Innehållsförteckning för January 2021 från 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. 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. CHRIS BROOKS Chris is Australia’s busiest guitar content creator and go-to online rock tutor. See his many books at chrisbrooks.com and www. fundamental-changes.com CHARLIE GRIFFITHS Guitar Institute tutor Charlie first came to fame in Total Guitar’s Challenge Charlie series. He’s also guitarist with top UK metal-fusion…

GT: What is it about instrumentals that appeals to you? AS: The open-ended nature of instrumental music, its limitless colour palette and technical possibilities are certainly appealing. I also feel that there’s some sort of special, unconscious language that’s only possible through instrumental music. GT: What can an instrumental provide a listener that a vocal song can’t? AS: I believe that instrumental music provides some unconscious form of communication, a sort of story telling without words that’s not confined by interpretation. Maybe it’s a more direct form of communication! GT: Any tendencies with instrumentals that you tend to embrace or avoid? AS: The more tools one has in his/ her arsenal, the better, but there are certain things, technique-wise that I try to avoid. I suppose it just comes down…

This month we are looking at Steve Morse’s performance over Jason Sidwell’s rocker Stomping At The Pier. As Steve explains in the video, the main rhythmic feel of triplets (notated as 12/8) is very natural to him. To add a bit of sophistication and to set the scene Steve plays along with the unison riffs that are part of the backing track arrangement. This establishes the track well and helps give the start of the solo more impact. The second repeat of the riff starts halfway through the bar, but resolves back to fit in with the time signature so no odd time bars are needed. For the solo Steve demonstrates his use of various techniques such as trilling, string skipping, alternate picking and legato. He also uses the pickup…

Do your homework All these players, and those from the generation of American and British guitarists from the 60s to 80s that initially influenced them, have one thing in common: they listened back to where Clapton, Hendrix, Moore, Green, SRV and others derived their inspiration. But while it’s easy to look to the obvious ones like BB, Albert and Freddie King, it’s also important - if you want to devlop a greater feel for blues - to delve deeper, and listen to artists like Otis Rush, Elmore James, T-Bone Walker, and Lonnie Johnson. There are dozens more, and Google is great for offering further suggestions. Go broad and deep, and your playing will reflect it.…

This issue’s piece stands as a tribute to the classical guitarist and lutenist Julian Bream OBE (1933-2020) who passed away this year. Bream’s contribution to the development and public appeal of the instrument is absolutely seminal. Son of a jazz guitarist (and a fan of Django Reinhardt himself), Bream received his first ‘Spanish guitar’ at the age of 11 which ignited a lifelong passionate dedication to the instrument as well as revealing a prodigious talent. He gave a solo recital at the Wigmore Hall while still a teenager and his formidable performing career spanned over 50 years. Recordings in his enormous discography have won numerous awards, and these together with his wonderful guitar documentaries raised the profile and popularity of the instrument perhaps more than any other guitarist, as well…

EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 1 DAVID GILMOUR CD TRACK 32 Approach this idea with a steady picking hand, a clean tone and a single-coil or split humbucker sound. Delay and a touch of phaser will nail that vintage tone. EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 2 MARK KNOPFLER CD TRACK 33 The elusive tone on Money For Nothing can be easily replicated with a wah-wah pedal in almost completely open position, neck or two pickups on and lots of gain. Using fingers or a fat pick parallel to the strings, hit hard and staccato and be sure to pick up on the hammer-ons you’ll find in several places. INTERMEDIATE LICKS EXAMPLE 3 ALBERT LEE CD TRACK 34 This G Major‘banjo’style lick is picked and rolled using hammer-ons and pull-offs to the open strings. Use…

PAUL NATKIN / GETTY IMAGES Now that we’ve covered the techniques used in legato playing (GT314) and looked at ways to map out and sequence scales (GT315), it’s time to look at two important approaches we can use to emulate fusion guitar masters like Brett Garsed, Greg Howe and the ‘big daddy’, Allan Holdsworth. The first approach is chromatic passing tones. Passing tones from outside the key create colour, build interest and maximise the number of notes accessible to the fretting hand for legato passages. Even if you’re not that interested in jazz and fusion styles, a little outside playing can spice up your rock licks too. Scale shapes are used as a framework for passing tones, with an emphasis on filling in the blanks using available fingers not already…

Tapped harmonics can be used in a variety of styles, from hard rock lead guitar squeals, to jazzy chimes, to percussive acoustic harmonic slaps. The tapped harmonic technique is performed as a quick flick of the second finger of the picking hand onto the string. An accurately placed, momentary strike of the string both causes the string to vibrate as well as creating a chiming harmonic. The beauty of this technique is that it works equally well for open strings as it does for fretted notes, opening up harmonics all over the fretboard in any key you like. The first example shows a C Major Pentatonic scale (C-D-E-G-A) which is played between the 2nd and 5th frets. The trick here is to get used to playing this entirely with hammer-ons,…

THE WAY GT is put together, with the audio and video content leaving us two weeks before the magazine’s pages, meant that we were unable to run a musical feature to mark the sad passing of the great Edward Van Halen. However, rest assured that we have something special for you next month; there’s a great interview Phil Hilborne did that’s not been seen for 20 years, and a brilliant musical study from Phil Short. Although we all knew that Eddie had been struggling with his illness for some time, it still came as a shock to realise that he’d gone. He was a milestone figure in guitar playing, that’s for sure, and things were never the same after the debut album that stunned us into submission in 1978. My…

Over the last 30 years I must have seen hundreds of students playing and staring at their hands but only last week have worked out why it’s not a good idea, for most people, most of the time. I was doing a one-on-one video lesson with a girl who was playing and singing and was staring at her hands while she changed chords and then looking back to her laptop to read the lyrics. It didn’t look relaxed or confident, but it wasn’t until I did a ‘deep think’ on it that I figured out a heap of associated problems and solutions to this super common problem. Of course there are examples of incredible players that do a lot of staring at their hands, but the majority do not. And…

You have debilitating arthritis in your picking hand wrist, which has compromised your technique. How is it at the moment? SM: It’s letting me know that I need to use less wrist action! I’m on an inflammatory reducing diet, and practice almost exclusively with my wrist not moving. Since I’ve strengthened the muscles and tendons from doing that, I’m not needing the brace in order to practice, but will use a glove for gigs. The glove will hold in place a large amount of topical pain killer. Everybody’s got something they work around. INFLUENCES What artists or bands do you like listening to these days and why? SM: Big variety. Just yesterday, a friend told me about a band he heard that had bagpipes and guitar, which reminded me that…

1 BAR 13 – CHROMATIC NOTES. This lick uses chromatic notes to link up the chord tones. The quaver phrasing fits in with the rhythm of the track. The phrase ends in a trusty string bend on the 15th fret. 2 BARS 19 TO 22 – STRING SKIPPING. Here Steve skips strings to create a line with wide interval leaps. Wide interval leaps are always ear-grabbing and are a great way to get melodies to stand out. 3 BARS 55 TO 56 – PEDAL TONES. This lick features a pedal tone on the fifth string. This pedal note anchors the tonality and the melody notes are played alternately against the static note. Steve is an expert picker and this lick is a great workout for the picking hand.…

Welcome to the first in a new series of articles aimed at bridging the gap between blues and jazz. While the romanticised mythical image of the itinerant blues player selling their soul at the crossroads at midnight might just be a thing of folkloric legend, many of us face a far more realistic crossroads in our playing when we consider which direction we’d like to take our music, stylistically. So many of today’s blues players, such as Josh Smith and Robben Ford, colour their sound with the inclusion of jazz-like vocabulary. Similarly, jazz guitarists like George Benson or Kenny Burrell are equally comfortable playing the blues. Where do players like Oz Noy, Scott Henderson and Mike Landau sit? I’d say squarely in the middle of the crossroads and they relish…

Fretting-hand slurs (hammer-ons, pull-offs), are essential for classical guitar technique. It is very beneficial to practise them in focused isolation. Try this exercise: at the 7th fret on the first string play the B with the first finger and hammer down the D at the 10th fret with the fourth. Make the movement slow and deliberate and aim for a solid tone with the fourth-finger hammer. Repeat several times. Then do the same with second finger to fourth, then third finger to 4th. Next reverse the process and practise pull-offs.…

FIN COSTELLO / GETTY IMAGES The 60s and 70s were a foundational time for guitar and music in general. The Beatles were changing the face of popular music as we knew it, and bands like The Who, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin would all go on to become the iconic legends they are today. But The Rolling Stones had become disenchanted, partly due to their ill-received album Their Satanic Majesties Request, or ‘Sergeant Pepper light’ as many viewed it. Keith Richards felt they should return to their R&B roots and, when Brian Jones found himself unable to carry on (and died shortly after), it ushered in a new era. Enter a young Mick Taylor, passionate about guitar and looking to play with anyone and everyone. In 1965, at just 16,…

ULLSTEIN BILD / GETTY IMAGES Manic Street Preachers have had a hugely successful career and are in their fourth decade as a band. Forming in 1986 and releasing their debut album Generation Terrorists in 1992, the band has seen highs and lows akin to the peaks and troughs of the Welsh valleys. Where as Everything Must Go and later releases featured multiple layers of instruments, a wider palette of sounds, songwriting styles and some incredible production values (check out the single Everything Must Go for some classic Phil Spector sounds produced by Mike Hedges), their earlier offerings were much rawer. James Dean Bradfield is a fan of Guns N’ Roses and their 1987 album Appetite For Destruction and you can hear Slash’s influence in his playing, especially his often furious…

DEREK SHERINIAN THE PHOENIX Inside Out Music 8/10 For fans of prog and metal, Derek Sherinian is highly regarded for his chops and searing keyboard tones. But he’s also been collaborating with fusion drummer Simon Philips for two decades. The Phoenix follows their typical approach; largely instrumental pieces with guest guitarists specifically chosen to enhance each album track. For this one, Derek enlists Bumblefoot, Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Kiko Loureiro and Joe Bonamassa for an exhilarating sonic ride. Opening with the title track, it features a rousing stomper with Derek and Zakk blazing as Simon and Billy Sheehan storm as the rhythm section. Empyrean Sky is a modern fusion rocker (in 13!) with Bumblefoot on guitar and the main riff syncopated with luscious Phyrgian phrases during the second melodic…

FEATURE #2 VIDEO EDWARD VAN HALEN Tribute to a rock legend A rare interview with Phil Hilborne from 1991 and a fantastic video appreciation from Phil Short honours the great man. CLASSICAL TAB VIDEO PABLO DE SARASATE Zortzico d’Iparraguirre Bridget Mermikides arranges this intriguing dance tune from the Basque region by a master Spanish composer. FEATURE #3 THE CROSSROADS PT2 Charlie to T-Bone to Chuck John Wheatcroft shows the musical links between Charlie Christian, T-Bone Walker and Chuck Berry. NEW SERIES THE RHYTHM ROOST Sharpen up your rhythm chops Jason Sidwell has a super new series showing how to boost arguably the most important area of your playing. MORE GREAT LESSONS 30-Minute Lickbag Six licks to test and challenge Chris Brooks Legato with the Aussie master Steve Miller…

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.…

“Clear? Huh! Why, a four-year-old child could understand this report! Run out and find me a four-year-old child.” - Julius Henry ‘Groucho’ Marx (1890-1977). My father, 103 years young and still as sharp as a grade one viola player, was in his 70s when he observed, “Have you thought about buying a computer? It strikes me that it would assist you enormously, especially in your profession.” Experience has taught me that the Great Patriarch is unfailingly the fount of wisdom, even on subjects of which he purports to have no knowledge or direct experience. “I don’t really know much about quantum physics/Dowland’s lute suites/dahlias, but it occurs to me that...” And he’ll be right. Every time. Thus it was that I entered reluctantly the world of the Digital Domain, the…

MY GOAL IS TO PLAY melodic lines and then to play over changes as if connecting the links. An example of making the melody more important than outlining the chords: at 1:11 of Stomping At The Pier, while playing the melody, I landed on a D (15th fret, then 13th fret, second string, bent up to a D) over the Fmaj7add#11. That’s not technically in the chord, but it seemed like a good melodic direction. A bit later on at 1:32 there’s a line over the same chord using scale tones of C Major (C-D-E-F-G-A-B) which, in my mind, is diatonic for that chord. But I’m adding the chromatic notes between 5 and 4 (= F# note), 1 and 2 (= D b note), 5 and 6 (= A b…

Your aim from this lesson is to learn and incorporate many of the concepts used by a raft of guitarists that’s come to the fore in recent times. These players have adopted the tried and trusted themes of past legends but applied them in a manner that’s more approriate to modern tastes, playing abilities and production values. Our selected half dozen are notable for their widely differing approaches and contrasting styles. The first artist we highlight is John Mayer, who broke through with his mega-selling, 2001 pop-rock album Room For Squares. Since then he has gone on to capitalise on his abilities to sing, compose and a play a variety of styles authentically and with flare. His vocabulary is anchored in electric blues with obvious tips of the hat to…

One of the most effective ways to make your playing sound more jazzy, or in the other direction, more bluesy, is to consider how you articulate the notes. This‘how’you play is frequently more important than ‘what’, in relation to stylistic authenticity. One clear difference between the two approaches is how you treat bends, slides and vibrato. In blues, it’s customary to bend between two pitches, potentially adding a vocal-like vibrato when you get to pitch, whereas in classic jazz guitar styles, where heavy strings and a cleaner tone are the norm you might achieve a similar effect by using hammer-ons and slides. The use of overdrive promotes various forms of dynamic picking-hand muting, particularly on the bass notes, whereas a totally clean sound favours a full and round tone with…

I hope you’re enjoying the issue so far. We certainly have a broad and varied array of lessons to hone your chops with. And even if I say so myself, the Steve Morse feature (p12) is not only a world exclusive but also was a real joy to create with the legendary alternate picker. I’ve been a fan of Steve’s music for over 30 years and his attention to detail with both his technique and his musicianship is unique, attributes he demonstrated fully for this issue. I hope you like learning his Stomping At The Pier solo! Sadly, this is the last issue that will feature Pat Heath in 30-Minute Lickbag. He’s owned the feature for several years but he’s moving on to pastures new (hopefully back in GT soon)…

EBET ROBERTS / GETTY IMAGES Neil Young was born in Ontario, Canada in 1945 and at 74 years of age is still going strong in the music industry. Young began his musical career playing with Buffalo Springfield alongside Stephen Stills and Richie Furay, and went on to play with Stills in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. He also played for a long time fronting the band Crazy Horse, which featured Billy Talbot on bass and drummer Ralph Molina. Neil Young has received many awards including several Grammys and has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice, once as a solo artist and once with Buffalo Springfield. His influence has been heard on many other acts including Bon Jovi who covered Rockin’ In The Free World and…

TIM MOSENFELDER / GETTY IMAGES In this new series, we’re going to focus on solo studies that show how various different intervals can be applied to create ear-catching lines using Mixolydian. In sequence they will be 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths, octaves and, finally, a combination with of all of them being used in a solo. Conceptually, intervals are a great way of developing approaches that produce distinct effects. Each interval type has its own innate flavour, and this is something that we can use to our advantage in order to control the musical complexion of what we do when improvising. For example, 4ths and 5ths sound quite hard and modern, whereas 3rds and 6ths sound softer, poppier and often country-tinged. In this lesson, we start off by looking…

ALEX SILL EXPERIENCES: REAL AND IMAGINARY Alex Sill 10/10 LA-based Alex Sill is quite a musician. Known for his Holdsworthian legato style he is now the guitarist in Simon Phillips’ lauded band Protocol (visit youtube for his blinding solo on Narmada). While his rock-fusion side has developed quite a following, this release sees him in a more personal format in acoustic based band setups. His jazz infused compositions are richly varied, sounding simultaneously modern and traditional, with a strong Pat Metheny Band-esque vibe to the sound and surrounded by some of LA’s finest musicians. Opener, 21st Century Alchemy is vibrant; guitar and sax taking centre stage, solos entwining. Jackie is all acoustic with a beautiful laid-back vibe, guitars weaving in and out of the band. The Activity pairs overdriven…