Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2020 i Total Guitar

Paul Chapman, former guitarist with UFO and Skid Row, has died aged 66. The news was confirmed by his son in a Facebook post on his father’s page: “It is with a heavy heart writing this, today is my dad’s 66th birthday. He passed away earlier this afternoon. He was a brilliant, energetic, loving and most carefree person and the first man I ever loved. Everyone he came in contact with loved him. No, ADORED him. Will keep everyone posted on his celebration of life. I appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers as his family grieves and processes everything at this time. I love you Dad. So much.” Wales-born Chapman had the unenviable task of stepping into the shoes of some of rock’s biggest guitarists: he had a brief stint replacing…

Some guitar players follow. Others build on what came before to innovate with new ideas. More than simply pushing things forward, they propel them into territories that are difficult to comprehend. Eddie Van Halen is the living, breathing embodiment of the latter description in every area of his approach to the guitar. From pioneering techniques and sounds that simply hadn’t been heard in the way he did them before, to forensically experimenting with his gear, he’s a one-off whose influence reaches far and wide, having set new standards for decades to come with guitar designs, amp tones, effects chains and manipulation of the guitar that are now staples in multiple genres. If Hendrix made the guitar sound like it was communicating with aliens, we wouldn’t be surprised to learn that…

Eddie is an aggressive picker, striking the strings hard and percussively. With a huge arsenal of playing techniques at his disposal, he constantly moves his pick hand around the guitar body to make adjustments to the volume knob and pickup selector, to use his whammy bar or the kill switch, and to find the sweet spot for his signature harmonics. Donning a 2016 standard EVH Striped Series guitar, we put together this simple breakdown of the techniques you need to know to play like the legend. 1 THUMB AND FIRST FINGER Sure, Eddie takes a standard thumb and first-finger grip at times, but he’ll also switch to thumb with first and secondfingers. 2 THUMB AND SECOND FINGER For tapping and kill-switching, Eddie tends to use his first finger,…

It’s perhaps serendipitous that we’re featuring Muse in the same issue as Eddie Van Halen; Matt’s more virtuosic playing borrows from the shred legend’s canon. Head back to p18 where you’ll find a lesson on some of Eddie’s techniques that you can also apply to the Muse mindset. Besides his classic and classical influences, Matt Bellamy has an alt-rock core – and that’s exactly what we’re looking at here. Matt’s a tight rhythm player. Not as groovy as the best funk and soul players, for example, but his metronomic, bang on the beat timing is spot-on for rock. Bear that in mind as you play through these tab examples and try to recreate that feel. As an exercise, try playing just one bar of music along to a drumbeat or…

“KING GIZZ WAS MADE TO BE LOOSE... WE DIDN’T HAVE A REHEARSAL FOR YEARS!” “My dad played guitar, and when I was a kid, he used to sing my little brother and I to sleep every night” says Stu Mackenzie, bandleader of Australian garage-psych innovators King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard. “He was a young dad, and he was learning, so it was this beautiful experience of falling asleep listening to him work out the song. It was far from performance; I think it was his meditation as well.” Through these humble beginnings, the instrument would remain a background instrument for the young Mackenzie, until he was presented with an alternate take on guitar music. “Becoming a teenager, guitar was always something that my dad did, and therefore it wasn’t…

"THE EMOTION ON THAT RECORD WILL BE AROUND FOREVER" – MALCOLM YOUNG Back In Black is many things. With more than 50 million units shifted, it is the biggest selling rock album of all time. For many, it is also the greatest hard rock record ever made. It was the album that turned AC/DC into superstars, and it has been inspiration to countless rock bands for 40 years, from Def Leppard to Metallica, Guns N’ Roses to The Darkness. Most remarkable of all is what Back In Black represents on a human level, for AC/DC’s greatest success followed their darkest hour: the death of their singer Bon Scott. Most bands would have been broken by such a loss. But with Back In Black – “our tribute to Bon,” as lead…

You’ll need to be familiar with the B minor pentatonic scale shown here. Stevie uses this extended shape, occasionally adding 9th, major 3rd or b 5th intervals for colour. In the intro, he plays the corresponding minor pentatonic scale over each chord: B minor pentatonic over a Bm chord; A minor pentatonic over A, and so on – just move the scale shape to match the chord positions. In the solo Stevie switches to the D minor pentatonic and blues scales over the D7#9 chord. This time, when the chords change to Bm, A, G and F#7#9, he sticks to B minor pentatonic. This simple approach is much easier than moving with the chords.…

Hannon’s first signature model with the company, the Love Dove is based on his 70s-era Gibson Dove, which Hannon used on Tesla tunes like What You Give and Stir It Up, as well as to record the intro to the version of the band’s classic ballad Love Song that appears on the band’s Time’s Makin’ Changes video collection. The new guitar boasts a thermally aged Sitka spruce top and maple back and sides, a three-piece maple neck and a rosewood fingerboard with mother-of-pearl parallelogram inlays. Custom appointments include a 70s-era Dove bridge with scalloped wings decorated with mother-of-pearl wing inlays, a Dove pickguard with hand-engraved and painted details, and a custom ‘Love’ engraved truss cover in Hannon’s own handwriting. There are also Grover Keystone tuners, a bone nut and LR…

It’s fair to say Steve Lacy is not your average recording musician. Just 22 years old and boasting credits that include rap megastars Kendrick Lamar and Mac Miller, crossover R&B and thrash artist Thundercat and indie rockers Vampire Weekend, the primary tools in this young guitarist’s rig are, wait for it... An iPhone and IK Multimedia iRig interface. He’ll lay down beats in GarageBand or Ableton then record guitar and bass over the top. Even his vocals are recorded with his phone’s mic. It’s about as stripped back a rig as you could possibly imagine, yet Steve recorded most of his debut solo EP, 2017’s Steve Lacy’s Demo, with this modest setup. It’s a deliberate choice, of course, and one that fuels his creative process. Steve’s main gig since 2015…

July 18th, 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Joy Division’s second and final album, Closer. This photograph from a concert in Rotterdam on January 16th, 1980 features guitarist Bernard Sumner, playing a Shergold Masquerader, alongside singer Ian Curtis. The band would play only 19 more gigs. Curtis committed suicide on May 18, 1980. Closer, issued two months later, was Joy Division’s masterpiece. Sounds critic Dave McCullough described it at the time as “breathtaking rock music”. A 40th anniversary reissue of Closer is out now. Alongside the album, remastered 12”s of 1980 singles Transmission, Atmosphere(pictured) and Love Will Tear Us Apartare included in a deluxe bundle…

Return of the King Our Guitarist of the Year 2018 releases his debut EP Canadian guitarist Gabriel Cyr has released his debut solo EP Spectrum Exploration I. The four-track EP is available on Bandcamp and streaming platforms, coming after 2018’s release of Desolation, the second album by Cyr’s prog rock band Universe Effects. Cyr was named Guitarist of the Year at the UK Guitar Show in September 2018 after being judged by a panel of TotalGuitar, Guitarist, GuitarTechniques and MusicRadar editors. Orange Crush Orange Amps launch Crest Edition wireless headphones Orange Amplification have introduced their Crest Edition wireless headphones, which last for more than 24 hours on a single charge. Available now. www.orangeamps.com…

“So, in ’79, somebody goes, ‘Hey, there’s a guy here named Floyd Rose and he wants to show you something’. He comes in and goes [with cupped hands], ‘You wanna try this?’ and I say, ‘Sure, what the f*ck, why not!?’ So I gave him one of my guitars and asked him to put it in because I didn’t know how to do it. It was different to the Fender tailpiece and it wasn’t a direct swap. “So I tried it, once it was ready to go and... It was a pain in the ass! For one, the Allen screws on the neck were very small, and in order to torque it down you’d either strip the Allen key or the screw would strip. But more importantly, when you’re playing…

Eddie’s use of thin picks points to the fact that he’s not renowned for alternate picking, usually combining legato and picking for speedier licks or using less strictly-timed tremolo picking instead. Furthermore, he will always be remembered as the man who popularised two-handed tapping. For the uninitiated, this simply means that you ‘tap’ the strings against the frets with a picking-hand finger – and it’s a relatively easy way to play blazingly fast. We’re also taking a look at Eddie’s trademark pinched harmonics, whammy bar tricks and his often underrated rhythm guitar style. You might as well Jump right in! TREMOLO PICKING TRACK 07 The idea is to play rapidly alternating downstrokes and upstrokes on each note – a typical EVH technique that’s used in the BeatItsolo, for example. Steady,…

The 1975 have always been a hard band to peg. Since the release of their self-titled debut album in 2012, the Manchester-based foursome have embraced a wide swathe of styles — acoustic balladry, bouncy Balearic house, AutoTune-abusing R&B, the slick sheen of 80s pop. Their current album, Notes On A Conditional Form, continues the genre-jumping journey, bringing elements of punk, neo-soul, downtempo electronic music and country into the band’s ever-morphing approach. And in this album’s first single, People, a song mixing T. Rex swagger with black-eyeliner screamo, there is the heaviest-sounding riff they’ve ever recorded – a riff described “ridiculous” by its creator, lead guitarist Adam Hann. “The main riff in the chorus of People, that’s one of those jokey heavy riffs you play for fun, you know?” Hann says…

Angus Young is a rock’n’roll legend, but not a man to take himself too seriously. As he once said of his art: “You don’t go to the butcher for brain surgery.” Born on March 31st, 1955 in Glasgow, the youngest of eight children, Angus was just eight years old when his family emigrated to Australia, and it was in Sydney, in 1973, that he and his older brother Malcolm, rhythm guitarist, formed AC/DC. The band went on to sell more than 200 million albums worldwide, including 50 million of Back In Black. The death of Malcolm Young on November 18, 2017 left Angus as the last remaining founder member of AC/DC. But it was Malcolm’s wish that the band carried on, banging out loud, raw rock’n’roll, just as they always…

Though occasionally spotted holding a Les Paul and an ES-335, there really is only one guitar associated with AC/DC’s duck-walking lead maestro. And it would be fair to say his loyalty to the Gibson SG has never waned. He’s well known for his 1970 Custom as used on the Back In Black tour, his black 1967 Standard and various cherry red Standards. Generally keeping his guitars un-modified, he’ll play them until they break down (pots and pickups often get waterlogged with sweat). Replacement parts are also usually stock, though his ’67 is reputedly equipped with custom Seymour Duncans. Whereas Malcolm opts for heavy strings, Angus prefers a lighter option in .009-.042s. Typically, you’ll need to dial in a lead tone with the guitar volume set to 10 and just back…

COULDN’T STAND THE WEATHER  Written by Stevie Ray Vaughan Copyright © 1984 Ray Vaughan Music, Inc. (ASCAP) All Rights Administered by Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission. STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN COULDN’T STAND THE WEATHER Intro solo (Guitar 1) Stevie’s intro is played in free time with a ‘hinted’ tempo of roughly 90bpm so aim to build up to roughly that pace before jamming along to our backing track, using the chord changes as your cue for each new phrase. Hold down the full F#7#9 shape in the final two bars, picking out the notes highlighted in the tab. STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN COULDN’T STAND THE WEATHER Main riff (Guitar 2) This riff is played by Jimmie Vaughan, who used a Leslie speaker cabinet for the chorusing effect…

Summer NAMM may not be taking place this year, but Fender has unveiled the first of its releases due for the show with the Squier Paranormal Series, which brings several forgotten gems from the Fender archive back to life. That means beloved cult classic electric guitars such as the Toronado, Cyclone, Super-Sonic and Cabronita are available again, as well as the Offset Telecaster, a new Baritone Cabronita and a fresh vintage-styled Jazz Bass configuration. These new models all feature poplar bodies available in two finishes (apart from the Baritone Cabronita), and C-shaped, gloss-finished maple necks, as well as either string-through-body hardtail bridges or Stratocaster tremolos. Something of a cult favorite among alt-rockers, the Offset Telecaster combines Tele specs with the Jazzmaster body shape. The most affordable incarnation yet boasts two…

Appearing on Biffy Clyro’s upcoming ninth studio album A Celebration Of Endings, Tiny Indoor Fireworks is based around an open Csus4 tuning. You’ll be tuning to CGCFCF, so it’s worth making up a hybrid set of strings; use a heavy gauge string for the low C, your usual preferred gauge for the third, fourth and fifth strings, and a lighter gauge for the top two strings, which, unusually, are tuned up by a semitone. All tuned up? Right, let’s crack on! The song starts in 7/4 time and the main riff lasts for seven beats. Strum the opening chords (C5, G, Fsus2) twice, with a pause after the second strum each time. Hold the Fsus2, then strum it eight times with a 16th note rhythm. Next, play the line again…

You’ve read the story of the original, but how does the new Frankie stack up? Well, without having Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstein to hand, we need to judge this guitar on its own merit. Here are the standout Frankie features... 1 NECK & FINGERBOARD EVH necks have always impressed us, and the Frankie’s lives up to previous models we’ve played. It’s 22-frets, with a standard 25.5” Fender scale length. The compound radius is the same profile as found in other Stripe models, but here, the already-comfortable oil finish takes on a new level of familiarity thanks to its worn-in appearance and feel. It’s smooth, comfortable, fast and very playable. THE FRANKIE’S NECK LIVES UP TO PREVIOUS MODELS: SMOOTH, COMFORTABLE, FAST AND VERY PLAYABLE 2 HUMBUCKER The Wolfgang humbucker…

“I know it sounds cheesy... But guitar really did save my life,” says Covet singer/ guitarist Yvette Young ahead of the release of the trio’s second full-length, Technicolor. In the middle of an interview about the key instruments, amps and effects used on its 10 dazzling shoegaze-y tracks, she drops a bombshell on how her trusty six-string was there for her in her greatest time of need, giving her the strength and courage to ponder and eventually embrace a more positive future. It’s an incredible powerful message to share. “I didn’t take guitar seriously until I was in hospital, thinking I’d have to live there for a long time,” she continues. “I was really depressed about it and decided it would be a good outlet for me. I wrote some…

HEAD ON/PILL (Float Along – Fill Your Lungs, 2013) Though not the first of the band’s studio albums, Float Along – Fill Your Lungs was the release that helped cement The Gizz’ reputation in the UK as an exciting new force in the world of garage rock. 16-minute opener Head On/Pill finds the band effortlessly combining Indian-influenced 60s psychedelia with drone-y shoegaze and Oh Sees-style guitar freakouts over a repetitive, hypnotic beat. “That was actually the first time we used two drum kits in a recording. Cav [Michael Cavanagh] has always drummed, but when Eric [Moore] joined Gizz, he was playing percussion and theremin and sh*t. We were always like, ‘We can’t have two drummers, that’s insane’, but eventually it was like, ‘F*ck it, we can have two drummers, who…

“I still think Back In Black is the benchmark sonically for how you want a rock record to sound. You have to hold it up comparatively to Back In Black, because no other album has the same power and illusion of simplicity. It’s a truly timeless record. There’s a lot more going on in the production than first meets the ear. You can’t just have guitars playing riffs, there’s more clever stuff that (producer) Mutt Lange brought to the record and as a result it really stands up. Now, as a 40 year-old record, you almost can’t believe it. My brother Dan (guitarist in The Darkness) still references it for mixes. If our mixes are not comparable to that album then it isn’t acceptable. “ANGUS SAYS HE NICKED IT ALL…

Rhythm guitar duties were covered by Stevie’s brother Jimmie, and so these barre chords relate to his playing. Both Stevie and Jimmie play the F#7#9 shown here, rather than the more familiar shape with a root on the 9th fret. By including the top string, this voicing delivers a more biting sound while leaving the root to be added by the bass player. The D7 diad on the 10th fret is used throughout the main riff, and Stevie slides into the shape from below. The final G and F shapes are used in the ending by Stevie while his brother plays full barre chords lower down the neck.…

What is tab? Tab is short for tablature, a notational system used to give detailed information as to where notes should be played on the fretboard. Tab appears underneath conventional music notation as six horizontal lines that represent the strings of the guitar, from the sixth (thick) string at the bottom to the first (thin) string at the top. On these lines, numbers represent which frets you place your fingers. For example, an A note on the 2nd fret, third string, will be shown as a number ‘2’ on the third line down on the tab. Unfretted strings are shown with a ‘0’. The key and time signatures are shown in the notation. TG also includes a timestamp to tell you where in the original track you’ll find each example…

“Well there’s something missing in this god almighty stew and it’s your brother your brother don’t forget your brother La as you were LG x”, reads the April-dated tweet pinned atop Liam Gallagher’s Twitter page. Typical philosophical food for thought from the former Oasis singer, and, though he may well be missing his guitarist brother in their seemingly endless cold war of words, it’s not evident here where six-string duties are ably handled by LG regulars Mike Moore and Jay Mehler. Like most of Liam’s gigs, you’ll find a mixture of Oasis classics and Liam’s own solo material here. Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs even joins in the show on Some Might Say, Stand By Me, Cast No Shadow and Definitely Maybe bonus track, Sad Song. As announced by Liam, it means…

Chorus 1 A Sometimes, just sometimes Maybe more than some of the time D I’m on a false ego trip Insecurity is rife I’m not the ideal person To be lecturing on life Verse1 A But if you wanna know Some things I’ve learned about myself Been in sticky situations D I won’t bore you with the filth Breaking bones and sniffing gear Pouring blood and sweat and tears In a nutshell I suppose A It’s the way the water flows D Yeah that’s the way the story goes Chorus 2 A Sometimes, just sometimes Well alright, maybe all of the time D I’m on a false ego trip Oh I’m a renegade of sorts I roam the concrete jungle Hunting idiots for sport Verse2 A And now the cocaine…