Guitar Techniques - December 2013

ISSUE 224 DECEMBER 2013

THE

Just some of your regular GT technique experts... SHAUN BAXTER One of the UK’s most respected music educators, Shaun has taught many who are now top tutors. His album Jazz Metal was hailed as a milestone.

PAUL BIELATOWICZ One of our greatest rock guitarists, Paul plays with prog legends Carl Palmer and Neal Morse, and is a most welcome regular contributor to GT.

JON BISHOP Jon is one of those great all-rounders who can turn his hand to almost any style. No ‘Jack of all trades and master of none’, he nails every one with ease!

PHIL CAPONE Phil is a great guitarist who specialises in blues amd jazz. He teaches at ICMP in London, writes for GT and Total Guitar and has published 10 top tuition books.

CHARLIE GRIFFITHS Guitar Institute tutor Charlie first came to fame in Total Guitar’s Challenge Charlie series. He’s also one of the UK’s top rock, metal and fusion guitarists.

PHIL HILBORNE The UK’s original magazine guitar tutor, Phil’s something of a legend. A great player he regularly plays guitar in the Queen musical, We Will Rock You.

TERRY LEWIS Terry has toured the world in support of a host of big name acts. He currently teaches at BIMM Brighton, writes with canny insight and plays superb guitar.

BRIDGET MERMIKIDES Guildhall and Royal Academy trained, Bridget is a Royal College of Music, examiner, a respected classical player and award winning blues guitarist.

Welcome WHILE WE’D NEVER presume to say who’s the ‘best’ guitarist in any particular genre, it’s undeniable that certain players bubble to the surface and create a special kind of stir. What fascinates so many people about the blues is that it’s such a broad form of music. early Mississippi minstrels to modern fusiontinged wizards; yet there’s always something that tells you, within just a second or two of listening, that it’s blues. Now I can’t say what that is. Not all blues songs are three chords and they’re certainly not all slow dirges; but a few bars of Robben Ford and ditto from T-Bone Walker, and you know instantly that you’re sipping from the same musical cup. Is it the ‘blue’ notes are there deeper, more spiritual things we’re feeling? If you’re a blues fan - and this month really should get the greatest names in blues (it just styles and pulled out what he regards as the musical essence of each.

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Now, particularly in blues, if you know where to look and possess the skills to do it, you can extract enough of a player’s DNA to get under their skin and see what makes their playing

fantastically wide stylistic landscape. From the easy swing of T-Bone to the technical mastery of Gary Moore, the sophisticated lines of Ray - plus a whole host of points in between - I taste of what the blues can bring you. What any blues pundit will tell you is their musical emulating those that came before them. So our I’ll see you next month...

[email protected]

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JACOB QUISTGAARD Music Tech’s Jacob is a fantastic find. Not only is his writing great but he’s a superb player who can turn his hand to anything. Welcome aboard, Jacob!

STUART RYAN Stuart is Head Of Guitar at BIMM Bristol, teaches at Bath Spa University and is a top solo acoustic guitar virtuoso. His debut CD, The Coast Road, is out now.

ANDY SAPHIR A top teacher at the Guitar Institute (ICMP), Andy is a phenomenal player in a host of styles. He mixes just the right degree of flash with consummate taste.

TRISTAN SEUME One of ACM Guildford’s leading tutors Tristan is also mega busy on the folk circuit playing with Jackie Oates. His brand new CD Middle Child is out now!

JOHN WHEATCROFT A truly phenomenal guitarist John heads up the guitar facility at Tech Music Schools in London. He’s a master at all styles but a legend in Gypsy jazz.

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 Most songs and lessons have the audio built in, with a moving cursor showing you exactly where you are in the music. Simply tap the ‘play’ button then you can fastforward or scroll back at will.

Play the videos Certain of the articles have accompanying videos full of useful insight and additional information. Once again, tap the play buttons to enjoy video masterclasses on your iPad or smartphone.

PLUS! Get a FREE iPad/iPhone sample of GT. For full details and how to receive our digital edition regularly, go to bit.ly/guitartechniques (if you live in the UK) or bit.ly/guitartechus (overseas). You can also find us on www.zinio.com (NB: Zinio editions do not yet have interactive tab or audio).

December 2013 GuitarTechniques 5

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LEARNING ZONE LESSONS INTRODUCTION

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30MINUTE LICKBAG

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Our music editor Jason Sidwell introduces this month’s feature packed Lessons section.

BIMM’s Terry Lewis has six more licks for you in easy, intermediate and advanced flavours!

BLUES

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ROCK

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CREATIVE ROCK

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HOT COUNTRY

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PROG

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JAZZ

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ACOUSTIC

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ROCKSCHOOL

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Wheaty goes down to the crossroads to trade licks with the legendary Robert Johnson.

Martin Cooper visits Madchester to take a look at the style of native band the Stone Roses.

Shaun Baxter continues his series on intervallic soloing with a look at the jarring 7th. Andy Saphir meets another modern country superstars, the mega-selling Shania Twain.

Paul Bielatowicz on the unique guitar mastery of King Crimson’s masterful Robert Fripp. Pete Callard outlines the guitar style of Mississippi born jazz genius, Mundell Lowe.

COVER FEATURE GIANTS OF BLUES Play like 11 of the best!

Stuart Ryan starts a brand new series on contemporary singer-songwriters - this month it’s Ben Howard.

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JOBY SESSIONS

Jacob Quistgaard unveils the guitar styles of T-Bone, the three Kings, SRV, Clapton, Albert Collins, Gary Moore, Buddy Guy and more!

FEATURES 30

TRANSCRIPTION #1 Learn Eva’s unique folky take on the much loved jazz standard Autumn Leaves and appreciate what a special talent she was!

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THEORY GODMOTHER

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David Mead addresses your technical, musical and theoretical issues.

TALKBACK

Tell us your views... we do want to know!

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INTRO

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BACK ISSUES

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News, One-Minute Lick, 60 Seconds With, What Strings, That Was The Year and more... Missed one? See how you can get it – here!

ALBUMS

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Top guitar CDs and DVDs reviewed and rated.

TAB GUIDE

TRANSCRIPTON #2 VERDI La Donna e Mobile

WELCOME

Nev on the power of the blues.

Detune your sixth string (low E) further and open up a whole new world of styles, from bone crunching nu metal to airy Americana!

EVA CASSIDY Autumn Leaves

VIDEO MASTERCLASS

REGULAR FEATURES

SPECIAL FEATURE DROP TUNING Extend your guitar’s range

Charlie Griffiths continues his A-Z with P for Palm muting, Pre-bends and Phrygian mode!

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Our terms and signs explained.

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Bridget Mermikides arranges and transcribes a familiar and highly popular Verdi piece from Rogoletto, for solo classical guitar.

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Play Jeff’s Beck’s awesome Over The Rainbow, get more from your delay pedal and more!

ROBBEN FORD PT1

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Robben shares his bluesy secrets with you, so get ready to sound cool and sophisticated...


Post your playing posers and technical teasers to: Theory Godmother, Guitar Techniques, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, BA1 2BW; or email me at [email protected] - your wish is my command! Diminished Responsibility!

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EXAMPLES 1 - 8

Dear Theory Godmother I am trying to learn how to use the diminished 7th chord in a jazz rhythm context. It occurred to me that when I was at school I found it helpful to hear an unfamiliar word in a sentence - this helped to underline its meaning and I wondered if a similar approach might be helpful here. So, could you detail a jazz accompaniment part where the diminished chord is used strategically, please? I think if I played through something containing this type of chord it would help my ear enormously! Joe Jazz musicians often refer to the diminished as either the ‘go anywhere’ or ‘get out of jail free’ chord as, once it’s part of your vocabulary, it can come in very handy indeed. The diminished chord is made up from layered minor 3rds and so the spelling of a C diminished would be C, Eb, Gb and A (Ex 1 shows a fretboard friendly version). Because the intervals are effectively symmetrical, this is also the spelling of Eb, Gb and A diminished and this way you have four chordal possibilities from a single shape. This is a good enough feat in itself - fewer chord shapes to remember - but the diminished also has some other interesting tricks up its sleeve, as it can sometimes act as a substitute for a dominant 7th, too. The dissonance at the heart of every dominant 7th is the b5th between its 3rd and 7th - the interval that demands resolution. This is achieved when we move from the 7th to the tonic (Ex 2). If we analyse the diminished 7th, we find no fewer than four b5ths: in C dim it’s between the C and Gb, plus the Eb and A; and if we invert those intervals, Gb and C and A and Eb. So the diminished chord can imply a V-I resolution in four major keys and four minor keys, too. So this one chord can substitute for a dominant 7th in the keys Db major and minor, E major and minor, Bb major and minor and finally G major and minor (Ex

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3). Play through the examples and you should be able to hear a similar effect to a V-I resolution in all cases. One chord, eight different keys - now you know why it’s called the ‘go anywhere chord’! In Ex 4 I’ve put together an example of this attribute in action where you can hear it act as a kind of chromatic glue to make a sequence sound more fluid, filling in the gaps and making the sequence slightly classier. The Abdim is leading the ear towards the Am7 and the Bbdim does the same for the Bm7 chord. In the voicings I’ve given you, an ascending chromatic bass line makes the accompaniment sound logical and complete. Play through it a few times and hopefully you’ll hear how this dissonant sounding chord can be an effective ally in a jazz context.

Mind Games

Dear Theory Godmother Something a bit strange is happening when I practise. If I’m learning a lick at a quicker tempo than I’m comfortable with, then stop to noodle something mindless before going back to the

difficult lick, it seems to flow a little easier, as if it’s sinking in while my brain is distracted! Is this a recognised phenomenon? I’d be interested in a discussion about the psychology of practice generally – tips and tricks to get in the right mental state and get the brain receptive to new things.

If you’re attempting anything tricky at the beginning of a practice session it’s going to put up a lot more barriers, as you won’t be ‘warmed up’ and ready to take on new fretboard trials. So it’s possible that noodling for a few minutes allows the hand, eyes and ears to tackle the unfamiliar material in a more prepared state. Another possibility is that you’re simply trying too hard. In his book The Inner Game Of Music, Barry Green refers to the process of ‘having the courage to let go’ - like a non-swimmer being brave enough to let go of the edge of the pool and trust that they will float! So often the answer is to find the off switch and engage autopilot. I had a

student once who was having trouble holding down an F chord. I told her to keep trying then distracted her by asking about her holiday. While she was telling me, she managed to play a clean F major with no problem at all - she’d just been trying too hard. Occupying the analytical side of the brain with something and letting the creative side take over will often produce results - I’ve seen it in my own playing and that of students. Obviously this is all well and good, but hard to summon up and put into practice. However, we can do our best by making sure that the practice environment is relaxed, quiet and with as few distractions as possible (ironically, in view of what I’ve just said). Deliberately take a slow, organised and methodical approach, without the temptation to be over-critical of the results. Most of all, believe in your ability to conquer any problems you may encounter. Good luck!

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Write to: Guitar Techniques, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath BA1 2BW. Email: [email protected] using the header ‘Talkback’. STAR LETTER WRITE ONE AND WIN A PRIZE! BACKING TRACKS IN GUITAR SHOPS?

Reading Issue 221 (September 2013) I thought the article, Soloing Over Chords was great. Having the backing tracks to play over helped me a lot, because I

A GOOD PANNING!

ISTOCKPHOTO/ ALEXRODAVLAS

When you publish a tabbed song with demo and backing tracks for twin lead groups - Alter Bridge, Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash, etc - it would be very useful if the actual demo track (not the backing track) had the individual lead guitars tracked to separate channels. For example, Total Guitar published Alter Bridge's Blackbird in issue 221 (Dec 2011) - but the twin leads of Miles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti, as performed by the Total Guitar writer, are mixed to centre stage, 1 each guitar part (especially at the early stages of the learning process). Having separate tracking for the individual leads would enable single guitarists learning either (or both) of the guitar parts to pan the speaker output to mask the other guitar. This optional extra would also provide added timing markers for solo starts that the backing track by itself does not often offer. The alternative would be to provide two backing tracks with separate guitar parts on each. Colin Lloyd Well I can’t speak for other magazines, Colin, but on GT we do endeavour to make our transcriptions and backing tracks as useful to the end user as possible. And that usually means panning guitar tracks left and right or creating separate tracks with one or other guitar missing. The problem we have there is simply one of cost – every time you create another backing track, it costs the same again as the original track in licensing fees. Needless to say we want to use our limited budget as fruitfully as we can and so on occasion compromises have to be made. I’m sure that’s the case with other magazines too. In the meantime, your comments have been noted.

instrument, as you can’t play both rhythm and lead at the same time (unless you’re Paul Gilbert). Thinking about it, I wish they would adopt this technique in music shops, as it is very daunting to walk in, avoiding the stares of the ‘has-beens’ and ‘wannabes’ to then pick up a guitar and try it out. It would be nice if the shop assistant would see you’re interested in a particular guitar, realise that you’re a little nervous and ask if you would like a play together or play along to a backing track, something you’re 2 and watch; if they would sit down next to the customer and play some basic chord progression or other, this would allow the customer to feel at ease playing too, and potentially sell more guitars! Also they should read your magazine as it’s ace - and they might learn a thing or two! Yan Actually Yan, that’s a spectacular idea! It certainly can be daunting trying out guitars or amps in a shop. Even hardened geezers like me find it so sometimes – what you want to do is find out if the product works for you, but end up feeling you have to put on some kind of performance – especially if people are indeed watching. I’m sure many

A ROAR FOR RORY!

At last! Thank you to John Wheatcroft for his feature on the late, great Rory Gallagher. John is obviously a fan, and his enthusiasm and evident respect for Rory I can ! went to was to see Rory at the National Stadium in Dublin - an old boxing venue that only held about a thousand people. I was 14, and I

John Wheatcroft: passionate in his blues articles

Are guitar stores daunting places to play?

players have gone out of a shop with the wrong amp or guitar for them when, with a stylistically relevant backing track or sympathetic member of staff to play familiar things with, might have made a very different decision. I will ask a few guitar store owner friends what they think of the idea. In the meantime I’m glad you enjoyed the Soloing Over Chords peice and trust that our Giants Of Blues piece this month will prove as player-friendly.

STAR LETTER PRIZE Our friends at Sound Technology are donating a fab DigiTech HardWire pedal to our Star Letter writer every month.

came out with my ears ringing and every cell in my body buzzing. Back then, in Ireland in those pre-U2 days, Rory, Thin Lizzy and Van Morrison were about our only homegrown heroes on the international music stage. So seeing Rory up close, tearing down the house with his famously battered Strat, or opening my young ears to vintage blues like Blind Boy Fuller's Pistol Slapper Blues, had a huge and lasting effect. I saw Rory a couple more times over the years, as well as live performances on television, and he always played with total commitment and huge passion. Live was when Rory was at his most exciting. His playing could get wild, almost sloppy sometimes, but the U was incredible. He played everything like his life depended on it, and we loved him for that, not technical prowess. I read somewhere that Jimi Hendrix, on being asked what it was like being the greatest guitar player in the world, replied, "I don't know. Ask Rory Gallagher".

Thanks John, for featuring one of the unsung greats. Karl Farren, Mullumbimby, New South Wales, Australia That’s interesting, Karl – considering we recently got a bit of flak for featuring Rory “all the time”. It’s also interesting that you say Rory, Van Morrison and Thin Lizzy were your only home-grown talent - well, not a bad little list if you ask me! But you are right about John Wheatcroft’s article, and I’m sure he’ll appreciate your comments. John does indeed bring enormous passion to everything he writes – in fact I often say to Cliff and Jason here on the team, that you can feel the respect and admiration he has for certain artists in his writing. And you’re equally right about Rory too – absolute dedication in every performance, giving every last ounce of himself to the performance and to his audience. It will be a while before there’s anyone quite like him – if indeed it ever happens! Thinking about it, he perhaps should have appeared in our 11 Giants Of Blues feature, but perhaps it’s best we don’t overdo Rory for the moment. However, there should be enough other greats to get your teeth into there!


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Jam Tracks Tips Use these tips to navigate our bonus backing tracks.

It’s a guitar show, it’s great, and it’s British!

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1. Soul ballad In C The verse chords are: C-E7-AmC7-F-G11-C-Gaug, so C major scale (C D E F G A B) or C major pentatonic (C D E G A) will work over most of it; chords to watch are the E7 and Gaug: try targeting the 3rd (G#) in the E7 and the #5 (D#) in the Gaug. Working out unusual bends into these notes is a good tip. The bridge chords go (from a lead-in C7): Dm-G-C-AmD7-G-Gaug. Watch the Gaug again; there’s also a second bridge with a ‘trick’ A7: you’ll need to devise a way to cope with its 3rd (C#) too. 2. Rocky shuffle in A Chuck style double-stops work great here, using A minor pentatonic (A C D E G) with added major 3rd (C#) plus 6th (F#) and 9th (B). Or try Mixolydian (A B C# D E F# G), which will lend a more sophisticated sound . 3. Dominant slow blues in A A blues scale (A C D D# E G), with added 3rd (C#), 9th (B) and 6th (F#) creates an ‘uber’ scale: A B C C# D D#(Eb) E F# G. See all those semitones - can you fit in a nice chromatic run? 4. Texas shuffle in A Try using just Am pentatonic (A C D E G) for ZZ-style bends and double-stops. Only add other notes (those listed in Track 3) when completely happy with your efforts. Then go A major pentatonic (A B C# E F#) - a little more like Lynyrd Skynyrd. End runs on strong notes (A, C#, E etc) or your solos will sound weak.

The Glove - makes for hot fingers!

Artful guitar exhibition

Avoid musical mid-life crisis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

Guitar art from abstract painter Patrick Fisher

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

The ultimate multi-delay unit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

Meet our new friend Sigmund the delay plug-in

'(.*5' % (=*3(&5%&%5#)(%-#$'4(*%(0%1"#%'(01=&$#% 0$()%=== 5 7()% ($%34'1#*%1(%1"#%&.54(% 5#)(*'1$&14(*'%1"#$# %&*5%7"#7 %41%(.1%+(.$'#30 %

PHIL HILBORNE’S ONE-MINUTE LICK JAZZ-BLUES QUESTION & ANSWER !"#%)&4*%)(140%0(.*5%&1%6#&1'%A; %(0%1"#% $'1%1"$##%6&$'%4'%&*%L% 63.#'%'7&3#% L% % %J6%J% D%347K%$#)4*4'7#*1%(0%1"#%1+2#%(0%2"$&'#% .'#5%6+%1"#%>$#&1%<& %23&+#$% #**+% .$$#33?%91%"&'%6##*%1&66#5% "#$#%0($%&%1"$##; *>#$%0$#114*>;"&*5%&22$(&7"%&*5%4'%"(=%9% =(.35%23&+%41?% (=#-#$I%40%+(.%2$#0#$%1(%23&+%41% *>#$;2#$;0$#1% '1+3#I%1"&1%4'%# .&33+% *#?% (147#%&3'(%1"&1%1"#%(*3+%5400#$#*7#% 6#1=##*%6&$'%A%&*5% %4'%1"&1%1"#% %*(1#%4'%$#2#&1#5?%!"4'%4'%&% '4)23#%6.1%)('1%#00#714-#%5#-47#%1(%.'#%4*%+(.$%23&+4*>I%&'%41%

6$4*>'%&11#*14(*%1(%1"#%*(1#%4*% .#'14(*I%&*5%&3'(%&55'%'.613#% -&$4#1+?%!"#% *&3%6&$%7(*1&4*'%&%>$&5.&3%1"4$5;'1$4*>%1(*#%6#*5% %1(%JD%0(33(=#5%6+%&*%&77#*1#5%L%*(1#%(*%1"#% $'1%'1$4*>?%95#&'% 34K#%1"4'%&$#%$#)4*4'7#*1%(0%>$#&1%63.#'%>.41&$4'1'%'.7"%&'%L36#$1% 4*>%&*5% 1#-4#% &+% &.>"&* %9 5%$#7())#*5%23.7K4*>%"&$5% .'4*>%+(.$%0$#114*>%"&*5 '%'#7(*5% *>#$%;%41%=433%'(.*5%0&$%)($#% &.1"#*147%1"4'%=&+?%L'%&3=&+'I%5(* 1%0($>#1%1(%7()2('#%&*5%1"#*% &223+%'4)43&$%347K'%(0%+(.$%(=* %


60Se

nds wi...

A minute’s enough to discover what makes a great guitarist tick. This month, Santana and Journey’s incredible Neal Schon!

GT: Who was your first influence to play the guitar? NS: The first time I heard The Beatles I was like, ‘What is that jangling sound?’ That was it! Then it was the rest of the British Invasion.

Neal Schon with his groovy looking PRS

GT: What was the first guitar you really lusted after? NS: We were a modest, middle-class family and my Dad got me a Stella. My fingers bled. Then I upgraded to a Silvertone from Sears. But it was the Gibson ES-335 – from my dad again – which was stolen. GT: What was the best gig you ever did? NS: A lot were great. The Hammersmith Odeon on my first Santana tour was one. Jimmy Page came. Eric Clapton came. Everyone was there. And with Journey at the Rose Bowl, for Bill Graham - the final show on the 1981-2 Escape tour. We were the first rock band to play there. It was sold out. Everyone had their lighters going, so the place was lit up like a Christmas tree.

GT: What’s the most important musical lesson you ever learnt? NS: It still applies today: listen. Listen well to who’s around you. Don’t go off in your own world. Even if you’re the leader of the band, you gotta listen to what everyone’s doing. GT: Do you still practise? NS: Every day! I noodle a lot to keep my fingers moving. There’s this footage of Wes Montgomery warming up – he’s playing blisteringly fast, and as accurately as he could. I try to warm up with all my limbs. When I’m home, off the road, I practise rather more - or if I’m recording. GT: Do you have a pre-gig warm-up routine and can you share it with us? NS: We add different songs from night to


Hammersmith Odeon on my first Santana tour. Eric Clapton came. Jimmy Page came. Everyone! night, and rehearse backstage. Our crew plays well enough that they can sound check. We run through a new song once or twice, and we’re ready. I also do my own warm-up for 10-15 minutes, as previously mentioned. GT: If you could put together a fantasy band with you in it, who would the others be? NS: There are so many great musicians, but you don’t know till you play with them if it will make magic. Mitch Mitchell against Jimi’s electric blues was amazing. I like jazzier drums with a rock guitar sound. Singers: Paul Rodgers, Arnel Pineda, Steve Perry, John Waite! But Paul brings something different to the table, he brings me back to my blues roots. GT: Who’s the greatest guitarist ever? NS: I can’t pick just one. That said, Jimi Hendrix is timeless; he was unique; he paved the way; he would go where no one had gone before.

GT: Is there a solo by somebody else that you wish you had played? NS: Yes, I wish I had played Jimi Hendrix’s All Along The Watchtower. GT: What’s the solo or song of your own that you’re most proud of? NS: Everybody’s Everything on the Santana 3 record. I played lead guitar on the track, Carlos played rhythm and bass and we had the Tower Of Power horns. It was the number one hit single on radio from that record. GT: What would you most like to be remembered for? NS: The bands I’ve played in, and for being known as a good musician. For more info on Neal’s live shows, album releases and lots of other good stuff go to www.schonmusic.com

JOBY SESSIONS

GT: And your worst playing nightmare? NS: I spent three years with Paul Rodgers, which was amazing, electrifying. Deen Castronovo on drums, Todd Jensen on bass. We did songs from Free, Bad Company, The Firm, and our Muddy Waters tribute album. I got Paul to do some Hendrix. We’re at Woodstock 2. Slash sat in. The rains came. Equipment shorted out. It was a disaster gig for me. It was so frustrating to be at an event like that and have it turn out that way.

What Strings Do You Use? ANDY SCOTT OF SWEET

We ask a great guitarist all those little questions you really DO want the answers to. This month we meet Andy Scott of Sweet... GT: Do you have a type of pick that you can’t live without? /% (1%$#&33+ %9%>#1%&33%)+%247 '% 0$()% 47&1(% =##1%3(>(%(*#%'45#% &*5%)+%'4>*&1.$#%(*%1"#%(1"#$ % 23.'%&%0#=%"#&-+%>&.>#%<.'1%4*%7&'# GT: You have to give up all your pedals but 3: which do you keep? /%9%.'#%&% (''% ; %34-#%&*5%&% % (5%4*%1"#%'1.54(% '2341%4*1(%&% #*5#$%($% &$'"&33%&'%=#33 %'(%9% >.#''%1"&1%&*'=#$'%41'#30 %9%5(%)4''% 1"#% &*% $)'1$(*>% $##*% 4*>#$% 1"&1%9%"&5%4*%1"#% '%1"(.>" %="47"% =&'%>$#&1%0($%"&$)(*47%(71&-#' GT: Do you play anything else well enough to do it in a band? /%9%'1&$1#5%(.1%&'%&%6&''%23&+#$% &*5%9%&)%7(*'45#$4*>%&% =##1%1(.$% 7&33#5% *5+% *% &'': %9%5(%"&-#%&% >(%=41"% #+6(&$5'%6.1%(*3+%4*%1"#% '1.54(%="#$#%9%7&*%$#2&4$%)4'1& #' GT: If a music chart were put in front of you, could you read it? /% .114*>%'"##1%).'47%4*%0$(*1%(0% )('1%>.41&$4'1'%4'%1"#%6#'1%=&+%1(% '".1%1"#)%.2 GT: Do guitar cables really make a difference? What make are yours? /% &63#'%7&*%)& #%&%3(1%(0% 5400#$#*7# %9%'1433%.'#%1"#% (*'1#$% 7&63#'%9%247 #5%.2%4*%1"#% 1&1#'% % +#&$'%&>(8%+(.%7&*%$(33%,4>"1%7&'#'% (-#$%1"#)%&*5%1"#+%&$#%*(4'#3#'' GT: Is there anyone’s playing (past or present) that you’re slightly jealous of? /% -#$+%>.41&$%23&+#$%="(%"&'% 1$47 %1"&1%+(.%5(*:1

Sweet today, with Andy Scott second from the right

GT: Your house or studio is burning down: which guitar do you salvage, and why? /%9%7&*:1%$#&33+%&*'=#$%1"&1 % +% ($4>4*&3% % ; %4*%7"#$$+% ="47"%=&'%.'#5%(*%)('1%(0%1"#% =##1%"41' %4'%4*%1"#% $414'"% .'47% 2#$4#*7#% .'#.)%&1%1"#% % $#*&%4*% (*5(*%'(%2$#'.)&63+% 1"&1%4'%'&0# %9%247 #5%.2%&%!&+3($% '(3456(5+%="#*%9%-4'41#5%1"#% 0&71($+%4*% &340($*4&%#&$34#$%1"4'% +#&$%&*5%9% *5%)+'#30%5((534*>% (*%41%$&1"#$%&%3(1 %'( GT: What’s your favourite amp and how do you set it? /% 4-#%9%"&-#%6##*%.'4*>% &$'"&33% '%'4*7#%1"#%#&$3+% '% 6.1%)($#%$#7#*13+%9:-#%'=417"#5%1(% '%6#7&.'#%1"#%'(.*5%(*%'1&>#% "&'%5#7$#&'#5%'34>"13+%&*5%

DICK BARNATT

Solid gold picks! &21($% 47 '%"&-#%&**(.*7#5%1"#% 3&.*7"%(0%1"#4$%# 73.'4-#% 43-#$%&*5% (35% &21($%>401%'#1' % &21($:'% '43-#$%&*5%>(35%23#71$.)'%"&-#% 6##*%7$#&1#5%1(%$#2$#'#*1%1"#% .314)&1#%>401%'#1%'.41&63#%0($%&*+% (77&'4(* % 4>"3+%7(33#71463# %1"#4$% # 73.'4-#%5#'4>*%4'%)&5#% 4*54-45.&33+%1(%($5#$%&*5%7$&01#5%4*% 1"#% %6+%'()#%(0%1"#%7(.*1$+:'% *#'1%7$&01')#* % &7"%247 %4'% "&33)&$ #5%1(%2$(-45#%&''.$&*7#% (0%6(1"%2.$41+%&*5% .&341+ %!"#%

)(*41($4*>%*(=%4'%2$#11+%>((5 %9% 5(*:1%>#1%(*%=41"%4*;#&$'%'(%9%'1433% )(-#%&%641%(0%&4$ %9*%1"#%'1.54(%9% "&-#%&%1=##5% $(% .*4($ %&% ( % ! %&% &)&"&%! %&*5%&%7(.23#% (0% &$'"&33' % #114*>'%(*%34-#%>4>'% &$#%2$#11+%,&1%;% *(6'%&$(.*5% % (:73(7 %)&'1#$%2$(6&63+%.2%1(% % (:73(7 %6&''%'4)43&$%="47"%3#&-#'% #*(.>"%3##=&+%0($%'1&>#% &5<.'1)#*1 %9%3#1%1"#% ; %5(%1"#% =($ %!"#+%5(%'&+%1"&1%40%1"#$#%&$#% )($#%1"&*%'4 % *(6'%(*%+(.$%&)2% 1"#*%+(.%&$#%2$(6&63+%(*#%(0%1"#) GT: What kind of action do you have on your guitars? /%9%.'.&33+%'1(*#%1"#%0$#1'%5(=*% &6(-#%1"#% 1"%0$#1%1(%"#32%=41"% 6. 4*>%#17 GT: What strings do you use? /% 47&1(% ; %(*%)+%'1&>#%

1$&1' %&31"(.>"%9%"&-#%6##0#5%.2% 1(% '%(*%&%7(.23#%(0%>.41&$'%;% '34>"13+%"#&-4#$%>&.>#'%(*%'1.54(% >.41&$'%.'#5%0($%$"+1")' % $#1'7"% .(; #1 % &*#3#71$( % .$*'%&*5% %#17%&*5%&%"4>"#$%&714(*%(*%)+% !"4*34*#%!#3#%1"&1%4'%.'#5%0($%'345# % 7(.'147%>.41&$'%;%&% &$14*% %&*5% &% 46'(*% .))4*>64$5%&$#%'1$.*>% =41"%34>"1%>&.>#%6$(* #%=(.*5 GT: And lastly, what are you up to at the moment? /% =##1%&$#%&6(.1%1(%>(%&*5%$(7 % .''4& %0(33(=#5%6+%&% %1"#&1$#% 1(.$%=41"% 3&5#%0(3(=#5%6+%&%1(.$% (0% .'1$&34& %!"#*%41:'%&% .$(2#&*% $(7 ;73.6%1(.$%2#$0($)4*>%'()#%(0% 1"#%*#=%)&1#$4&3%0$()% %;% #=% ($ % (**#714(* %="47"%4'%&% 7(33#714(*%(0%7(-#$'%2#$0($)#5%&'% 40%1"#+%=#$#% =##1%($4>4*&3'

Raptor’s gold and acrylic picks

'(345%'43-#$%247 '%=#4>"%4*%&1%&%"#01+% %>$&)'%="43#%1"#% ;7&$&1%>(35% -#$'4(*%73(7 '%4*%&1%(-#$% % (1"% >401%'#1'%7()#%=41"%-#3-#1+%54'23&+% 6( %&%7()23#1#%'#1%(0% .&341+% 7$+347% &21($%247 '% =41"%-#3-#1+% 2(.7"%1(( %&*5%&%7#$14 7&1#%(0% &.1"#*14741+ % $47#'%&$#% %0($% 1"#% 43-#$%>401%'#1%&*5% %0($%1"#% ;7&$&1% (35%'#1 %!"#+%&$#%&-&43&63#% (*3+%0$()% &21($% 47 '%54$#713+ % 4'41%=== $&21($247 ' 7()%0($% 0.$1"#$%5#1&43' %


That Was The Year...

Edwards’ golden floral design for guitarist Hizaki

1936 Kings, planes and bears

GIBSON INTRODUCES the EH-100 combo, with 8-watts output and a varying compliment of valves. It uses a 10-inch field-coil speaker (like on early radios), with two inputs at the back but no controls. It’s destined to be modified on a regular basis and in order to supply other dealers not on their certified distribution list Gibson releases many under the Cromwell label. MAKING THEIR WAY into the world are Buddy Holly, Bill Wyman, Buddy Guy, Tommy Steele, Roger Miller, James Jamerson, Glenn Campbell, Roy Orbison, Engelbert Humperdinck, Bobby Darin and Kris Kristofferson. On their way out are John Mills Jr (The Mills Brothers guitarist/singer), Frank Hornby (Hornby Model Railways, Dinky Toys and Meccano) and author Rudyard Kipling. KING GEORGE V DIES and Prince Edward succeeds as King Edward VIII. An attempt to shoot him during trooping of the colour is thwarted but his relationship with Wallis Simpson causes concern with parliament so he abdicates and leaves for Austria. Prince Albert then becomes King, ruling as King George VI. JOHN D’ANGELICO PRESENTS the Excel archtop acoustic featuring a bound body with flamed maple back and sides, book matched hand carved solid spruce top and a pair of f-holes. The hardware includes gold plated Sta-Tite open gear tuners and a Grover tailpiece. It carries a bound deco style tortoiseshell scratchplate and the overall quality is simply superb, setting the standard for others to follow. NAT KING COLE STARTS RECORDING as does Count Basie with his own band; Billboard Magazine publishes its first music hit parade and along with hit songs like Bing Crosby’s Pennies From Heaven and Fred Astaire’s A Fine Romance, we find It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie by Fats Waller; and Robert Johnson with Cross Road Blues and Sweet Home Chicago! THE FIRST RUPERT BEAR ANNUAL is published featuring stories and artwork by the great Alfred Bestall; the BBC launches its TV service; Pinewood Studios opens; the Supermarine Spitfire K5054 prototype has its first test flight; the GPO introduces the speaking clock and red telephone boxes; the Short Flying Boat makes its first flight; the Jarrow March brings recently unemployed miners to London; the Crystal Palace is destroyed by fire; and the RMS Queen Mary makes her maiden voyage. THE VEGA ELECTROVOX ELECTRIC GUITAR appears sporting a bound and carved acoustic body finished in black. It is visually dominated by a large horseshoe magnet that is part of the dual-coil counter-wound (early humbucking) pickup. It has a full rich sound and is soon favoured by Charlie Christian. Later Hank Marvin gets one from a friend in Newcastle then passes it to Bruce Welch after buying an Antoria. Both guitars are used extensively on early Cliff Richard recordings.


Made In Japan &*+%'&+%1"&1% &2&*%4'%6#7()4*>% 1"#%3&$>#'1%).'47%)&$ #1%4*%1"#% =($35%&*5%&'%)('1%(0%1"#% &2&*#'#% )&$ #1%4'%5()4*&1#5%6+% 7(*1#)2($&$+% &2&*#'#% (7 % ; (7 %41:'%*(1%'.$2$4'4*>%1"&1% 1"#% %"&'%5#-#3(2#5%&*% .*5#$>$(.*5%0(33(=4*>%(0%'.7"% ).'47 % "&1%4'%'.$2$4'4*>%4'%1"&1% &2&*#'#%)&*.0&71.$#5% 4*'1$.)#*1'%"&-#%&3'(%7$#&1#5%&% 0(33(=4*>%4*%1"#% % 5=&$5'% .41&$' %0$()% &2&* %4'%(*#%(0%1"#% 6$&*5'%1(%"&-#%6.431%.2%&%7$#5463#% $#2.1&14(*%&'%)&*.0&71.$#$'%(0% .&341+%4*'1$.)#*1'%&1%&00($5&63#% 2$47#' % $#-4(.'3+%(*3+%'(35%4*% &2&* % 5=&$5':%*#=% $14'1'% #$4#'%

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

HOT FOR TEACHER YOUR RGT TUTOR WHO? Joe Sunday TOWN: Mansfield, Nottinghamshire STYLES TAUGHT: Rock, pop, blues, and all general styles SPECIALITY: Rock LEVELS: Casual, style-based tuition from beginner to advanced abilities – RGT grades also taught if desired READING: All levels catered for CHARGES: £12 per one-hour lesson SPECIAL: Fully-equipped music room/studio; lessons can be recorded and I also offer a basic guitar set-up service Tel: 07922 006271 or 01623 614290 EMAIL: guitarlessonsmansfield@ hotmail.co.uk

Slade and Sweet:

Learn your chords and scales in all keys if you can!

Legends of the 1970s!

Two of the greatest and most exuberant live bands of the 1970s are teaming up for a major UK Tour that runs right through to Christmas. This is the second time the two legendary pop bands have shared a full tour bill - and they’re back by huge popular demand. Slade and Sweet are synonomous with foot-stomping pop music. They provided a backdrop to a whole generation and era. Between them they produced hit after hit that gave full vent to the loud and the glamorous, steam-rolling their way through the charts in a relentless progression of hit after hit. The clothes, the hairstyles, the glorious feelgood factor of it all saw them sweep all before them. Loud, outrageous flamboyance and pure unadulterated fun - that was Slade. Glitz, blitz and a dangerous edge - that was the Sweet. Tickets for the UK tour are on sale now from all usual outlets priced £21.50 - £29 depending on venue. The dates are as follows:

November Friday 1st - Coventry, Warwick Arts; Saturday 2nd - Tunbridge Wells, Assembly Hall; Sunday 3rd - Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes Theatre; Tuesday 5th - King’s Lynn, Corn Exchange; Thursday 7th - Stoke On Trent, Victoria Hall; Sunday 10th - Dartford, Orchard Theatre; Tuesday 12th - Ipswich, Regent Theatre; Wednesday 13th - Chatham, Central Theatre; Tuesday 26th - Buxton, Opera House; Wednesday 27th - Sheffield, City Hall; Friday 29th - Gateshead, The Sage; Saturday 30th - Dundee, Caird Hall.

December Sunday 1st - Aberdeen, Music Hall; Tuesday 3rd - Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall; Wednesday 4th - Manchester, Palace Theatre; Friday 6th - York, Grand Opera House; Saturday 7th - Southport, Southport Theatre; Monday 16th - Birmingham, Town Hall; Tuesday 17th - Guildford, G-Live; Thursday 19th - Eastbourne, Congress Theatre; Friday 20th - Poole, The Lighthouse; and Saturday 21st - Salisbury, City Hall. Visit www.amazingslade.net or www.thesweet.com for further details and updates!


Key signatures and accidentals UNDERSTANDING KEY SIGNATURES is a big part of fundamental music theory so we’ve supplied charts starting with no accidentals (C and A minor) then moving all the way through to the maximums of

U

U then Ab etc) with a memorable sentence to help you With these four examples to hand you are now able to answer theory questions such as ‘how many

you in good stead for the rest of your musical life!

EXAMPLE 1: SHARP ORIENTATED KEY SIGNATURES Major Minor Sharps in the key signature

C Am 0

G Em 1 F#

D Bm 2 F#, C#

A F#m 3 F#, C#, G#

E C#m 4 F#, C#, G# D#

B G#m 5 F#, C#, G# D#, A#

F# D#m 6 F#, C#, G# D#, A#, E#

C# A#m 7 F#, C#, G# D#, A#, E# B#

Ab Fm 4 Bb, Eb, Ab Db

Db Bbm 5 Bb, Eb, Ab Db, Gb

Gb Ebm 6 Bb, Eb, Ab Db, Gb, Cb

Cb Abm 7 Bb, Eb, Ab Db, Gb, Cb Fb

EXAMPLE 2: FLAT ORIENTATED KEY SIGNATURES Major Minor Flats in the key signature

C Am 0

F Dm 1 Bb

Bb Gm 2 Bb, Eb

Eb Cm 3 Bb, Eb, Ab

EXAMPLE 3: ORDERING OF SHARPS F# Father

C# Charles

G# Goes

D# Down

A# And

E# Ends

B# Battle

Db Down

Gb Goes

Cb Charles

Fb Father

EXAMPLE 4: ORDERING OF FLATS Bb Battle

Eb Ends

Ab And

PLAY: BLUES

ON THE CD

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Giants Of BLUES

Play like 11 of the greatest ever! From the lyrical beauty of BB King to the power of Gary Moore; the virtuosity of Joe Bonamassa and sheer style of Robben Ford, Jacob Quistgaard investigates 11 bluesmen that shaped our world.

Moderate/Advanced INFO

WILL IMPROVE YOUR

KEY: Various TEMPO: Various CD: TRACKS 4-27

Blues vocabulary Stylistic awareness Versatility in blues

THE POWER OF the blues coupled with the unstoppable force of the electric guitar is a match made in heaven. Our journey to map out 11 of the top electric blues players starts with Texas-born T-Bone Walker who, after having left school at 10, was working professionally by the age of just 15. In the early days his family friend, blues legend Blind Lemon Jefferson employed him to help him round town for his gigs. T-Bone certainly 1929 but it was not before the 40s that he really came into his own as a player and also as the inspiration for him to get an electric guitar and that Hendrix borrowed Walker’s 1 9 his long, fruitful life as one of the most recognisable, enjoyable and heartfelt blues musicians ever. In fact, each of the players on this list has worked for decades to achieve their status as a blues guitar legend. Needless

run of decades at the top of the blues foodchain, he has inspired countless musicians. Buddy Guy, too, is still a strong presence, having been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2005. And boy did he

many of the new breed of electric blues guitarists that sprung to prime in the 1960s – including Clapton, Page and Hendrix. Buddy would play the guitar behind his neck and with his teeth as well, so although Hendrix seemed to come out of nowhere, you can trace certain elements back to previous and contemporary blues greats. With regards to the gigantic force that was Hendrix, we will leave him out of this list as he is due his own GT feature shortly! And speaking of absent friends, Derek Trucks is one of the greatest living blues players, but being more or less exclusively a slide player, we’ll save him for later as well! 5 4 2

Each of the players on this list has worked for many years, or in most cases several decades, to achieve their status as a bonafide blues guitar legend. – will complete the trio of blues royalty. Freddie’s easily recognisable Texas-derived 1 300 days a year, eventually earning him a vital place in the pantheon of blues guitar greats. Albert, too, is great fun to imitate, though due to his altered tuning, you may have to take a few precautions when attempting his huge bends in standard tuning. Although he would string, I have generally tabbed out his lines so they are more do-able and less likely to ! big bends often will be performed on the second string instead.

Next up is Albert Collins. Collins often slips between the cracks in lists such as these, but on players such as Robben Ford and Matt 6 !

- usually open F minor (F C F Ab C F), with a capo at the 8th fret. I have transferred his superb and often challenging guitar language to standard tuning for your convenience. all post 1960s ‘blues boom’ guitar gods. They are: Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robben Ford, Gary Moore - as well as perhaps moment, Joe Bonamassa. Examples 1-11 are licks in the style of each of our chosen players. Example 12 is three 0 where each of our chosen 11 electric blues aces gets a few bars to put down their vibe. I hope you will have lots of fun learning the licks and playing along with both the tracks and the backing tracks!

GET THE TONE 4

5

5

6

4

GAIN

BASS

MIDDLE

TREBLE

REVERB

We are dealing with a variety of different tones here, so have fun emulating each player. I’d hold back on the drive for the earlier examples, saving the full fat overdrive to the final pieces featuring the more contemporary players. On the recording, I used a Gibson 335 and a Fender Strat going through a Fender Hot Rod amp, with Wampler’s Faux Spring Reverb and Euphoria drive added, as well as a few touches from Logic plug-ins.

TRACK RECORD Check out: T-Bone Walker, The Complete Recordings, 1940-1954; BB King, Live At The Regal; Buddy Guy, A Man And The Blues; Freddie King, Have You Ever Loved A Woman; Albert King, Born Under A Bad Sign; Albert Collins, Frozen Alive, Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton; Stevie Ray Vaughan, Texas Flood; Robben Ford, Tiger Walk; Gary Moore, After Hours; Joe Bonamassa, Sloe Gin.


JOBY SESSIONS

ABILITY RATING

11 TOP ELECTRIC BLUES GUITARISTS!

Five of our legends are lovers of the Gibson Les Paul


PLAY: BLUES EXAMPLE 1 TBONE WALKER Here we have some relatively speedy T-Bone licks. They negotiate a classic blues V-IV-I turnaround in G, ending on the traditional sounding chromatic move from the bII (Ab7) to the I (G7). Notice that this is mainly picked and

EXAMPLE 2 BB KING This Bb blues moves between the I and IV chords (Bb and Eb). There’s a variety of bends here, and some are easier than others. The first-string bends from 11th to 13th fret will usually be performed with the first finger by King, but if you find this too difficult, use your second or third finger


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quite varied in terms of the rhythmic values, so make sure you slow it down and work out a good plan for your picking hand. Alternate picking is highly recommended for licks such as these.

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instead, in order to give the bends more support. Also, cross check with BB King himself to try and get his fantastic vibrato going. Finally, notice the trademark high root note (Bb at the 18th fret), which is preceeded by a rake and followed by a slide down… classic BB King stuff!

11 TOP ELECTRIC BLUES GUITARISTS! EXAMPLE 3 BUDDY GUY Starting on the subdominant or IV chord (Dm), this A minor blues example is a classic showcase of Buddy’s wild and flamboyant approach. With several bends on the top string ‘catching’ the second string in the process, you get

EXAMPLE 4 FREDDIE KING This example is essentially the final eight bars of a standard 12-bar blues in D. It starts on the IV chord (G7) and ends with a regular V-IV-I turnaround. Beware that Freddie used a thumb pick, so you might want to try using your fingers (or why not try an actual thumb-pick!) to play this. The main

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that ‘screaming’ effect that both Gary Moore and SRV later adopted. And the fast tremolo-picked double-stop of the penultimate bar is another powerful feature, which you can grab for your own blues soloing arsenal!

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harmonic framework in terms of Freddie’s soloing approach is (D) minor pentatonic scale. But Freddie consttantly comes up with memorable ideas that are more to do with melody than they are with any particular scale. See how he powers through the final bars with that catchy 16th-note motif?


PLAY: BLUES EXAMPLE 5 ALBERT KING For this Albert King style example, we stick with G minor pentatonic scale throughout. Harmonically, we are starting on the minor IV chord (Cm7) of a G minor blues, resolving on the Im7 at the end. Notice how the bends starting from the minor 3rd (Bb at the 1th fret, second string) vary in size. In other words, Albert will bend up to the 4th degree (C at the 13th fret) and

EXAMPLE 6 ALBERT COLLINS Here we have the final four bars of a blues in C, featuring the classic V-IV-I turnaround (G7-F7-C7). Remember, since Albert plays using open F minor tuning, it may be a little challenging to finger this. So find a fingering that suits you and stick with it, while you build the licks up to speed. For an


ON THE CD

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CD TRACK 12

the 5th (D, at the 15th fret), as well as anywhere in between, all starting from that same place. This may take a little while to perfect, so take your time, remember to warm up well and to support your bends too. And also, to get a little closer to the great man’s attack, you might want to consider using your fingers to pick, as Albert mainly employed the flesh of his thumb!

CD TRACK 14

added dimension you can try and emulate Collins’ picking technique as well, using just the thumb and first finger. As you will realise, building up the kind of speed on display here is all about working up a strong legato technique, as well as a good picking hand finger combination.

11 TOP ELECTRIC BLUES GUITARISTS! EXAMPLE 7 ERIC CLAPTON For this Clapton example, the harmonic framework is bars 7-10 of a standard 12-bar blues sequence in D. The scale in use is mainly the D minor pentatonic, with the obvious blues colours deriving from quarter-tone bends of the minor 3rd (F) and minor 7th (C). For the great classic ‘slowhand’

EXAMPLE 8 STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN This thundering example in E, moves between the I and IV (E to A) chords in classic blues style. SRV would often use his fingers rather than the pick to ‘pull’ the first string when performing bends like these. This was in order to really make them ‘pop’. See if you can dispose of your pick and retrieve it

CD TRACK 16

burst of notes on the V chord (A7), he adds the 9th to the scale as well (E). Examine this harmonically and you’ll find that the 9th of the D chord (E) is the perfect 5th of the A7 chord, so the use of this note serves to ‘paint’ the colours of the chord change well.

CD TRACK 18

fast enough to continue the next phrases when done with the first series of bends (I rest my pick between my first and second fingers). Fretting-wise, try your first finger to barre the 12th fret on the third and fourth strings in the penultimate bar, and your third finger to barre the 14th fret.


PLAY: BLUES EXAMPLE 9 ROBBEN FORD Here we have a classic shuffle blues in E, starting on the IV chord (A5) and resolving to the I chord (E5). Notice how it’s very pattern-based, with the two bars on the subdominant (A5) being very similar. This, however, is followed by two fairly quick changes of position, ending up at the bottom of

EXAMPLE 10 GARY MOORE This example of Gary’s powerful playing is in B, starting on the IV chord (E7). It’s mainly based around B minor pentatonic with some tasty, quite vibratoladen bends to start. These are followed by the fiery repetitive pattern (E, D and B) for the final bar of E7, before resolving back to B7. See how the first


ON THE CD

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CD TRACK 20

the neck. The slides are also quite swift and so is the final little trill between the minor and major 3rd of E (G-G#). Timing is crucial if you are to accurately get the Robben Ford feel, so make sure you take your build tricky licks up to speed and so maintain the correct timing throughout.

CD TRACK 22

note of B7 is fairly bluesy as the 9th (C#) is bent up a semitone to the b3rd (D) rather than the major third, which is inherent in the B7 chord. You’ll need to build up your speed for the final phrase; while the notes are quite simple, delivering it with Gary’s passion and authority is a different matter entirely!

11 TOP ELECTRIC BLUES GUITARISTS! EXAMPLE 11 JOE BONAMASSA Our framework is the first eight bars of a shuffle in G. Support the bends well, especially the three-fretter (b3rd) at the 18th fret, first string. The speedy flurry over the IV chord (C7) may take some time to achieve; this is really where Bonamassa steps into gear as only a few other blues players can

EXAMPLE 12 BLUES SHUFFLE JAM [T-Bone, Buddy, Freddie] We start with the cool, riffy shapes of T-Bone Walker, and here I recommend using (from fourth string up) third finger, second, fourth and finally first finger on the top string. This is followed swiftly by BB King’s trademark ‘root note hit’ and slide down, with his tasty blues bends and vibrato featuring as well. Then Buddy Guy takes over with considerably more aggression and attack. Notice how the V-IV turnaround

CD TRACK 24

do, creating a fiery and fiercely fast explosion of notes, with some shooting across the neck like mice on your kitchen floor! The change of position at the very end of bar 64 is particularly swift and the way the phrase powers on from there is relentless! So warm up, take care - and have fun!

CD TRACK 26

is negotiated by simply moving the classic pentatonic ‘box’ position around for the B7 and A7 chords. At the end of our first chorus, Freddie King takes over. He does so, grabbing a familiar Freddie pattern which – although it doesn’t really follow the chord tones of the final chord (B7) – still works great, proving that a strong idea played in time with great conviction will often work, regardless of it being entirely ‘correct’ or not.


PLAY: BLUES EXAMPLE 12 BLUES SHUFFLE JAM CONTINUED [Freddie, Albert 1, Albert 2, Eric] Into the second chorus Freddie King whips out some trademark 6th interval figures; these are best executed using fingers only or hybrid picking, so your pick plays the notes on the third string and your second finger plays the top string notes. Then Albert King takes over by pulling off some tasty gradual bends from the b3rd (G) on the 20th fret, second string up to the 5th (B) on the 24th fret. Albert Collins plays


ON THE CD

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from the 5th bar of this second chorus, pulling out a lovely, chord tonebased repetitive legato pattern on the subdominant (A7), which resolves on a high bend to B, the 5th of E7. Eric Clapton takes over the chorus’s final turnaround; he starts off with a great tremolo-picked double-stop, which moves swiftly into his signature minor pentatonic runs with plenty of the quarter-tone blues bends for which we know him so well.

11 TOP ELECTRIC BLUES GUITARISTS! EXAMPLE 12 BLUES SHUFFLE JAM CONTINUED [Stevie, Robben, Gary, Joe] SRV begins our final chorus with some cool double-stops, moving a similar pattern from the 12th fret for the E7 to the 5th fret for the A7. He ends by combining aggressive bends, tasty low E notes and a fiery minor pentatonic run. Robben Ford jumps in for two bars of the IV chord (A7), and brings out the C# (3rd of A7) to create instant colour. This is followed by a triplet run that lands us back in minor

CD TRACK 26

pentatonic shape 1 at the 12th fret. Here Gary Moore takes over, and begins with a huge bend. He then goes for a speedy burst, landing all the way up on the 19th fret. The mighty Bonamassa wraps things up. Starting with another big bend he builds into a huge explosion of minor pentatonic notes delivered at a furious pace. The final bar is played ‘rubato’ (with ‘no time’) so you can play this phrase a bit slower to the backing track if necessary.


PLAY: BLUES


ON THE CD

TRACKS 4-27

PLAY: TUNINGS

ON THE CD

TRACKS 28-34

Drop tuned heaven! Detuning the lower strings can lead to a whole gamut of new sonic possibilities. Jon Bishop looks at a few of the creative opportunities that detuning can provide.

Moderate INFO

WILL IMPROVE YOUR


Detuning knowledge Rhythm and riff playing General technique

MOST GUITARISTS ARE familiar with the idea that the guitar can be tuned in different ways other than standard tuning (E A D G B E). Dropping the pitch of a string gives the note a darker sound with more growl and grit. This is something that guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen cashed in on by tuning the whole guitar a semitone lower, like this: Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Bb, Eb.

TECHNIQUE FOCUS Detuning considerations As you detune a string the tension is lowered, affecting intonation and the tension on neck and bridge. If your guitar has a fixed bridge, this may not make much difference. If you have a vibratoequipped guitar, especially a floating one (able to raise and lower pitch), detuning can cause havoc. You may also find that detuning requires a change in style. If you strike a string hard the pitch will jump up as it vibrates. To counteract this try using a lighter touch. If you wish to maintain the same feel and guitar set-up, change the string you wish to detune with one from a heavier set. A rule of thumb is for every semitone you wish to detune, go up a string gauge. So for 9 strings going to drop D, try a sixth string from an 11 gauge set. Manufacturers make string sets especially for detuning so check these out too. Whatever you do, don’t attempt to tune very heavy gauge strings up to concert pitch as this could take a terrible toll on your guitar’s neck.

When detuning, the strings become looser which can aid playability or even facilitate the U "# #$ $ #$ agree that a Stratocaster style guitar tuned to U # " "# #$ $ awesome sound - just think of SRV! In this feature, however, we are going to concentrate on detuning just one or two of the bottom strings – it will provide a new range of # "$ U#$ also quick, easy and fun to do. !"# U$ #

# "# ever-popular drop D. To get into this tuning simply drop the sixth string down a tone from E to D. This can be done with a tuner, but it is also good practice to tune the string using the open D (fourth string) as a reference. Drop D

This lesson will provide a new range of sounds and fingerings, and it is also quick, easy and fun to do. $ "# $ U and the GT drop D performance piece is in the style of bands like Rage Against The Machine, $# ! # # $# the low D (sixth) string adds depth and power to the sound, and it also makes playing power chords easier as they can be voiced using a # U#$ $$#! Our second tuning is drop C, which means the sixth string is tuned down four semitones (major 3rd) from E to C, so the tuning now reads: C, A, D, G, B, E. Our Drop C piece uses the low string to play melodies, which emulate the sound of a baritone guitar. Next we look at drop B. To get into this tuning simply drop the sixth string down a #$ # " $ ! U " reduction in string tension of this amount will

make the guitar hard to play and keep in tune. !" # #$# U " string of a heavier gauge (you would certainly " " $# $ ! best to tune this one by ear, as when the string is vibrating hard it will sound sharp, so you # " #$ "! Modern metal bands favour the super dropped sound and often use 7-string or baritone guitars. We can access this sound with the drop B tuning without having to buy such a specialist instrument. Our track is a brutal offering in the style of bands like Korn and Deftones. While detuning is popular in all types of $ $# "#$ #! $ U # # $ " " U " $ down a tone for a G6 tuning (D G D G B E). To keep things varied this piece is a simple but effective acoustic guitar workout.

GET THE TONE 6

6

5

7

4

GAIN

BASS

MIDDLE

TREBLE

REVERB

For this month’s tones, any electric guitar with a bridge pickup will work nicely. A fixed bridge is advantageous for dealing with the change in tension that detuning brings, but is not essential. Vibrato-equipped guitars may take longer to tune. The Drop D piece benefits from a classic rock style, low gain setting. The Drop B piece needs a modern, heavy distortion with tight bottom end. This can be improved by turning down the middle frequencies. Any acoustic guitar will work for the final piece and this could also be performed on a clean electric. All sounds are notated at the start of each piece.

TRACK RECORD Pretty much everything by Hendrix, Van Halen or SRV is detuned to Eb. Queen’s Fat Bottomed Girls is in drop D tuning but King’s X and Rage Against The Machine leap to mind if you are in the hunt for examples of real drop D action: check out their albums King’s X (1992) and Rage Against The Machine (1992). For more extreme detuning sounds try nu-metallers Korn or Deftones.


STARSTOCK/PHOTOSHOT

ABILITY RATING

DROP TUNING

Slash often used drop tunings in Velvet Revolver


PLAY: TUNINGS EXAMPLE 1 DROP D DADGBE This first piece knits together five examples in the style of the biggest names in rock. All you need to do to prepare is drop the sixth string (low E) down a tone. This can be achieved with a tuner, but it is good practice to tune the string using the open fourth string (D) as a reference. Select a medium, crunch-orientated overdrive and use the bridge pickup. [Riff 1: Soundgarden style, bars 1-4] This first four-bar riff is repeated twice and cashes in on the one-finger, drop D power chord shape. As the sixth string is one tone down, a one-finger barre can be used to play a power chord on the bottom three strings. [Riff 2: Velvet Revolver style, bars 5-8] The second riff showcases the widely used, six-string ‘sus 2’ chord fingering with some single-note riffling. The lower tuning makes this riff sound more dark and dirty. [Riff 3: Tom Morello style, bars 9-12] This next riff combines the idea we


ON THE CD

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CD TRACK 28

played in example one with some strumming behind the nut. Strumming behind the nut on Telecaster and Stratocaster type guitars works particularly well in drop D due to the ‘six in a line’ headstock design. This effect does not work so well on Gibson, ‘three a side’ style set-ups. Strum the strings behind the nut and, when you want to stop the sound, mute the strings with the fretting hand. [Riff 4: Soundgarden Style, bars 13-16] Our fourth riff is fun to play and is best performed with down strokes throughout. Use the first and third fingers of the fretting hand to play the barres on the 3rd and 5th frets. [Riff 5: Kings X style, bars 17-20] A drop D study would not be complete without some King’s X, as guitarist Ty Tabor is a drop D riff master. This one is easy to play but sounds great - missing out beat 1 adds an element of surprise and is great fun to play.

.

DROP . TUNING

‰ .. . . 33, 37

EXAMPLE 2 DROP C CADGBE The second piece is an Americana-style work-out with the drop C sixth string emulating the sound of a baritone guitar. To get into this tuning simply lower the sixth string’s E down to C. You may find the loss in tension will make the rest of the guitar go slightly out of tune, so be sure to check the tuning of the other strings once you have dropped the bottom string down this far. This simple-to-play part will sound best with a twangy bridge pickup and a splash of reverb. [Intro: Bars 1-4] The intro starts with a two-beat pick-up bar. Play all the chords and low-string riffs with down strokes. Picking near the bridge will help deliver a baritone style tone and also help with intonation. The chords will benefit from a subtle whammy bar vibrato (if you have one). You can also ‘spread’ the chords by slowing the strum of the pick across the strings.

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[Chorus 1 and 2: Bars 5-19] This section moves through a basic chord progression and adds some simple embellishments to the various chords. It’s then repeated, so why not have a go at improvising some fills of your own, based on the ones notated. On the repeat, take the second time bar into the bridge. [Bridge: Bars 20 to end] The bridge section moves between the C major 7 and F major 7 chords, adding some simple but cool sounding embellishments along the way. The piece ends with a group of ascending minor chords and a tasty Cmaj9 chord played with harmonics. This harmonic chord is played by lightly touching the fourth, third, second and first strings at the 12th fret. This harmonic chord sounds particularly pleasing due to that low C ringing out.

GuitarTechniques 33

E

PLAY: TUNINGS


ON THE CD

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DROP TUNING EXAMPLE 3 DROP B BADGBE This third piece is in the style of nu-metal heavyweights like Deftones and Korn. Drop your sixth string down a perfect 4th from E to B. You may find that a reduction in string tension on this scale will make the guitar hard to play and keep in tune. This can be counteracted by fitting a sixth string of a heavier gauge - certainly do so if you intend to detune this low often. [Intro, bars 1-2] Here we see the use of grunge’s dynamic trick of having a quiet bit before a loud section. The Fmaj7#11 chord needs accurate fingering so the top two open strings can ring out clearly. Use a clean tone with some fast chorus to heighten the effect. [Chorus 1: Bars 3–8] The chorus really cashes in on the low B. A power chord in this tuning is a bit of a stretch, but the sound is huge due to the octave interval between the bottom two notes. Including the open strings

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provides a cool dissonance. Check out the strumming pattern in the tab. [Verse 1: Bars 10–17] This single-note riff sounds brutal and is best played with alternate picking. This two-bar phrase is repeated four times. The D5 chord is a standard power chord shape in this tuning. The chord from the intro is used as a link into chorus 2. [Chorus 2: Bars 18–25] A straight repeat of chorus 1. [Bridge: Bars 26 – 29] This section combines octaves with the low B. Use down strokes of the pick for the first three bars and go for a positive feel. Bar 4 uses a dissonant strummed chord to add to the dark vibe. Be careful not to hit the low B note too hard, as this will push it out of tune momentarily. [Verse 2: Bars 30 to end] Our final section is a repeat of verse 1. The ending makes use of the gloriously dissonant, Fdim5. Awesome!


PLAY: TUNINGS

4


ON THE CD

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DROP TUNING EXAMPLE 4 G6 DGDGBE Our final piece is a simple fingerpicking workout. The low D and G are handy for playing full sounding chords whilst reducing the demands on the fretting hand. To get into this tuning simply drop the sixth string’s low E down a tone to D, and the fifth string’s A down a tone to G. [Bars 1–8] The fingerstyle pattern is the same for the whole piece, with a few exceptions, so it is worth spending some time to practise this slowly. The picking fingers are shown below the tab. The pinch between the thumb

CD TRACK 34

and the third finger is the key to making this style of piece work. [Bars 9-16] Here we keep the same picking pattern but the chord fingerings are a little trickier. The fingering of these chords has been notated so this should make things easier. There’s a ‘cascade’ descending run in bar 12 and this will sound fantastic if you let all the notes ring into each other. [Bars 17 to end] Our ending is a repeat of the first four bars with a slight pause before the spread chord at the end.

17


PLAY: ACOUSTIC

ON THE CD

TRACK 35

Eva Cassidy Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves has been performed and recorded by countless artists, but Jamie Humphries believes the most beautiful version was by the late, great Eva Cassidy.

Easy/Moderate INFO

WILL IMPROVE YOUR

KEY: Db TEMPO: 90 bpm CD: TRACK 35

Fingerstyle technique Arrangement ideas Transposition skills

AMERICAN SINGER-GUITARIST EVA Cassidy was relatively unknown outside her native city of Washington DC, but achieved global popularity following her untimely death from cancer in 1996. She crossed over several genres - from soul and blues to folk and pop – and gained posthumous critical acclaim for her renditions of classic songs, performed with just solo vocal and guitar. UK singer Katie Melua recorded a posthumous duet with the late Eva, demonstrating the high

TECHNIQUE FOCUS Fingerstyle This track includes arpeggios, parallel motion and playing more than one voice with in the chord using ‘claw’ technique. There are two types of stroke used in fingerstyle: rest stroke, and free stroke. Rest stroke is where the finger comes to rest on the adjacent string after a note has been played; free stroke is where the fingers miss the adjacent string and curl in towards the palm. Fingerstyle is anotated using ‘pima’ (p = thumb, i = first finger, m = second finger, and a = third finger). Another technique used is the ‘claw’ technique, used to sound several strings simultaneously; here free stroke should be used, assigning the thumb to the lower strings, and the remaining fingers to the relevant strings. The thumb and fingers strike the strings at the same time, using a clawing motion, with the thumb and fingers curling up into the palm.

esteem in which the much missed artist is held amongst today’s musicians. Eva’s love of music developed at an early age, leading to her performing as a singerguitarist with various bands in bars, clubs and formal functions. Her career began to take shape in the mid-‘80s, with various studio sessions, and work as a backing singer for a variety of acts in genres as diverse as blues, soul and even hip-hop. Her most notable collaboration was with American artist Chuck Brown, with whom she recorded the album The Other Side. They also performed live together, including a memorable performance at Washington’s Blues Alley, where Eva later recorded a highly regarded performance.

Eva’s Somewhere Over The Rainbow was picked up by Terry Wogan and played extensively on his radio show. This new found interest saw the album sell a million. After several disappointing record company experiences, Eva was unable to secure a solo deal, so she decided to record her own album, which was done live on two nights

8 6 U the quality of her voice in the recording, but nevertheless the album was well received and won much acclaim on the Washington music scene. Sadly this would be the only album to be released while the singer was still alive. Eva took a job painting murals at a school, but began experiencing pain in her hip, which she put down to constantly climbing step ladders. Following an X-ray it was discovered that her hip was broken and after further

checks it was clear that a melanoma from years before had spread throughout her body. Eva had chemotherapy but it was too late. She U U concert held for her in September 1996. She was very weak but found the strength to perform What A Wonderful World. She sadly passed away in November 1996. In 1997 a solo album called Eva By Heart, that she had been working on before her death, was released, and in 1998 the now legendary compilation Songbird came out. Eva’s version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow was picked up by Terry Wogan, and played extensively on his radio show. Album sales soared in the UK, and a camcorder performance of the track recorded at Blues Alley was shown on Top Of The Pops. The result of this new found interest saw Songbird sell over a million copies. Eva’s story continues to inspire, and here we pay tribute by tabbing her rendition of Autumn Leaves, taken from the Blues Alley sessions and also found on Songbird.

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Eva’s choice of acoustic guitar, ironically enough, was a Guild Songbird electroacoustic. She favoured the Guild as it had a slightly smaller body than other popular instruments. Of course, any acoustic guitar will work fine for this track, although traditionally 000 or OM body sizes are favoured for fingerstyle due to their punchy midrange. The above settings offer a good starting point when using acoustic amps.

TRACK RECORD Eva Cassidy albums worth checking out include: The Other Side (1992, with Chuck Brown), Eva By Heart (1997), Live At Blues Alley (1997), and Imagine (2000). But the top pick has to be Songbird, which features all of her classic performances including Autumn Leaves, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, the Fleetwood Mac cover Songbird, and Sting’s Fields of Gold.


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EVA CASSIDY AUTUMN LEAVES

One of only a few pics of the late Eva Cassidy


PLAY: ACOUSTIC

Autumn Leaves Music & Lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Jacques Prevert, Joseph Kosma. ©1997 Enoch And CIE, Peter Maurice Music Co Ltd. UK/EU reproduced by kind permission of Music Sales Limited. US/CAN reproduced by kind permission of Hal Leonard Corporation. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.

PLAYING TIPS [Bars 1-8] As we have a capo at the 1st fret, two sets of chords shown; those chords in brackets are as if they were played in open position with no capo. [Bars 9-12] The verse is led by a II, V, I progression (Ebm7-Ab-Db) and resolves to a III chord, with Eva soulfully, tastefully and economically adding


ON THE CD

TRACK 35

CD TRACK 35

passing chords, slash chords and ascending lines as she goes. [Bars 13-16] The second half of the verse starts with chord II, Ebm7, but then we change key introducing F7. This then resolves to Bbm7 (F7 is the V of Bb minor), which remains for two bars before returning to Ebm7 at bar 17.

Eva Cassidy: Songbird (TAB) (Guitar Tab, 88pp, £16.95 ref. AM971960) Guitar tablature and standard notation arrangements of all the songs from the late Washington DC songstress’s anthology album, including lyrics and chord symbols. __Songbird has become Eva Cassidy’s legacy, featuring traditional, familiar songs including Fields Of Gold, Autumn Leaves, Songbird, Time Is A Healer and her unique and beautiful version of Over The Rainbow.

PLAYING TIPS [Bars 17-24] The same as the previous verse, but with slight variations. [Bars 25-33] Here’s the second part of the chord progression. It kicks off with a V-I sequence (F7-Bbm), but once again we see our sliding figure that implies chord II. We are then back to our original verse sequence, but pay

EVA CASSIDY AUTUMN LEAVES CD TRACK 35

attention to the time signatures and take care with counting. [Bar 34] This features a descending figure in the bass, resulting in the chords of Bbm, Bbm/Ab and Gm7b5. Following the chord of Gb7, we have the same V-I resolution (F7-Bbm), leading to the piano solo.


PLAY: ACOUSTIC PLAYING TIPS [Bars 42-57] This is a double length verse sequence that accompanies a piano solo. Although we are performing the same chords, Eva changes


ON THE CD

TRACK 35

CD TRACK 35

some of the picking sequences, as well as building the intensity of picking during the second half of the piano solo.

EVA CASSIDY AUTUMN LEAVES PLAYING TIPS [Bars 58-79] There’s a lot of familiar ground here but remember Eva is using the arrangement to accompany herself, so this needs consistency.

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[Bars 80-84] The outro should be performed freely before concluding with the song’s final Bbm9 chord.


PLAY: CLASSICAL

ON THE CD

TRACKS 36-37

Giuseppe Verdi La Donna è Mobile

Ciao! This month Bridget Mermikides travels to Italy (metaphorically) where she arranges and transcribes a memorable piece from Verdi’s legendary opera Rigoletto.

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KEY: A TEMPO: 123 bpm CD: TRACKS 36-37

Melody and accompaniment Operatic repertoire Combining stroke types

Verdi’s classic opera Rigoletto, completed in 1851, which tells the tragic tale of love,

THIS MONTH WE are tackling a popular piece from the repertoire of one of the absolute masters of opera, the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901). Among many other vocal, instrumental and sacred works, Verdi composed a staggering 30 operas through the mid to late 19th century, which are to this day widely loved and performed. Despite being – compared to his composer peers - relatively unschooled, Verdi had an incredible knack for melody and for capturing the essence of a mood or character, composing many of the iconic themes of the operatic repertoire which still

TECHNIQUE FOCUS Posture When playing classical guitar, posture is super important in order for both hands to work efficiently. The traditional method is to sit up straight on the front edge an upright chair and raise the left knee (right-handed players) by using a footstool. The guitar sits on the left thigh and the head of the guitar tilts upwards. For long hours of playing, many people prefer to have both feet on the floor keeping the pelvis level and good alternatives to the footstool are the Dynarette guitar cushion. The Gitano guitar rest and the ErgoPlay guitar support.

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

masterpiece of the Italian operatic repertoire. Here, I’ve arranged for solo guitar a melody from the beginning of the opera’s third act 1 Duke of Mantua. The lyrics of this canzone La Donna è Mobile (The Lady Is Fickle) speak of

The opera’s producers sensed how popular the tune would become, so rehearsed the scene in total secrecy. affections wander like a “feather in the wind”. In this short melody, with its capricious stops and starts and unresolved harmonies, Verdi manages to perfectly capture the Duke’s practiced seduction technique and the inherent irony of the lyrical content (the Duke himself is the “inconsistent” one) in an incredibly catchy tune. Verdi himself, and the opera’s producers, sensed how popular the melody would become, rehearsing this particular scene in complete Their suspicions have been proved correct. La Donna è Mobile is an ever popular showcase piece for the male tenor, and the melody has been used 5 The Entertainer and Quartet), TV shows including Futurama and My Name Is Earl and even video games such as Grand Theft Auto 3. The melody is even used (with suitably adapted lyrics - perhaps that should be ‘unsuitably’ adapted lyrics) in several football chants. I’ve transposed the tune from its original key of B major down a tone to A major and this works well on the guitar. I recommend using the tab captions to secure the technical challenges, particularly regarding the use of rest and free strokes. However once the techniques are in place, aim to perform this with the mischievous and romantic character that Giuseppe Verdi intended.

TRACK RECORD Pavarotti is undoubtedly the best known performer of this piece, so get the three-CD set Pavarotti Sings Verdi (Decca, 2013) for this and other masterpieces sung by the legendary tenor. However, opera critics also cite the classic recordings by Enrico Caruso: The Voice & The Legend (Hoogan Records, 2013) and Jussi Björling: Jussi At Grona Lung (Bluebell, 2012) as exemplary.


VERDI LA DONNA È MOBILE PLAYING TIPS [General] To make the melody sound crisp and rhythmic try the following technical tips. The first two bars are easy and I have indicated the fingering that I use. In bar 3 I play the first two melody notes using rest stroke, so that after the D note the second finger is resting on the second string so it’s ready to pluck the G in the next chord without re-adjusting the finger. The aim is to make the rest-stroke single note, and the following free-stroke chord into one movement for the plucking hand. It’s a very neat move when mastered properly and occurs many times throughout the piece.

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In bar 5 there is a little jump onto the second beat using a half-barre A major chord – the secret to a good shift here is to create the shape of the chord above the strings, before moving it very quickly into place at the last moment. In bar 20 a 1st fret full barre is needed and a 2nd fret full barre comes along in bar 21. The trickiest place is bar 28, where we go from the triplet to the second chord; the first finger really has to move fast and stretch back slightly for the bass note of E. It’s always worth breaking things down, so practise this slowly at first to get the movement accurate.


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VERDI LA DONNA È MOBILE


LEARNING ZONE LESSONS GT224

30MINUTE LICKBAG

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52

BIMM’s Terry Lewis has six more licks for you at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

BLUES................................................................................................. 54

John Wheatcroft meets a man who’s almost too good to be true: blues genius Robert Johnson.

ROCK .................................................................................................. 58

Martin Cooper goes a bit ‘mad for it’ as he looks at the style of The Stone Roses’ John Squire.

CREATIVE ROCK .......................................................... 68

month as he reaches the penultimate stage in his quest to unlock playing in intervals.

COUNTRY ................................................................................... 72

Andy Saphir deciphers the making of a track in the style of country diva Shania Twain.

PROG ................................................................................................... 76

Paul Bielatowicz goes Crimson as he looks into the style of the wondrous Robert Fripp. WELCOME TO THE Learning Zone! This

video tutorials with a guitarist that everyone at GT holds in extremely high regard: the great Robben Ford. From his days as a side man for icons like Miles Davis and Joni Mitchell, to his many years as a headlining solo artist, Robben’s music and guitar style is an appealing blend of blues plus dashes of jazz, soul and even pop. He’s been featured in GT numerous times over the years with song transcriptions and ‘play likes’, but with this video lesson you’ll get an opportunity to see some of his favoured approaches up

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his gorgeous 1960 Telecaster, he discusses the minor pentatonic scale in ways that perhaps you’ve not tried yet, freely shifting between fretboard positions and focusing on bigger intervallic skips than most blues players use. Angular pentatonic lines are typical of Robben’s style that often favours fundamental albeit with a twist unique to him. He then moves onto bluesy ambiguity, combining minor and major 3rds as well as the b5 into phrases that suddenly sound fresh and incredibly appealing. While the tab may look a little busy in places, don’t be put off by this – get the note

of the video should soon familiarise you with the rhythms required. Any talk of Robben Ford’s choice of scales inevitably steers towards his approach to creating tension over !

preference for the altered scale (also known as the Superlocrian) which lowers every note in the major scale (except the root) by one semitone resulting in: R, b2, b3, b4 (major ! 4 2 ordering produces the notes A, Bb, C, Db (C#), Eb, F and G. It’s an exotic sound for sure

5 an entry point to understanding and using it. And who better to show this than Robben himself? For each of the two examples,

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: : ! to Robben and then try it for yourself – the sophisticated jazzy blues sound will hopefully inspire you using it in your own bluesy playing. We’d like to thank Robben for his valuable time and we do hope you enjoy the video!

JAZZ ...................................................................................................... 80

Pete Callard has a ton of tasty ideas for you based on the fabulous style of a true jazz master, Mississippi’s much honoured Mundell Lowe.

ACOUSTIC ................................................................................. 86

Stuart Ryan begins a new series on modern acoustic minstrels. This month, Ben Howard.

AZ OF MUSIC THEORY ................................ 90

the power and potential of the letter P.

ON VIDEO! One of the wo

rld’s master guitarists gives us a rare insight into his playing style and strategy. Page 62


LESSON: 30-MINUTE LICKBAG

30-Minute Lickbag

BIMM Brighton instructor Terry Lewis has six more cool licks for you at easy, intermediate and advanced levels. How many can you manage?

EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 1 THE CULT This riff uses the fourth string’s open D note as a drone to add weight to the melodic hook. Once you’ve got the idea try making up your own variations.

Easy Licks ExampLE 2 Jonny Greenwood Effective fretting hand muting can really free up your picking hand to lay into single note lines in the same way you might a chord part. If you use

INTERMEDIATE LICKS EXAMPLE 3 STEVE CROPPER Chord embellishments, sliding 6ths and driving rhythm are the main ingredients in this Booker T & the MG’s style Atlantic soul riff. If you’re


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CD TRACK 38

It’s a ploy that’s been used in many genres sounds especially effective through a chorus or flanger.

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your third or fourth finger to play the notes, any remaining fingers can rest gently on the strings behind it to control the unwanted open strings.

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not used to using your thumb over the neck it’ll take some practice, but persevere - it opens up so many possibilities in your chord work.

ON THE CD

TRACKS 38-43

INTERMEDIATE LICKS EXAMPLE 4 ROBERT CRAY Robert Cray’s clean soulful Strat playing is so vocal it often sounds like an extension of his voice. With an ‘if you can’t hum it, don’t play it’ mentality,

ADVANCED LICKS EXAMPLE 5 JOHN PETRUCCI This lick in B Mixolydian (B C# D# E F# G# A) mixes alternate picked runs, legato and a little bit of sweeping. Learn it slowly and build it up gradually.

ADVANCED LICKS EXAMPLE 6 MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA This early John McLaughlin style lick has an eastern flavour thanks to its phrasing in the A Mixolydian mode (A B C# D E F# G). The nasal mid-range

30-MINUTE LICKBAG

LEARNING ZONE

CD TRACK 41

you’ll never find an unnecessary note in a Cray solo. Try playing with a cleanto-slight-break-up amp setting.

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Use your bridge pickup with a decent amount of gain and some delay and reverb some get that epic dream t heater sound!

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sound can be achieved using a wah-wah and holding it in the ‘sweet spot’. It’s a great way to thicken your guitar’s sound and cut through a mix.


ON THE CD

Robert Johnson


This month John Wheatcroft enters a world of mystery, intrigue and maybe even murder as he meets legendary blues master, Robert Johnson. death is uncertain. The popular story is that he was poisoned by a jealous husband of one of his many lovers; a contrary opinion is that he suffered from a connective tissue disorder - a theory deduced from the unusually U evident in one of what amounts to just a few authenticated photographs of the bluesman in existence. While Johnson did not invent the blues, his contribution to it was immense. He took the raw slide guitar of the legendary Son House and the jazziness of Skip James and added a particular twist to create his own hypnotic sound. His use of the bass strings to create a steady, rolling rhythm can be heard on songs like Sweet Home Chicago. Johnson had it all, his intricate and soulful single note lines simultaneously allowing

Pictured with Johnny Shines. See Johnson’s long fingers!

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Blues vocabulary L/R-hand co-ordination Pick or finger picking

DELTA BLUES SINGER, songwriter and guitarist, Robert Johnson recorded 29 songs during just two recording sessions in Texas in 1936 and 37. Almost every aspect of his life is shrouded in mystery; even the cause of his

of his vocal style. It’s possible to trace Johnson’s

post-war blues, to early rock’n’roll and beyond. Johnson played with the young Howlin’ Wolf, acted as mentor to Elmore James and inspired the young Muddy Waters. All of these musicians and others who created the Chicago style of electric blues in the 1950s were essentially playing the music of Robert Johnson, plugged in. Much of the repetoire for British Invasion blues-rock bands such as Cream, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin come straight from the Johnson songbook too. In typical Blues Dues style, the following U 5 designed to familiarise you with a selection of his most employed techniques, ranging from similitaneous lead and bass to question and answer slide and rhythm parts. Even the musical aspects of Johnson’s playing are shrouded in intrigue, with enthusiasts arguing hotly over tunings, capo

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TRACKS 44-49

used. To keep things simple we’ll restrict our gaze to standard tuning, open G and open E. One aspect that is less contentious is Robert’s expert use of the thumbpick. While it’s possible to play these examples with just

U 1 thumbpick allows you to get closer to recreating his solid and driving tone. Like so many players, Johnson had a core repetoire of rhythmic and melodic devices that he would frequenty return to and explore in depth, to form the backbone of his style. With this in mind, why not take each idea and expand through an entire 8, 12 or 16-bar blues progression, allowing yourself to improvise and adapt each lick as the the changes occur U 3

thematic development, is a fundamantal musical tool that every good player employs to expand his or her musical vocabulary, and you should do the same.

It was hard core, more than anything I had ever heard. I realised that following this man’s example would be my life’s work. Eric Clapton

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Johnson is often pictured with a Gibson L-1 although there is some debate among purists as to what guitar he used on his recordings. It’s safe to say a small-bodied steel string acoustic will get you in the right ballpark. At times you’ll need to drive the guitar fairly hard so be mindful of dynamics and timing, and aim to balance the volume between treble and bass voices.

TRACK RECORD Every blues fan should have The Complete Recordings (Columbia 1990); plus there are numerous compilations containing selections of the 41 takes. For further study you might wish to consider the painstakingly accurate New Transcriptions (Hal Leonard 1999), along with Elijah Wald’s excellent book Escaping The Delta: Robert Johnson & The Invention of the Blues (2001).


ROBERT JOHNSON ESTATE/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES

LESSON: BLUES

ROBERT JOHNSON EXAMPLE 1 INTRO/TURNAROUND IDEA Our first idea combines two of Johnson’s trademark intro or turnaround ideas. We begin with a series of descending four-note chord forms in A. Use first, second and third fingers for the treble strings with the thumb or

EXAMPLE 2 NEGOTIATING A7 TO D7 CHANGE Here we see how Robert might negotiate the I7 IV7 change in A. The fingering in bar 1 is a little bit tricky. I favour using the second finger for the all of the high melody notes, switching between second and first strings. Make sure you allow the D# and E notes to ‘clash’ and ring into each other,

LEARNING ZONE CD TRACK 45

thumbpick taking up the bass notes. The melodic figure in bar 3 is found in a number of Robert’s arrangements, outlining a high root note combined with a descending line connecting the b7th (G) to the 5th (E) chromatically.

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resolving the tension with a unison slide at the start of bar 2. In bar 4 we see the slightly unusual technique of performing upstrokes with the thumbpick to provide a jaunty skip to the bassline. As with all these examples, you could choose to use hybrid picking or just naked fingerstyle technique.


LESSON: BLUES EXAMPLE 3 G TO D7 MOVE IN OPEN G TUNING Johnson knows his way around open tunings and this example is found within one of his favourites, open G (low to high: D G D G B D). While this tuning is most often associated with slide guitar this example uses regular

EXAMPLE 4 SHUFFLE IN OPEN E TUNING Along with open G tuning, another Johnson favourite is open E (low to high: E B E G# B E). The challenge here is to maintain a three-to-one ratio rhythmically between treble and bass. You’re sure to recognise the root/5th

EXAMPLE 5 QUESTION AND ANSWER SLIDE & FRETTING Our final example uses the common slide tuning of open G (low to high: D G D G B D). Johnson frequently combines slide and conventional fingered notes, and while you might consider this a modern technique pioneered by Sonny Landreth and the like, Johnson was doing it 80 years ago! Here the


ON THE CD

TRACKS 44-49

CD TRACK 47

fretting technique to spell out the I (G) V7 (D7) move. The fingering for D7 in bar 3 requires a bit of a stretch but the voicing falls quite logically under the fingers once you take the time to develop the muscle memory.

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to root/6th shuffle in bar 2, at least sonically as the change to the tuning might disguise its familiarity. Once again, we see that familiar descending chromatic figure between the b7th (D) and 5th (B).

CD TRACK 49

slide plays the high notes while the fingers answer each phrase with a low riff based figure, creating the illusion of two guitarists playing at once. From a melodic perspective the high melody is predominantly derived from a G major triad decorated with notes above and below.

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Sevenths

Shaun Baxter looks at an interval that many of us are tempted to overlook in our everyday playing: 7ths. Check ‘em out – you might be surprised!

ABILITY RATING


WILL IMPROVE YOUR

KEY: C (Am) TEMPO: 160bpm CD: TRACKS 53-55

Recognition of 7ths Use of 7ths in your playing General music theory

COMPARED TO OTHER intervals, it’s quite rare to see 7ths used as the basis for musical ideas; however, as the fundamental nature of this series is to explore every interval so as to yield new ideas, I've decided to include them.

Within the modes of the major scale, each 7th interval will be one of two types: minor 7th (often written as b7th) = 10 semitones; and major 7th = 11 semitones. Have a look at Diagram 1, which represents the notes of C major. If you start from any note, and then move in any direction to another note notes in between), the distance is usually either major 7th or minor 7th. The main reason for their relative rarity, when compared with other intervals, is that 7ths (like 2nds) can sound somewhat clashing and dissonant when heard on their own. In fact, 7ths are inversions of 2nds: look at the interval between F and E: if you go all the way up from F to E, you get a maj7th; if you go down from F to E, you get a minor 2nd. If you hold down an F and an E on adjacent strings and play them together they sound quite jarring (a useful effect to have in the musical locker); do the same thing when the same two notes are a major 7th apart, the effect is much less pungent. Incidentally, the inversion of a minor 7th interval is a major 2nd, as can be observed when one travels up from G to F (b7th interval) or down from G to F (major 2nd interval). Although this series has focused on the use of intervals, we have also been using those concepts to develop mediumpaced lines. Many rock players overlook this middle ground that helps to provide balance when improvising; this is due largely to the natural inclination to want to be able to shred. Medium-paced ideas will be 'duple' (multiples of two - 2, 4, 8) or 'triple' (multiples of three 3, 6 etc) in nature. When soloing over a particular accompaniment it's important to assess whether a duple or triple denomination is appropriate for your ideas. This depends on both the tempo and feel, but you are usually looking at pitching your approach somewhere

ON THE CD

TRACKS 53-55

on the rhythmic ladder represented in Diagram 2 (note how it alternates between duple and triple time as you scroll, up or down through the various gear ratios). For ease of thought, it is a good idea to keep your repertoire divided into duple and triple ideas. Remember, from Diagram 2, you can always double up each idea (for example, any 8th-note idea can be played twice as fast to create a 16th-note idea; and any 8th-note triplet idea can be played twice as fast to create a 16nth-note triplet one). nature of the backing track, most of the examples are based upon either quarter-note or 8th-note triplets; however, you should also experimenting with ways in which these 1 track that requires mainly 8th or 16th notes (groups of four instead of three). When doing this, bear in mind that, in the same way it’s possible to use only two notes to create a three-note motif by using the following: 1 'low-low-high'; 2 'low-high-low'; 3 'high-high-low'; or 4 'high-low-high'. Four-note motifs can be created from: a simple 7th (two notes); 'stacked' or consecutive 7ths (three or four notes); or two isolated 7ths (four notes). Furthermore, it is also worth remembering that it is possible to play a motif of any size to either a duple or triple count (for example, a I trust this all leaves you in 7th heaven!

The main reason for their relative rarity in comparison to other intervals, is that 7ths (like their relatives, 2nds) can sound somewhat clashing and dissonant to the ear.

GET THE TONE 7

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If your guitar has humbuckers you’ll probably find that these are powerful enough to get all the front-end distortion that you need from the amplifier; whereas single-coils may require an overdrive or distortion pedal before the amp. I’d suggest you start by allowing 75% of the gain to come from the amp and 25% from the pedal. A splash of reverb or delay (in tempo with the track) will help to give both size and overall smoothness to the sound.

TRACK RECORD Because of their dissonant nature, 7ths are quite rare as the basis for musical ideas; however, John Scofield springs to mind as someone who unashamedly exploits their subversive flavour. If you haven't heard John's playing before, try starting with Still Warm, Blue Matter or Loud Jazz. One very famous use of a 7th is the harmonics at the front of Jimi Hendrix’s Highway Chile.


DAVID LYTTLETON

LESSON: CREATIVE ROCK

SEVENTHS

LEARNING ZONE

DIAGRAM 2 RHYTHMIC LADDER: DUPLE & TRIPLE TIME

CD TRACK 54

EXAMPLE 1 This first example starts off in the first two bars with some straightforward 7ths played using double-stops. These are followed in bar 3 by a six-note combination (this idea comprises two

EXAMPLE 2 Here, an ascending 7th interval is followed by another one up a perfect 4th. These first four notes are then repeated up an octave while staying within the same area of the neck (vertical motion). Bars 10-11 then features some four-note motifs (each formed by an ascending 7th followed by another

ascending 7ths followed by a descending 7th) that is then repeated up a perfect 4th while staying within the same area of the neck (this is known as vertical motion). CD TRACK 54

one up an octave) taken up through the scale along the length of the neck (lateral motion). Finally, Bar 12 contains a series of descending 7ths taken up through the scale by moving laterally along the neck. You can use either hybrid picking (as I did) or pick only for this example.


LESSON: CREATIVE ROCK EXAMPLE 3 In bars 17-18, 7ths are taken (laterally) down through the scale, alternating between ascending and descending in a castle-wall-style configuration. This is followed, in bar 19, by some four-note motifs (each comprising a descending 7th followed by another one down a 6th) taken up through the scale along the neck. This example finishes in bar 20 with a mixture of

EXAMPLE 4 It is possible to create a mixture of two, three and four-note motifs from basic 7th intervals. When I played this example I thought in terms of a pair of 'low-low-high' three-note motifs in bar 25, and a pair of 'high-high-low'

EXAMPLE 5 This one shows how effective it can be to augment interval-based ideas with some 'auxiliary' notes derived from the parent scale. Here, a series of


ON THE CD

TRACKS 53-55

CD TraCk 54

descending and ascending 7ths taken up through the scale (again, laterally along the neck). Note that the 7th-orientated sections featured in bars 19-21 are shown as being played with the first two fingers of the fretting hand. This may seem strange, but will prove to be a lot simpler for the hands, eyes and brain in the long run. CD TRACK 54

three-note motifs in bar 26. Again, although the transcription shows the economy picking approach that I used for each three-note motif at the start of bars 25 and 26, you can use alternate picking if you prefer. 12 TRACK 14 CD 54

four-note motifs (each comprising a repeated descending 7th) are each followed by an auxiliary note one scale-note below.

SEVENTHS EXAMPLE 6 Like Example 3, this idea follows a castle-wall configuration by alternating between descending and ascending 7ths as they are taken down the neck (lateral motion); however, here, we see a mixture of rhythms, alternating

EXAMPLE 7 So far we have used 7ths in ascending and/or descending fashion to create a range of musical motifs. In the final examples we’ll use 'stacked' 7ths that provide us with three-note motifs of various shapes and sizes. Bars 49-50

ExAmplE 8 Finally, in bar 57 of this last example, a series of stacked 7ths that alternate between ascending and descending directions, are taken up through the scale along the length of the neck (lateral motion). This is followed in bar 58 by a series of ascending stacked 7ths taken up through the scale (again, via


between 8th-note and quarter-note triplets. Again, as recommended in the transcription, it's probably easiest to play this passage using the first two fingers of the fretting hand, although it may not feel very natural at first. CD TraCk 54

show a series of descending stacked 7ths taken down through the scale along the neck, using 8th-note triplet and quarter-note triplet rhythms. I employed hybrid picking but feel free to use a pick only approach instead. CD TraCk 54

lateral motion). I think most players would use a hybrid picking approach in this example; however, I used economy picking and so consequently I have given you a choice of approaches in the transcription. Why not try both and see which one suits you better.


LESSON: MODERN COUNTRY

ON THE CD

TRACKS 56-57

Shania Twain

What do AC/DC, Def Leppard and Bryan Adams have in common with this month’s country star, asks Andy Saphir? Read on to find out!

ABILITY RATING

Moderate INFO

WILL IMPROVE YOUR

KEY: D to E TEMPO: 112 bpm CD: TRACKS 56-57

Country rock soloing Picking technique Fretboard skills

THE NAME SHANIA Twain is as familiar outside the country genre as it is within it. Shania’s music has crossed the boundaries between the predominantly US-based world of country into the mainstream UK market, with catchy country-pop hits like Still The One and Man, I Feel Like A Woman. The multiaward winning Canadian born vocalist started singing live and writing songs at an early age.

both of which rely on the other to provide the necessary hook and groove, and therefore have been presented as two clearly marked parts in the written music. (You will hear a third guitar part on the second eight bars of the intro. Although it isn’t written down, this double-stop riff acts as a new hook to add a melodic element to the already established rhythmic hook.) The solo itself consists of a series of catchy licks which use various technical approaches such as open-string pedal tones, bending and double-stops, but as it is in a rock style you don’t need to play them with the hybrid picking technique associated with the more ‘twang’ orientated country stuff 1 U ! U / please ‘Come On Over’ to www.andysaphir. com, where you can also watch a video of Andy playing his electric, acoustic, mandolin and slide extravaganza, What The Cluck!

While still a child Shania was singing in bars and by her teens was working in covers bands. She was eventually heard by producers which led to a signing with Mercury.

GET THE TONE 8

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As there’s a variety of different guitar parts on this month’s piece, all of which use overdrive or distortion, it’s a good idea to use a different type of tone for each part, so as to hear a range of textures. This can be achieved by using a combination of guitars, amps and pedals. You can try effects too, like flanging. A single-coil equipped guitar is ideal, although humbuckers also sound great if a thicker tone is required.

TRACK RECORD Shania’s mega-selling album Come On Over (1997) is the first place to start. It boasts the songs When and Holding On To Love, both of which feature wonderfully melodic and stylistically appropriate solos. The album The Woman In Me (1995) is arguably a bit more ‘country’, and features more ‘twang’ style solos in songs like Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under and You Win My Love.


ANTHONY CUTAJAR/PHOTOSHOT

While still a child she was singing in bars, and by her teens had graduated to covers bands. Making important connections all along the way, Shania’s material was eventually heard by record label executives, which led to a signing with Mercury and the release of her eponymous debut album. Coming to the attention of producer, Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange

U collaborated on three further studio albums: The Woman In Me (1995), Come On Over (1997, one of the best selling country albums of all time) and Up (2002). Lange has legend status as a record producer, having worked with the biggest names and produced some of the biggest albums in the rock world, including AC/DC’s Back In Black, Def Lepard’s Hysteria, and Bryan Adam’s Waking Up The Neighbours. His amazing ability as a producer can be heard in the arrangements of so many great songs, and for guitar players, invaluable lessons can be learned in how to create and layer different parts from listening to those tunes - not to mention how to get a wicked tone! His collaboration with Shania Twain led to the pair sharing writing credits on almost all of the songs on all three albums, and a great new sound. The tracks featured brilliant hooks, catchy guitar riffs and superb solos, courtesy of Nashville session supremos Brent Mason, Dann Huff, Brent Rowan, Biff Watson and Larry Byrom. This lesson’s piece starts in the key of D, and modulates to E for the solo. It is in a typical country-rock style, with layered, 1 1 with a ‘crunchy’ distorted tone, are major in

/ U genre. There are three sections: a 16-bar intro, an eight-bar ‘verse’ (over which there would be a lead vocal were it an actual song), and an eight-bar guitar solo that is in a modern country pop-rock style. The intro and verse sections consist of two layered guitar parts,

Shania Twain and an oddly badged Tak!


SHANIA TWAIN EXAMPLE 1 SHANIA TWAIN STYLE TRACK [Bars 1-16: Rhythm Gtr 1] This is the main ‘rhythmic hook’ of the tune, and features a double-stop based riff that moves from the I chord, D, to the IV chord, G. The phrase that is played over the G chord in bar 4 changes slightly in bar 8 to create interest, but from bar 9 to bar 16 just plays the repeating two-bar phrase. Take care to play rhythmically accurately, giving the appropriate length to notes, as this part needs to sit perfectly with the other rhythm track, which is heard at the same time.


[Rhythm Gtr 2] This is the secondary rhythm guitar that supplements Guitar 1’s part, combining with it to create the overall groove. It is doublestop/power chord based as well, and consists of a repeating two-bar phrase that is played the same from bar 1 through to bar 16. Discipline is necessary here to stick with exactly the same thing for this length of time, as to play a variation will spoil the grooving nature of the riff. Again, pay close attention to rhythmic accuracy and note length.


LESSON: MODERN COUNTRY EXAMPLE 2 shania twain style track [Verse: Bars 17-24, Rhythm Gtr 1] Using a new hook, this power chord/ single-note part would fit under the vocal melody, creating the necessary harmonic structure, but with some melodic movement of its own. (Care would need to be taken here when creating a part like this around a vocal, as you wouldn’t want them to clash, or for the guitar work to be unnecessarily busy, as this might detract from the vocal; fortunately, we don’t need to really consider this too much here!). Yet again, rhythmic feel and timing accuracy are crucial. [Rhythm Gtr 2] This simple second part adds weight to the underlying guitars by playing on beat 2 and 3&. The tonic power chord (D5) is in the same pitch register as Guitar 1, but note how the IV chord (G5) is an octave


ON THE CD

TRACKS 56-57

CD TRACK 56

higher, to add a bit of subtle interest. [Solo Rhythm Part: Bars 25-34] Here’s the rhythm part that’s played beneath the solo - which has now modulated up a tone to the key of E. Both Guitar 1 and 2 play in unison here, which gives weight to the rhythm section. A basic power chord approach is used, with some rhythmic embellishment here and there. [Lead Guitar: Bar 24] This is the ‘pick up’ into the solo that starts in the next bar. The modulation from D to E doesn’t happen until then, so this little lick is still in the original key of D. As it is played over the IV chord (G), it recognises that chord by mainly using G major chord tones (G, B, D) within the framework of two descending slides into a double-stop lick.

SHANIA TWAIN EXAMPLE 3 SHANIA TWAIN STYLE TRACK [Bar 25-28] This is the start of the solo, where the tune has modulated to E. This four-bar phrase uses a catchy melody played on the second string, while using the open first string as a pedal tone. Both strings should ring together. This is a common technique that’s used in many styles. Although not hugely technical, ensure you play the open string in the right places and that the semitone bend on the second string on beat 4& of bar 25 is pitched confidently and accurately. The double-stop in bar 27 should lead into the following B, E and G# notes smoothly, with these notes ringing together with some vibrato. These notes form an E major triad which, when played over an A major chord (as is happening in the harmony here), gives the effect of A major 9 (A C# E G# B). [Bars 29-34] This final section starts with typical country-rock style


double-stop lick over two bars using the notes of E major pentatonic (E F# G# B C#) as its basis. Note how this phrase sits rhythmically within its two bars. It starts on beat 2&; this might need some practice to get right as it’s necessary to be able to ‘feel’ where you are in the bar. The final phrase is the ‘flash’ element of the solo, starting with a three-octave E major arpeggio (E G# B) with a couple of major 9th notes (F#) thrown in, leading into a repeating, predominantly legato phrase to finish. The trickiest part of this lick is how quickly you need to move your fretting hand in bar 31 in order to get the first finger in the right place, followed by smoothly getting into the legato phrase. Practising this lick very slowly at first is the only way to get it right. Make sure that the final semitone bend from the major 3rd (G#) to the 4th (A) is accurate; there’s nothing worse than a poorly pitched bend!


LESSON: PROG

ON THE CD

TRACKS 58-60

Robert Fripp

No series on prog guitar would be complete without the great Robert Fripp. So here Paul Bielatowicz looks at the mighty King Crimson’s main man.

ABILITY RATING


WILL IMPROVE YOUR

KEY: E minor TEMPO: 170bpm CD: TRACKS 58-60

Alternate picking String skipping Wide interval playing

Throughout the band’s history, King Crimson underwent many line-up changes; but throughout them all, Robert Fripp remained a constant – indeed the only founding member to remain in the group for its entire career. Outside his work with Crimson, Fripp has been extremely active as a studio musician and producer. He has contributed to more

U

400 unauthorised recordings, bootlegs and compilations take his discography to well over 1100 releases – an achievement that seems almost unimaginable. A true innovator in every sense of the word, Fripp began using his own tuning in 1985, which he calls New Standard Tuning. It involves the guitar being tuned in 5ths: C, G, D, A, E, G (but don’t worry, there’s no need to stock-up on spare strings – I’ve written this column in standard tuning).

Fripp spotted an advert seeking a “singing organist”. Despite being neither a singer nor an organist, he responded to the ad and the band Giles, Giles and Fripp was born.

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The GT audio sound is based on Fripp’s Les Paul into a Hiwatt amp with a distortion or fuzz pedal. Any humbucking guitar would do, but I’d suggest using the neck pickup for a full, warm sound. The distortion pedal was turned off for the last two examples, so as to produce a bit of classic Fripp ‘perpetual motion’. These are the settings you see above - just kick in the pedal for the drive!

TRACK RECORD All of King Crimson’s albums are worth a listen but highlights include In The Court Of The Crimson King (1969), Starless & Bible Black (1974), Red (1974), Discipline (1981) and The ConstruKction Of Light (2000). Also check out Fripp excellent solo albums, especially: Exposure (1979), Let The Power Fail: An Album Of Frippertronics (1981), and The Gates Of Paradise (1998).


REX FEATURES/IAN DICKSON

ROBERT FRIPP WAS born on 16 May, 1946 in Dorset, England. By his own admission he was an unlikely candidate for a life in music, describing himself as being tone deaf and having no sense of rhythm! Undeterred, Fripp began playing guitar at the age of 11. He would later muse, “Music so wishes to be heard that it sometimes calls on unlikely characters to give it voice.” After learning some basics from a guitar teacher, Fripp began to develop his own style of playing, drawing on jazz and classical music as

! included rapid alternate picking and the use of unusual scales such as whole tone and diminished. Naturally a lefty, Fripp chose to play right-handed; he also felt more comfortable sitting on a stool than standing on stage. Fripp’s debut in the music industry came in 1967, when he spotted an advert seeking a “singing organist” for a band consisting of two brothers.Despite being neither a singer nor an organist, Fripp responded to the ad, and Giles, Giles and Fripp was born. The band released two singles and an album, before undergoing a major line-up change. One of the Giles brothers left and Greg Lake, Ian McDonald 6 U to form a new band: King Crimson. Crimson made it their mission to play experimental and U

musicianship and modern technology featured heavily in their sound, helping them stand out from the crowd; a direction that proved an immediate success. The following year they recorded their debut album, In The Court Of The Crimson King: an instant hit and now considered to be one of prog’s classics.

Robert Fripp with his threepickup Custom

ROBERT FRIPP EXAMPLE 1 TRILLS IN E MINOR


This example contains a series of trills in E natural minor (E F# G A B C D). It’ll serve as a great legato exercise for building finger strength.

EXAMPLE 2 CROSS PICKING The first four bars of this example consist of a descending and ascending sliding sequence. This is followed by the first instance of Fripp’s ‘cross-

EXAMPLE 3 CHROMATICISM Again, a sequence that moves up and down the fretboard. This time we’ve gone chromatic, but targeting strong notes and the use of a consistent and

CD TRACK 59

picking’ technique. Here a sequence descends an E Dorian scale (E F# G A B C# D), before ascending again – I recommend alternate picking.

CD TRACK 59

predictable pattern prevent the lick from sounding too dissonant or too hard on the ears


LESSON: PROG EXAMPLE 4 FOUR NOTES PER STRING

ON THE CD

TRACKS 58-60

CD TRACK 59

Here’s an example of Fripp’s chromatic lines. This simple chromatic sequence will serve as a great exercise for four-notes-per-string alternate picking.

EXAMPLE 5 FRIPP STYLE LEGATO If you think Robert Fripp is all about 21st Century Schizoid man-style tricky alternate picking, try this rather nice example of his minimalistic legato


CD TRACK 59

melodies – this one contains only two picked notes; all the rest are joined together with slides.

ROBERT FRIPP EXAMPLE 6 PERPETUAL MOTION # 1 Examples 6 and 7 show Fripp’s perpetual motion flat-picking. This style is one of his trademarks and features large interval leaps and string skips.

EXAMPLE 7 PERPETUAL MOTION # 2 The previous perpetual motion line moves seamlessly to this whole-tone scale lick, again incorporating lots of string skipping and wide intervals. This


Although we’re still in 4/4, the pattern is nine beats long, meaning it takes nine bars before the first note of the sequence lands on beat 1 again.

CD TRACK 59

time the pattern takes six beats to complete, meaning it’s three bars before the first note lands on beat 1 again.


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LESSON: ACOUSTIC

ON THE CD

TRACKS 85-86

Ben Howard

Following his examination of traditional acoustic pieces Stuart Ryan begins a new series where he looks at the styles of the latest generation of singer-songwriters.

ABILITY RATING

Easy/Moderate INFO

WILL IMPROVE YOUR

KEY: G TEMPO: 161bpm CD: TRACKS 85-86

Fingerpicking rhythm Creating new chord voicings Picking hand speed

chord shape and identify the root note. Then simply move this shape up the neck and see how the open strings create new harmonies against the fretted ones. You can either use an intuitive approach and work with what sounds good to your ears, or really focus on the interval structure of each chord in order to understand its function and ultimately to be able to give it a name. To see how this works let’s take a standard I–IV–V progression in G (G, C, D). Start off with your standard open position G major shape with the root at the 3rd fret of the sixth sring. To get to the C move the whole shape up to the 8th fret, still keeping the bass note on the sixth string; to sound the D chord move up to the 10th fret. On the C and D chords you’ll really hear the harmonies produced by the open strings. It’s a great way of getting new mileage out of classic chord sequences and an invaluable trick for a singer-songwriter - if I could sing myself I’d use it all the time! Have fun with this piece and try moving some other standard open position chord shapes around to see what happens!

Transposing common chord shapes up the neck we can create new sounding voicings, as open strings are combined with the fretted notes in a higher register.

GET THE TONE 2

7

6

7

3

GAIN

BASS

MIDDLE

TREBLE

REVERB

Any acoustic is suitable for this style though the OM and dreadnought are the classic singer-songwriter body shapes given their suitability for both fingerpicking and strumming. Ben is a fond user of Martin’s ubiquitous D-28 model - in lefty style.

TRACK RECORD Ben’s debut album Every Kingdom is a great record and features many beautiful fingerpicked guitar parts. He also has several EPs available: These Waters (2009), Old Pine (2010) and The Burgh Island (2012) which also features him on electric guitar. To hear one of his influences check out John Martyn’s fabulous album Solid Air (1973).


OWEN SWEENEY / FRANK WHITE PHOTO AGENCY

Left-hander Ben Howard playing his trusty Martin D-28

MANY OF TODAY’S players take an inventive approach to writing, and craft interesting chord progressions and voicings, either by accident or design. We’ll look at both the British and American sounds as the months progress but this month we are starting with top UK singer and songwriter, Ben Howard. London-born Howard started songwriting at the age legendary acoustic folk-rock troubadours such as Van Morrison, John Martyn and Simon and Garfunkel. Indeed, players can be found in U work, which sometimes weaves around a chord progression and at other U All these approaches can be heard on his critically acclaimed 2011 debut album, Every Kingdom. For this month’s example I’ve taken the idea of a simple chord progression, but voiced it higher up the neck. This allows you to use many of the common shapes from the open position but, by transposing them up the neck we can create new sounding voicings as open strings are combined with the fretted notes in a higher register. Although we are in standard tuning here, as you can imagine this idea also works really well with altered tunings - Howard himself will use a variety of different tunings. The beauty of this approach is that our standard chord progressions can be imbued with a new lease of life. The premise is very straightforward – take any open position

BEN HOWARD EXAMPLE 1 MOVING OPEN SHAPES AROUND THE NECK [Bar 1] This G chord is just an open position C major chord shape but moving it all the way to the 10th fret gives that shape a fresh sound, helped by the contrast of the open third string and the notes on the 8th, 9th and 10th frets. The standard ‘pima’ picking hand pattern will work well throughout (picking hand thumb for the lowest three strings, first finger for the third string, second finger for the second and third finger for the first).


[Bar 17] Now we achieve a similar result with a slightly modified open G major chord shape transposed up to the 8th fret, where it becomes C. Again be sure to listen out for the effect of the droning open strings against the fretted notes higher up the neck. This provides that great overall sound. [Bar 21] Now simply move that same shape two frets higher and you instantly have a cool voicing for Dsus4 (D major).


LESSON: ACOUSTIC EXAMPLE 2 TWEAKING THE MOVEABLE CHORDS [Bar 21] Strumming these chord shapes higher up the fretboard sounds great and can sometimes even create the illusion of a 12-string acoustic being played. The combination of open strings and fretted notes higher up the neck always creates a rich and unique sound. [Bar 32] Changing a note or two in the chord shape can instantly yield a


ON THE CD

TRACKS 85-86

CD TRACK 85

new voicing – see just how easily a few simple fretting changes can take us from Dsus4 to G! [Bar 44] And again, manipulating the open strings is a great way of moving the progression along as here – we briefly move to an A9sus4 before getting back to the G chord.

Everything you need... A magazine/CD package with chords, licks, riffs, hints and tips, plus fabulous full tracks to learn!

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LESSON: ROCKSCHOOL

ON THE CD

A-Z of music theory: P

TRACKS 87-91


This month Charlie Griffiths pontificates and ponders about Palm-mutes, the Parallel minor, Pedal notes, the Phrygian mode and Pre-bends.

Parallel Minor

ABILITY RATING

Moderate INFO

WILL IMPROVE YOUR


Theory knowledge Musical understanding Practice schedule

P

alm Muting

Palm muting is a picking hand technique used to deaden the string to create a semimuted pitch or chord. The sound is achieved

Most progressions comprise chords built from the harmonised major scale. However we can create richer, more dynamic and interesting

outside of the key we started with. This is called modal interchange and is heard in all styles of music from classical, to jazz, to pop and rock. The most common usage is borrowing between parallel minor and major keys of the same root note. For example, the key of C major, contains the chords: C Dm Em F G Am Bdim; we can also refer to these chords as Roman numerals: [I IIm IIIm IV V VIm VIIdim]. Common borrowed chords that can be slotted into C major are [bVII bVI and IVm], or Bb Ab and Fm. These chords all belong to the key of C minor; the parallel minor key. For those borrowed chords we are changing from Ionian to Aeolian mode and back again.

Pedal Note (pull-offs)

This technique is also known as a pedal tone or pedal point and the term has its origins in organ music in which root notes are played with the feet using pedals. Pedal note riffs and licks are very common on the guitar

as they often rely on open strings. You can create a pedal note part by repeatedly playing an open string and alternating between it and other melodic intervals. The tabbed example acting as the pedal note. The descending melody uses pull-offs and picking.

Phrygian

This is the last of the seven modes covered in this series. We have previously covered Aeolian, Dorian, Ionian, Locrian, Lydian and Mixolydian. However, the modes are not usually presented in alphabetical order. It is better to learn them in the order in which they relate to the parent major scale, ie: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, mnemonic helpful for remembering the order: I Decided Playing Loud Mattered A Lot. Phrygian is one of the three minor modes. Along with Dorian and Aeolian it also contains the notes of the minor pentatonic scale (1 b3 4 5 b7). The Phrygian mode is the only one that contains a b2 and a b6. The b2 interval is very dark and foreboding also makes Phrygian a popular scale choice in both

Pre Bends

This bending technique requires a little more control than regular string bending, but it can be a very musical and melodic tool. As the name suggests, the idea is to bend the string to the required pitch before you pick it. This is usually followed by releasing the string, therefore bending the note down to its original position. The tricky part is pitching the pre bend correctly. If you want to bend

a tone, but without hearing it. This takes some practice and the best way to do it is to bend to your target as you usually would, but hold the bend for a while and notice what the bend looks and feels like. Now try repeating the same bending movement, but only pick when you think the string is in the right spot. After a while, you will intuitively know how far to bend the string for each interval.

TRACK RECORD Van Halen’s Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love has a cool palm muted riff. An effective parallel minor moment is the IV minor chord in The Beatles’ In My Life verse. Ritchie Blackmore’s solo in Deep Purple’s Highway Star has a great descending pedal note lick. Joe Satriani’s War from The Extremist is a good example of Phrygian. Bohemian Rhapsody’s solo is full of Brian May pre-bends.


LFI/PHOTOSHOT

hand across the strings at the bridge and picking the note as normal. When practising this technique be sure to experiment with various hand positions; too near the bridge and the tone might be too open, and too far from the bridge might deaden the pitch completely, so somewhere in-between is advisable. Although this technique can be used in any style, it is a real cornerstone of metal rhythm guitar the chunky sound of a muted power chord has become known by the onomatopoeic term ‘djent’ and has since become a whole sub genre including bands like Meshuggah and Periphery.

Van Halen: Master of the pedal tone

A-Z OF MUSIC THEORY: P EXAMPLE 1 PALM MUTING This riff is played in dropped D tuning. Gently rest the outside edge of your palm against the strings near the bridge, then drag the pick through the

EXAMPLE 2 PARALLEL MINOR This progression is in the key of C major. The first bar contains the I (C) IV (F) and V (G) chords, firmly planting the key in your ear. The second bar contains

EXAMPLE 3 PEDAL NOTE When playing this part, use the picking pattern: ‘down, pull-off, down, up’. This pattern repeats every four notes, so only the initial fretted note

EXAMPLE 4 PHRYGIAN MODE First play the chord and listen carefully as this will put the scale into context. Play up and down the scale evenly at a comfortable tempo making sure

EXAMPLE 5 PREBENDS This lick is essentially a descending G major scale so you should be able to hear if any notes sound out of tune. The bends will either be a whole tone,


lowest three strings in a ‘stroking’ motion as opposed to hitting all the strings almost at the same time.

CD TRACK 88

the VI (Ab) IVm (Fm) and bVII (Bb) chords; all native to C minor (the G and F chords aren’t though), but happily resolving back to C major.

CD TRACK 89

changes each time. Experiment with accentuating different notes in the example to see how many dynamic approaches you can generate.

.

CD TRACK 90

each note sounds clear and clean. Refer back to the chord regularly in order to lodge the ‘mood’ of the mode firmly in your mind.

CD TRACK 91

or a semitone so make sure you know your target note. When you’ve learnt this example, try the same idea with other scales or licks that you know.


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Gain more speed, dynamics and expression with our alternate picking masterclass. A full transcription of the Ten Years After classic I’m Going Home. Plus the styles of Keith Richards, Camel’s Andy Latimer and Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell.

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Play better solos over chord progressions. Become an awesome wah-guitar player. Bowie’s Starman transcribed! Plus learn the styles of David Gilmour, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Mott The Hoople, Charlie Byrd, Steve Lukather and Alan Jackson.

Albert King and SRV’s awesome rendition of Born Under A Bad Sign tabbed, with full backing track! Learn how top blues-rockers use their whammy bar; take our Easy Jazz lesson; play like Steve Hillage, T-Bone Walker, Johnny Thunders, Brooks & Dunn and more!

Learn how chords relate to modes, and see how rhythm and lead slot together. Check out our full transcription of The Beatles’ Twist & Shout, featuring both George’s and John’s guitar parts. And play like Cream-era Clapton, Judas Priest and Kenny Burrell.

ALTERNATE PICKING

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MUSIC REVIEWS

WHAT OUR RATINGS MEAN: +++++Buy it ++++Excellent +++Good ++Average +Bin it!

New Albums

The new guitar releases, including Album Of The Month and Classic Album... ALBUM OF THE MONTH

YES

CLOSE TO THE EDGE  REMASTERED Panegyric Recordings +++++ Given the technology of the time it’s hard to imagine how Eddie Offord’s original Yes masters could be improved. However, Steven Wilson has done a remarkable job on this remix. Modern technology is often accused of taking the heart out of older material but that certainly isn’t the case here. You could always hear individual members contributions but never with this clarity and separation. Anderson, Squire, Howe, Wakeman and Bruford are all exposed to a new degree but, rather than pulling the sound apart, it enhances the experience. Along with the three album tacks, America has been given the same treatment and there are extras too depending on whether you buy the CD/DVD or CD/BluRay versions. It’s not the first remaster, but a lot has happened in sound reproduction over the years and this proves the point. Getting Wilson involved was inspired, since an already classic album has gained new life. More please!

MARTIN BARRE

REVIEWS BY ROGER NEWELL AND DAVID MEAD

AWAY WITH WORDS

Edifying Records ++++ Once again Martin Barre steps out of his lead guitar role with Jethro Tull for this, his fourth solo album to date. Away With Words is pure joy to the ears as it finds Martin embracing some of the less familiar Tull material sitting alongside some of his own compositions. It’s virtually an all instrumental set with Dan Crisp making a brief appearance on vocals and Martin reveals that “These lesser known Tull songs have always been among my favourite pieces of music and reworking them brought back

many good memories”. While the majority of the arrangements make use of acoustic and classical guitar, bouzouki and mandolin, the electric guitar also gets a look in. We particularly like One Brown Mouse and Pussy Willow, and love the way that many tracks are sectioned to provide an effective change in pace and delivery. Sundown, the final song, has a beefier arrangement and makes a stunning finale. The production quality is very intimate and the layers of instruments are clearly defined, making this a delight from start to finish. Martin is currently on tour in the UK so make sure you get along to see him.

CAROUSEL VERTIGO

Scott and David Coverdale the music is hard, heavy, and very guitar led. After being seen jamming at another trade show hey were invited to open for Status Quo’s Pictures Exposed tour. That went so well that they joined them again on tour last year. Mighty is their debut album and it’s everything hard rock should be. The songs are well constructed, hot and heavy and laced with great guitar work throughout. The opening track, Mighty Good Woman, is a powerful introduction to the album; their version of Leon Russell’s Help Me Through The Day offers a bluesier element and Quo’s bass man, John ‘Rhino’ Edwards, helped with the rocker, 3rd Degree, so there are some good contrasts here. Well worth checking this one out.

ROADHOUSE

GODS & HIGHWAYS & OLD GUITARS

Kross Border Rekords +++ In spite of all their American spirit, folklore and lyrical content, Roadhouse are very much a product of the UK, and their blues-rock stage show is proving successful. The band is a quartet of seasoned players including Gary Boner and Danny Gwiliym on guitars, augmented with three female vocalists for more variety and visual impact. These girls can really sing too, so put the whole thing together and you have a very stage-friendly outfit. The music is good too, mostly written by Boner, and it neatly avoids the old blues chord clichés. We particularly like the solos on Spirits Across The Water, the slide work on Katrina and the slick moodiness of Skinwalker, but it’s all very well executed.

BULLFROG ELECTRIC BLUES EXPERIENCE

AD LIBITUM

Own Label +++ Bullfrog Electric Blues Experience hail from Spain and feature Agusti Mas on guitars with Txesk, JP and Oriol Planells on vocals, bass and drums. Ad Libitum was released last year but it is now gaining popularity due to You Tube. It consists of six originals and four standards, with an authentic rendition of Rollin’ And Tumblin’ and a credible take on John Lennon’s Yer Blues. The originals are varied with great slide work; while Agusti’s solos on The Last Journey and Obrigado fall somewhere between Al Di Meola and Santana. There’s interesting stuff going on here, so check out YouTube and see if it’s for you.

LESLIE WEST

STILL CLIMBING

Provogue Records/Mascot Label Group ++++ Mountain man West is back with a sequel to his 2011 Unusual Suspects album. This one follows the same format with Mark Tremonti, Johnny Winter, Dee Snider and Jonny Lang helping out - not that Leslie needs it to knock out a stunning solo or three, but what it does provide is variety. West’s guitar sound is huge, and he’s singing better than ever - amazing when you consider a battle with diabetes that nearly led to him giving up. Dying Since The Day I Was Born with Tremonti is a fantastic opener; Tales Of Woe features some super slide work, but then all of the guitar work is exceptional here. This is a really great album that can only enhance the legend that is Leslie West.

MIGHTY

Molano Music ++++ In 2009 two Gibson endorsees jammed together on stage at a trade show in Paris and something magical happened. So Vincent Martinez and Jansen Press formed a band and with Vincent’s voice sounding like a cross between Bon


GT USER GUIDE

You can get more from GT by understanding our easy-to-follow musical terms and signs...

RELATING TAB TO YOUR FRETBOARD

OUR RATING SYSTEM Every transcription or lesson in GT is graded according to its level of difficulty, from Easy to Advanced. We’ll also let you know what aspect of your playing will benefit by attempting a lesson.

advanced moderate-advanced

NUT & FRETBOARD HAND LABELLING Here are the abbreviations used for each finger: Fretting hand: 1, 2, 3, 4, (T) Picking hand: p (thumb), i (first finger), m (second), a (third), c (fourth)

moderate

The fretbox diagram above represents the fretboard exactly, as seen in the accompanying photo. This is for ease of visualising a fretboard scale or chord quickly.

easy-moderate easy

READ MUSIC Each transcription is broken down into two parts...

CHORD EXAMPLE

CHORD EXAMPLE WITH CAPO

The diagram represents the G chord in the photo. The ‘O’ symbol is an open string, and a circled number is a fretting finger. Intervals are shown below..

The blue line represents a capo – for this A chord, place it at fret 2. Capos change the fret number ordering – here, the original fret 5 now becomes fret 3, fret 7 now fret 5, etc.

TAPPING & HARMONICS

SCALE EXAMPLE

The left box shows an A minor pentatonic scale with added tapped notes signified by ‘T’s. Above shows a Cmaj9 (no 3rd) with harmonics at the 12th fret.

The diagram shows the fret-hand fingering for the A major scale (root notes in black). The photo shows part of the scale being played on the fourth string with first, third and fourth fingers.

MUSICAL STAVE The five horizontal lines for music notation show note pitches and rhythms and are divided by bar lines.

Tabbing Under the musical stave, Tab is an aid to show you where to put your fingers on the fretboard. The six horizontal lines represent the six strings on a guitar – the numbers on the strings are fret numbers. The two stave and tab examples show 4 notes and 4 chords; C (C major), Em (E minor), D7 (D dominant 7) and Am7 (A minor 7).

GUITAR TECHNIQUES: How tHey appeaR in wRitten music... PICKING VARIATIONS AND ALTERNATIVES Up and down picking

Q The first note is to be downpicked and the last note is to be up-picked.

Tremolo picking

Q Each of the four notes are to be alternate picked (down- & up-picked) very rapidly and continuously.


Palm muting

Q Palm mute by resting the edge of picking-hand’s palm on the strings near the bridge.

Pick rake

Q Drag the pick across the strings shown with a single sweep. Often used to augment a rake’s last note.

Appeggiate chord

Q Play the notes of the chord by strumming across the relevant strings in the direction of the arrow head.

FRETTING HAND Hammer-on & Pull-off

Q Pick 1st note and hammer on with fretting hand for 2nd note. Then pick 3rd note and pull off for 4th note.

Note Trills

Q Rapidly alternate between the two notes indicated in brackets with hammer-ons and pull-offs.

Slides (Glissando)

Q Pick 1st note and slide to the 2nd note. The last two notes show a slide with the last note being re-picked.

Left Hand Tapping

Fret-Hand Muting

Q Sound the notes marked with a square by hammering on/tapping with the frettinghand fingers.

Q X markings represent notes muted by the fretting hand when struck by the picking hand.

BENDING AND VIBRATO Bend up/down

Q Fret the start note (here, the 5th fret) and bend up to the pitch of the bracketed note, before releasing.

Re-pick bend

Pre bend

Quater-tone bend

Vibrato

Q Bend up to the pitch shown in the brackets, then re-pick the note while holding the bent note at the new pitch.

Q Bend up from the 5th fret to the pitch of the 7th fret note, then pick it and release to 5th fret note.

Q Pick the note and then bend up a quarter tone (a very small amount). Sometimes referred to as blues curl.

Artificial harmonics

Pinched harmonics

Tapped harmonics

Q Fret the note as shown, then lightly place the index finger over ‘x’ fret (AH ‘x’) and pick (with a pick, p or a).

n Fret the note as shown, but dig into the string with the side of the thumb as you sound it with the pick.

n Fret the note as shown, but sound it with a quick righthand tap at the fret shown (TH17) for a harmonic.

Q The fretting hand vibrates the note by small bend ups and releases. The last example uses the vibrato bar.

HARMONICS Natural harmonics

Q Pick the note while lightly touching the string directly over the fret indicated. A harmonic results.

Touch harminics

VibraTo arm AKA WHAMMY BAR Vibrato arm bends

Q The note is picked, then the whammy bar is raised and lowered to the pitches shown in brackets.

Scoop & doop

Q Scoop - depress the bar just before striking the note and release. Doop - lower the bar slightly after picking note.

A previously sounded note is touched above the fret marked TCH (eg TCH 9) to sound harmonic.

CAPO Dive bomb

Q Note sustained, then the vib is depressed to slack. Square bracket used if a long-held note has new articulation applied.

Gargle

Capo Notation

Q Sound the note and ‘flick’ the tremolo bar with picking hand so it ‘quivers’. Results in a ‘gargling’ sound!

Q A capo creates a new nut, so the above example has the guitar’s ‘literal’ 5th fret now as the 3rd fret.

OTHER TECHNIQUES Pick scrape

Q The edge of the pick is dragged down or up along the lower strings to produce a scraped sound.

Violining

Q Turn volume control off, sound note(s) and then turn vol up for a smooth fade in. Called ‘violining’.

Finger numbering

n The numbers after the notes are the fingers required to play the fret numbers in the tab below.

Pima directions

Right-hand tapping

Q Fingerpicking requirements are shown at the bottom of the tab notation.

Q Tap (hammer-on) with a finger of the picking hand onto the fret marked with a circle. Usually with ‘i’ or ‘m’.


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Guitar Techniques - December 2013

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