Innehållsförteckning för April 2017 från Guitar Techniques

RICHARD BARRETT One of the best players around, Richard is adept at most styles but truly excels in the bluesier side of rock. He currently plays with Spandau’s Tony Hadley. 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. No ‘Jack of all trades and master of none’, he nails every one with ease! LES DAVIDSON Les has worked with Mick Taylor, Rumer, Jon Anderson, Pete Townshend, Tina Turner & more. He also runs a recording studio and teaches at BIMM London. CHARLIE GRIFFITHS Guitar Institute tutor Charlie first came to fame in…

➊ Smooth Minor Blues (Cm) Here we have a blues progression in C Minor, with a smooth groove and nice jazzy feel to it. C Minor scale (Aeolian mode) works throughout. The notes are C-D-E b -F-G-A b -B b . Of course C Minor Pentatonic and the Blues scale will work great too. You could also try outlining the arpeggios for the three chords - Cm7 (C-E b -G-B b ), Fm7 (F-A b -C-E b ) and Gm7 (G-B b -D-F). ➋ A Mixolydian Groove This track is based on a two-chord vamp; A and G/A, which creates a specifically Mixolydian context. A Mixolydian mode is the 5th mode of the D Major scale and contains the notes A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G. I recommend playing around with the Pentatonic scales inherent…

THE DOMINANT 7 CHORD HAS A MAJOR TYPE SOUND, BUT WITH A DIRTY EDGE ON THE CD TRACKS3-16 ABILITY RATING Info Key Various Tempo Various CDTRACKS 3-16 Will improve your… Fret board knowledge Harmony and theory knowledge Blues rhythm guitar Welcome to this month’s big cover feature. The aim of this lesson is to take tried and tested fingerings for the various chord types you will need for blues accompaniment, then provide you with chord workouts and some actual blues pregressions in which to employ them. I say “tried and tested” but my guess is that quite a few of these shapes will be new to you, so there’s a reasonable learning curve here too - plus it’s not just an impassive list of chord boxes with no context in…

“ELGAR WAS A RATHER AN ECLECTIC COMPOSER DRAWING INFLUENCE FROM A RANGE OF EUROPEAN COMPOSERS” ON THE CD TRACKS38-39 ABILITY RATING Info Key C Tempo 76bpm CDTRACKS 38-39 Will improve your… Chord fluency Balancing melody and accompaniment Melodic phrasing In this issue we are tackling a work by one of England’s greatest composers, Edward Elgar (1857-1934). Elgar’s music is now an intrinsic part of British culture but he was, in fact, rather an eclectic composer drawing influence from a range of European composers such as Brahms, Schumann and Wagner. And although his music is associated with lauded events, he came from humble working class origins, and was further marginalised by being a Catholic in a largely Protestant society. His reported humility and sensitivity might seem at odds with some of…

“PEOPLE ASK ME TO DESCRIBE HOW I PLAY AND THE MOST OBVIOUS ANSWER IS, I’M A JAZZ INFLUENCED GUITAR PLAYER BUT NOT A JAZZ GUITAR PLAYER”Larry Carlton ON THE CD TRACKS41-44 ABILITY RATING Info Key: Various Tempo: Various CD: TRACKS 41-44 Will improve your Jazz-blues feel Soloing creativity Overall musicality Born in 1948 in California, Larry Eugene Carlton has – in his four-decade long career – carved a reputation for himself as one of the finest sessions musicians in America. Anyone new to Larry Carlton need only take a quick peek at this eye-popping list of big-name acts to get an idea of the impact he’s had on music across the genres since the late ‘60s. His discography is vast but here’s a sample: Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Christopher Cross,…

NBC UNIVERSAL / GETTY IMAGES “OSCAR MOORE WAS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAN ANYTHING I HAD EVER HEARD BEFORE. I SAID, ‘I’M GONNA STEAL ALL THAT’” John Pizzarelli ON THE CD TRACKS59-76 ABILITY RATING Info Key: Various Tempo: Various CD: TRACKS 59-76 Will improve your… Playing through changes Swing time-feel Jazz vocabulary and authenticity Oscar Moore was a superb guitarist with a melodic and expressive soloing voice and a sensitive and supportive accompanying style to boot. While his resume includes jazz legends such as Lionel Hampton, Art Tatum and Lester Young was impressive enough, he was best known as a core member of Nat King Cole’s trio between 1937 and 1947 and his playing was, and continues to be, held in extremely high regard from players such as Barney Kessel, Kenny Burrell,…

ON THE CD TRACKS82-87 Reasonably seasoned guitarists will no doubt have heard about the CAGED system. The standard tuning on the guitar (E-A-D-G-B-E low to high) provides five different fingering shapes for a Major chord at the nut: C-A-G-E and D. These are very important harmonic shapes on the guitar that contain scales, arpeggios, etc, and have been developed by teachers into a logical system of shapes called CAGED. In this lesson we will be looking at these CAGED chords when they are used as ‘floating shapes’ up the neck. The open strings at the nut will be left to ‘ring open’. So in each example we will use the useful positions where the open strings support the chord. Ready to give it a go? Let’s investigate further. Experiment with…

MANY YEARS AGO I was humiliated by a guitarist friend - with no malice at all, I hasten to add. He and his brother were in a well-known prog band and had moved to the town where I lived. We’d got to know each other and one day he suggested the two of us have a jam. While his brother was the lead guitarist, this chap was ‘strictly rhythm’ - although he did occasionally like to ‘make it cry or sing’ (groan!). Given that we didn’t know what the other really did, we inevitably ended up playing blues and rock stuff. He let me solo first and I wailed away on my red 335, giving it everything I’d got. He, on the other hand was all over his blonde Tele’s…

THE GUITAR’S VIBRATO arm is one of the most expressive devices we have. Used with skill and taste it can add a lot to your playing. This lick illustrates a‘fake slide’phrase where the intent is to fool the listener in to believing you are using a real slide, but it involves a great deal of control. It begins with a‘Dust My Broom’style phrase, depressing and releasing the bar to ‘swoop’into the B notes from the b 5 (B b ) a semitone below. For the quarter-tone swoop down to the G note, pre-bend upwards with the arm before picking, then release it back to the G note - it’s easy to pull the bar up too far, so take care. For the second phrase we‘swoop’into the notes and add vibrato…

MARTIN FINALLY INTRODUCES the 0-15 acoustic, five years after the original prototypes were made. It’s an affordable, less glossy guitar selling for just $25. It’s a nicely proportioned 14-fret instrument with simpler ivoroid dots on the fingerboard plus white plastic tuner buttons and anchor pins. The mahogany body and neck are unbound and the fretboard and bridge are rosewood. Both the scratchplate and the unusual headstock overlay are made of tortoiseshell celluloid. WARTIME BABY BOOM SEES THE ARRIVAL OF Ricky Nelson, Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, David Gates, John Lennon, Johnny Nash, Billy Fury, Tony Sheridan, Jonathan Cook, Ringo Starr, Roberta Flack, Smokey Robinson, Adam Faith, Al Jarreau, Gene Pitney, Dionne Warwick, Freddie Garrity, Frank Zappa, Nancy Sinatra, Tim Hardin, Bruce Channel, Dr John, Percy Sledge, Herbie Hancock, Joe South, Joey…

“THE BEAUTY OF HAVING A NUMBER OF STRATEGIC PATHWAYS WHEN DEALING WITH ANY PLAYING SITUATION IS THAT YOU’LL HOPEFULLY NEVER RUN OUT OF IDEAS” ON THE CD TRACKS17-37 ABILITY RATING Info Key Various Tempo Various CDTRACKS 17-37 Will improve your… Soloing vocabulary Use of extended harmony Specific melodic devices There’s a lot of technical and conceptual information to get through here so I’m going to dive straight into the music. I’ve presented 10 musical phrases that typify approaches commonly used within the jazz-rock or fusion genre, a style that combines the harmonic and melodic sophistication of jazz with the dynamic potential of rock and blues guitar. In fusion, players often weigh more on one side than the other, so you get jazz guitarists with a rock edge (Larry Coryell springs…

“A LISTEN TO JUST A COUPLE OF BARS OF THE EDGE’S DELAYED TONE WILL TELL LISTENERS WHO THE GUITARIST IS” ON THE CD TRACKS45-46 ABILITY RATING Info Key: D Tempo: 123 bpm CD: TRACKS 45-46 Will improve your… Slide playing Rhythm work Creating of parts U2 is a classic story of four friends who met at school, started a band and went on to change the musical landscape over what is now more than four decades. Vocalist Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr met at Mount Temple school in Dublin and formed the band in 1976. They have gone on to sell over 170 million albums, win 22 Grammy awards, be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and with the 360…

KEYSTONE PICTURES USA / ALAMY “GEORGE’S ALL THINGS MUST PASS WAS A TRIPLE ALBUM OF SONGS THAT HE COULDN’T GET ONTO BEATLES RECORDS” ON THE CD TRACKS77-78 ABILITY RATING Info Key: G Tempo: 76 bpm CD: TRACKS 77-78 Will improve your… Fretting hand chord placementRhythmic strumming/timekeepingThumb-over-the-top F Major7 Learn anything by any of The Beatles and it’s virtually a music lesson in itself – three distinct guitarists all with their own styles and quirks. What’s more, the lesson doesn’t stop after The Beatles disband: the various solo albums by John, Paul, George and Ringo contain guitar playing gems and unusual chord progressions that can take your playing in different directions from just one lesson. And so it is that this month we will focus on the guitar style of ‘the…

ON THE CD TRACKS88-97 ABILITY RATING Info Key: Various Tempo: Various CD: TRACKS 88-97 Will improve your… Playing versatility String crossing ability Picking non-adjacent strings Hybrid picking is a technique that involves a mixture of plectrum ‘flat picking’ and finger-style technique. The style is most synonymous with players such as Chet Atkins, James Burton or Tommy Emmanuel, who were in turn inspired by bluegrass banjo masters like Earl Scruggs. The traditional method is to hold down chord shapes with your fretting hand and use your pick and fingers to arpeggiate repeating patterns. But hybrid picking is not limited to one particular genre. For example, modern fusion players such as Brett Garsed and Tom Quayle use the technique to play melodic arpeggios and to enable smooth legato lines without the need…

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 to the relevant articles. Any web and email links in the text are tappable too! Animated tab & audio Songs and lessons have the audio built in with a moving cursor showing you exactly where you are in the music. Simply tap the ‘play’ button then 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 or smartphone. PLUS! Get a FREE iPad/iPhone sample of GT. For full details and how to receive our digital edition regularly, go to…

“I CAN PLAY A BIT OF PIANO AND TRUMPET BUT WOULD NEVER WANT TO BE CAUGHT ON STAGE DOING EITHER” GT: Who was your first influence to play the guitar? WE: Pink Floyd and those amazing David Gilmour solos. I remember being transported to another place and having goose bumps all over. It wasn’t till I got older that I realised that he used many lap steels for the solos and this may have been why I was drawn to the electric lap steel and Weissenborn guitars. GT: What was the first guitar you really lusted after? WE: A white Fender Strat that Hendrix used to play, but my parents couldn’t afford it so I had to make do with an old acoustic that I used to try and play…

WHO?: Scott Abercrombie TOWN: Motherwell STYLES TAUGHT: Rock, pop, classical, fingerstyle, heavy rock/metal and blues. SPECIALITY: Electric guitar lead improvisation and rhythm guitar. QUALIFICATION/EXPERIENCE: Diploma in music plus 16 years teaching experience (12 years with RGT). LEVELS: Formal or leisure based tuition ranging from beginner through to diploma level. All RGT grade exams available. SIGHT READING: Intermediate CHARGES: 30 mins £12, 45 mins £16, £20 ph. SPECIAL: I teach in a number of locations. across Lanarkshire which are fully equipped. TEL: 07790 484 605 EMAIL: scottabercrombie@hotmail.co.uk…

“TO SPICE THINGS UP AYNSLEY USES THE 6TH AND 9TH AS FLAVOUR TONES AND AS STRING BENDING POINTS” ON THE CD TRACKCD-ROM ABILITY RATING Info Key: C Tempo: 52 bpm CD: CD-ROM Will improve your String bending technique Blues-rock solo structure Use of space and phrasing This month Aynsley’s live band has laid down a slow 12/8 feel track with an easy tempo of 52 bpm. It’s an eight-bar form with an interesting F# Diminished chord. As usual we have written out the chord chart for you to work from. This form is fairly straightforward to solo over and has been used to great effect by bluesman such as BB King, Peter Green and Freddie King. As Aynsley explains in the video, it works well to stick to your guns…

ON THE CD TRACK40 EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 1 REM CD TRACK 40 Pick around this chord progression slowly and carefully, letting all the notes ring out. One of the coolest notes in the sequence is the G# in the E chord. Notice how tasty this note sounds - this is because G# is also found in the A Harmonic Minor scale (A-B-C-D-E-F-G#). EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 2 JUDAS PRIEST CD TRACK 40 This is a nod to old-school Judas Priest and the riff is derived from playing simple E, D and C power chords syncopated off an open sixth string. Use classic distortion and a methodical steady riffing hand, typical of KK Downing and Glen Tipton. INTERMEDIATE LICKS EXAMPLE 3 THE BEATLES CD TRACK 40 Emulating Paul McCartney’s classic Blackbird approach…

“BY TURBO, RAM IT DOWN AND PAINKILLER WE ARE SEEING A MORE TECHNICAL APPROACH WITH TAPPING, SWEEP PICKING, ETC” ON THE CD TRACKS47-58 ABILITY RATING Info Key: Various Tempo: Various CD: TRACKS 47-58 Will improve your… Downstroke based riffing Pinched harmonics Minor scales and modes Judas Priest has boasted one of the most successful dual guitar partnerships in the world of rock and metal. Glen Tipton and KK Downing released 16 Judas Priest albums, starting with the 1974 debut Rocka Rolla and culminating with Nostradamus in 2008. KK retired from the band in 2010 and was soon replaced by Richie Faulkner, who so far has one Priest studio under his belt: Redeemer Of Souls. KK and Glen’s early influences were classic rock bands such as Cream, Hendrix, Deep Purple and…

DAVID LYTTELTON  ON THE CD TRACKS79-81 “THERE ARE MANY WAYS OF ARRANGING THE NOTES OF ANY ARPEGGIO ON THE GUITAR AND YOU SHOULD EXPERIMENT WITH ALL TYPES OF DIGITAL PERMUTATIONS” ABILITY RATING Info Key: A (A7) Tempo: 120 bpm CD: TRACKS 79-81 Will improve your… Recognition of 7th arpeggios Execution of 7th arpeggios 7th arpeggio-based lines In the previous series, we looked at ways of constructing lines by arpeggiating triads from within the Mixolydian mode. We discovered that being selective with your note choice, rather than always playing every note in the scale, leads to more variety. Whereas triads have three notes, now it’s time to turn our attention to the most common four-note entities: 7th chords. Each 7th chord is composed of a root, 3rd, 5th and 7th and…

WHAT OUR RATINGS MEAN Album of the Month ERJA LYYTINEN STOLEN HEARTS Tuohi Records For her 10th studio album the Finnish blues guitarist wanted to “break out of Helsinki and work with an established British producer.” Enter Chris Kimsey of Stones, Frampton and Bad Company fame. Together they’ve created what Erja calls “the best album of my career.” We agree! Packed with guitar from the off, her no-nonsense style is immediately to the fore on the title track opener with its descending neck pickup figure, bridge-driven chords and riff. Great Hendrixy feel here. The Hendrix vibe continues on Rocking Chair with its unusual 7/8 verse, ballsy vocals and distorted slide harmonies. Excellent slide solo too. Space doesn’t allow for full track descriptions but Love Laboratory is crammed with gorgeous,…

RELATING TAB TO YOUR FRETBOARD HAND LABELLING Here are the abbreviations used for each finger: Fretting hand: 1, 2, 3, 4, (T) Picking hand: p (thumb), i (first finger), m (second), a (third), c (fourth). CHORD EXAMPLE The diagram represents the G chord in the photo. The ‘O’ symbol is an open string, and a circled number is a fretting finger. Intervals are shown below. SCALE EXAMPLE The diagram shows the fret-hand fingering for the A major scale (root notes in black). The photo shows part of the scale being played on the fourth string with first, third and fourth fingers. NUT & FRETBOARD The fretbox diagram above represents the fretboard exactly, as seen in the accompanying photo. This is for ease of visualising a fretboard scale or chord shape…