OTIS RUSH LEARN TWO SOLOS IN THIS BLUES LEGEND’S STYLE

324 AUGUST 2021

U UGGED
Play like 10... ERIC CLAPTON
NIRVANA

UNPLUGGED McCARTNEY
PAUL SIMON
REM
PEARL JAM

LEGENDS
Learn 10 great new pieces
ROD STEWART
BON JOVI
SRV
STING
inspired by the best of MTV’s
acoustic video performances

URIAH HEEP
Check out a stalwart of British
rock, the great guitarist Mick Box

ROBBEN FORD
Discover how this brilliant guitarist
NEW SHRED SERIES! mixes blues and jazz to superb effect

Steve Vai
Learn five great licks from the man
STEVE CROPPER
We quiz the Stax and Blues Brothers legend
who changed rock guitar forever! on his approach to guitar instrumentals
 ISSUE 324 } AUGUST 2021 READY TO
SUBSCRIBE?
www.magazines

WELCOME
Just a few of your regular direct.com
GT technique experts...
SIMON BARNARD
Simon is a graduate of ACM and The
Guitar Institute, holding a Masters LIKE ALL GUITARISTS, I recall getting my WKHVHSUHVHQWHG$QG,KDYHWRVD\GHVSLWH
degree in music. He teaches, examines
and plays everything from rock to jazz. ¿UVWJXLWDUOLNHLWZDVMXVW\HVWHUGD\,QIDFW LWVOLPLWDWLRQV,ORYHGPLQH8QWLO,SDLQWHG
LW¶VDOPRVW\HDUVEXW,ZLOOIRUHYHU LWZKLWH ZLWK'XOX[JORVV DQGSXWWKH
RICHARD BARRETT
Tony Hadley’s longstanding guitarist WUHDVXUHWKHPRPHQW0\IDWKHUZDV EULGJHEDFNLQWKHZURQJSODFHVRLWQHYHU
Richie has worked with everyone from H[5$)YHU\JLQJRLVWLFDQGKHDEKRUUHG SOD\HGLQWXQHDJDLQ,GLGQ¶WUHDOLVHWKDW
Roger Daltrey to Ronan Keeting, and is
currently working on his own album. SRSPXVLF$W¿UVWKHUHIXVHGWROHWPHKDYH LQWRQDWLRQZDVDOODERXWEULGJHVDGGOH
DJXLWDUVLQFHLWZDVFOHDUO\VSDZQRIWKH SRVLWLRQUHODWLYHWRWKHQXWDQGIUHWV
SHAUN BA XTER
One of the UK’s most respected music GHYLO0\PRWKHURQWKHRWKHUKDQGZDVD ,QVSLUHGE\-RVp)HOLFLDQR¶V/LJKW0\
educators, Shaun has taught many who PXVLFLDQZKRORYHGDOOW\SHVRIPXVLF$IWHU )LUH,ERXJKWDFKHDSEXWSDVVDEOH% 0
are now top tutors themselves. His Jazz
Metal album is considered a milestone. PXFKUHDVRQLQJDQGFDMROLQJVKH¿QDOO\ FODVVLFDOEXWP\PXPVRRQJDYHPHKHUIDU
SHUVXDGHGKLP,PLJKWDFWXDOO\VWLFNDWLW VXSHULRU<DPDKD$FRXSOHRI\HDUVODWHU
JON BISHOP
Jon is one of those great all-rounders 7KHWKLQJZDV,KDGWRVDYHXSKDOIRI DIWHU,¶GDOUHDG\JRWD6WUDWDQG(6,
who can turn his hand to almost any WKHZKROHHLJKWJXLQHDV LQWRGD\¶V KHDUG-DPHV7D\ORUDQGWKHTXHVWZDVRQ
style. He’s also rock legend Shakin’
Stevens’ touring and recording guitarist.
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VLJKWVRQ,WZDVGDUNWROLJKWUHGVXQEXUVW OHQWLWWRVRPHRQHDQGQHYHUVDZLWDJDLQ
MARTIN COOPER
A tutor at BIMM Brighton, Martin’s Rock
ZLWKDFXWDZD\DQGIKROHV,GLGQ¶WUHDOLVH 0\SRLQWLVWKDWVHHLQJDQGKHDULQJ
columns show an incredible breadth of WKHELQGLQJZDVSDLQWHGRQRUWKDWWKH RWKHUVSOD\FHUWDLQJXLWDUVLVDUHDOFDWDO\VW
technique and style. His 2006 album
State Of The Union is out on iTunes.
¿QJHUERDUGZDVEHHFKZRRGVWDLQHGEODFN IRUZKDWLQVWUXPHQWVZHJUDYLWDWHWR
DQGVRÀDWDVWRIHHODOPRVWFRQFDYH RXUVHOYHV$QG,¶GEHWP\KDWRQWKHIDFW
CHARLIE GRIFFITHS 0LQHGLGQ¶WKDYHDSLFNXSDOWKRXJKLW WKDWPDQ\RI\RXZLOOKDYHEHHQLQVSLUHGWR
Guitar Institute tutor Charlie first came
to fame in Total Guitar’s Challenge ZDVDYDLODEOHZLWKRQH,WKLQNWKDWZDV SOD\ DQGEX\ E\VRPHRIWKH8QSOXJJHG
Charlie series. He’s also guitarist with top ZKDW*DU\0RRUHJRW9DULRXV DUWLVWVLQRXUFRYHUIHDWXUH$QG\HVZH
UK metal-fusion band Haken.
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JAMIE HUNT VRPDQ\RWKHUVJRW5RVHWWLRU VKRZWRSLFNRXWRIRXUIDYRXULWH
Jamie is Principal Lecturer at BIMM
Bristol. He also leads performance (JPRQGEDGJHGJXLWDUV 5RVHWWLV SHUIRUPDQFHV$QG,KRSH\RXDJUHH
workshops, plays in metal band One ZHUHEXLOWE\(JPRQGLQ+ROODQG WKHSDOHWWHRIPXVLFDOFRORXUV
Machine and is endorsed by ESP guitars.
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PHIL HILBORNE 5RVHWWL 0\\RXQJHUEURWKHU SDLQWVDYHULWDEOHUDLQERZ
The UK’s original magazine guitar tutor,
Phil’s something of a legend. A great EDJJHGKLPVHOIDQ(JPRQG GHVLJQHGWRLQVSLUH\RXU
player, he’s got the Phil Hilborne Band 7KHHJJVOLFHUDFWLRQ VXPPHUVWUXPPLQJ
back together so catch them if you can.
PDGHEDUUHFKRUGVUHDOO\ 6HH\RXQH[WPRQWK
BRIDGET MERMIKIDES KDUGWRSOD\%XWZLWKRXW
Guildhall and Royal Academy trained,
Bridget is a Royal College of Music WKHGLVWUDFWLRQVDYDLODEOH
examiner, a respected classical player WRWHHQDJHUVWRGD\PRVW
and award-winning blues guitarist.
RIXVIRXJKWRXUZD\
TIM PETTINGALE WKURXJKWKHREVWDFOHV Neville Marten, Editor
Tim has written dozens of fantastic
books on playing guitar in a variety of
WKDWFKHDSJXLWDUVOLNH neville.marten@futurenet.com
styles, but specialising in jazz. Check out
his Fundamental Changes catalogue.

DON’ T MISS OUR A M A Z ING DIGI TA L EDI T ION

JACOB QUISTGA ARD
Quist has been with GT since 2009.
Currently Bryan Ferry’s guitarist, his
YouTube channel is viewed by millions
and he creates our monthly jam tracks.
Try GT’s digital edition on PC,
PHIL SHORT
You might recognise Phil from winning
Mac, Laptop, Desktop or Tablet!
International Guitar Idol competition.
But he also teaches at BIMM in London
Tap the links Finding your way around the magazine is easy.
and is a busy session and touring player. Tapping the feature titles on the cover or the contents page, takes
you straight two the relevant articles. Any web and email links in
JOHN W HEATCROFT the text are tappable too
A phenomenal guitarist, John is a
master at all styles but a legend in Gypsy Animated tab & audio All the mag’s main lessons have
Jazz. His latest album Ensemble Futur is the audio built in with a moving cursor that shows you exactly
out now on iTunes and Amazon. where you are in the music. Simply tap the ‘play’ button and
you’re off - you can fast-forward or scroll back at will.
Guitar Techniques, ISSN 1352-6383, is published monthly with an extra issue in July by
Future Publishing, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1 1UA, UK.
The US annual subscription price is $181.87 Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent
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Subscription records are maintained at Future Publishing, c/o Air Business Subscriptions,
Rockwood House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 3DH. UK.

August 2021 3
 GT USER GUI
You can get more from GT by understanding
our easy-to-follow musical terms and signs...
œ œ œ
READ MUSIC œ
MUSICAL STAVE TAB Under the musical stave, Tab
The five horizontal is an aid to show you where to put
Each transcription is 2nd string
3rd fret
2nd string
1st fret
3rd string
2nd fret
4th string
Open lines for music notation your fingers on the fretboard. The
broken down into 1E
2B
3G
3 1
2
show note pitches and
rhythms and are divided
six horizontal lines represent the six
strings on a guitar – the numbers on
two parts... 4D
5A
6E
0
by bar lines. the strings are fret numbers.

GUITAR TECHNIQUES: HOW THEY APPEAR IN WRITTEN MUSIC...

PICKING
Up and down picking Tremolo picking Palm muting Pick rake Appeggiate chord

œ bœ n œœ n œœ w
gg ˙˙˙ ggg # ˙˙˙
œ œ œ œ # œœ œœ
¿
@ @ @ @ ¿¿ ggg ˙ ggg # # ˙˙
œ œ œ œ œ gg # ¿˙ gg ˙
rake g
ggg 00 ggg
PM PM
E E E 5 E 4

gg 22 gg
E
B B B 8 8 X 5

@ @ @ @
B B

ggg X2 ggg
G G 5 4 7 8 G 7 7 G X G 4
D 7 5 D D 6 6 D X D 4

≥ ≤
A A A 7 7 A A 4
E E E 0 0 0 0 0 E E 5

n The first note is to be n Each of the four notes are n Palm mute by resting n Drag the pick across the n Play the notes of the
down-picked and the last to be alternate picked (down- the edge of picking-hand’s strings shown with a single chord by strumming across
note is to be up-picked. & up-picked) very rapidly and palm on the strings near the sweep. Often used to augment the relevant strings in the
continuously. bridge. a rake’s last note. direction of the arrow head.

FRETTING HAND
Hammer-on & Pull-off Note Trills Slides (Glissando) Left Hand Tapping Fret-Hand Muting
~~~~~ n œœ ¿¿ ¿¿ ¿¿ œœ ¿¿ ¿¿
œ œ œ œ œ œ
6
œ œ ˙ (œ œ) b ˙ œ
tr

œ œ # œœ ¿¿ ¿¿ ¿¿ œœ ¿¿ ¿¿
œ

≠
tr ~~~~~
E E E E E

(7 5)
B B B 5 B B 8 X X X 8 X X
G 5 7 7 5 G 5 G 5 7 5 7 G G 7 X X X 7 X X
D D 8 D D 7 D 6 X X X 6 X X
A A A A 7 5 0 A 7 X X X 7 X X
E E E E 5 0 E

n Pick 1st note and hammer n Rapidly alternate between n Pick 1st note and slide to n Sound the notes marked n X markings represent
on with fretting hand for 2nd the two notes indicated in the 2nd note. The last two with a square by hammering notes muted by the fretting
note. Then pick 3rd note and brackets with hammer-ons and notes show a slide with the on/tapping with the fretting- hand when struck by the
pull off for 4th note. pull-offs. last note being re-picked. hand fingers. picking hand.

BENDING AND VIBRATO CAPO

Bendup/down Re-pick bend Pre bend Quarter-tone bend Capo Notation

n Fret the start note (here, the n Bend up to the pitch shown n Ben from the 5th fret to n Pick the note and then n A capo creates a new nut,
5th fret) and bend up to the in the brackets, then re-pick the the pitch of the 7th fret note, bend up a quarter tone (a very so the above example has
pitch of the bracketed note, note while holding the bent then pick it and release to 5th small amount). Sometimes the guitar’s ‘literal’ 5th fret
before releasing. note at the new pitch. fret note. referred to as blues curl. now as the 3rd fret.

HARMONICS R/H TAPPING

Natural harmonics Artificial harmonics Pinched harmonics Tapped harmonics Right-hand tapping
‚ # ‚‚ ‚ ‚
‚ ‚ — — — ‚
‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

NH AH16 AH17 AH19 PH TH17 TH19 TH17

E E E E
B 12 7 B B B
G 12 7 G 4 7 G G 4
D 12 7 D 5 D 7 5 D 5 7
A A A 7 A
E E E E

n Pick the note while lightly n Fret the note as shown, n Fret the note as shown, n Fret the note as shown, but n Tap (hammer-on) with a
touching the string directly then lightly place the index but dig into the string with sound it with a quick right- finger of the picking hand
over the fret indicated. A finger over ‘x’ fret (AH ‘x’) and the side of the thumb as you hand tap at the fret shown onto the fret marked with a
harmonic results. pick (with a pick, p or a). sound it with the pick. (TH17) for a harmonic. circle. Usually with ‘i’ or ‘m’.

4 August 2021
 C ON T E N T S
CONTENTS

SUBSCRIBE
• I S S U E 3 2 4 • A U G U S T 2 0 21 • TO GT !
PAGE 40

LEARNING ZONE
LESSONS INTRODUCTION 52
COVER Senior music editor Jason Sidwell discusses the
many merits of ultra-slow practising.
STORY 30-MINUTE LICKBAG 54
Jonny Buckland, Gilmour, David Williams,
Johnny Winter, Brad Paisley, Andy Timmons.
BLUES 56
Phil Short checks out one of the most influential
but undersung bluesmen, the superb Otis Rush.
ROCK 60
Martin Cooper checks out the great British rock
band Uria Heep, and their guitarist Mick Box.
SHRED! 64
Charlie Grifffiths brings you five great licks from
the incalculably important guitarist, Steve Vai.
JAZZ 66
Mike Stern continues his new series showing
how he uses Altered scales and outside notes.
BRIT ROCK 70
Simon Barnard examines the retro sound of Carl
Barât and Pete Docherty of The Libertines.
SHAUN’S CREATIVE ROCK 74
Shaun Baxter continues his series on using
specific note combinations to enhance your
playing. This month: Compound Intervals.

EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS!
ALEX SILL
Eric Clapton is one Video Masterclass 30
of this month’s 10 This amazing fusion player plays and explains a
Unplugged heroes great solo on Jason Sidwell’s track, Buoyancy.
RHYTHM ROOST
Jiving! 53
FEATURES REGULARS Jason says, use your clean neck pickup and
fingerstyle technique for this swung jazzy idea.
WELCOME 3
C OV E R F E AT U R E Nev recalls his early forays into acoustic guitar.
10 UNPLUGGED GREATS USER GUIDE 4
Play like the show’s best 16 How to use GT’s musical terms and signs.
The MTV Unplugged series showcased some INTRO 6
of the biggest stars in an acoustic setting. We Food For Thought, Session Shenanigans, One-
bring you studies in the styles of McCartney, Minute Lick, That Was The Year, Jam Track tips.
Paul Simon, Nirvana, SRV, Sting, REM & more! INSTRUMENTAL INQUISITION 9
The great Stax house musician Steve Cropper.
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E ROCCO ZIFARELLI 12
Interview with Ennio Morricone’s guitarist.
THE CROSSROADS SUBSCRIPTIONS 38
Robben Ford 40 Great offers at www.magazinesdirect.com.
John Wheatcroft shows how players like the
COVER PHOTO: KEVIN MAZUR / GETTY IMAGES

great Robben Ford bring sophisticated jazz BACK ISSUES 80

sensibilities to straight-up blues based songs. Last six months of print edition still available,
and several years of GT on digital too!
C L A S S I C A L TA B ALBUM REVIEWS 81
Joe Bonamassa, Toto, End Machine, Scott
FERNANDO SOR McKeon, Steve Cropper & Cliff Moore.
Alex Sill brings us
Study 18, Opus 35 48 NEXT MONTH 82 a stunning solo on
Bridget Mermikides embarks on a series of Repetitive Blues-Rock Licks. Marty Friedman Jason’s Buoyancy
more approachble pieces, like this Sor étude. video lesson, SRV, Clapton, Satriani, Styx & more.

August 2021 5

 FOOD
Justin Sandercoe of justinguitar.com lends GT his insight as one of the world’s
most successful guitar teachers. This month: The Importance of Mechanics
his last week I re-recorded all
T the lessons on E-shape barre
FKRUGVWKDW,¿UVW¿OPHG
nearly 10 years ago. I like to
think that I have improved as
a teacher since then and for sure
the audio and video quality is
better… but I experienced some
unexpected revelations too.
2QHRIWKHDPD]LQJWKLQJVDERXW
teaching online is that feedback can
often be brutally honest. I ignore
the haters, but those with
constructive feedback are a key to
growth. So before remaking the
videos I went through all the
YouTube comments, the website
and forum comments to take every
bit of feedback I could.
In the ‘old days’ (ha ha) we
teachers used to get feedback from
the students in the room but with
everything moving more and more
online, I would certainly
recommend that anyone teaching
should learn to read comments
with a thick skin and an open mind.
Look for feedback that will help
your own growth, however
unpleasant it might be to face.
I have always taught beginners
to keep the fretting-hand thumb at
the back of the neck even though I
play with the thumb hanging over
the top. The reason is to help the
students develop the muscle
EHWZHHQWKHWKXPEDQG¿UVW¿QJHU
WKHEDUUH¿QJHU LIWKDW¿QJHULV
weak then playing barre chords will
EHYHU\GL̇FXOW%XWZKDW,IRXQG
in the comments were a lot of
people upset that they found the
FKRUGVGL̇FXOWPDNLQJLWUHDOO\
hard to work at it. Most were not
folk that had been following my
programme, but I still needed to
take that into consideration and
help them as best I could.
Around the same time as I was
doing this research a friend sent me
a link to a songwriter called
Victoria Canal, who is missing a
hand, but didn’t let it stop her
playing guitar and piano (and being
a performing artist). I have huge
admiration for people that face and
overcome obstacles (I’m big on
6 August 2021
I NTRO
FOR THOUGHT 
stoic ideas and that the 'obstacle is
the way') and I’m a bit in awe of how
VKHVHHPVFRPSOHWHO\XQD̆HFWHGE\
her situation and is lost in the
making of music.
The combined headspace led me
to thinking about ways to teach
barre chords to people that have
VRPHSK\VLFDOVWUXJJOHVSHFL¿FDOO\
those that have not developed that
“I STARTED EXPLORING MY OWN TECHNIQUE
AND TRYING TO REALLY DIG INTO WHAT WAS
GOING ON MECHANICALLY”
µEDUUH FKRUG¶ ¿QJHU PXVFOH WKDW
makes learning these important
shapes so much easier.
There is always more than one
way around anything, so I started
exploring my own technique and
trying to really dig into what was
going on ‘mechanically’. I have been
working a lot on meditative guitar
practice and really trying to tune
into what I am doing, feeling and
Justin digs into
his own stylistic
foibles to help
you play better
hearing when I play and it really
SDLGR̆RQWKLVRFFDVLRQ
First, I remembered that I could
play barre chords quite well
without using my thumb at all. I
had to get the pressure from pulling
back with my elbow - that helped
VSXUPHRQWR¿JXUHRXWPRUHZD\V
I was using mechanics to get the
pressure needed for the strong
barre. So that was a big one. Now,
what else was going on?
I noticed the pressure applied by
the rotation of the hand when you
UROOWKHEDUULQJ¿UVW¿QJHUVOLJKWO\
to its side. Think palm up, thumb
EHKLQGWKHQHFNDQG¿QJHUVLQIURQW
and then rotate your palm
anticlockwise - just a bit. With the
barre in place (and the correct
thumb placement) the rotation
adds pressure to the barre, further
relieving the need to squeeze using
that barre chord muscle.
Then I realised I’d been playing
barre chords more or less non-stop
for nearly an hour and my hand still
wasn’t aching. That ‘barre muscle’
wasn’t tired like I would have
expected it to be.
Giving more time to mechanics
has meant that I didn’t have to use
as much pinching pressure and,
now I was aware of it, I could notice
all these tiny movements that were
PDNLQJDGL̆HUHQFHWRJHWKHU2Q
their own they would solve no
problems but when I really tuned in
I found that adopting these many
small mechanical boosters, barres
were physically a lot easier.
%DUUH¿QJHUVOLJKWO\UROOHGRQLWV
VLGH LW¶VKDUGHUDQGOHVVÀDEE\RQ
the side and so easier to press the
strings down).
.HHSLQJWKHEDUUH¿QJHUVHDWHG
right behind the fret (when it’s
further away from the fret it needs
more pressure)
3. Slightly anticlockwise rotated
palm (this helps to 'pinch' the barre
to the fretboard)
4. Keeping palm and forearm as
straight as possible (to avoid
possible carpal tunnel problems
and help with the next point…)
5. Slightly pulling back from the
elbow (with the correct hand
position it pulls the barre tightly
onto the neck).
But this was bigger than that. It
reminded me that when a
WHFKQLTXHLVULJKWWKHH̆RUW
required will probably be a lot less.
I’m now back re-examining many
parts of my playing that I have
neglected. It’s a little frustrating
EHFDXVH,NQHZDOOWKLVVWX̆EXWLW
has also shown me that this kind of
food for thought is worth revisiting
fairly regularly. Hope this helps you
think more about your obstacles
and how you’re going to overcome
them! Safe travels!
NICK DELANEY
Get more info and links to related
lessons on all Justin’s GT articles
at www.justinguitar.com/gtmag

 SESSION
The studio guitarist’s guide to happiness and personal fulfilment,
as related by session ace Mitch Dalton. This month: Metal To The Pedal
magine a recording studio, long
I ago and far away. Imagine a
facility equipped with 240 volts,
LQVWDQW FR̆HH DQG FDUSHW LI \RX
were lucky. A recording area
miked up for electric guitar, bass
and a decent piano, set at ninety
degrees to a Fender Rhodes electric
keyboard. Imagine separate booths
for drum kit, percussion and
acoustic guitar. It’s easy if you try.
6RUU\ ,W KDG WR EH GRQH 2Q D FOHDU
day, the magic happened in the
control room. This housed a desk
ZKLFK UHVHPEOHG WKH ÀLJKW GHFN RI
the Starship Enterprise but often
populated by more people with
funny ears. In one corner stood the
intimidatingly bulky tape machine,
spinning its hugely expensive
two-inch tape at warp speed,
simultaneously heating the room to
Hell’s Kitchen Centigrade.
Was it Lansdowne? Maybe Red
Bus. Could it have been RG Jones?
No matter. It will have disappeared
as surely as Take 2 follows Take 1
and the oft mistaken exhortation, “I
think we can do a better one”. But it
was within one of these windowless
wastelands that I sat in my
acoustically insulated cell clutching
a Guild F50 steel-string, while
diggin’ the crazy sounds emanating
from both Rhodes and Strat. The
electric guitar sounded warm, fat
and just plain ‘more’ than anything
,KDG HQFRXQWHUHG 7KH SLDQR ¿OOHG
the sonic spectrum with
stereophonic loveliness and glued
the rhythm section with its subtle
enhancement. I had been
introduced unwittingly to both the
MXR Phase 90 and the Boss CE-1
Stereo Chorus Ensemble - like an
H̆HFWV SHGDO YLUJLQ IRU WKH YHU\ ¿UVW
time. I left at lunchtime with but
one thought. These gizmos must be
mine. And thus it was that on my
next gigs, The Girl From Ipanema,
Wild Thing and Giant Steps
EHQH¿WHG HTXDOO\ IURP WKH
indiscriminate application of my
new processor pals. Until I was
DVNHG SROLWHO\ EXW ¿UPO\ WR WXUQ
WKHPR̆DQGJLYHP\FROOHDJXHV
some respite. My personal age of
I NTRO
SHENANIGANS 
electronic enlightenment had
begun, as it had for millions more.
Pedals for tremolo, overdrive,
compression and distortion and
followed in rapid succession from
manufacturers like Boss, MXR and
Electro-Harmonix. The latter won
the rights to the most surreal
naming policy - Small Stone Phaser,
Memory Man and the quite brilliant
“TODAY THE WORLD IS AWASH WITH MULTI
EFFECTS PROCESSORS, PROGRAMMABLE STOMP
BOXES AND MODELLING MARVELS”
(OHFWULF0LVWUHVVDÀDQJHURIDXGLR
sweetness and versatility. If only the
latter’s early iterations had
possessed a life span longer than
WKDWRID&DEEDJH:KLWHEXWWHUÀ\
much anxiety and embarrassment
would have been spared. To be fair,
those issues were resolved when
production moved to Taiwan and
assembly to NYC.
Today, the world is awash with
PXOWLH̆HFWVSURFHVVRUV
programmable stomp boxes and
PRGHOOLQJPDUYHOVVẊFLHQWWR
cause an outage at a medium-sized
nuclear power station. And that’s
just in Wandsworth. Nevertheless,
the old dictum remains - “Plus ca
change, plus la meme chose.”
(Google if necessary, dear reader.)
It’s usually enough to pass through
the studio door armed with a
volume pedal, a device that
SURGXFHVFKRUXVW\SHH̆HFWVD
FRPSUHVVRUIRUFRXQWU\LQÀXHQFHG
stylings, a tremolo device ('vibrato'
in Fender-speak) if not built in to
your amp, and a wah pedal. With a
smidgeon of luck you’ll be advised
in advance of any esoteric addenda
deemed mandatory. A stereo echo
box which can produce two delay
WLPHVDWRQFH"2IFRXUVH$Q
automatic wah pedal? No problem.
Mitch says, get
a load of pedals
to sound just
like you!
A Leslie cab simulator? Why not? I
got ‘em all. In a tea chest in my
guitar store, used once and waiting
in hope for an eBay price boom.
&OHDUO\WKDW¶VDOO¿QHDQGGDQG\
when discussing dates which
require the reproduction of
well-known sounds, perhaps on
Strictly Come Dancing or (deep
breath) Britain’s Got Talent.
However, the almost metaphysical
issue resides in the notion of the
quest for the perfect sound that can
challenge a plucker’s mental health.
Take the mission to achieve the
XOWLPDWHRYHUGULYHQJXLWDUH̆HFWDW
a comfortable volume. Never forget
that it is precisely that. The sound of
DYDOYHEHLQJÀRJJHGWRGHDWKLQDQ
amp is the authentic way, bearing in
mind that this mid-century
technology was never intended for
WKHSXUSRVHOHWDORQH¿WIRULW
I have owned many a device that
claimed to be the ultimate in
replicating this phenomenon, from
an early Coloursound box through
to Boss overdrive (and
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and other pedals too distorted to
mention. My personal favourite is
the Mesa V-Twin, an artefact of
considerable weight, solidity and
retro aesthetics. Probably because it
has a valve at its heart.
But here’s the thing. I was once
ERRNHGWRSHUIRUPRQD¿OPVHVVLRQ
with seven other electric guitarists.
Don't ask. It wasn’t pretty. At the
conclusion of proceedings one
esteemed colleague produced a
newly acquired instrument which
excited interest and was duly
passed around. I listened as each
player essayed a few choice licks -
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and exactly like himself!
“There you go, mate. The
Metaltron De Luxe Digital
Programmable Distortodrive.
That’ll be £325.70 to sound just like
youself. Bargain. We don’t take
American Express.”
For more on Mitch and his musical
exploits with the Studio Kings, go
to: www.mitchdalton.co.uk
August 2021 7
8
August 2021
transposing to

notation below.
on as a player -
if you are to get
what fret on the
which note is at
Many guitarists
struggle to know

interacting with
different keys, or

at each fret, with

other musicians.

its corresponding
comes to reading,

Here are the notes

especially when it
guitar. This is vital
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D
B C C#/D b D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A
G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F
D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C

Open Strings
A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/G b G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G
E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D

Open Strings
√
I NTRO

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E 1

œ # b # b √
œ œ œb # bœ œ œ œb
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# b # bœ œ #œ b
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A 5
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HOW TO find all the notes on the fretboard

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INSTRUMENTAL INQUISITION !
Guitar instrumentals have supplied some of music’s most evocative moments
so Jason Sidwell asks top guitarists for their take on this iconic movement.
This month: Stax and Blues Brothers legend, Steve Cropper.
GT
:What is it about guitar instrumentals
that appeal to you?
SC: Guitars are sexy.
GT:What can an instrumental provide a
listener that a vocal song can’t?
SC: I would not have a clue.
GT: What are the tendencies with
instrumentals that you aim to embrace or
avoid (for instance, rhythms, harmony,
playing approach, tones)?
SC: When I record an instrumental, I try to play
melodies strong enough so the listener doesn’t
miss a singer.
GT: Is a typical song structure of intro, verse,
chorus, verse, chorus, middle 8, outro, etc,
always relevant for an instrumental?
SC: Not necessarily. An instrumental is only a
piece of music without a singer.
GT: How useful is studying a vocalist’s
approach for guitar melodies?
SC: That is something I have never done. When
covering a vocal song it only works when the
musician plays the melody of the song. I don’t
think a vocalist’s approach has anything to do
with it being successful.
GT: How do you start writing one; is there a
typical approach or inspiration for you?
SC: None that I know of. The only thing I look for
in an instrumental is, if it is catchy enough.
GT: What do you aim for when your
performance is centre stage for the duration
of the instrumental?
“IF I OR THE ENGINEER WANTS A DIFFERENT SOUND
I USUALLY USE A DIFFERENT GUITAR RATHER THAN
CHANGE THE TONE ON THE ONE I AM PLAYING.”
SC: Just concentrate on a good entertaining
performance, that’s all anyone needs to do.
GT: Many vocal songs feature a guitar solo that
starts low and slow then finishes high and fast.
Is this structure useful for instrumental
writing, in order to develop pace and
dynamics over the instrumental’s duration?
SC: I think it all depends on personal preference,
because the audience will decide
if they like it or not.
I NTRO
Steve Cropper with
his custom built
Peavey guitar, and
‘red-knob’ Fender
Twin amplifier
GT: Is there a particular type of guitar tone
that you prefer for instrumentals?
SC: Whatever the player wants. I personally use
the same tone and settings on everything. If I or
the engineer wants a different sound I usually
use a different guitar rather than change the
tone on the one I am playing.
GT: Do you have favourite keys or tempos?
SC: None so far. I just adjust to whatever the key
is. However, some licks cannot be played in
every key because they could never sound the
same. Melodies can be played in any key but not
identifiable guitar licks.
GT: Do you find Minor or Major keys easier to
write or play in?
SC: No!
GT: Do you have any favourite modes?
SC: None.
GT: What about modulations into new keys?
SC: Modulations are good to use when it works.
In the old days some producers thought that
modulations made a song better and stronger,
I don’t believe that. I do know that Soul Man,
one of the biggest songs at Stax had a
modulation but I would credit that as an Isaac
Hayes genus approach.
GT: What are your views on harmonising
melodies in your tunes?
SC: Background harmonies are only good if it
works and is needed. Otis (Redding) and I
agreed that backgrounds would be great on Dock
Of The Bay. That was never done because there
was no time after his death to do it. When I
mixed the song on Tuesday the 11th they hadn’t
found Otis’s body yet. It was Friday when they
finally located Otis and the pilot.
GT: What three guitar instrumentals would
you consider iconic, or have inspired you?
SC: My influences record-wise was: 1) Bill
Dogget’s Honky Tonk, with Billy Butlar playing
guitar; 2) Chuck Berry’s Deep Feeling (he played
pedal steel and the record company finally
released another version called Low Feeling);
and 3) Bill Justus’s Raunchy, with Hank
Hankins playing guitar with a pencil.
Steve Cropper’s long awaited solo album of new
material, Fire It Up, is out now on on Mascot/
Provogue. Co-produced by Jon Tiven and
featuring Roger C Reale on vocals, Steve calls it
his his first proper solo album since 1969!
August 2021 9
 I NTRO
Use your best
John Petrucci
licks over jam
track #2
JAM TRACKS TIPS
Use these to navigate our bonus backing tracks

™ Super Slow Blues (Dm) › Lydian #2 Jam

We start with a very slow 12-bar in
the key of D Minor. In terms of
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by hitting up the good old D Minor
Pentatonic scale (D-F-G-A-C) and
adding feeling via bends, vibrato,
slides and legato.
š G Dorian Jam
This hypnotic groove jam contains a
WZRFKRUG YDPS VSHFL¿FDOO\
designed for exploring G Dorian
mode (G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F). The
chords are Gm and C – and it is
worth noting that you can also
simply use G Minor Pentatonic
(G-Bb-C-D-F) and G Minor Blues
scale (G-Bb-C-C#-D-F).
+HUH ZH KDYH D YHU\ GL̆HUHQW W\SH
of jam. It is a groove jam based on
the sixth mode of the A Harmonic
Minor scale – F Lydian #2 (F-G#-A-
B-C-D-E). So essentially it’s Lydian
mode, but with a raised 2nd
interval. Remember you can always
simply think A Harmonic Minor,
but with the awareness that now the
F is your ‘home base’.
œ Chilled Groove Blues (Gm)
:H ¿QLVK ZLWK D FKLOOHG DQG JURRY\
blues jam in G Minor. Use G Minor
Pentatonic (G-Bb-C-D-F) as your
starting point here, and focus on
your time keeping (stay relaxed!)
to really get in the groove of things.
Happy jamming!

Visit www.Quistorama.com/
jamtracks and subscribe to www.
youtube.com/QuistTV for more
jam tracks, licks and Wednesday
Warm-ups. Quist’s latest album
/RRS,PSURYLVDWLRQV9ROLVRXW
QRZDQG\RXFDQDOVR¿QGKLPRQ
Spotify, Instagram & Patreon.

PHIL HILBORNE S ONEMINUTE LICK Chromatic Dominant Lick

THIS MONTH’S PIANOINFLUENCED lick is mostly
constructed using a mixture of three-note chromatic
lines followed either by a chord tone or an extension
note. There are four of these lines in total targeting in
order: the root (A), b7 (G), 13 (F#) and 5 (E).
As well as looking at the function of these target
notes it is also worth noticing how the chromatic
approach notes relate to the underlying chord as well.
It’s a little tricky to play this fast and cleanly, mostly
because of the frequent string skips. I have written a
suggested fretting-hand fingering for the entire phrase.
However, I strongly recommend that you use this as a
starting point and amend it to suit your approach. This
point particularly applies to the notes played at the
same fret on the first two 16th notes of beats 3 and 4 of
bar 2. I have written these to be played with the same
finger – as a kind of ‘rolled barre’ - but it is also practical
and perhaps less prone to handling noise to use first
finger followed by third, so best to experiment!.
For further inspiration a great place to start is with
the music of Steve Morse, who has often used ideas
similar to this in his soloing and riff writing.

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10 August 2021
 I NTRO

SUBSTITUTE
Polychords
WITH RICHARD BARRETT

In this column we often look at inversions, where we take a note other than the
root, that’s already in the chord and move it to the bottom. But you can also
introduce a different note, such as playing G Major over an A bass to make a
jazzy A9sus4. But we can take this idea even further...

IF YOU superimpose one whole chord over another whole chord, you get a‘polychord’. This concept is admittedly not common in rock and pop music.
They gained limited exposure in 20th century classical music, for instance Stravinsky’s The Rite Of Spring. But with care, they can be used more widely.
Taking a simple progression, we’ll glue some new chords on top. The upshot is often that you’re just taking a roundabout route to a perfectly normal
extended-chord type (like the A9sus4 above), but that doesn’t matter. Isn’t the joy of travel supposed to be about the journey, rather than the arrival?

YOU’LL discover fairly quickly
that the polychord is best suited
to an ensemble situation, where
the component chords can be
shared among multiple
instruments. We’re working with
just one guitar here, which
focuses the mind somewhat! This
could also be seen as an Em11.
THIS is like the previous chord,
combining a Minor chord with
the Major chord a whole tone
below. Strictly speaking, a full
chord has at least three notes
(root, 3rd and 5th), but you can
usually do without the 5th, as in
the G chord here.
PLAYED on its own, this shape
is a great way of invoking the
Lydian sound (in C). It’s an
awkward fingering, so you could
raise the third string to the 2nd
fret. The result is just a slightly
different voicing of the same
polychord.
THIS is the reverse of the first
chord, but you'll notice it has a
completely different sound.
That’s the great thing about this
technique – you never quite
know what the resulting sound
is going to be…

August 2021 11
 INTERVIEW }
LIFE WITH THE MAESTRO
In a tribute to Ennio Morricone who passed away last year Jason Sidwell
talks to recent GT guest artist, Rocco Zifarelli, who played guitar with the
legendary film composer for the last 23 years of his life.
E
nnio Morricone passed away on 6th July
2020. Famous for Spaghetti Western
scores such as The Good, The Bad And
The Ugly, and Hollywood blockbusters
like The Mission and The Untouchables,
Morricone was renowned for writing unique
guitar parts. Jason Sidwell talks to Ennio’s
guitarist Rocco Zifarelli, about recording and
performing with a music legend.
GT: How did you get to work with Ennio?
RZ: I worked with Ennio Morricone from 1997
until he passed away in 2020. Our work was
initiated while I was an external member of the
Italian RAI TV orchestra;the bass player and
head of the orchestra, Nanni Civitenga,
received a call from Ennio, asking him if he
knew a good guitarist. Luckily, Nanni
mentioned my name. Our first work was a
recording session for a movie soundtrack and
when I received the call, I was both surprised
and terrified. Ennio was renowned for his
intolerance towards mediocre musicians and I
knew he had been quite hard on previous
guitarists. He was always very particular with
players who performed his music. The first
guitar part to record was a double melodic line:
one to be done normally and the other one with
harmonics, some natural, some artificial. The
group was small, just guitar, bass, drums and
piano. We were to play above the recorded
orchestra with a reference metronome. Ennio
was directing from the control room and we
started reading the parts only; initially I didn’t
know what he wanted as there was no
“Then Ennio came over again, took the part off the
music stand and said, ‘I don’t give a shit about the
part, play whatever you want!’”
information on the part. So I used a very wide
and ambient sound as I thought that was the
best option to blend well with the orchestra. To
read the melody better, I used Bill Frisell’s
technique; harmonics shaped by the volume
pedal. After having rehearsed the first piece all
together, Ennio asked us to play individually.
At that point I began to get a bit concerned, as if
it were an examination. When I played my part,
he looked bewildered, and asked me to play
again. Then he said to me, “Wait, I’ll come over
there.” I began thinking he was going to kick me
12 August 2021
Ennio Morricone
and Rocco Zifarelli
backstage before
a concert
out, and asked me to play in front of him again.
Then he put his finger on the part and said:
“No, these are two guitars and two separate
lines: you have to record one line first and then
overdub the other part”. There was not any
indication like ‘guitar 1’ and ‘guitar 2’. So I
played the first part and then the second with
the harmonics. He said to me, “very good!” For
the second piece I played exactly what was
written but in a less artistic way; I was less
myself, sticking to the part. When he asked me
to play the piece alone it was okay for him. But I
said, “Maestro, can I play in another way?” So I
played it more legato in a light and airy way.
Then he came over again, took the part off the
music stand and said, “I don’t give a shit about
the part, play whatever you want!” He
encouraged me to be myself. That was a
baptism for me. That evening, he called me at
home, since it was a two-day session, and said:
“Rocco, very well done, good job. See you
tomorrow!” Then the session organiser called:
“Great Rocco, you have conquered the
Maestro!” I was flying at that moment!
GT: Name five pieces with prominent guitar
and you have enjoyed playing live.
RZ: During my long collaboration with Ennio I
played many of his compositions live. We did
many world and European tours and for every
tour the song list was a little different.
Generally the pieces were organised in suites
among which there were two where the guitar
was very much in evidence. I enjoyed
alternating between electric and nylon-string
guitars and using many different effects and
presets during the same suite.
BALLAD OF SACCO E VANZETTI
One of these suites was called Social Cinema,
and started with a piece called Luz Prodigiosa
sung by the great Portuguese singer Dulce
Pontes and continued with The Ballad Of Sacco
And Vanzetti. Ennio asked me to use effects to
recreate the noise of an electric chair. The suite
continues with an arpeggio of electric classical
guitar (generally the Godin Grand Concert) that
introduced Sostiene Pereira. After that, others
include The Working Class Goes To Heaven in
which Ennio asked me to improvise on a line of
Minor chords with a screaming, aggressive and
very dissonant tone. For this I used a lot of
distortion and harmonics manipulated by the
whammy bar. Crazy, but again he liked it.
THE MAN WITH THE HARMONICA
Ennio hardly used the famous lead guitar
themes in live concerts because he had
rearranged the suite for a large orchestra. This
resulted in a predominantly rhythmic role for
the guitar except on The Man With The
Harmonica. Here the guitar plays the main
theme which in the original 1968 version was
recorded by Bruno Battisti D’Amario; he along
with Alessandro Alessandroni was the main
lead guitarist for all of Ennio’s westerns and
60s and 70s movie scores. D’Amario used a fuzz
to obtain a penetrating distorted sound which
Ennio had requested. Although it was originally
played in first position, I initially played it in
fifth position to have more control. I soon
realised that to get the same tone I would have
to play it in first position with open strings and
a heavy pick strum to create the necessary
twang; bridge pickup, fuzz and a lot of reverb!
Entering with a big solo part with only a slight
veil of orchestral strings as support is a great
responsibility. It was one of the most tense
moments in concert for me.
THE SICILIAN CLAN
Another piece that I loved playing was part of
the Scattered Sheets suite; The Sicilian Clan.

The guitar plays the main part and to imitate
the original sound it is necessary to consider
that it was recorded in 1969. Again, Bruno
Battisti D’Amario was the guitarist and he used
a Fender Jaguar with very heavy flatwound
strings and Fender blackface amps. This is
typical surf guitar gear as surf was fashionable
at that time in Italy. So I had to emulate an old
60s tone with modern gear and work on my
picking technique to get it sounding right.This
is one of my favourite compositions by Ennio
and I love it in its entirety. So much so in fact
that I recorded a free interpretation on my
Music Unites album. In addition, I also
recorded two versions of Ennio’s rousing main
theme from The Untouchables.
LOVE CIRCLE, ONE NIGHT A DINNER
(Metti Una Sera A Cena)
One Night At Dinner is a kind of fast bossa that
I preferred to play with the electric guitar and
not with the classical nylon acoustic. I alternate
TRIBUTE TO { ENNIO MORRICONE
rhythms and arpeggios in tempo with sync’d
stereo delay. During the piece’s stops I used the
volume pedal for a swell pad effect along with
the expression pedal to increase the wet mix,
blending in with the orchestra.
GT: How complex or unusual do you think
Ennio’s music was? Did he ever discuss his
composition approaches with you?
RZ: Over the years with Ennio I had the
privilege of appreciating mostly his cinematic
repertoire. This music spanned 60 years of his
musical life, and his contemporary classical
music background is evident throughout his
soundtrack scores. He was the best student of
Goffredo Petrassi, a great Italian musician,
composer of contemporary classical music and
professor of composition at the Conservatory of
Santa Cecilia in Rome. His extensive knowledge
is evident in both the arrangements and the
sound texture of the orchestra, as well as the
numerous compositon and arranging
Rocco, Ennio Morricone
and sound engeneer
Fabio Venturi
overdubbing guitar
effects for The Island
techniques he used to augment what was
happening on screen. We all know that Ennio is
famous for composing beautiful and captivating
film melodies that have fascinated and moved
millions of people around the world. But I
believe that one of Ennio Morricone’s great
merits was that of giving new life to
contemporary music as a whole. Think of his
use of instruments such as the whistle, the
mouth harp (very popular in Sicily) the guitar in
western movies, the use of the pan pipes
(Casualties Of War), the wind instrument
melodies in The Mission and the use of the
electric bass and synthesisers. Ennio seemed to
have no musical limits and I never understood
where he got his inspiration from when
composing or using instruments and sounds
unrelated to classical music. While he didn’t
really listen to records or radio, he had the
intelligence to surround himself with the right
people in Rome where he lived. We often talked
about his musical concepts and it was normal to
August 2021 13
 INTERVIEW }
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:
Ennio’s credits on Rocco’s Music Unites CD cover.
Rocco at the Arena di Verona with bass player Nanni
Civitenga.
Ennio live at the Royal Albert Hall - London 2010.
Rocco at Ennio’s house in Rome, celebrating the
2016 Oscar award for The Hateful Eight.
refer to his old and historical film compositions.
When we were grouped as six solo musicians
with some assistants we made many long
journeys; along with him and his wife Maria, we
often had dinner together, played cards and
chess, and there are countless stories he told us
after our questions - like children listening to
fairy tales. Also we would discuss the new music
we were to record; he often explained the film or
the scene in order to find a suitable sound to
express his music. He was very good at listening
to other musicians’ perspectives too. But he
rarely asked for advice as his ideas were very
clear in his mind. I always aimed to play his
music as close as possible to his idea.
GT: Did he accept your musical suggestions?
RZ: There were many moments when we
discussed a suitable sound or guitar part that he
had written. I must say that he was always
perfect, both in the idea of the sound and in the
writing of the part. When he wanted something
well defined his score was perfect; he knew the
guitar very well, in all its positions and range. I
felt he trusted me a lot as, once he had explained
the sound he wanted, I always managed to make
it happen and don’t remember a moment when
he expressed dissatisfaction. Sometimes he
would sing his idea to me, often very particular
things, and I had to get as close as possible.
Once he wanted something very crazy and very
rock, not for a film but for a record by a
14 August 2021
Sardinian singer-actress (Clara Murtas - In
Forma Di Stella, from the CD De Sa Terra A Su
Xelu). Ennio had to arrange traditional
religious songs from Sardinia, and decided to
use the guitar to mimic the voice which I could
have done only with the tremolo bar, heavy
distortion and delays so the harmonics carried
up and down. He liked it a lot; he said that
everything was perfect but I shouldn’t make the
neigh of the horse! He often called me in
advance to get information, to find out if a
certain thing could be done or if I had a
particular instrument. I like to collect stringed
instruments from all over the world so I can do
almost anything. One day he asked if I had the
Balalaika. I did, so he asked how it was tuned;
generally two strings have the same pitch and
the third one is a 4th above, but I could tune it
differently if he wished. He faxed me a part and
I told him it was pretty easy with no problems.
On the day of the recording the music was for
The Demons Of St Petersburg (2008), a movie
by Giuliano Montalto who Ennio had worked
with many times. I spent the day recording
acoustic and electric guitar parts with the
orchestra but when I first arrived in the studio
he asked: “Rocco, did you bring the Balalaika?
Please don’t leave after the sessions because
you and I have to remain along with the sound
engineer to record this important thing, okay?”
During the whole session, until about 6 pm, he
kept reminding me to not leave at the end. After
the sessions with the orchestra, the technicians
put a monitor in front of me in the hall and I had
to play on a scene in which there were soldiers
who provoked about 30 prisoners with their
weapons, forcing them to dance, grabbing and
forcing an old balalaika player to make these
prisoners dance. He played in a somewhat
awkward way, worried and afraid, which did not
match what Ennio had written. I explained to
him that it didn’t work so he told me to play
something more suitable so I improvised less
than a minute of music that worked much
better. Then he came to me and said, “write
down what you played and then we will register
it in your name”. I replied that there was no
need as it was an improvisation. I didn’t even
remember what I had done! The important
thing was I had great joy playing for him but the
fact that he wanted to register the piece in my
own name impressed me a lot.
GT: You’ve spoken in the past about recording
50 different guitar tones for Ennio to refer to
when using the guitar in his compositions...
RZ: Ennio had a sort of painter’s approach to
music, using notes and chords as colours. He
loved the expression and tonal potential of the
guitar, especially the electric as it had a big
colour palette that could be added to his. When
he called me for new recordings he generally
asked for one electric and one acoustic guitar
(mostly nylon). Normally I brought four but

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:
Rocco’s Agostin and Godin guitars for the 2017
European tour.
Rocco on stage with Ennio’s orchestra.
Recording sessions for the Malena soundtrack with
director Giuseppe Tornatore, Rocco and Ennio.
Rocco’s Kemper amp setup for the 90th birthday
concert party in Rome.
often, having listened to the music I would
realise that certain takes would have worked
better with a banjo, or a dobro or a mandola. So
I prepared a CD with about 50 tracks of guitar
and other stringed instrument samples, both
dry and with effects, explaining them track by
track. I created a library with many different
sounds including jazz, funk and rock styles on
Tele, Strat, Les Paul, 335, enhanced by delay,
compressor, wah, and chorus. I also recorded
mandolas, mandolins, oud, banjo, Venezuelan
quadro, bouzouki, charango and balalaika. I
played them in different ways and some with
weird effects. I also recorded Roland guitar
synthesisers, alone and merged with guitar for
unusual combinations. Each track was
numbered so Ennio could reference a track with
a sound he needed. I think he appreciated this.
GT: How did your guitar sounds help him?
RZ: While Ennio had a classical background he
was always experimenting and exploring. I was
able to interpret the character of the parts by
the important guitarists who had preceded me.
But he gave me the opportunity to be myself. I
think of myself as a modern jazz musician, a
composer and an improviser always looking to
expand my voice. Ennio was the first non-jazz
Italian artist who asked me to use my style at
the service of his music. There were situations
in which he arranged instruments around my
style, which was very gratifying. He appreciated
TRIBUTE TO { ENNIO MORRICONE
my ability to play with large stereo sounds and
to follow the orchestra by using harmonics and
whammy bar articulations. For my volume
pedal playing, I’ve been greatly influenced by
Bill Frisell, Allan Holdsworth, Adrian Belew
and David Torn who are masters at this. Almost
all of Ennio’s music from 1997 to 2020 featured
the guitar with the volume swell effect, fading in
and out of the orchestra. My studies in modern
jazz harmony have been essential for this. For
example, you can hear and see my parts on
“Ennio gave me the opportunity to play a long solo
for a film soundtrack. Usually it’s only guitarists
like Eric Clapton that are given that luxury!”
several live DVDs and CDs such as The Working
Class Goes To Heaven which features a very
distorted tone with harmonics, manipulated
with the whammy bar. A similar style appears
on De Sa Terra A Su Xelu by the Sardinian
singer Clara Matris, or a piece from The
Correspondence which was the last movie
Ennio made with director Giuseppe Tornatore.
The title is Improvisation In G, with four
minutes of my improvised guitar; it was
Tornatore who said to Ennio he needed a solo in
the David Gilmour style, so I played something
that also reminded me of Jeff Beck. I used my
‘65 Strat straight into a Kemper. In general, I
use my Agostin guitar which has great sounds
and tuning stability. I think it’s unique that
Ennio gave me the opportunity to play a long
solo for a film soundtrack. Usually it’s only
guitarists like Eric Clapton who are allowed that
luxury! Finally, there is a story behind
the collaborative studio photo (see page 13);
Ennio, his engineer Fabio Venturi and myself
are in the control room as often happened at the
end of the sessions with the orchestra. Ennio
had asked me to overdub additional guitar
parts. Here we were finding solutions for a piece
from the TV movie The Island in which Ennio
wanted something that emphasised a chase or
tension scene. The sound he liked was a mix of
pitch transpose and delay to simulate a very
tight sequencer effect. We played this piece live
a couple of months later with the Santa Cecilia
Orchestra of Rome. He phoned me in advance
because he wanted exactly that sound but he
didn’t know how I got it or what to call it. I
reassured him it was fine as it was a Kemper
preset that I had already created; it was the
main sequencing-type tone I used on Abidjan, a
track from my Music Unites album.
Rocco’s latest album Music Unites is available
now. For this and more info on Rocco, visit his
website at www.roccozifarelli.com
August 2021 15
 PLAY } ACOUSTIC
No amps allowed!
10 UNPLUGGED GREATS
Jon Bishop serves up 10 acoustic studies to make your acoustic playing
sound richer and more stylistically informed. With such a broad base of
techniques and ideas, there’ll be something in here for everyone.
ABILITY RATING
Info Will improve your… Knowledge of acoustic guitar techniques
Key Various Tempo Various CD TRACKS 4-20 Use of a capo
he acoustic guitar is a beautifully
T expressive instrument. It’s been used on
thousands of hit records in all genres,
from country to pop, blues to rock, grunge
and even hip-hop (Guthrie Govan with Dizzee
Rascal anyone?). Singer-songwriters armed
with a handful of open chords have written
and recorded songs on acoustic guitar that
have changed the face of popular music. No
matter how technologically advanced music
creation and performance becomes, acoustic
singer-songwriters such as Ed Sheeran and
Justin Bieber continue to keep this simple
instrument prominant in the public’s minds.
The Unplugged format of stripped-down
acoustic performances, pioneered by the
innovative cable channel MTV, is as strong as
ever, and these days many performers feature
an ‘acoustic section’ in their live shows. For
inspiration we have chosen 10 artists and
TECHNIQUE FOCUS
Using a capo
A capo is a great way to play in different keys
using ‘open’ chord or arpeggio shapes. These are
more resonant and ‘guitaristic’ than their barre
chord equivalents. We have used a capo to help
create the sounds and textures in our Rod Stewart
and Paul Simon style pieces. A capo sounds
particularly effective on acoustic guitars and it
also helps to lower the action in higher positions,
making the guitar easier to play. Always use a
capo that’s adjustable so you can set it for the
right amount of pressure to get well-intonated,
buzz-free results all over the neck. Regular use of
a capo is also a great way of learning the CAGED
system, as you will soon learn that a D shape with
the capo at the 2nd fret is a chord of E, a G shape
with a capo at the 5th fret is C, and so on.
16 August 2021
Easy to Moderate -----
General finger picking and strumming technique
bands that have appeared and made an
impression on the Unplugged series, from its
inception in 1989 onwards. Our 10 tracks
R̆HUVW\OHVWXGLHVZLWK079JLDQWV6WHYLH5D\
Vaughan, Sting, Eric Clapton, Nirvana, Bon
Jovi, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, Rod
Stewart (band), REM, and Pearl Jam.
Rock groups like Nirvana and Pearl Jam
have used the ‘no amps’ format to
“Our tracks offer style
studies with SRV, Sting,
Clapton, Nirvana, Bon
Jovi, McCartney, Paul
Simon, Rod Stewart,
REM & Pearl Jam”
demonstrate that a good song will work, no
matter what the instrumentation. Artists like
Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart and Sting have
gone acoustic to delve into other genres, or to
provide a focus on the intimacy of the lyrics
and the power of the vocal performances.
You may have already looked at improving
various areas of your acoustic guitar playing.
That’s great, because our aim here is to
provide some new ideas and fresh approaches
for acoustic guitar players of all styles and
DELOLWLHVEHLWLQFRUSRUDWLQJ¿QJHUSLFNLQJDQG
harmonics, or simply creating an infectious
strumming groove. Hopefully there will be
something here for everyone.
We know it’s not the most exciting thing to
do, but practscing slowly is absolutely great
for developing consistent, accurate results.
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gets overlooked, as players want to move on to
ON THE CD TRACKS 4-20
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degree of focus and patience, often hard to
come by in these hectic times. But, by starting
slowly you are programming your brain, and
your muscle memory, with the correct
information. And from here, having fully
nailed the part at slow to ever-increasing
tempos, it’s much easier to play the piece at
full speed and with precision. Conversely,
practising too fast in the early stages creates
more chances for mistakes to be made - and
learnt. Believe it or not, many teachers
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which to begin your travails, you should select
a tempo that seems slow - then halve it!
Open-string muting is another area that’s
often overlooked. Any strings that aren’t
damped by either the fretting or picking hand
can ring out in sympathy; sometimes this
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spoils an otherwise tidy performance. So,
practising these less exciting, core concepts
can provide big gains in the long run.
As usual, all the audio performances are
fully tabbed, and there are quality backing
tracks for most, so you can play along. As ever,
have fun and I’ll see you next time.
3 7 3
8
9
GAIN BASS MIDDLE TREBLE REVERB
Any acoustic will work well for this month’s
examples, as it’s all about learning the parts and
applying the techniques covered. But generally
folk sized guitars are best for fingerstyle and
dreadnoughts for strumming. I used my
Stonebridge S23 acoustic guitar, through SE
Titian condenser mics plugged into Universal
Audio’s excellent Apollo interface.
 { 10 UNPLUGGED GREATS

Jon Bon Jovi chose

a Takamine cutway
jumbo for his live
strumming work

Eric Clapton is a
Martin man and
here he is picking
his 000-28 model

For a long time

Paul Simon played
this custom built
Yamaha jumbo live
JAMIE McCARTHY / ROGER KISBY / FRANK MICELOTTA ARCHIVE / KEN HIVELY / GETTY IMAGES

Leftie Kurt Cobain

chose this Martin
D-18 for his MTV
performance

TRACK RECORD Sting’s album Unplugged features tracks from his solo repertoire, from The Police and various covers. Dominic Miller
accompanied him on guitar. The MTV Unplugged albums by Clapton, SRV, Nirvana, Paul Simon and REM are essential listening. Rod Stewart’s
fantastic performance is found on Unplugged... And Seated, and features longtime collaborators Ronnie Wood and Jim Cregan on guitars.

August 2021 17
 PLAY } ACOUSTIC ON THE CD TRACKS 4-20

EXAMPLE 1 STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN CD TRACK 4

The mighty Stevie Ray Vaughan is of course most closely associated with
playing blistering electric blues, but he did have an acoustic side hidden away.
Our first piece uses the pick in conjunction with the blues-friendly key of E.
The main element to work on here is digging in to the strings and playing
with plenty of attack and feel. The piece starts with some effective sounding
chords and then a classic double-stop lick takes us into the main riff. The open-
position fills are improvised and there are many variations. Once you have
mastered a few of the examples here feel free to adapt and change them. This
track has an improvised form and doesn’t stick to the classic 12 bar format. The
final lick is again played free time.

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18 August 2021
 { 10 UNPLUGGED GREATS

EXAMPLE 2 STING CD TRACK 5

Sting’s longtime guitarist of choice, South American-born Dominic Miller has which incorporates bass lines, chords and melody notes. The open-voiced
used the nylon-string acoustic guitar to great effect. Here we imagine Sting on chord pattern at the start is created with a similar chord-voicing concept to
upright bass and Dominic on nylon-string guitar laying down a posh sounding songs like Shape Of My Heart. Check out the picking pattern in the tab and
Latin influenced groove. This piece has a fairly complex guitar part to learn, take it slowly, as this may take some practice to fully perfect.

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August 2021 19
 PLAY } ACOUSTIC ON THE CD TRACKS 4-20

EXAMPLE 3 ERIC CLAPTON CD TRACK 7

Eric Clapton is no stranger to acoustic guitar as his influences included original element of early acoustic blues (Broonzy was king of this) and is well worth
bluesmen Robert Johnson and Big Bill Broonzy. Our EC style piece is a laid- persevering with. We start with the turnaround, which is reminiscent of Robert
back, fingerstyle workout in the guitar friendly key of A. The key element to Johnson, but we have adapted this idea to work in standard tuning. The final
work on here is keeping the driving bass note feel going. This is an authentic lick in bar 16 is played free time.

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14

20 August 2021
 { 10 UNPLUGGED GREATS

EXAMPLE 4 NIRVANA CD TRACK 9

Grunge pioneers Nirvana were masters of the heavy riff and used huge stunning. Our track combines single-note riffs, jangling chord fingerings,
changes in dynamics to great effect. The heart of their success however was and a simple lead guitar solo to learn. In true Nirvana fashion the guitar parts
having well-written songs, with catchy pop-style melodies. When Nirvana are relatively simple to play, but most effective in terms of the emotion and
stripped everything down for a one-off acoustic TV special the results were texture being conveyed.

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August 2021 21
 PLAY } ACOUSTIC ON THE CD TRACKS 4-20

EXAMPLE 5 BON JOVI CD TRACK 11

Jon Bon Jovi is a fine strummer, and his previous music partner Richie Sambora
is a fantastic player. Both are excellent singers and our piece imagines Jon
and Richie perched on stools in duet, campfire mode. The piece starts with
triad arpeggios played over an open-string pedal tone. On acoustic guitar
any open string can be used as a pedal tone against which various picking
and strumming ideas can be played. Interesting harmonies can be accessed
this way by playing various triads over the static bass note. The arpeggios
are played using alternate picking. If you are new to this it can feel awkward,
but it’s well worth persevering with the technique, as alternate picking chord
arpeggios helps to ensure good timing, definition and note dynamics.

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22 August 2021
 { 10 UNPLUGGED GREATS

EXAMPLE 6 PAUL SIMON CD TRACK 12

This example uses the idea of transposing familiar chord shapes using a capo.
This allows us to access new keys, sounds and melody ideas. Place the capo on
the 5th fret and make sure the tuning has remained correct. This arrangement
starts with a pretty arpeggio motif. We can repeat this idea at various points
and this gives the arrangement identity and continuity. To create this idea
some chord extensions have been added so A Minor becomes Am9 and D
becomes Dsus2. Bar 18 features a classic bass and melody run . The use of the
Gadd11 chord is tricky to finger but creates a cool dissonance between open
string and fretted notes. The piece ends with a chord constructed from natural
harmonics. Harmonics are great to include in any arrangement.

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August 2021 23
 PLAY } ACOUSTIC
Paul McCartney is a prolific songwriter who uses interesting chord movements
and harmonic devices to great effect. Here we imagine Paul with an orchestra
in full strum-along mode. The emphasis is on the chord choices so this part
is relatively easy to play. We start off in C Major and the C Augmented chord
provides a most effective cadence to F Major. The F Major is changed to F
24 August 2021
ON THE CD TRACKS 4-20
CD TRACK 13
Minor, which heightens the tension, and this is a concept used in many a
Beatles hit. The verse uses a classic descending Minor chord movement. The
use of the open fifth string makes the transitions smooth and easy to play.
The G# Diminshed chord in bar 14 provides a smooth transition back to the A
Minor chord. Take the second time bar on the repeat into the final chorus.
 { 10 UNPLUGGED GREATS

EXAMPLE 8 ROD STEWART CD TRACK 15

For this example we are combining a basic fingerstyle pattern with the use labeled and notated using p, (thumb) i, (first) m, (second) and a (third). The
of a capo placed at the 5th fret. Fingerstyle technique is handy for playing main fingerstyle pattern being used here is often referred to as the ‘forward
everything from simple blues licks to complex accompaniment figures. The roll’. First, the thumb plays a bass note and then the rest of the fingers pluck
thumb of the picking hand plays bass lines so the first, second and third fingers their strings in turn. Once you have practised this pattern, attach the capo at
can concentrate on arpeggios, melodies and block chords. The fingers are the 5th fret (where it will feel much easier to play), and you are good to go.

©»¡££
Fadd11 Dm C Am

2 œ œ œ œ
(Cadd11) (Am) (G) (Em)
œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
Acoustic Guitar
With 5th fret capo F
2
With fingers Let ring throughout
E
B . 6
0
6
0
6
0
6
0
0
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
.
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3
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.
E 3 3 0 0
3, 7
p i m a p i m a sim

2 C5
œ
G C
n œ
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(G5) (D) (G)

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E
B 3
3
3
3
3
3 2
3 . 0
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
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D
A
0 0
0
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E 3 3 3 3 3 3
9 11, 19

Am D7

œ# œ#
(Em) (A7)

&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ

E 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
B 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2
G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
D
A 0 0 0 0
E 0 0 0 0
13, 21

U
F sus2 G Fadd11 Dm C5

n
(Csus2) (D) (Cadd11) (Am)

..
œ œ g
poco accel rall

E
B 3
3
3
3
3
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0
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6
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0 0
0
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g3
A 3 3 3 3 0 0
E
17, 25 27

August 2021 25
 PLAY } ACOUSTIC ON THE CD TRACKS 4-20

EXAMPLE 9 REM CD TRACK 17

It is possible to write great songs and accompany yourself and others with
just this handful of open-position chords. In fact, pop songs are often better
for it. Original indie rockers REM are masters of creating a simple song that
pulls at the heart strings. We have written our track so you get a chance to
play with the five possible Major and Minor triad chord shapes (C-A-G-E-D).
We have taken out the low third (B) from the G chord, as the G5 fingering is
more common and sounds much stronger. The beauty of the open chord
system is that the fingerings sound good and are easy to play. Once you have
tried fingering and strumming these chords along to the backing track, why
not try making a chord progression of your own.

D/F #
VERSE

©»¡¡∞
G5 Am C D Dsus4 G5
Em

.. 2 # ..
œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ
Acoustic guitar œ #œ œ œœœœœ œ
With plectrum
f
2
E
B . 0
0
0
0 3 3
3
3
3
3
3
3
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3 .
G
D
A
. 0
2
2
0
2
2
2
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
0
2
2
0
2
2
0
2
2
0
0
2
3
0
2
3
2
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 .
E 0 0 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
3, 9

BRIDGE
C Em C D

.. .. # #
. ..
œ .. .. œ œ œ
œ œ
E 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
B 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
D 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
A 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3
E 0 0 0 0 0
13

Dm G C Am Em E

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
E 1 1 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
B 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
G 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
D 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
A 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
E 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17

CHORUS
Am C Am G5 Em E A

.. ..
œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
E
B . 0
1
0
1
0
1
0
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0
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0
1
0
1
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
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0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
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0
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0
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2
G
D
A
. 2
2
0
2
2
0
2
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0
0
2
3
0
2
3
0
2
3
2
2
0
2
2
0
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
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2
0
2
2
0
2
2
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2
2
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1
2
2
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2
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2
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E 3 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
21, 25

26 August 2021
 { 10 UNPLUGGED GREATS

EXAMPLE 10 PEARL JAM CD TRACK 19

Our last piece builds on the previous open triad chord strummer by using 7th accenting all the strums that fall on the beat by strumming them slightly
chords. Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder is fond of the ukulele so we have harder than the off-beats. In the verse we have also included a couple of simple
recorded some of this in the backing track as an extra texture. The opening lead lines. The outro section moves between D and Dmaj7. Keep the rhythm
section will sound best if you use down strokes of the pick exclusively. Try steady and hold the final chord to make for a positive and tidy ending.

©»•∞ D Dmaj7

# 2 .. ..
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
Acoustic guitar f
2
E
B . 2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
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2
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2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2 .
G
D
A
. 2
0
2
0
2
0
2
0
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0
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0
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E
3, 5

VERSE
Dmaj7 Amaj7 C maj7 G maj7

# ~~~
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
F
E 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
~~ ~~ 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
B 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
G 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
A
E 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
7

Dmaj7 Amaj7 C maj7 G maj7

# œ
j w~~~~~
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
E 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
~ ~~ 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
B 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 7 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
G 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
A
E 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
11

CHORUS 1
E m7 A7 D D7 G5 A7 D 1

# . ..
. ‰ ‰
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
f
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2
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2
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2
3
2
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2
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2
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2
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3
3
3
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2
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0
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2
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15, 19 18

OUTRO 2 D D maj7 D

# . U
. ..

E
B . 2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2 . 2
3
G
D
A
. 2
0
2
0
2
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2
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2
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0
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0 . 2
0
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22, 24

August 2021 27
 PLAY } FUSION
ON VIDEO
ALEX SILL
Video Masterclass Pt6
In his final masterclass Alex demonstrates his chord and lead style over Jason
Sidwell’s fusion groover, Buoyancy. The solo has some sophisticated semiquaver
syncopation and offers a great chord voicing lesson. Jon Bishop is your guide.
ABILITY RATING
Info Will improve your… Switching between modal tonalities
Key: E Tempo 108bpm CD TRACKS 21-22 Use of swung 16th-note syncopation
his month we have another tastefully
T crafted solo courtesy of fusion wizard
Alex Sill. Jason’s track Buoyancy clocks
in at a 108bpm and features a number of
non-diatonic chords and key changes, so
we have chosen an open key signature (no
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clearly how the note choices relate the chords.
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that Alex sets the scene with some pre-
composed single-note phrases that feature
mainly chord tones to align with the changes.
While the intro suggests a move to E Minor,
the verses are actually based around E Major,
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note pedalling helps create a sense of unity
and those who know Joe Satriani’s pitch axis
theory (the shifting modality around the A
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appreciate this compositional technique.
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“For the solo’s chords,
Jason referenced and
expanded upon a
progression from Alex’s
tune, The Activity”
30 August 2021
ON THE CD TRACKS 21-22
solo (see Technique Focus on the next page 
Advanced -----
After the solo, there’s a return to the verse
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Sophisticated chord fingerings
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wonderfully well although what is crucial is to single-note line is played solo before the band
know where the chords happen and then
interact with them accordingly, a far cry from
Pentatonic phrasing over all chords.
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As ever, the backing track and chord charts
are included here for you to work with, as well
DVWKHYLGHRWRZDWFK DQGUHZDWFK IRUWKH
WKQRWHVZLWKDVKẌHIHHO$OH[RIWHQVWDUWV excellent detail in Alex’s playing and chat.
DQGHQGVSKUDVHVR̆WKHEHDWDQGWKLVDGGVD We hope you’ve enjoyed learning from this
sophisticated edge to things. As usual there’s unique six part series and many thanks to
plenty of articulation including hammer-ons, Alex for his time, creativity and insights, it’s
SXOOR̆VEHQGLQJVOLGHVDQGYLEUDWR been quite a journey!
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Alex is the guitarist for Simon Phillips’
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Protocol band and his debut album is
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Experiences; Real And Imaginary.
the solo’s chords, Jason referenced and
See www.alexsill.com for more info.
expanded on a progression from Alex’s tune,
7KH$FWLYLW\IURPKLVGHEXWDOEXP7KLVLVD Next issue - Marty Friedman solos over an
12-bar progression with a tonal centre based exclusive new track by Jason; Majestical!
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with other modes referenced due to chords
6 4
such as BbDQG(b '/RFULDQ DQG'PDMDQG 6 7
*PDM '0DMRU  8
While Alex has a more open approach
GAIN BASS MIDDLE TREBLE REVERB
here, playing more freely through the chords,
his focus is largely around chord tones and
arpeggios. Again, to solo over this intense
VHTXHQFHZLWKFRQ¿GHQFHDVWURQJNQRZOHGJH Alex used his Kiesel guitar (bridge pickup) into a
of all the chords and their notes is required. Fender Deluxe Reverb ’65 Reissue. Distortion is
7RWKLVHQG$OH[VSHQGVPRVWRIKLVYLGHR courtesy of a Tube Screamer set at 8 into a RAT
discussion dealing with the chords and his pedal set at 3 for extra colour. Reverb is from his
MXR Reverb, set at 4. To duplicate this tone, use
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will gain both new chords and a broader
bridge pickup and a smooth overdrive with plenty
of sustain. Be prepared to experiment with the
understanding of the fretboard. As regards
phrasing, Alex favours playing across the bar
guitar’s controls to achieve the desired sound. Add
ambient reverb for a sophisticated studio touch.
line to add propulsion and excitement to his
 VIDEO MASTERCLASS PT6 { ALEX SILL

THREE TOP LICKS

LICK 1 BARS 16 & 17
16TH NOTE SYNCOPATION
Alex often starts his phrases off the beat and
this adds a sophisticated edge to the phrasing.
The rhythms used in this lick are pretty much
off the beat from start to finish! The 16th note
subdivision in the track has a slight shuffle feel
and this is another key component of Alex’s
delivery.

LICK 2 BAR 30 & 31

QUARTER TONE BENDS
Alex often pulls various notes slightly sharp.
The notes selected are often ones that are held
onto or at the end of the line. The quarter bend
adds a little tension to the sound and this can be
released to create a pleasing cadence.

LICK 3 BAR 57 TO 60
CHORD STABS
To end the track Alex uses chord stabs played
in unison with the backing track. These chord
stabs are played with a finger style approach,
so various notes from the fingerings can be
plucked while others are left out. These chord
Alex finishes his stabs provide a crescendo, and brings some
series with a final drama to the finish.
fantastic solo

Alex stretches TECHNIQUE FOCUS

out during his
performance of
PLAYING ACROSS THE
Buoyancy BAR LINE
OFTEN ALEX SETS up a tension and release
factor by dragging key chord tone notes slightly
ahead of the changes. The posh term for this is
‘playing across the bar line’. This anticipation of
the coming chord change helps the note choices
to sound informed. It also sounds a little tense
until the change actually happens and the note
falls into place. This resolution of the tension
sounds satisfying to listen to. This concept is
often most effective when the target tone is not
contained in the preceeding chord. Let’s use
bar 27 for example: the chord in bar 27 is Dm13.
The Minor 3rd of D Minor is F and this is a strong
sounding chord tone. The chord in the following
bar (bar 28) is Gmaj7. Alex anticipates this
change by dragging the F# (Major 7th of Gmaj7)
forward slightly. Using this concept in free
improvisation may take a fair bit of practice, so
you may find it prudent to pre-select the target
tones one at a time. Have a listen to the solo and
see if you can identify other places where Alex
uses this idea.

August 2021 31
 PLAY } FUSION ON THE CD TRACKS 21-22

ALEX SILL
ON DEVELOPING PRECISION AND SPEED
IT NEVER HURTS to be reminded of the benefits when working more difficult passages up
from slower tempos. It’s also worth noting that the process doesn’t have to be looked at from
some rigid, militaristic perspective. I like to look at it as being able to have more control over the
individual motions and nuances of lines so that they can properly and more fully be expressed
at quicker speeds rather than feeling forced. Not having control at slower speeds inevitably
encourages gaps and bad habits in one’s playing. I recommend finding specific tunes, or parts
of tunes, and use them as etudes that involve the type of technique and precision you’d like to
develop. This way you can apply the technique in a realistic musical context rather than always
having to play lines that sound like scales and warm-up exercises. When I played with Allan
Holdsworth’s band at his tribute shows a few years back, I had to perform the harrowing Non-
Brewed Condiment. Besides the sheer excitement and terror of playing a tune like that, I saw it
as an opportunity to work on various techniques involving precision and speed. Non-Brewed is
one of those tunes that always needs upkeep. You can’t walk into a gig and perform it without
having played it for a few days, or longer. The melody still serves as a useful exercise because of
how demanding it is, and I’ve used it to develop economy picking, legato, hammer-ons, and time
feel in a rapid 32nd-note context. A difficult piece like that can also be a study in how particular
positions on the fretboard play a role in facilitating your technique. Transcribe your favourite
players - guitarists, horn players, piano players - and be willing to explore different positions on
the fretboard to see which one(s) facilitates speed, dexterity, and time feel best.

CHORD BOXES
In Alex’s video lesson he demonstrates some of the chord fingerings he might and swelling into the chords with a volume pedal. Some of these fingerings
use to provide accompaniment through the solo section. These sound great are a little stretchy so be sure to angle the neck upwards and maintain a good
with a heavy chorus sound. You can also experiment with adding a long delay posture to accommodate this.

Dm11 Gsus2/B Bb6 A b 5add # 11 Ab

x x x x x x x x
1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 2
6–
1 3 2 3

4 3 4

3 4 3 4
5– 5–

Dm7add11 Cadd9/E Dmaj7/F # Gadd9 E b maj # 11 Dadd11

x x x o( ) x x x x x
1 1 1 1
3–
1 3 2

2 3 4 3 4 1
5–
4 3

4 4 3 4

D6 b 5 (Eadd9/D) B b add # 11 Gmaj7 (no 3rd) / B E b maj7 (no 3rd) / G Dmadd11 / A

x x x x x o x x x x x
1 1

2 2 3 1
5– 6–
3 4 2 2 3 4 3 4

4 4

32 August 2021
 VIDEO MASTERCLASS PT6 { ALEX SILL

CHORD CHART BUOYANCY

©»¡º• Shuffle 16ths INTRO

# b # b
DRUM FILL F m7 5 B7 F m7 5 B7

V 1&2
F /E # G /E F /E# E #
F /E G /E A/E G /E D

’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’

F / # G/E F E F /E# A /E Fmaj7 Cmaj 7 Gmaj 7 Dmaj 7

’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’
1
1

G
b5 A7sus4 A7 E m7 us4 A7

’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’
2

S TION
13 G maj 7/B b6 B 7b
’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’
2
3

Dm C/E Dmaj7/F # G b b
B /E

’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’
3
4

D 11 E /D b
B maj 7 Gmaj7/B E 7

’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’
3
4

V E
F /E G /E #
F /E E #
F /E G/E A /E G /E D

’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’
50

F /E# G /E #
F /E E #
F /E A /E Fmaj7 C maj 7 Gmaj7 Dmaj 7

’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’
5

OUTRO
Fmaj 7 Cmaj7 G maj 7 Dmaj7 Fmaj 7 Cmaj 7 Gmaj7 D maj 7 B /E
.. ..
58,
59

August 2021 33
 PLAY } FUSION ON THE CD TRACKS 21-22

FULL PIECE BUOYANCY CD TRACK 21

INTRO [Bars 1-5] Alex sets the scene with some pre-composed phrases. These
phrases have plenty of articulation added such as hammer-ons, pull-offs and
finger slides. Be sure to include these details as they bring the ideas to life. This
strategy ensures the foundations are laid and ready to be used as a jumping-
off point for improvisation.
VERSE 1 AND 2 [Bars 6-21] Alex uses a simple yet effective approach to
ensure he is in key here. No one scale will fit properly over all of the chords in
this section so the key concept is to combine triad arpeggios with interesting
rhythms. The F#, G, A and D Major triad arpeggios are the main ones in play
and you can clearly see how the notes from these tally up with the chords.

©»¡º• 3
# b
F m7 5 B7

. . .
DRUM FILL
‰ ⋲
Bridge Pickup 3
With Overdrive
E
B
G 2 3 4 5 4 5 4 2 4 2 4 8 7 8
D 2 0 1
A
E
1

VERSE 1 & 2
F #m7 b 5 # #
B7
~~~ #
F /E
~~
G /E
~~F /E E

. ‰# ‰ .
3

E
~~~ ~~~ ~~
B 12 13 12 10 12 7 8 7 8 5
G 7 9 8 9 9 9 7 9 6
D 9 8 5 6
A
E
4

# #
~~~
F /E G/E A/E G/E D F /E G /E 1/4
1/4

#
1/4

‰ . ‰ ‰ ⋲ . .

E
~~~ 1/4
1 2
1/4
1/4
B 5 3
G 2 3 7 6 7 2 3 3 3 4
D 4 7 5 5 8 5 7
A 6 7
E
8

#
F /E
1/4
' E 1/4
~~
#
F /E A /E
1/4
Fmaj7
C maj7
#
G maj7
D maj7

‰ ⋲ ‰ ⋲ . ‰ ‰ ⋲

E
1/4 BU
7
1/4
~~~ 1/4 BU
7
BU
9
B 7 (9 ) 8 10 ( 12 ) 8 12 ( 14 ) 10
G 7 9 7 11 9
D 5 8 12 11 9
A
E
11

#
F /E G /E #
F /E E F /E# G/E

# ~~‰ # n # #
⋲
~~~
. ‰ ⋲
~~~
3

E
~~ 6
~~~ BU ~~
B 11 12 11 8 10 9 8 7 7 5
G 11 9 9 6 6 7 3 (4 ) 4 3 4
D 8 8 8 9 7 5 6 5
A 7
E
14

34 August 2021
 VIDEO MASTERCLASS PT6 { ALEX SILL

FULL PIECE BUOYANCY CD TRACK 21

MIDDLE [Bars 22-25] Here the phrases are similar to those of the (Em7b5-A7sus4) in D Minor. Throighout the piece remember what Alex says
introduction, only shifted to this new key. The chords here are a Minor II-V about isolating short, tricky sections and working on them as ‘etudes’.

A/E G /E D

#
#
F /E
# # #
G/E
n
F /E

#
#
'
1/4
E
~~.
.
3

E
1/4 ~~
B 10 11 15 11 11 12 11 8 10 9 8 7 5
G 6 7 7 11 11 12 X 6 6
D 7 9 12 8 8 9 8 7 6
A 7 9 9
E
17

#
~~
F /E A/E Fmaj7 C maj7 Gmaj7 Dmaj7
#
. .
#
E
~~
B 10 12 11 12 11 12
G 3 4 7 9
D 4 5 7 5 7 7 9 9 11
A 4 7 5
E
20

BRIDGE
b b
b ~~~~ .
E m7 5 A7sus4 A7 E m7 5
~~~
‰ ‰ ⋲#
3 3 3

E
~~~~ ~~~~
B 11 10 11 10 10 11 10 8 10 7 8 7 5 8
G 6 3 3 5
D
A
E
22

SOLO SECTION

. . ~~~
A 7sus4 A7 Dm13

.
.
E
BU ~~~
B 5 6
G 5 ( 6) 3 7 5 7
D 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 7 4
A
E
25

G maj7/B B 6 b B 7 b D m13 1/4

3 3 3

œ œ œ œ œ œ

E
BU '
1/4

B 6 8
G 5 7 7
D 3 5 7 7 7
A 5 5 5 5 7 9 7 5 7 (8 ) 3 5 6
E 7
28

August 2021 35
 PLAY } FUSION ON THE CD TRACKS 21-22

FULL PIECE BUOYANCY CD TRACK 21

SOLO SECTION [Bars 26-49] The main tonal centre is based around the D Thankfully, the chords move slower, allowing some linear scale playing to be
Dorian sound. That said, other modes are used to navigate the various chords. used alongside chord specific arpeggios.

C/E 1/4
Dmaj7/F # G B /Eb b
1/4

‰ ‰ . ⋲ ‰ ⋲ ⋲

E
'
1/4

5
BU 1/4

B 5 6 7 7 5 5 (6 ) 5 3 3 6
G 5 5 2 4 4 2 3 5 5 7 7 5 6 5 3
D 5
A
E
31

b
Dadd11

. .# .
E /D
.
B maj7
~~
⋲ ⋲ ⋲
œ

E 1 2 3 4 3 4
~~~
B 3 3 3 5 5 6 5 6
G 2 2 4 4 7
D 5 4 0 5 4 7 6
A
E
34

Gmaj7/B
'
1/4 b
E maj7 Dm13

œ œ

E 10 8
'
1/4

10 8
B 10 8 6 8 10 9 6 8 6 8
G
D 12 13 12 10 12 7
A 10 8 10 8 8 12
E 10 10
37

b b
G maj7/B
#
B 6 B 7
b D m13

⋲ ‰ ‰ ‰ ⋲ ‰

E
B 11 13 11 9 10
G 11 10 10 10 12 7 9
D 9 12 12 10 10 12 10
A 9 13 12 10 12 12 10 8 10
E
40

# b b
~~
C /E D maj7/F G B /E

# ⋲ .
⋲ ⋲
3

E 5
~~~
B 8 10 7 5 7 8 6
G 7 6 5 7 5 7 5 7 5 7 5 3
D 7 10 9 10 7 7 5 3
A 8 10
E
43

36 August 2021
 VIDEO MASTERCLASS PT6 { ALEX SILL

FULL PIECE BUOYANCY CD TRACK 21

VERSE 3[Bars50-57]This section is a repeat of the first couple of verses and Alex some drama to the end of the number. Some of these fingerings are a little
uses the same approach of playing Major triad arpeggios in interesting rhythms. stretchy so be sure to angle the neck upwards to accommodate this. The final
OUTRO [Bar 58-end] To end the piece Alex uses chord stabs played in unison phrase is played free time, and two tom-tom drum hits provide the cue for the
with the backing track. This provides a crescendo for the solo and also brings final chord stab.

Dadd11 E /D B bmaj7

. # ‰ ⋲
Snare rolls
BU BU
E 5 3 2 5 7 4 8
B 3 3 5 X 6 9 (10 ) 9 ( 10 ) 8
G 0 2 7 4 4 7 X 10 10 10
D 4 5 4 2 7 6 4 5 X 10 12
A
E
46

' '.
VERSE 3
E bmaj7 F #/E F #/E F #/E
~
Gmaj7/B G /E E G /E

~~~
1/4 1/4

œ. œ
‰# ⋲ ‰ ‰

E 10
1/4
~~ 1/4
~~
B 7 7 8 5 5
G 12 7 7 7 9 6 4 4
D 9 8 7 6 5 5
A 7
E
49

F #/E F #/E
~ # n ~~.
A/E G /E D G/E E
# # .
⋲ ⋲ ⋲ ‰
3

E
~~ ~~
B 5 7 8 7 5 11 12 10 9 8
7
G 6 7 7 11 9 9
D 7 7 7 8 9 8 9
A 10 9 10 9 7 12 11 10 11
E
53

OUTRO
F #/E A /E
~. ~
F maj 9 C maj 9 G maj 9
#
D maj 9 F maj 9 C maj 9 G maj 9
#
D maj 9

‰ ‰ ⋲ ‰ ‰ # ⋲ ‰ ‰ ⋲ ‰ # ⋲

~~
with fingers
BU BU
E 12 8 7 10 9 8 7 10 9
B 10 ( 12 ) 10 ( 12 ) 10 8 8 10 8 10
G 9 7 11 9 9 7 11 9
D 10 12 10 12
A 8 10 8 10
E
56

>.
Fmaj7 C G maj7 D6 C/F C maj9 D/G D maj 9 B/E
— U U
‰ ⋲ ‰ ‰# ⋲ ‰ ‰ ⋲ ‰# ⋲ ‰ ⋲#
œ œ. œ
Freetime
— Hold
E 5 7 7 0 2 5 4 0
B 5 5 7 7 1 3 3 5 4 7 5 4 0
G 5 5 0 4 2 6 4 4 6 4 8
D 5 3 2 5 7 4 4 6 6 9
A 8 10 3 5 7 7 9 7
E 8 10 7
59

August 2021 37
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August 2021 39
 PLAY } BLUES/JAZZ ON THE CD TRACKS 23-34

THE CROSSROADS PT9

Altered Lines
This month down at The Crossroads John Wheatcroft shows how
Robben Ford and others, add Altered tension and release to their solos,
so that you too can sound sophisticated, modern and hip.
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TECHNIQUE FOCUS 5 6 5
3
Diminished Whole-Tone 7

AS IF THE NAMES Superlocrian and Altered scale are not enough, you also find players and teachers
(Jamey Aebersold’s educational material springs to mind) making reference to this collection of notes as GAIN BASS MIDDLE TREBLE REVERB

the ‘Diminished Whole-Tone’ scale. It takes this name from the similarity that part of it has with these two
symmetrical structures, with Diminished scale based on a series of whole-step (tone, or two frets), half-step
(semitone, or one fret), whole-half and so on, while the Whole-Tone scale is built, as you might expect, from
a series of consecutive two-fret gaps. The Altered scale step pattern is: Root-half-whole-half-whole-whole- Robben switches between Gibson and Epiphone
whole-whole; then second octave, half-whole and so on. This means that from the Major 3rd all the way up guitars, his vintage Tele and pair of double-
to the octave we have five notes exactly as we’d find them in the Whole-Tone scale - not bad considering humbucking guitars built respectively by Japanese
this is a six-note structure. When we go from the b7th up to the b5th, this gives us a six-note pattern of luthier Taku Sakashta and Fender Custom Shop
alternating tones and semitones, so that six of the seven notes are exactly as you would find them in builder Gene Baker. Amplification is either a
the symmetrical Dominant Half-Whole scale. These huge chains of similarity make it easy to make the Dumble Overdrive Special or various vintage and
transition from Altered to Whole-Tone or Altered to Half-Whole with a couple of very small modifications: modern Fenders. I used a Gibson Les Paul,
replace the b2 and #2 with a Major 2nd for a complete Whole-Tone scale, and replace Altered’s #5 with a switching between clean neck pickup (jazz) and
perfect 5th and Major 6th for Half-Whole scale. Try this on your guitar to really make it sink in. mildly overdriven bridge pickup (blues).

40 August 2021
 ALTERED LINES { THE CROSSROADS

Robben Ford:
here playing his
gorgeous vintage
Fender Telecaster

“You should play in a

thematic way. You’re
not just playing licks.
Think like a composer”
ROBBEN FORD
TIM MOSENFELDER / GETTY IMAGES

TRACK RECORD Robben’s quality control is remarkably high, so anything that bears his name is worth a listen. His instrumental release,
Tiger Walk (1997) and his live album, Soul On Ten (2009) are both wonderful. His new instrumental album, Pure is due in the next few
months. You also can’t go wrong with Larry Carlton. Try Larry’s Last Nite (1986), or Robben and Larry’s Live In Tokyo (2013).

August 2021 41
 PLAY } BLUES/JAZZ ON THE CD TRACKS 23-34

EXAMPLE 1 INITIAL V7 ALT- I MINOR IDEAS (ROBBEN FORD) CD TRACK 23

Our initial idea comes directly from Robben, outlining A7Alt with the A Altered down the Altered scale, Ford’s line here is shaped from a Bbm/maj9 arpeggio
scale, mode seven from Bb Melodic Minor (Bb-C-Db-Eb-F-G-A), before resolving to (R-b3-5-7-9). Be sure to observe all the hammer-ons and pull-offs, as these help
D Minor Pentatonic (D-F-G-A-C) against D Minor 7. Rather than just run up and with the overall bounce and flow of the lines.

©»¡¡º A7a l t Dm7

~~ œ ~~
‰

E 5 8 8 5
~~ BU BU ~~
B 6 8 6 8 6 5 ( 6) 5 ( 6 )
G 5 5 6 6 6 5 5 6 7 7
D 7 8 8 7 7
A
E
1

EXAMPLE 2 SCALE DEFINITIONS CD TRACK 25

Here is a pair of fingerings for both A Altered/Superlocrian (R-b2-b3-b4-b5-b6-b7) (R-b2-#2-3-b5-#5-b7). Make sure you move these fingerings around the fretboard
and D Dorian (R-2-b3-4-5-6-b7) around the 5th-fret area. For ease of reading, and take the time to compare the differences between these two sounds on a
we’ll derive the accidentals from the host Melodic Minor scale, in this case Bb, string-by-string basis, as you often don’t get a lot of time to make the transition
rather than respell each interval to follow their function against the V7 chord from one scale to the other.

©»¡¡º A7a lt D m7
n
œ

E 5 5 7 8 10
B 6 8 5 6 8
G 5 6 8 4 5 7
D 5 7 8 5 7
A 4 6 8 5 7 8
E 5 6 8
1

EXAMPLE 3 JAZZ LINES CD TRACK 27

Taking the same harmonic setting and approaching with the same scale
options, here is a collection of five jazz lines that alternate between A7alt and
Dm7. Ex3a) showcases a Bireli Lagrene idea using both Bbm6 (Bb-Db-F-G) and
Dm6 (D-F-A-B) arpeggios from Bb Melodic Minor and D Dorian respectively.
Ex3b) illustrates a Jonathan Kreisberg idea derived from a chromatically
decorated Dbmaj7#5 (Db-F-A-C), again found within the harmonised Bb Melodic
Minor scale. A juxtaposed Eb Major triad (Eb-G-Bb) alternating with A Minor
Pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G) in 4th intervals form the basis of 3c, while the triad
theme is expanded to include F Major (F-A-C) in Ex 3d). The final speedy
Martin Taylor idea has some similarities to the Robben Ford idea in Ex1, and
remember that lines of this nature sound equally effective played at half speed
as eighth notes, rather than 16ths.

3a) Bireli Lagrene

A7a l t
b 9
D m7
3 3

‰ ‰ ‰
3

3 3
œ œn
3

E 9 6
B 8 6
G 6 4
D 8 7 8 7 5 7 7
A 8 5 8 5
E 7
1

42 August 2021
 ALTERED LINES { THE CROSSROADS

EXAMPLE 3 JAZZ LINES CD TRACK 27

3b) Jonathan Kreisberg

bœ n b
A 7a lt Dm7
3
‰ ‰ ‰ ‰
3

3 3 3 3 3
3

E 4 5 4 8 12 8 12 8
B 6 6 10 10
G 5 5 9
D 7 7 9
A 4 8
E
4

3c) Joe Diorio

A7a l t Dm7
3 3

3 3 œ œ 3
3 3

E 5 6 5 8 5
B 8 8
G 8 5 7
D 8 7 5 5 7
A 6 5
E 6 5
7

3d) Joe Pass

A7a l t
b Dm7
3 3
3

3 œ œ
3

E 8 9 5 5 6 3
B 6 4
G 5 3 2
D 5 1 2 2 2 2
A 1 5
E
10

3e) Martin Taylor

A7a l t Dm7

E 5 8 6 5
B 6 8 6 5 5 6 8
G 5 6 8 6 5 6 5 4 6 7
D 8 8 8 7
A
E
13

August 2021 43
 PLAY } BLUES/JAZZ ON THE CD TRACKS 23-34

EXAMPLE 4 BLUES-ROCK LINES CD TRACK 29

Next up, we find a quintet of blues-rock ideas utilising the same harmony
and scale options, although we’re adding expressive bends, vibrato and a
generally more raunchy overdriven bridge-pickup tone. Content-wise, we
see a similar mix of ideas with both Altered and Dorian scales, ranging from
an A Augmented idea in Ex4a, courtesy of Tomo Fujita, using an A7#5#9
4a) Tomo Fujita
chord shape to generate the kind of melody Steve Lukather might play,
through a variety of triad ideas in 4c) and 4d) from Mike Stern and Larry
Carlton repectively. We round this section off with a two-notes-per-string
hybrid Pentatonic ideas from John Scofield, using the following intervals -
A7alt (R-#9-3-#5-b7) and Dm6 (R-b3-4-5-6).

©»¡¡º A 7a lt Dm7

‰
3

3 3 3
3 3

E 5
B 6 8 6 5
G 6 7 7
D 7 5 8 7 7 7
A
E
1

4b) Steve Lukather

A7a l t 1/4 1/4

‰ ‰ ‰
3

œ 3 3 3 3
3
3
1/4 1/4
BU
E 5 8 5 8 5 8 5 8 5
B 6 8 ( 10 ) 8 6
G 5 7 5
D 5 7
A 4
E
4

4c) Mike Stern

A7a l t Dm7
~
‰
3 3 3 3
3 3 3

E 5 3
~~~ BU
B 6 6 4 6 5 5 5 8
G 5 3 5 7 7 (9 )
D 7 5 7
A
E
7

4d) Larry Carlton

~~ ~
A 7a lt Dm7

‰
3 3 3
3
3
PB

E
BU
5 8
8 BD
~~ ~~
B 6 8 ( 10 ) ( 10 ) ( 8 ) 6 5
G 6 8 6 7 5
D 7 7
A
E
10

4e) John Scofield

A7a l t D m7

‰
œ nœ
E 5 8 5
B 6 8 8 6
G 6 5 5 4 7 4
D 7 5 7 7 7 5
A 8 5
E 7 5
13

44 August 2021
 ALTERED LINES { THE CROSSROADS

EXAMPLE 5 JAZZ SOLO CD TRACK 31

We consolidate the ideas we’ve seen so far with a classic jazz solo against a following tonic (Dm7) or temporary (everything else) I chord. Of course, you
12-bar blues in D Minor. The Altered scale action all occurs in bars 2, 4, 8, 10 could replace any of the lines at these points, with any of the examples we’ve
and 12, where in each case the Dominant 7alt chords function as the V7 to the seen so far, transposed when necessary to follow the harmony.

©»¡¡º Swing Dm7 A 7alt

œ
Dm7

‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰
œ

E 5 3
B 5 5 5 6 4
G 7 3
D 5
A 6 7 7 7 8 7 5
E 5
1

D 7alt G m7
3
3

œ œ œ
3

E
B 3 6 4 3
G 3 5 3 5 2
D 4 5 3 5 2 5 7 8 6
A 6 5 5 5
E 5 6
5

b
œ nœ nœ œ
Dm7 B7alt E m7 5
3
‰
3 nœ œ œ

E 5 8 5 6 7 8 7 8 7
B 6
G 7
D 7 10 9
A 5 7 8 7 8 7 5
E 8 7 5 6 8 5
8

A 7alt Dm7 A 7alt D m7

3

œ bœ œ œ 3
3 3

E 5 3
B 6 6 4
G 5 3 2
D 5 5 8 7 5
A 4 8 6 8 6 7 7 7 5 5 6
E 6 8
11

August 2021 45
 PLAY } BLUES/JAZZ ON THE CD TRACKS 23-34

EXAMPLE 6 BLUES-FUSION SOLO CD TRACK 33

We wrap things up with a blues-fusion solo, this time with a straight 16th-note right at the start of the bar. Once again, feel free to mix and match the Altered
feel, rather than the previous ‘swung eighths’ solo. Harmonically, we’re drawing lines, once you’ve learnt the solo as written. You might notice that we end as
from the exact same material in almost the exact same locations. The only we began, with our initial Robben Ford idea, repositioned to a higher fretboard
distinction here is that D7alt now occurs midway through bar 4, rather than location to allow for a smooth transition from the phrases that preceds it.

©»¡¡º Straight Dm7

~~
A7alt
œ
‰ ⋲ ⋲ ‰.

E
BU ~~
B 13 11
G 12 ( 14 ) 12 10 10 12 10 9
D 12 11 11 13 10 12
A 13 10 11 12
E
1

D m7
.~~ 1/4 D 7alt
b
Gm7
b
⋲ ‰. ⋲ ⋲ ⋲

E
~~ 1/4

B 13 10
G 10 9 14 12 10 10 12 10 11 13 10 7
D 9 12 10 13 12 10 8 10 8
A 12 12 7 7
E
4

Dm7 B 7alt
√
~~
1/4

œ œ
1/4

‰ ‰
3

œ
3

~~~
1/4
BU BU 1/4
E 10 13 (15 ) 13 10 13 10 10 13 10
B 10 10 13 15 13 10 13 10
G 10 12 ( 14 ) 10 12 12 10 12 10
D 12 10 12 12
A
E
7

E m7 b 5 A 7alt
√
‰ ⋲ ⋲ ‰

E 12 12 10 10
B 13 11 13 11 13 11 11 13 13 11 11 10
G 12 12 14 12
D 13 15 13
A
E
10

~~
Dm7 A7alt D m7

E
BU ~~
B 10 13 13 10
G 12 ( 14 ) 12 10 10 12 10 10 12 10 12 10
D 12 10 10 11 11 11 10
A 12 13 13 12
E
12

46 August 2021
 SUBSCRIBE TO THE DIGITAL EDITION OF

O Instant digital access O iPad version includes moving

O All styles and abilities from tab perfectly synched to top- FROM JUST £14.25
intermediate to advanced quality audio for every lesson EVERY 6 MONTHS
OLessons from world class OFull tracks transcribed, the www.magazinesdirect.com
players, all clearly explained world’s best tuition guaranteed
 PLAY } CLASSICAL ON THE CD TRACKS 35-38

ON VIDEO

FERNANDO SOR
Study No.18 Opus 35
This month Bridget Mermikides takes us step by
step through a beautiful study by the man who many
consider to be the forefather of classical guitar.
crossing and accompaniments, while rest
ABILITY RATING Moderate -----
stroke produces a louder, fuller tone –
Info Will improve your… Rest stroke
although a little more awkward technically -
Key E Minor Tempo 45bpm CD TRACKS 35-38 Free stroke Separation of melody and accompaniment
and so is generally favoured for melodic lines.
That said there are players who play with
n this issue we are focusing on two the wonderful Study No.18, Opus 35 beautiful full tones on free stroke, and some

I fundamental techniques of the classical

guitar: the free stroke (‘tirando’) and rest
stroke (‘apoyando’), and how we control
them in order to balance a melody with
its accompaniment. While a pianist might
achieve this by altering the dynamics
(published in 1828) by the Spanish composer
DQG SHUKDSV ¿UVW YLUWXRVR RI WKH LQVWUXPHQW
Fernando Sor (1778-1839). Sor was a
successful performer, respected teacher and
prodigious composer (his work includes two
operas, nine ballets and three symphonies).
(particularly in the Flamenco style) who can
play phenomenally fast in rest stroke. While

“Free stroke is a more agile

between their two hands, the guitarist must
learn to accomplish it within the picking
However, it is with the development of the
classical guitar where Sor’s enduring
hand. I have devised two exercises to address LQÀXHQFH OLHV +LV RXWSXW RI SLHFHV VWXGLHV
this skill and this in turn will allow us to play lessons and exercises, have bred generations
of classical guitarists from student
to master, and are as useful (and
used) today as in his lifetime. Sor
was also able to blend a very
sophisticated and expressive
musical voice with useful technical
exercises - a rare achievement,
particularly on the guitar.
)LUVWZHVKRXOGFOHDUO\GH¿QH
the two fundamental classical
guitar picking techniques:
1) Rest stroke (apoyando – ‘to
lean’). Here the plucking hand
¿QJHUWLSPDNHVDSUHSDUDWRU\
contact with the string, and then
plucks at an angle so that it comes
to rest on the adjacent lower string.
2) Free stroke (tirando – ‘to pull’).
+HUHWKHSOXFNLQJKDQG¶V¿QJHUWLS
makes a preparatory contact with
the string, which is plucked at an
DQJOHVRWKDWWKHSOXFNLQJ¿QJHU
deliberately avoids any contact with
Fernando Sor adjacent strings.
is one of the
Free stroke is a more agile and
founding fathers
of classical guitar light technique and is favoured for
arpeggios, passages with string
technique and is favoured
for arpeggios, passages
with string crossing and
accompaniments”
there are no hard rules, the general idea of
free stroke for accompaniment and rest stroke
for melody is useful and good players master
ERWKRSWLPLVLQJSURMHFWLRQDQGÀXLGLW\DQG
using them instinctively.
Exercises 1 and 2 pinpoint the various uses
of rest stroke and free stroke on open strings,
in preparation for the upcoming Study.
NEXT MONTH Bridget arranges the lovely
Prelude In E Minor by Dionisio Aguado
TECHNIQUE FOCUS
Good Tone
The development of good tone is essential for
classical guitar and, once you have established
a good nail shape, it is important to be aware of
your tone when practising. Tune in carefully to
how you feel and sound, especially when playing
free stroke as the majority of notes will be played
this way in your repertoire. You need a good
‘contact’ on the string, a full tone and a moment
of relaxation in the finger joints whenever
possible between plucking.

TRACK RECORD Fernando Sor’s studies are ubiquitous, so there are many excellent performances online. But it’s also great to have them
on CD, in order to refer to them and get to know and love certain perfornances. Enea Leone’s Fernando Sor: Complete Studies For Guitar
might be a good place to start. But the great John Williams has also recorded Sor’s studies, so look around and find something you like.

48 August 2021
 STUDY NO.18 OPUS 35 { FERNANDO SOR

EXERCISES 1 & 2 CD TRACKS 36-37

EXERCISE 1: In this exercise you will need to pick the open first string with The thumb will pick the bass note using free stroke, simultaneously with the
third finger rest stroke, ie. plucking the string with a push of the fingertip this. Play the remaining notes on the second and third strings with a quieter
thereby causing the finger to land and rest upon the adjacent second string. sounding free stroke. Follow the indicated picking hand fingering.

Rest Free
stroke stroke

Free
stroke
E 0 0 0 0
B 0 0 0 0
G 0 0 0 0
D 0 0
A 0 0
E
a m a m a m a m
p i p i p i p i

EXERCISE 2: Again, pick the first string using third finger rest stroke the finger to alter the angle and switch to free stroke on the second string.
combined with free stroke thumb bass note. This time leave the third (anular) Combined this with the first-fnger free stroke on the fourth string. Aim to get
fingertip resting on the second string and, without losing contact with it, curl these exercises sounding fluent before tackling the main Study.

Rest Free
stroke stroke

Free
stroke
E 0 0 0 0
B 0 0 0 0
G
D 0 0 0 0
A 0 0
E 0 0
a a a a a a a a
p i p i p i p i

PLAYING TIPS CD TRACK 38

Our aim for this study is to separate the melody from the accompaniment occur on beats 1 and 2 and need to last a full beat, so make sure to hold on
so we will play the melody notes rest stroke with a louder tone than the and sustain these notes for their full value. Our aim is to make a smooth
free stroke on the bass and inner accompaniment notes. This follows the sounding legato line in the melody and allow it to sustain and project over
same technique as exercises 1 and 2. The melody and bass notes always the accompaniment notes.

©»¢∞ Em B 7/D # Em B7 C A m6 E m/B B

# ¢ ¢ ¢ £ ¢
£ £ ¡ £
™ ¡ ™ ™ ¡ ™ ¡ ™ ¡ ¡ ™

E 0 2 3 2 0 2 0
B 0 0 0 1 0 4
G 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 4
D 2 1 2 1 2 4
A 2 3 0 2 2
E
1 a m a m a m a m a m a m a m a m
p i p i p i p i p i p i p i p i

Em B7/D # Em Am6 E m/B B7 B7/E Em

# ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
‰
£ ™ £
¡ ¡ ™ £ ™
¡ ¡

E 0 2 3 2 0 2 0
B 0 0 0 1 0 4
G 0 2 0 2 0 2 2 0
D 2 1 2 4 1 2
A 0 2 2
E 0
5
a m a
p i i
p
August 2021 49
 PLAY } CLASSICAL ON THE CD TRACKS 35-38

PLAYING TIPS CD TRACK 38

The fretting-hand fingering has been carefully considered to allow for a switching from first to second position so pay attention to your fretting-hand
smooth, legato transition from one chord shape to the next without any thumb, allowing it to adjust and shift position on the back of the guitar neck to
hopping of the melody note fingers, so do follow it carefully. There is a lot of accommodate the needs of the fingers and chord shapes.

Em Am7 D7 Gmaj7 Cmaj7 #

F m7( 5) b B B 5/A

# ¢ £ ¡ ¢
£ £
™ ™ ¡ ™ ™
™ ™
E 3 3 2 2 0 0
B 0 1 1 0 0 1 4 0
G 0 2 2 0 0 2 4 4
D 2 0 4 4
A 0 3 2 0
E 3 2
9

E m/G B /F # Em E m/G A m6 #
F 7/A # B7

# ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
™ £
œ œ¡
¡#
¡ ¡ ™ £ ™ ™
™ ™ £
E 0 2 3 0 2 2 2
B 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
G 2
D 2 1 2 2 2 2 1
A 0 1 2
E 3 2 0 3
13
a a a a a a a a a a a a a a m a
p i p i p i p i p i p i p i

Em B 7/D # Em B7 C A m6 B B 5/A

#
œ ™ œ
E 0 2 3 2 0 2
B 0 0 0 1 4 0
G 0 2 0 2 0 2 4 4
D 2 1 2 1 2 4 4
A 2 3 0 2 0
E
17
a m
p i etc

E m/G B/F # Em C Am6 B7 Em

# ¢ ¢
œ ™ ™ ¡œ
™ ™
E 0 2 3 0 2 0
B 0 0 0 1 1 4
G 2 2 0
D 2 1 2 2 4 2
A 3 0 2 2
E 3 2 0 0
21
a a a
p i i

50 August 2021
 STUDY NO.18 OPUS 35 { FERNANDO SOR

PLAYING TIPS CD TRACK 38

The accompaniment has an extra semiquaver note at bars 29 and 37 so follow it may at first appear, so diligent and precise technical practice will be the way
the picking-hand fingering carefully. This study is harder to play perfectly than to achieve the full benefit of this great little piece!

Am7 D7 Gmaj7 Cmaj7 #

F m7( 5) b Bsus4 B B/A

# . £
¡
¡
. ¡
¢
..
™ £
™œ ™ ¡ .
™
E 3 3 2 2 0 2 0
B 0 1 1 0 0 1 4
G 0 2 2 0 0 2 4
D 2 0 4
A 0 3 2 0
E 3 2
25
m a m m m a
p i i p
p

E m/G B7/F # Em E m/G A m6 #

F 7/A # B7

# ¢ ¢ ¢
™ £
œ¡ £ # ™
£
™œ £œ
¡ ™ £
™œ œ ™ ¡

E 0 2 3 0 2 2 2
B 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
G 2 2
D 2 1 2 2 2 2 1
A 0 1 2
E 3 2 0 3
29
a a a a m a a
p i p i p i

Em B 7/D # Em B7 C A m6 B B 5/A

#
œ

E 0 2 3 2 0 2
B 0 0 0 1 4 0
G 0 2 0 2 0 2 4 4
D 2 1 2 1 2 4 4
A 2 3 0 2 0
E
33

E m/G B7/F # Em C Am6 B7 Em

#
œ œ
E 0 2 3 0 2 0
B 0 0 1 4
G 2 0 0 2 2 0
D 2 1 2 2 4 2
A 3 0 2 2
E 3 2 0 0
37

August 2021 51
 LEARNING ZONE
Lessons from the world’s greatest teachers and schools...
JASON INTRODUCES...
W
hen was the last time you
played a scale really slowly?
Say, a two-octave Major scale
across all six strings? Every
day? Once a week? Once in a
while? Never? The reason I ask is we’re
often so busy trying to push our abilities
to the edges of what we can do, that we
neglect the confirmational aspect of
playing. In short, can we do what we do,
really well and with comfort? Playing is
physical and many top players that Neville
and I have interviewed over the years have
often talked about engaging with the
instrument each day with meditative and
slow playing. Scales, chord shapes,
52 01
IN LESSONS
GT # 324
fretting-hand independence and
stretching, evenness of tone with
fingerpicking or alternate picking. Aiming
for round, full notes and looking out for
excessive stress in the hands and body. It
is only through slow, contemplative
playing that good foundations are formed,
to provide consistency for all that we play.
If you’ve not zoned into slow, analytical
warm-ups and playing I’d heartily
recommend it; you may well find the
hiccups that thwart aspects of your
technique, show up in technicolour detail.
A perfect exposure to overcoming that
which hinders your playing now, once
corrected, will free you up for the future.
That’s intelligent technique engagement. BLUES......................................... 56
This type of consideration is a part of Mississippi’s ‘other’ upside-down leftie legend
what many of us at GT will show students Otis Rush is perhaps the most undersung of all
that attend IGF this August - yes, a fully modern electric blues guitarists.
live IGF is happening in Bath, UK and the
styles and genres are broad. Neville
(Blues Songs), John
Wheatcroft (Gypsy Jazz),
Gianluca Corona (Jazz), Jon
Bishop (Classic Rock), Chris
Quinn (Acoustic), Chris Corcoran
(Jump Blues) and myself (Top 40 &
Funk) are lined up for a full-on and
exciting week of diverse tuition, insights,
tips, technique building, repertoire
expanding and a great student concert at
the end. Intrigued? Visit www.igf.org.uk
for more info. We’d love to see you!
So, until next time, keep happy, keep
listening, and keep playing!
SHRED ........................................ 64
Charlie Griffiths enters the ‘ultra’ zone,
where he aims to decode some of Steve
Vai’s alien guitar secrets.
PART
JIVING! { THE RHYTHM ROOST
8 ON VIDEO

THE RHYTHM ROOST

Keen on all things rhythmic, Jason
Sidwell goes jiving with tasty chord
voicings over a jazzy rhythm section.
EXAMPLE JIVING! TRACKS 39-40 & VIDE0
This is a jazzy chord chomper with a swung 4/4 feel. Fingerpicking will get the chords to sound pianistic (notes aren’t staggered as when strummed with a pick),
and you can play the final tapped harmonic chord by slapping 12 frets higher than the chord’s 8th frets. Opt for a clean(ish) neck pickup tone so all notes are clear.

Eb E b/D b A b/C B b7sus4 B b7 Eb E b/D b

©»¡£
qq=qce —

. . . . . . . .
..

E
.
.
B 8 8 8 8 9 9 8 8 8 8
G 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 8 8 8 8
D 8 8 8 8 6 6 6 8 8 8 8
A 6 6 8 6 6
E 9 9 8 8 6 9 9
1 3, 5

1 2
A b/C B b7sus4 B b7 A b/C B b7sus4 B b7 Eb B b7
. . .
.. ‰
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
E
.
.
B 9 9 9 8
G 8 8 8 7 7 8 8 7 7 8 7
D 6 6 6 6 6 8 6
A 8 8 6 6
E 8 8 6 8 8 6 6 6
4 6

1, 3 2
Eb D7 G7 Cm Gm/B b Fm/A b Gm7 A b6 Gm7 G m7/B b

‰ ‰ .. .. ..
œ . œ. . . . œ. . . . œ.
Play 3 times

E
. . .
. . .
B 8
G 8 5 4 8 7 7 5 5 3 3 5 5 3 7
D 8 4 3 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
A 6 5
E 3 8 8 6 6 4 4 3 3 4 4 3 6
8 9,11 10, 12
13 14

F7 Gm F/A B b Eb E b/D b A b/C B b7sus4 B b7

‰ .. ..
n .
. . . Play 3 times

E
. .
. .
B 8 8 8 9 9
G 2 2 7 10 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7
D 1 1 5 7 8 8 8 8 6 6 6
A 5 8 5 6 6 8
E 1 1 3 5 6 9 9 8 8 6
15 17, 19, 21

Eb B b7 Eb

|
‰ |
|

TH
20
E
B 8 8 8
G 8 7 8 8
D 8 6 8 8
A 6 6 6
E 6 6
23

August 2021 53
 LESSON } 30-MINUTE LICKBAG ON THE CD TRACKS 41-46

30-MINUTE LICKBAG
Brought to you by…

EASY LICKS EXAMPLE 1 JONNY BUCKLAND CD TRACK 41

This sequence is based around a Coldplay style arpeggiated, open D Major note of the picking sequence and keep the arpeggiated notes ringing. Johnny
chord. The notes beneath move around D, A, C and B, to add harmonic interest often plays a Telecaster with humbuckers, so select your bridge pickup for a
and imply other chords. A melodic hook is added on the treble strings. Take bright, crisp sound. Then, add a touch of overdrive and delay.

©»¡™º Dsus4 A7sus4 C add9 Bm7add11

# œ œ
.. ..
œ n
Let ring
(throughout)
E
. 0 2 3 0 2 3 0 2 3 0
.
. .
B 3 3 3 3 3
G 2 2 0 2 2
D 0
A 0 3 2
E
1,
5
≥≥≥≥≤ ≥ ≥≥≥≥≤ ≥ ≥≥≥≥≤ ≥ ≥≥≥≥≤ ≥
ASY LICKS EXAMPLE 2 DAVID GILMOUR CD TRACK 42
This riff creates conversational phrasing by stating a question, via the figures relaxed, hypnotic vibe. Gilmour uses single-coils for clarity and presence. Select
played in open position, then a musical answer played up the neck on the your middle pickup position, for warmth and definition. Add compression (if
treble strings. Don’t rush the notes when changing position, as this loses the you have it) then use delay and phaser to create a rich soundscape.

©»¶º ' # ..
E m7 G/D A /E G/D
# ...
#
1/4

.
1/4

. ..
œ g œ
—
E
1/4
. 3 7 9 9 7

.
B 3 8 10 10 8
G 0 7 9 9 7

g
D 2
A 0 2 2 0 2
3 0
≥3
E
1,
≥ ≥ 5 ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥
>
' > #A /E > G/D >
1 2
A 7sus4
—
A sus4/E
#
A /E
> G /D
>
#
1/4

‰ ⋲ ⋲ ‰. .. ⋲ ⋲ ‰.
œ
—
E 3 10 10 10 9 9 9 7 7 7 1/4
. 10 9 9 9 7 7 7

.
B 3 10 10 10 10 10 10 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 8 8 8
G 2 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 7 7 7
D 2
A 0 0 2

≥3
E
3, 8
7 ≥ ≥ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≥ ≤ ≥
INTERMEDIATE LICKS EXAMPLE 3 DAVID WILLIAMS CD TRACK 43
Williams added iconic, funky hooks to many of Michael Jackson’s hits. This fretting fingers until you are left with a percussive sound. For a funky tone,
riff focuses on repeated, 16th-note, melodic figures. Take note of the pick Williams used a clean amp, single-coil pickups, compression and a touch of
directions, to stay locked in with the groove. For the scratched notes, relax the reverb. Select your guitar’s mixed positions (2nd or 4th portion) for a rich bite.
y
1, 3
. œ 2, 4
œ. œœ
. ~~ . œ
A m7 G/A
©»¡¡§ > >. >.
# . ‰ .. .. ..
Play 4 times

~~~
E
. 15 17
. 17 15
.
. . .
B 13 15 13 15 X X 17 13 15 X X 17
G X X 14 14 X X 14 14
D X X X X
A
E
1, 3, 2, 4,
≥≤ 5, 7 ≥ ≥≤≥ ≥≤ ≥ ≥ 6 ≤≥≤ ≥ ≥ ≤ ≥≤ 8 ≥ ≥ ≤≥ ≤ ≥ ≥ ≤≥≤
54 August 2021
 30-MINUTE LICKBAG LEARNING ZONE

Jamie Hunt of BIMM Bristol brings you

another varied selection of licks to learn at
easy, intermediate and advanced levels.
INTERMEDIATE LICKS EXAMPLE 4 JOHNNY WINTER
Winter often builds licks from three-note, looping patterns. To add interest,
he’ll cause the pattern to glitch by repeating notes or adding notes, for a slight
deviation. Each bar is based on a looping figure with these principles applied.
Take note of where these alterations occur and the impact they have on the
CD TRACK 44
picking sequence. This will help you to anticipate the variations within the
phrase. Winter uses a bridge humbucker, to achieve a raunchy, blues tone. Set
your amp to a moderate overdrive and boost the treble for extra grit. Typically,
Winter uses a chorus pedal, to beef up his sound.

©»¡™º B5
j j ~~~~~
# œ œ œ œ

E
BU
7 7
BU
7 7
BU
7
BU
7 7 10 7 10 7 10 7 10 7 10 7 10 7
BU ~~~~~
B 10 ( 12 ) 10 ( 12 ) 7 10 ( 12 ) 10 ( 12 ) 7 10 7 7 7 7 10 ( 12 )
G
D
A


 
 

E
1







ADVANCED LICKS EXAMPLE 5 BRAD PAISLEY CD TRACK 45
Paisley uses a Minor 3rd interval, combined with open-string pull-offs and a textural contrast with the ‘chicken pickin’ sound heard during the descending
hybrid picking, to create moveable patterns that can be used diatonically or sequence. Use the bridge pickup for extra twang and dial in some overdrive for
chromatically. Notice how notes sustain over each other during bar 1 and edge. Add compression, to balance out the levels between picked and plucked
contrast with the regular note lengths during the rest of the phrase. This creates notes and apply a healthy measure of reverb.

©»¡™º G

Let ring
E
B
G 7 0 9 11 9 7 0 7 0 6 0 5 0 4 0 2 0
D 9 11 11 12 12 11 11 9 9 9 8 7 6 4 0
A

    m      
E
1
m m m m m m m m m

—
D

# ‰
n # w
—
E 2
B 3 0 3

g
G 2 0 2
D 3 4 4 0 2 0 0 0
A 3 4
E
3
 m     m 
ADVANCED LICKS EXAMPLE 6 ANDY TIMMONS CD TRACK 46
This lick is an alternate picking and legato flurry of notes! Notice how Timmons can be tricky at high speeds. So, use your first two fingers for the entire phrase,
takes fragments of arpeggio shapes or picking sequences, so he can change as this economises movement. Timmons uses a bridge humbucker to get a
position on the beat and articulate the pulse. The ascending sequence, in bar 2, chunky, defined tone. Use a decent amount of gain and add a touch of reverb.

A F 5 # ~~~~
©»¡™º 6
œ œ
œ
# 6

6
œœ œ 6 6 3

~~~~
6
PM PM
BU BU
E 12 9
B 10 17 (19 )
G 9 6 9 6 6 9 6 11 9 11 13 11 13 14 13 14 16 14 16 16 ( 18 ) 14
D 7 7 6 7 9 16
A 7 4 5 7

 


9 7 4 5
7



 





 

E
1

August 2021 55
 LESSON } BLUES ON THE CD TRACKS 47-50

Brought to you by… WKH V 2WLV FRQWLQXRXVO\ IDFHG ODEHOV

OTIS RUSH Phil Short looks at perhaps the most criminally

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many bluesers’
favourite guitar,  KH ZDV LQGXFWHG LQWR WKH %OXHV +DOO RI
the Gibson ES-355 )DPH EXW LW ZRXOGQ¶W EH XQWLO  VDGO\ WKH
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“Rush continuously faced

record labels recording his
music but then postponing
or even cancelling his
releases altogether”
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NEXT MONTH Phil looks at the Bluesbreakers

sound of a great Otis Rush fan, Eric Clapton

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CD: TRACKS 47-50 Quarter-tone bends
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study rather than a classic rock, Marshall style tone,
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PAUL NATKIN / GETTY IMAGES

TRACK RECORD Otis Rush recorded 18 albums and featured on many compilations. One of these is a great place to start if you are
unfamiliar with his work. Try Good ‘Uns, which contains many of his best-known songs including I Can’t Quit You Baby, All Your Love (I Miss
Loving), She’s A Good ‘Un, Double Trouble and more. But the Grammy-winning, Any Place I’m Going is well worth a visit, too.

56 August 2021
 OTIS RUSH LEARNING ZONE

EXAMPLE 1 STUDY 1 CD TRACK 47

This study utilises Otis’s approach to double-stop vibrato, which sounds similar involved ‘pulling’ the strings. This is awkward to achieve without creating string
to whammy bar vibrato (in part due to his unusual upside-down style that noise, so make sure to use effective damping on the unwanted strings.

.
Gm7 1/4

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13

August 2021 57
 LESSON } BLUES ON THE CD TRACKS 47-50

EXAMPLE 2 STUDY 2 CD TRACK 49

This study uses some chordal ideas that contain melodic movement. The a lyrical sound in the melody. Focus on the smoothness of the internal melody
chord changes are surprisingly tricky to play smoothly while also maintaining (voice leading) to get this part to sound natural.
√D 7
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1/4 1/4

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1/4 1/4
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E 15 ( 17 ) 15 13 15 ( 17 ) 13 ( 14 )
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B 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 7 7 7 7 7 5 7 7 7 7 7 5 7 7 7 7 7
G 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 7
D 7
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58 August 2021
 Find Your Perfect Tone
Every issue, Guitarist brings you the best gear, features,
lessons and interviews to fuel your passion for guitar

Guitarist magazine is also available on iOS and Android

Also available to order online at www.magazinesdirect.com/guitarist-magazine

 LESSON } ROCK ON THE CD TRACKS 51-53

Montgomery, and it was only later in the 60s

URIAH HEEP This month Martin Cooper checks out the

Brought to you by…
that he began to gravitate towards the sound
of Marshall stacks and, along with
contemporaries Deep Purple and Led
Zeppelin, becameone of the founders of what
we now call hard rock.
Box’s style is always to play for the song,
sound of London rock legends Uriah Heap, rather than showcase his own guitar skills.
and their longstanding guitarist, Mick Box. Mick has always shied away from learning
scales, but continued to play what his ear tells
him. Tone is always an important factor in
Mick Box remains Uriah Heep songs, too.
Uriah Heep’s only Our track this month is in the key of A
original member Minor (A-B-C-D-E-F-G), and built around a
progression of chunky rock powerchords.
This itself builds upon the Hammond organ
part at the centre of the arrangement. There’s
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“Mick Box has always shied

away from learning scales,
but continued to play what
his ear tells him. Tone is an
important factor, too”
Purple’s Black Night, and is a typical element
of much rock music from the 1970s. In
addition to chords from the key of A Minor,
you will also hear E Major and D Major. In
classic rock style the solo is built around A
Minor Pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G), and it sticks
to this scale throughout.
This is an occasion to listen to the entire
ensemble, and not focus just on the guitar
playing. Even though the 70s gained a
reputation for excess in terms of song
arrangements, the elements within were often
concise and restrained, even if some of the
tracks were on the lengthy side.

NEXT MONTH Martin checks out the guitar

stylings of Chicago AOL legends Styx

6 6 6
When the band released its debut album … 7 3
ABILITY RATING
Very ‘Eavy…Very ‘Umble in 1970 it showcased
----- Easy/Moderate the rock guitar talents of Mick Box, who has
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Info Will improve your DOZD\VEHHQWKHVROHVL[VWULQJHUDQGWKH¿HU\
Key: Am Pentatonic lead playing Deep Purple style keyboard playing of Ken
Tempo: 155bpm Powerchord rhythm Hensley. Uriah Heep steadily built up a
CD: TRACKS 51-53 Theory knowledge following throughout the early 1970s, as the
writing and touring teamwork of the main It’s very much classic Les Paul style guitars and
Marshall amp territory this month, so aim for a
riah Heep formed in London in 1969. EDQGPHPEHUVFRQWLQXHGWRÀRXULVK

U Over the years a number of musicians

have passed through the ranks, including
bassist Bob Daisley, drummer Chris
Slade, keysman Ken Hensley, and original
singer David Byron. Guitarist Mick Box is the
only remaining original member.
However, towards the middle of that decade
tensions began to rise and this led to the
departure of David Byron, and also Jon
Wetton who was bass player at the time.
Mick Box actually grew up listening to jazz
crunchy British tone if possible with humbucking
pickups. If you don’t have access to a guitar with
humbuckers, try rolling the tone back a bit on
single-coil equipped guitars. Don’t add too much
preamp gain, and let the power tubes (or
emulation thereof) do most of the heavy lifting.
artists such as Les Paul, Mary Ford and Wes

TRACK RECORD Debut album …Very ‘Eavy …Very ‘Umble from 1970 includes Gypsy and Come Away Melinda while the follow-up
GETTY IMAGES

release Salisbury features Bird Of Prey. The 1971 album Look At Yourself includes the title track, while 1972’s Demons And Wizards is their
best US chart entry. The most recent album Living The Dream from 2018 includes Knocking At My Door and Goodbye To Innocence.

60 August 2021
 URIAH HEEP LEARNING ZONE

EXAMPLE URIAH HEEP RHYTHM CD TRACK 52

Make sure you listen to the drums, bass and organ parts this month as much shuffle feel. To help root you tightly to the track it will help if, for the main A5
as you focus on the guitar. That may sound obvious, but it’s an important powerchord sections, you keep your picking hand constantly moving with a
trait that many musicians ignore. The rhythm parts should be played with a 1-&-2-&-3&4-& type rhythm.

©»¡∞∞ q q=qce
— A5 C5 A5 G5

∑ ‰ ‰ œœ œœ œœ ‰ œœ œœ œœ œœ ‰ ‰ ‰
œ œœ œœ œœ
RHYTHM GUITAR

E
B . .
G
D
A
. 7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
10
10
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
5
5
.
E 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3
1, 5

D5 C5 A5 G5 A5 C5

‰ ‰ ‰
˙

E
B
G 7 5
D 7 5 7 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 10
A 5 3 7 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 10
E 5 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8
9

A5 G5 N.C.
3 3
‰ ‰ ‰
3 3

œ œ œ œ œ œ

E
B
G
D 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 7 5 5
A 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 7 7 5 7 5 3 5 3
E 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 3
13

F E D C A5 G5 F5 G5 A5 C5

# ..
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E
B 10 9 7 5 .
G
D
A
10
10
8
9
9
7
7
7
5
5
5
3
7
7
5
5
3
3
5
5
. 7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
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7
7
7
7
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10
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E 5 3 1 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8
17 19, 23

August 2021 61
 LESSON } ROCK ON THE CD TRACKS 51-53

EXAMPLE URIAH HEEP RHYTHM CD TRACK 52

A5 G5 A5

‰ ‰ ‰ ..
œ
E
B .
G
D
A
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
5
5
. 7
7
E 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 5
21, 25 27

EXAMPLE URIAH HEEP LEAD CD TRACK 52

Although the lead parts stay within very familiar Minor Pentatonic territory (A-C-D-E-G), Mick Box always plays with great feel and timing. There are many triplets
here; while the triplet 8ths won’t prove tricky, watch bar 25’s triplet crochets which cut across beats 1 and 2 then 3 and 4. Listen to the audio to develop confidence.

©»¡∞∞ q q=qce
— A5 C5

1
3 3 3 3
3 3 3 3
LEAD GUITAR

E 1
B 5 5 5 5
G 7 5 7 5 7 5 7 5 7 5 7 5 7 5 7 5
D 7 7 7 7
A
E
19

A5 G5 A5

3 3 3 3 3 3
3
3

E 5 8 5 5 5 10 8 8
B 5 8 5 8 5 8 8 6 10 10 8 8
G 7 5 7 5 7 9
D 7
A
E
21

C5 A5 G5 A5
~~~~~~~~
3 3 3 3

E 10 8 8
~~~~~~~~~
B 10 10 8 8 10 8 8
G 9 9 9 7 9
D
A
E
24

62 August 2021
 LESSON } SHRED! ON THE CD TRACKS 54-63

Tender Surrender and For The Love Of God.

SHRED!
Brought
g to yyou by…
y
Having started his career by transcribing
Zappa’s The Black Page, it’s clear Steve has an
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which incorporates Vai-style tapping. Playing
This month Charlie Griffiths enters the RGG WLPHV FDQ IHHO DZNZDUG DW ¿UVW DV WKH
ultra zone, where he aims to decode some downbeat is irregular and this can mess with
of Steve Vai’s alien guitar secrets. the foot tapping 4/4 feel to which we are more
naturally accustomed. The secret to playing
RGGWLPH UL̆V ZLWK FRQ¿GHQFH LV WR ¿QG WKH
Steve Vai: one of elusive quarter-note pulse and get used to
the greatest of all feeling it across two bars instead of one. The
instrumental rock
guitar players goal is to keep the pulse going with your foot
and train your hands to play the part against
it; this will unlock a deeper understanding of
‘feel’ in your playing.
Example 3 focuses on combining lots of
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combines hybrid picking, pinch harmonics,
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keep your hands busy - all while holding down
D WKQRWH VKẌH JURRYH
Example 4 is fretting-hand focused and
indeed can be played entirely with one hand
- Steve did this on his recent outstanding
youtube piece, Knappsack which was
composed after receiving shoulder surgery.
The key to playing this is to use fretting-hand
taps, which are hammer-ons to a fresh string.
Muting of the unused strings is of utmost
importance here so you will need to use any
VSDUH DUHDV RI \RXU ¿QJHUV RU KDQGV WR NHHS
ABILITY RATING giving life to the notes. Steve’s unique circular them under control. To add an extra
----- Moderate vibrato is a huge part of the DNA of his challenge, we’ve added some whammy bar
playing. The concept is to combine the scoops to provide extra Vai spice.
Info Will improve your
classical push-pull vibrato with the more 2XU ¿QDO H[DPSOH LV LQVSLUHG E\ 6WHYH¶V
Key: Various Vibrato and whammy use
bluesy string-bending style. For classical 60th birthday ‘joint shifting’ extravaganza
Tempo: Various Odd-time playing
CD: TRACKS 54-63 Fretting-hand tapping vibrato, the hand moves side to side in the Candle Power. In this track, Steve takes
direction of the string, in order to stretch and country guitar, pedal steel style bends and
teve Vai’s otherworldly playing and slacken it. This makes the note subtly bend puts them through the Vai lens, resulting in a

S unique musical voice has been both

astounding and inspiring guitarists since
1990, when he released his landmark
album Passion And Warfare. It’s arguably one
of the most important guitar instrumental
above and below the pitch being fretted. For
blues-rock vibrato, anchor the side of your
¿UVW¿QJHUNQXFNOHWRWKH XQGHUVLGH RI WKH
neck and use your forearm and wrist to lever
the string up and down. By combining these
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FRQWURO ÀH[LELOLW\ DQG DERYH DOO ORRVHQHVV 6R
practice each example until it feels second
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albums ever recorded, and here we examine WZRWHFKQLTXHVWKHUHVXOW LV WKH ¿QJHU PRYLQJ
some of Steve’s best known techniques. in a circular motion on the fret which gives the NEXT MONTH Charlie checks out another hero of
([DPSOH  LV DOO DERXW ¿QJHU WRQHDQG note a liquid sound, showcased in songs like instrumental rock, the great Joe Satriani

EXAMPLE 1
This melody is based in G Lydian Augmented (1-2-3-#4-# 5-6-7) and should
be played with just enough gain to allow the notes to sustain smoothly and
cleanly as you make your way around the fretboard. The focus here is on
making each note sing and sound human. Make sure your vibrato speed and
CD TRACK 54
depth is suitable for the mood of the piece, so think about whether you are
bending too much or too little, and whether the speed of your vibrato matches
the tempo of the track. For the final note, bend the third string’s 3rd fret up a
semitone, then tap a harmonic at the 15th fret’s fret wire.

© •º Gmaj7 # 11
~~~ ~~~
B/A
# # # ~~~
Gmaj7 # 11
~~~ ~~~
Fmaj7 # 11
~~~
#
3 3 Pl y 4 times

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j
. . . . ..
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3
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TH
15 ~~~
E
B 5 9
7 11 18 14
16 .
G
D
A
5 5 7 9
6 6 8 15 11
9 5 5 7 9
6 9 8 6 3 (4 ) ( 4 )
.
E
1

64 August 2021
 STEVE VAI LEARNI ZONE

EXAMPLE 2 CD TRACK 56
For this example, to keep your timing consistent move your strumming hand ‘down, down, down’. Keep this rhythmic feel going ghout and replace the
constantly down and up in 16th notes. In each bar hit the first four octaves/ picking with tapping an octave higher on the sixth string. Finally, move the whole
muted octave with‘down, down, up, down’strokes, then strum the final three riff up an octave on the fourth string.
©»¡™º 3 Play 4 times

. ⋲ ..
. # n #
3
‘ ..
E

‘
B
G
D 5 6 X 7 5 6 7 17 5 6 18 6 7 5 18 6 19 7
A
E 3 4 X 5 3 4 5 3 6 1 15 3 16 4 17 5
1
EXAMPLE 3 CD TRACK 58
This E Minor riff starts with single notes on sixth ga o -st play each note shown with a triangle s ea inched harmonic, followed by
on the treble strings.You can either play th tes w ou , ay m a pull-off. For bar 3 we jump up to the 10th fret for an E Dorian lick and we finish

©»¡™ºqq=qcq
fingerstyle with your thumb and fingers, or a combination of the two. In bar 2, with some syncopated chord stabs descending the neck.
E m11

# 3

œ # n
BU BD
E 5
B 5
G 2 5 5 7
D 2 5 5 7 0
A 0
E 3 0 0 3 5 X 0 0 3 ( 4 ) (3 ) 0 0
1

j E m6 im7 dim7 A dim7

œ
~~ ~ Play 4 times
# ..
j
œ #
BU BD
~~ ~~~
E
B
10 ( 12 ) ( 10 ) 7
10 8 .
G
D
A
2
2
9 7 6 12
11
9
8
7
6
5
6
5
4 .
E 3 0 0 10 12 9 7 6 5
3

EXAMPLE 4 CD TRACK 60
Hammer on to the 8th fret with your first finger and use the underside of use either the underside of your fingers, your finger tips, or your thumb
the same finger to mute the other five strings. String muting is the most to silence the unwanted strings. Hold your whammy bar in your hand
important element in playing this cleanly. As you hammer-on each note, throughout and add the scoops and vibrato to bring the melody to life.

©»¡ºº
C maj7
Scoop
' ' Scoo
Sco
Fmaj7 # 11

œ œœ œ ≠ ~~~
Scoop
' ~~~~
w/bar
≠ Play 4 times
~~~~
. . ..
w/bar w/bar

~~~~
7
~~~
w/bar w/bar
~~~~
w/bar
E
B
G
Scoop

≠ ≠≠ Scoop

14
Scoop

14
17 13 15 17 15 13
≠ 16 14 12 7 9 11 9 7
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≠ ≠≠ 12 9
.
.
D
A
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1

EXAMPLE 5
≠
8
10
12
10
12 12 10 9 7
10 9 7
≠
10 8 7 8
10
12
8
10

CD TRACK 62
Hold each chord shape and let the notes ring as you bend one note note that bending strings will alter the position of most vibrato systems,
melodically. Focus on the bending finger and make sure you are hitting the which will also have the effect of pushing the chord out of tune, so a fixed
semitone pitch bend exactly, otherwise the chord will not stay in tune. Also, bridge guitar is best for playing ideas like this.

©»ªº E maj7 E m7 C maj9 D maj7 Fmaj7 Play 4 times

.
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n
Let ring
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3
3
2 0
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1

August 2021 65
 LESSON } JAZZ ON THE CD TRACKS 64-71

ALTERED SCALE SOLOING

Mike Stern continues his fascinating series
Brought to you by…

on how he uses various Altered scales to

create exhilarating solo improvisations.

“This month, rather

than play over the II-V-I
sequence, we’ll use a one-
chord Dominant vamp,
with a funkier, jazz-rock
or fusion feel”
the melodic ideas will be drawn from the G
Half-Whole Diminished scale.
Here are the notes of G Half-Whole
Diminished. Below each note are the tensions
that are highlighted when the scale is played
over a G7 chord (G-B-D-F).
G Ab Bb B C# D E F
1 b9 #9 3 #11 5 13 b7
The G Half-Whole Diminished scale
contains the root, 3rd, 5th and b7 of G7, plus
the b9, #9 and #11 Altered tones. It also has the
extended 13th note (E), which is one of its
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instance, which has a b13 (Eb).
The Half-Whole Diminished will work over
a variety of Altered Dominant chords like
those illustrated in the diagram. The scale
notes are indicated in the chord grids.
This month
Mike discusses NEXT MONTH Mike’s final lesson on soloing with
the Half-Whole various Altered scales; the Whole Tone scale.
Diminished scale

6 6 6 6
is known as the Dominant Diminished or 3
ABILITY RATING
simply the Half-Whole Diminished scale.
- - - - - Moderate/Advanced The symmetrical nature of the scale, with
GAIN BASS MIDDLE TREBLE REVERB
Info Will improve your its interval pattern that repeats every three
Key: G Use of Altered scales steps gives it a predictable layout on the
Tempo: Various Harmony and theory fretboard. This makes it easy to compose licks
CD: TRACKS 64-71 Fretboard knowledge that repeat and move in Minor 3rds (a
distance of three frets), and is a technique that There’s no specific tone required to play these
n this series we are looking at Altered scales musicians like saxophonist Michael Brecker examples, but Mike uses a smooth overdriven

I that can be played over Dominant chords to

create outside-inside tensions in our
playing. This month, our Altered scale
originates from the Diminished scale. This
DQGPDQ\RWKHUVKDYHXVHGVRH̆HFWLYHO\
This month, rather than play over the
II-V-I sequence, we’ll use a one-chord
Dominant vamp with a funkier, jazz-rock
sound that’s not too front-end heavy. Set your
amp or pedal so that it’s driving but still retains
the fundamental note. Harder or softer picking
should be enough to create good dynamics, but
you may need to experiment depending on the
JACK VARTOOGIAN / GETTY IMAGES

scale has a symmetrical construction that fusion feel, as this is where the scale really guitar you use. Add a little reverb to taste.
alternates half step, whole step, half step, and excels. We’ll be playing over a G7alt chord and

TRACK RECORD Upside, Downside (1986) is considered as Mike’s first proper solo album and is constantly ranked as one of his best,
while 2009’s Grammy-winning Big Neighborhood offers a feast of great songs and playing. Standards (And Other Songs) sees Mike turn to
his favourites from the American songbook, and the fabulous collaboration with Jeff Lorber Fusion from 2019 entitled Eleven, is a must.

66 August 2021
 ALTERED SCALE SOLOING PT3 LEARNING ZONE

DIAGRAMS
ALTERED DOMINANT CHORDS HALF-WHOLE DIMINISHED ON THE FRETBOARD
Here are some of the G Altered Dominant chords that the Half-Whole It’s easy to see how the scale is laid out on the fretboard with this ascending
Diminished scale will sound great over: G13, G13b9, G7b9 and G7#11 chords. crawling pattern. Notice it has the same arrangement of notes on each string.

G13 G13 b 9 G7 b 9 G7 # 11 G Half Whole Diminished Scale crawling pattern

x x x x x

C#
G
C# D E F
G F G G F G F D G F G Ab Bb B
C#
Ab Ab
B D E F
B B B
G Ab Bb B
E E
3 5 7

EXAMPLE 1 HALF-WHOLE DIMINISHED IN ACTION CD TRACK 64

Now let’s hear how our scale actually sounds. This first example begins with a simple line that highlights 4th intervals.

©»¡ºº G7alt
œ # #
‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ .

BU BU
E 12 9
B 12 11 9 8 6 5 5 5 ( 6) 6 (8 ) 5 3
G 6 5 4 6 3 4 3
D 6 5 3 3 5 2 5 2 3 5
A
E
1

EXAMPLE 2 DESCENDING THE SCALE AND ADDING CHROMATICS CD TRACK 65

In the next example, bar two features a straight run down the scale. Occasionally I’ll add a chromatic note to vary and smooth out the phrasing, as in bar 3.

©»¡ºº G7alt
.# . . # # # # #
# #
‰ ‰ ‰ ‰

E 3 7 9 10 9 7 9 7 6 7 9 10 7 9 7 6 7 9 10
B 9 8 6 5 9 6 7 8
G 9 7 6
D 9 8
A
E
1

EXAMPLE 3 MORE CHROMATICS AND VARYING PACE CD TRACK 66

The next example also has a couple of chromatic passing notes, which make this fast descending run a little easier to play. In bars 1-2, rather than playing 1/16th
notes throughout, I break up the lines by playing an eighth note on the first beat of each bar.

©»¡ºº G7alt
#
# #
œ œ # œ

E 10 9 7
B 10 8 9 7 8 7 6 8 5 8 7 5 6 5 3
G 6 4 3 3
D 6 5 5 4 3 5 2 1 0
A 3 1 2
E
1

August 2021 67
 LESSON } JAZZ ON THE CD TRACKS 64-71

EXAMPLE 4 ’SEQUENCING’ THE SCALE CD TRACK 67

Here’s a more challenging run to try. When vamping over a single chord, I Play through this line a few times to get the shape under your fingers, then
like to do is to ‘sequence’ the scale. In other words, to play phrases that have play it slowly with a metronome set to a modest tempo. Only speed up when
a repeating pattern and cascade down the scale tones, going back and forth. you’re able to play it several times without making a mistake.

©»¡ºº G7alt
n #
# n #
‰

E 15 13 15 13 12
B 15 14 12 11
G 14 13 15 12 12 9 10 13
D 15 14 14 13 12 14 11 14 13 11 14 11 12
A
E
1

n # n
# # # # n # # # n #

E 9 10 12 13 11 13 11 12 10 12 10 9 10 12 9 8 9 10 7 6 7 9 6 5 6 7 44 3 4 3 6 3
B 9 11 12 6
G 12 10 9 12 10 9 10 12
D 11 12
A
E
3

# # 1/4
~~~
œ# . œ # œœ

E 4 6 7 4 6 4 3
1/4 ~~~~
B 6 5
G 4 3 7
D 6 5 4 3 0 5 0
A 2 1 1 2 1 2
E 3 3
6

2 EXERCISES TRIADS AND ARPEGGIOS NO MUSIC

One of the best ways to master the Half-Whole Diminished scale is to work From the same root notes, we can also construct four Major triads using the
with the arpeggios it contains. We know from our previous explorations that notes of the scale.
these structures are easy to access on guitar and perfectly describe the sound G Bb C# E
of the scale. The Half-Whole Diminished scale can be viewed as containing G7 Bb7 C#7 E7
the notes of four Minor 7 arpeggios and four Dominant 7 arpeggios. The table (G B D F) (Bb D F Ab) (C# F Ab B) (E Ab B D)
below shows the Minor arpeggios inside G Half-Whole Diminished. Notice that Here are a couple of exercises you can use to practise these arpeggios in
their root notes are a Minor 3rd apart. an alternating up/down pattern (there is no audio for these, but they are
G Bb C# E self-explanatory). There’s no doubt that there is a lot of work to do in order to
Gm7 Bbm7 C#m7 Em7 master all aspects of this multi-faceted scale, but working with these exercises
(G Bb D F) (Bb C# F Ab) (C# E Ab B) (E G B D) in your practice sessions will help.

Minor 7 arpeggio exercise

©»¡ºº b b b b

E 7 10 10 7
B 6 9 9 12 12 9 9 6
G 7 10 9 12 12 9 10 7
D 8 11 11 14 14 11 11 8
A 10 13 13 10
E
1

68 August 2021
 ALTERED SCALE SOLOING PT3 LEARNING ZONE

2 EXERCISES TRIADS AND ARPEGGIOS ...CONTINUED NO MUSIC

Dom7 arpeggio exercise
©»¡ºº b b œ œb œ b

E 1 4 7 10 10 7 4 1
B 3 6 9 12 12 9 6 3
G 4 7 10 13 13 10 7 4
D 5 8 11 14 14 11 8 5
A
E
1

EXAMPLE 5 DOMINANT 7TH ARPEGGIOS CD TRACK 68

With the above tools at our disposal, we can now begin to play some arpeggio- symmetrical Minor 3rd characteristic of the scale. Using Major triad shapes, the
based melodic lines. Here’s a lick that shows how we can take advantage of the line in bars 1-2 cycles through G Major to Bb Major to C# Major.

©»¡ºº G7alt
# #
# œ# œ œ œ œn # œ œ .

E 3 6 4 3 6 9 7 6 9 12 10 9
B 3 6 9 12 9 10 11 9 8
G 3 4 6 7 9 10 10 8 9
D
A
E
1
EXAMPLE 6 MAJOR ARPEGGIOS CD TRACK 69
From halfway through bar 3, this idea uses Bb (A#) Major and E Major arpeggio ideas. The line ends on an A# note, which is the #9 of G7.

©»¡ºº G 7alt
# # # œ
#
œ# # œ

E 4 6 4 4 6 4 3 6 4 7 6
B 3 6 3 6 6 3 6 5 6 5
G 3 6 3 6 3 6 7 4 3
D 3 6 36 3 6 8 6 3
A 7 5
E 6 4 6
1

EXAMPLE 7 REPEATING STRUCTURES CD TRACK 70

I begin the next line with a G Major triad, then move through several Diminished shapes. Repeating structures make it much easier to compose sequenced licks.
©»¡ºº
œ œ# œ œ œ œ
G7alt

E 3 4 6 7464 3
B 35 5 6 63 3 2 2 3 30 02 2 3 5 6 65
G 4 6 7 4 3 4 1 3 4 3 3
D 5 8 9 6 5 6 3 5 6 54 352 3 5
A 3
E
1

EXAMPLE 8 PREXEDING G MAJOR TRIAD WITH A #5 NOTE CD TRACK 71

In this final example, the idea is to spell out a repeating G Major triad (G-B-D) but precede it with the #5 note (C#) each time, to bring out the Half-Whole
Diminished colour. As always, when you hear an idea you like, pull out those bars and work on adding the lick to your vocabulary.

©»¡ºº # # #
G7alt

E 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 12 10 9 7 6 4
B 8 8 8 8 8 11 8 5
G 7 7 7 7 7 10 7 4
D
A
E
1

August 2021 69
 LESSON } BRIT ROCK
THE LIBERTINES
This month Simon Barnard looks at the simple
but purposeful guitar styles of The Libertines’
twin frontmen, Carl Barât and Pete Docherty.
ABILITY RATING
----- Easy/Moderate
Info Will improve your
Key: G Palm muting
Tempo: 170bpm Melodic soloing
CD: TRACKS 72-73 Double-stops
ueled by the sound of early garage rock
F and punk, The Libertines’ life as a band
was short lived. It ended in a spiral of
disputes between dual frontmen and
guitarists Carl Barât and Pete Docherty.
Forming in London in 1997, the classic
line-up was completed by bassist John
Hassall and drummer Gary Powell. The band
recorded two albums, 2002’s Up The Bracket
and 2004’s The Libertines before splitting up.
A third album, Anthems For Doomed Youth
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reformed. The Libertines sound has always
been very raw, with the songs taking the front
TRACK RECORD What A Waster and Don’t Look Back Into The Sun were both a non-album singles and reached 37 and 11 on the UK
charts respecively. Debut album, 2002’s Up The Bracket contained the title track and Time For Heroes, while 2004’s The Libetrines featured
Can’t Stand Me Now, which provided the band’s highest chart position (UK number 2), and What Became Of The Likely Lads.
70 August 2021
The Libertines’
Pete Doherty
and Carl Barât
seat rather than a polished production and
perfect playing. Libertines songs are classic
anthems for a jaded youth, and include the
anthemic Can’t Stand Me Now and Don’t
Look Back To The Sun.
However, the guitar was always at the
forefront, and went from straight-ahead
overdriven chord work to interweaving
melodic lines and raw solos, often played by
Barat. Although not the most technically gifted
players, Barât and Docherty used their guitars
to express themselves artistically and act as
vehicles for their songwriting. Their sound was
often quite abrasive, both down to the way they
played their instruments, and to the gear used.
Barât is more often than not seen sporting
a Gibson Melody Maker. This basic model is
¿WWHGZLWKHLWKHUWZLQVLQJOHFRLOVRUMXVWD
single pickup at the bridge, and were for many
years the cheapest guitar made by Gibson.
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came from his Dad, who owned one himself,
ON THE CD TRACKS 72-73
Brought to you by…
and which Carl would play when he wasn’t
looking. Docherty on the other hand is
associated with another budget guitar, this
WLPHLQWKHIRUPRIDQ(SLSKRQH&RURQHW¿WWHG
with a single P-90 pickup at the bridge. These
guitars were also very cheap at their launch
in 60s, but become disirable and therefore
relatively expensive. Of course, the pair has
used other guitars but these were the two
most associated with them (as you can see in
our photo). Regarding amps, Barât played
through the venerable Vox AC30, while
Doherty was more of a Marshall man. With
WKHLU VRXQG EHLQJ TXLWH UDZ H̆HFW SHGDOV
“The guitar was always
at the forefront, and went
from straight-ahead chord
work to interweaving
melodic lines and solos”
were never part of their arsenal, apart from an
MXR Dynacomp used by Barât to give him an
extra push for his solos.
Regarding this month’s track, I’ve
endeavoured to keep things immediate and
raw for our study piece. And to this end I’ve
left in a few little nuances that I would
normally tidy up, in keeping with the sound
and philosophy of The Libertines. Playing-
wise I’ve mostly emulated Barât’s style,
particularly with the solos, but have included
a complementary rhythm guitar track to show
how he and Doherty worked together.
NEXT MONTH Simon explores the playing of
Northern Irish trio Two Door Cinema Club
5 5
4 6
3
GAIN BASS MIDDLE TREBLE REVERB
The Libertines’sound is simple and raw, and
results from their valve amps’natural overdrive
when cranked. Effects are minimal. Go for a
tone that’s more about power amp drive than
front-end distortion. Bridge pickup is the way to
go. If using a humbucker add a bit of brightness
at the amp (or drive pedal if you get the sound
BERTRAND GUAY / GETTY IMAGES
that way). Add light reverb for the solos.
 THE LIBERTINES LEARNING ZONE

EXAMPLE THE LIBERTINES STYLE CD TRACK 72

[Bars 1-8] This section introduces the theme and style of this month’s piece. A [Bars 9-16] Here we retain the double-stop approach, but this time the notes
palm-muted double-stop approach is used to play the chords, which should are picked in an eighth-note pattern, with all notes ringing out. For this part,
be picked with downstrokes to create an even pulse to the sound. The palm- switch from strict down strokes to alternate picking to create a more open
muting pattern written for the first bar is repeated for the whole of this section. sound. Keep the timing loose but play with attack and gusto.

©»¡¶º >
G
> > D/F # Em C

PM PM PM sim
E
B
G 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
D 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
A 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
E
1
≥≥≥≥≥≥ ≥≥
G D G
#

E
B 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
G 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
D 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
A
E
5

G D/F # Em C
#

Let ring etc

E
B 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 5 5 5 5
G 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 5 5 5 5
D
A
E
9

G D G
#

E 7 7 7
B 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
G 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
D
A
E
13

G D /F # Em C G D

# . . . . . .

E
B 8 7 8 7 8 7 8 7 8 7
G 7 7 7 9 7 5 7 7
D
A
E
17

August 2021 71
 LESSON } BRIT ROCK ON THE CD TRACKS 72-73

EXAMPLE THE LIBERTINES STYLE CD TRACK 72

[Bars 17-34] Here we introduce a typical Libertines’ style melodic line, while
from bars 25-32 this is embellished with a repeated hammer-on lick followed
by a set of descending diatonic 3rds before resolving to the G chord.
[Bars 35-50] This is a slightly different chord progression, with triads played on
the top three strings to make them stand out. Let these chords ring out as long
as possible, before switching to the next shape. This idea continues between
bars 43-50, but the chords are strummed in a straight eighth-note pattern. On
the GT audio I chose to use downstrokes to create an even pulse, but Barât
and Docherty might have played this with a more open sounding, up-down
strumming pattern.

G D/F # Em
# .

Let ring sim

E
B 8 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
G 7 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9
D
A
E
23

#
C G D G
.
‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰

E 7 5 3 2 5 3 2 0 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
B 8 8 8 8 7 5 3 7 5 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
G 7 9 7 9
D
A
E
28

# .. D
..
. .
w w
E 3 7 5
B 3 8 7
G 4 7 7
D 5
A 5
E 3
33

Em
...
C

...
G
.
# ‰

E 7 3 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
B 8 5 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
G 9 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
D
A
E
39

#
D /F #
. Em
.
‰ ‰

E 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
B 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
G 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
D
A
E
45

72 August 2021
 THE LIBERTINES LEARNING ZONE

EXAMPLE THE LIBERTINES STYLE CD TRACK 72

[Bars 51-58] More double-stops here, which act as a precursor to the final
guitar solo. Again, experiment with downstrokes and alternate picking to see
which approach you prefer - down is tighter, alternate is more loose.
[Bars 59-69] The piece ends with another guitar solo. The opening four bars
use a typical Barât style idea, with some speedy licks at the end of each two-bar
phrase. This is followed by a two-bar ascending E Minor Pentatonic scale run
(E-G-A-B-D) and then a quickly picked ascending 16th-note phrase using the
G Major scale (G-A-B-C-D-E-F#). I’ve purposely tried to keep the playing quite
raw, to fit in with the garage-punk ethos of the band. The piece ends with a
descending E blues scale (E-G-A-Bb-B-D) triplet run, but starting on the G note.

#
C
. G D /F #

E 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
B 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
G 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
D
A
E
49

Em C
#

E 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
B 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
G
D
A
E
54

G D/F #
#
œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œœœœ œ
Let ring sim
E
B
G 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
D 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
A 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 2 2 0
E 3
59

Em C
#
œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
E
B
G 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5
D 0 0 2 2
A 0 0 2 2
E 0 0 3 3
63
≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ sim
G
# 3

3
.
E
B
G 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 11 11 11 11 14 14 14 14 12 12
D 14 12
A 14 12 10 10
E
66

August 2021 73
 LESSON } Shaun Baxter’s Creative Rock ON THE CD TRACKS 74-76

MIXED INTERVALS In this month’s column Shaun Baxter combines

all the different interval types studied so far in this
series, into a veritable intervallic smorgasbord.

ABILITY RATING between a pair of notes within any mode of picking, fretting-hand legato and tapping with
the Major scale (like Mixolydian). either or both hands are all useful.
----- Advanced Up until now, we have tended to focus The transcription shows the technical
Info Will improve your exclusively on one interval at a time. It’s good solutions that I used for each challenge;
Key: A (A7) Visualising of intervals to start with that approach because, apart from however, where, for example, hybrid picking
Tempo: 160bpm Use of various intervals avoiding having too much to think about, such is shown, you may prefer to use alternate
CD: TRACKS 74-76 Creation of lines using intervals
a limitation will force you into digging deep picking if that is where your strength lies. The
within each concept, helping you to establish a PDLQWKLQJLVWKDW\RXQHHGWR¿QGDZRUNLQJ
his current series of lessons has been fresh collection of creative and ear-catching compromise between physical ease and

T GHYRWHG WR HPSOR\LQJ GL̆HUHQW LQWHUYDOV

within the Mixolydian scale. In this
penultimate instalment, we are going to
combine all of the simple (within one octave)
and compound (beyond one octave) intervals
that we’ve studied so far.
Basically, an interval is the distance
between two notes and Diagram 1 provides
useful reference information on the distance
ideas. However, now that you have had a good
grounding in the various interval types, freely
mixing them should help you to produce much
more well-balanced results.
With experience, you will start to recognise
WKH FDXVH DQG H̆HFW RI XVLQJ HDFK LQWHUYDO
type which will help you to play with more
“You need to find a
compromise between
physical ease and
producing a pleasing
musical result”
control over both melody and mood. So...
• For 2nds, 3rds, 6ths, 10ths and 13ths =
think soft and melodic
• For 4ths, 5ths, 11ths and 12ths =
think hard and angular
• Then for 7ths, 9ths and 14ths =
think dissonant and quirky
• Finally, octaves and 15ths =
think consonant and sweet
Most players use ‘steps’ (intervals of a
producing a pleasing musical result (sonically
and tonally). Are the dynamics even? Are the
notes in time? Is each note in tune? Does the
chosen technical approach allow you to play
ZLWKH[SUHVVLRQ"6RPHWLPHV\RXPD\¿QG
that you just need to bite the bullet and set the
time aside to build up a particular approach if
it yields the best results.
Finally, regarding the backing track (see
Diagram 2), most drummers would write out
the drum part in 6/8; however, for ease of
reading on guitar, I have stuck to 4/4, viewing
the bass drum pattern as a quarter-note
triplet rhythm. If your rhythm reading isn’t
great; don’t worry about it: just read the tab
and use your ears.
In the following lesson, we are going to
conclude this recent series with another
Mixolydian solo that employs various
interval-types. Have fun!
NEXT MONTH Shaun brings us another interval
related solo to learn in Creative Rock
5 5 5
7 7

Minor 3rd or smaller) rather than ‘leaps’

(intervals of a Major 3rd or greater) when they
GAIN BASS MIDDLE TREBLE REVERB
improvise. As we’ve already discussed in this
series, the wide leaps involved in playing
compound intervals tend to create lines that
sound quite ‘whacky’. They also lend
themselves to producing counterpoint as On the recording, I used a moderately distorted
there is an inherent ‘call and response’ quality guitar tone with the amp set on crunch.
Because I used single-coils, I added a bit of
between the low notes and the high ones.
front-end gain and compression using a
Also, because the distance between two
Greg Howe moved distortion/gain pedal. Generally, for rock-
notes is so large, it can present considerable orientated playing, ideas are either played on
from metal to jazz-
technical problems when trying to play
rock, and is also a the neck pickup (for, say, fast picking) or bridge
top session player certain ideas at speed; so, apart from alternate pickup (when using harmonics, etc).
ETHAN MILLER / GETTY IMAGES

picking, techniques like sweep picking, hybrid

TRACK RECORD This solo study features a few fifth-based ideas reminiscent of American guitarist Greg Howe. If you are new to Greg’s
playing, you will have many solo albums to choose from. Try starting with his first fusion album, Introspection, and work your way from
there. Songs that include the distinctive use of 5ths include Friday On My Mind by The Easybeats, and Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol.

74 August 2021
 MIXED INTERVALS LEARNING ZONE

DIAGRAM 1 DISTANCE BETWEEN NOTES DIAGRAM 2 THIS MONTH’S CHORD PROGRESSION

DIATONIC SCALE INTERVAL DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO NOTES
2nd Adjacent note A mixol dian ----------------------------------------------------|
3rd One scale note between
4th
5th
Two scale notes between
Three scale notes between
A G/A
6th Four scale notes between
7th Five scale notes between (x2)
Octave Six scale notes between
(both notes have same note name) C mixolydian ----------------------------------------------------|
9th Octave + 2nd
10th Octave + 3rd Bbadd9 F C
11th Octave + 4th
12th Octave + 5th (x4)
13th Octave + 6th
14th Octave +7th
15th Two octaves
A B C# D E F# G C D E F G A Bb
(both notes have same note name) A mixolydian – 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 C mixolydian – 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7

EXAMPLE MIXOLYDIAN SOLO CD TRACK 75

[Bars 1-2] Musically, these initial 5th intervals are grouped into four-note
motifs, producing a ‘four against three’ rhythmic feel when played to an eighth-
note triplet count. This helps to sustain rhythmic interest for the listener and
makes the underlying concept far less predictable than if it had been played to
a count of four (that is, eight-notes or 16th-notes).
[Bars 3-4] This section is typical of the sort of counterpoint mentioned earlier
when using compound intervals, and would probably sound best if the lead
guitar was heard unaccompanied so that the contrast between the high and
low notes can be heard. In this setting, most listeners, will just hear the melody
traced out by the higher notes (the same can also be said for other sections
such as bars 7-8). Try to listen out for the low notes on the recording and not
just the high spikey ones.
[Bar 5] Here, ‘7ths plus 4ths’ means that each three-note motif comprises a
7th and 4th interval. Note that the picking-hand taps trace out a quarter-note
triplet rhythm.
[Bar 6] This passage employs a combination of picking- and fretting-hand
tapping, with each beat show demonstrating two different ways of playing a
5th (on the same string and then across adjacent strings).

©»¡§º A w/bar

# 3 3 doop 3
3
‰
3 3 3 n
(5ths) w/bar (10ths)
doop
E
B
G 16 14 11 7 9 6 4
D 14 12 9 5
A 16 14 10 7
E 14 12 9 5 3
1
m 
G /A 3 3
3
# # œ
3

3
3 3
3

E
B
G 6 11 12 7 9 14 16 11 12 18 19 14
D
A
E 5 10 12 7 9 14 15 10 12 17 19
3
m  m  m  m  m  m  m  m  m

# #
A

3
3
3
3


3 3
3
3

L
(7ths & 4ths) (5ths)

E 17 5 12
B 17 5 12 15
G 18 5 12 14 18 11 12
D 17 5 12 14 17 11 12
A 17 5 12 14 17 10 12
E 17 5 12 17 10 12
5

August 2021 75
 LESSON } Shaun Baxter’s Creative Rock ON THE CD TRACKS 74-76

EXAMPLE MIXOLYDIAN SOLO CD TRACK 75

[Bars 7-8] The same approach is used here, only this time using 10ths and 6ths. you’re spending months of study and practice developing that ability, other
Note the different overall motion of each four-note motif compared to bar 6. guitar players are going to be building careers on taking the easy options and
[Bar 9] If you can find them, symmetrical shapes are highly recommended. not losing any sleep about being so thorough. Note that this symmetrical
Although it is good to be able to apply a principle to any part of the scale, while approach can also be observed in bars 21-22, 42-43 and 44.

#
G/A
Lœ L Lœ Lœ
œ
(10th & 6th)

E
B
G
D 19 4 2
≠6
≠7 21 5 4
≠
7
≠ 9
18 2 0
≠ 5
19 4 2
≠
6 19 4 2
≠
7
21
A 21 5 4 22 7 5
E
7

b
B add9 n F
n
#
3
n b œ œ œ
œ 3 3 3 3 3
3 3
(4ths)

E 15 10 12 17 12
B 15 10
G 15 10 17 12 12 17 12 14
D 15 10
A 15 10 17 12 17
E 15 10
9

~~~~
. ~~~~~ ~~~~ b
~~~~~~
n
C B add9
n n b
#
3 3 3 3

E
BU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 13 12
~~~~~~ 17 18 18
B 18 ( 20 ) 15
G 19 14 21 16 16
D 16
A
E
11

(√) F
n ~~~ n ~~~
C
n n ~~ ~~ n
# n n
3 3 3 3 3
3

E 17
~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~
B 18 17 20 18 17
G 17 14 17 17 17 19 17
D 17 17 15 14
A 15
E 15
14

76 August 2021
 MIXED INTERVALS LEARNING ZONE

EXAMPLE MIXOLYDIAN SOLO CD TRACK 75

[Bars 17-20] Although this section could have been a lot more metric, I [Bars 21-22] Another approach here: this time using sweep picking, legato
decided to just play and then transcribe what I played so that you get to see and slides. It focuses on a combination of 4ths and 5ths, which are inversions of
this sort of stuff applied in intuitively. It features an approach using 5ths each other (for example, from D up to A is a 5th whereas from D down to A is a
reminiscent of Greg Howe that utilises picking-and fretting-hand tapping. 4th). Note that there are more examples of 4ths with 5ths in bars 33-35.

b
B add9

œ≠ L œ
œ œ
≠ L
œ
ϭ L
œ F
œ L
≠œ L œ ≠ ≠œ Lœ œ œ œ
#
n 3
3 3 3
3
3
(5ths)

E
B ≠ 8 15 8
10 17 10
≠ ≠ ≠ ≠ ≠ ≠ ≠
8 15 8 8 15 8
10 17 10
8 15 8
G
D
A
E
17
≠ ≠ 8 15 8
10 17 10
10 17 10
8 15 8
10 17 10

# n n
C

≠ Lœ F

n n
3 3 3 3
3 3
3 3

E
B
G
D
A
E
≠ ≠ ≠ ≠ ≠ ≠ ≠ ≠ ≠ ≠
10 10
8 8
10 0 12 12
10 10 12 12
10 10 8
10 10 8
10 10
8 10 10
≠8
19

n œ
b n n n
b
B add9 F
œ œ n
# n

(5th & 4th & 5th & 4th) (5th & 4th & 5th & 4th) (5th & 4th & 5th & 4th) (5th & 4th & 5th & 4th)
(4th & 5th) (4th & 5th) (4th & 5th) (4th & 5th)

E 13 8 15 10 17 12 20 15
B 11 11 13 13 15 15 18 18
G 10 10 12 12 14 14 17 17
D 8 8 10 10 12 12 15 15
A
E
21
≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≤ ≤ ≤ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≤ ≤ ≤ ≥≥ ≥ ≤≤≤ ≥≥ ≥ ≤≤ ≤

n ~~~ n
Gliss vib

#
C

n n ≠œ œ œ
3 3 3

(3rds)
(6ths)
~~~~~
≠≠ L ≠ ≠ ≠
Gliss vib
E
B
G
D
A 15
≠ ≠ ≠ 22
15
12 19
22 12
8 15
19
12
8 15
19 17
15 17
13 17
14 17
14 17
E 12 18
23

August 2021 77
 LESSON } Shaun Baxter’s Creative Rock ON THE CD TRACKS 74-76

EXAMPLE MIXOLYDIAN SOLO CD TRACK 75

[Bars 35-36] This section uses 4ths played via large stretches like bars 9-10, If you are limited to 22 frets, you may want to replace the high E (24th fret) in
only this time using string skips. Note, same approach is used in bars 41-43. bar 36 with a D note (22nd fret) instead.

√A œ
A /G

# .
.
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
3 3 3 3
Oct 2nd 4th Oct 2nd 4th Oct 3rd 4th Oct 3rd 4th Oct 4th 3rd Oct 4th 3rd

E
B . 22 22 22 22 20 20 20 20 19 15 19 15 19 15 19 15
G
D
A
. 19
19 18 19
19
19 18 19
17
19 16 19
17
19 16 19
16 19 16 19
E
25, 29

(√) b n √n
B add9
~~~~ n œ
# n
3

..
œ
3
3 3
Oct 4th 2nd 9ths 2nd (5th) (5th & 4th & 5th & 4th) (5th)

~~~~
(4th & 5th)
E
B 17 15 17 15 . 18
20 15
18
G
D
A
14
14
17
21 19
16
18 19
. 17
15
17 17
15
17
E 13 15 15
28, 32

n √
n b
F
~~~ œ œ œ C
n
#
3 3 3
3
(5th) (5th & 4th & 5th & 4th) (5th) (4ths)

~~~
(4th & 5th)

E 22 17 13 18
B 20 20 13 18
G 19 19 12 17 12 17
D 17 17 12 17
A 19 19
E 17 17 17 15 20
34

b
√
b
3
B add9
œ F
nœ n ~~~
#
3
3 3 3 3
3

(4ths & 5ths) (2nds) (3rds)

~~~
E 18 24 18 18 12 13 12 13 12 10 12 13
B 13 10 13
G 15 21 21 22 22 15 15
D
A 19
E
36

78 August 2021
 MIXED INTERVALS LEARNING ZONE

EXAMPLE MIXOLYDIAN SOLO CD TRACK 75

[Bars 45-47] This final section demonstrates some different ways to mirror notes in the fretting hand with tapped notes from the picking hand an octave higher.

b
C
~~~~
. n n n B add9

# n œ n ≠
3 3 3

(4ths) (2nds) (3rds)

~~~~
E
B
G
D
13
12
13
12 13 12 13 15 13 12 13 15 20 22 20 15 13 12
≠≠≠
13
12
14
A 15
E
39

# ~~~~~~ 3 3
F
3 b n
œ œ œ 3
3 3
(4ths)

E
~~~~~~
B
G 10 15 17 12
D 10 15
A 13 10 5 10 15 17 12
E 10 5 10 15
41

C
b b n n n n
#
3 3
œ œ œ œ
3 3
(Octaves & 4ths)

E
B
G 15 20 22 17 10 5 10
D 15 20 10 5 10
A 15 20 22 17 10 5 10
E 15 20 10 5 10
43

b
B add9

#
n ≠œ 6 6 6 6
(Octave

E
B

≠ ≠ ≠≠ ≠ 10 10
10 0 8 8 8 6 6 6
10 10 10 8 8 8
G
D
A
E
45
≠ ≠8
10 10
8
10 10
7
7

C A ~~
#
5 5

~~~~~
E
B
G
D
A
≠
9 9 7
10 7
9 9 7
10 7 10 7
E
47

August 2021 79
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80 August 2021
 ALBUM } REVIEWS

NEW ALBUMS
studio performance features the
hits Hold The Line, Rosanna and
Stop Loving You alongside great
songs like Pamela, Kingdom Of
Desire and opener, Til The End. It’s
A selection of new and reissued guitar wonderfully recorded with the new
releases, including Album Of The Month musicians performing well. Luke is
a legendary player; Kingdom Of are raw but exemplary. Clearly fun
Desire features not only his rich was had by all. Continuing with
ALBUM OF THE MONTH vocals but a cutting guitar tone that New Morning, a feast of tasty slide
suits the song’s dark rock vibe. and improvised fuzz wailing, it’s a
STEVE CROPPER White Sister has tight vocals and treat to hear such fearlessness.
FIRE IT UP Luke fries up his fretboard with a Scott rarely strays from straight
Provogue 8/10 blazing solo. And Rosanna’s famous blues-rock vocabulary, but the
The legendary Steve Cropper of Booker T outro solo? It’s different but it’s a broad dynamics and spontaneity
and The MG’s, Otis Redding and Blues treat, Luke’s phrasing and blazing is make up for this in no uncertain
Brothers movie has a new album out and the pretty full-on here - one of the most terms. Gavin Conder’s voice is a
13 tracks make for great listening! His biting vibrant we’ve heard from him live. great Steve Marriott, Paul Rodgers
Peavey T-type guitar, Fender amp and Yep, the band may have altered but mix, and he sings funky rocker
spring reverb tone is still something of wonder, ma ing t ese the chops and panache remain! Everything Is Nothing (super solo!)
instrumentals and songs both nostalgic and modern. Bush Hog Part 1 is and album closer Take Me Back
a swampy instrumental groover, vibing with blues phrases and tasty JOE BONAMASSA with real soul. The playing from
6th slides. Fire It Up is soulful with a great upbeat groove and Roger C. NOW SERVING: ROYAL TEA LIVE FROM everyone is brilliant throughout.
Reale’’s emphatic vocals are reminiscent of Joe Cocker. I’m Not Havin’ THE RYMAN Available on Bandcamp and to
It has Steve’s rhythm guitar magic all over it with numerous great Provogue/Mascot Group 8/10 stream, it’s a fantastic listen. NM
strumming and riff parts. As typical of Steve’s Booker T work, many You might think it’s a little strange
songs feature organ and horn arrangements and Out Of Love is a good to release what is essentially a live CLIFF MOORE
example - the structure is based in the 12-bar style, the band sounds version of JoBo’s Royal Tea album 2020 VISION
tight and Steve takes a lovely solo. The Go-Getter Is Gone may evoke so soon after the studio album’s Tunecore Distribution 8/10
The Meters riffing style but the band, Steve’s 6th double-stops and lead debut. We did. But as Joe was Younger brother of the late Gary
licks plus Roger’s vocals make it stand out. Steve takes the album out in unable to tour thanks to Covid, he Moore, Cliff is a busy performer in
style with Bush Hog, groovy! JS went to the trouble of hiring The his own right. A quite different
player and singer to his sibling, Cliff
over the unique chord progression. played all instruments and sang all
Dark Divide has a pounding vocals here. Lyrically the album was
eighth-note feel, a great guitar inspired by events of the last 18
arrangement in the verses and tasty months and describes the dystopian
blues rock licks before the slippery nightmare we continue to live
shredding and vibrato kick in. through, perfectly summed up by
Crack The Sky is perfect for fans of yman heatre in ashville to play opener, Welcome To The Madness,
THE END MACHINE George’s Lynch Mob era, a cracking a virtual gig so that fans could hear with its psychedelic vocals and
PHASE 2 riff rocker with one of the best solos the new material in a live format. pointed lyrics. Call My Name is a
Frontiers Music 8/10 on the album. And this is the result. All the tracks classic rock ballad with fine guitar
This may be a new(ish) band but from the album are present with the and moody vocal harmonies. Crank,
you’ll know the guitarist, US hard TOTO exception of Savannah, but there the album’s only instrumental,
rock stunner, George Lynch, plus WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY are three extra songs thrown in for races to an Iron Maiden-like gallop,
Jeff Pilson on bass, Robert Mason FRIENDS good measure. Joe performs with the harmonised guitars definitely
and Steve Brown on drums. While The Players Club 8/10 his usual fire, making this evoking that great Murray-Smith
their first album was quite bluesy, Toto has been through various unmissable for the Jobo fanbase. vibe. Cliff wanted the playing to be
Phase 2 makes a strong rock line-ups and this is the latest, We liked it a lot too! melodic, not flash, and Love Hate,
statement with nods towards created for this live concert/DVD with its pulsing 7/8 sections follows
Lynch’s and Pilson’s previous band, album but also set for forthcoming SCOTT MCKEON that brief to a T. There’s the tinyest
Dokken. The dozen songs are tours. Fronted by Joseph Williams NEW MORNING hint of Gary in the closer, A Perfect
ALBUM REVIEWS BY JASON SIDWELL AND NEVILLE MARTEN

clearly focused on rock riffing, big
vocals and statement solos; perfect
for air guitar and open-top driving.
Lynch’s humbucker style leans
towards b2, and #4/b5 intervals,
screaming pinch harmonics, palm
muted syncopations, wide vibrato
and impressive two-hand tapping,
all present here. Bold And Money is
a good example; the middle solo is
tightly executed with a palm muted
theme, tapping legato, wide vibrato,
harmonised lines and deft phrasing
on vocals, Steve Lukather on guitar
and keyboardist David Paich, new
faces include bassist John Pierce
and Snarky Puppy drummer,
Robert Searight. As a 12-song
greatest hits presentation, this live
Idaho Records 9/10 World, with its woman tone lead
Recorded live at RAK studios in and descending chords, but we
London under the eye of Oasis won’t begrudge him tha! Overall
producer Paul Stacey, with Stacey’s this is an album of heartfelt songs
brother Jeremy on drums, Rocco from a player who deserves to be far
Palladino on bass and Gavin Conder better known. NM
adding occasional vocals, the album
kicks off with the funky Fight No
More. Packed with great guitar
there are echoes of Hendrix and
Clapton but with Scott’s personality
all over it. All through the album’s
nine tracks the playing and tones

August 2021 81
 NEXTMONTH
MORE OF THE WORLD’S BEST LESSONS…
FE ATURE #2 VIDEO
MARTY FRIEDMAN
Buoyancy
In this rare and exclusive video lesson
Marty Friedman plays and explains a
monster solo on new track, Buoyancy.
CL A SSIC AL TAB VIDEO
DIONISIO AGUADO
Prelude In E Minor
Bridget continues her series of more
approachable pieces, with a Prelude
from a Spanish composer/guitarist.
FE ATURE #3
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN
The Art Of Slurring
John Wheatcroft looks at how this
legendary Texan bluesman uses slurs
to create cool, slippery lead lines.
Discover the many merits of using...
REPETITIVE LICKS!
Clapton does it, Page does it, Angus does it, Knopfler does it. So do Gary
Moore, Lukather, Van Halen, Blackmore and John Mayer. Learn how the
blues-rock greats build excitement and intensity using repetitive licks.
NEXT ISSUE ON SALE WEDNESDAY 28TH JULY
NOTE: CONTENTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
NEW SERIES
MIKE STERN
Using Altered scales
The fusion master continues his
brilliant series showing how he uses
Altered and outside-inside playing.
MORE GREAT LESSONS
30-Minute Lickbag
Six licks to challenge your chops
Eric Clapton (Mayall era)
The sound that changed it all
Styx (US Rock)
Play fantastic American AOR
Two Door Cinema Club
Northern Ireland’s indie rockers
Joe Satriani (Shred)
Father of instrumental rock?
Shaun’s Creative Rock
More soloing ideas from Shaun
The Rhythm Roost
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PLUS ALL THIS…
Mitch Dalton, Justin Sandercoe
60 Seconds With, Instrumental
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