One Man, Eight Guitar Pedals!

Hey everyone, happy new year, hope you all had a great season!

This post isn’t a lesson, more  of a play through of my 8 overdrive and distortion pedals exploring the diversity between each one tone wise.

I plugged into a Fender twin reverb top through a 2×12 mesa cab with a clean tone.

I did this to get the best idea of each pedal’s organic sound.

The pedals I run though, not in order, are as follows:

BK Butler Tube Driver, Heavy Metal Pedal, Metal Driver, Ibanez TS9, Ibanez TS10, DOD 250, Fab Overdrive, Boss Super Overdrive.

Most of these pedals were purchased in the 80s, the exception being the BK Butler.

This is a newer model from the early 2000s.

I hope you enjoy this little run through in the Youtube video below and I will catch you next time.

Cheers!

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5 Classic Blues Turnarounds

Hey everyone, today I tackle these 5 classic blues turnarounds that will help you take your blues playing to the next level!

Example 1 is a single note riff based on a descending sequence of notes with the following sequence; root, b7, 6, b6 and finally 5.

You will see that a lot of turnarounds contain these kinds of lines.

Example 2 is just the opposite.  A rising line based on root, 3rd, 4th, #4th, and ending on a 5th.

In example 3 I utilized 6th intervals that move in chromatic fashion from root, 7th, the b7th, eventually ending up on the root again.

Example 4 also utilizes 6ths but now climbing in the opposite direction going from root, to b7th, 7th and back to root in a different inversion.

Example 5 is like taking example 1 and 2 and combining them into what is called contrary motion.  This one would make Bach proud lol!

Anyway, scroll down to see the tab below and follow along with the Youtube video below that for more detail.

Cheers!

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Stevie Ray Vaughan – Freight Train rhythm part 2!

Hey everyone, back with some more SRV, rhythm mastery!

Today I am looking at 4 pieces of Stevie’s rhythm playing.

First up we have Scuttle Buttin’, a blistering instrumental record that is as impressive and difficult as it sounds.

Scuttle uses the Em blues scale in open and 2nd position.

I use my index finger to pluck the higher strings but SRV did it all with pick from the videos I have seen.

Tab is below:

The second piece is Tightrope, a funky tune in B that utilizes an interesting 9th chord voicing, and syncopated rhythm.

Check out the tab and also the video at the bottom of the page for more clarity.

Next up we have Couldn’t Stand The Weather, off the album of the same name.  This tune is funky as heck.

Don’t try to play it exact, it is more of a jam.  Get the strumming hand going steady up and down and let your creativity take over.

Finally we have House Is Rocking from SRV’s final album “In Step.”

This is an upbeat blues number in C and utilizes some large stretches. Make sure to warm up with some stretches before tackling this bad boy.

See tab below.

Thanks and enjoy the video below!

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Stevie Ray Vaughan Freight Train Rhythm!

Hey everyone, this episode we are going through the amazing rhythm of one Stevie Ray Vaughan, AKA SRV.

Before we get to the tab, let’s go through a few details that can help reproduce these tunes more accurately.

SRV liked to use thick strings (13s!  OUCH) and tune them down to Eb440, ie Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Bb, Eb.

He used medium picks and that can definitely help for some of the faster rhythm stuff.

SRV also used a stratocaster guitar and liked to use the out of phase pickup between the neck and bridge pickup.

Let’s jump into the tab!

Rude Mood

This tune is probably SRV’s fastest tune on record and must be approached using alternate picking and a lot of fret hand dampening to create a clean sound.

Work up the speed slowly.

Here is the tab and video lesson is at bottom of page:

Page 1 Rude Mood

Pride & Joy

This tune involves a ton of left hand dampening I refer to as the “oven mitt” technique lol.

You will see in the video why I say this.

Intro can be a bit tricky as it does not start on beat 1 like it sounds.

Here is the tab and video lesson is at bottom of page:

Pride & Joy tab pg. 1

Cold Shot

This one is a slow blues in A minor.

I did a few parts of the tune and consolidated them down to show how rhythmically intense SRV could be, particularly the last part of this tab.

You will need to use your thumb for the bass notes, ala Jimi Hendrix.

Here is the tab and video lesson is at bottom of page:

Page 1 Cold Shot

Here is the video. Enjoy!

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10 Coolest Les Paul Guitar Riffs!

Hey everyone, this one is just me playing through a bunch of really cool guitar riffs that were recorded on a Gibson Les Paul.

If you would like the tabs, message me at the link in the video below.

Cheers!

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Hey everyone, I hope you summer is going swimmingly.

I just wanted to check in and show you the 3 simplest campfire songs you could learn before the end of summer.

Learn these tunes and you will have your buddies mesmerized!

The first song is 3 Little Birds.  Below is the arrangement but watch the video at the bottom for more in depth instruction.

Next up we have Time Of Your Life by Green Day.  See the video at the bottom for a detailed description

Finally we have Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran.

Alright, I hope that quenched your thirst for easy acoustic guitar arrangements of your favorite songs.

Until next time, thanks and have a great rest of the summer!

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How To Play The Rise Solo by Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme

Hey everyone, sorry for the long delay getting this together.

Very busy the last several months with non musical stuff but I am back and ready to show you the RIGHT way to play the ending of the RISE solo by Nuno Bettencourt.

Check out the video below for detailed instructions on how to tackle this difficult section of the solo.

Tab is also available under the video.

Lots of stretching so be prepared by warming up your hands before you try this.

If you are interested in lessons with me just hit the “book lesson now” tab and send me your details and I will get back to you promptly.

Hope you enjoy!

RISE solo TAB page 2

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Eddie’s guitar choice for his tribute?

As we patiently wait to find out if a tribute to Eddie Van Halen happens, I thought it would be a fun little video to make on the subject of who Eddie might have wanted to fill his shoes.

In the video below I discuss how I came up with my theory on who Eddie may have wanted to play in his absence.

This time I put the video first as to not spoil the answer to the question.

Don’t look at the tab until after you watch the video and then you can learn the music I presented from who I think Eddie would have do the gig.

So yes, video below then under that tab for the musical example in the video.

Cheers!

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Rock Guitar Techniques – Part 4

Hey everyone, back for the 4th and final installment of rock guitar techniques.

Today I will show you a few techniques that guys like Eddie Van Halen, and Yngwie etc. used often and still do in the case of Yngwie.

Make sure you don’t stop at these examples, explore these topics further.  Knowledge is power.

There is tabulature and  the video lesson below.

Here we go!

1. Economy picking

I remember watching a video of Yngwie Malmsteen playing and was amazed at the precision of his picking hand and how it was so efficient.

It wasn’t until many years later that I realized the technique Yngwie employed was rest stroke picking AKA economy picking.

The technique is essentially playing an odd number of notes on 1 string and allowing the pick to fall through the strings to the next string without making a dedicated movement.

This use of economy allows for much greater speeds to be maintained.  The only caveat is that some dynamics and timing is sacrificed.

Check out the tab below in Fig 1 and follow the pick motion I suggest.

2. Tap harmonics

First time I heard this technique was in the solo piece “Spanish Fly” from the album Van Halen II by none other than Edward Van Halen.

Eddie later went on to expand greatly on this technique with the amazing “Mean Streets Intro” on the Fair Warning album.

This technique involves a very light touch and accuracy with the tapping location of the harmonic.  If you are off by a millimeter you will hit the suck button lol!

Check out Fig 2 for the example.

3. Yngwie and Eddie picking styles

Eddie Van Halen’s patented hammer 2 notes and pick 3 on the adjacent string should be required learning for all nascent shredders.

Eddie was one of the first in rock guitar to bring blistering technique to the style.

Fig 3 is an exercise I devised.  Follow the picking laid out in the tab and you will improve your EVH style scale runs greatly.

Yngwie also has his favorite innovation when picking his favorite scale, the harmonic minor scale.

Yngwie devised an ingenius way to play descending scales fast and still sound like he was picking every note.

This technique involves picking 2 notes and pulling off the 3rd on one string, then picking 4 notes on the adjacent string descending.

This allows the pick to always pick the new string with a downstroke and saves us a stroke with each of the pull offs that happen in the 7 note pattern.

Check out figure 4 below for the example.

Thanks and please check out lessons 1, 2, and 3 of the series if you haven’t yet.

Video and tab below.

Tab for rock techniques

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Hey everyone, back for the 3rd installment of rock guitar techniques.

In this lesson I go a little more in depth.

Today I will show you several techniques that the famous guitarists like Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie etc. used to make their playing shine in the 80s and 90s.

These techniques are difficult and will take some time to master so take it slow and get things right before trying to play them faster.

There is tabulature and video lesson below.

Let’s get started!

1. String Skipping

The first time I heard this technique was on a Racer X CD by a guy named Paul Gilbert. The arpeggios he played had a different sound and I had to find out how to do it.

Luckily enough Paul put out a lesson video in the late 80s so I could see this neat technique in action.

Check out the tab below in Fig 1 and follow the pick strokes or come up with your own

2. Alternate picking

This technique is the defacto way most rock guitarists pick and is important because it achieves the best tone (other than straight downstrokes) that you can get out of a guitar.

Again I harken to Paul Gilbert who had a mini lesson in an advertisement for GIT back in the 80s.

The idea is to pick down then up or vice versa and not waver from that pattern.

Check out Fig 2 and follow picking or start with an upstroke.

3. Sweep picking

This is a technique I first heard used by Yngwie Malmsteen although I know many other guitarists in other genres such as jazz were technically using it.

The idea with sweeping is to have a shape in mind and let the pick fall through the strings as your fret hand release the notes you already played.

Check out figures 3 and 4 below for examples.

Thanks and see you for Rock Techniques part 4!

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