T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Note from the Editor
Oct 2010
Welcome Welco me to our first issue!
sons and subjects inspired you the most, and what questions you may have for myself and the other authors.
Recently it occurred to me that between my guitarist friends, writers and author colleagues, I could pull together a truly extraordinar extraordinary y collection of world-class lessons.
In the future issues I would also like to go beyond technique into composition and even music career advice by those who are on the front lines. The only “rule” here is a free, lesson oriented magazine of the highest quality. quality.
It also seemed that no one else was making such an effort. Sure the international guitar magazines are around, but they are basically “fan centered” and more interested in inundating their readership with an unending barrage of commercial advertising rather than offering any real lesson help.
But how exactly is this “free” thing going to work? Many of our contributors are teachers working hard to make ends meet. So if you benefit from their articles, please check out the authors’ websites and buy any products that interest you. Every $ you spend is the loudest possible form of support. It’s simple—what you buy you get more mor e of. What you don’t buy bu y, eventually goes away. We’re We’re not selling ad space, so it’s YOU that support our authors directly.
In contrast, I envisioned a free magazine where content drives the ship. Could it work? I floated the idea and my colleagues jumped on it so enthusiastically it surprised me. Within a few short weeks I had more than enough material to launch.
Now let’s get on with the lessons... I’m sure they will bring you some new perspectives and challenges!
Now it is up to you, the readers. Ultimately it will be you who determine our success. We will grow with your feedback. Shortly Shortly,, I will be sending you a survey email to see which les-
—Troy —T roy Stetin Stetina a
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T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Note from the Editor
Oct 2010
Welcome Welco me to our first issue!
sons and subjects inspired you the most, and what questions you may have for myself and the other authors.
Recently it occurred to me that between my guitarist friends, writers and author colleagues, I could pull together a truly extraordinar extraordinary y collection of world-class lessons.
In the future issues I would also like to go beyond technique into composition and even music career advice by those who are on the front lines. The only “rule” here is a free, lesson oriented magazine of the highest quality. quality.
It also seemed that no one else was making such an effort. Sure the international guitar magazines are around, but they are basically “fan centered” and more interested in inundating their readership with an unending barrage of commercial advertising rather than offering any real lesson help.
But how exactly is this “free” thing going to work? Many of our contributors are teachers working hard to make ends meet. So if you benefit from their articles, please check out the authors’ websites and buy any products that interest you. Every $ you spend is the loudest possible form of support. It’s simple—what you buy you get more mor e of. What you don’t buy bu y, eventually goes away. We’re We’re not selling ad space, so it’s YOU that support our authors directly.
In contrast, I envisioned a free magazine where content drives the ship. Could it work? I floated the idea and my colleagues jumped on it so enthusiastically it surprised me. Within a few short weeks I had more than enough material to launch.
Now let’s get on with the lessons... I’m sure they will bring you some new perspectives and challenges!
Now it is up to you, the readers. Ultimately it will be you who determine our success. We will grow with your feedback. Shortly Shortly,, I will be sending you a survey email to see which les-
—Troy —T roy Stetin Stetina a
-1-
T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Contents
Oct 2010
Level Author All levels
Jamie An Andreas
How to Practice So Yo You Do Don’t Suc Suck k
3
Beginning Lead/Int.
Jimmy Kane
Diminished/Blues Hybrid Licks
5
Beginning Lead/Int.
Anthony Arroyo
Chord Tones as Melod Melo dy Anchors
11
Intermediate
Dave Cel Celentano
Tune from Another Bach
13
Intermediate
Chris Buono
Blues in the Present Tens e
Intermediate/Adv.
Dale Turner
Polyphonic Riff Wr Writing
21
All levels
Don Parkhurst
Is Your Practice Routine Working?
24
Intermediate/Adv.
Jason Vearing
Stetina Deceiver Lick
27
Advanced
Francesco Artusato
Fusion Arpeggios in Metal
34
Advanced
German Schauss
Shred This Way...
39
Advanced
Mark Tremonti
Stretched Pentatonics
44
Advanced
Michael Angelo Batio
Cyclic Picking Patterns for Speed
48
Resources
51
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T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Jamie Andreas
How to Practice So You Don’t Suck
Why Do You Suck At Guitar? Reason #2: You Always Practice TOO FAST! (Editor’s (Editor’s Note: Even if you don’t suck, you would be wise to listen up. Don’t let the classical guitar throw you either. This applies to all styles.) styles.)
“No tempo” practice allows us to observe and feel the very subtle levels of excess tension that most players play with and accept as “normal.”
This Creates Great Tension In Your Muscles And Destroys Your Control. Most teachers understand the necessity for slow practice, but few students (or teachers) appreciate just how slow it must be. The fact is, ALL tempos are too fast for the most powerful kind of practice—the kind that can get us off our playing plateau and break through to new levels of ability. I teach a method where we eliminate the rhythm entirely from the movement process, and focus just on the movements themselves. We take as much time as we want with every movement, and every part of each movement. This is called “no tempo” practice. It is extremely powerful, and creates what I call “transformational practice”, because it transforms our fundamental abilities as guitar players. -3-
In a typical “no tempo” routine, I will take perhaps 10 seconds to push the string down, while I focus my attention attenti on strongly on my whole body, observing its reaction to the force of the string coming against my finger. I then release all body tension. Anyone who practices like this, for some period of time in every practice session, will begin to experience profound changes in what it feels like to play the t he guitar. guitar. They will begin beg in to develop a profound capacity for increased kinesthetic awareness, which I call “microscopic awareness.” All great players intuitively learn to practice this way in the early stages of their development, because without this kind of awareness, one simply cannot become a great player. The good news is that with the right practice methods, such as “no tempo” practice, anyone can reach the highest levels of professional playing ability.
T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Jamie Andreas
How to Practice So You Don’t Suck
_____________________ Jamie Andreas is the author of “The “ The Principles Of Correct Practice For Guitar”, a system for learning to play guitar that is based on the laws of body learning. It is scientific, and works for everyone. Thousands of people around the world have used “The P rinciples” to begin guitar correctly, avoiding all bad habits, or to fix the playing problems they have. Jamie’s in-depth writings on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of achieving guitar mastery can be found at her website www.guitarprinciples.com www.guitarprinciples.com..
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T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Jimmy Kane
Diminished/Blues Hybrid Licks
One of the novel and exciting sounds that Randy Rhoads brought to heavy rock guitar in the 80s was his ability to seamlessly interweave classically inspired, diminished-sounding guitar lines with more standard Jimmy Pagestyle Blues/Rock vocabulary—often even within the same phrase!
KEY CONCEPTS you will learn today:
You can hear a perfect example of this approach by referring to Troy’s Metal Lead Guitar Vol. 1 book, measures 12 to 14 of Solo #3 “From The Heart.” Even if you have long ago mastered that solo in terms of playing, let’s go back and review those particular phrases more deeply for a moment.
3. How to highlight a specific tone using multiple repetitions.
1. The shared scale tones common to the blues scale, the diminished triad, and the half-diminished arpeggio. 2. How to highlight a specific tone with rhythmic accenting.
First let’s cover the scale tones. The blues scale contains the interval tones 1-b3-4-b5-5-b7. The diminished triad is made up of 1b3-b5 and the half-diminished formula is 1-b3-b5-b7. So notice that both diminished forms are already lurking inside the familiar blues scale.
As you can see (and hear), the twisted-sounding one beat licks bring a very dark and sinister tension to an otherwise “normal” Blues/Rock guitar solo. You may not have realized it at the time, but what you were actually doing here was isolating and highlighting the diminished tones within the familiar blues scale framework. This is what creates that eerie quality.
As all of Ozzy's Axemen have known, the blues scale/ diminished hybrid sound is hiding there, ready to strike at any moment. And you can do it too, once you know how to isolate and unleash the fury. However, a word of warning: Simply learning the diminished shapes is not enough to bring the sound out of your hand convincingly upon command during solo-
But how can the same scale create such different qualities?
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T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Jimmy Kane
Diminished/Blues Hybrid Licks
ing. You must first train your ear to accept and hear the diminished sound in conjunction with the blues/rock sound before you can ever hope to combine them and “sell it to your listeners.” Failure to blend these two different sounds together effectively in your phrasing results in lines which end up sounding as though you momentarily went insane and played a series a weird random notes in the middle of an otherwise great solo! The first step is to understand Fig. 1 the concept of rhythmically highlighting the b5 (aka the tritone) in order to elevate it above mere “passing tone” status.
This is important because where a note occurs in the phrase has everything to do with giving it the fullest impact. Here in Figure 1, the b5 tone is given equal weight to the other scale tones. This is a typical presentation of the blues scale sound. Play it first so you have something to compare the next two examples against.
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T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Jimmy Kane
Diminished/Blues Hybrid Licks
Now we will lessen the impact of the b5 on the listeners ear by reducing it to passing tone status by giving it less rhythmic weight and emphasis than the other tones. Fig. 2
And finally we will increase the impact of the b5 on the listeners ear being given extra weight through rhythmic accenting and thereby graduating the b5 to color tone status. Fig. 3
Totally “Ozzyfied”, as more than one student has said when they play the heavy b5 presentation of the blues scale. The Blues Scale with a heavy b5 invokes a sinister diminished quality right away... like the Devil himself tuned your guitar for you! Now go back and play measures 12 to 14 of “From The Heart.” Notice that what Troy has done is create clusters of noted whose tonal values equal those of the diminished triad, or an upper partial of the half-diminished arpeggio, or some combination thereof in series of 1-beat licks. Pure, twisted nastiness. -7-
T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Jimmy Kane
Diminished/Blues Hybrid Licks
The example below pushes this concept further with a typical Rhoads-style contoured ascending Minor Pentatonic run, capped with a half-diminished arpeggio outline; as a two-bar phrase. Pay attention to how the final b5 is held for emphasis and then resolved with a slow ½ step bend up to tone 5. Fig. 4
“Which ones do you need?”
Click this image to see all Stetina products
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T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Jimmy Kane
Diminished/Blues Hybrid Licks
Our final example for this month, we will ascend the blues scale as a contoured line, expressed in 16th note quadruplets, and then we will descend with the half-diminished arpeggio. Next we slide into some diminished dyads, descend through box 5 of the blues scale, and finish off the line with a half-diminished climbing sequence to climax with a little melody which outlines a diminished triad. Fig. 5
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T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Jimmy Kane
Diminished/Blues Hybrid Licks
Well, that's it for this month. Now go back to “From The Heart” and write your own original solo using these concepts. Also check out our companion video examples on this lesson at our Hunt's Annex Studios youtube channel. See you next month!
_______________________________________________
Jimmy Kane is a guitarist, teacher and director of Hunt’s Annex music school just outside of Philidephia, PA. If you’re looking for a good deal on a new Jackson, check out www.HuntsMusic.com and send Jimmy an email.
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T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Anthony Arroyo
Chord Tones as Melodic Anchors
Many guitar players are solid in the “box 1” pentatonic area, but when they move away from this they get lost quickly. This is especially true for rock and metal players. And even if they know the other pentatonic boxes, they still can be lost musically, by not knowing what the shapes actually sound like . This lesson will provide a useful method of getting more familiar with these areas so you can actually use them musically.
I am willing to bet that 95% of the players out there hummed or sang a note that is one of the notes of G Major chord. This means that your inner-ear, no matter how untrained it may be, already knows at an instinctual level that the note that sounds good over any given chord is a note that actually belongs to the chord.
Personally, when I see the guitar neck, I don't see a bunch of notes, I see just a few notes at a time. Let me explain. Play a G Major chord like this:
To some people, this is a no-brainer, but to many guitar players always focused on playing fast licks, this is something that has never occurred to them. And this is key to making singable, melodic lines. When you start using chord tones prominently in your melodies, suddenly your ear begins to call the shows instead of the patterns and finding the correct notes on the fretboard is easier and faster.
Simple! Nothing fancy or unusual about this. Ok, now do me a favor and sing or hum one note as you strum this chord. Don't just hum or sing any note! Hum or sing a note that actually sounds good and "in-key" over this chord. Go ahead! Alright, now do me another favor and find that note you just sang over this chord.....did you find the note?
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So, the key here is to find these notes in the other places on the fretboard. They will be your “anchors.” For starters, we will learn the triads in each key, and memorize the inversions of these triads over the neck. (Inversions are the same notes of a chord arranged in a different order; in particular, when the lowe
T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Anthony Arroyo
Chord Tones as Melodic Anchors
Sounds hard, but it is really very simple. First things first, a triad is simply a chord in its simplest 3 note form. There are four triad types: Major, minor, augmented and diminished. For today, we are going to look only at the Major triad, specifically, G major. The notes that make up G major are G, B, and D. Here are some examples of the G Major triad, on the top three strings. Notice the three different shapes up the neck.
Click the image below to see a short example usingthese triads as “anchors.” I’m only adding an occasional embellishment. Very slow and simple, but notice how melodic and “right” it all sounds.
Now you try playing along with me. Just experiment hanging on these chord tones notes and let your ear guide you. Don’t even worry about any scale patterns. This is different kind of practice. No focus on technique. It’s all about listening! Next month we will use scales in conjunction with chord tones to bring it up a level. The final step will be to use passing tones and even “outside” passing tones to create more adventurous, original sounding melodic ideas. There are a lot of lessons that can show you how to burn and of course there is a place for that. It’s fun! I can do those tricks. But I think it’s important to also build a solid melodic base, too, so when you slow down, you can play music that fits. And then, when you do rip, you will rip with purpose! ‘Till next time, happy playing!!! _________________________ Anthony Arroyo is a guitarist from San Antonio, TX with over 20 years playing and teaching experience. He won San Antonio’s prestigious Guitar Wars Contest at the age of 19. Currently he enjoys playing guitar at the Vietnamese Christian Church in his city. No, he is not Vietnamese; he just likes the church! Check out Anthony’s youtube channel to see his technique in a variety of styles, including a Guitar Wars shredfest.
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T R O Y S T E T I N A S E R I E S
- D I G I T A L G U I T A R M A G A Z I N E
Dave Celentano
Tune from another Bach
Welcome to my debut column for Troy’s inaugural issue.
Then memorize the piece one measure at a time. (Editor’s note: Remember to begin with Jamie’s “no tempo” practice.)
Like many rock guitarists, I too have a sweet tooth for the great classical compositions that adapt well to distorted electric guitar. In this and future lessons I will turn you on to some of my favorite discoveries and even some inventions of my own.
And finally, string the pieces together and begin to practice with a metronome. Here is a quick analysis to make sense of what you have learned:
Example 1 is a variation I wrote of “Solfeggietto” by Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach (a sibling of J. S. Bach). It is also a workout in position shifts, alternate picking, and string skipping arpeggios. (And it’s an excerpt from my instructional book “Secrets of Shred Guitar,” Centerstream Publications/Hal Leonard Corporation).
The first eight measures outline the chords Am and E7 repeatedly, ascending the fretboard via several position shifts. These must be performed evenly and gracefully so as not to inhibit the flow of the music.
The arpeggios in the second half use string skipping and several wide stretches often associated with Paul First download the audio file here and listen to it as Gilbert’s shred style. Here the progression of chords you follow along with the notation on the next page. follows a cyclic pattern of ascending fourths where each chord is an interval of a fourth (five half steps) above the previous chord. Example 1 audio Alternate picking & string skipping arpeggio variations on Solfeggietto by K. P. E. Bach
Note: although the concept is to ascend in fourths, some of the chords were reassigned to an octave lower
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