Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2019 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. RICHARD BARRETT One of the finest blues and rock guitarist we know, Richard is a stalwart columnist for Total Guitar, Guitarist and GT. He’s also Tony Hadley’s touring six-stringer. 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 GOULDING One of the world’s foremost rock and metal guitarists, Martin teaches for dime-online.org and has…

➊ Slow Blues (A) We start with this simple slow 12-bar blues shuffle in A. Use A Minor Pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G) and A Major Pentatonic (A-B-C#-E-F#) as your starting point and then see if you can work in the arpeggios: A7 (A-C#-E-G), D7 (D-F#-A-C) and E7 (E-G#-B-D). These work a treat. ➋ Minor acoustic blues (Am) Here we have a really simple A Minor blues progression, strummed on an acoustic guitar. Our favourite A Minor Pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G) works great here, as does the A Minor scale (A-B-C-D-E-F-G). GETTY IMAGES ➌ I-VI-II-V jazz jam (F) The I-VI-II-V is one of the most basic progressions in jazz, so it’s a great thing to practise, whether you’re a beginner or advanced improviser. Arpeggios: F (F-A-C), D7 (D-F#-A-C), Gm7 (G-B b -D-F), C7 (C-E-G-B b…

THE ABILITY TO read music notation is the single biggest regret raised by our celebrity panel of guitarists. So many either wish they could read, had started earlier or could do it better. It’s a skill set that once acquired, has countless benefits. If you can’t read at all, it’s a wise musician that puts it high on the‘to do’agenda. A VERSATILE PICKING technique is an admirable quality that many wish they had developed more at an earlier stage. It’s a guitarist’s most important source of dynamics and time keeping so make sure your practice covers this as extensively as possible. That said, it’s often championed as a more‘hard core’technique than legato (“I couldn’t pick that well or fast so I used legato instead”); while it can require more practice…

After touring in the south west of England in the early 1960s, John Renbourn first came to prominence when he formed a duo with Bert Jansch, riding the wave of the great English folk revival, but blazing a trail for what became known as ‘folk baroque’. The pair’s intricate and exacting instrumentals already had a flavour with Renbourn’s interest in medieval music, something he had come into contact with while studying classical guitar at school. Jansch and Renbourn went on to form the band Pentangle with vocalist Jacqui McShee, fiddler Sue Draheim, bass player Danny Thompson and drummer Terry Cox. The band’s unique blend of influences, which included blues, traditional folk with the occasional foray into pop, reached American ears, leading to appearances at the Newport Folk Festival and Carnegie…

• TIP 1 WHAMMY BAR VIBRATO Mattias favours holding the bar between his second and third fingers for whammy bar vibrato. This allows plenty of options from subtle vibrato to bigger, tone wide or more pitch variations. • TIP 2 WHAMMY BAR DEPRESSED When it comes to bigger dive bomb style whammy dives, Mattias lays his fingers flat on the bar and pushes downwards. Notice he still has the pick in his thumb and first finger, close to the strings. • TIP 3 HIGH FRETBOARD TAPPING When Mattias uses two hand tapping he places his thumb on the upper edge of the fretboard. This allows him to stabilise the hand, curling up the first finger to keep hold of the pick. He will then tap the fretboard with his second…

Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton: aka, John Mayall’s infamous ‘Beano’ album, is cited by many as giving birth to the definitive vintage Clapton guitar tone. It has also become synonymous with creating the sound of 60s British blues-rock. The album is a mix of blues standards by Freddie King, Otis Rush and Robert Johnson as well as various originals penned by Mayall. But all numbers serve as a showcase for Eric, whose sheer fire and technique bore all the hallmarks of a young man obsessed with the sound of American blues, and guitarists such as King, Rush and Buddy Guy. Recorded in 1966, this album captures a frustrated post-Yardbirds Clapton, sporting a fresh sound via his newly acquired Gibson Les Paul and Marshall 1962 combo, a tone perfectly matching his…

Last lesson we got to grips with 10ths (octave plus 3rd) and 7ths with roots on the sixth and fifth strings. We then found transition points on the fretboard in order to move these around and begin the basics of the ‘walking basslines’ solo guitar style. This time we are going to look at ways to decorate these voicings to create, although still very simple, more melodic movements. It’s vital you learn these well, as they’re the building blocks (the foundation) of even the most complex pieces that I play. Have fun! ABILITY RATING Brought to you by… EXAMPLE 1 DECORATING 10THS IN G MAJOR CD TRACK 39 Let’s dive in and begin by playing up the chord scale of G Major with the root on the sixth string. The…

Over the last three months, we’ve been looking at the Melodic Minor scale’s seventh mode – Superlocrian (also known as the Altered scale), which is commonly applied over altered dominant chords. To refresh: altered dominants are dominant chords with alterations to the 5th and/or 2nd (9th) degrees: R- b 2-#2-3- b 5-#5- b 7. As we can see from the formula above, the Superlocrian mode contains all the possible combinations of altered 5th and 2nd (9th) degrees in addition to the root, 3rd, 5th and b 7th of the dominant chord. Typically found within jazz and blues progressions, altered dominant chords function as a means of creating tension, which helps guide the listener’s ear towards the resolving tonic chord a 4th higher (or a 5th lower). Recently we’ve been studying…

Missed one of our recent fabulous issues? Get one now while stocks last. SEPTEMBER GT299 PLAY ACOUSTIC Stuart Ryan has four brilliant new pieces in Rock, Bluegrass, Singer-Songwriter (Drop D) and Celtic (DADGAD) to get you inspired. Barrie Cadogan’s video lesson brings you a superb take on electric blues from Clapton, Danny Kirwan and beyond. And there’s tons more! AUGUST GT298 PLAYING PROBLEMS SOLVED! We all need a technique shake-up from time to time to hone weak areas or fix bad habits. This article addresses every area to refine your style and improve ability. Plus: Learn 12 fabulous Lukather licks from the man himself, play Morning Has Broken for solo guitar & more! JULY GT297 BUILD BETTER SOLOS We’ve all heard guitarists playing cool solos and wondered what ‘secret scale’…

IT’S GUITAR TECHNIQUES’ 300th issue! Actually that’s not quite true: it’s the 300th issue since Future Publishing bought GT in 1996. We’d been going since March of 1994 so in reality it’s more like issue 332. But what the heck? We need no excuse to celebrate the fact that we’ve lasted 25 years and counting - especially as such a specialist title, struggling for your attention in these times of free Internet lessons (bad as many of them are), and the desire to have it now! We began in simpler times when what we offered simply wasn’t available elsewhere - certainly not at such high quality and with the sheer class of tutor that GT brought to you. Today’s roster of writers is just as amazing, and the breadth of…

THIS LICK IS TYPICAL of the combined chordal embellishment and single-note phrasing that the legendary Joe Pass might have played at the end of a tune. It’s based on a simple II-V-I idea: D13-G13-CMaj7. Notice the D13 dominant II chord here. This is known as a V of V secondary dominant as opposed to the diatonic II minor chord of Dm7. This is a very common jazz substitution. You will find some chromaticism in the opening descending line from the D13 chord, a b5 substitution (Ab7#5), and finally a closing line that uses a typical‘scale note above, chromatic note below’, C Major chord tone idea that ends up on a natural harmonic triad that becomes a full Cmaj7 chord when the final C bass note is played. On the recorded…

Welcome to this giant feature that celebrates issue 300 of Guitar Techniques magazine. I first became a contributor back in issue 137 and couldn’t in my wildest dreams have foreseen enjoying being part of over 150 issues covering many of my favourite guitarists, music styles and tracks of all time. For this special feature we have selected 10 contrasting styles of music, in fact the styles we know you like to see in GT. We’ve then created representative licks of five guitarists that have contributed to the evolution of that style; or perhaps indeed encapsulate it. This collection of licks is in no way a definitive list or a ‘top 50’ so to speak. Instead it’s more of broad celebration of 300 issues of delivering tips and techniques that you…

Lord Of All Hopefulness is a tune that appears within the folk canon in many different guises – and names. Despite its title being that of a hymn that dates back to the 1930s with words by Jan Struther – which was heard recently at the recent royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle – the tune itself is based upon a traditional Irish song entitled Slane. It crops up in a slightly different form in Martin Simpson’s version of The Lakes Of Champlain from his album Prodigal Son. An alternative title is At The Break Of Day and features on Renbourn’s 1998 album, Traveller’s Prayer. A recording of Renbourn playing the tune live in concert as a duet with Clive Carroll in 2001 is present on a compilation…

One of the most extraordinary and seminal figures in the history of American music is the multi-instrumentalist, teacher and composer, Scott Joplin (≈1868-1917). Although some dispute remains over his birthdate and place, it’s likely he was born in Texas in 1868 (or 1867) where he was raised in a family of railway labourers. He first encountered music from his father (a freed slave and violinist), and his mother (a singer and banjo player). A dedicated music student, Joplin gathered musical training wherever he could, and with the family’s limited time and funds, he received tuition on guitar, mandolin, piano and singing. From the age of 11 to 16 he took lessons from a local music professor Julius Weiss – a German-born Jew. Weiss (who, due to his background was a…

Carlos Santana was born in Mexico in 1947. His style is instantly recognisable and he is a household name around the globe. Carlos rose to prominence in the late 60s and early 70s as founding member of the band that shares his surname. He played Woodstock in 1969, has won 10 Grammy awards and been named 20th greatest guitarist ever by Rolling Stone magazine. The band was signed by Columbia Records and began recording tracks that would make their way onto the eponymous debut album in January 1969. They played Woodstock before the album’s release, and the set showcased the band’s fantastic musicianship and Latin influences to great effect. The gig was seen as an influential factor in the album going top 5 on its release. The film of the…

The Doors formed in 1965 in Los Angeles and by the end of the year the line-up of Jim Morrison (vocals), Robby Krieger (guitar), Ray Manzarek (keys) and John Densmore (drums) was set. Each member came from different artistic backgrounds: Densmore was into jazz and Latin, Manzarek played jazz, rock and blues, Krieger studied flamenco (and had been playing just six months when he joined the band), and Morrison was more poet than singer. Their self-titled first album hit the shelves in January 1967. It featured the classic singles Break On Through (To The Other Side) and Light My Fire and has been certified as multi-platinum in a number of countries, making it their best selling record of all. Their second release, Strange Days surfaced in September that year and…

Start by setting the bass and treble controls on the lead channel of your amp flat (12 o’clock) with a slight boost in the midrange (1-2 o’clock) and then adjust the gain from around 2-4 o’clock to taste. For a studio quality sound, try adding a little reverb with a quarter-note delay set to a single repeat and placed low in the mix. Using a guitar with a humbucker set to the bridge position, and with the volume and tone controls set to maximum will give you a full and sustained tone with plenty of bite.…

Album of the Month MARTIN SIMPSON ROOTED Topic Records A new album from virtuoso Martin Simpson is always a major event. “The songs embrace nature and travel, mental health, real life, loss, politics and history…” he tells us. “Threads that that bind all this together can be followed back a long way, to 1965 when I got my first guitar and started to soak up material and ideas at a very rapid rate.” Available in both standard and deluxe formats – the latter comes with a second CD of instrumentals – Rooted comprises 13 tracks played sublimely on an eclectic collection of instruments including banjola, five-string banjo, six-string fretless banjo, electric, acoustic and resonator guitars. In the case of the album’s second track, Kimbie, it’s a Martin D-28 on which…

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 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. PLUS! * PLEASE NOTE: Only the Apple version contains interactive tab and audio. Zinio…

With GT reaching its 300th issue we’ve been reflecting on the vast amount of tuition we’ve presented you since March 1994. To augment this, we’ve been in touch with a colourful array of our celebrity friends to reflect on their early developments as musicians. Looking back, what areas did they feel could have improved their early years of playing? Read on to check out their fascinating replies... 1 JOHN MCLAUGHLIN Founding father of jazz-rock fusion guitar 1) A technique based ‘I wish’. I wish I could have had either a drum kit and teacher, or the possibility to learn and be able to articulate the fundamentals of rhythm. In improvised music, 99% of the time we play with drummers, and to fully understand what they are playing is essential…

Listening ‘properly’ Tab and notation are wonderful aids to learning any piece of guitar music. But you also have tw amazing tools of your own. In stereo, too! Yes, y ears. It’s easy to look at the tab, plot your fingers on the right strings at the right frets and say, “Learnt it!”But have you really? Take a famous lick like Jimi’s intro to Hey Joe: a million guitarists think they can play it, but listen to it again and see how he inflects every note in one way or another - he slides up, he slides down, he double-stops strings, he hammers on, he pulls off - and all in a‘throw-away’ opening lick to which he probably never gave a second thought. So use the tab for these 50…

This month we wrap up our series of four video masterclasses with avant-garde guitar virtuoso Mattias IA Eklundh. Mattias explains the process of having a quick listen to Jason Sidwell’s Smash Down and then plugging in and playing. This no-nonsense approach provides spontaneous sounding results. Mattias points out that the song is in D Minor (D-E-F-G-A-B b -C) and so he gravitates towards D Minor Pentatonic (D-F-G-A-C) and D Blues scale (D-F-G-A b -A-C). He says that pretty much all of this song can be navigated using these three scales. There is however a breakdown section (bar 46-53) which features the chords of A7 and F diminished 7. These two chords fall outside of the D Minor scale harmony. For the A7 chord Mattias targets the C# note (the major…

Posture Posture and holding the guitar correctly are important for optimum positioning of both hands in classical guitar playing. The traditional method is sitting on the front edge of an upright chair with the left foot on a footstool (for right-handed players), the guitar sits on the left thigh with the head of the instrument tilting upwards. For long hours of playing, many people prefer to have both feet on the floor keeping the pelvis level, and popular alternatives to the footstool are the Gitano guitar rest and the ErgoPlay guitar support. My personal preference is the Gitano guitar rest combined with a low footstool.…

EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 1 NOEL GALLAGHER CD TRACK 19 This exercise should be approached with heavy down strokes, noting the short bend in the second bar. Noel’s approach is one of simplicity, always serving the song, but with plenty of attitude, especially in the final two chords. EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 2 LARRY CARLTON CD TRACK 20 A challenging second exercise, especially to read, but imagine a laid-back groove underneath and reflect this in your playing. Don’t be afraid of upstrokes either, and apply a slow, cool vibrato. INTERMEDIATE LICKS EXAMPLE 3 CLUTCH CD TRACK 21 This riff in the style of the American rockers requires a one-beat bass drum approach on the E root notes with a quick flick of the fretting hand on the pull-offs. Use an upstroke attack…

It’s common practice in jazz, to take an existing chord sequence and use this as a template to create a new original melody. In jazz education, these new pieces are called contrafacts. Well-known examples include Charlie Parker’s Ornithology, with the changes taken from How High The Moon; Tad Dameron’s Hot House, or Lee Konitz’ Subconscious Lee, both derived from What Is This Thing Called Love. Even Wes Montgomery’s Four On Six is based on the changes of George Gershwin’s evergreen Porgy And Bess standard, Summertime. But one piece that stands head and shoulders above all others in terms of contrafact action is another Gershwin classic, I’ve Got Rhythm. Charlie Parker alone produced at least a dozen compositions based on this simple 32-bar sequence, structured in four eight-bar groups and arranged…

Our recent set of articles has been devoted to a series of medium-paced Mixolydian solos that demonstrate various approaches and are achievable to play from start to finish; helping to provide you with some much-needed vocabulary in this under-used speed category.In the previous lesson, the solo study (also using the Indian Pentatonic scale) employed a mixture of Jeff Beck and Jan Hammer-style lines, three-octave symmetrical patterns, sequences, groupings and pedal point ideas. Although some of these approaches will also feature in this lesson’s solo, it will mainly be devoted to the employment of repeated licks and using the Indian Pentatonic scale to provide a twisted template for blues and country-tinged ideas that one would normally hear used using the Major Pentatonic scale. Before looking at the solo, it is important…

String bending when soloing is second nature to us as guitar players, but this month we focus on using the technique to bend the lower strings in the context of riffs. We can jump straight in to Example 1 which is a nifty primer for this technique featuring some nice and easy quarter-tone bends using your second, third and fourth fingers. For the lower three strings it makes sense to pull downwards for bending as opposed to pushing upwards as we tend to do in our favourite blues licks. After this light warm-up we can start to get a little wider with our bends. Example 2 ascends the A Minor Pentatonic scale along the fifth string so there’s a mixture of tone and minor 3rd bends throughout. The concept here…

MORE OF THE WORLD’S BEST LESSONS… FEATURE #2 VIDEO CLIVE CARROLL Lord Of All Hopefulness This incredible acoustic guitarist pays homage to one of his own great heroes, the legendary John Renbourn. CLASSICAL TAB VIDEO SOGNO DI DORETTA La Rondine - Puccini Bridget Mermikides arranges a super Puccini piece, as featured in the Daniel Day Lewis film, A Room With A View. FEATURE #3 VIDEO MARTY FRIEDMAN Komorebi For this exclusive lesson Jason enlisted the mighty rock guitarist to solo over a brand new track. Watch and learn! TECHNIQUE & THEORY GREAT STUFF TO LEARN Rhythm changes; fingerstyle Learn to solo over the famous Gershwin progression, and take the next step to solo fingerstyle jazz. MORE GREAT LESSONS 30-Minute Lickbag Six more licks to challenge you Eric…