Tabla de contenidos para May 2021 en 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. RICHARD BARRETT TonyHadley’slongstandingguitarist Richie has worked with everyone from RogerDaltreytoRonanKeeting,andis currentlyworkingonhisownalbum. 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. 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 Guitar Institute tutor Charlie…

GT: What is it about instrumentals that appeals to you? AL: In my early teens I started listening to lots of rock music, and gradually the instrumental sections became my favourite bits. The very special thing about the guitar is that it is capable of ‘harmony’ in a way that ‘single-line’ instruments aren’t. We are also able to be expressive with the articulation of notes. Sure, a pianist can probably play denser chords, but we can bend, slide, stroke softly with a fingertip, pluck really hard and so on. And while a trumpet or sax can wail and squeal they can’t play four-note chords. GT: What can an instrumental provide that a vocal song can’t? AL: The absence of words leaves things wide open for the listener to imagine things.…

The I-IV-V chord progression is one of the fundamental building blocks of music, but these basic chords can have quite a ‘primary colour’ sound, so we often tire of them. So here we see that one of the easiest ways to create more interest is to switch between relative Majors and Minors.…

INCLUDING CHROMATIC NOTES in a solo adds colour and a sophisticated quality to your lines. However, it’s not just as simple as adding notes from outside of the scale willy-nilly. To start with, the chromatic notes will sound best when placed off the beat, and not held over or stressed too much. Using a chromatic note as an approach to a strong chord tone is a very musical strategy that creates a pleasing tension and release factor. You can also find ways to link two strong chord or scale tones with a chromatic note. Just playing the Blues scale up and down from the root in 8th notes is very effective, as the b 5 note sets up a three-note chromatic run and this dissonant interval is automatically placed on…

While it’s of course a great idea to acknowledge all the available notes within a given harmonic setting, with all of our exercise examples coming from a D Minor Pentatonic (D-F-G-A-C) or D Dorian tonality (D-E-F-G-A-B-C), it’s also an extremely useful perspective to consider where all the gaps lie. Going from our seven-note Dorian mode, as this scale is based on tone and semitone steps (T-S-T-T-T-S-T), there are seven inclusive notes and five notes found between the cracks. Assuming we know where these lie ( b 2, maj3, b 5, b 6, maj7), we can use these as a form of chromatic stepping stone to allow us to move from resolute consonance (the notes in the scale), through a momentary sense of unstable dissonance (notes that are not in the…

Freddie King. The third and final member of the ‘Three Kings of Blues Guitar’. Although not an official collective, historically speaking, alongside Albert and BB King, Freddie is one of the most significant electric blues artists in the history of music and of guitar playing in general. For his time, his playing was much more contemporary than his fellow bluesmen, and he quickly gained popularity with the younger audiences and grabbed the attention of aspiring legends like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor. In his youth Freddie found favour with older, more seasoned session musicians who were playing with the icons of the day like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and T-Bone Walker. Freddie played alongside these sidemen in clubs on the Chicago circuit in the early 1950s. All…

Kaiser Chiefs have had a highly successful career, with a UK number one single, multiple Brit Awards and both critical and commercial success. But their career wasn’t always smooth sailing, and the band, originally called Parva, had to completely reinvent itself after its first label fell on hard times, leaving Parva without a deal. The classic Kaiser Chiefs lineup, which remained unchanged for the first four albums, featured Ricky Wilson on vocals, Nick Hodgson on drums and backing vocals, Simon Rix on bass and backing vocals, Nick Baines on keyboards and Andrew ‘Whitey’ White on guitar and backing vocals. Still as Parva they recorded the album 22 on Mantra Recordings, but Mantra too was shut down by owners Beggars Banquet prior to its release, leaving the lads again with no…

JASON AND I concocted this month’s cover feature after one of our many conversations about playing. We are very different as musicians (he’s really good, haha!), but our tastes in music cross over an awful lot. We both describe ourselves as lovers of pop, but that can encompass anything from Beatles to Beach Boys, Steely Dan to Stevie Wonder, ABBA to AC/DC, Shadows to Satriani, Toto to Todd Rundgren and all points in between. But while Jason appreciates great blues playing, he’s such a stickler for being in tune and in time that sometimes the old guard, who I so love, can get a little hard on the ears. However, like me he adores the more sophisticated blues of Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Michael Landau, Scott Henderson and that whole…

NICK DELANEY Well, I just bought myself an absolutely gorgeous 1965 Gibson SG. I got it from Fil Olivieri (Solo Dallas) who has had it worked on and it’s one of the finest set-ups I have ever played… but it’s got .008 gauge strings. I’ve always believed that a thicker string moves the magnetic field of the pickups around more and gave a fatter sound, but I really don’t know where I got that from. I know very little about physics or electronics. I suppose it came somehow from loving Stevie Ray Vaughan’s tone so much and knowing he used super heavy strings. Looking around and researching this article, it would seem that this thinking is perpetuated around the web, but now I’m suspecting it’s a myth. Angus Young uses…

➊ Slow Blues Jam (Cm) We start with a slow 12-bar blues in the key of C Minor. In terms of scales, you’ll get off to a great start by hitting up the good old C Minor Pentatonic (C-E b -F-G-B b ) and adding feeling with the use of string bends, slides, vibrato, hammer-ons and pull-offs. ➋ B Dorian Groove Jam This feel-good vamp is based on B Dorian mode. Aside from B Dorian (B-C#-D-E-F#-G#-A), B Minor Pentatonic (B-D-E-F#-A) and B Minor Blues scale (B-D-E-F-F#-A) will also sound great here. It’s quite a bluesy vibe, after all. ➌ Easy A Minor II-V-I Jazz Jam Here we have a medium swing jazz jam in A Minor. The II-V-I is one of the most important building blocks to learn. Start with…

GT: Do you have a type of pick that you can’t live without? SM: Fender Heavy – the classic celluloid ones. Upside down. Also like the mediums. Can’t use any other picks though. Or if I pick up a used one, I can’t deal with the rough edges. GT: If you had to give up all your pedals but three, what would they be? SM: Well I’ve got to say it would be my signature fuzz pedal the SM Fuzz, Octavia pedal and I love the Origin Effects Cali 76 compressor for clean sounds. GT: Do you play another instrument well enough to be in a band, and if so have you ever done it? SM: I love playing drums, but can only last about 10 minutes or so. I’m…

For the fourth instalment of his six-part video series we examine another finely crafted solo courtesy of fusion wizard Alex Sill. For his solo on Age Of Shadows, Alex favours sophisticated phrasing, rich note choices and a modern sounding drive tone that all contribute to making this piece another essential study work. Jason’s specially composed track clocks in at 124 bpm with a C Minor key signature, and a vibrant orchestral rock production redolent of Lalo Schiffin’s scores for 70s movies like Dirty Harry and Enter The Dragon. “Often guitar players think of legato as this fast, hammer-on and pull-off technique, and that’s not the whole picture” The track starts with an atmospheric build-up and a bold horn motif. The chords for the verse sections are all diatonic to the…

Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945) was an Italian composer and conductor whose 16 operas and operattas, impressive portfolio of orchestral, vocal and sacred works, plus a busy conducting schedule manifested into an extraordinarily successful life. The pinnacle and initiation of this success came early in Mascagni’s career with his first opera, Cavalleria Rusticana. Premiered in 1890 in Rome, when Mascagni was just 26, it was an instant success. His expressive, accessible but profound melodic writing supported the one-act opera’s story of love, betrayal and tragedy. It became immediately popular, and six other opera houses across Italy swiftly staged performances. “Mascagni’s expressive, accessible but profound melodic writing supported the one-act opera’s story of love, betrayal and tragedy” There is something very familiar and appealing about the music, and its influence can be heard…

Welcome to the most rousing rhythm in the series so far! With a 7/4 time signature (seven beats in the bar) the feel is not as typically safe as 4/4. But that doesn’t mean it can’t prove infectious for audiences; each bar is long enough to provide steady phrasing with just a little ‘hiccup’ when the next bar starts. This hiccup is the sense of being robbed of beat 8 but after a few bars, the groove’s strong rhythmic logic isn’t difficult to feel both for performing or dancing to. To enhance the 7/4 time, the guitar part has an eighth-note note triplet rhythm (hence ‘swing’ in the title) with offbeats that conjure up reggae - think Stevie Wonder’s triplet reggae vibe on Master Blaster. The picking hand uses a…

The James Gang formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966 and featured Joe Walsh on vocals and guitar, Tom Kriss on bass and Jim Fox on drums. Dale Peters replaced Kriss for the subsequent two records. Originally Ronnie Silverman also played guitar, but in 1968 after having to support Cream as a three-piece, Silverman having suddenly quit, Walsh and Co continued as a trio. After Joe left in 1972 to join The Eagles, the group brought in other notable guitarists including ex-Deep Purple’s superb axeman Tommy Bolin, but never quite repeated earlier successes. To further add to the band’s malaise it was reported that The James Gang’s master recordings were destroyed in a tragic fire at Universal Records, in 2008. Hearing Walsh’s playing with The James Gang it’s easy to see…

In this current series, we’ve been looking at ways of exploring specific intervals within Mixolydian mode. In this lesson, we focus on 7ths. Compared to other interval-types, it is relatively rare to see 7th intervals used as the basis for musical ideas; however, the fundamental nature of this column is to explore every dark recess in order to yield new ideas that we can use in our playing. Within the modes of the Major scale, each 7th interval will be one of two types: • Minor 7th = 10 semitones • Major 7th = 11 semitones To illustrate this, have a look at diagram 1, which represents the notes of D Major (and any of its modes, like A Mixolydian). If you start from any note, and then move in…

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.…

Scarred by his first foray into the world of Gibson 335s, our youthful hero has sold his slightly left-field 340 model and attempted to move on. Now read on, if you dare... It was to be another two decades before I was able to talk about my crushed dreams of thinline semis. The healing process was slow and painful. On occasion I would break down in tears spontaneously in public. But enough of Roxy Music. My consolation, during these wilderness years, lay in the self education concerning all things double-cutaway. And, as the old adage has it, knowledge is power. And power is humbucker shaped. I discovered that the iconic guitars from Kalamazoo, Nashville and Memphis exhibit more variability than a video assistant referee. And there I was, blithely assuming…

THIS MONTH’S IDEAS are played over the pick-up bar and first four bars of a Rhumba style blues. This feel differs from a regular blues shuffle mainly in the way that it uses straight and syncopated eighth and 16th notes as opposed to the common 12/8, triplet shuffle feel. There are two question and answer phrases here – making four short lick ideas in total. The first three of these are‘vocal’BB King/Peter Green styled phrases that rely on space and subtlety. As you play these imagine you are having a musical conversation with yourself. The final 16th-note phrase is where things build up and get more intense as a way of leading to the IV chord of D9 – via the passing chord of E b 9. This lick uses…

Welcome to our super spicy Uber Blues scale feature. The aim of this lesson is to take the ever-popular Blues scale and augment it by introducing extra notes to provide us with the opportunity to create chromatic runs and add more colour, harmonic variety and interest. But first, let’s review what the Blues scale is and how it functions. If we take the Minor Pentatonic scale (R- b 3-4-5- b 7) then add the b 5 we end up with a six-note scale that many refer to as the Blues scale. or sometimes the Minor Blues scale. Spelt out it looks like this: R- b 3-4- b 5-5- b 7. Our examples are in the guitar-friendly key of A Minor and we have used an open key signature so you…

The nature of ‘fusion’ is literally that, to fuse elements from different styles to create a unique blend of contrasting musical influences. In this month’s Crossroads we’re exploring the area when jazz and rock overlap, mixing more Pentatonic vocabulary that you might associate with players such as Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, with more horn-based ideas that were originally associated with players such as Charlie Parker or Dizzy Gillespie. One incredible player that encapsulates this approach is Mike Stern, whose CV is a veritable who’s who of jazz. Miles Davis, Billy Cobham, The Brecker Brothers, Jaco Pastorius and hosts of others. He’s featured in collaborations with guitarists such as John Scofield, Lee Ritenour, Bill Frisell, Eric Johnson and many more. Coming from a blues-rock background, Mike studied jazz at Berklee,…

Tremolo is a technique that is unique to the classical guitar. It is a remarkable effect that gives the illusion of a continuous stream of uninterrupted notes and is used to produce a sustained melodic line together with a bass line. The reality is a group of four notes, repeated continuously; bass note first then three repeated melody notes with the picking hand fingering p a m i. This pattern needs to be repeated at a fast enough tempo to trick the ear into believing there is no gap where the bass note is played. The pattern needs to be played very evenly to achieve this effect successfully, so starting slow and building up speed gradually is essential.…

EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 1 BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG CD TRACK 37 This riff uses powerchords and features Billie Joe Armstrong’s wide strumming motion. Use the tip of the first finger to mute the adjacent sixth string, and let the underside of the same finger mute the unused treble strings. Armstrong uses the bridge pickup for bite and aggression, and sets a moderate amount of gain on the amp. Too much gain will lose pitch definition. So, use slightly less than you think and then put the energy back with authoritative strumming. EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 2 PETE TOWNSHEND CD TRACK 38 Here we see how Pete removes notes to create open A and G powerchords, and a method to play slick changes between G and D. The first A5 alternates between the…

Over the previous columns we’ve learnt some chord substitution ideas we can use to play bebop jazz lines in the style of the greats. This time, I want to show you a technique you can use to build on these ideas to spice up your playing. Martin Taylor once said to me, ‘You’re only ever one fret away from a good note, so there are no bad notes in jazz, just approach notes!’ There is a lot of truth in this. Let me explain this concept and show you how you can incorporate it into your playing. One idea we explored was to substitute a Major tonality a 4th above the root of a Dominant chord. In our G blues, this means playing ideas from C Major over G13. Diagram…

CHRISTIE GOODWIN This month we will create a Lydian sound over a C Major chord by superimposing a Minor Pentatonic over it. The Lydian mode is a Major tonality and is almost identical to the Major scale, but with one note different. Instead of the perfect 4th, which in fact clashes unpleasantly with the Major 3rd, the Lydian has a #4, which makes it much more compatible with the Major 3rd and generally gives the mode a beautifully magical sound of songs like Freewill by Rush, and Joe Satriani’s legendary Flying In A Blue Dream. There are many scale positions we can use to play Lydian, but in this lesson we’ll look at one simple and effective trick that will give your Lydian playing a new dimension. Instead of using…

FEATURE #2 VIDEO JOSH SMITH Go Gently On The Bentley This incredible modern blues guitarist joins GT to create a solo over this brilliant Jason Sidwell composition. CLASSICAL TAB VIDEO JOHANNES BRAHMS Waltz in A Flat Bridget Mermikides arranges a fine piece in 3/4 time that will test your chops and add to your repertoire. FEATURE #3 THE CROSSROADS Expressive bends in blues John Wheatcroft shows how a range of slinky string bends will fill your jazzy-blues licks with extra feel. NEW SERIES MIKE STERN Altered scale soloing A new series wiith fusion legend Mike Stern begins with an engaging lesson on improvising with the Altered scale. It’s time to face the music and... LEARN TO READ! Whether it’s learning a new piece, sharing ideas, working in the…