Though obviously not thought of in this way, the Gibson ES-350 is a great instrument to use for rock rhythm guitar playing.

With its hollow body and two-pickup design, it’s similar to the Gretsch 6120, which Pete Townshend used nearly exclusively for the guitar parts on the Who’s seminal Who’s Next album. Those gigantic rhythm guitars you hear on Won’t Get Fooled Again and Baba O’Riley were, surprisingly, recorded by Pete on a 1959 Gretsch 6120.

I will often use the ES-350 in the same manner. The necks on these guitars are skinny and narrow, so the strings are actually a little closer together, as compared to other Gibsons, and it features “narrow-spaced” PAF pickups, wherein the screws are closer together.

These guitars may not be for everyone, but they’re great “power chord” guitars, and I will often use them in the studio for that purpose.

As shown in Figure 1, I put the guitar in the bridge pickup position and play through a series of single-note licks based on the E blues scale (E, G, A, Bb, B, D) before moving into three- and four-note chords played in a syncopated rhythm against the open low E string.

These guitars are great for rock rhythms because they have a great sparkle to them, and the larger hollow body allows a little bit more bass to come out, as compared to an ES-335. In Figure 2, I embellish E5 power chord accents with single-note phrases, switching to sliding 6ths in bar 2, and then move between A5 and D/A chords in bars 4 and 5.

If you turn up the amp and use distortion, these guitars will howl with feedback due to the hollowbody design, so you have to mute the strings as necessary.

Figure 3 offers a long, 13-bar example that begins with power chords in bars 1-7. The single-note riff in bar 1 gives way to syncopated chords played against the open A string in bars 2-6, as I move freely between various voicings of A5, D/A, Gsus2/A, G/A, Dsus2 and Esus4 up and down the neck, pounding out the open-A pedal tone in steady eighth notes.

Pete Townshend was a master of devising rhythm parts played with this kind of “pedal tone against shifting chords” approach.

In bars 7-9, I switch to single-note lines based on the E blues scale, and then in bars 10-13, I move into fast, solo-type phrases based on E minor pentatonic, (E, G, A, B, D), and the E blues scale, with the inclusion of the 2nd/9th, F#, in bar 10.

These guitars are so lively and have a lot of “pop” to the sound, but they also have a lot of body and low-end that fattens up the single notes in a great way.

These guitars are not just for blues lawyers – you can rock with one of these! They may not be thought about that much anymore, and this is why I wanted to bring your attention to the rock ’n’ roll magic of an ES-350.

• Breakthrough is out now via J&R Adventures
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Ace of Aces is the debut track from the 2018 self-titled EP by the Fearless Flyers, which is a side project from the band Vulfpeck that consists of me, guitarist Mark Lettieri, bassist Joe Dart and drummer Nate Smith.

This track all started from a melodic line I had written. Jack Stratton, our producer, had compiled a handful of live performance clips of each of us in the band playing and said, “Let’s work on these musical concepts as different things. We’ll use Cory’s line as the anchor then try to come up with four different sections of playing over one chord.”

I’ve seen people cover the tune, and one thing most get wrong about it is they’re not intentional about the sections in the way they should be. The best way to explain this is to demonstrate how Mark’s and my guitar parts work together in the arrangement, which I think is interesting and informative.

The tune starts with a primary bassline-like riff, shown here in Figure 1, which is based on the E major pentatonic scale (E, F#, G#, B, C#) with some syncopated chromaticism happening on the low E string. Compositionally, that’s actually the most important part of the tune.

Figure 2 illustrates Mark’s rhythm guitar part for the tune’s first “verse.” It’s is based on a 7th-position E9 chord shape, and the top three strings are strummed and move down from a 9th-fret barre, sounding E6, to a passing-chord at the 8th fret then to E9 at the 7th fret.

The strum rhythm is 16th notes, with pitchless, fret-hand-muted percussive scratches between the accented chord hits.

I play baritone guitar on this track, tuned to A standard (low to high: A, D, G, C, E, A). But for this column I’ve adapted my baritone parts for a conventional guitar in regular E standard tuning (low to high: E, A, D, G, B, E).

My approach with the baritone in this tune is like that of a second bassist, as Joe is playing a relatively simple part. As shown in Figure 3, I play a repeating line that’s based on the E Mixolydian mode (E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D) and pick a lot of fret-hand-muted, percussive notes between the pitched notes.

The ways in which Mark’s and my parts weave together is a key element of the arrangement. There are some spots where we play a harmonized line together; my baritone guitar part is shown in Figure 4. This line is recalled at the end of the tune.

After repeating the initial riff, we move to the second ”verse,” for which Mark switches to a rhythm part based around an E7#9 chord, not unlike Shining Star by Earth, Wind & Fire. Then, midway through the verse, we play a different line in unison, which is based on the E minor pentatonic scale (E, G, A, B, D), shown in Figure 5.

While Mark is sitting on that E7#9 chord, I change my baritone guitar part to Figure 6, which accentuates the minor 3rd, or #9, G.

For the third verse, Mark and I switch to a “gospel-y,” downstrokes approach. As shown in Figure 7, his part consists of descending 6ths on the top two strings followed by E9sus4 and E9 chord accents.

Over that, I add, on the baritone, a “gospel quartet” line based on E Mixolydian (see Figure 8). The song then moves to a bass feature then a drum feature and ends with a reprise of the line from Figure 1.

As you can see, Mark and I have very specific parts that we devised to fit together, all while working with the other instruments to create a bigger, wider sound.

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Altered tunings can be one of the most fun and rewarding elements associated with the guitar. Specifically, the ability to change the tuning of some or all strings in the pursuit of finding new chord shapes and evocative progressions is really inspiring. And inspiration is what we all crave when playing and writing.

It’s common to associate 'big change' tunings like open G (D G D G B D) with slide players, but it has also driven some of the most famous non-slide songs in rock and blues. Two fine examples are The Rolling Stones' Brown Sugar and Jumpin’ Jack Flash.

The beauty of this tuning is its instant usability. While tunings like DADGAD can be a challenge during first forays, open G (aka Spanish tuning) gives up the goods far more readily as you’ll discover in the following examples.

When I’m playing in open G, I keep a close eye on the triads (three-note chords) on the fourth, third and second strings as the results are the same as with standard tuning.

So, all the normal major and minor triad shapes can be used as reference points around which you can add colour with the other strings. Typically, this can involve using open strings to provide a relationship with the triads. Or you can really exploit the I to V relationship between the fifth string (G) and the sixth and fourth strings (both D).

As would be expected, open G major often pulls you towards playing in the key of G. While this isn’t a bad thing, you do want to ensure you get the best out of any altered tuning by exploring other keys, too.

For example, open G is particularly effective for playing in C major and D major as the open strings can be used to create colour or tension against fretted notes. In this regard, it’s a good idea to map out common open position major and minor shapes to begin with. Remember, the magic of open G lies in the fact that you have familiar reference points on the fourth, third and second strings. Onto the examples!

Example 1 - The open strings of Open G

It may seem obvious but the best place to start with any tuning is simply to hear it. This is best done by slowly playing the open strings to hear their relationship to each other and then play all strings together to hear the open chord. In this case, you'll be sounding a huge G major. Don't under-appreciate the loudness and resonance of all open strings sounding together in Open G – it's that good!

Example 2 - Simple C and G chords in Open G

Next you can start locating simple open major and minor chords and find out where chord progressions such as I – IV and I – IV – V lie. In this example, you’ll play G (the I chord) to C (the IV chord) progression. Listen how the open fourth string (D) at the top of the C chord creates a rich add9 extension.

Example 3 - Fingerpicking in Open G

Open G can take some of the work from the fretting hand as the open strings do so much. In this fingerpicking example you’ll play through the I – IV – V chords in G major (G - C - D). Check out how the chords require very few fretting hand fingers, a nice relief!

Example 4 - Thickening notes in Open G

Open G is a fantastic Americana and bluegrass tuning, even more so given how many traditional tunes are written in keys like G and C. Check out how easily you can thicken a G major chord using unisons (unison = two occurrences of the same note played together).

In bar 1, the G5 chord has two G notes and two D notes, sounding like a variation on a 12-string guitar.

Example 5 - Extended chords in Open G

It’s easy to find rich chords in open tunings, and Jimmy Page took this approach with many of Led Zeppelin’s classic tracks. This example explores rich-sounding G and D chords where the open strings add interesting textures: rich chords with little fretting hand work.

Example 6 - Americana stylings in Open G

This example is an Americana/folk inspired piece inspired by Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes. Importantly, it gets you out of all the ruts you may find in standard tuning so will, physically and sonically, sound fresh.

It’s based around G, C and Dm chords, using the open strings and textural options of the tuning to bring the piece to life.

Players who use Open G tuning

The Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar

Keef is perhaps the player best associated with open G tuning through the massive early Rolling Stones hit, Brown Sugar. Study this song and you’ll appreciate how the triads on the fourth, second and third strings serve as an anchor in open G tuning.

The Black Crowes - Remedy

The influence of Keith Richards and Jimmy Page is ever-present in Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes. That said, he took open G tuning and made it his own by writing many gorgeous parts in this tuning. Check out Remedy to hear how he uses it in a blues-rock context.

Charley Patton - Magnolia Blues

It's not just '60s and onwards guitarists that love Open G. The early blues pioneer, Charley Patton often used open G tuning which gave his playing a softer, folk blues feel. Magnolia Blues used this tuning, often with a capo placed at the 2nd fret or higher. For sure, you can hear Charley's influence on Keith Richards.

However, consider the process of writing and recording material, and rehearsing then touring, which obviously involves playing those same tunes night after night. This in itself can teach us so much about what works and what doesn’t, simply through an intense process of trial and error.

If the old adage about one gig being worth a dozen rehearsals holds true, what are the benefits of a long tour? It’s true to say that many professional musicians (myself included) come off tour able to play the set blindfolded, but feeling a bit rusty on anything else… However, this is temporary and the longterm gains are clear. But where does this leave everyone else?

It’s possible to transform your playing without repeatedly going through the album/tour cycle, but it does take discipline to play and practise every single day and perhaps record yourself (in private – studio quality is not necessary!) then listen back with as objective an ear as possible. Yes, we are often our own harshest critics, but you can make this work for you by taking notes and deciding on positive steps to improve in any weak areas.

This brings us neatly back to the idea of learning scales and patterns, with the emphasis on the latter. A slow minor blues like the example solo gives us plenty of time to think about note choice and phrasing. Some of the ideas in the examples are derived from chord tones or chord extensions.

But, if you prefer, they could also be regarded as embellished pentatonic/blues scale licks. Play these, or similar ideas, often enough and they will become part of your vocabulary. Hope you enjoy and see you next time!

Example 1

In the pickup to this first phrase, I’m spelling out part of an E minor scale, though you could also say it’s an E minor triad (G B E) with an F# added before the G on beat 1 of bar 1. This gives us more detail than sticking solely to the pentatonic scale.

The change to A minor then B minor in bar 2 is followed with an ear for their respective triads (A C E and B D F#) but without needing to change position on the fretboard.

Oddly enough, the last two bars feature more movement between positions over a static chord, playing a similar idea over two octaves using the E minor pentatonic scale.

Example 2

Shifting to A minor, this second phrase targets the 9th (B) in what would otherwise be a regular minor pentatonic phrase, albeit sliding between shapes 1 and 2.

The brief excursions to C and D don’t really ask anything too specific of us in terms of note choice, though perhaps it is worth experimenting with C and D triads? The next main chord is E minor.

Nothing too fancy going on here, but there is a bend from F# to G in bar 3, emphasising the 9th in the key of E minor. Watch out for sneaky staccato notes!

Example 3

Switching to the bridge pickup for dramatic effect, this final example is perhaps the most obviously pentatonic, switching between shapes 4, 1 and 2. Somehow, the unembellished pentatonic sounds ‘tougher’ for this rise in dynamic…

That’s where we stay, being pretty and melodic sidelined in favour of a few more flourishes, before a short chromatic run up to B at the end. We don’t always need to spell out each chord, but it’s good to know what’s going on harmonically so we can pick and choose.

Allow yourself a bit of leeway for timing; this is transcribed as faithfully as possible but need not be set in stone.

Hear it here

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers – A Hard Road

After Eric Clapton had recorded the infamous ‘Beano’ album and moved on to form Cream, there was a vacancy to fill. Enter Peter Green. On this 1967 release, he shows himself very able to channel the spirit of Clapton on tracks such as The Stumble and Another Kinda Love.

However, on The Super-Natural we really hear him coming into his own, having a profound influence on Carlos Santana, Gary Moore and many others in the process.

Santana – Abraxas

Released in 1969, this second album from the band features a cover of Peter Green’s Black Magic Woman, alongside the well-known tracks Samba Pa Ti and Oye Cómo Va.

In fact, we could probably have cited any of Santana’s albums here, as his distinctive playing remains the centrepiece of his music, combining American and Mexican influences, while frequently using pentatonic lines but just as often adding melody via chord tones, arpeggios and long held notes.

Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon

David Gilmour is a very obvious name to put out there when thinking of melodic-blues-influenced players. Like Santana, you could approach any of the Pink Floyd or later solo material and find lots of examples.

Of particular interest here, though, is how he fits his blues-based style into tracks such as Time and Any Colour You Like where he trades licks against himself in stereo. Money contains some more obviously bluesy licks, though still with lots of memorable melodic lines.

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However, swapping this order around can sometimes be really effective. Shifting the 3rd (or b3) to the bottom gives what classical composers call a ‘first inversion’.

This time around we’re going to move the 5th to the bottom, making a ‘second inversion’. It’s still the same chord, but the emphasis shifts from the Root and gives the chord a slightly different feel.

For example, play a regular C major chord and follow up with a G major. This is all fine, of course, but maybe there’s more we can do with it… How about using a second inversion for that C chord?

In practice, this means swapping the 5th (G) to lowest note instead of the Root (see Example 1 below). These days, we’d usually call this C/G – and it really sets us up in a grand way for that G chord.

Example 1. C/G

This is a C chord with the 5th (G) on the bottom. Its ‘official’ name would be C (second inversion), but you’ll usually see it referred to as C/G – a slash chord.

This is worth experimenting with in the context of a chord progression: for example, before a standard G chord. Hear it in action on Pulling Mussels (From The Shell) by Squeeze.

Example 2. Am/E

The inversion/slash chord approach can be applied to minor chords, too, as demonstrated by this Am/E (aka A minor second inversion).

This leads beautifully into a standard E major, or maybe try a D major first inversion (D/F#). You could potentially expand from here to form a counter melody in the bass – like Bach!

Example 3. G/D

Here’s another shape that gives us a second inversion, in this case a G/D. We’ve simply omitted the root, leaving the 5th (D) at the bottom.

Obviously, if the bassist plays a G root under this it won’t be particularly effective, but on the flip side you could ask them to play a D under your regular G chord or powerchord.

Example 4. D/A

Here’s another shape that you’ll find useful for exploring the second inversion sound – in this example, a D/A. It’s a darker, more grandiose sound than a regular D major.

This could be the perfect way to give a more standard chord progression a lift, without getting too complex or losing its character.

Example 5. Em7/B

This movable shape allows us to play a second inversion minor 7 chord anywhere on the fretboard. It’s an Em7/B.

In this position, you could allow the open first and second strings to ring. Give it a try – while this won’t work everywhere, there are some nice surprises lurking.

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When playing a standard 12-bar blues, the turnaround occurs in the last two bars, 11 and 12, as the tonic chord (rooted in the key you’re in) moves to the V (five chord), which then resolves back to the tonic in bar 1 of the next 12-bar chorus.

When playing a single-note blues solo, players sometimes forget about where the turnaround is and how important it is to make reference to it melodically. Playing these turnarounds as part of your solos will tie everything together and ensure that it sounds like a blues song.

If a guitarist is just riffing away on minor pentatonic licks, it will make their playing sound “scale-y”; you don’t want to sound scale-y! You want to sound like a blues player, and incorporating the following essential blues turnarounds will ensure that you do.

Let’s stick with the key of E and look at a handful of essential blues turnarounds.

In Figure 1, I play the most basic one of all: while repeatedly picking a high E root note on the B string, notes on the A string descend chromatically: D, C#, C, B. In bars 3 and 4, the same turnaround is played an octave higher, starting at the 12th fret and wrapping up with a walk-up to the V chord, B7.

Figure 2 illustrates two more great turnarounds: in bars 1 and 2, I play notes that are 6ths apart on the G and high E strings and descend chromatically, from the 4th fret. In bars 3 and 4, I sound notes that are 6ths apart on the A and D strings and ascend chromatically, from the 2nd fret.

Figures 3 and 4 offer a few more turnaround twists. Figure 3 is built from 10th intervals. A 10th is a 3rd (major or minor) plus an octave. The open low E note and the G# on the G string’s 1st fret ascend to F# and A, G and Bb, and G# and B.

Figure 4 presents two more turnaround options: in bars 1 and 2, 6ths descend on the A and D strings, followed by the V chord, B7. In bars 3 and 4, notes two that are octaves apart, on the low and high E strings, descend from the 4th fret to the open strings.

In Figure 5, I combine three types of turnarounds and bring them all together.

One great approach is to actually play the same turnaround all through a song. This is something that the great T-Bone Walker would do all of the time, as did Freddie King on his classic song, Hideaway.

Figure 6 illustrates a 12-bar example played along the lines of Hideaway. Starting with the pickup bar, there is a melody sounded on the top two strings that runs through the entire form.

In bars 11 and 12, Freddie’s essential turnaround is a very specific melodic line played on the top three strings. This signature lick serves to define the song; when I hear it, I’ll say, “That’s Hideaway!”

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Last month, I talked about how I devised the primary riffs in the title track to my 2023 album Hard Wired, which is played in drop D tuning (low to high: D, A, D, G, B, E). I’d now like to share some of the varied approaches and techniques I use in the song’s breakdown and solo sections.

One of the cool things about the breakdown section is that I take the opportunity to interpret the chord progression in different ways. The first thing I do is switch things up by establishing a progression of D - G - F. But instead of playing straight major chords or root-5th power chords, I like to bring in the sound of open strings to help broaden the harmony, as well as the timbre.

One way I accomplish this is to keep an open D string in the mix for all of the voicings. As shown in Figure 1, I play a G chord by fretting the low G on the 6th string’s 5th fret, played along with the open 4th string and a B note at the 4th fret on the G string.

I then slide this shape down two frets to sound F on the 6th string’s 3rd fret along with the open 4th-string D and an A note at the 2nd fret of the G string. I end with a D chord sounded by the open low D along with the notes F# and D on the D and B strings, respectively. Be sure to allow all of the strings to ring throughout.

While improvising over these sections, I like to emphasize the sound of F#, the major 3rd of D, moving to the minor 3rd, F, which then becomes the root note for the F chord. To me, there ‘s something beautiful about messing with those double-stops of D and F# over the D chord and then C and F over the F chord.

As shown in Figure 2, I slide into fretted F# and D notes, sounded along with the open low D, then move to G followed by a single-note riff that’s based on the D blues scale (D, F, G, Ab, A, C).

In bar 3, over D, I freely move through the D Mixolydian mode (D, E, F#, G, A, B, C) with hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides, followed in the next bar with reference to F then more D blues scale riffs. Bars 5 and 6, are played with the same approach, with all of the riffs freely improvised, as are bars 7 and 8.

By playing two-bar phrases like these, initially establishing the chord changes and then moving into solo lines, I’m replicating the tandem approach of rhythm and lead guitars, as the leads effectively “answer” the chords.

The solo section then kicks off with a heavy riff that sits right on the D chord. As shown in Figure 3, I repeatedly play C and D notes over the open low D and resolve at the end of each bar to an F note that I proceed to bend up a half step to F#.

I then flow into the solo with triads played on the top three strings, either moving chromatically downward, as in Figure 4, or upward, as in Figure 5. In Figure 6, I use my pick-hand index finger to tremolo strum the triads in a Jimi Hendrix-like way.

Next month, we’ll take a deeper dive into the techniques I used to develop the solo section of Hard Wired. See you then.

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For many guitarists, one of the major draws to learning jazz and jazz blues is the richness and beauty of the chord work: a tapestry of stunning voicings and extensions that brings a whole new level of emotion and depth to the music.

Jumping into this world can seem daunting at first, so let's simplify the process so you can play gorgeous new chords in a way that is inspiring and easy to understand.

One of the most common progressions in jazz, and in popular music generally, is the I-VI-II-V progression. In the key of C major, this would involve the chords C-Am-Dm-G or Cmaj7-Am7-Dm7-G7 if you wanted a jazzier sound.

Often used as a turnaround, this sequence forms a solid foundation which we can modify with extensions, voicings, inversions and substitutions – the options are almost endless!

Sometimes you’ll end up with a progression that on the surface may appear to bear little resemblance to its humble I-VI-II-V beginnings, but dig a little deeper and you’ll see that there is a logic to explain how and why we end up there.

For this article, you will get to understand a handful of these common modifications. These will provide more artistic freedom of chord choices, so you can express yourself with sophistication and richness. So let's take a close look at some of the tricks of the trade, as used by a handful of jazz guitar legends.

Example 1: The foundation

First, let's establish a basic starting point; a purely diatonic I-VI-II-V progression in the key of C major. Diatonic simply means that we’re using only notes from our parent scale to build these chords, the C major scale in this case. This progression will be the template for this article, allowing you to adapt and modify these changes in interesting and inspiring ways.

Notice that each and every chord is extended with its 7th: The I chord is major 7th (Cmaj7), the VI and II chords are both minor 7th (Am7 and Dm7), and the V chord is a dominant 7th (G7).

For the second pass through the progression, you will go straight in with a couple of common modifications: a substitute for the I chord (Cmaj7) with the III chord (Em7) to add a minor vibe. Then the quality of the VI chord will change from minor (Am7) to dominant (A7) in order to set the II chord (Dm7) more elegantly.

As far as voicings go (ie how the chord's notes are placed together), the most useful and common options are used for each chord type throughout this example.

Example 2: Herb Ellis style

Here you'll take a look at how Herb Ellis might have extended these chords further, and be introduced to some important modifications. Instead of a Cmaj7 chord, this time you'll play one of my personal favorites, a C6 chord. This is a straight major chord with a 6th added: C major with an A note. This is a bedrock chord of swing and traditional jazz, not a plain major and not as bluesy or (perhaps) unresolved sounding as C7.

A couple of diminished 7th chords (ie four notes, each a minor 3rd apart) are introduced to create a chromatic climb in the bass, before cycling back around and using dominant chords for the III, VI, II and V. Notice the use of passing chords a semitone above the destination chord each time also (eg Bb7 passes to the destination A7). This adds a slinky bluesy flavor to the progression.

Lastly, enjoy the final C6/G chord: C6 in second inversion (5th in the bass). It's one of the richest and sweetest low voiced chords you can play on guitar. More importantly, it's very jazzy sounding!

Example 3: Joe Pass style

Joe Pass was a true master of adding movement and internal melodies within his chord changes - his 1975 live duet show with Ella Fitzgerald in Hannover is a must-see for just how incredibly adept he was at this as a sole accompanist.

You'll expand your chordal palette even further with the addition of minor 11ths, Dominant 13ths and stacked alterations: rich and sophisticated extensions to 7th chords. There are also internal melodic movements into the chords.

Adding movement to chord changes is about maintaining momentum, sometimes along the bass strings, other times on top of the chords, or even in the middle of them. All three approaches feature throughout this example.

Notice the G#13 chord preceding the G13, similar to the Herb Ellis example: this is simply a passing chord (G#13: a richer version of G#7) a semitone above the destination chord (G13).

Example 4: Johnny Smith style

Johnny Smith was quite the chord magician. His use of dense closed voicings, often moving alarmingly quickly, created an almost otherworldly, organ-like tone. In this example the tempo is kept low which allows your focus to be about clean and articulate technique.

These stretchy chord voicings are a great work-out for agility building and hand posture. Make sure to keep your thumb low down at the back of the neck in order to allow your hand to fully open up. It’s also important to keep a shallow wrist angle as anything too severe will cut your mobility down right away.

The opening C6 chord voicing is a good example of a closed voicing, which simply means that the intervals in the chord remain in perfect ascending order. In this case, you have the C major triad running from low to high on the fifth to third strings, with the 6th (an A note) added on the 10th fret, second string.

There’s a certain magic to this sound and it’s a world worth exploring. Notice the use of more upper extensions on the minor chords: 9ths and 11ths.

Take note of the Db7(b5) voicing in Bar 2. This is a tritone substitution and is as simple as taking the original G7 voicing from the opening progression, and swapping the G bass note, for the note three tones (a tritone) away which is Db. This helps the bass to resolve seamlessly down a semitone further to the C note in bar 3.

You'll use two different voicings for the Dm11 chord, one contains the 9 also and one omits it. Then for the cherry on top, you'll play a Johnny Smith classic dominant chord voicing; a G13(b9). It's a good finger-tangler of a shape that requires a thumb over the fretboard for the G bass. You can always choose to omit the bass note if you prefer though. This chord resolves beautifully to C6 - notice the chromatic voice-leading along the first string in the last three changes (G, Ab, A).

Example 5: Barney Kessel style

Barney Kessel’s playing was often lively with a keen focus on swing, groove and pocket. Here you'll look at how the I-VI-II-V progression can make for the perfect, hard-swinging mid-tempo intro.

You start off with a C major in first inversion (ie the chord's third - E - is the lowest note) played as a spread triad. Then there's a common substitution; swapping the VI chord (here, it would be Am7) for a diminished 7th built off the root of the key.

In Bar 1 the diminished 7th is highly colorful as it’s not Cdim7 in root position (ie the C is the bass note) but Cdim7 in first inversion (Eb is the bass note) with a spicy major 7 (B note) at the top. In isolation, this chord can sound odd and tense. However, within the context of Bar 1 moving to Bar 2, it’s simply a jazzy passing chord that is evocative of guitarists like Barney as well as pianists like Oscar Peterson and McCoy Tyner.

The chromatic bass-line continues as you connect to the II chord (Dm7). You then cycle round the same progression again starting with C6. This time you use a favorite Barney Kessel/George Van Eps/Freddie Green/Matt Munisteri style manoeuvre for the II-V. Bar 4 starts with a spread Dm triad before walking the middle note of the chord up to the major 3rd of G7 (a B note).

Example 6: Wes Montgomery style

Wes Montgomery was a huge fan of the “ladybird turnaround”, a progression derived from Tadd Dameron’s 1939 tune, Lady Bird. Based in C, this would involve four major 7th chords: Cmaj7-Ebmaj7-Abmaj7-Dbmaj7. This sublime little run of chords soon became another very popular turnaround amongst bebop and swing musicians. Although not technically hard to play, theory wise it benefits from a little explaining.

Starting on Em7, you're re-using the trick of subbing the III chord in place of the I (Cmaj7). From there you get into tri-tone substitution - Eb being the tritone sub of Am, Ab being the tritone sub of Dm and Db being the tritone sub of G7.

Wes liked to use a mix of major and Dominant chord types for these progressions, so do play around with as many options as you can think of here. Try using various major 7ths, or all major 9ths, or perhaps all dominant 13ths.

In short, mix and match to your heart’s desire!

Jazz legends in action!

Joe Pass - Ain't Misbehaving

Joe was as creative as he was virtuosic. Watch how he navigates the chord changes and creates intricate inner melodies with confidence and clarity.

Tal Farlow - Misty

Tal was renowned as a fast player with big hands. Watch how he uses his thumb to grab 7th, 9th and altered chords as well as the ease of his picking hand during this beautiful jazz song.

Wes Montgomery - Here's That Rainy Day

If you can take your eyes away from Wes' unique thumb-only picking style (and how he splays his fingers out on the pick guard), you will see much beauty coming from his fretting hand as he uses single notes, octaves and chords for the rich changes to this famous piece.

As the co-founder of the Dixie Dregs, the longest-serving guitarist for Deep Purple, and with over five decades of gigging experience under his belt, Steve Morse knows a thing or two about the importance of warming up before a show.

“There's technical practice, there's stretching, there's left-hand strength, right-hand strength, and I've got this condition that has developed from 50 years of playing,” he says on The No Cover Charge Podcast, referring to his struggles with arthritis.

According to Morse, one guitarist whose commitment to a warm-up routine is particularly impeccable is Dream Theater’s John Petrucci.

“We did some shows with Dream Theater. One thing I love seeing is how John Petrucci will just sit down and do a warm-up, no matter what, even if you're talking to him, he's going to keep on,” he explains.

“Got a metronome going. He's going to build it up, build it up. And when he goes up on stage, it's no problem. And of course, he keeps getting better with his musical ideas and everything, too.

“So he's blown me away with the level that he's been able to keep that alternate picking and even incorporating some hybrid things, just to serve the music. That's as high of a level [as] I've seen of somebody preparing for a gig.”

And for those interested in putting themself through the paces of Petrucci's regimented warm-up routine, the shredder did share his ultimate warm-up regime in a 2012 interview with Total Guitar for us mere mortals to try out.

Another of the many Gibson guitars that I love (are there any I don’t?) is the ES-350.

This is a semi-hollow “jazz box” type of guitar, deeper than a ES-335 but still kind of skinny when compared to a true jazz box, like an L5 or a Super 400. There are ES-350s that predated this one and were full-bodied, with P90 pickups. In 1955, the guitar was redesigned with the thinner body among other specification alterations.

The upmarket guitar to the ES-350 was the ES-5, made famous by T-Bone Walker – later known as the Switchmaster – which had three P-90s and a big toggle switch that said “1 2 3 ALL,” meaning neck, middle, bridge or all three pickups on at once.

All pickups, all the time! This, unfortunately, never really sounded very good because the pickups would cancel each other out and get muddy. But whatever! It was a cool concept!

Chuck Berry was known to use an ES-350 in his early days, and it’s perfect for playing Chuck’s classic songs, like Johnny B. Goode and Maybellene and double-stop-driven licks like this (see Figure 1).

Figure 2 offers an example of rocking out in Chuck’s style, played in the key of A and starting on the IV (four) chord, D, with typical two-note, root/5th-root-6th voicings. Notice that I barre my index finger across the G string, as well as the lower strings, in order to get the b7 C note in there too.

Following the E7 chord in bar 5, I play some Chuck-type solo lines based on A minor pentatonic (A, C, D, E, G), utilizing subtle quarter- and half-step bends and double-stops as Chuck would in pretty much all of his solos.

These are fantastic guitars if you don’t need to play too loud. There’s no center block, so they can howl with feedback.

I love the front pickup on these guitars too, because it’s also great for blues (see Figure 3).

In Figure 4, I play a 10-bar solo with a slow blues feel, leaning on a variety of scales: in bar 1, I begin with an A major triad (A, C#, E) and then move into lines based around the A Mixolydian mode (A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G). Typical for blues, I move freely between the minor and major 3rds, C and C#. Also, I’m picking near the bridge to get a sharper, clearer tone.

In the second half of bar 4 and into bar 5, I move into the lower “B.B. box” territory – so named for blues guitarist B.B. King – which combines A minor pentatonic notes with some from A major pentatonic (A, B, C#, E, F#), along with a little bit of chromaticism.

In bar 7, over the V (five) chord, E7, I make brief reference to E major pentatonic (E, F#, G#, B, C#) before returning to A minor pentatonic to wrap up the solo.

Gibson ES-350s also make for fantastic rock ’n’ roll rhythm guitars, which I will explore in next month’s column. See you then!

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Tremolo picking is the relentless, rapid-fire technique that has electrified generations of guitar players across multiple genres. It’s the thread that connects surf rock to extreme metal, classical finesse to experimental noise rock. At its core, tremolo picking involves continuously alternating up and down strokes on a single note (or set of notes), creating a sustained and often urgent texture.

Its origins trace back to acoustic instruments like the mandolin, oud, and classical guitar, where it was used to emulate sustained tones on otherwise percussive instruments. The electric guitar’s amplified nature supercharged this technique, pushing it from subtle shimmer to full-blown sonic assault.

If you've been playing for several years, learning tremolo picking is a powerful skill as it will develop speed, stamina, and control. It builds wrist strength, teaches rhythmic precision (and when to abandon it), and enhances your tone. Whether you’re aiming to channel the wet, reverby energy of Dick Dale, the sinister churn of Morbid Angel, or the textural nuance and kineticism of Radiohead, tremolo picking is a must-know guitar technique to take your playing to the next level.

The key to mastering this technique is in the wrist motion, pick angle, and watching for excessive tension in the picking hand.

You’ll use your wrist – not your elbow – to generate motion. Keep your pick slightly angled (about 15-20 degrees) to minimize resistance, and avoid tensing up - especially at higher speeds. If you feel your arm locking up, stop, reset, and try again.

When holding the pick, don't use too much pressure and expose the pick's tip between 2-5mm from the thumb - you don't need lots of pick connecting to the string. As for the pick itself, most fast players opt for substantial thickness: while it can be pleasing to strum an acoustic with a 0.60mm pick, anything under 1mm is likely to be moving around too much when you're picking fast with a moderate amount of force.

Timing and Tremolo: What Do Those Slashes Really Mean?

Let’s demystify the timing side of tremolo picking. Two rhythmic styles are used:

● Measured tremolo, often played in 16th notes.

● Unmeasured tremolo, where you try to cram in as many strokes as possible within the written note’s duration.

In notation, the number of diagonal slashes on a note’s stem tells you how fast to pick. One slash means 8th note tremolo, two slashes for 16th notes, and three for 32nd notes. At slower tempos, it’s easy to keep things precise - 8ths and 16ths can be played with steady, measured picking. But once you hit 32nd notes (or faster), it’s a different story. This is a max-out speed for many, where trying to track every individual stroke becomes mechanically unrealistic or impossible. That’s where unmeasured tremolo comes in.

Instead of counting, you simply unleash a rapid, all-out, continuous motion - to create a fluttering effect. The goal here isn’t precise rhythmic accuracy, but sonic texture. Think of it as controlled chaos: fast, loose, and expressive rather than mathematically perfect.

In tablature without note stems, you may see the slashes placed above or below the fret number.

Ready to dive in? Great. What follows are six comprehensive examples that unlock the deep potential of tremolo picking in your guitar playing!

Tremolo Picking examples

Example 1: Dick Dale and the surf guitar tsunami

Dick Dale brought tremolo picking into the mainstream with high-speed, reverb-soaked lines that sounded like crashing waves. His technique and tone were inspired by jazz drummers like Gene Krupa - fast, bombastic, and full of syncopation.

In this example, use a clean tone with spring reverb (the 'boingy' type found in old tube amps) and focus on measured sixteenth note tremolos, with accenting on specific beats for rhythmic bounce. Explore picking closer to the bridge for that classic surf guitar snap and bite.

Example 2: Eddie Van Halen's classical twist

Eddie Van Halen’s Little Guitars intro is a pastiche take on nylon-string fingerpicked guitar tremolo which involves either the thumb, first and second fingers or those plus the third finger. Here, you are maintaining a high open string with unmeasured tremolo while the fretting hand fingers hammer-on lower notes to create a layered, two part sound.

Inspired by composers like Francisco Tárrega (check out the famous Recuerdos de la Alhambra) and classical guitarists like Andrés Segovia, Eddie used tremolo in this case as a texture, not just a technique. This one demands twitch picking - the rapid wrist shake that comes from a relaxed shoulder and snappy wrist, not brute force. If you’re struggling with the 'hammer on from nowhere' technique required by this example, check out this 10 Guitar Tips article that includes hammer-on strength exercises.

Example 3: Jonny Greenwood and the art of texture

Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood brought tremolo picking into the world of alternative and art rock. He blended measured and unmeasured tremolo, double stops, and octave shapes across wide string spans for a textural, orchestral vibe.

This style requires more wrist mobility and a looser picking grip, like a funk rhythm guitarist. The result? Ambient washes, punchy cacophony, and ethereal richness. In this example, there's a set of 'false notes' - two of the same exact pitch played on two different strings simultaneously. This adds thickness and dissonance as the C note on the third string is slowly raised by a ¼ step.

Example 4: Slayer and the thrash revolution

In thrash metal, tremolo picking is an engine of aggression. Slayer’s riffs - like in Postmortem or Raining Blood - use measured 16th-note tremolos to match relentless double bass drum.

As stated earlier, there's a key skill to maintaining fast tremolo picking. Here's what Kerry has said about fast tremolo picking: "A lot of people don't know that they don't need to play from the elbow. If you want any kind of speed and you want to be articulate, play from the wrist. You've got to have as minimal movement as you can."

Add distortion and pick hard(ish) for maximum attack but be mindful about tension and/or pain over long bouts of heavy and fast picking. Use single-string dissonant intervals and punctuate with occasional unmeasured bursts to ramp up tension. Thrash tremolo is tight, rhythmic, and physically demanding - this is a real stamina-builder.

Utilize the unused parts of both hands to control noise in this style. Quick position shifts and fast tremolos with this amount of distortion makes playing tight and cleanly a battle. Again, you can refer to chapter six of the 10 Guitar Tips article to work on controlling string noise with both hands.

Example 5: Death metal and the extreme edge

Bands like Morbid Angel use tremolo picking with almost reckless abandon, creating riffs that sound like turret fire. This style leans heavily on unmeasured tremolo, often alternating between rapid picking and muted power chords.

As stated earlier, keep your pick angle sharp not flat contact to the string but angled so each stroke has less resistance. Practice in short bursts to avoid hand stress as 200 bpm with constant tremolo is intense. This example is a great workout for tone control and switching between muted chords and high-octane single note runs.

Example 6: Black metal – something wicked this way comes!

Black metal, pioneered by players like Euronymous of Mayhem, uses tremolo picking in haunting, melodic ways. This style incorporates arpeggios and scalar runs, all tremolo picked with sixteenth notes at warp speed over blast beats.

Unlike death or thrash metal, don't mute - let the strings ring with icy clarity. Practice bar-by-bar to learn the fingerings, then stitch each bar together. Think piercing winds and revelatory chaos: this is tremolo picking’s most brutal form.

Tremolo picking in 5 iconic songs

Dick Dale – Miserlou

The original surf tremolo anthem. Fast, dry-picked, and soaked in reverb. An electric guitar game-changer.

Eddie Van Halen – Little Guitars

Flamenco flair in a classically inspired masterpiece. Combines blazing tremolo with fret hand tapping/hammer-ons for added challenge.

Radiohead – Just

Jonny Greenwood unleashes tremolo picking through octave swells and fuzzed-out textures in this explosive solo from The Bends.

Morbid Angel – Immortal Rites

A blueprint for death metal riffing. Unrelenting tremolo picking and tonal brutality.

Yngwie Malmsteen – Trilogy Suite Op: 5

Perhaps a good starting point for a part two, this neoclassical opus combines fast measured tremolo picking between fretted notes and the open string.

When I am composing and arranging music, I like to think as an orchestrator. As the guitarist, I try to represent just about everything that’s in the arrangement – the drum syncopations, horn parts, keyboards, etc. – in multiple guitar parts. I might start with a bass-like theme, along the lines of Figure 1.

Playing in the key of G, I begin on a low G and then playing a G one octave higher on the last 16th note of beat 1. After a 16th rest on beat 2, the high G is played again, followed by E to F in eighth notes. I’ve now established a “16th-note grid” that serves to represent the rhythmic syncopation of the music.

My next inclination would be to add a complementary part above that, one that’s intentionally simple and sparse. As shown in Figure 2, I play two-note shapes, 3rds apart, on the D and G strings, that fall on the upbeat of beat 2 into beat 3. Doing this serves to strengthen these accents in each bar, simple as it may be.

A great way to add to these two parts is to virtually double Figure 2 an octave higher. As shown in Figure 3, I begin each bar with a quick accent on G9, followed by the same two-note shapes 3rds apart, played one octave above the previous part.

For a fourth guitar part, I could add a 16th-note horn-like stab, voiced as a unison bend on the top two strings, on the last 16th note of beat 1, as shown in Figure 4.

Right now, everything I’ve played fits into the same type of 16th-note rhythm, so, all together, it feels like one big groove.

My next inclination is to move away from the 16th-note grid and add something that hints at the other parts but supplies a little more momentum via a straight eighth-note feel. This is shown in Figure 5 and is built from other two-note shapes that are 3rds and 4ths apart.

Notice that for many of these parts, I play them as four-bar phrases, as opposed to a repeating one- or two-bar phrase. This way, the parts are less repetitive and also come to a “conclusion” in bar 4 before the phrase repeats.

A great part to add now is something along the lines of a shaker or hi-hat accenting straight 16th notes throughout. Figure 6 is played in this way, devised of muted-string accents along with the interval of 2nds, sounded with F and G notes.

Just as a drum kit has a kick, snare and hi-hats, this high part functions like the hi-hats, while the previous figures are more representative of the kick and snare.

At this point, with all these guitars outlining the rhythmic foundation, it’s good to add a more melodic part, like Figure 7. Here, I play 3rds on the G and B strings, descending and then ascending one fret at a time. Also, I’m getting a pizzicato violin-like sound by using palm-muted downstrokes.

What else is missing? Thus far, everything is quite rhythmic, so, with this new layer, I have the ability to really change the vibe via some ringing chords, treated with a little bar vibrato, as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 9 offers another part played with the same approach, similar in vibe to Miles Davis’ Freddie Freeloader.

My objective with all this is to find a purposeful role for each guitar part, and when they’re added together, it feels like one unified rhythmic and harmonic entity.

Many great guitarists spend pre-stage time warming their hands up in preparation for a full night's worth of riffing and soloing. Gus G is no different, be it with his band Firewind or when he was touring with Ozzy Osbourne.

How to do this well with limited time can be overwhelming, so we asked Gus how he actually does this.

These six warm-ups will help you quickly bond with the guitar as the exercises are designed to isolate techniques such as legato (hammer-ons and pull-offs), alternate picking, sweep picking and one finger-per-fret fingering. In similar ways to sporting athletes, the incentive for warm-ups is to reduce strain and boost overall performance. After these, you'll be hot to go, for sure!

Before you set sail though, it is worth noting that Gus has detuned all his strings by one tone on his signature Jackson Pro Series San Dimas guitar. This means the typical tuning of E-A-D-G-B-E now becomes D-G-C-F-A-D.

This dropped down tuning creates a deep, resonant sound and also decreases string tension, making fretting easier. If you have a whammy bar you may need to take care when altering the string tension as it can drastically affect the setup.

However, you can easily play these exercises in standard E based tuning as they are pattern based and all will sound perfectly fine. The tab/notation shown below reflects exactly what Gus played but if you're in standard tuning, just follow the tab's fret numbers for similar results.

Gus delivers the examples at brisk speeds so this may make them sound more intimidating than they actually are. Watch him play and listen to his explanations then learn the examples in small sections, slowly and carefully. After this, glue the sections together to duplicate Gus's playing duration. You will find they're all logically pattern based and fall well under the fingers.

Once you've done all six, we recommend using Gus’s examples as a springboard for your own warm-up ideas. What do you find easy here? Don't work on this as much. What do you find difficult: is there a string crossing or a fretting finger that is hampering your results? This is what you want to work on. Addressing your technical weaknesses head-on may feel like hard work and require discipline, but it will maximize your progress.

Example 1: Chromatic jumping

This first example is a variation on the classic chromatic warm-up pattern that utilizes all four fretting hand fingers. Instead of simply ascending and descending on a single string though, Gus goes between two strings to ascend then descend. This introduces the need for greater picking accuracy, as you need to cross the strings with great precision.

Gus plays this example with strict alternate picking (down, up, repeat) and also demonstrates a spider-style variation where you move up one fret after each 1-2-3-4 pattern thus creating a diagonal path.

Tip: embedded in this exercise are various options for creating dark sounding riffs as there are a number of diminished 5th intervals (eg the first two notes of G and Db). Explore and be creative!

Example 2: Finger combinations for legato

This is a legato exercise designed to maintain and develop your fretting hand fingers for independence and stamina. There are six notes played per beat and you can see in the notation what fingers to use. This is a well-designed workout as it will highlight which finger groupings are your weakest. Once you've decided, practice these the most.

Example 3: Legato across all strings

This next exercise uses a fingering pattern of the first, second and fourth fingers across all six strings. On the way up you will hammer-on and on the way back down you will pull-off. There is no need to change the fingering pattern as you would do for diatonic scales (ie scales that are in a key such as D major or E natural minor) as this is meant to work just as a symmetrical warm-up exercise.

It’s easy to get carried away with exercises like this that involve stretching so take a break when you feel discomfort or fretting hand 'burn'. Gus likes this exercise when he needs a quick way to get his fretting hand muscles primed to play.

Example 4: Sweep picking

Here you are concentrating on the synchronization between the picking and fretting hands. This warm-up may seem hard to play as it uses sweep picking and one note per string arpeggio shapes, but the symmetrical pattern is logical and straightforward.

You will use all four fingers, moving over to an adjacent string each time you lay down a finger. This creates a diagonal pattern of notes on the fretboard that can be picked with a single sweep across the four upper strings.

The trick here is to time the fretting of the notes with when the pick sweeps across. Alternatively, if the notes are held down with the fretting fingers then there will be no note separation. With a clean tone, this can prove useful as you can concentrate fully on the picking hand's sweep requirements. But to duplicate what Gus plays, the fretting hand fingers will need to fret then quickly come off the strings slightly to stop the note sounding.

Reality check: this is a tricky exercise if you have never used sweep picking before but hopefully you'll discover it's an exciting approach for guitar playing. If so, slow and careful early steps with your practice will create a solid technical foundation.

Example 5: Alternate picking with scales

This next exercise is a good one for maintaining and developing your alternate picking technique. Here, Gus uses a popular rock/metal three notes per string approach in G natural minor (or A minor if you're in standard tuning) and ascends and descends using alternate picking. The key is to start slow to establish accuracy. You may find isolating two string segments (totalling six notes) will help to establish your precision and speed.

Example 6: Finger strengthening with chromatics

This final exercise is excellent for building your fretting hand strength and precision by slurring notes. The legato pattern contains eleven notes so to make the tab easy to read, these eleven notes are grouped within each main beat. This way, you can easily see where the next position starts and ends. We have also written in the fretting hand's fingerings for the first set of eleven notes.

Once you have the pattern down in one position, you will find it easy to transfer it around the fretboard. When played fast, this pattern is reminiscent of chromatic pieces like Flight Of The Bumble Bee.

Hear it here: Gus G – Advent

This instrumental showcases both Gus's burning metal chops (spot some licks that evoke his warm-up exercises!) and melodic phrasing. There's plenty of powerful riffing too, courtesy of his Jackson seven-string.

In this case, we’ll take a look at what happens when the 3rd is shifted to the bottom, replacing the Root as the lowest note. Though still theoretically the same chord, the sound is different enough to warrant acknowledgment in the name.

In classical circles, this would be known as a first inversion, but in most other styles that are played these days, we’d refer to it as a slash chord: for example, a G major with the 3rd at the bottom would be called G/B.

As a guitar player, you may not always feel it necessary to conform if the bass player is already covering the 3rd, but it can never be a bad thing to know your triads and inversions!

Example 1. E/G#

This E/G# follows the first inversion convention of having the 3rd (G#) on the bottom. This necessitates muting the fifth string as this would clash. We also get a nice bit of natural chorusing from the duplicated B (5th) on the third and second strings. 1970s-era Alex Lifeson was very fond of this voicing.

Example 2. D/F#

This D/F# (or first inversion) chord takes the 3rd (F#) from the first string and shifts it to the sixth string. The open fifth string would add in an A (5th), too, but for clarity it is muted here. Try both – you’ll likely find both versions have their uses.

Example 3. C/E

Many of us will have been taught not to allow the sixth string to ring under an open position C chord! Now you can try it guilt-free and discover the joys of a C/E chord. Try playing an F major (or minor) chord following this and you’ll get an idea of how slash chords/inversions can work in context.

Example 4. G/B

While we’re looking at these open chord shapes, here’s a G/B. By omitting the usual Root (normally played at the 3rd fret of the sixth string as you almost certainly know), we shift the whole emphasis. Moving to a regular C major and back gives a classic chord move from many popular songs.

Example 5. G/Bb

So what about first inversion minor chords? Just like regular minor chords, the only difference is that we lower/flatten the 3rd by a semitone.

In this case, we’re calling it G/Bb – but we could also call it Gm (first inversion , or ‘inv’ for short). Try flattening the 3rd in the other examples (except maybe Example 3) and you’ll see they also work.

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In this column, I’d like to go over the namesake song of my column, Hard Wired, which appears on my self-titled 2023 album. I wrote this song with my good friend Tyler Bryant, and it grew out of a jam session, as many songs do. It’s played in the key of D and in drop-D tuning.

Tyler and I had this idea to write a bluesy “stomp” type of song, like the old traditional blues of Howlin’ Wolf, but for it to have an intensity and energy that would make it heavy. The main riff, to me, has that classic Mountain/Leslie West, Nazareth/early Blue Öyster Cult vibe.

Figure 1 shows the opening riff, which starts with a pick-up on a low G note, followed by the initial phrase, which is based on the D minor pentatonic scale (D, F, G, A, C). Notice the slight bends on the C and F notes. When playing this lick, be sure to use an aggressive attack, to attain that heavy, “mean” quality. I fingerpick everything, so I’ll snap the strings here.

Figure 2 illustrates the entire main riff. Following the opening two-beat phrase, I answer it with a descending line on the 6th string that’s based on the D blues scale (D, F, G, Ab, A, C). To button up that riff, I end with a chromatically ascending figure built from ascending octaves on the 6th and 4th strings, which are rhythmically syncopated and reinforced by the bass and drums.

As shown in Figure 3, bar 2, beats 3 and 4, I begin with an E octave at the 2nd fret then move up one fret at a time to F, F# and G.

I was sure to leave lots of space in this lick, because, once you start adding fuzz, overdrive and sheer volume, it can be challenging to control the focus. The most important thing to me is for there to be clarity combined with the raunchiness and bite.

All of my favorite players, such as Paul Kossoff, Leslie West and Jimi Hendrix, play with tonal perfection, but it also often sounds like they’re hanging on by a thread! And that’s what gives the music that exciting edge.

For the song’s verses, I was thinking of a Stone Temple Pilots vibe, with the rhythm guitar less as a melodic instrument and more as a “pulse” that’s driving the riff.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, I simply hit big open Dsus2 power chords on all six strings. Figure 6 includes the single-note phrase that falls in bars 2 and 4.

Figure 7 depicts the pre-chorus chords, which consist of just three notes each but sound huge: in bar 1, I play a Bb voicing on the 6th and 3rd strings, including the open D note on the 4th string. I then move that two-finger shape up two frets to C, while still including the open D note, which creates a Cadd2 chord.

The chorus riff, shown in Figure 8, is very Free/Bad Company-esque, as C5 slides up to D5.

As shown in bar 3 of Figure 9, I vary the riff by playing the major 3rd of each chord instead of its root – E and F#, in place of C and D.

The chorus wraps up with the low chords shown in Figure 10, which double the vocal line, a la Leslie West.

Next time, I’ll share my approach to soloing in the song. See you then!

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On the album, I cover material by Maybelle Carter, Elizabeth Cotten, Memphis Minnie, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Ida Presti in classical guitar, and even Charro, to whom I dedicate a flamenco piece.

I learned a lot working on this album because I had to study many different techniques, which was fun but also challenging. I already had my hands around the Piedmont fingerpicking style, also often referred to as “East Coast” guitar, as it was popularized in a region known as the “Piedmont plateau,” which runs from Richmond, Virginia, to Atlanta.

Some of the most well-known and influential Piedmont-style players are Elizabeth Cotten, Reverend Gary Davis and Blind Blake.

The Piedmont style is built from alternating bass figures, picked with the thumb, and syncopated melodies fingerpicked on the higher strings, as demonstrated in Figure 1.

While holding an open G chord, the thumb alternates between the low G note and the open D string while the first two fingers pick the open G and B strings in a syncopated rhythm. I always use a thumbpick and have acrylic nails on my other fingers, which produce a strong, clear pick attack.

For the entire album, I used a Negra nylon-string acoustic guitar, crafted in Paracho, Mexico, by Salvador Castillo. I bought this guitar specifically for the album, but I play everything on it, from blues to classical to flamenco to Piedmont style to the Maybelle Carter “scratch” style.

As shown in Figure 2, the thumb alternates between the 6th and 4th strings while the index and middle fingers pick the syncopated melody.

The first single from the album is Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie by Elizabeth Cotten.

Figure 3 is played in this style. While alternating bass notes with my thumb, I play a melody on the higher strings and move down the high E string chromatically, from G to F# to F. This is followed by similar fingerpicking patterns applied to C and E chords.

Over E, I bring in hammer-ons to sound the G# and D notes. In bars 4-6, I use hammer-ons and slides over the F chord to set up the change to C/G. Bar 7 ends with “double octaves,” as pairs of G and A notes, two octaves apart, set up the resolution from G to C.

Cotten’s signature song is Freight Train, which she plays pretty fast. Figure 4 is played in this style. Cotten’s technique is particularly difficult to replicate because she played “upside down” on a guitar strung for a righty but played left-handed.

Figure 5 offers an example along the lines of Memphis Minnie’s In My Girlish Days. It’s played in a more traditional country blues style and with a capo at the 3rd fret. I’m playing as if I’m in the key of E here, but everything sounds in the key of G.

This type of playing does not follow any regimented fingerpicking patterns, as I alter my picking approach to accommodate how the melody lines are balanced against the bass notes.

• One Guitar Woman is out now via Stony Plain.
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"Heavy metal and drop D is a match made in heaven," Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil once said, and for heavy rock riffs and thick-sounding chords, drop D is hard to beat.

It's a simple one to set up, too: the sixth string is lowered by a whole step from E to D, while the other five strings remain in standard tuning. Easy!

The term drop D refers to the fact that only the bottom sixth string is “dropped” and results in a D5 power chord when playing the open (ie not fretted) bottom three strings. This unique quality makes it easy to play a movable power chord on these strings, as you simply barre with one finger and move the shape around the neck.

Other benefits to drop D include the sixth and fourth strings both being tuned to D, which opens up the possibilities for symmetrical (and easy) fretting patterns. Also, altering the tuning of the sixth string will breathe new life into your chords, and enable richer chord voicings (especially D and G-based ones).

When it comes to string gauges, it's advisable to have a slightly thicker sixth string, as the drop in pitch can make the string slightly looser (and easier to sound out of tune). A gauge of .046 (from a standard .010 set) or .048 (even .052) would aid keeping a tighter tension on the sixth string after dropping the pitch.

Many guitarists have favored drop D to add thickness to their riffs. The list would include Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, Kurt Cobain, Kim Thayil, Jerry Cantrell, Dimebag Darrell, Tom Morello, Adam Jones, Dave Grohl, Tony Iommi, Brian May, Zakk Wylde, Ty Tabor, Nuno Bettencourt, and David Gilmour. And that's to name just a few!

Example 1. D5 chords using drop D

This example introduces you to the basic of concept of drop D tuning, and how lowering the E down by a whole tone to D will result in a D5 power chord on the bottom three open strings.

In this first example, you will get accustomed to the sound of the tuning, by practicing the open D5 power chord with some basic rhythmic variations. Use palm muting to enhance the 'chug' effect!

Example 2. Drop D riffing with power chords

This example shows how you can play a movable power chord shape on the bottom three strings by applying a barre with the first finger. This riff illustrates the effectiveness of the approach by using a series of single finger power chords. It's a powerful sound.

Example 3. More adventurous power chord riffing

Here you will develop flexibility between single finger power chords (root on the sixth string) to three string power chords with their root note on the fifth string. Shifting between these two shapes allows greater scope for creating dynamic riffs with bigger intervallic jumps. Take care when crossing string groups and keep unwanted string noise under control.

Example 4. Arpeggiating with drop D

This illustrates how drop D tuning broadens and inspires your options for extended chord types and different voicings. The chords in this progression are performed as arpeggios so pay attention to your picking and allow the notes to ring and sustain.

When playing this, listen to how drop D has elevated basic shapes, especially when including open strings for lush chord extensions.

Example 5. The sixth and fourth string advantage of drop D

Here you can see the fretboard symmetry between the sixth string and the fourth string as both are tuned to D, but an octave apart. This enables the same fingering and fret positions to easily achieve wider intervalic jumps.

Take care with the timing of this riff as well as note clarity for the fast open string pull-offs.

Example 6. Power chord and arpeggio fun!

This combines many of the techniques covered earlier. Bars 1-4 feature the first riff using power chords with root notes on the sixth and fifth strings. Specifically, you are mixing the one finger power chord shapes with traditional power chord fretting. Pay attention to the palm muting directions to keep the riff tight.

Bars 5-8 introduce a new riff the includes melodic variations to the fifth string root power chords when utilizing the dropped sixth string. Also included in this riff is a symmetrical single-note riff on the sixth and fourth strings. This section is covering a large portion of the neck, so take care when shifting positions.

Bars 9-12 conclude with rich chord voicings performed as arpeggios. Make sure you allow the notes of each chord to sustain.

Drop D in action

Van Halen - Unchained

This is one of the greatest drop D riffs of all time, with a tone to match. Eddie’s iconic drop D riff fuses the thick flanger tinged driving low D with the harmonic movement of triads, weaving between a D major and D minor tonality.

Soundgarden - Outshined

Kim Thayil helped defined the sound of grunge with this drop D Black Sabbath-inspired riff. The riff includes palm muted power chords performed on the bottom three strings, producing a thick and heavy sound. The riff has a dissonant quality with the inclusion of the Ab5 power chord, implying a diminished fifth interval for additional tension and release.

Kings X - Pleiades

Kings X guitarist Ty Tabor is very creative when it comes to using drop D. Pleiades helps to illustrate the contrasting possibilities of drop D, from thick and heavy power chords, to rich and expressive open voiced arpeggios. Ty adds movement to a static chord by moving the bass note, altering the harmony and function of the chord.

Duane was a wonderful guy, and it’s testament to one’s life and legacy when A-list players like Peter Frampton, Albert Lee and Vince Gill show up in Nashville with Gretsch guitars, Eddy’s signature, to celebrate your music at a tribute concert.

Eddy recorded some of the most important and enduringly popular instrumental guitar music between the late ’50s and early ’60s, selling 12 million albums by 1963 with hits like Rebel Rouser, Peter Gunn and Because They’re Young.

I got to play two songs for the event, Bye Bye Blues and Three-30 Blues. I wanted to do it right, so I showed up with a Duane Eddy Guild guitar from 1963 and a Gretsch 6120 from 1956, which he was more associated with, but he did use Guilds as well, fitted with DeArmond pickups. The guitar I’m using for this lesson’s video is a 1960 Gretsch 6120 with Filtertron pickups, but it will do the job very well.

Additionally, your guitar must have a “5-speed transmission” Bigsby tremolo arm if you hope to do justice to Eddy’s distinct sound. Also, I like using flatwound strings with these instruments, which give them a very round sound, almost like a compressor, plugged straight into a Fender amp with lots of reverb and vibrato.

That’s how he did it! There were no tricks or magic boxes involved – all you need is a twangy guitar sound.

Figure 1 is a melody along the lines of Bye Bye Blues, with held notes treated with Bigsby dips and vibratos and ringing over a fairly simple chord progression.

Notice that I’ll often pick a note, add a tremolo arm dip and return followed by a subtle vibrato shake.

My approach in going for the Duane Eddy sound is to pick all of the notes down by the bridge, as in Figure 2. Once the notes or chords are ringing out, I’ll then apply the Bigsby arm movement. Bigsbys are nothing like Fender-style vibrato units in that the sound is very different and also very distinct.

Figure 3 offers a longer example demonstrating the Bigsby’s signature qualities.

One of the more popular songs I do is Dust Bowl, for which I wrote a riff in honor of Duane Eddy. I needed a theme at the head of the tune, and the main rhythm figure, shown in Figure 4, is based on a repeating Am arpeggiated figure, for which all of the notes are sustained.

Figure 5 illustrates the Eddy-inspired Dust Bowl theme. This simple lick outlines Am7 with the notes A, C and G, followed by the 6th, F#, treated with Bigsby vibrato, which lends drama to the melody. A Bigsby dip is added on the E note at the end of the phrase as well.

Duane Eddy was a great blues player too, as heard on Three-30 Blues.

Figure 6 is a five-bar phrase along the lines of what Duane plays on this track, with single-note phrases based on the G major triadic tones G, B and D. with the inclusion of the flatted 3rd (b3), Bb, the 4th, C, and the 6th, E. The phrase ends with a nice Gdim voicing (G, Bb, Db) that slides up to the G major triad.

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“Here’s six techniques on how to play guitar in some kind of weird bastard way,” jokes John Butler, in this exclusive lesson for Guitar World.

The American-born Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist has been stunning audiences for decades with his propulsive acoustic picking and altered tunings, creating songs that have clocked up millions of plays and won him an audience across the world.

His guitar vocabulary is as broad – Indian to Celtic, bluegrass to folk – as it is impressively ornate. With the decision to move away from the John Butler Trio moniker in 2019, on his new album, Prism, he shares all instrument duties with producer James Ireland, stretching into new musical terrains.

For this lesson, we asked him to show us what he does and how he thinks: the result is 20 minutes worth of unique playing and discussion about how he manages to play often complex guitar parts while barely breaking a sweat. Along the way, he uses examples from his songs Ocean, Faith, Spring To Come, Running To Keep Up and Funky Tonight.

John Butler's tunings and techniques

To begin the video, John uses his unique 11-string Maton guitar: this is a 12-string guitar but without the doubling high third string because a high tuned string can often break.

Instead of standard tuning, he opts for a resonant open B tuning of (low to high) BF#BF#BD#.

Open B tuning

This is a useful tuning as all the open strings played together creates a B major chord: move a full first finger barre up and down the fretboard to create more major chords.

You might decide to use thicker gauges for the low strings so they don't feel too loose: especially the fifth and sixth strings that detune from A down to F# and E down to B, respectively.

This is very similar to the open C tuning (low to high) CGCGCE that he often favours for his songs.

Open C tuning

1. Hammer-Ons

John uses a mix of picked strings with one or two hammer-ons from his fretting hand to create color with big note interval jumps. “When I’m playing Ocean," he says, "I like to start with my thumb so I have more room through the strings.” The technique approach works with major keys as well as with minor.

2. Levers

Levers is John’s term for pull-offs that come after either picked fretted notes or notes sounded after hammer-ons. Combined, pull-offs and hammer-ons take some work away from the picking hand and allow for notes that are unique to the techniques and also have a different timbre.

“You can rip right through those bastardized scales and I like the flow of them [in combination with chord strumming].”

3. Plucking Hammer-On (Pick-Hammer-Pick)

More hammer-ons, this time with pick-hammer-pick, with the first two on one string (pick with the first finger, i) and the final pick (using the second finger, m) being on a higher string.

Played with a triplet feel (1-2-3, 1-2-3), it's both colourful and capable of suiting fast tempos. Adding in a few slides into the fretted notes, it’s a wonderful sound, emotive and flashy, especially when traveling up and down the fretboard as John demonstrates in the video.

Put all three together, it’s a big and vibrant sound.

4a. Double Thumbing (Hybrid Thumbing)

Switching to another acoustic, this time to a 6-string in open D tuning (DADF#AD), John demonstrates "double thumbing".

Open D tuning

Inspired by the playing of Mississippi John Hurt, G. Love and Australian guitarist Stephen Pigram, in this technique the thumb picks the lower strings with a constant-quarter note rhythm. While John has used just his thumb when playing like this, he now favours a thumb pick for extra percussive bite.

“With my song, Faith, when you get the thumb going, I use the index finger at the same time," he says.

“It took me ages to do this – I sat in this van outside my house so I didn’t annoy all my room mates until 3 o’clock in the morning. It bent my mind. I showed my partner and she got it in five minutes! It says more about me than anything. So you go index finger then next with the middle finger, then next with the ring finger."

Below are four examples (Ex1a through to Ex1d) that are the building blocks to John's double thumb playing. As he's in open D tuning, no fretting is required to create great D major chord results. Keep your thumb playing the open D strings throughout each example.

Ex1a Double thumbing on open D strings

Ex1b Double thumbing and double-stops

Ex1c Double thumbing and extended double-stops

Ex1d Double thumbing, extended double-stops and quicker picking

4b. Double Thumbing (part 2)

For this example, John changes his guitar tuning.

“This is one of my favourite tunings," he says. "It’s basically a G tuning. From the fifth string down [ie moving to the higher strings] it’s GDGBD. Instead of having a D here though [points to sixth string], I have a C.

“That means I have all the three major chords of blues and country [G, C and D chords with an open low string for each chord]. I can then do riffs on the top strings. You can change the chords and do melodies all the time which I love. All the double thumbing is now on the low G string [fifth string], down.”

Open G with low C tuning

Now in this vibrant tuning, John becomes animated.

“What I want to show you is a beautiful double-stop that you can do in this tuning. It's just a major scale and I use it [the approach] in almost every song. I do circles with all these riffs and invert them all the time because I’m kinda simple that way. It's also a nice way to do that double thumbing.”

Example 2a (below) shows John's double-stops in G major, travelling down the fourth (D) and second (B) strings. All these double-stops are 6th intervals: the first one at the 12th fret is D and B played together. The distance between D and B is a 6th: (count this along) D-E-F#-G-A-B.

Ex 2a Double-stops in 6ths

Ex 2b Double thumbing and double-stops in 6ths

He then shows how he uses 6ths intervals on his song Spring To Come.

“With the riffs, you’re trying to make it dance in-between the double thumbing. I look at a lot of guitar as a very rhythmic and percussive instrument," he says. "I’m looking at it as a dance between both hands. I want to keep the picking going and then looking to see where the fingers can fit in.”

“Once you’ve got the basic technique down – have some discipline, through discipline comes freedom – then bring a bit of chaos in to see what happens over here [with the fretting hand]. That’s just a happy accident, it’s what my fingers want to do there.”

5. Chicken Picking

“This is something I came across in Byron Bay, east coast of Australia," he says. "A guy called Dave showed me this sick pattern. It’s really simple but so powerful and I use it in so many songs. It’s my favourite go to.”

John uses the technique on Running To Keep Up from his instrumental album, Still Searching. As regards another song, Funky Tonight he says "That’s all chicken picking but I’m skanking in-between. Chicken Pickin' is Sickin' Pickin'!”

John uses a thumbpick but you don’t need to.

"I gravitate towards the second finger, then the first finger [a reverse roll]. What I love about it is it gets that kind of really rolling, like it’s a gallop. It’s so much fun. Then you can slide into it [via the fretted notes]. Then you can start to look into other strings.”

Examples 3a-e are the initial examples John plays to demonstrate his chicken pickin' style.

Ex3a Reverse roll using the second finger (m) then the first finger (i)

Ex3b Forward roll using the first finger (i) then the second finger (m)

Ex3c Reverse roll riff

Ex3d Reverse roll with a slide into a fretted note

Ex3e Slides, hammer-ons, reverse roll and a double-stop

6. Technique Embellishments

Adding extra sparkle to picking and chords is an important aspect to how John's playing communicates to audiences. One of them is varying chords so the notes don't sound all at once.

“I often like to sweep into notes," he says, picking across several strings with his fingers before launching into a Celtic-sounding progression, adding drama by staggering a chord’s notes.

"That’s almost everything I’ve shown you," he says: "Sweep, hammer-on, lever and hammer and then chicken at the end."

And what of flat-picking, so loved by many acoustic guitarists?

“I don’t really know much flat picking. I tend to use it like a drumming thing again. I wish I could do what Billy Strings did, where he goes diddly-diddly-diddly. I tend to do more hammer and levers, [plays with considerable flash and string picking] That’s my version of flat picking.”

“That's how to play guitar in some kind of weird bastard way, by me!”

• John Butler's new album, Prism, is out now. For more information about tour dates, see JohnButler.com.

Last time, we delved into the all-important topic of developing solid pick-hand timing when strumming. To me, that’s where the groove is: the pick hand is the timekeeper, and I’ve spent a lot of time working on exercises designed to bolster my strumming competence. In this column, I’d like to share some more of these exercises.

One of the interesting things that I did to develop my strumming technique had nothing to do with my wrist motion or how to hold the pick. I actually had teachers in college tell me that my technique was terrible and say “you should hold your pick this way!”

I eventually realized that everyone’s bio-mechanics are different and unique, in terms of works best and most efficiently. So, I don’t swear by my technique; I swear by my ability to control my right-hand movement and the exercises I used to get there.

An unorthodox approach I took was to borrow something from my old marching band drum line exercises and adapt them to guitar. In hitting the snare drum, I’d practice the typical “stick control” exercises of “right-left-right-right” (RLRR) or “left-right-left-left” (LRLL) and I practiced “grid-ing” drills of shifting accents from one 16th note to another. I realized that this approach could enhance my right-hand technique.

Let’s pick up from the last lesson’s examples with steady 16th-note strumming on fret-hand-muted strings, utilizing the “steady motor” approach of down-up-down-up alternate strumming on every beat, as shown in Figure 1.

If you verbalize the four beats of 16th notes in each bar as “1-ee-an-da, 2-ee-an-da, 3-ee-an-da, 4-ee-an-da,” the pick strokes are down-up-down-up, etc., with “ee” and “da” being strummed with upstrokes.

When strumming this way, your have three options: hit a note or chord, play a “chuck” (muted-string strum) or play nothing — just let your hand swing over the strings.

Figure 2 illustrates a “grid-ing” exercise to strengthen pick-hand control for strumming, achieved through shifting the accents. We begin with one bar of accenting the four downbeats (1, 2, 3 and 4), strumming them a little harder than normal. This is followed by a bar of accents on “ee,” then a bar of accents on “an” and ending with a bar accenting “da.”

Now let’s switch the accents to two beats each, as shown in Figure 3. On beats 1 and 2, I accent the downbeats, and on beats 3 and 4, I accent “ee.” In bar 2, I accent “an” in the first two beats, then “da” in the last two.

In Figure 4, I shift the accent forward on each beat, which is a little more challenging to do. Proceed slowly at first while tapping your foot squarely on each beat, then gradually increase the tempo.

The next step is to work in some chords. In Figure 5, I press down on an E9 voicing at the same accent points specified in the prior examples, moving from one 16th-note accent to the next on each successive beat.

In Figure 6, I apply this approach to a more traditional funk rhythm part with changing chords. As you’ll discover, rhythm parts like these are much easier to play once you learn to control how your two hands work together in laying down a solid rhythm part.

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

But here’s the truth: barre chords might be hurting your song more than helping. A songwriter’s goal should be to support the vocal melody and lyric, but sometimes, the barre chord can smother the very thing we’re hoping it will elevate.

One of the biggest shifts I help clients make is moving from “functional” to emotional playing. Barre chords might be functional, but emotional playing demands intention. It’s not about proving your strength as a player. It’s about serving the story.

Big chords, wrong feel

Say you’re writing something vulnerable. The vocal is soft and the lyrics are introspective. But you’re still gripping that full F major barre chord, pushing out every string. What you’re actually doing is competing with the vocal moment, not complementing it.

Now imagine grabbing a capo, moving it up, and using a gentle C shape to voice a G. You hit only the top few strings, leave space, and suddenly everything feels more casual, more delicate. The tone supports the emotion, instead of overpowering it.

I’ve worked with artists, top-liners, and sync-focused producers who make this mistake all the time. One of my students was stuck in what I call the Barre Chord Loop, same shapes, same voicings, same strumming. Once we swapped in triads and partial voicings, her entire sound and writing process opened up.

Let the guitar set the floor

In a co-write, your guitar doesn’t just provide chords, it sets the floor of the song. It defines the emotional starting point for everyone in the room. If the voicing is stiff or unclear, it confuses your collaborators. The melody gets muddled. The lyrics don’t land. You end up with a Frankenstein song that doesn’t really know what it is.

But if the feel is dialed in from the start, the vocal flows naturally. Ideas click faster. You’re not just writing a song. You’re creating momentum.

It’s not about what’s “advanced” 

One of the most dangerous myths in guitar culture is that barre chords are “advanced,” while open chords, capos, and alternate tunings are “beginner.” That thinking kills motivation and creativity, especially for songwriters.

Some of my most emotional tracks were built on incredibly simple shapes: a third on the A and D strings, an open sixth string droning underneath, or a repeated motif using just two fingers and a drop tuning.

Open tunings like open D or DADGAD unlock colors you simply can’t get with standard barre chords. Capo at the 7th fret and play a C–F–Am–G shape, and suddenly you’ve got something fragile, cinematic, and fresh.

Don’t underestimate “easy” shapes. Simplicity isn’t weakness, it’s clarity.

Ask better questions

Instead of sitting down with your guitar and asking, “What chord comes next?” try asking something deeper and think more like a producer.

What emotion am I really trying to create? Who’s singing this, is it my voice, or someone else’s? What kind of energy does the song need? Is it laid-back and introspective, or bold and driving? And when I play this voicing, is it giving space for the melody to breathe, or is it stepping all over it?

These questions might seem small, but they shift everything. Because once you stop thinking like a guitarist and start thinking like a producer, your chord choices become intentional. Your guitar stops filling space… and starts shaping the story.

Break the pattern

Take a look at the last three songs you wrote. Seriously. Pull them up and be honest with yourself, are you using the same progressions, the same voicings, the same strumming patterns without even realizing it?

It happens to every songwriter at some point. You fall into habits. Barre chords become your safety net. But the problem with safety nets is they can quietly become cages.

So here’s your challenge: take one of your go-to progressions, maybe it’s I–V–vi–IV, and push yourself to play it in four completely different ways. Use triads. Throw on a capo and change the shape. Try a drop tuning or open D. Or limit yourself to just the top three strings and see what kind of magic you can pull out.

When you push yourself outside of your comfort zone like this, something shifts. Your ear perks up. Your hands find new territory. And instead of repeating what you’ve always done, you start discovering what the song actually wants.

That’s when songwriting gets exciting again.

Serve the song, not your ego 

Sometimes a song does call for full-on barre chords. Other times, it wants something breezy and chill. You might need a powerful octave line, or a delicate fingerpicked motif. The key is knowing why you're choosing what you're choosing.

Don’t cling to barre chords because they feel like something you “should” use. Choose voicings that serve the moment. That’s how you go from just playing guitar to actually supporting a song.

But another is that unusual chord voicings and inversions, which would be impossible in regular tuning, can be played relatively easily – depending on the tuning, of course. This does come at the expense of regular chords and scale patterns, but the whole point here is to get into some fresh territory.

I’ve chosen open C (low to high: CGCGCE) for the example piece, inspired by Jimmy Page, who uses this tuning on the Zeppelin track Poor Tom. Honourable mention should also go to Justin Hayward, who used this tuning on a 12-string acoustic for The Moody Blues’ Question where he gives Pete Townshend a run for his money concerning rhythm guitar chops!

Compared with some of the more widely used alternative tunings such as DADGAD and open G, open C gives a wide range, with the low E detuned by three whole tones (extra-light strings may not be the best choice for this) and the high E staying at its usual pitch.

Jimmy Page uses a similar (C6) tuning for the tracks Bron‑Yr-Aur and Friends, the difference being that he leaves the fifth string at standard pitch, giving (low to high) CACGCE.

I’ve tried to incorporate lots of useful chord shapes in the example piece to give you a good ‘vocabulary’ to have a play around with. Finally, don’t forget that you’re free to experiment by raising or lowering the pitch of individual strings to create your own custom tunings as Nick Drake would do.

Just be aware that you’ll get through more strings and you may need to carry a few more guitars around with you on tour…

Example 1

We begin with a rake across the open strings, then add in a series of hammer-ons and pull-offs, leaving as many strings ringing as possible.

Leaving notes to ring wherever possible (particularly open strings) is a theme throughout the piece, helping to smooth transitions between melody and chords. Bars 1 to 2 and 5 to 6 are a good example of letting the ringing open strings ‘fill in’ behind the melody notes.

The strumming rhythms can be varied at will. In fact, it’s better to approach them this way. Attempting to duplicate the same parts every time could end up sounding a bit too regimented.

Open strings mixed with high fretted notes are a feature much of the time, leading to some quite unusual and complex-sounding chord names. Try not to let these put you off, though – these are simply names for sounds after all.

Elsewhere, bars 9 to 10 are treated as a harmonised melody, rather than a chord progression. The final four bars momentarily venture away from open strings. And don’t forget to slow down (marked ‘ral’) at bars 19 to 20. Remember that this isn’t a classical piece, so feel free to take liberties and vary the themes!

Hear it here

Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin III

Zeppelin often featured acoustic guitars, but never more so than on their third album from 1970, considered rather a departure for them at the time.

A couple of alternative tunings are in evidence: the altered open C (or C6 tuning, low to high: CACGCE) on Friends, and open G (low to high: DGDGBD) on That’s The Way. Two of the previously cited pieces, Bron‑Yr-Aur and Poor Tom, don’t feature on this album, but they were recorded during the same sessions in 1970.

The Moody Blues – Question

The frequently underestimated Justin Hayward provides some memorable acoustic and electric playing on this compilation, taken from The Moody Blues’ first seven albums.

Question features the open C tuning used for the example piece but is played on a 12-string acoustic, and Never Comes The Day uses open G.

Finally, check out the playing on The Story In Your Eyes – this is standard tuning, but it’s a real eye-opener for those unaware of Justin Hayward’s guitar talents.

Nick Drake – Pink Moon

Though he used many open/altered tunings through his career, Nick frequently returned to a version of open C but with the third string tuned down a tone to F, giving (low to high) CGCFCE.

Combined with occasional use of a capo, you’ll hear this tuning in action on the title track, plus Parasite (which surely influenced Radiohead’s Subterranean Homesick Alien…) and Which Will. Strictly speaking, the latter appears a semitone lower, but the relative intervals are the same.

• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

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In my previous “Blues You Can Use” columns, I focused on what I consider to be essential rhythm guitar and accompanying single-note patterns that exemplify Chicago-style blues guitar, as heard in the playing of blues greats like Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Luther Tucker, and Robert Lockwood Jr.

This time, we’ll focus on the “turnarounds” that fall within the last four bars of a standard 12-bar blues progression.

To review, the first four bars in a 12-bar blues are either made up of the I (one) chord, which is the home key or “tonic,” or are built from one bar on the I chord, one bar on the IV (four) chord, and then two bars on the I chord. Bars 5 and 6 move to the IV, and bars 7 and 8 return to the I chord.

The last four bars, 9-12, are one bar on the V (five) chord, one bar on the IV, a bar and a half on the I and, finally, by two beats on the V chord, to set up the next 12-bar chorus.

When playing over bars 9-12, it’s all about the “turnarounds,” which are patterns that smoothly and musically “walk” you from one chord to the next.

In Figure 1, the pattern begins over the V chord in the key of E, B7, and uses notes from the B minor pentatonic scale (B, D, E, F#, A) with the inclusion of the 9th, C#.

In bar 2, the pattern moves down to the IV chord, A7, and is essentially based on A minor pentatonic (A, C, D, E, G) with C#, the major 3rd, played in the place of C, the minor 3rd. Notice that the shape of the melodic line is nearly identical over both chords; that is why I think of these riffs as patterns, as opposed to being scale-based.

At the end of bar 2, I slide up to G#, followed by B and C#, and these notes anticipate the move back to the I chord, E7, in the next bar. This phrase is based on the E minor pentatonic scale (E, G, A, B, D), and we end with a “walk-up” to the V chord, B7.

Figure 2 offers another way to navigate through the V - IV - I changes: I begin with double-stop 6ths – pairs of notes that are the interval of a major or minor 6th apart – over the B7 and land on an A7-type double-stop in bar 2.

On beat 2 into beat 3, this is really an E7 lick that moves to an A7 lick on beat 4, and the example ends with a standard E7 turnaround, with a high E note fingerpicked together with a chromatically descending bass line D, C#, C, B.

Figure 3 focuses on the walk-ups that set up the B7 chord – C#, D, D# –and A7 – B, C, C#. The figure ends with chromatically descending double-stop 5ths sounded on the 1st and 3rd strings.

Figures 4 and 5 offer two more variations, featuring whole-step bends at the start of the B7 and A7 chords, respectively. Notice that both figures illustrate different melodic connections as you move from one chord to the next.

As I stated previously, this type of playing was developed in ’40s and ’50s Chicago blues, as players moved to electric guitars and began playing more single-note lead lines. I find these phrases to be very multi-functional.

When soloing, it’s great to have lines like these that ground and “center” your playing on each chord in a very effective and musical way.

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At the end of last month's column, we touched upon the use of octaves in basslines. I cannot emphasize enough how useful this simple interval can be for coming up with interesting and memorable parts.

In addition to being very effective for creating catchy, fat-sounding single-note “stomp grooves,” like the main riff from The Wanton Song, which we looked at last time, octaves are also great for constructing strong supportive basslines.

This month, we'll look at some examples of this kind of octave usage from the Led Zeppelin catalog.

One particularly effective way to use octaves is to match the low note and the high note with a drummer's kick and snare drum, respectively. A good example of this type of bass-and-drums octave synchronization is Nobody's Fault But Mine, from [Led Zeppelin's 1976 album] Presence.

I played the syncopated E octave part with Bonzo [Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham], behind the eerie guitar and vocal melody between the verses (at around 2:36), with an eight-string bass, which is what I used for the entire Presence album.

If you listen to the recording, you'll notice how the low E's are played in tandem with Bonzo's kick drum while the high E's are played in tandem with his snare. Also notice the effective use of rests here.

The object was to make the bass and drums sound like one instrument. I think that's one of the things that made Zeppelin sound so heavy – we would play all those little phrases absolutely together.

Another good and rather obvious example of this same kind of octave-synchronization is Page's main riff to Immigrant Song.

For the first two bars of the verse section, I took an F# octave figure and simply moved it down a whole-step to E to keep the punchy groove going with the drums while Jimmy sustained an open E chord. I used a pick on that one, too. Listen to the right channel to hear the bass clearly.

One very cool thing about using octaves in a bassline is that you can take a pedal point figure and make it more “busy” and animated without straying from the root and obscuring the harmony. Not that straying from the root is necessarily a bad thing – sometimes it sounds good to do that – but in certain situations you need to play something that's harmonically “grounded,” and octaves are always a safe bet as far as that's concerned.

For example, if you listen to the bass part during the verse sections of Kashmir, you'll hear me going back and forth between the open low D note and the high D at the 12th fret.

During the fast parts of The Song Remains the Same, I used octaves everywhere, particularly during the parts where Jimmy strums an A7sus4-A7sus4(add6) chord sequence over and over.

For those parts, I concentrated on locking in with Bonzo's kick and snare drum using A octaves. I don't think the groove would have sounded quite as powerful had I chosen just to pedal on the low A.

I based what I would play behind Page's D-Dsus4 changes during the section that immediately follows around the D root-fifth-octave shape (D-A-D) in the 5th position, and also used the fourth (G) to create a catchy little bass tune.

Again, notice the effective use of rests in this figure. Bonzo and I would always try to play this part as tightly as possible, even while he was splashing away on the open hi-hat.

• This lesson originally appeared in the February 1997 issue of Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

In this way, open tunings differ from ‘alternate’ tunings, which don’t give us an open chord. Either way, open or alternative tunings provide the opportunity to create wide-ranging, piano-style chord voicings that aren’t available to us in regular tuning.

Though they have frequently been used on electric guitar (think Keith Richards and Jimmy Page), open tunings are particularly effective on acoustic guitar (look to Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, Nick Harper, Jimmy Page and so on).

For this reason, the examples here have been recorded on acoustic. They’re designed to give a useful vocabulary of major and minor chords, mostly featuring a mix of open and fretted strings.

However, there are many more chord shapes hidden away in this open D tuning – and don’t forget you can move shapes around for some nice surprises.

Example 1. Dadd9

This Dadd9 is simplicity itself – the only way to get simpler is to play all the open strings for a D major chord.

As with all the examples here, do experiment with moving shapes/notes around. Random is fine, that’s how the happy accidents happen, as well as learning what’s available to you in this tuning.

Example 2. Dm7

Apart from the open low D, this Dm7 chord is movable to any key; it just seemed to make sense to use that open root note as it was there. Having said that, you might want to try keeping the low D and moving the rest of the chord around for some interesting slash chords.

Example 3. Gadd9/D

Here’s a nice Joni Mitchell style Gadd9/D, using the shape that would give us E7 in standard tuning. This is a great example of the complex-sounding voicings that can be created with a minimum of effort using open/alternative tunings. Try moving this around for some nice variations on the theme.

Example 4. Gadd9

This Gadd9 doubles up on D, with the 5th fret of the fifth string and the open fourth string sounding in unison, for a touch of chorusing.

This is another shape that can be used elsewhere – though, of course, the changing relationships/intervals between the fretted and open strings will give a variety of names!

Example 5. Gadd9

This is the same as Example 4 but with a b3 (Bb) on the 4th fret of the third string. Having this string tuned down to F# can take some getting used to, but it’s also a really good way of avoiding unconscious patterns and approaching shapes with an open mind. Once again, don’t forget to check if this can work in other positions.

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There are two fundamental strokes you use as a pick player. One is down-picking where the pick's direction is towards the floor and the other is up-picking where the pick moves upwards, towards your face. Both are vital, sharing the work required to sound the strings.

At a very fundamental level, many guitarists use down-picks on down beats and up-picks on up beats. This allows for technical consistency that keeps general playing simple. You'll see this throughout the examples below.

But while down-picking gets a lot of focus – especially in metal – there's not as much discussion about up-picking, despite its importance.

One outstanding element to up-picking is tone: with the upward motion and the angle of how the pick is held, up-strokes often have a bright and lively sound (clean or distorted) that cuts well through a band mix. If you're after a way to have a note or chord 'bite', an up-stroke can often be the solution.

Then technically, since they often follow down-strokes, confident up-strokes help to define your timing during off-beats and playing syncopated rhythms. This is why reggae, ska, and funk players use a lot of up-picking for their chord chops.

Now to the fundamentals: below are two images of an up-pick being used on the fifth string.

When used strategically, up-picking can make string changes smoother and reduce timig 'hiccups'. Power pickers like Paul Gilbert and Andy James like to add strength and bite when crossing strings, using up-picks to help achieve this.

But perhaps one of the best ever up-stroke moments is at the end of the guitar solo in Deep Purple's Smoke On the Water where Ritchie Blackmore pick chokes his gradually dropping string bend. What a rhythmically biting result!

So without further ado, here are six exercises to hone the foundations of your up-picking technique. With a focus on developing accuracy and good tone, you will explore off-beat and syncopated phrasing in both your lead and rhythm playing. And then over a period of time, you will see your stamina and speed improve greatly.

Example 1. The foundations of up-picks (low sixth string)

This focuses on developing a strong and confident up-picking technique, playing the low sixth string with just up-strokes. Whilst an unusual approach, using just ups will greatly strengthen this stroke.

Rather than keeping the underside of your picking hand parallel to the strings, rotate your hand slightly so your pick moves away from the strings. This adjustment stops your upstroke from connecting with an upper string. You'll see this in the video.

Start with just quarter notes (as shown in bar 1), played slowly so you don't tense up and can maintain even timing and volume. Once this is secure, you can complete the whole exercise which switches from quarter notes (1 note per beat) to 8th notes (2 notes per beat).

Example 2. Developing up-pick agility on the low strings

This phrase consists entirely of 8th notes, either as eight notes in a bar (bars 1 and 3) or as four notes (bars 3 and 4). Count a steady 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & to feel the two-notes-per-beat subdivision. Most of this example involves riffing on the sixth and fifth strings so you get used to crossing two strings that are close together.

That said, during bar 3's beats 3 and 4 there is a bigger jump from the sixth string to the fourth string. This requires a bigger picking hand motion so practice this on its own if you're struggling to maintain the jump. Throughout, keep your picking hand’s wrist and forearm relaxed to prevent tension and ensure smooth transitions between strings.

Example 3. Up-picking for off beat high string chords

A change of scene now as you focus on a chord strumming pattern on the top three strings. To do this, you'll need to make a wide "U" shaped strumming motion, allowing both down-strokes and up-strokes to connect with the first three strings.

The relevance of this rhythm is you will mute the strings with your fretting hand on the down-strums (which happen on the down beats) and then fret the chord for all the up-strums (which happen on the upbeats). With regular off beat chords being sounded like this, you're learning a reggae styled groove and if played faster, it'll be more ska like.

Pro tip: have your fretting fingers lightly resting on the strings to mute them during down-strums. For chord clarity on the up-strums, make good contact with the fretted notes.

For consideration: experiment with how long to sustain the up-strummed chords by taking your fingers off as soon as the pick has strummed. Certainly, some reggae and ska styles can require very clipped/staccato chords indeed.

Example 4. Emphasing off beat notes with up-picks

This returns to a single-note approach but uses a muted down-stroke with the fretting hand, followed by notes sounding on the up-strokes. Each muted down-stroke serves as a rhythmic marker, helping you to maintain accurate timing and create strong off-beat phrasing from the up-picked notes. As there are many off beat notes, the overall effect has a strong groove especially when a drummer plays a standard rock beat.

Example 5. The triplet challenge: 3 notes per beat, all up-picks

Now you will work with 8th note triplets, counted as ‘1 Trip-let, 2 Trip-let, 3 Trip-let, 4 Trip-let.’ A word of advice: with frequent up-strokes, fatigue can quickly set in. To prevent this, aim not to tense up too much and use small controlled picking motions. These tips will allow you to maintain stamina without burning out too soon. Start slow and then increase your tempo over time as this exercise is designed to build control, accuracy, and up-picking endurance.

Example 6. Syncopated riffing that exploits bright sounding up-picks

The final example is in E Phrygian Dominant (E F G# A B C D), the fifth mode from the A Harmonic minor scale (A B C D E F G#) and an ear catching approach to imply or augment an E7 chord. It features a melodic sequence divided into phrase groupings of 3 + 3 + 2. The first note of each group is played with a down-stroke then the remaining notes are played with up-strokes. This keeps the picking hand moving in the same direction as each string change. Finally, add picking hand palm muting to provide chunk to the low sixth string E notes for a driving rock riff.

An essential element of playing music is being aware of “where” you’re playing in the beat and how it relates to the groove being laid down by the rhythm section. This concept can be broken up into three approaches: playing behind the beat, playing ahead of the beat or playing squarely on the beat.

How a guitar player chooses to interact with the beat, or pulse, will have everything to do with the feeling of the music and the expression being communicated to the listener. This is, of course, true for all instrumentalists, regardless of musical style.

When I was first learning to play the music of my biggest hero, Mountain guitarist Leslie West, I was thinking, “Why does it sound different when I play the Mississippi Queen intro, as compared to when he does it?” I’d be playing right “on the click,” meaning that I was following metronomic time. We’ve been taught to practice with a metronome, and develop solid time at different tempos.

That said, I eventually discovered that many of my biggest heroes often played “behind the beat,” meaning that they’d play just a little bit slower, or “late,” so that the riffs would sit “back” in the pocket.

Another great example is Paul Kossoff’s rhythm playing on the Free classic All Right Now. Figure 1 is played in this style, as I alternate between A5, Dadd4/A and D/A chords.

If you were to measure that against a click, when I’m playing a riff like that I’m deliberately pulling back on the beat just a little bit to change the feeling of the music.

If I’m playing a lick like Figure 2, which simply moves between the notes G and E in the key of E, I’m thinking in my head about slowing down a little, so that the notes are falling just a hair behind the quarter-note pulse.

When you’re playing against the groove of the bass and drums, you can really hear the difference, and this approach is very effective.

You can also play “on top of the beat,” which means playing either squarely on the beat or a little bit ahead of it (“early”), which will give your playing a sense of urgency.

Some of the greatest examples of hearing how a guitarist can manipulate the way to relate to the beat are in the live recordings of the band Cream, featuring Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.

Spoonful is a great example, and Figure 3 is played along these lines. The feeling is that the band is a little bit ahead of the beat and Clapton is pulling back against the groove.

In Figure 4, I play a repetitive lick that moves between G, A and E, and I can subtly “warp the time” – speed up or slow down – to create tension in the music.

Figure 5 is another example of this approach: though I’m not changing the notes much, I am changing how the phrases “sit”in the beat, which has a distinct effect on the feeling of the music.

It’s like driving a car – you can speed up or slow down while traveling through the musical landscape to discover a variety of expressions.

In Figure 6, I start by playing on the beat then switch to playing way ahead of it in bars 2-3 then pull the phrases back behind the beat for dramatic effect.

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An example of a great slow shuffle is Jimmy Reed’s Bright Lights, Big City, and a great uptempo shuffle is Memphis Slim’s Steppin’ Out, covered brilliantly by John Mayall with Eric Clapton on the Bluesbreakers’ 1966 album.

One of my favorite medium-slow shuffles is Jeff Beck’s Rock My Plimsoul, which was featured on his debut album, Truth, and is based on the B.B. King blues classic Rock Me Baby.

Played in the key of B, the tune’s main riff is similar to bar 1 of Figure 1, which is a simple, repetitive motif based on the B minor pentatonic scale (B, D, E, F#, A). In bar 3, I play a single-note phrase that sets up the change to the IV (four) chord, E7, in bars 5 and 6, with the riff in bar 6 leading back to the I (one) chord, B7, in bar 7.

In bars 9-12, I emulate what Beck played for his intro solo, alternating between the notes A and F# on the B string with a staccato (short, clipped) attack. And, like Jeff, I end the phrase in bars 11 and 12 with an aggressive slide down the top three strings.

When you’re playing a shuffle at this moderate tempo, you can approach it in a similar way to a slow blues. Figure 2 is played in the style of B.B. King. I begin with a B minor pentatonic-based phrase, bending D, the minor, of “flatted,” 3rd (b3) up a whole step to the 4th, E, release the bend then hammer on from D to the major 3rd, D#, followed by a barre across the top two strings at the 7th fret.

In bar 2, I switch to B major pentatonic (B, C#, D#, F#, G#) and then back to B minor pentatonic, shifting up to 10th position in bar 3. At the end of this bar, I shift up to 12th position and play another B major pentatonic phrase.

Alternating between parallel minor and major pentatonic scales in this way is a staple of blues melody making and can be heard in the playing of all our favorite blues and blues-rock guitarists.

A great benefit of a slower tempo is that it gives you a lot more time to think about what you’re playing and express yourself. In Figure 3, I start on the IV chord, E7, and play simple licks that lay far back in the groove. In bars 3 and 4, I return to the I chord, B7, and play double-stops of D# and F#, and E and G#, referencing B7 and E7, respectively.

Bar 5 is played over the V (five) chord, F#7, and in bar 6 I return to the IV, E7, with lines based on B minor pentatonic. Notice that my phrasing is very “free” here.

One thing I like to do when playing in the key of B is utilize my open B string. For example, I can hammer-on from A to B on the D string while simultaneously plucking the open B note, using hybrid picking.

This is a great sound and one I associate with a British approach, though you will also hear the liberal use of open strings in the playing of the great Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.

• Joe Bonamassa’s new album, Breakthrough, is out now via J&R Adventures.
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

I’ll demonstrate some examples and practice tips for you to work on to help develop your strumming technique.

When it comes to strumming, I subscribe to the “steady motor” method, keeping my hand in perpetual motion, in an unbroken down-up “pendulum” pattern, most often in a 16th-note rhythm, even when I’m not hitting every 16th note.

As shown in Figure 1, I’m strumming steady 16ths in an alternating pattern while dampening all of the strings with my fret hand.

In Figure 2, I apply this strumming technique to a chord progression. Notice that, in bar 1, on beat 2, I strum G5 and let it ring for the equivalent of three 16th notes as my hand keeps moving before striking the chord again. In bar 2, I switch to eighth-note accents on beats 2 and 4.

In Figure 3, the technique is applied in a funk context. Here, I repeatedly strum a G9 voicing, interspersed with muted-string accents.

In all three examples, my right hand is doing the same thing, moving down-up-down-up in 16th notes, which may be counted “1-ee-and-uh, 2-ee-and-uh, 3-ee-and-uh, 4-ee-and-uh.”

Any note or chord that falls on a downbeat (“1,” “2,” “3” or “4”) or eighth-note upbeat (“and”) is sounded with a downstroke, and anything that falls on the second or fourth 16th note of the beat (“ee” or “uh’) is caught with an upstroke. This way, I never have to think about my strokes, as the continuous motion will make those decisions for me.

Are there times when I’ll change my strumming approach for a unique musical situation? Absolutely – this is just a general guideline.

When moving my hand like this, I don’t always strum the strings, even though the down-up motion is constant. There are three sounds that you can get: a chord (or note), a muted-string accent (“x”), or nothing at all – silence. In funk-style music, the most effective rhythm parts combine notes, chords and dead-string accents with space, which together create the desired syncopated rhythms.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of this. On beats 1 and 3, I sound C9 on the downbeats and on the last 16th-note upbeat (“uh”). On beats 2 and 4, the downbeats are silent while the muted-string accents through the rest of the beat are strummed in steady 16ths. In those holes of silence, my right hand is swinging over the strings without touching them.

I learned a lot about rhythm guitar from listening to and watching Nile Rodgers and Prince play, and also chatting with Nile about rhythm guitar techniques.

Figure 5 offers an example of a chord progression played in Rodgers’ rhythm style. For my tune Cosmic Sans, the main chord progression is Em11 - Cmaj7 - A7 - F#m7b5 - B7#5.

If I were to strum a full barre-chord voicing for each chord, it would feel too “chunky.” Instead, I do what Nile advised me to do – “Fret the whole chord form, but only sound parts of it at certain times, moving your right hand from the lower to the higher strings; that will add clarity and definition.”

Nile will often move back and forth between full chords and smaller voicings, as in Figure 6. His tunes Good Times and Le Freak are great examples of this.

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Tick, tick, tick....

Be it a wind-up device or an app on your phone, a metronome is part and parcel of being a focused musician. Simply put, it keeps time at whatever tempo you set it to and then you interact with the regular clicking it provides. Tempo is usually shown in numbers (typically ranging from 40-208) which means how many beats per minute (usually referred to as bpm).

Physical wind-up metronomes have a percussive click that will continue for as long as the wind-up can provide (there are a maximum amount of turns you can physically do). Alternatively, metronome apps are convenient and often more versatile: the click sounds can be changed, time signatures can be selected and altered plus the main downbeat can be made louder and/or the sound varied.

Regardless of what is used, how you interact with a metronome is best served from two perspectives: it acts as a time keeper, maintaining tempo for your playing and also as your speed checker when wanting to play faster.

For time keeping, learn your song then set the metronome at the correct tempo so you can play it all the way through. If there are tricky passages you're struggling with, work on these segments in isolation then practice with the metronome set to a much slower tempo. During this first session (or over several), these passages can be mastered allowing you to then return to the required tempo.

For the second option, increasing speed is popular with many musicians, especially guitarists who want to impress when soloing. For example, an easy lick at 100bpm can be tackled at 110bpm. If that's working well, you could move up to 120bpm, and then 130bpm. The metronome is confirming how you're making progress with your playing.

What follows are seven examples that show not only how useful metronomes are for honing your picking and time keeping, but also how they can unlock new levels of musical confidence.

Example 1. Simple time keeping with chord strumming

For this first example, the metronome is set to 100bpm and you’re working a steady 8th note rhythm with a Dm7 chord. Aim to be precise with the beat where your chord and the click are sounding exactly at the same time. Slightly emphasize the downstrokes that occur with the click by strumming louder than the upstrokes.

The latter part features the gallop rhythm which involves one down strum plus two quicker strums (down then up) per beat. The first down strum is what connects exactly with the metronome click for each beat. Maintain a loose picking hand wrist and lock to the click.

Example 2. Alternate picking short note sequences

This is focused on single notes and the development of speed using the metronome. A simple four-note pattern is a great place to start: here you'll repeatedly alternate pick four 8th notes at 100bpm.

Once this is accurate and consistent (no miss-picks or concerning variations in tone or volume), use the same pattern at the much higher tempo of 180 bpm. If this is too much of a jump, drop the tempo down to 140bpm and see how you do.

With short exercises like this, you can develop a two pronged approach to technique building.

One is how fast and accurate you can play with only a few repetitions: the emphasis is on speed, not stamina. The other is to find what speeds you can play at with longer repetitions, the emphasis now being on stamina and not full-out speed.

Example 3. Varying note groupings

Getting accustomed to varying your rhythmic groupings is critical for many reasons ranging from technical ability to musical applications. You need to understand and feel them at any tempo, which creates a perfect reason to use a metronome.

Start with quarter notes using a 1 2 3 4 count, one note per click. You will then move onto 8th notes (two notes per click: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &) then rapid 16th notes (four notes per click: 1 e & a, 2 e & a, 3 e & a, 4 e & a).

Example 4. A musical way to developing speed

Here are more rhythmic challenges now as you shift between 8th notes, triplets (3 notes per beat: 1 & a, 2 & a), 16ths and sextuplets (six notes per beat).

Sextuplets are particularly challenging both technically and musically so if you're struggling, start first at a slower tempo (eg 70bpm) with only two repetitions of six notes, finishing on a down pick with the first note. This will develop your precision and ability.

Now slowly increase the tempo to 100bpm, same two repetitions so you can see your speed and note clarity improving. Once you're good at this speed, then explore shifting between the different note groupings.

If your precision and ability to seamlessly shift between groupings is going well, consider yourself on the way to a new musical high ground. All thanks to your practicing with the metronome!

Example 5. Speed burst practice to get faster

This example is like running exercises that switch between jogging and sprinting. For each bar, you will 'jog' for three beats of three notes grouped into triplets and then for the final fourth beat, you will 'sprint' with a sextuplet.

While taxing, it is a great way to work on bursts of speed you will encounter in music. Al Di Meola, Paul Gilbert and John Petrucci are masters of this: check out Race With Devil On Spanish Highway or Scarified. As with the previous example, work at slower tempos first if your picking (or indeed, legato if you're using that instead) isn't allowing the notes to sound clear and precise.

Example 6. Mastering chord rhythms with clicks on beats 2 and 4

Here’s a great example that many jazz and chord compers use to improve their timing, especially for swing grooves. Set the metronome at a very slow tempo such as 50bpm so there is lots of space between clicks. Now you need to think and feel one click is beat 2 and the next is beat 4. These clicks can be considered where the drummer's snare drum (the back beat) is usually sounded in typical rock, blues and pop music.

With beats 2 and 4 dealt with by the metronome, it is your appreciation of the silence exactly between the clicks that will provide the important beats 1 and 3. You might want to clap or foot stomp a steady 4 beat first, with the metronome providing beats 2 and 4.

By doing this to hone your internal timing, you'll then be ready to pick up the guitar and play the jazzy chords used in this example. Thankfully (!), the rhythm is very easy, just a steady 'four chomp' per bar but each bar's second and fourth chords need to align with the clicks.

Developing an internal pulse so you can feel where the silent 1st and 3rd beats are is not easy. However, with an understanding of what is required and quality time spent practicing, you should achieve great results.

Example 7. Improving lead phrasing with clicks on beats 2 and 4

To finish this article, you are playing a short jazz-blues solo. You can try this along with the backing track rhythm part or just with a metronome click. After you’ve learnt these licks, explore writing a new solo or improvising freely to see if you can feel where those 1st and 3rd beats are. Enjoy your metronome!

Initially, his strongest influence was the blues; B.B. King, Mike Bloomfield and Peter Green, among others, inspired him to form the Santana Blues Band in 1966. Within a couple of years, his Mexican heritage began to surface and combined with the influences of Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Tito Puente and Gábor Szabó.

By 1969, he had assembled the first line-up of the Santana band and was signed to Columbia Records, recording their debut LP. Santana was an early adopter of the singing, sustained notes made possible by playing at high volume.

Earlier gear setups included Fender amps and Gibson guitars, though he was quick to notice the potential of the Mesa/Boogie Mark I – and was allegedly responsible for part of its name by exclaiming the following while trying it out: “Man, that thing really boogies!”

These days, he is most associated with various models of his PRS signature guitar, using a wah pedal as a tone filter. This is often set at a fixed point – but not always.

The examples here are inspired by Santana’s soulful phrasing, combining long, held notes with exuberant flurries of picking. Pentatonic ideas are mixed with a jazz influence, picking out minor 9ths, suspended 4ths and partial arpeggios.

This is more about playing and embellishing a melody than thinking about music theory – and, as in Jimmy Page’s playing, the faster phrases are not intended to be perfectly ‘on the grid’ in terms of timing. Try that and you’ll find it loses something…

Example 1

This first example establishes a melodic and rhythmic pattern that is embellished with bends, slides and rhythmic picking. There is a blues influence, but this isn’t a ‘straight’ blues.

Check out the C minor arpeggio in the pick-up bar, then the brief Bb7 arpeggio leading into bar 3, where the sus4 (Ab) is stressed over the Eb chord. The tail end of the phrase in bar 4 is more of a blues motif with the ‘thrown away’ pull-off.

Example 2

Again, there is an arpeggio fragment leading into the main body of the phrase. This builds with some faster legato and picked repeated ideas. These are transcribed in strict time for ease of reading, but in reality this is more relaxed and pulls back a little against the beat.

Try playing ever so slightly behind without going completely out of time, and you’ll be in the right ballpark. Note that the wah is rocked slightly forward to add some extra expression at the end of this example.

Example 3

We’re reaching something of a peak with the held and then tremolo-picked bend that starts this phrase, leading to more of a pentatonic feel in the follow-up.

We don’t stay pentatonic for long, though – a rapid-picked repeated phrase is followed by some more triplet-based ideas that mix staccato and held notes. Like Example 2, these are transcribed in strict time, but you’ll want to experiment to get the right ‘lilt’ going on here.

Example 4

This closing phrase returns to a more controlled feel, picking up on a few of the arpeggios for the underlying Gsus4/G chords, then emphasising the sus4 (F) over the final Csus4/C chords.

You don’t necessarily need to learn the arpeggio shapes for each chord, but it’s fair to assume that Santana would have absorbed a lot from his eclectic influences going back decades. Also remember: sometimes one note played rhythmically can be all you need!

Hear it here

Santana – Santana

The band’s debut was released in 1969 just after their successful appearance at the Woodstock Festival. There had not been a fusion of rock, blues and Latin sounds like this before.

Though the guitar tone and overall production have become more refined over the decades, this is a definitive statement to start his career. With the heartfelt playing and emotional impact on tracks such as Evil Ways, Soul Sacrifice and Jingo, Carlos had already formed his own unique style.

Santana – Abraxas

The follow-up to Santana, Abraxas, was released in 1970 and it’s essential listening for anyone getting into Carlos Santana. It contains his famous cover of Black Magic Woman segueing into Gábor Szabó’s Gypsy Queen.

Oye Cómo Va remains a well-deserved classic, showcasing Carlos’s ability to quote from an impressive variety of styles in just one guitar solo. Finally, check out Samba Pa Ti – there’s plenty to learn from the way he pushes and pulls the rhythms on this one.

Santana – Supernatural

Fast-forward to 1999 and this nine-times Grammy Award-winning album (with featured special guests) thrust Santana firmly back into the mainstream spotlight.

Singles such as Smooth (featuring Rob Thomas), Maria Maria (with the Product G&B) and Put Your Lights On (featuring Everlast) showcase his playing, often in a more contemporary setting. And, suffice to say, it’s lost none of its vitality over the ensuing decades; the tones are more refined, but the essence remains.

• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Tapped harmonics have been used by guitarists in many styles over the decades, from acoustic through to rock. Notable fans of this technique include Nuno Bettencourt, Michael Hedges, Jeff Beck, Tuck Andress and Steve Vai.

But the guitarist most often associated with tapped harmonics is Eddie Van Halen. Eddie would include this technique in both his electric guitar solos and chord playing as well as on a nylon-string acoustic guitar.

To begin, the simplest tapped harmonic involves open strings and the 12th fret. Tap a string at the 12th fret with a picking hand finger and use a confident tap/slap motion to connect with the fretwire then come away quickly.

Eddie liked to use his picking hand's first finger while holding the pick between his thumb and second finger. However, it's become more common for guitarists to use the second finger as it doesn't alter how the pick is held between the thumb and first finger.

The resulting notes should be loud and strong, creating a bell-like sounding natural harmonic which is one octave higher than the open string.

The tapped harmonic technique is more versatile than just using open strings though. You can also fret notes with the fretting hand and then tap with the picking hand, 12 frets above.

For example, fret the 5th fret on the first string then tap a harmonic 12 frets above at the 17th fret. Again, remember to tap the actual fretwire, with a quick 'on then off' motion and do not allow the tapping finger to rest on the fretwire. This will either mute the natural harmonic or totally stop it sounding.

The result is, again, a bell-like in tone with the note being an octave higher than what is being fretted. It's a wonderful and versatile effect that adds additional tone and color, be it for slow ballad playing or blazing lead playing.

With an electric guitar's tonal options courtesy of the pickup selector switch, it's best to choose the brightest tone available which is the bridge pickup (either a single coil or, as used in the video, a humbucker).

This will help enhance the harmonic's bite which can be boosted even further when using an overdriven amp or a distortion pedal. This was Eddie's preferred approach as well as many others such as Steve Vai and Nuno Bettencourt.

But there's even more to be gained from this technique: you can sound other harmonics by tapping at different frets, producing new notes off of the same fretted note.

So while the '12 frets above' approach is the most common (and often the easiest to do), you can also tap 5 frets, 7 frets and 9 frets away from a fretted note. Some will be tougher to sound (eg 5 frets away), so you'll need to fine tune the strength and exact placement of your tapping.

You might also like to (perhaps) add a little more distortion but be careful of unwanted string noise: use whatever fingers and hand placements you can to mute the other strings.

And if all this wasn't enough already, tapped harmonics aren't just about single notes either – there are chords, too!

For single-string tapped harmonics, you will be using a picking hand fingertip but to sound double-stop or chord based harmonics, slap the strings with your fingerpad. To get the best results with these chordal slapped harmonics, all fretted notes should ideally be at the same fret as a finger can stretch only so far.

However, plenty of players play big chords across several frets and then slap them with stretched out finger, getting most of the harmonics most of the time. It's really a case of experimenting with finger angle and where finger/string contact is.

Now onto the examples: you have six to work with going from open strings to a final lead and chord tapped harmonics stunner. Enjoy!

Example 1. Open string tapped harmonics

This introduces the technique of tapped harmonics. For this example, you will tap at the 12th fret producing tapped harmonics from the open strings. Be sure your tapping finger makes contact with the fretwire at the 12th fret. Spend some time experimenting with the position of your tapping finger so the harmonics really pop out.

Example 2. Tapped harmonics with fretted notes

Here, you will tap harmonics while fretting notes on the first string, tapping 12 frets higher than the position of the fretted notes.

To begin, fret the A note at the 5th fret, then use a picking hand finger to tap the harmonic at the 17th fret. Next is a C note at the 8th fret which is tapped at the 20th fret. This example then builds, making use of different rhythmic subdivisions.

Example 3. A minor pentatonic with tapped harmonics

This illustrates how you can play an A minor pentatonic scale by tapping harmonics 12 frets higher. This will keep your hands busy, as you will be changing positions with your tapping hand at the same time as you ascend and descend through a scale. Pay attention to muting unwanted string noise when crossing the strings.

Example 4. One fretted note, three tapped harmonic notes

This is typical Eddie Van Halen, changing the pitch of a static note by tapping harmonics at different positions along the string. Fret the C note on the 5th fret, third string and then tap harmonics at the 17th, 12th and 9th frets.

The closer you tap to the fretted note, the harder it will be to sound a clear harmonic so be patient and spend time getting a quick and precise strike on the fretwire.

Example 5. Tapping chord harmonics

Here is an introduction to tapping harmonics in chords, with an example reminiscent of how Steve Vai and Jason Becker utilize tapped harmonics.

You will start by arpeggiating each chord, before striking a cluster of strings with the flat fingerpad of your tapping finger to sound harmonics on more than one string. This technique adds a bell-like quality to chords.

Example 6. A whole lotta tapped harmonics!

This combines the previous approaches to tapped harmonics for a short rock solo. Bars 1-4 kick things off with licks based around the A minor pentatonic, embellished with tapped harmonics.

The opening phrase sees you tapping at different points of the string against a static fretted note, so take care the closer your tapping hand gets to the fretted note. Also take care with the bending licks, where you tap the harmonic prior to bending.

Bars 5-8 kick off with bluesy double-stops, embellished with tapped harmonics. This section concludes with a descending sequence, leading to another phrase where you tap harmonics in different positions against a static note.

Bars 9-10 include a few challenging phrasing, where you hold a bend while tapping at different points of the string. This is a classic EVH technique and a challenge to achieve so be patient. Happy harmonic tapping!

Last time, we were discussing how octave-doubled single-note riffs and shifting rhythms can be used to create heavy-sounding “stomp grooves,” and we cited my Black Dog riff as an example of how effective this type of playing can be in a power trio lineup.

This month, I'd like to continue with this topic and offer a couple of examples of stomp grooves that employ another musical element, silence, to add impact and drama to a riff.

Silence, when used at the right times, can be an extremely effective compositional tool. It can help provide contrast, punctuation, and a feeling of release to a melody or accompaniment.

A good example of an octave-doubled single-note “stomp groove” that uses quite a bit of silence is the riff that begins The Ocean. I played this riff fingerstyle.

As with many other Zeppelin riffs, I originally came up with this figure on the electric bass guitar while jamming with John Bonham. It's one of those tricky parts that was conceived using a great deal of eye contact between the two of us.

Notice the pervasive use of silence in the riff, especially the gaping hole created by the half-note rest on beats 3 and 4 of the first bar. These rests helped provide the syncopation and allowed the riff to breathe while Bonzo continued to lay down the beat. (Page's verse riff in 4/4, the one comprised of the chords D5-05-A5-G5-A5-D5, also employs rests very effectively).

Also note that the second bar of the riff is in 7/8 meter. Dropping half a beat from the two-bar phrase sounded good to our ears, so we just went ahead and did it. We actually wrote a lot of riffs and grooves that way – by experimenting with different variations on parts until something clicked.

Another good example of this type of writing is the intro/verse riff to The Wanton Song, which also came to me whilst jamming with Bonzo. (I played this bassline fingerstyle as well).

Notice that beats 1 and 2 in the first measure are comprised entirely of 16th notes (the G octaves), while beats 3 and 4 are completely empty (except, of course, for the drums). The last 16th note of beat 2 (the high G) is accented to enhance the feeling of syncopation and make the “hole” that immediately follows on beat 3 sound more dramatic.

You may recall that during beats 3 and 4 of the fourth bar of this riff Page plays a punchy chord fill (F-F#) with the drums. I felt that it was more effective for me not to double the F-F# walk-up and instead lay out until beat 1 of the next bar. Keep in mind that what you don't play is just as important as what you do play.

For the break riff, I used the G minor-blues scale (G-Bb-C-Db-D-F) and a lot of syncopated 16th-note rhythms and rests to help create a funky, powerful-sounding phrase with lots of “kicks.”

In the final bar (the descending part of the phrase), each G-string note is repeated an octave lower on the A string. Playing the notes this way – in alternating octaves – really helped accentuate the syncopation of the line and gave it a very angular and interesting contour.

• This lesson originally appeared in the January 1997 issue of Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

The first thing is that, like me, Albert didn’t use a pick. He fingerpicked his strings aggressively, mostly with his thumb and index finger, snapping them against the fretboard and creating a distinctive and deeply expressive sound. Albert also played the guitar “upside down.”

With the instrument strung conventionally for a right-handed player, he flipped it over and played it left-handed, with the order of the strings being reversed: the lowest string was closest to the floor while the highest string was closest to the ceiling.

He also played in an unorthodox tuning, which is still a mystery; the prevailing wisdom is that he tuned down one-and-one-half steps, to C# standard (low to high: C#, F#, B, E, G#, C#).

I was first exposed to the “Albert King” sound through the playing of Stevie Ray Vaughan, for whom Albert was a major influence. One of the greatest examples of Stevie emulating Albert’s phrasing is SRV's playing on the title track of his debut album, Texas Flood.

Figure 1 offers an example of a lick played in Albert’s style, with a nod towards the way Stevie would express King’s influence in his own playing. The phrase is based on the G minor pentatonic scale (G, Bb, C, D, F), and I pick the strings with my index finger and thumb, snapping them against the fretboard, and add wide finger vibratos to any held note.

Other signature Albert King elements here are the half-step bend from Bb to B at the end of bar 1, and the half-step bends from B to C in bar 2.

When I first heard this type of playing on Texas Flood, I thought, “How is Stevie getting that sound?” Then, when I heard Albert for the first time, it struck me as more of a “silky” kind of sound, such as the phrase shown in Figure 2. After playing the initial G note, I fret Bb and then perform an array of different string bends from that one note to sound D, C#, C and B.

Once I saw Albert King on video, I could see that he was a master of playing on one string and was able to perform expressive solo lines from a single note at a single fret.

Figures 3 and 4 present great exercises in this playing approach. First, play the chromatic row of notes Bb, B, C, C# and D on the B string then move back down chromatically to Bb, as in Figure 3.

Then, as shown in Figure 4, fret only the Bb note at the 11th fret and proceed to bend up to each of the other notes from it, starting with a half-step bend, then a whole step, then one-and-one-half steps, then two whole steps. Figure 5 offers another example of bending in stacked half-step increments.

The magic of Albert’s playing is that he was able to nail each of these bends at will. Figures 6, 7 and 8 offer more examples of phrases built from this technique.

Snapping the strings in this way sounds especially cool in the guitar’s lower register. Figure 9 offers an example played down in 3rd position.

Licks like these are a staple of Albert’s style, as well as Stevie’s, and can also be heard in the playing of Jimi Hendrix.

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What the example chords are designed to demonstrate is how we might set up a dissonance or ‘tension’, which can then resolve to a more harmonious conclusion. As an interesting side note, film and TV music will often leave a dissonant chord hanging unresolved to underline the tension of what’s happening on screen.

Whichever way you choose to approach this, a deep knowledge of chord construction and harmony will aid your creativity in composition, melodic invention and arranging other instruments such as strings or brass.

Though some of the chord names can seem a little daunting, remember that this is simply an attempt to label a sound. Even if you can’t work out the name for a chord, that’s no reason not to use it!

Example 1. Asus2(#5)

This Asus2(#5) chord is based on Asus2, which is already setting up an expectation to resolve somewhere – usually to an A major or minor chord. In this example, it also features a #5, which adds a less subtle layer of tension into the mix. Try alternating this with an Asus2 to hear the tension and release in action.

Example 2. Dsus2(#5)

Shifting to D, this Dsus2(#5) is another useful chord shape. Could this be how the intro to ABBA’s Mamma Mia was written? Either way, that sharp (sometimes called augmented) 5th adds a real sense of anticipation, especially when left hanging without resolve. Watch out for this in TV and film music.

Example 3. Eaddb9

This Eaddb9 shifts what would be a duplicate root (E) in a regular E major chord up a semitone. Or, looking at it another way, an add9 (F#) down a semitone to F natural, giving a flamenco (or Spaghetti Western) twist that is often heard as a hanging chord but resolves nicely to E or E7.

Example 4. F#7b9sus4

Here’s where chord-naming can tie us in knots! This is actually simple to play, combining an F# powerchord with the three open strings at the top – think Alex Lifeson on Rush’s Hemispheres album. The name is F#7b9sus4 (though opinions vary). Try resolving to an F# major to hear how it sets up tension.

Example 5. Gaug

The simple name for this is G augmented (shortened to G aug) – a G major chord with a #5. Whether to refer to this as ‘augmented’ or ‘#5’ is purely a matter of preference. Some jazz chord charts call this ‘+5’ as it’s easy to write and read quickly. Try it before a G major for Jimmy Page The Rain Song vibes.

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In my previous columns, I’ve demonstrated a handful of what I consider to be essential “blues approved” licks that work well both as embellishments to rhythm parts or as phrases within a solo.

Our framework throughout has been a 12-bar blues shuffle in E, with focus on navigating the change from the I (one) chord, E7, to the IV (four), A7, and back. We then applied a similar approach for moving from E7 to the V (five) chord, B7, and then back down through the progression to A7 then E7.

The method I’ve emphasized for moving from E7 to A7 is to play the chromatically ascending notes B-C-C# on the G string, targeting C# on the downbeat of 1, followed by a high G note on the B string's 8th fret. These notes work well because C# is the major 3rd of A7 and G is the minor, or “flatted,” 7th. These two notes strongly and clearly describe the chord in this context.

In Figure 1, I expand on the previous phrases by adding the chromatically descending line B-Bb-A on the high E string. As you can see, the “walk up” to C# on the G string is followed by a B-Bb-A “walk down” to the A root on the high E string on the second beat of bar 2, which affirmatively acknowledges the implied A7 chord. I close out the phrase in a simpler manner before moving back to E7 in bar 3.

In Figure 2, I further demonstrate the differences between staying on the G and B strings and playing a simpler line, versus skipping from the G string over to the high E to play a slightly more complex phrase.

This is an effective way to weave a bit of chromaticism around the IV chord, A7, before resolving back to E7.

I encourage you to play around with these ideas and feel free to add more of your own invention and personality.

One way to do this is to include quick hammer-ons or pull-offs, as I demonstrate in Figure 3. Over A7, after the B-Bb-A walk-down on the high E string, I then do a quick A-Bb-A hammer/pull that leads into a descending line that clearly outlines the A7 chord.

Figure 4 offers a “Texas blues shuffle”-type of phrase played over the last four bars of the progression, starting from the V chord, B7.

I begin by thinking B minor pentatonic (B, D, E, F#, A), with a whole step bend from E to F# on the G string, followed by F# and B and then a half-step bend from A to A# (Bb) on the B string.

I then drop in the same quick hammer/pull introduced in Figure 3, but moved up a whole step and two frets to work over B7. In bar 2, over A7, I shift down two frets and repeat the same phrase down a whole step before wrapping up the phrase in bars 3 and 4 with a stock turnaround: while descending D-C#-C-B on the A string, I repeatedly fingerpick a high E root note on the B string’s 5th fret.

Figure 5 offers another four-bar phrase that moves from B7 to A7 to E7, with the melodic line shaped a little differently. There are countless ways to “skin a cat,” so to speak, so experiment with these phrasing ideas and see how many different variations you can come up with.

Eric Johnson is without doubt one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and, as I’ve stated, he has been a huge influence for me from the very first moment I heard him, way back in 1986.

One of the things essential to Eric’s style is the incredibly seamless way he connects his lead phrases. Most people’s reaction to listening to an Eric Johnson solo is to say, “Wow, it’s so fast!”

Yes, Eric can certainly shred! But more important than his speed is his accuracy. Accuracy will always win the day over speed. You want to, and need to, hear the notes clearly!

When I was a kid, I would take single-note phrases and drill them in every key, on every fret of the instrument. Knowing where the notes are will keep you out of trouble, while also allowing you to play long, cascading lines that traverse the fretboard, as Eric does.

Figure 1 presents a six-bar phrase that’s based on the E minor pentatonic scale (E, G, A, B, D) with the inclusion of the 2nd, or 9th, F#. This added note gives you the E minor hexatonic scale (E, F#, G, A, B, D), which works equally well in either an E Dorian or E Aeolian context.

In bars 1-3, all of the notes are played on the top three strings, facilitated by several shifts down the neck, from 17th to 15th to 12th, 10th and 9th positions. At the end of bar 3, I shift down to 7th position, and at the end of bar 4 I shift to 3rd position. I end the phrase in bar 6 all the way down in 1st position.

Figure 2 offers an example of the same type of technique and use of position shifts, but played faster and in a more EJ-type of style. As you can see, there’s a logic and clarity to the way the patterns are linked together.

Work through these shifts and note sequences slowly and carefully at first, striving to make every note sound as clear as possible. Once you have the patterns down, gradually increase the speed.

Played primarily in 4th position and across the bottom four strings, Figure 3 is an example of an Eric Johnson-style line that’s built from eighth-note triplets and Em (E, G, B) and Bm (B, D, F#) arpeggios, with the phrase resolving to Em via the open low E string.

You could (and should!) expand this approach to other scales and keys. In Figure 4, I begin with a short phrase based on E minor pentatonic, followed by a mutation to the parallel E major pentatonic scale (E, F#, G#, B, C#) on beat 2 of bar 1.

In bar 3, I switch back to E minor pentatonic on beat 3 and stay with this scale through the remainder of the phrase, ending with a high E natural harmonic (N.H) above where the 24th fret would be (this is the same pitch as the 5th-fret natural harmonic).

An effective way to practice these types of runs is to move through them slowly. I prefer alternate (down-up) picking all of the notes, but also try using pull-offs as you move down, or hammer-ons as you move up, or an occasional economy stroke/sweep.

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

This is something I learned from studying the riff-writing style of Metallica’s James Hetfield. If you think about the approach to guitar that I’m mostly known for, it seems to have little in common with Hetfield’s.

But I would argue that it has much to do with it, because so much of the energy, feel and sound of one’s rhythm parts has to do with the manner in which we attack our strings.

When it comes to sound and feel, there are huge differences between alternate picking (down-up-down-up), legato phrasing (using hammer-ons and pull-offs) and downpicking.

In Figure 1, I begin playing a two-note G5 chord in an eighth-note rhythm using alternate strumming then switch to consecutive downstrokes in bar 3.

Notice the big difference in sound between the two strumming techniques. The difference becomes even greater if you additionally palm mute the downstrokes… and that’s without even changing your tone or engaging an effect!

A good way for me to exemplify the distinct qualities of downstrokes versus upstrokes is by demonstrating the two main parts of an instrumental tune of mine called Lilypad.

When crafting rhythm guitar parts, I like to work from a “hook,” or compositional, mindset, and my approach here was to create a lead line that was generated by a rhythm part.

The tune’s main theme outlines the chords Bb (Bb, D, F) and Ab (Ab, C, Eb). In devising this rhythm part, I set out to use two-note dyads to describe each of these chords. In Figure 2, I play an ascending series of dyads, using the triadic tones of Bb.

Figure 3 illustrates the “A section” of Lilypad, which is phrased with a combination of 16th- and eighth-note rhythms, all of which I attack with palm-muted downstrokes. The figure is built almost entirely from dyads, most of which are based on a Bb triad.

At the end of bar 4, I move down chromatically, from Bb to A to Ab, then proceed to play the same four-bar idea in bars 5-8 but transposed down a whole step, using Ab chord tones.

The tune’s next section moves down to the relative minor key of Bb major, G minor. As shown in Figure 4, here I play a combination of downstrokes and upstrokes, downpicking bass notes on the low E string, followed by upstroke dyad “stabs” on the top two strings, with pairs of fret-hand-muted “dead-string” accents sandwiched in between on the D and G strings.

In bar 3, I move this idea down a whole step and two frets to imply and Fm sound.

As you can see, the difference in pick attacks makes these two parts sound completely different. As always, I’m thinking like a drummer here. Adopting this mindset can help drive your rhythm parts in unique and effective ways.

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When fingerpicking, single notes should be as strong and confident as chord playing. While there are several ways this can be achieved, the best route means developing a solid picking hand technique that countless players favour.

Essentially, there are two ways of plucking a string with fingers: free stroke (tirando, in classical guitar speak) and rest stroke (apoyando or picado in the world of flamenco guitar). Both approaches have the same goal which is to pick the string with an inwards motion (ie, into the guitar) and then release it.

Free stroke is arguably the more challenging because you have to keep the picking hand fingertips away from adjacent strings after each pluck, despite only having a clearance of approximately a centimetre between each string. This technique is best for arpeggiated passages or multi-voice sections where notes need to sustain over others.

But today we're all about the rest stroke. For rest strokes, you also push the string perpendicularly inwards but this time allow the fingertip to land on the adjacent (lower, thicker) string.

Due to the mechanisms in play, rest stroke not only allows for easier access to a louder tone but is also ideal for plucking quick and/or bold single line melodies. This makes it a popular choice for legends like Paco Peña, as well as fingerpicking virtuosos like Marcin Patrzałek and Matteo Mancuso when whizzing through scalic runs.

What follows are eight examples that demonstrate the benefits of rest stroke, ways to overcome common hurdles when crossing strings and approaches to develop versatility and power for single note playing.

Example 1. Playing simple rest strokes well

By using just an open first string, your whole attention can be focused on honing your rest stroke technique. To start, perch your plucking hand thumb on the sixth string and perch your first finger (this is always shown as i underneath the tab) and second finger (m) on the second string. This sets up your picking hand's posture.

Now proceed to raise each finger away from the string fully-extended before firing them through the first string then coming to rest on the second string.

Aim to keep the shape of the finger constant through its motion, allowing a little ‘give’ in the joint closest to the fingertip. The amount of give in this joint determines how loud your pluck will be: the more flaccid the joint, the softer the resulting pluck will be.

Keep alternating your fingers between plucks – your hand should resemble a soccer player doing ‘keepie uppies’; as one finger goes down, the other comes up.

Example 2. Getting a great tone with rest strokes

Developing a round tone as a result of good rest stroke technique is your primary aim here. Mute the strings with your fretting hand then adjust your picking hand angle so a pluck results in a percussive click that has a deep and thick tone. Get this right and then all your actual notes will have body and projection.

This round tone can be relatively easy to achieve if you have no fingernails, but if you do have fingernails the challenge is to minimize the click caused when the nail connects with the string.

To reduce this, most classical guitarists file the edges of their nails into a smooth ramp and then contact with the string at the side of the fingertip. This plucking motion leads the string onto the ramp of the nail instead of colliding directly with the nail. You will likely find a slightly diagonal plucking motion is required to achieve this.

Example 3. Developing rest stroke versatility when crossing strings

Here you are practicing three notes per string counting in both 3's and 4's. In the first three bars, accent the first of every group of three notes and for the final three bars accent the first note of each bar.

This is quite a challenge at first, especially when reaching to a higher/thinner string with the first finger (i), but once proficient you will find changing strings to be relatively fluid and automatic.

Be sure to keep firing the fingers through the string, starting the plucking motion out in front of the string as opposed to ‘at’ the string.

Example 4. Applying three-notes-per-string to basic scale playing

With your focus shared between both the left and right hands, it can be easy to lose track of alternating fingers with the picking hand.

To help with this, visualize starting each string with the opposite of what the previous string started with. For example, the fifth string starts with the first (i) and the fourth string starts with the second (m), and so on.

Example 5. Applying three-notes-per-string to extended scale playing

In this exercise, you will cover the full range of strings in the same manner as example 4. In the opening bar, once you have finished plucking the three notes on the sixth string, perch your plucking hand thumb on that string to keep your plucking hand stable and relaxed.

As the fingers ascend through the remaining notes, only remove the thumb once you have returned back to the sixth string for the final three notes. If you struggle for tone and timing consistency, consider accenting the first of each group of three notes on each string as this will highlight your picking technique.

Example 6. Thumb free-stroke bass notes and rest stroke higher notes

You are now approaching a two-note texture where the high note gets plucked with a rest stroke finger (i or m) and the low note gets plucked with a free stroke thumb pluck (shown as p under the tab).

This technique can be a little tricky so in this example you are practicing plucking the note one after the other in both directions before plucking simultaneously.

For every instance your goal should be to maintain a static picking hand. Explore finding an angle that works for you, focusing on a still row of knuckles in the picking hand.

Example 7. Playing two-parts with rest stroke upper melody and free stroke bass notes

Here, you want to focus on maintaining an equal tone between the 2-note chords plucked p-i and p-m. It can feel a little like trying to pat your head with one hand whilst simultaneously rubbing your stomach with the other.

If maintaining alternating fingers is a significant challenge early on, explore plucking the upper voice staccato (clipped/short), placing the next note’s finger on the string immediately after plucking the previous note.

Example 8. Final two part piece using a rest stroke melody and free stroke bass notes

Here you are applying everything covered for a final mini-piece. Keep those picking hand fingers kicking up when they are not plucking, driving the fingers through the string every time with a strong rich tone.

In the fretting hand, relax the spread of the fingers and aim to make all movements when placing and removing notes come from the fingers rather than the hand itself.

Like Eric Clapton, he was told early in his career that his playing was too loud, too strident and outside the accepted norms of the day. This necessitated him largely pausing his solo career after 1967’s I Left My Blues In San Francisco to become a sideman for artists such as Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter, supplementing his income with club dates and working as a tow truck driver.

Thankfully, he hung on in there, and though his recorded output was minimal during the 1970s, his career really took off in the late ’80s and early ’90s and hasn’t slowed down since.

The focus in these examples isn’t to perfectly imitate Buddy’s playing because this would be an impossible task. Neither is it on extended scales, arpeggios or advanced music theory: everything is played within a few frets, using shapes 1 and 2 of the A minor pentatonic scale, with hardly any additions.

There is complexity in Buddy’s playing, but this is to be found more in the phrasing, particularly the rhythmic groupings. Longer held notes are deliberately contrasted with rapid-fire triplet bursts, taking pause between phrases for the vocals.

Obviously, demonstrating the silence between phrases would be of dubious benefit in this context, so please bear this in mind.

The examples were recorded separately but with the intention that they could be heard and/or played together as a continuous solo. I’m using the neck and middle single coils together with a fairly hard, driven sound. A bit of reverb is always nice, but the idea is to squeeze a lot out of a little. Enjoy and see you next time!

Example 1

In this opening phrase, there’s an instant switch from shape 1 to shape 2 of the A minor pentatonic scale. You’ll notice that the backing track is very major in its tonality, but blues often makes a feature of combining the two, or of treading a fine line between them.

There’s plenty of repetition here, with no hurry to burst into flurries of notes. There will be a little of that later, but this phrase is key to establishing the mood.

Example 2

Staying squarely within A minor pentatonic shape 1, this example starts out in a similar fashion to Example 1 but then unleashes some faster triplets going into bar 2. The importance of absolute accuracy in this is debatable.

While we don’t want to drop the ball completely, being too slick seems to lose the quality we’re after. Jimmy Page’s playing in I Can’t Quit You Baby is another example of this quality. Have a play and see what you think.

Example 3

Back to shape 2 to start with some repeated bends. Switching position for these is actually quite tricky, so after all that talk earlier of not being too accurate, this may be a surprise.

We stick with a similar vocabulary and rhythmic groupings until the end of bar 3, when we slide down towards shape 1.

Here’s an example of how not to be too slick: my first instinct was to go back and not play that A over the final E chord in bar 4 but spontaneity would have been lost.

Example 4

This is an alternate take over the first four bars, pulling out a few more stops. Note the C# and C natural playing off each other in bars 1 and 2. This is a clear example of the major/minor interplay we see so often in the blues.

The rest of this example reimagines some of the ideas we’ve already seen in a slightly different context, showing that there is always more than one way to deliver them.

Hear it here

Buddy Guy – Left My Blues in San Francisco

Buddy’s debut solo album was released in 1967. This is much more of a ‘soul’ sound than the rip-roaring blues Buddy became known for later in his career, but even though the guitar tones are cleaner and the arrangements more brass-heavy, the impassioned vocals and distinctive guitar are recognisable on Crazy Love.

I Suffer With The Blues features some edgier guitar, and Buddy’s Groove manages to capture the vibe of a live performance over a great rhythm section.

Buddy Guy – Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues

We’re skipping forward in time to 1991 and the album that finally established Buddy as a major recording artist in his own right. The arrangements are more rock than soul, and though there is brass, this more often forms part of the backdrop to Buddy’s guitar, rather than sharing centre stage.

You may have noticed that the examples/solo were somewhat inspired by Buddy’s playing on the title track. Elsewhere, check out the gospel 3/4 time of Early In The Morning and the laid-back phrasing of Black Night.

Buddy Guy – The Blues Don’t Lie

Buddy’s most recent release from 2022, the 16-track album The Blues Don’t Lie, has a polished rock sound, but his guitar and vocals retain the raw edge he has become so known for.

Check out the nimble soloing and wah-wah on opening track I Let My Guitar Do The Talking, and the more delicate touches on the autobiographical title track, which is more akin to that first album back in 1967. Well Enough Alone features hard-rock riffing with Buddy’s guitar slicing through the mix.

• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Hello everyone. Over the next several months I plan on sharing with you some of my approaches to playing, writing, and arranging music. I'll be discussing some of the concepts that I've gleaned over the years, illustrating them with some well-known – and a few not-so-well-known – musical examples.

Let's begin this first lesson by talking about what I've often heard people refer to as the classic Led Zeppelin “stomp groove.” A prime example of this can be found in the song Black Dog, from our fourth album.

As you probably already know, Led Zeppelin were heavily influenced by blues music – Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and many others.

I was inspired to write the Black Dog riff after learning an old blues riff in E from the Muddy Waters album, Electric Mud. [Ed. note: Jones later retracted this, citing Howlin’ Wolf’s Smokestack Lightning as his inspiration for the riff.]

It's a swampy, circular, single-note riff and Jimmy Page and I used to love to play it forever! I wanted to write an original riff that had that same type of busy, yet plodding, feel.

What I came up with has an extra beat thrown in at the end of the phrase. It just felt natural to hit the A note an extra time before Robert [Plant] came in again with the vocal.

I then came up with the bridge riff, which is in E. This riff is rather tricky-sounding, as it's built from a repeated phrase that is four-and-a-half beats long. Each time the phrase is repeated it's displaced by half a beat.

The E note, which falls neatly on beat one the first time the phrase is played, falls on the second eighth-note of beat one the second time around, on beat two the third time, and on the second eighth-note of beat two the fourth time. This technique of repeating an odd-length phrase in an even time signature such as 4/4 is known as hemiola and is a very effective compositional tool.

When this riff was played against Bonzo's [drummer John Bonham] half-time backbeat and doubled an octave higher on guitar, the result was a very powerful and catchy-sounding “stomp groove.” It seems that quite a few bands have picked up on this concept.

Originally, I wrote the bridge riff with different accents that disguised the beat even more. In the long run, however, playing it this way proved to be too tricky for everyone to hear and perform together without losing track of the beat, so we ended up changing the accent pattern to make the downbeats a little more obvious.

I used a pick for this song to get that growling, trebly tone. Many bass players scoff at the thought of using a plectrum for anything, but I've found it to be quite useful for a lot of things.

For example, during the chorus/solo sections of Black Dog, I would sometimes strum E5 and D5 power chords behind Page's G and D chords, especially when performing live. I really don't think the song would have sounded as punchy and “fat” if I hadn't used a pick.

A few years after we recorded this song, I started using an eight-string bass when performing it live. Since every note I played on that bass would be doubled one octave higher, it really helped fill out the middle register. This was particularly effective when Jimmy would go to solo.

Keep in mind that when it comes to creating music, there are no “rules.”

Look at Led Zeppelin – we broke just about every so-called rule of music and recording that there was, and for the most part, it seemed to have worked to our benefit. The only thing that really matters is that you like what you hear.

• This lesson originally appeared in the December 1996 issue of Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

In the late 1930s, Charlie Christian elevated the electric guitar to an essential solo instrument, paving the way for the electric blues of T-Bone Walker and rock pioneers Chuck Berry and Scotty Moore. These players in turn inspired blues rock icons such as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page.

All of these players made extensive use of the minor pentatonic scale because it is flexible over many chord progressions, with a bluesy sound that is intuitive for guitarists to play. Certainly, combining fast minor pentatonic sequences with expressive licks is a hallmark of many great guitar solos.

Moving to the '80s and beyond, the scale has been an integral part of impressive solos by Eric Johnson, Robben Ford and Gary Moore as well as rockers such as Zakk Wylde, Paul Gilbert and Nuno Bettencourt. Today, Joe Bonamassa, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram and Matteo Mancuso all excel with muscular pentatonic playing.

For this article, the following six minor pentatonic examples are in the key of A minor, so you'll be using the notes of A C D E G. Since each note is either found in the A minor chord (A C E), or can be bent up by a whole tone to one of these chord tones (D to E, G to A), the minor pentatonic is well suited to blues phrasing and bombastic rock blazing.

The six examples show solid approaches for using the minor pentatonic with confidence, control and speed. Each is designed to build upon the previous one, gradually introducing new techniques and patterns, before culminating in a solo study that brings everything together.

Let's go!

Example 1: Ascending and descending A minor pentatonic, shape 1

An ascending A minor pentatonic phrase grouped in four notes followed by a descending cascade grouped in six notes gives this lick an accelerating feel.

Picking every note will bring to mind players like Eric Johnson and Joe Bonamassa, but it also works great with fretting hand hammer-ons and pull-offs. Start slow, aiming for good note clarity and hand synchronisation before attempting 120bpm (and above).

Example 2: Jimmy Page's fast minor pentatonic style

If you're after fast and iconic minor pentatonic licks, this is a ripper, even if you just learn the first bar. While many late '60s/early '70s players had licks like this, Jimmy Page’s rapid-fire chops on early Led Zeppelin albums are an outstanding go-to source to learn how to burn with pentatonics.

Here, you'll be looping a blues bend/pull-off phrase that then merges into a descending sixes sequence. Make sure not to over-bend or to rush the pull-offs.

Example 3: Zakk Wylde and John Sykes styled pentatonic shredding

Joining adjacent pentatonic boxes with rapid alternative picking is a favorite technique of players like Zakk Wylde and the late John Sykes.

While some legato could be used, the machine-gun like attack of all notes being picked is a sure fire way of sounding bold and fiery.

Accent the first downstroke in each group of six to help keep your timing tight. Use a downward pick slant and angle to avoid the feeling of getting stuck between the strings.

Example 4: Michael Schenker and Marty Friedman style pentatonic blazing

Building on the previous example, this extended phrase combines rapid pull-offs with economy picking (using one stroke to cross two or more strings, either down or up). The higher picked notes on the first string are always played with an upstroke, while an economy downstroke (sweep) is used to play the second and first string notes.

It may take several practice sessions with these mini sweep picks – and to feel in control of your timing – but they can provide smooth technique with high tempo playing. Get this mastered then gradually up to 120bpm before tackling it at 160bpm and faster. You'll likely appreciate those gliding sweeps now.

Example 5: Nuno Bettencourt and Paul Gilbert-style power pentatonic playing

This has all the hallmarks of '80s shred: three-notes-per-string shapes, fast legato, alternate picking and wide stretches. And all this without venturing outside the minor pentatonic scale!

To build up to speed, start by drilling each group of six with hammer-ons before working up to the half-picked/half-hammered approach here. Get this one nailed over a period of time and you'll sound very modern and very shred!

Example 6: Minor pentatonic mastery – putting it all together

This works the previous five examples into a rock solo that builds in intensity to a speedy climax. Experiment with different rhythmic groupings and change up-picked/legato runs to make these licks your own. Happy pentatonic shredding!

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In my last column, I introduced an approach to playing through a 12-bar blues shuffle in the key of E with some of my favorite licks to play over the IV (four) chord, A7, and the V (five) chord, B7. This time, we’ll expand on these ideas with melodic phrases that work perfectly over these chord changes.

Figure 1 illustrates the 12-bar blues form in E, starting with the stock root-5th, root-6th boogie vamp pattern, moving from E5 (E and B) to E6 (E and C#) on each beat through bars 1-3. I begin bar 4 by sliding into a two-note shape known as a 6th, so called because the two notes – B and G# – are six major scale tones, or degrees, apart.

At the end of this bar, I anticipate the move to the IV chord by playing my open A string along with C#, the major 3rd of A, on the G string. This sets up the lick over A7 in bars 5 and 6.

On beat 2 of bar 5, I play, over an open A pedal tone, a lick based on the E blues scale (E, G, A, Bb, B, D), with the inclusion of F#, which can be thought of as either the 2nd, or 9th, of E or the 6th of A.

Over the last two beats of bar 6, I anticipate the change back to the I chord with a lick based on E the minor pentatonic scale (E, G, A, B, D) that also includes, G#, the major 3rd of E, and I stick with this sound through bars 7 and 8.

The end of bar 8 then anticipates the move to the V chord, B7, with a hammer-on from D to a D# that falls on beat 1 of bar 9. D# is the major 3rd of B7, and the remainder of the lick is based on B minor pentatonic (B, D, E, F#, A) with the inclusion of the 2nd, or 9th, C#.

In bar 10, I shift down two frets to play a similar line over A7. Notice that the “shape” of this phrase is nearly identical to what I played over B7, but now it’s a whole step and two frets lower.

Figure 2 offers a look at the shift from B7 to A7. Bar 1 begins with the notes D# and F#, which are the major 3rd and 5th of B7, and bar 2, played over A7, is a mashup of E minor pentatonic and E major pentatonic (E, F#, G#, B, C#). Figure 3 demonstrates another option for a great blues phrase to play on the change back to A7.

Let’s wrap up with Figure 4. In bar 1, over B7, I play simple two-note forms that descend from B7 to B6 to B, and in bar 2, over A7, I move the idea down a whole step and two frets to sound A7, A6 and A.

The phrase then ends with a classic oblique-motion blues turnaround, as a D note on the 5th string descends chromatically to B, picked together with a reiterated high E root note sounded on the 2nd string.

You’ll hear these kinds of licks in the playing of Chicago blues guitar greats like Jimmy Rogers, the Myers Brothers and Luther Tucker, not to mention the great Texas guitarist Johnny Winter, whose ’80s albums with Muddy Waters, such as Hard Again, I’m Ready and King Bee, are fantastic and must-listens for all blues guitar fans.

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

One of my favorite sounds in blues and blues-rock soloing is utilizing the “blue note.” I’m talking about the flatted 5th, or b5, which is located one half step below the 5th of the root note of whatever chord you’re relating to.

Let’s use the key of G as our point of reference: Figure 1 begins with a G5 chord, establishing the “home base” sound of the I (one) chord. I follow this with the single notes G, then the minor 3rd, Bb, then the b5, Db, which I proceed to bend up a half step to D, the 5th. I then play these same notes an octave higher, followed by a phrase that descends through the G blues scale (G, Bb, C, Db, D, F).

Notice in the last bar that I mphasize the b5, Db, before ending the phrase with the notes C, Bb and G.

When I was first learning the guitar, I found that when playing the G blues scale, as shown in Figure 2, the inclusion of the b5 in this scale added a really cool, bluesy sound, one that we all know and love. It’s a tried-and-true sound that we’ve heard in the soloing of all of our favorite players, from Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter and Leslie West to Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde.

I discovered that using the b5 as a landing note added suspense and drama to my melody playing. One of the things I would suggest to everyone is to get that note “in your ear” and try using it as more than as just a passing tone.

Let’s take a simple riff like Figure 3: I begin on the G root note, then walk up the G blues scale with the notes Bb, C, Db, and D, then walk back down. A neat, twisty way to add expression to this phrase is to bend up to the b5, as demonstrated in Figure 4.

After playing G, Bb and C, I bend the C, which is the 4th of G, up a half step to Db then proceed to bend it up a whole step to the 5th, D. I then partially release the bend back to Db, followed by a vibrato-ed C note.

Another cool thing to do is, instead of bending all the way up to the 5th, just bend up to the flatted 5th, Db, as your final destination, as demonstrated in Figure 5.

I like to isolate the b5 within a phrase to make the note stand out. In Figure 6, the phrases played in each bar emphasize Db as a target note, which results in a very distinct sound.

Using the b5 in this way changes one’s perception on where to start and stop within an improvised phrase. Figure 7 offers a longer, nine-bar example that emphasizes the b5 throughout. Bar 2 begins on a low Db, followed by Db an octave higher. In bars 3 and 4, I repeatedly play F, D and Db as triplets as I approach the end of the phrase in bar 5.

Bar 7 offers another angle, with the emphasis of the repeating Db-Bb-G triplets. Bar 8 brings us back to a more straightforward blues-rock style phrase, followed in bar 9 with another targeted Db note.

Emphasizing the b5 is a great way to put a fresh spin on a sound we already know and add some flair to our improvised solo ideas.

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

When Swedish metal icons Meshuggah unleashed their mighty, low down, single-string riffs on Nothing in 2002, the meaning of the word heavy was henceforth redefined. From then, the 8-string guitar has gradually gained more popularity in the progressive metal sphere, with bands like Periphery, Animals as Leaders, Dream Theater and Sleep Token underpinning their music with the extended range of the instrument.

Simply put, the 8-string is a 6-string with two extra low strings. The most common tuning from low to high is F# B E A D G B E (that is, standard guitar tuning with low B and F# strings). There is also a drop E version for extra heaviness (low to high): E B E A D G B E. Pitch-wise, this essentially takes the 8-string guitar into bass guitar territory, but the lighter string gauge and the various pickup options lend it a different sonic character.

Popular string gauges for the low eighth string (F#) can range from around 0.64 (light) to 0.80 (normal/heavy). The tuning stability and string tension is often aided by a longer scale length of around 27”, which is often aided by fanned frets to make the lower strings longer than the higher ones, much like the strings under the lid of a piano.

In this article you’ll use transferrable six-string skills that can be applied to the 8-string, so you’ll be up and running in no time. Across the six examples you'll expand scale shapes across eight strings, use octave shapes to aid navigation, play new chord shapes with wide interval spacing, plus use essential riffing techniques such as single note syncopation and effective string muting.

Sonically, you will need a clean tone and a distorted tone. For the clean tone, use mild compression, chorus and some delay to keep dynamics even and to help notes blend together. For the distorted tone, a boost pedal in front of an overdriven amp will help control the low end and prevent it from sounding flubby.

Example 1 . A minor pentatonic scale for 8-string guitar

This is an obvious way to get acquainted with the lower strings: playing the A minor pentatonic. Start at the 8th fret on the first string using your fourth finger and descend the A minor pentatonic scale [A C D EG ], using the same fingering you would use on your 6-string guitar.

Once you reach the root note on the sixth string, add four more notes on the lowest two strings, then shift down to the 3rd fret and ascend in this adjacent position. In short, you're descending shape 1, then ascending shape 5, of A minor pentatonic on an 8-string guitar.

Example 2. Low octaves to develop familiarity

This riff provides a great way to map out the natural notes along the eighth string (F# string). First play the familiar G A B C D E F notes along the sixth string with your fourth finger. After each note add the octave below with your first finger positioned two-frets and two-strings lower. For note variety and rhythmic color you will alternate the fretted notes with the open eighth string for some serious Swedish riffage in the vein of Meshuggah’s Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström.

Example 3. Chugging with low notes and rhythmic syncopation

This riff uses just two notes G and F#, but the focus is on the rhythmic syncopation. You can think of this as a pattern of nine eighth-notes which repeats three times, then ending with a phrase of five eighths. Use both fret-hand and palm muting to keep the rests in-between absolutely silent.

Example 4. Arpeggiating with eight strings

This upbeat clean arpeggio part is reminiscent of Misha Mansoor and friends from Periphery. Keep your third and fourth fingers on the 4th fret notes while allowing the first string to ring together with them. Use your first and second fingers to reach down to the low strings' bass notes.

Tip: use the picking directions shown, at least to begin with, as keeping arpeggios sustaining on an 8-string guitar can be tricky and you might be inclined to readjust your picking hand posture. All down strokes then all up strokes is the most straightforward option here.

Example 5. Lead line using the A harmonic minor scale

Exotic scales and 8-string guitars can be perfect partners so here's a great example to get you comfortable across all eight strings. This lick is based in the A Harmonic minor scale [A B C D E F G#] and can be viewed as four different octaves of the scale, with each octave played on two pairs of strings. Use alternate picking to descend each six notes of the scale, and fret using your fourth, third and first fingers. Shift your first finger down a fret to finish each descent (eg Bar 2, beat 1's G# note at the 9th fret, second string) and add vibrato to the sustained notes.

Example 6. Putting it all together

This final example is a mini piece that combines techniques from the previous examples and has a Dream Theater-style flow with various twists and turns. Start with the arpeggiated clean chords, followed by a tight riff version of this theme; play both sections with downstrokes throughout. Next play the descending scale with alternate picking and finish with the sixteenth-note F# Phrygian [F# G A B C# D E] riff using a combination of palm-mutes and hammer-ons.

Great examples of 8-string guitar

Meshuggah – Bleed

For many, Meshuggah are titans in the world of progressive metal. Bleed first featured on their 2008 album, ObZen and has since become a popular live song. Listen to the low string rhythmic syncopations on two 8-string guitars – it sounds aggressively huge!

Animals As Leaders – Monomyth

Being that he has his own range of guitars, Tosin Abasi is a leading light for 8-string excellence and his approach is unique and instantly identifiable. Monomyth uses the full range of the guitar, from arpeggio based melodies, to fusion-esque chords to thumping slap guitar percussive riffing, all combined in a seamless composition.

Periphery – 22 Faces

Periphery's huge and intricate sound is headed up by three guitarists: Misha Mansoor, Jake Bowen and Mark Holcomb. This live rendition of 22 Faces is an excellent example of their creativity with 8-string guitars.

Sleep Token – The Summoning

The low end riffing by IV (yes, that is his credited name) on The Summoning is used as a perfect balance to Vessel’s emotive vocal melodies. It also finds space to add djent inspired syncopation, locking in tight with the bass and drums. Emotive soloing too at 2:04 – beautiful brutality indeed.

Dream Theater – In The Arms Of Morpheus

The latest Dream Theater album Parasomnia opens with an instrumental featuring some hefty, magisterial tones from John Petrucci's signature Music Man Majesty 8-string. This is still the Dream Theater we love, but with added dimension, proving that the instrument can adapt to and enhance the player’s style, without defining it. Check out the heavy riff he drops at 1:52 and then gets even more intense at 2.37.

I first heard Eric Johnson play via a tear-out flexi-disc that was included in Guitar Player magazine back in 1986. It was his studio recording of his virtuosic masterpiece Cliffs of Dover.

I had never heard anything like that in my life! I was into Hendrix and SRV and many other guitarists, but I hadn’t heard anything like what Eric was doing. The tone, the technique, everything!

Eric was on the cover of the magazine, with the headline, “Is Eric Johnson the greatest unknown guitar player?” He had been working with Christopher Cross and kicking around Texas, but he didn’t hit the mainstream until releasing his first two solo albums, Tones and Ah Via Musicom.

A lot of my faster playing and phrasing comes directly from Eric’s influence. I apologize to him every time I see him! He’s nice enough to say, “We all get it from somewhere.”

Perfect examples are the fast cascading pentatonics, such as those in Figure 1, that I often incorporate into my solos. Here, I begin with a D note, the flatted 7th (b7) of E, which I then bend up to E and shake vigorously, followed by a line that descends straight down the E dominant pentatonic scale (E, G#, A, B, D).

Figure 2 illustrates a longer line that ascends and descends within E minor pentatonic (E, G, A, B, D). I begin in 12th position and then shift up to 15th position at the end of bar 1, wrapping up the phrase in 14th position in bar 3. These scalar phrases are built from fast 16th notes and are articulated as clearly as possible.

Eric uses more hammer-ons and pull-offs than I do, whereas I like to pick every note. I struggle with legato-style phrasing because it just hasn’t been a part of my approach to playing. My approach to these lines is like a hybrid of Al Di Meola and Eric Johnson, picking every note, as in Figure 3, which once again is built from fast ascending and descending 16th notes.

Notice that these long phrases are structured primarily in four-note groups. Also, the numerous quick position shifts in bars 1-6 are essential to making these phrases “speak” properly. The figure ends in bars 9 and 10 with fast ascending 16th-note triplets, culminating with a high natural harmonic (N.H.), sounded above what would be the 24th fret.

Eric also loves to play distinct, open-voiced three-note chord voicings, such as those shown in Figure 4, which have become a signature of his unique style.

These sounds and techniques have been an important part of my playing for as long as I’ve had the facility to hear and use them. And Eric’s approach to equipment is equally important.

When other guitarists had racks of modern digital gear with dozens of switchable sounds, Eric, even when playing live, switched between three completely different rigs consisting of vintage tube amps and analog pedals, all of which might be on the verge of exploding at any minute.

I subscribe to the same model. That’s why I play through seven amps! Old gear? It may not work today, but tomorrow it could change your life.

• Breakthrough is out July 18 and is available to preorder via J&R Adventures.
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

A great approach for all rhythm guitar players is this: think like a drummer! Granted, the drummer is the one who is driving the song’s momentum, but rhythm guitar can similarly contribute.

Let’s begin with some simple things we guitarists can do that are derived from a standard drumbeat, the primary elements of which are the patterns played on the kick drum, snare, and hi-hats.

If we think of just the kick alternating with the snare, we’ve got, “Boom, kahh, boom-boom, kahh.” Add the hi-hat, and it’s, “Tss, tss, kahh, boom, boom-boom, kah, tss, boom, kahh” etc.

We can emulate these different elements on the guitar. Starting with the hi-hat, Figure 1 shows a series of fret-hand-muted strings sounded as straight eighth notes. We also have low and high notes.

Figure 2 emulates the alternating kick-to-snare sound that falls on the quarter-note downbeats, with a low G serving as the kick and a G one octave up functioning as the snare.

Also available to guitar players is the sound of harmony and melody. Putting all these things together will result in a rhythm guitar part that contributes to the groove akin to a drum set, but with the added bonus of pitches and timbres.

Figure 3 offers an example of a rhythm part that combines these different drumset-like elements, played in the key of G. The initial low G note in bar 1 represents the kick drum, followed by muted-string accents that function like the hi-hats.

On beat 2, I slide into a two-note G7 voicing in the place of the snare accent, and beats 3 and 4 feature E and F bass notes walking up to G in alternating octaves. Bar 2 is virtually the same, but I stop on the low F on beat 4. The two-bar phrase is played three and a half times and ends with a chordal accent on G7.

Figure 4 presents another rhythm part, this one a little simpler, to help drive the point home. Here, the four elements are the low G, played on beat 1 of each bar; the two-note G7 voicing, played on beat 2, the Bb-to-B hammer-on played on beat 3, and the E-to-F eighth notes on beat 4. To me, this is a great example of how a rhythm guitarist can think like a drummer.

Let’s move to the key of E minor and shift between the i (one minor) chord, Em9, and the IV (four) chord, A7, the voicings of which are illustrated in Figure 5.

Figure 6 is a nine-bar rhythm part built from alternating bars of Em9 and A7. Notice the dead-string accents that fall on various upbeats and downbeats. Additionally, I slide up from the last note(s) at the end of each bar to add emphasis to the chord change. In bar 5, I drop in a high E unison bend, which functions like a one-beat “horn blast.”

We can elaborate on this idea, as shown in Figure 7, which sounds a high Em9 on beat 1 and emulates a crash-cymbal accent.

The more you think like a drummer, the more you’ll be able to effectively lock in with the rhythm section. If your bass player is thinking along the same lines, you both will add a lot of value to the groove.

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.