rooted in the blues of BB King and others. There’s far more harmonic sophistication in Larry’s blues than you’d normally find in the genre. These intros use a swing feel and go beyond Pentatonics to include arpeggios that outline the sound of the chords. Players like Carlton will aim for chord tones and…

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 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.…

We had the very first JustinGuitar team meeting back in September, and one of the coolest ideas that was born during our sessions was making some live interactive classes where I could teach the way I do at in-person workshops; get feedback, take questions and interact on a personal level. We all got excited about it and decided to launch as soon as we could, and so JustinGuitar Clubs was born. The logistics were tricky but the response has been amazing. They were so popular in fact, that we had to cap class sizes and also invite my approved teachers to host some clubs too. I really love teaching in person, gauging my ‘teaching performance’ by the looks on students' faces, their body language and being able to add more…

1 A Minor Groove Jam We start with a groove jam in A Minor, where A Minor Pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G) and A Minor scale (A-B-C-D-E-F-G) are great places to begin your improv journey. 2 Slow Blues-Bb Minor Next up is a slow blues in the less common key of Bb Minor. Playing your old, familiar licks in a less familiar key can really help develop them - and may inspire new paths and ways to use your licks. Both Bb Minor Pentatonic (Bb-Db-Eb-F-Ab) and Bb Blues scale (Bb-Db-Eb-E-F-Ab) will work great. 3 Tasty Groove Blues-A Minor Here we have a groove blues in A Minor, where A Minor Pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G) and A Minor scale (A-B-C-D-E-F-G) are your best friends. Watch out for the slightly alternative turnaround at the end of each…

VIDEO & AUDIO https://bit.ly/4a7AmPe The Eagles is one of the most successful bands to emerge from the 70s countryrock scene. The group’s mixture of styles can be heard on countless hit songs that are embedded in the very fabric of popular culture. Indeed it’s hard to imagine rock music without The Eagles. As well as their wealth of hits including Take It Easy, One Of These Nights, Desperado, Lyin’ Eyes, and Tequila Sunrise, they are also responsible for some of the most iconic guitar performances ever committed to tape. The solo on Hotel California is seen as one of the greatest of all time, and is the perfect example of two guitar players totally in sync with each other. But listen to the rest of the song, the rhythm parts,…

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is easily one of the most recognisable names in the history of Western music, and for good reason. Mozart was as prodigious as they come, writing his first piece of music (Menuet No.1 in G Major) at the ripe old age of five. In his short 35-year life Mozart composed a vast body of repertoire spanning well over 800 works for a multitude of settings. Mozart had a knack for beginning his music with extremely catchy passages and so is widely known for many of his recognisable symphonies, operas, concertos, sonatas, and serenades, though this barely scratches the surface of his oeuvre. There are almost too many renowned pieces to list, but some famous ‘go-to’ examples of Mozart’s music include his Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, his Sonata No.11…

Since their first release, Rocka Rolla in 1974, Judas Priest have played a pivotal role in the establishment and evolution of heavy metal. Despite more recent changes within the guitar line-up, the core of Priest’s sound is due to the formidable guitar duo of Glen Tipton and KK Downing (Richie Faulkner replaced KK in 2011). During the early days, their guitar style was mid-tempo, heavy blues-rock-style. However, the 1977 release, Sin After Sin, saw double kick drum patterns, and fast 16th-note sequences displayed within the riffs. From Painkiller onward, Downing and Tipton’s riffs and rhythm style were hugely rivetting for metal fans around thw world, placing them among the most influential, and relevant players of the genre. “Downing and Tipton’s riffs matched the energy, aggression and intensity of other metal…

ABILITY RATING ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Easy Info Will improve your Key: G Fingerpicking Tempo: 79 bpm Open chord changes https://bit.ly/4a7AmPe Adding colour to chords Alegend in the world of country music, Kris Kristofferson has written hits including Me And Bobby McGee, Help Me Make It Through The Night, and For The Good Times. A contemporary of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash he was a leading light in the ‘outlaw country’ sound of the 1970s, a harder-edged style that eschewed the commercialism of Nashville. This sound arguably reached its apogée with the formation of supergroup The Highwaymen featuring all of the aforementioned ‘outlaws’. Kristofferson initially seemed destined for a career in sports with his talent for American football, athletics and rugby. Songwriting was something that he came…

ABILITY RATING ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Moderate Info Will improve your Key: E Minor Blues scale shapes Tempo: Various Legato playing https://bit.ly/4a7AmPe Alternate picking The Blues Scale is a hexatonic scale, which means it has six notes. Essentially, the Blues Scale is a Minor Pentatonic with the addition of a b5th interval in between its 4th and 5th degrees. The b5 goes by many names, including blue note, tritone or, more sinisterly, diabolus in musica, which translates as the ‘devil in music’. Its addition adds a certain amount of tension and colour to the existing Pentatonic scale, creating a familiar yet distinctly different sound. When using this scale, the phrasing is very important. For example, landing on and sustaining the b5 can create a clash with the harmony. Several…

PLAYING SOLOS is an absolute fundamental of what a guitarist likes to do, and what audiences expect from them. It’s pretty much an unwritten rule, certainly for electric players active in genres like rock, blues, jazz and country. It can be a minefield of countless concerns and aesthetics though, whatever level you are at, so is a worthy topic to address in GT. For this issue, we present you with a straightforward ‘soloing booster’ feature (page 14) that’s based on the stylistic traits of many of the greatest blues-rock guitarists. With many examples focusing on technique, theoretical and stylistic tips and two final short solos to learn (one is in a Minor key, the other is in a Major key), you’’re going to find this riveting material to work on.…

As we demonstrated last time, taking conventional chords and changing the order of notes from low to high (3rd, 5th, root or 5th, root, 3rd, etc) gives a different feel to familiar chords. But what if we expand this approach to include 7th chords, or add other alternative bass notes to give exotic hybrids or form passing bass lines underneath a chord progression when used in sequence? A conventional progression such as A-E-F#m-A7 can be found in classical and modern music. While it’s perfectly usable as is, there are some interesting variations to be found by using alternative voicings – particularly in the low register, where a small change can make a massive difference. Not all these voicings sound pleasing in isolation, but they work well together as the ‘tension’…

In this feature we welcome jazz guitar master Marcio Philomena. Marcio is a highly-regarded jazz guitarist and has recorded some wonderful tracks. In the video Marcio demonstrates all of the six licks with a backing and the same G7-C chord backing is used. The eighth notes in the licks are played with a swing feel and to keep things straigtforward we have used a 4/4 time signature to keep the notation and tab as simple to use as possible. So just play all the notes in the examples with a swing feel and you are good to go. In his licks Marcio demonstrates the use of several tried and tested ways to introduce tension into a V-I (G7-C) cadence. The first concept is to use G Altered scale over the…

This month we’re looking at a great legend of blues history. Known as the Master Of The Telecaster, Texas-born Albert Collins had a very distinctive sound and a unique approach to blues guitar. His ferocious attack, his unique guitar setup, and his tone, which was responsible for his other nickname, The Iceman, allowed him to carve out a sound that is instantly recognisable. Born in Texas in 1932, Albert first dabbled with the Hammond B3 organ before switching to guitar, partly inspired by his cousin Lightnin’ Hopkins, another blues legend, along with artists such as John Lee Hooker, Guitar Slim, and T-Bone Walker. Unconventionally, Albert learned early on to tune his guitar to F Minor (F-C-F-Ab-C-F), which gave him access to sounds that were different from those of his peers,…

Matteo Mancuso was born in Palermo, Sicily in 1996 and was immediately exposed to guitar playing through his father Vincenzo, who has been a renowned session player since the 70s. Matteo started playing blues and rock, but his years at the Palermo Conservatory of Music helped him develop jazz knowledge and a classical fingerstyle technique that sets him apart from other players. His playing has gained the attention of guitarists such as Al Di Meola, Steve Vai and Tosin Abasi. Matteo’s touch and tone is similar to that of Brett Garsed, who also uses his pickinghand fingers to play Frank Gambale style arpeggios and lines. Matteo however eschews the pick altogether, and plays everything from chords to scales to riffs using his fingers and thumb. He employs two main picking-hand…