Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2021 i 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. 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 band Haken. JAMIE HUMPHRIES Jamie is well known as a player and a teacher, having written for most of the guitar magazines, as…

ANYWAY, the theory goes that you can substitute a chord with its equivalent a tritone away. This is particularly common in jazz, and generally works best with Dominant 7th chords. Why? Well, in C7 (C-E-G-B b ), there’s a tritone between E and B b . If we shift that whole chord a tritone, we get F#7 (F#-A#-C#-E), where there’s a tritone between A# and E. Apart from the renaming of B b to A# – those are the same notes! TWO of this month’s chords will not be changing. In these difficult times of dwindling natural resources, we hope you can understand that we sometimes have to recycle chords to save money. To keep things interesting, though, we’ve chopped that clumping barre chord down to a more mobile shape.…

When asked about which guitarists he admired, the great Jimi Hendrix once replied, “Kenny Burrell, that’s the sound I’m looking for”. Throughout the history of blues and jazz music, both these styles have evolved and expanded with the benefit of the other. Countless early blues artists were happy to broaden their sound with the addition of jazzy overtones (the mighty Robert Johnson for one, and later on the equally talented T-Bone Walker), while the concept of a jazz musician without a deep understanding and assimilation of the blues was considered an impossibility. To quote the legendary Count Basie, jazz was created as a highly successful attempt at “swinging the blues”. Taking things up to date, consider an undeniably fantastic blues player like Josh Smith, who talks at great length about…

When it comes to practising, most of us are pushed for time so how can we be sure we are improving our technique if we have no time for exercises and scales? We can use our pieces as our technical study; Practise in small sections – especially the most difficult parts and slow right down. Pay attention to every note and how it feels under your fingers. Focus on absolute clarity and precision at a speed you can manage without mistakes. Repeat many times and as security grows, the speed can gradually increase and allow the music to flow with confidence and accuracy.…

Listen to Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, Joe Pass or Jim Hall soloing over a blues progression, and in addition to the expected bluesy licks, you’ll hear that at times it sounds as though they are playing in another tonality altogether. In essence they are, and in this series we’ll look at some simple substitution techniques you can use to recreate that classic ‘bebop blues’ sound. When I first fell in love with the sound of jazz guitar, I wanted to know how to play those rich lines like Wes, which accessed all the colourful chord extensions. But where did those ideas come from? I dabbled with the ‘scale or mode for every chord’ approach, but found this too cerebral and slightly baffling (many people use that method perfectly well, so…

I CLEARLY REMEMBER buying my first wah-wah pedal. It was on one of my regular pilgrimages to the guitar shops that lined London’s Shaftesbury Avenue. Usually it was just to gawp at all the things I couldn’t afford. Like three Gibson SGs on stands in the window of Sound City; a Special, a Standard and a Custom, all in cherry. Wow! And seeing my first black Les Paul Custom. Anyone who visited music shops back then will also recall the smell of hot Fender Tolex from all the valve amps and Rhodes pianos; it’s etched in my memory. I also had the idea to buy two Vox AC30s and link them up. I went into Macari’s, where brothers Joe and Lou held court, and asked them whether it could be…

I’ve been drooling over guitars for 40 years now. And more than ever before, the finest guitars are presented to us in wonderful high-definition images. And seductive reviews make it very hard to resist. But buying without trying? I have been saying forever that going to a store and trying an instrument was essential. Who would buy a guitar without spending some time playing it, and getting to know it? But I hear them cry “I’m in a lockdown and can’t just go and try a load of guitars out, so I have to buy online”. Right now we all have to buy online, and the good news is that it seems there has never been a better time to do so. For a long time guitar making was a…

➊ Slow Blues Jam (Em) We start with a slow blues in the key of E Minor. In terms of scales, you’ll get off to a great start by hitting up the good old E Minor Pentatonic scale (E-G-A-B-D) and adding feel using vibrato, slides, etc. ➋‘Zen Garden’Groove Jam (A) This feel-good groove jam is in happy A Major! Use A Major Pentatonic scale (A-B-C#-E-F#) as a starting point (you can always think F# Minor Pentatonic if that helps) and then add the two extra notes to make up a full A Major scale (A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G#). ➌ Slow Jazz-Blues (A) Here we have a slow jazz-blues jam in A. Try mixing A Major Pentatonic (A-B-C#-E-F#) and A Minor Pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G) for a start - and then play around with the arpeggios…

The wah-wah pedal is perhaps the most ubiquitous of all effects pedals, having been around since its invention in the mid 1960s. The original model emerged in 1966 under the Vox banner. Endorsed by jazz trumpeter Clyde McCoy (hence Fulltone’s ‘Clyde’ wah), it even included McCoy’s name and face on the baseplate, since it was originally developed to imitate the ‘crying’ tone produced by trumpeters’ mutes. It was never intended for guitar at all! Due to The Beatles’ use of Vox amplifiers, Jennings Musical Instruments of Dartford in Kent was struggling to keep up with demand. The company therefore enlisted the Thomas “This new tool allowed musicians to sweep through the treble, mid and bass frequencies by simply rocking their foot.” Organ Company to manufacture Vox products in the USA,…

If you look carefully at the musical examples presented here, you’ll notice how many of the phrases contain chromatic embellishment and decoration, adding a note, or multiple notes, that fall between the cracks in a tonality to create a dynamic sensation of tension and release. It’s a great idea when considering a tonality, such as C Mixolydian (C-D-E-F-G-A-B b -C) which you’ll find used throughout much of this study, to consider exactly where all the tone gaps lie within the scale:. They are: C-D, D-E, F-G, C-A, B b -C. This allows us to begin introducing the note found in the middle as a form of semitone‘bridge’, moving through a consonant resolution (say C against C7 = Root), via a dissonant tension (B natural against C7 = Major7) before returning…

Welcome to another jam-packed GT with topics from across the (fret) boards. I hope you’re enjoying Jamie Humphries’ huge wah-wah feature, Alex Sill’s stunning video solo, The Crossroads look at jazz-blues swing feel, and Verdi’s The Drinking Song for solo guitar. Pretty diverse, eh? But, as regular readers will know, you are now in the faster-moving tutorial section where artist analysis, technique, theory and playing concepts are explored. It’s broad, colourful and multi-level as regards playing abilities and roles. New tutor alert! Jamie Hunt takes over 30-Minute Lickbag (p54), while Tim Pettingale starts a four-part series on Bebop Blues (p64) where the onus is on sophisticated soloing without virtuoso chops. These articles alone should provide several evenings’ worth of stimulus. Following last issue’s Steve Morse video, Rock (p60) looks at…

The late Gary Moore was a phenomenal guitarist, with a rich and diverse playing style and oodles of tone to boot. Gary is most famous for his iconic sustain and hot blues tone, with soaring melodies that make the listener feel like they’re gliding on the wings of an eagle. Gary, with Les Paul and Marshall, are a recipe for sonic Nirvana. While best known for his bluesy ballad style of playing, Gary kicked off his career in the early 70s as a serious hard-rock guitarist, with brief stints in Skid Row and Thin Lizzy. His back catalogue is packed with heavy rock riffs and searing tones, allied to rapid-fire Pentatonic licks and serious alternate picking skills. This mix of tone, taste and chops made him a real contender in…

Forming in 1988, The Charlatans released 13 studio albums between 1990 and 2017, with every one hitting the UK top 40, and three claiming the number one spot. There have been numerous line-up changes, with singer Tim Burgess and bassist Martin Blunt the only members who have featured on every album since the debut. Mark Collins replaced original guitarist Jon Day in 1991, and has played on all but the very first album. The Charlatans is a typical indie band, and one of the most prominent and longest surviving groups. One of the key features that separated this band from so many others, is the inclusion of prominent piano and organ lines, used to infuse their sound with a little soul. It also gave guitarist Collins a platform to play…

The Minor Pentatonic scale is infinitely useful and versatile. The scale positions are usually seen as two-notes-per-string entities, but this month we will explore some three-notes-per-string ideas. Since the scale is all tones and Minor 3rd stretches, this might be a strain on for your fretting hand. So be sure to thoroughly warm up your muscles and loosen up before trying these examples. We are sticking with E Minor Pentatonic: E-G-A-B-D (1 b 3 4 5 b 7), to make finding the notes on the fretboard much simpler, as some of these ideas will be unusual compared to our familiar ‘five shapes’ system. We start up at the 12th fret with a Dimebag Darrell-esque lick which ifeatures shapes 1 and 2 glued together. To ease into this, you could start…

FEATURE #2 VIDEO OZ NOY Grease And Grit The stunning Israeli blues-jazz-fusion guitarist plays and explains his wonderful improvised solo. On video. CLASSICAL TAB VIDEO JS BACH Invention In F Major Bridget Mermikides arranges this great study from the master. It’s a duet, so learn each part and play along with Bridget. FEATURE #3 THE CROSSROADS PT3 BB King Wheaty shows how BB King rakes, sweeps and plays exclamatory licks in that place where jazz meets blues. NEW SERIES THE RHYTHM ROOST Jack’s New Swing Jason Sidwell continues his new video series that aims to sharpen up your rhythm chops, feel and timing. It was 50 years ago today... 20 PICKS FROM 1971! We think 1971 is one of the best years ever for guitar albums. So we…

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.…

PAUL NATKIN / GETTY IMAGES THIS LICK IS IN two parts: The first in bars 1-2 mainly involves descending 5th intervals that are connected via fretting-hand first-finger slides. This is really the ‘question' part of the lick. It can be played either with the pick or using hybrid picking – your choice. The second ‘answer’ section is a descending ‘metrical’ legato phrase. The main focus here should be to play the line as in time and as dynamically evenly and smoothly as you can. Notice that there is a tricky position shift that occurs between the last note of bar 3 and the first note of bar 4. Both of the notes here are Bs - firstly played with the fretting-hand third finger and then by the first finger. This…

Alex Sill has been stunning audiences on tour with Simon Phillips’ Protocol, and in the studio with his new album, Experiences: Real and Imaginary. For his solo on Swagster this month, look out for sophisticated phrasing, clever note choices, and a modern sounding overdriven tone which should make this an enriching, if challenging study piece. Jason’s track clocks in at just 96bpm and the semiquavers have a groovy shuffle feel. The verses are in F# Minor, so Alex uses F# Minor Pentatonic (F#-A-B-C#-E) as ‘home base’. But that’s only a part of what’s on offer; Alex plays tasty single notes, double-stops and cool chords against the bass and drums, his fingerstyle approach providing great dynamic range and a nice warm tone. The chorus section is trickier to navigate. For chords…

In this issue we are playing a work by one of the most influential composers of the 19th century, Guiseppe Verdi (1813-1901). Verdi was an Italian composer whose impressive output of 28 operas (as well as songs and sacred works) has remained extremely popular and influential to this day. Verdi was a master of orchestration and high drama, and had an extraordinary talent for writing simple, memorable and hugely popular melodies that managed to capture a mood, character or narrative so precisely and accessibly, that one might consider him relevant to the widespread craft of contemporary screen and stage music. His best-known melodies include La Donna è Mobile - from the opera Rigoletto (1851) - which is used in everything from Disney movies to football chants; the overture of Verdi’s…

When you think of 12/8 grooves, songs like Higher Ground and Master Blaster (Jammin’) by Stevie Wonder or The Way You Make Me Feel and Leave Me Alone by Michael Jackson may spring to mind. Away from soul or funk, you may think of Toto’s Hold The Line, Tears For Fears’ Everybody Wants To Rule The World or Simple Minds’ Waterfront. While not as common as 4/4, 12/8 has a specific appeal so we’ll focus on it this issue. Here I’m featuring this groove (say ‘straw-ber-ry’ repeatedly to get the triplet-per-beat feel) using a clean single-coil tone, switching between single notes, octaves and three-string chords. The key is A Dorian (A-B-C-D-E-F#-G) with clear A Minor Pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G) shape 1 use and some quick fretboard shifts with octaves. I favour playing…

One of the most highly respected of all rock bands, Deep Purple is seen by many as a pioneer of heavy metal. Formed in 1968 in Hertfordshire the most iconic line up comprised founders Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan (vocals) and Jon Lord (organ), plus drummer Ian Paice and bassist Roger Glover. Deep Purple began life as a progressive outfit, but with 1970 album In Rock created the style that helped spearhead the metal movement. The band has been the launchpad for many other legendary artists including Whitesnake singer David Coverdale, who replaced Gillan for a period in the 1970s, and the late Tommy Bolin who, when Blackmore quit, brought a funkier edge to the band. When Blackmore left the band in the early 90s, Joe Satriani joined for one tour…

In this current series, we’ve been looking at ways of employing a range of intervals to develop some new and hopefully useful vocabulary when Mixolydian mode. So far, we’ve looked at 2nds and 3rds and, in this one, we move on logically to 4ths. Intervals are a great way of developing approaches that have distinct flavours, or particular colours. Each interval-type has its own innate character, and this is something that we can use to our advantage in order to control the musical complexion of what we do when improvising. Compared to other intervals, 4ths (like their inversion, 5ths) have an open and contemporary sound and form the basis of a whole branch of music theory: quartal harmony. Within the modes of the Major scale, each 4th interval will be…