4 minute read
WELCOME
JIMMY PAGE. Where does one start when admiring Led Zeppelin’s guitarist? Riffs? Of course. His have shaped what rock music means all over the world, from Black Dog to Immigrant Song. Lead solos? Definitely, from dynamic blues phrasing to roaring flurries, his range is beyond impressive. Heartbreaker’s middle solo is just one example. Rhythmic elements? Absolutely, odd time signatures, syncopated darting between the beats and emphatic power statements are rife. For starters: Kashmir. Acoustic picking? His acoustic chops are as arresting as his electric abilities. Going To California and Tangerine are just two of my favourites.
And so the list goes on. In short, there isn’t a guitarist that has staked more sonic ground, more imagination with more breadth to bigger audiences than Jimmy Page. He is, pretty much without exception, the definitive role model for being a guitarist in a band. Within Led Zeppelin, he did the full mass appeal version of what a guitarist can be first, with more impact than any of his peers.
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We heartily embrace that this issue as Jon Bishop deftly presents four study pieces that show much of what we all love about Page. There’s a rousing rock riffer, an expressive slow blues, a DADGAD tuned strummer and a wonderful fingerpicker to provide four stylistic strands of the great man’s majesty. We hope you enjoy playing through it all.
As for the rest of the issue, it’s a pleasure to present so much variety; we’ve nine video examples of brilliant licks, riffs and chords from Eric Gales plus six gypsy jazz licks (again, on video) from GT’s own John Wheatcroft to highlight his new album, First Light. The emotive Caro Mio Ben has been arranged for solo guitar by Declan Zapala (his video performance is exquisite) and the fingerpicking skills of country superstar Keith Urban are shown on video by Stuart Ryan. John Wheatcroft looks at the jazzy blues of Billy Butler (if you’ve not heard of him do check him out!), Charlie Griffiths presents the shred licks of Zakk Wylde, and David Gerrish shows the bluesy soloing of rocker Dan Patlansky. AC/DC riffing and soloing comes courtesy of Martin Cooper and we’ve the first of a four-part series focused on groovy funk guitar by Steve Allsworth. Until the next issue, keep happy, keep listening and keep playing!
Jason Sidwell, Editor Jason.sidwell@futurenet.com
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GT USER GUIDE
& 1 E 2 B 3 G 4 D 5 A 6 E 2nd string 3rd fret œ 2nd string 1st fret œ 3rd string 2nd fret œ 4th string Open œ 3 1 2 0
MUSICAL STAVE
GUITAR TECHNIQUES: HOW THEY APPEAR IN WRITTEN MUSIC...
Picking
Up and down picking
Tremolo œ @ @
FRETTING HAND
Hammer-on & Pull-off œ b @ @ 5 4 7 8 œ @ @ n Each of the four notes are to be alternate picked (down& up-picked) very rapidly and continuously.
TAB Under the musical stave, Tab is an aid to show you where to put your fingers on the fretboard. The six horizontal lines represent the six strings on a guitar – the numbers on the strings are fret numbers.
& E B G D A E œ œ œ œ n # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ n œ œ PM PM 8 8 7 7 6 6 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 Palm muting n Palm mute by resting the edge of picking-hand’s palm on the strings near the bridge. picking & E B G D A E
Slides (Glissando) Note Trills & n Pick 1st note and hammer on with fretting hand for 2nd note. Then pick 3rd note and pull off for 4th note. n Rapidly alternate between the two notes indicated in brackets with hammer-ons and pull-offs.
BENDING AND VIBRATO
Bend
Pick rake
Appeggiate ¿ ¿ ¿ rake X X X n Drag the pick across the strings shown with a single sweep. Often used to augment a rake’s last note. n Play the notes of the chord by strumming across the relevant strings in the direction of the arrow head. w 5 n Pick 1st note and slide to the 2nd note. The last two notes show a slide with the last note being re-picked. n Sound the notes marked with a square by hammering on/tapping with the frettinghand fingers. up/down Pre bend Re-pick bend Quarter-tone bend
n Bend up to the pitch shown in the brackets, then re-pick the note while holding the bent note at the new pitch.
HARMONICS n Pick the note and then bend up a quarter tone (a very small amount). Sometimes referred to as blues curl.
Natural harmonics Pinched harmonics Artificial harmonics Tapped harmonics
& E B G D A E ‚ · ‚ · ‚ · ‚ ‚ ‚ # · · · NH 12 7 12 7 12 7 & E B G D A E ‚ · ‚ · ‚ · AH16 AH17 AH19 4 7 5 & E B G D A E — ± — ± — ± PH 7 5 7 & E B G D A E ‚ · ‚ · ‚ · TH17 TH19 TH17 4 5 7
n Pick the note while lightly touching the string directly over the fret indicated. A harmonic results.
n Fret the note as shown, but dig into the string with the side of the thumb as you sound it with the pick.
n Fret the note as shown, but sound it with a quick righthand tap at the fret shown (TH17) for a harmonic.
n markings represent notes muted by the fretting hand when struck by the picking hand.
CAPO n A capo creates a new nut, so the above example has the guitar’s ‘literal’ 5th fret now as the 3rd fret.
TAPPING
