Table of contents for September 2021 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. RICHARD BARRETT Tony Hadley’slongstandingguitarist Richie has worked with everyone from Roger Daltrey to Ronan Keeting, and is currently working on his own album. 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…

GT:What is it about guitar instrumentals that appeals to you? LW: I was most inspired by bands that had great guitar players, though they weren’t necessarily defined as guitar instrumental music. I was drawn to groups like Mahavishnu Orchestra, Dixie Dregs, and the Dutch band, Focus – where guitar played a substantial role, but the overall content of the music, the compositional element, led the charge. I’d describe my own material in the same fashion. GT: What can an instrumental provide that a vocal song can't? LW: All music at its best conveys the human condition at all ends of the emotional scale whether it features vocals or not. As such I don’t feel instrumental music can provide anything a song with lyrics can’t, and vice versa. I think the…

Here’s the concept. We know that powerchords sound good with overdrive, due to their simple construction of just root and 5th (C-G, E-B). If you invert that, you get a 4th interval (G-C, B-E). So we use chord shapes where we can isolate a 4th or 5th interval, subtly adding the other note(s) to give the full harmonic effect, but without creating a mess. There are many ways of doing this, but for this F-E-Am-G progression, the extra notes are in the bass, meaning we can separate and tighten them with palm muting, keeping out of the way of the meaty 4th or 5th. Right away, the technique gives us access to more sophisticated chords than just Major and Minor. Here’s a great way of playing a Major 7th chord.…

We are delighted to welcome metal virtuoso Marty Friedman back on board (his video performance for Komorebi was in GT301). While Marty is well known for his time in the 90s with Megadeth and Cacophony, alongside Jason Becker, he has had a long solo career since living in Japan. This has resulted in 13 solo albums (his latest is Tokyo Jukebox 3) and numerous unique projects. This month’s track augments Marty’s ability to play with a metal guitar tone over evolving and emotive chord changes. Within this context, Marty demonstrates his unique articulations and vibrant note choices. Majestical begins with an intro section in C and Marty uses the powerchords of C5 and D5. This intro provides big drama and sets up the transition into the verse. This is in…

1) What do you like about your signature Jackson guitar that a standard Gibson Les Paul doesn’t provide you with? It has everything I love about a Gibson LP, the weight, the body shape which looks great on anyone, but the Jackson design is more modern and can be seen and recognised from quite far away. The sustain you can get without having to use heaps of overdrive is unbeatable, even using modest amp simulations, as with my lead tone here on Majestical. 2) What shaped your choice of music for Tokyo Jukebox 3? Were you looking for ‘deeper cuts’from Japanese music or were there newer pieces that you never got to feature on the previous releases? I have played the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Marathon for the last…

In this issue we are looking at a prelude by the Spanish classical guitarist and composer, Dionisio Aguado (1784 – 1849), which provides a musical and instructive way of developing plucking technique. Aguado is a highly influential father of the classical guitar tradition, who devoted his entire life to the guitar, its repertoire, study and technical mastery, and was revered by the public and fellow great musicians (including Paganini, Guiliani and Rossini) for his virtuosic and flawless playing. His book, The New Method For Guitar, which contains all the essentials of guitar technique, was first published in the mid 1840s and is still published today by Tecla. His studies and preludes, alongside advice on hand positions, angle of the fingers, type of stroke, use of the nails, tone production, arpeggio…

Formed in Chicago in 1972, Styx was one of the first bands to blend classic rock and pop to create some songs that would go on to become known as ‘power ballads’ or AOR (Album Oriented Rock). The band was very prolific in the 1970s, releasing an album each year for the most part. By 1977 Styx had become a highly successful act that would go on to sell over 50 million albums worldwide. LYLE A. WAISMAN / GETTY IMAGES The classic line-up featured guitarists James ‘JY’ Young and John ‘JC’ Curulewski, keyboard player Dennis De Young, drummer John Panozzo and bassist Chuck Panozzo. A notable addition was Tommy Shaw, who replaced Curulewski in 1975. Shaw would also go on to play with Ted Nugent in his 1980s band, Damn…

Formed in Bangor, Northern Ireland in 2007, Two Door Cinema Club found considerable success in both the UK and America. Although often perceived as a quartet, the band is actually a three-piece, only hiring additional musicians for live work and recordings. The trio consists of Alex Trimble (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Kevin Baird (bass guitar, keys, backing vocals), and Sam Halliday (lead guitar, backing vocals). Each musician brings something individual to the table, resulting in the group’s trademark sound. The fact that all three members sing, means that great vocal melodies and superb harmonies are never far away. Regarding guitarist Sam Halliday, his approach to creating memorable hooks is an integral part of Two Door Cinema Club’s sound, as are Baird’s intricate bass parts. Halliday’s guitar lines often provide the…

ALBUM OF THE MONTH TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND LAYLA REVISITED (LIVE AT LOCKN’) Fantasy Records 10/10 It’s a different Derek, but the same album given new life. Playing Clapton’s Layla album in its entirety might seem an odd choice for Tedeschi Trucks, especially when you consider their own glowing catalogue. But that feeling soon fades when you hear it. To begin with, nobody can complain about the material. When Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs came out in November 1970 it disappointed diehard Cream and Bluesbreakers fans as EC’s guitar histrionics had been left behind; and – the horror – he was playing a Strat! The years have not diminished the album and it’s rightly recognised as a classic. Sadly, The Dominos expired in a puff of smoke and the…

AS A KID IN MY ‘copying everything Clapton did’ phase, one of the things I noticed that Eric did in order to create instant excitement, and even frenzy in his solos, was to repeat a lick. Sometimes over and over and over, as in the live Spoonful from Wheels Of Fire, or In The Presence Of The Lord from Blind Faith, plus many more. There’s even a bit of it in Crossoads. Repetition creates an instant statement within a solo, or a longer extemporisation such as Spoonful. Think of Angus Young’s monster intro to the live Thunderstruck - the audience goes crazy, shouting “thunder, thunder, thunder”; then there’s Mark Knopfler’s repeated fingerpicked trills in the big Sultans... solo; or perhaps Ritchie Blackmore’s brilliant arpeggio-based figure in Child In Time. And…

NICK DELANEY One of the most important and practical chunks of music theory a guitarist can learn is the chords in a Major key - so called Diatonic chords from a Major scale. We’re going to do a brief rundown of that but then jump into a really fun exploration exercise that is likely to help your understanding of a key as a whole. It was one of the things that helped the concept of modes click into place for me. A basic triad (three-note chord) contains a root note, plus a 3rd and 5th interval. The 3rd and the 5th describe the steps up the scale from the root note, also known as intervals, and they come in many varieties, beyond the scope of this article. Plenty more on…

➊ A Minor Blues We start with a simple blues in the key of A Minor. In terms of scales, you’ll get off to a great start by using the good old A Minor Pentatonic scale (A-C-D-E-G) and adding feeling using all the articulations you can think of. ➋ D Mixolydian Blues This two-chord vamp (D-C) was specifically designed for exploring D Mixolydian mode (D-E-F#-G-A-B-C) in a blues context. I recommend switching between D Mixolydian, D Minor Pentatonic (D-F-G-A-C) and D Minor Blues scale (D-F-G-G#- A-C) to really explore the space where Mixolydian meets the blues. ➌ C Major Jazz Jam (1-6-2-5) Here we have a 1-6-2-5 progression in C Major. Chords are C-A7-Dm7-G7, although you will hear chord extensions along the way, as is common in jazz. C Major…

As any concept playing the guitar, there are various angles from which we can examine it. In this feature, we will look at various ways some of the acknowledged blues-rock greats have employed the use of repeating phrases; from the repetition of rapid-fire phrases like Gary Moore or EVH, to the patterns or motifs that recur in the phrases of SRV or Eric Clapton. Some of the examples feature repeated groups of notes, but within that structure this also forms a rhythm that continues across or along the strings - or perhaps a longer phrase or rhythmic idea that crops up regularly. To analyse this in action, I’ve taken key phrases or approaches from 10 different players and condensed these into exercises over a backing track of drums and bass;…

A good vibrato is one of the holy grails for sounding like a sophisticated soloist. On the electric guitar we typically apply vibrato to the note by bending it sharp and then back to pitch. To help develop a consistent vibrato first pull the string sharp, release this bend back to pitch and then bend back up. When you have completed this movement release back down to the original pitch. Repeat as required. This will feel like you are massaging the note up and down along the fretwire. This method differs to that of a classical guitar where the finger pushes and pulls the note sharp and flat with the friction of the finger along the string. Marty’s signature vibrato can be appreciated in terms of width, rate and further…

Stevie Ray Vaughan personified the energetic, raw and electrified modern Texas sound. He succeeded in conveying a modern blues message to the masses and almost single-handedly invigorated the entire blues genre in the process. Along with his rhythm section, Double Trouble, he went on to produce a string of successful albums, toured the world and back and picked up more awards than you could shake a stick at. While Stevie’s authentic blues roots formed the central core of his playing style, there were frequent moments where he touched upon his jazzier influences. Brushed octaves like Wes, fluent and extended connected blues lines like Kenny Burrell, extended and altered chords that wouldn’t sound out of place coming from Joe Pass. It’s all in there. Stevie’s playing at times perfectly illustrates the…

How aware are you of your fretting-hand thumb? Do you press too hard? Is your thumb bent or straight? When we are focused on playing a piece it’s easy to forget what the thumb is doing. Aim to keep the thumb straight with the tip pointing upwards and the pad of the thumb resting softly on the back of the guitar neck. Be aware not to grip too hard and not to wrap the thumb around the neck in a fixed position. Allow the thumb to be sensitive to the fingers and move freely to accommodate and support them. When the finger positions are constantly changing, so must the thumb.…

EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 1 JAMES HETFIELD CD TRACK 24 With this Metallica style picked idea, take good note of where the various phrases move between sustained notes, palm muting, powerchords and single-note figures. These textural changes bring weight and movement to the riff. For rhythm parts, Hetfield uses a humbucker in the bridge position and dials in sufficient gain to achieve a chunky, distorted tone. To add intensity, use downstrokes and an authoritative pick attack. EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 2 MARC BOLAN CD TRACK 25 Bolan often created rhythms between the lower and upper notes of his chords. These intervallic jumps brought open chords to life and established a strong sense of groove. Take note of the picking directions, as this will help you to lock in the rhythms. To get…

STEPHEN FOURIE In 2020 Joe Satriani released his 17th solo album Shapeshifting and it features the trademark songwriting, melody and smooth legato that has kept Joe at the top of the guitar legend list since 1986 when he released Not of This Earth. He followed this with other landmark albums such as Surfing With The Alien, Flying In A Blue Dream, The Extremist and too many more to mention here. As well has his solo career, Joe has also collaborated with artists such as Brian May, Ian Gillan, Spinal Tap and as a backing vocalist on Crowded House’s debut album! The year 2009 saw Satch team up with Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar and Chad Smith to form Chickenfoot, which allowed us to see the guitarist in a traditional rock band…

This current series of lessons has been devoted to employing different intervals within the Mixolydian scale. In this final instalment, we look at another study that combines simple (within one octave) and compound (beyond one octave) intervals. Before we look at the solo it would make sense to revise the various concepts covered up until this point. Basically, an interval is the distance between two notes. Diagram 1 provides useful information on the distance between a pair of notes within any mode of the Major scale (like Mixolydian). Each chosen interval will change as it moves through a scale. In other words, it adapts when shifted diatonically. In A Mixolydian, the interval of a scale 4th from an F# note is a perfect 4th (five semitones , F#-B), whereas the…

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.…

STEVE GRANITZ / GETTY IMAGES THIS MONTH’S LICK uses tapping to play a descending idea that repeats the same sequence in three different octaves. One of the main facets of this idea is how the sequence idea changes direction every two beats: there is half a bar of repeating upper-low-middle notes followed by half a bar of straight descending notes. Notice how on each occasion the second six-note set is played twice, using both sequences in turn. Doing this makes the whole idea sound less predictable than a conventional repeating scale sequence might do. The scale used is E Minor Pentatonic with added 9th: E-F#-G-A-B-D. Avoid handling noise as much as possible, especially as you change string sets. Careful muting with both hands will help a lot. Conversely, you could…

It’s a cliché these days, but nonetheless true to say that good timing is not always as appealing to practice as flash or cool licks. Of course, we must have those too, but a solid rhythmic base is not negotiable once we take them out to rehearsals and gigs. One way of really stretching your rhythmic aptitude is to take a metronome click of about 100 bpm, then try switching from straight eights to swung and back without pausing. You can also add crotchet triplets to push even further. This may begin to remind you of the rhythm in a certain Rage Against The Machine song, but let’s call this a suggestion rather than you having to‘do what I tell you’...…

While it’s possible to consider using hammer-ons and pull-offs purely as an economical energy saving approach, they can also be viewed from an expressive and dynamic articulation perspective. It’s good to be able to deliver notes perfectly evenly when required, using the control and technical command to add accents whenever you like and to switch between smoothly connected legato passages and more choppy and punchy staccato phrases on demand. This will go a long way to making your playing sound natural, organic and a huge step closer to the expressive qualities of the human voice, especially when we factor techniques such as vibrato and bending into the mix. You could conceptualise your picking to hammering/ pulling as a variable ratio if you like. How does 80% picking to 20% slurring…

MICHAEL PUTLAND / GETTY IMAGES Eric Clapton. A household name and a legend among men. He is perhaps one of the most significant and important musicians of the 20th century, having influenced thousands of guitarist and helped to change the face of music for us all. At the age of 18, Clapton joined The Yardbirds, a blues-based rock and roll band. Fusing his influences of the Chicago blues scene, inspired by BB King, Freddie King and Buddy Guy, Clapton created his own distinctive sound and quickly became the most talked about guitarist on the UK scene. As the band began to hit the charts The Yardbirds started to shrink from their bluesy ways, so Eric left to join British blues stalwart John Mayall. With Mayall he recorded the now legendary…

The Whole-Tone is a hexatonic scale, meaning that it has only six notes per octave (the best known hexatonic scale is the Blues scale, which adds the b 5 to the Minor Pentatonic). The name of the scale explains exactly what it is – a series of pitches each a whole tone (two frets) apart. JACK VARTOOGIAN / GETTY IMAGES This scale is often associated with the classical composer Claude Debussy, who used it in two famous pieces of music found in Préludes, his first book of piano. In jazz, the pianist Thelonious Monk was known for incorporating Whole-Tone runs in his solos. Check out how it sounds in Monk’s tune Four In One. You should also listen to the intro to Wayne Shorter’s Juju, played by McCoy Tyner on…

CHRISTIE GOODWIN As the title of this series suggests, we’ll be looking at techniques to get deeper into making ‘Them Changes’ (do you like our Jimi reference?). Our first topic is the Minor Pentatonic scale. This has many uses - some simple, some advanced. Understanding the construction of the scale is vital to grasping more advanced applications and for getting the most out of the basics. The idea is to get away from having your fingers and the obvious finger shapes dictate the notes we play and the order we play them in. This approach is inspired by the way that other instruments craft lines. In generating patterns, we’ll use similar techniques to those commonly applied to seven- note scales. A ‘step’ is a movement from one note to a…