Innehållsförteckning för October 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. 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 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 HUNT Jamie is Principal Lecturer at BIMM Bristol. He also leads performance workshops, plays in metal band One Machine…

CHAD JENKINS GT: What is it about guitar instrumentals that appeals to you? ML: As a writer especially, I’ve always been comfortable in the genre. I wouldn’t consider myself a singer, nor am I much of a lyricist, so the idea of expressing myself with the guitar as my voice has always felt the most natural. GT: What can an instrumental provide a listener that a vocal song can’t? ML: While lyrics can certainly have multiple meanings and layers, language generally offers some kind of initial direction as to a song's message or story. Without the words, I think there is a greater chance for multiple interpretations of the subject matter. Five people can listen to the same song, and have five completely different emotional connections to it, or ideas…

String bending is a great way to add expression. The ability to manipulate any note on the fretboard in this way is a great asset, and means you can access all those microtonal intervals not available on instruments like the piano. If you want to create an upward glissando (a smooth upward glide in pitch) then simply bend the string up to the desired pitch at the desired rate. If you would like to create a downward glide then you can pre-bend the string and then release it. Once the string is bent to pitch you can add finger vibrato to help with the intonation and add interest and feeling. A key problem area when developing the string bending technique is intonation (bending in tune). Just like a singer needs…

BARS 47-48 WHAMMY BAR INFUSED NATURAL HARMONICS Natural harmonics on the third string are combined with rhythmic tapping on the whammy bar. The thumb of the fretting hand is used to mute the lower strings. The top three strings are muted with the fretting hand’s first finger. This leaves the open third string free to ring out. The fretting hand’s third finger is used to lightly touch the node points indicated in the tab. BARS 78-79 EVH STYLE TAPPING PHRASE This idea uses the classic tapping pattern EVH used in songs like Beat It. This one is relatively easy to play after a bit of practice. Reb refers to this lick as a‘place holder’ as it can be repeated for as long as is required. BARS 83-84…

“Approaching a piece like this arbitrarily, can easily become problematic, and you can find yourself in awkward corners” The French composer and classical guitarist Claude Antoine Jean Georges Napoléon Coste (1805-1883) - who, helpfully for us dropped his first four christian names - is an important figure in the history of the classical guitar. He acted as something of bridge between the instrument’s ‘classical’ and ‘modern’ eras. He was a student and then close friend of the ‘the Beethoven of the guitar’ the Spanish guitarist and composer Fernando Sor, and was also in the company of guitar masters Carulli, Aguado and Carcassi. However, Coste not only occupied this mid 19th century ‘Golden Age’ of the guitar but looked both backward and forward in time to enrich the instrument. He was…

For many, two-hand tapping means shredding rock solos. It can also be the first pathway for playing fast; guitarists can often blaze EVH style-one string arpeggios within a year of playing guitar. While the technique has many facets and can be complex (check out Stanley Jordan and TJ Helmerich for different approaches to jaw-dropping virtuosity), it can also be great for memorable riff-based playing. This issue, I took tapping inspiration from Francis Dunnery (It Bites - Charlie), Jennifer Batten (Jeff Beck - What Mama Said) and Chapman Stick player Nick Beggs (Ellis, Beggs & Howard - Big Bubbles, No Trouble). I added a dash of phaser to my clean tone in homage to Nick Beggs. Rhythmically, this example isn’t too challenging once you’ve nailed the shared hand duties of bars…

Formed in Aberdeen, Washington USA in 1987 Nirvana became one of the most important bands of the Seattle grunge movement, and their legacy lives on to this day. Two of the most famous names in rock history were members of Nirvana; guitarist and vocalist Kurt Cobain and drummer Dave Grohl, who of course is now the front man of Foo Fighters. Bassist Krist Novoselic’s contribution to Nirvana should also not be underestimated. In their short career, which ran from 1987 until Cobain’s suicide in 1994, Nirvana achieved four number one albums in the US, as well as a Grammy award and a Brit award. They were also inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2014. However, beyond their commercial and critical success, perhaps the most important aspect…

DANIEL KNIGHTON / GETTY IMAGES Think of the words ‘Celtic Music’ and it may conjure up shocking images of terrible pan pipe albums. However, while the genre has been besmirched by such muzak it’s actually a rich and powerful vein of music that encompasses the traditional sounds of Ireland, Wales, Scotland and beyond - including the Appalachian mountains of North-East America. Celtic music has a great depth to it and it’s haunting, lyrical nature has drawn legions of guitarists towards its repertoire over the decades. In the 1960s British innovators like Davey Graham, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn mined the world of Celtic music to create inspirational arrangements and compositions from the style. And of course it’s no secret that Jimmy Page was heavily influenced by these players and the…

WHEN I WAS 17 I was the font of all blues knowledge in my circle of guitar-playing friends. After all, I had heard both the John Mayall albums, one featuring Eric Clapton and the other Peter Green, so of course I knew it all. I was even ignorant of the fact that Mayall was one of the most prolific of all blues artists. But I’d learn. Anyway, one day my sister brought home a blues compilation on the budget Ace Of Clubs label, with artists like Otis Spann, Paul Butterfield, and loads of other names I’d never heard of (I did live in a tiny Northumberland village, it has to be said). But one track set the hairs on my arms and neck standing to attention. It was called Cold…

Playing songs is what it’s all about! And a balanced practice routine should help you to achieve the skills you need, to be able to play the songs you want to play. But what songs should you be working on? Many students fall into traps of either playing songs that are too easy or far too hard. So how does one find the balance? I recommend that all guitarists work on three types of songs at any one time. I call them 'Campfire', 'Developers' and 'Dreamers', and here's why this can be such a great way to stay motivated on guitar. Campfire songs are ones you can play with ease. Ones you can remember and play confidently. Everyone should have at least 10 songs they can play at a party,…

➊ A Minor Jam We start with a fun bluesy jam in the key of A Minor. You’ll get off to a great start with A Minor Pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G); but you'll find that A Dorian (A-B-C-D-E-F#-G) works great for the ‘chorus’ parts. ➋ Slow F# Minor Blues This slow Blues in F#m is from my jam album Into The Blues, Vol. 6. Use F# Minor Pentatonic scale (F#-A-B-C#-E) to get you started and then start seeking out some of the arpeggios: F#m7 (F#-A-C#-E), Bm7 (B-D-F#-A) and C#7 (C#-F-G#-B). Visit www.Quistorama.com/ jamtracks and subscribe to www. youtube.com/QuistTV for more jam tracks, licks and Wednesday Warm-ups. Quist’s latest album Loop Improvisations, Vol. 1 is out now and you can also find him on Spotify, Instagram & Patreon. ➌ B b Major Jazz Jam (I-VI-II-V)…

HALUK GURER GT: Do you have a type of pick that you can’t live without? TR: I do! I exclusively use Dunlop Sharp 1.35mm picks, the dark grey ones. I’ve been using those picks for years now. I love the length of the drop on them, that point really helps my accuracy and I find them super comfortable with zero slippiness. I really find it hard to use regular shaped picks now, you get used to that sharp point, even though it’s only a couple of millimetres longer than a standard pick. I’ve got a heavy right hand so using the 1.35mm gives the pick an extra bit of longevity. GT: If you had to give up all your pedals but three, what would they be? TR: I’ve got quite…

For many music fans, Reb Beach needs no introduction as he’s been an integral part of American music since the late 80s. This ranges from session work with Chaka Khan and The Bee Gees, stints with Night Ranger and Dokken, projects with The Mob (2005) and Black Swan (2020) through to his two most prominent gigs, Winger (1988-now) and Whitesnake (2002-now). Add in his popular Cutting Loose guitar instructional video (1991) and recent instrumental album, A View From The Inside (2020), and Reb has had a fruitful music career for sure. So it’s with great pleasure that GT presents Reb this month with an uptempo rocker by Jason that he performs not only with memorable and melodic phrases but also some seriously impressive two-hand tapping. Clocking in at a brisk…

In jazz-speak the term comping is used an abbreviation for the all-encompassing topic of accompanying. For any aspiring blues or jazz guitarist this is a crucial and absolutely essential area of study. The ability to acccompany with intelligence and sensitivity is one of the most effective skills we can develop. Even though you might have the most incredible single-note chops, with phenomenal speed and articulation, if you can’t comp well you’ll probably never get the opportunity to showcase these assets as nobody will want to play with you! Secondly, rhythm playing need not be the poorer relation to soloing. With intelligent consideration and skill, the rhythm part can be every bit as creative, challenging, sophisticated, hip and impressive and you’ll find your popularity among fellow musicians will rise exponentially as…

Do you practise too fast? Do you find yourself constantly making little slips and then repeating them? Slow down! It can feel counterintuitive but slowing right down is the quickest way to sort out a few wrong notes. Only play at a speed that enables absolute perfection. When your hands and brain are working at the same speed and can consistently execute a piece accurately, you can start to push for a bit more speed. Remember that speed is a by-product of accuracy!…

EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 1 ALEX TURNER (ARCTIC MONKEYS, THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS) CD TRACK 37 This riff is based in A Minor but also includes 3rds that descend chromatically. The chromatic notes build tension until they resolve into the next cycle of the riff. Use a down-up strumming motion throughout, to establish momentum, and use your bridge pickup, a light amount of overdrive for some bite, and a touch of delay. EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 2 DIMEBAG CD TRACK 38 This E Minor riff uses sliding b 3rd intervals, to make way for the Major 3rd (G#) and the b 5th (B b ) to feature. These extra notes add character and expression while breaking away from the typical powerchord sound. Dimebag used a bridge humbucker for an aggressive, articulate tone…

Nuno Bettencourt’s playing entered most late 80s ears via Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure in which the Extreme song Play With Me appears. The song from their debut album featured a passage from Mozart’s Alla Turca, played with all the accuracy and swagger of more established players such as Vinnie Moore, Steve Vai and of course Yngwie Malmsteen. In this lesson we’ll take a look at some of the techniques that make up Nuno’s style, starting with a riff employing some 16th-note, palm-muted hammer-ons in the vein of Kid Ego, He Man Woman Hater and Midnight Express. This percussive effect is surprisingly difficult to mimic, and the exact position and pressure of your palm on the strings will have a big impact on the sound. Aim to get the notes…

BURAK CINGI / GETTY IMAGES Bombay Bicycle club have released five albums since their debut, I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose in 2009. This London four-piece is not your typical indie rock band, but instead fuses elements of World Music and a synthesis with folk styles to create their unique sound. For example, their single Always Like This featured an Afro drum groove and twin-guitar line that helped to introduce the band’s fans to World Music. Another artist who famously brought the sounds of Africa to the masses was Paul Simon, whose 1986 release Graceland featured South African musicians, including popular vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. This was Simon’s most successful album as a solo artist, selling millions of units and winning a Grammy for Album Of…

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.…

It was a bitterly cold Summer’s day, a few short years after the Wright Brothers had taken to the skies with their hair-brained contraption. And lo, Mr Bell’s invention burst into life with news of the outside world. For it was David Katz, a busy music contractor of the era. Sadly, his motive in contacting me implied no offer to my pecuniary advantage. Instead, he suggested that I contacted Richard Niles. “He’s a great arranger. I think you two will get on. He’s waiting for your call.” Which is how I came to visit his charmingly bijou apartment in London’s then affordable Belsize Park. There he sat, a quietly spoken American gent with an obscene beard and a goatee sense of humour. He appeared either to have dropped a value…

TWO-NOTES-PER-STRING Pentatonic lines are commonly played using a combination of picking and legato. The number of notes played before each string change is a big factor when attempting to play them with alternate picking only. If you play straight up or down a CAGED Pentatonic shape you will need to pick two notes before each string change. This ‘string hopping’happens every two notes and requires a lot of coordination between your hands if you are to play accurately and cleanly at rapid tempos. This four-bar idea has every note picked and as such should offer a nice workout in using this approach. Start slowly and build up to speed. As you practise, pay particular attention to how cleanly you are playing and also to how even the overall dynamics are.…

Albert King is perhaps the quintessential electric blues guitarist. Raised on a Mississippi cotton plantation he learnt the guitar as a child. But with no obvious influences around him this natural leftie simply picked up a regular guitar and turned it over, so the thin strings were at the top and the thick ones down below. He made his first guitar out of a cigar box, a tree branch, and a length of wire. The style he devised was powerful and unique, and a big influence on other players. You can clearly hear him in the playing of Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, SRV and others, but several factors helped to forge his style. First, his playing of a right-handed guitar left-handed, meant that large string bends were easier as the…

BRIAN KALDORF What processes did you take writing and recording A View From The Inside? It started as just a hobby, so I would work on it here and there. As with all my music, it starts with a guitar riff or keyboard riff, and I build around that. You need a verse and a chorus and a solo section that is good to play over. I don’t like playing over someone just chugging an E chord. I like to have chords to play over. I recorded all the music in my garage using Nuendo. I prefer it to Pro Tools, where all you do is swear at it! Once it was all done I sent a mix without the bass to a real bass player (I sound like a…

YOU MIGHT NOTICE that the vast majority of chord voicings presented here are made up of combinations of three or four notes, rather than selecting all of the available six strings. You can say a lot with such a restricted number of strings and being more selective with the notes you choose to include, avoiding any unnecessary doubling of intervals, can assist with clarity of your tone; it also helps the guitar sit in the mix with other instruments and the nimble nature of these smaller voicings encourages movement in your parts, which can create a greater sense of interest for both the listener and for you, the performer. It’s a great idea to develop a large vocabulary of related voicings for each of the chord types in common usage,…

Robben Ford is one of the most iconic and successful guitarists of his generation, with a 40-year career that’s ongoing. Known for his distinctive blend of blues and jazz he’s one of the original blues-jazz guitarists, going on to influence players like Matt Schofield, Josh Smith and Greg Koch. Robben’s musical journey is an interesting one and makes sense of this musical blend. He started out learning the saxophone around aged 10 and was captivated by the playing of Paul Desmond of The Dave Brubeck Quartet, and before long he discovered the music of John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter and Miles Davis and other jazz greats. Alongside his passion for jazz and the tenor sax he also discovered the electric blues of BB King, Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, Led Zeppelin and,…

I was very surprised the day that Oscar Peterson’s agent telephoned me out of the blue and asked if I’d consider joining his quartet. Almost speechless I managed to say, “Wow! Of course.” Then he spoke about getting me to Munich for the first event booked in the diary. I asked him, “What music do I need to learn?” but all he said was, “Forget about the music, just bring your tuxedo!” It was the start of an incredible 10 years together, during which time I was privileged to tour the world with this giant of jazz. Oscar liked working with guitar players. I’m humbled by the fact that I was preceded by Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis and Joe Pass! And his playing rubbed off on us all. This series…