Table of contents for May 2023 in Guitar Techniques

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.…

➊ Slow Blues (E) We start with a fun slow blues in E. E Minor Pentatonic (E-G-A-B-D) is your friend here, but try mixing in some E Major Pentatonic (E-F#-G#-B-C#) - same five notes as C# Minor Pentatonic – for some sweetly uplifting blues sounds. ➋ Sweet Groove Blues – GMinor Here we have a lovely groove blues in G Minor. G Minor Pentatonic (G-Bb-C-D-F) and the G Minor scale (G-A-Bb-C-D-Eb-F) itself work great here, but for the Dominant chord (D7), G Harmonic Minor (G-A-Bb-C-D-Eb-F#) is a perfect choice. ➌ BluesVamp (A) This simple vamp (A7-D7) was made for practising the switch between the I7 chord and the IV7 chord, which is very common in blues. A Minor Pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G) works all over, but try A Mixolydian (A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G) on the…

ON VIDEO ABILITY RATING Advanced ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Info https://bit.ly/3kdbfsc Key Various Tempo Various Will improve your… ✓ Fretting-hand legato ✓ Fretboard knowledge ✓ Chord voicings Six years on from his untimely death we thought it would be appropriate to revisit this superb apreciation of Allan Holdsworth from Australian rock and fusion maestro, Brett Garsed. One of the nice guys of the guitar world, Brett is a deeply talented and dedicated player who has crafted an extraordinarily individualistic and recognisably fluid and melodic style. His amazing hybrid picking and legato technique combined with a great musical sensibility, has produced some awe-inspiring rock and fusion guitar recordings, such as his work with Aussie legend John Farnham, US rock band Nelson, and his highly regarded collaboration with the similarly awesome…

José Ferrer Esteve de Fujadas was an influential exponent of Spanish guitar music during the late 1800s and early 1900s. A performer, composer, and teacher he was famed for his deep technical knowledge of the instrument, having been taught by guitarists who themselves were taught by famed pedagogues Fernando Sor and Dionisio Aguado. As an artist Ferrer represents a key link to the 19th century guitar tradition. His unpublished method book for guitar, Metodo Para Guitarra, written towards the end of his life, is a hefty 180-page encyclopaedic work, available on London’s Royal Academy of Music online library and definitely worth checking out. Born in Torroella de Montgrí in the far east of Catalonia, Ferrer was a friend of Francisco Tarrega, Isaac Albéniz, and Julián Arcas, and was initially taught…

Thin Lizzy is one of the most influential bands of the 1970s, with a line-up that has constantly evolving, to include some of the best rock guitarists in the world. The band was formed and fronted by bass player and lead vocalist Phil Lynott, along with drummer Brian Downey in Dublin, in 1969. Lynott wrote most of the songs on the band’s 12 albums and was also the first black Irish musician to gain commercial success. Thin Lizzy didn’t follow many of the other bands of the 1970s in terms of overblown songs and production; instead the writing tended to be concise, dealing with everyday life issues and usually on the shorter side compared to many of their contemporaries. You won’t find too many 15-minute prog rock songs on a…

Tim Henson is guitarist of the progressive metal band, Polyphia, who along with Scott LePage utilises complex guitar riffs, intricate rhythms, and innovative use of electronics and sound design, creating a unique blend of progressive metal, jazz, trap and K-pop music to create a distinctive and cutting-edge sound. Born in 1993 in Texas, Tim started playing guitar at the age of 12 and now at the age of 29, is a highly respected musician whose playing style is characterised by a virtuosic technique and intricate, melodic playing. He is known for incorporating a wide range of musical influences and techniques into his playing, including hybrid picking, tapping, harmonics, sweep picking and jazzy chord progressions, to create a unique sound that is both technically impressive and emotionally rich. Their fourth and…

A native of Tennessee, Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter John Paul White spent his early years in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, so music was in his blood. His style covers folk, traditional country, Americana and also hints at rock. White found success when he partnered up with fellow singer-songwriter Joy Williams to create The Civil Wars in 2008. The pair was put together randomly at a writing session where the brief was to create singles for country group Gloriana. Instead, they hit it off and began writing music for themselves. The Civil Wars found huge success when their track Poison And Wine was featured in the TV show Grays Anatomy. They were soon on tour across the USA promoting the tracks that would become their debut album, Barton Hollow. The album won two…

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 graduateofRCM andhissolo 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-fusion band Haken. His debut album is…

GT What is it about guitar instrumentals :that appeals to you? BF: It's a lot to do with the whole way of thinking about the instrument. For me, the guitar is my voice, and it depends on the circumstances that I find myself in. I’m really influenced by the sound of a singer. A lot of the music I play is a song that I might associate with someone singing it. What I’m hearing in my head and what motivates me so often is the sound of the human voice and that has so much to do with the sound I make. Guitar instrumentals go all the way back to when I was a kid, when I was listening to surf music, all that these bands were playing were…

VIDEO & AUDIO https://bit.ly/3kdbfsc ON VIDEO In this feature we are treated to four slide licks by blues guitar master Troy Redfern. Troy is playing over a backing track with a shuffle feel in the key of E. The backing track is simply drums and bass and has an E Minor sound. However as there are no chords there is some tonal ambiguity that can be exploited. To keep things simple he has used a 4/4 time signature with swung quavers and an E Minor key signature. To create his foundation Troy starts with the notes of an E Minor chord (E-G-B). To this extra colour notes can be added such as those from E Natural Minor (E-F#-G-A-B-C-D) and those of the exotic E Major based E Phrygian Dominant (E-F-G#-A-B-C-D).…

EXAMPLE 1 RICKY GARDINER (BOWIE, IGGY POP) This chord sequence uses open position A, G5 and D chords, but the pick strokes focus on the upper four strings so the notes move in a stepwise direction as they change. This makes the progression sound more like a song, rather than a mere string of chords. Use your bridge pickup, set the amp to clean and add reverb. EXAMPLE 2 BILLY SQUIRE (AMERICAN ROCK GUITARIST) This riff uses C and D Major chords that move between the 5th and 7th frets of the second, third and fourth strings. Use downstrokes and an authoritative pick attack to drive the phrase along. The 7th-fret D chords need to come to an abrupt stop., so relax your fretting fingers just after you’ve sounded them.…

Thin Lizzy is one of the most influential bands of the 1970s, with a line-up that has constantly evolving, to include some of the best rock guitarists in the world. The band was formed and fronted by bass player and lead vocalist Phil Lynott, along with drummer Brian Downey in Dublin, in 1969. Lynott wrote most of the songs on the band’s 12 albums and was also the first black Irish musician to gain commercial success. Thin Lizzy didn’t follow many of the other bands of the 1970s in terms of overblown songs and production; instead the writing tended to be concise, dealing with everyday life issues and usually on the shorter side compared to many of their contemporaries. You won’t find too many 15-minute prog rock songs on a…

Brought to you by… In the final stop on our funk odyssey, we’re looking at pop-funk. Generally seen as popular, radio-friendly music, pop-funk is a pretty wide sub-genre, ranging from classic Michael Jackson to the output of modern players such as Cory Wong – part of a new breed of guitarists who skilfully blend old-school funk with other genres such as hip-hop, gospel and jazz. So here we’ll look at ideas from seven pop-funk players. David Williams is one of the most important funk guitarists, yet remains largely unknown. His intricate lines have graced some of the biggest ever hits, including Rock With You, Billie Jean and Thriller. As an aside, David’s only video tutorial featured in GT119 (see it on youtube). During an era filled with hairmetal and shred,…

T-Bone Walker’s influence can be heard in the playing of countless great blues players, sometimes filtered down through the work of luminaries such as BB King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. These others may have expanded the vocabulary but T-Bone’s timeless licks make up a significant part of the DNA of modern blues. Unlike many players from the same era, T-Bone didn’t employ the 6th degree over Dominant 7th chords to the same extent as other players, but there’s still a definite jazzy vibe to his blues. And while much of his soloing is harmonically simple he did add a few jazz influenced details. In the intro to the song Mean Old World, which features descending Dominant 7th chords, he consistently plays the more sophisticated 13th chord - a regular Dominant…

DAVID GILMOUR certainly excelled in the early days of Pink Floyd, taking over as he did from the departed Syd Barrett, and putting a strong guitar (and vocal) stamp on the band’s music. While GT loves his later work with the band -The Wall and Division Bell spring to mind - this issue we’re focusing on David’s playing for Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon, which it’s hard to believe turns 50 this year, having been released 1st March 1973. Rewatching an old Classic Albums episode about Dark Side Of The Moon, I picked up from the interviews that the music was often considered simple, usually coming out of improvised jams. Melodies and arrangements then came afterwards. It’s an interesting notion; much can be made about the desire for…

ABILITY RATING Moderate/Advanced ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Info https://bit.ly/3kdbfsc Key Various Tempo Various Will improve your…  ✓ String bending ✓ Melodic awareness  ✓ Whammy bar vibrato Like Brian May and Eric Clapton, David Gilmour is one of those guitarists that appeals to players and non-players alike. Guitarists love his touch, feel, melodies, string bending and tone, while non-guitar players appreciate that Comfortably Numb is one of the greatest solos ever put to tape. Following time abroad busking and performing, Gilmour was invited by his friends to join Pink Floyd, covering for founder member Syd Barrett, who was becoming increasingly unpredictable and unreliable. Barrett would eventually exit the group,with Gilmour cementing a band line-up that would go on to become one of the greatest in music history. The pairing…

ON VIDEO In the early 1970s, PBS Television in the USA showed an extended special entitled The World’s Greatest Unknown Guitarist. But this wasn’t strictly true; by 1971 Roy Buchanan had earned himself a reputation among the rock elite, reputedly being offered the position as Brian Jones’ successor in the Rolling Stones, at the peak of their career. This documentary did however lead onto a recording contract with Polydor Records, going some way to redress Roy’s anonymity among the general public. Of the five albums he recorded for Polydor, and the three subsequent releases for Atlantic, two of these achieved gold status. However, Roy was never comfortable with purely commercial success, and loathed intervention from the record company. He wanted complete control over his music, leading to a period of…

This month’s artist is a blues legend with a legacy like no other. Hubert Sumlin began his career rubbing shoulders with the original heavyweights of both country and electric blues. He was there at the beginning, in the room, so to speak, when the blues began. He went on to influence generations of guitarists that followed. In short, Hubert is the real deal. Sumlin’s career spanned six decades and included an impressive output as both solo artist and sideman. However, he is perhaps best known for his partnership with Howlin’ Wolf (as well as for a brief stint with Muddy Waters). Throughout his time with Wolf, Sumlin created a style that would be imitated by countless musicians to follow. He made a huge contribution to the sound of some of…

Tim Henson is guitarist of the progressive metal band, Polyphia, who along with Scott LePage utilises complex guitar riffs, intricate rhythms, and innovative use of electronics and sound design, creating a unique blend of progressive metal, jazz, trap and K-pop music to create a distinctive and cutting-edge sound. Born in 1993 in Texas, Tim started playing guitar at the age of 12 and now at the age of 29, is a highly respected musician whose playing style is characterised by a virtuosic technique and intricate, melodic playing. He is known for incorporating a wide range of musical influences and techniques into his playing, including hybrid picking, tapping, harmonics, sweep picking and jazzy chord progressions, to create a unique sound that is both technically impressive and emotionally rich. Their fourth and…

“One of the main benefits of the hybrid style is that it saves a lot of work for the picking hand” Hybrid picking is a very economical method of playing guitar, as it uses fingerstyle in combination with a plectrum. This approach allows guitarists to enjoy the best of both worlds: the ability to use the plectrum to play fast lines using alternate, economy and sweep picking, but leaving the remaining pickinghand fingers free to capitalise on the fluid string jumping of fingerstyle technique. Although often associated with country and bluegrass music, hybrid picking has become popular within other genres, including jazz and fusion styles as well as rock and blues. The main benefit of using this technique is that it saves a lot of work for the picking…

T-Bone Walker’s influence can be heard in the playing of countless great blues players, sometimes filtered down through the work of luminaries such as BB King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. These others may have expanded the vocabulary but T-Bone’s timeless licks make up a significant part of the DNA of modern blues. Unlike many players from the same era, T-Bone didn’t employ the 6th degree over Dominant 7th chords to the same extent as other players, but there’s still a definite jazzy vibe to his blues. And while much of his soloing is harmonically simple he did add a few jazz influenced details. In the intro to the song Mean Old World, which features descending Dominant 7th chords, he consistently plays the more sophisticated 13th chord - a regular Dominant…