PLAY blues • rock • jazz • acoustic • lead • rhythm • AND MORE! 259 AUGUST 2016
The world’s best guitar lessons!
spice it up with some...
Exotic
BLUES Learn new notes to excite your sound Ditch those tired old predictable licks Master ‘outside’ playing today!
TRIBUTE
PLUS Play
great acoustic like John Mayer!
Lonnie Mack Play hot blues-rock like a true legend
ESSENTIAL SKILLS
tapping Stamina Put power in your second third and fourth fingers
rock like...
AC/DC Learn the rhythm & lead styles of Angus & Malcolm Young
Your Style Masterclasses Learn great licks from the greatest players! Featuring: Al Di Meola, Tomoyasu Hotei, White Lion
ISSUE 259 } august 2016 Just some of your regular GT technique experts... richard barrett One of the best players around, Richard is adept at most styles but truly excels in the bluesier side of rock. He currently plays with Spandau’s Tony Hadley.
Shaun Baxter One of the UK’s most respected music educators, Shaun has taught many who are now top tutors themselves. His Jazz Metal album is considered a milestone.
jon bishop Jon is one of those great all-rounders who can turn his hand to almost any style. No ‘Jack of all trades and master of none’, he nails every one with ease!
les davidson Les has worked with Mick Taylor, Rumer, Jon Anderson, Pete Townshend, Tina Turner & more. He also runs a recording studio and teaches at BIMM London.
charlie griffiths Guitar Institute tutor Charlie first came to fame in Total Guitar’s Challenge Charlie series. He’s also one of the UK’s top rock, metal and fusion guitarists.
phil hilborne The UK’s original magazine guitar tutor, Phil’s something of a legend. A great player, he’s currently touring Europe with the Champions Of Rock show.
pat heath BIMM Brighton lecturer, ESP product demonstrator and all-round busy musician, Pat brings you six cool licks each month in 30-Minute Lickbag.
bridget mermikides Guildhall and Royal Academy trained, Bridget is a Royal College of Music, examiner, a respected classical player and award-winning blues guitarist.
www.myfavourite magazines.co.uk
Welcome During my years on guitar mags, and having done a bit of teaching myself, one misconception still crops up: “If I learn that scale, I’ll be able to play like that person.” Every teacher will tell you how many times he or she gets asked to show a student the Mixolydian so they can sound like Larry, the half-diminished so they can sound like Robben, or the Harmonic minor so they can sound like Yngwie. Sadly, this ignores the fact that these players aren’t about ‘scales’. They’re musicians who’ve put in years of practice, done 1,000s of gigs, trained a naturally gifted ear and innate sense of taste to become the fabulous artists that they are. They’ve developed sublime touch and feel, and probably a few tasty chops into the bargain. It’s tempting to believe that there are ‘secret’ notes that such people play: “I know they’re on my guitar’s fretboard; if only someone would show me where!” The truth is that, whatever new ‘thing’
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we learn, we also have to learn to apply it. If you’ve got rubbish vibrato and your string bending sucks, learning a new mode won’t fix it; if you don’t know all five minor Pentatonic shapes, what makes you think you’ll apply yourself better to a scale that’s got two extra notes in it? It’s tough, but this is the reality of being a musician. But there is some good news! Here at GT when we show you a new scale, we also show you how to use it in context, with a bit of background theory thrown in. Hence the Altered ideas in this month’s Exotic Blues feature will let you apply some cool sounding notes to licks that will make you sound great. But you’ll need to dig deeper, discover how to make these notes work over other chords, and then apply such ideas to your own playing - including that ever-improving bending and vibrato!
Neville Marten, Editor neville.marten@futurenet.com
Don’t miss our amazing digital edition Guitar Techniques’ digital edition is now even better!
milton mermikides One of the country’s most respected music professors Milton’s list of credits is embarrassingly long. Go to miltonline. com to learn all about him.
Stuart Ryan Head of Guitar at BIMM Bristol, Stu is an acoustic guitar virtuoso who performs throughout the UK. His latest book/CD The Tradition is available now.
justin sandercoe One of the most successful guitar teachers ever, justinguitar.com is a mine of information, and his YouTube channel boasts almost 500,000 subscribers!
iain scott For over 25 years Iain has taught in the UK’s top schools and academies, as well as a stint at GIT in LA. He can also boast playing with the legend Brian Wilson!
john wheatcroft A phenomenal guitarist, John is a master at all styles but a legend in Gypsy Jazz. His new album Ensemble Futur is out now on iTunes and Amazon.
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PLUS! Get a FREE iPad/iPhone sample of GT. For full details and how to receive our digital edition regularly, go to bit.ly/guitartechniques (if you live in the UK) or bit.ly/guitartechus (overseas). You can also find us on www.zinio.com (Please note: Zinio editions do not have interactive tab or audio).
Disc audio Sometimes the GT CD features some article’s backing tracks as mp3 files due to space. These will be found in a folder on the CD-ROM section of the disc, accessible only via a computer and not a conventional CD player. August 2016
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CONTENTS TURN TO PAGE 26 NOW FOR THE LATEST SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS
• C ON T E N T S • AUGU S T 2 016 •
LEARNING ZONE Lessons Introduction
59
30-minute lickbag
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Jason Sidwell considers the diversity of styles in this issue of Guitar Techniques BIMM’s Pat Heath has six more great licks at easy, intermediate and advanced levels
blues
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rock
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HARD ROCK
70
jazz
74
Acoustic
80
creative rock
84
choRD CAMP
90
IN THE WOODSHED
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Les Davidson tips his hat to the blue-eyed soul man, the wonderful Lonnie Mack! Martin Cooper checks out the influential sound of Japanese blues rock guitarist and composer Tomosayu Hotei One of the most forgotten hair bands of the 80s: White Lion and Vito Bratta gets the Charlie Griffiths treatment
John Wheatcroft explores the style of one of the world’s most exciting pickers: Al Di Meola Stuart Ryan looks at the acoustic side of electric blues star and pop icon: John Mayer Part two of Shaun Baxter’s exploration of Mixolydian triads Iain Scott applies augmented triads to retro, jazz and Latin grooves
Nev’s own Custom Shop 1960 Fender Strat cover guitar
Charlie Griffiths taps with fingers 2,3 & 4
FEATURES
Welcome
COVER FEATURE EXOTIC BLUES Playing the Altered scale
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Justin Sandercoe’s new column; plus Session Shenanigans, Jam Tracks and more.
talkback
Your comments and communications...
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Subscriptions
26
BACK ISSUES
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Missed a copy of GT in the last six months? See how you can get it here!
Albums
BRETT GARSED Video Masterclass
38
TIM LERCH Video Masterclass
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In the third instalment of this video masterclass, Brett plays over a harmonicallychallenging piece, Beyond The Void
In the final instalment of this three-part series, Tim offers up more ideas for a 12 bar blues. Milton Mermikides is your guide. Tim Lerch: ideas for a 12-bar blues
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Roger Newell reviews this month’s releases: Paul Gilbert, John Mayall and the Dan Reed Network.
USER GUIDE
transcription Gaspar Sanz Canarios
Intro
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SPECIAL FEATURE They’re the hottest sibling act in rock history! Jamie Humphries explores the killer playing style of the Brothers Young!
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Nev explores the value of teaching techniques.
John Wheatcroft shows you how to broaden your harmonic horizons and add tension, spice and excitement to your blues by using the Altered scale. Get your thinking caps on!
GUITAR GIANTS Angus and Malcolm Young
VIDEO CLASSES
REGULAR FEATURES
96
Get more from GT by understanding our easy-to-follow musical terms and signs.
54
This month, Bridget Mermikides transcribes for modern classical guitar a Baroque piece that boasts a unique Spanish rhythmic drive.
Next Month
98
Intros and outros: top and tail your blues! The Rhythms of Motown; Vai’s Passion And Warfare – we celebrate the 30th anniversary!
August 2016
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Intro Food For Thought
Every month, Justin Sandercoe of justinguitar.com lends GT his insight as one of the world’s most successful guitar teachers. In his third column, Justin asks: “Do you feel it?”
B
NICK DELANEY
eing a first-hand purveyor of online ‘debate’ (and trolling!) one of the more common arguments I see is over ‘feel’ and ‘soul’ of certain guitarists – do those who play fewer notes, have more ‘feel’ than those who play a lot of notes? Does it matter? Please note that this is just food for thought (not concrete) and there are many areas in between and beyond. There are a few interesting thought streams to explore here though – and a good one to start with is what ‘expression’ means in a musical sense. When you ‘hear’ a musical idea in your head (or heart, or wherever it is you feel it) and can make those sounds come out of your instrument, then you are expressing yourself in a pure form (and we’ll be exploring this concept in much more depth in a future article). However, it is equally valid to express yourself using the physical motions of playing guitar to release your energy, anger or feeling. For some people the physical thrashing out of some chords (in a punk rock band) might have a similarly satisfying release as banging your fist on a table in frustration, and it would be arrogant to think that a blues or jazz guitar player that ‘hears’ his licks is any ‘more an artist’ than someone who gives it all they’ve got in a different way. It’s also valid to express ‘intellectual stimulation’ of complex ideas, some kind of concept that has been practised and refined and is then brought forward in a musical composition to be admired and ‘understood’ by those that ‘get it’ – maybe this idea could be considered a bit elitist but is again equally valid expression. And then there’s interpreting written music (such as classical guitar), which can be technically simple or incredibly difficult, and it is the job of the performer to breathe life into the dots on the
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August 2016
Justin asks us: “What is expression?”
page. I found studying and performing classical guitar to be one of the most effective ways of ‘learning to express myself’ which I found had a positive impact on everything else I played. What I found was that, when you have set (written) notes to play you have to find other ways to project your expression through the music (dynamics, time, touch and tone, just to start with) which can enhance your playing in any style. To pick some popular favourites, I
think that we should appreciate Neil Young’s passionate raw solos as much as BB King’s tasteful melodies; John Scofield’s complex, angular jazz lines or Joe Satriani’s technical mastery. They are all ‘expressive artists’ with vastly different technical abilities, but what matters is that they say something and mean it, which makes for music that connects with many people. We all feel music differently, and that is what makes us unique
when you have written notes to play you have to find other ways to project your expression
and beautiful – there are no right or wrong ‘answers’ here, just lots of questions. Sometimes thinking and debating such things with yourself or your friends can lead to profound personal insights. So how do you express yourself? Are you aware of what methods you use? How they make you feel? Is it worth exploring others? Of course it is! Safe travels. J. Check out www.justinguitar.com/ gtmag for some example routines and links to exercises you might like to try out for each section!
Intro
U
nless you’ve been living under a pile of plectrums for the last couple of decades, it cannot have escaped your notice that the terms ‘oligarch’, ‘billionaire’ and ‘obscenely wealthy person with little or no taste and the ability to indulge it’ have become a feature of our media lexicon of late. And if you’re a musician (or an event management company, international singing superstar or acrobat) the news just keeps getting better. You’re working! These chaps have birthdays, anniversaries and weddings just like us. However, unlike Dave Cameron’s “hard working families”, they’re only too happy to spread the word (and a minute proportion of their wonga) by mounting a series of ever more ostentatious bashes in what appears to be a surreal catering arms race. But be ye not afraid. It’s not the road to armageddon. Arm-and-a-leg-ageddon, more like. With extra servings of helicopters, yachts and olives. Only last month I was flown to Moscow with one of the UK’s finest orchestras. ‘Twas the 50th birthday of a cheeky chappie from Chechnya who had decided to hire the Olympic stadium to mark the occasion. For the week. For two hundred guests. For the sheer hell of it. The usual avalanche of entertainment ensued – dancers, gymnasts and Andrea Bocelli featuring prominently.We played Let Me Entertain You for three minutes. And flew home.
followed by – frankfurters. No bun, roll, fries or accoutrements of any kind. Just frankfurters. Unless you count some weird radioactive yellow gunk that looks like a sci-fi cross between mustard and gravy, probably from Planet Piggon. I decline and walk back to the coach and thence to the hotel at 1.30pm. I change guitar strings and return to bed. I set the alarm for 5pm and wake early, grumpy and hungry. Sadly, Snow Blonde is nowhere in evidence, although she is due to jump out of her Marilyn Meringue at the conclusion of our set while we attend to our rousing rendition of Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend. There is no beginning to an event organiser’s originality! Still, one mustn’t grumble. This two-minute addendum to our 45-minute workload is about to cost them another 50 euros per man. All that remains is for me to don my dinner jacket, coach it back to the venue, pig out (literally), do our thing to apparent approval, and get the hell out. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve got time for Jezza Corbyn and social equality. But let’s be frank. We need to look after these people. Give ‘em what they need. Tax breaks. Anonymous off-shore accounts. Entire utility industries. And the age old aspirations of Liberté, Egalité and Beyoncé will just have to wait a while longer. I mean, after all. A gig’s a gig. And a pig’s a pig, for that matter.
Mitch Dalton’s
Session Shenanigans The studio guitarist’s guide to happiness and personal fulfilment. R is For Rich, Russia & Rat Pack. Rolling Stones.“One year of playing – and 29 years of hanging around”. Transfer by Mercedes MPV to Hotel Adequate. Dinner at far-too-late o’clock courtesy of our hosts at a local traditional restaurant: ie. Pork n Pilsner. Saturday. We are herded to the castle at 8.30am after a perfectly pink pigfest. We then march to the castle walls, don galoshes in order to protect the pristine venue from the ravages of global storming, spin out the soundcheck until 11am, hang about some more, schlep to another part of the vast edifice where we are shown our dressing room, and traipse across the courtyard to yet another medieval extension where we are offered lunch – potage du pork (or 2 5a9lacklustre vegetarian alternative)
Then there was Schloss Heidelberg – the place, not the man. A step down, I admit. This particular ‘high net worth’ individual could only run to hiring Germany’s most famous castle for his birthday weekend. And he wanted value for money. No less than a full 45-minute feast of Sinatra, Martin and Davis Jr impersonations accompanied by the finest big-band musicians that Euros can buy. Or rent. Here are my impressions from the world of conspicuous consumption. The names have been redacted to protect the guilty. Friday. Frankfurt airport. We arrive and I am immediately reminded of a Charlie Watts interview in which he was asked to GUITAR TECHNIQUES summarise his career withMAGAZINE The
- by Phil Hilborne GUITAR TECHNIQUES MAGAZINE 2 5 9 ONE MINUTE LICK MAJOR GYPSYLICK JAZZ LICK ONE MINUTE - by Phil Hilborne MAJOR GYPSY JAZZ LICK
Gypsy encirclement lick
PHIL HILBORNE’S ONE-MINUTE LICK With slight swing feel
This lick is the sort of phrase that you will hear in gypsy jazz. It’s based on chord tones and scale notes. The accompanying chord is G major (G-B-D) and the idea is to ‘encircle’ each chord tone by playing the scale note above, then a chord tone and then a semitone below the chord tone; then another chord tone. I use just fingers 1,2 and 3, as this is the way most gypsy jazzers would play it; it’s also easier to play up to speed like this. But feel free to use whatever works for you. And try to compose ideas of your own using the same concept around differing chord types.
For more info on Mitch go to: www.mitchdalton.co.uk
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G or G6
With slight swing feel
E B G E B D A G E D A E
E B G E D B A G E D A 3 E 3
œ œ œ œ œ œ
G or G6
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≥4 ≤5 ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ œ œ œ œ œœ bb œœ nn œœ
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~~~ œ œ œ œ œ œ b œ n œ ˙~~~ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ nœ ˙ ~~~ ~~~ 7 7
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Intro
Instrumental Inquisition! Instrumentals have supplied some of music’s most evocative and exciting moments. We asked some top guitarists for their take on this iconic movement. This month: acoustic instrumentalist par excellence, Laurence Juber
MICHAEL LAMONT
GT: What appeals to you about guitar instrumentals? LJ: One of the first records that made an impression on me was The Shadows’ Apache. So the concept was baked into my musical consciousness from the beginning. GT: What can an instrumental provide that a vocal song can’t? LJ: Playing the tune without vocals puts the focus on the melody, although, with a familiar song the audience may be mentally filling in the missing lyrics. That familiarity can create an interesting live performance dynamic. It also leaves room for melodic, harmonic and textural embellishment. And it’s the player that sets the agenda, rather than following the singer’s lead. GT: Any tendencies that you aim to embrace or avoid? LJ: On acoustic, I’ve made it my artistic focus to explore the possibilities of arranging and composing for fingerstyle guitar. I attempt to embrace the lyrical ‘meaning’ of the song, articulate the melody, be true to the harmony, or at least expand on it appropriately. It has to be both at the service of the song and guitaristically satisfying, which, for me, often means using an altered tuning, typically DADGAD or CGDGAD. Composing is a more random process and it depends on how the tune and the texture evolve. I try to avoid note-spinning and look for something guitaristic to hang the work on. On electric lead guitar it’s simply about finding the right voice and tone. The way that Jeff Beck coaxes multi-dimensional fingerstyle solo lines is the epitome of that, to me. Rhythmically, I enjoy being able to integrate something percussive. You’ll find different grooves in my work – shuffles, reggae, swing – whatever fits. GT: How useful is studying a vocalist’s approach for guitar melodies? LJ: I recently played at event for Tony Bennett’s 90th birthday. He is a master of putting the song across with no artifice. It’s a pure engagement with the audience. 8
August 2016
Laurence Juber with his OMC-18VLJ Martin signature
i attempt to embrace the lyrical ‘meaning’ of the song and expand on it appropriately There’s a 1959 Johnny Mathis album, Open Fire, Two Guitars recorded with Tommy Mottola and Al Caiola – it has an amazing interplay of Mathis’ voice and the chromatically-voiced, jazz-toned guitars. Great vocalists all have one thing common: they are great storytellers. I look for something that sparks the imagination. GT: What do you aim for when your performance is centre stage? LJ: I try to stay focused, as it’s usually 90 minutes of solo playing. When I’m with my trio, I have a lot more freedom to extend the soloing.
GT: What type of guitar tone do you prefer for instrumentals? LJ: I don’t use fingernails and I pluck rather than pick the string so I work to bring out the voice of the guitar. Mostly I use my Martin signature OM model which has the tight focus of a smaller-body guitar and the 25.4” scale that keeps it from getting flabby in dropped tunings. On electric I’m partial to some Hank Marvin-style twang from a Strat! GT: Any favourite keys or tempos? LJ: Jazz guitarists are typically pushed into flat keys by playing
with horn players. Sharp keys are naturally friendly to standardtuned solo guitar because of the open bass notes E, A and D. I’ve written tunes in B major and minor, and used DADGAD for the flat keys. CGDGAD is great for Cm and Gm. My arrangement of Bacharach’s Alfie uses that tuning in the key of Bb. In DADGAD, I’ll tend to start in D – it’s the home key, whether major or minor. Tempos are all over the map. It can be fun to take a fast tune and arrange it slowly, or the reverse. GT: Are minor or major keys easier ? LJ: I’m a fan of melodic minor because, if you include blue notes, it’s almost completely chromatic. Otherwise I’m equal opportunity. GT: What about key modulations? LJ: I like the twists that come with a tune like All The Things You Are, where the modulations are a compositional feature. Half-step modulations of the ‘here-comesthe-last-chorus’ kind are tricky for solo guitar as you’ll often end up with handfuls of barre chords. I do tend to look for ways of doing more distant key changes. GT: And harmonising melodies? I’m all for it! Sometimes all you need is the minimum to establish the harmonic perspective: a bass note, a 3rd, 6th or 10th. I enjoy playing chord melody style. An altered tuning can allow sax section-type four-note parallel voicings that don’t finger so easily in standard tuning. In DADGAD, the multiple octave strings allow for a 12-string like effect, as well as a Wes Montgomery octave approach. GT: What three guitar instrumentals have most inspired you? LJ: There are many but the top three are: Apache (The Shadows), Anji (the Bert Jansch version), Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Jeff Beck), from the album Blow By Blow. Laurence is at Pizza Express in London on Wednesday August 3rd and Thursday August 4th 2016. Pizza Express, 10 Dean St, London
Intro
MARILYN STRINGER
GT
: Do you have a favourite type of pick that you can’t live without? JLW: Yes, medium gauge Tortex picks, so the pick doesn’t slip out of my fingers – they get slippy sometimes on stage from wiping sweat off my face. GT: If you had to give up all your pedals except three... JLW: I use delay for a bit of slap, auto-wah for wah-wah sounds, tremolo for a swampy vibe and groove. All three together would also boost the gain. GT: Do you play another instrument well enough to perform in a band? JLW: I play harmonica, keys and bass. I’ve played harmonica with bands, and I’ve played bass guitar and keyboards. But why’d anyone would want to get an okay player of those instruments when they could have a pretty good guitar player? GT: If a music chart were put in front of you, could you read it? JLW: I could read a music chart. If it’s a classical score it would take a while to get in that groove though. GT: Do guitar cables make any difference? What make are yours? JLW: They make a difference if the cord is a very cheap one because it won’t last any wear and tear. I use Dunlop cords. GT: Is there a guitarist, past or present, that you’re slightly jealous of? JLW: Otis Rush makes me a bit envious because of his vibrato. I call it the right hand of God. GT: Your place is burning down – which one guitar do you salvage? JLW: My 1969 Les Paul Custom. I’d take it because of the great tone that’s always true; plus the guitar is so heavy it’d work as a battering ram to escape the burning building. GT: What’s your favourite amp and how do you set it? JLW: I’ve several favourite amps. But right now it’s a Paul Markwalter special order amp. It a small, powerful amp, tube driven, no reverb, with three knobs. GT: What kind of action do you like? JLW: I’ve got what you’d call a kind of high action, which I like because it helps with my vibrato. GT: What strings do you use? JLW: I use Dunlop strings. Gauges 10-42, my special gauge set-up – they have good durability. GT: Who inspired you play guitar? JLW: My father turned me on to so much music – blues in particular, and guitar players especially.
Joe Louis Walker: multi Blues Hall Of Fame inductee
60 SECONDS with...
A minute’s all it takes to find out what makes a great guitarist tick. Before he jumped into his limo for the airport we grabbed a quick chat with brilliant US blues master, Joe Louis Walker GT: What was the first guitar you really lusted after? JLW: Sears and Roebuck Silvertone was what I wanted. I bugged my mother to get one for me. When she put enough money aside she got it. GT: What’s the most important musical lesson you ever learnt? JLW: Dynamics is the most important musical lesson I’ve learned. You can do just as much with silence as you can with volume. Sometimes you can do more. GT: Do you still practise? JLW: Yes I still practise, mostly when I’m inspired in today’s internet crazy world – sometimes you gotta break away from the computer (like now!).
GT: Do you have a particular warm-up routine? JLW: No I don’t have a particular warm-up. Should I have one? Is there one that makes me play like Django Reinhardt? GT: If you had to put together a fantasy band with you in it, who would the other players be? JLW: BB King, Albert King, Freddie King, George Harrison, Les Paul, Jimi Hendrix, Elmore James, Mike Bloomfield, Son House... I think you get the idea that it’s a guitar band only! GT: Who’s the greatest guitarist ever? JLW: There’s no greatest anything, let alone guitar players. But you can grab one from my previous answer!
i’ve got what you’d call a kind of high action, which i like because it helps with my vibrato
GT: Is there a song or solo by another guitarist that you wish you’d played? JLW: I still think Manic Depression by Jimi Hendrix is untouchable. Someone might be able to play it note for note, but they didn’t think of it. Only he could. GT: And a favourite song or solo of your own? JLW: Messed My Mind Up off the New Direction CD. It’s a kinda crazy and fun solo in a serious tune. GT And what are you up to at the moment – gigs, albums etc? JLW: My new album, Everybody Wants A Piece is out now on Provogue Records. I’m also proud of the work we’re doing with Blues For Peace, promoting peace through music and raising money for refugees around the world. For more info on Joe please visit www.joelouiswalker.com August 2016
9
That Was The Year...
Intro
1986
ey, Liberty, Hallhorty Duf f y And S WITH MANY OF its GUITARS
now being manufactured outside the USA, Fender officially develops the American Standard Stratocaster as the all-American built model. Although the main dealers are fully aware of the strategy the guitar itself (in all its vintage looking glory) will not be unveiled to the public until the January 1987 NAMM trade show.
HALLEY’S COMET RETURNS
and reaches its closest approach to Sun (Perihelion) and also makes its closest approach to Earth. In hot pursuit are three probes, the USSR’s Vega 1 probe and Japan’s Suisei and Sakigake. Soyuz T-15 transports two cosmonauts to the newly launched Soviet space station, Mir. The Space Shuttle Challenger tragically explodes soon after take off.
INTERNATIONAL PEACE YEAR BEGINS
The Pope and Mother Teresa meet in Calcutta; Spain and Portugal join the European Economic Community,;actor Clint Eastwood is elected as mayor of Carmel in California; a gallon of petrol costs £1.89; the GCE ‘O’ Level and CSE exams are replace by the new GCSE course.
TAKAMINE INTRODUCES its
‘Natural’ series starting with the EN-10 dreadnought model with a solid cedar top and mahogany back, sides and neck. Along with an unadorned rosewood fingerboard and bridge it features a crystal pickup fitted beneath the bridge and a three-band EQ mounted on the upper body edge.
THE STATUE OF LIBERTY is reopened
by Nancy Reagan after being fully refurbished; two days later the a Soviet TV news programme announces a nuclear accident at Chernobyl power station; British Gas is floated on the Stock Exchange and the bank of England declares the year end interest rate at 10.8%.
ENGLAND IS KNOCKED OUt of
the World Cup by Argentina and Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ incident; the biggest turnaround in TV history sees Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) returning from the dead on Dallas; Disneyland opens its Living Seas attraction; and videotapes are released showing the sunken wreck of the Titanic.
QUEEN’S MAGIC TOUR becomes
their most successful to date but sadly it will be their last with the original members; Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) is released from hospital after being in a coma for three weeks; Rock Me Amadeus by Falco and Chicken Song by Spitting Image both reach No 1 on the UK pop chart in consecutive weeks ;and Geffen Records signs Guns N’ Roses to the label.
HOFNER IS NO LONGER thinking small as it phases out both the 180 and the 181 Shorty guitars. Introduced in 1980 these full-scale ‘travel guitars’ had tiny bodies and were offered in a range of finishes and featuring a cool Shadow humbucking pickup. Amazingly, in spite of its diminutive proportions the 181 Shorty Super even had a built-in amp and speaker!
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Jam Tracks Tips
Use these tips to navigate our bonus backing tracks ➊ Smooth Minor Blues (Cm) Here we have a blues progression in C minor, with a smooth groove jazz feel to it. Basically, the C Minor scale (Aeolian mode) works throughout. The notes are C-D-Eb-F-G-Ab and Bb. Of course C Minor Pentatonic and the Blues scale will work great too. You could also try outlining the arpeggios for the chords – Cm7 (C-Eb-G-Bb), Fm7 (F-Ab-C-Eb) and Gm7 (G-Bb-D-F).
➋ A Mixolydian Groove This track is based on a two-chord vamp: A and G/A, which effectively creates a specifically Mixolydian context. A Mixolydian mode is the 5th mode of the D Major scale and contains the notes A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G. I also recommend playing around with the Pentatonic scales inherent in this harmonic context: Em Pentatonic (E-G-A-B-D) F#m Pentatonic (F#-A-B-C#-E) Bm Pentatonic (B-D-E-F#-A).
chord. Notice that only one note changes: the G becomes a G#, which effectively ‘pulls towards’ and resolves on the Am chord.
➍ Funky Blues (E)
➌ Bossa I-II-V (Am)
Here we have a standard 12-bar blues progression in E with a funky feel and groove to it. To make it sound great try E major Pentatonic (E-F#-G#-B-C#) with E minor Pentatonic (E-G-A-B-D) for some nice bluesy colours in your soloing. Major Pentatonic works best on the I chord (E9) and V chord (B7), whereas the minor Pentatonic works best on the IV chord (A7).
This bossa style track features a continuous loop of two bars on the Im chord (Am), followed by one bar on the IIm7b5 (Bm7b5) and one bar on the V7b9 chord (E7b9). I suggest using A Minor scale (A-B-C-D-E-F-G) for the first two chords and then applying A Harmonic minor (A-B C-D-E-F-G#) for the final V
Jam tracks by Jacob Quistgaard. For free scale maps and hundreds more tracks, visit www. quistorama.com. You can also subscribe to www.youtube.com/ QuistTV to get all the latest tracks and licks. Or find Quist and his jam tracks on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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Your
WHO: Mark Stuart TOWN: Felixstowe STYLES TAUGHT: Rock, pop, blues, country, jazz, folk, etc SPECIALITY: Blues LEVELS: Beginner-advanced. All RGT grades if required READING: To Intermediate level CHARGES: £27 per hour SPECIAL: Fully-equipped teaching studio, recording facilities, guitar repairs and set-ups. Professional guitar and bass tutor since 1991 TEL: 01394 210343 EMAIL: mark@guitartutor.co.uk
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TalkBack Post Guitar Techniques, Future Publishing, Ivo Peters Road, Bath, BA2 3QS. Email neville.marten@futurenet.com using the header ‘Talkback’. George Stapley: on the hunt for his old guitar
BACK TO THE FUTURAMA On a recent visit to Cornwall, I took the opportunity to visit Guy McKenzie (www.the guitarcollection .org.uk) and his fantastic guitar collection. I particularly like one of his guitars; it’s called a Futurama Coronado Automatic. My mother died in 1962 and in 1963 when I was 15 my father decided to buy me this guitar; I suppose to cheer me up. At the time it was unique and still looks so cool, so I am now on a mission to obtain this model again – I foolishly sold it for guitar lessons (well I was only 18). If there is anybody out there who could help me track one down I would be over the moon to own one again, as it’s a tangible connection to my past. George Stapley That’s a romantic story, George. Perhaps our hawk-eyed readers will be able to help – I don’t know of any Coronado Automatics that are available out there. But I too got my first ‘decent’ guitar back (or one like it); a Hofner Club 40 that my first guitar-playing mate had; he lent it to me for months and I sort of came to treat it as my own! Good luck in tracking yours down – it will indeed be a lovely reminder of old times and absent ‘friends’.
THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES First of all I would like to congratulate you and your team on producing such a wonderful publication – but there is a glaring
omission that I can no longer keep silent about! Where are all the female guitar players? Looking back at your past three issues (#255-#257), there is a grand total of one female guitarist included (Emily Remler, #256). I have a feeling that this may actually be more than your average! This is just not good enough. Surely there must be numerous female guitarists out there that deserve a bit of column space. I am not going to list names, simply because I do not know that many. But there have been countless male guitarists that I have not been aware of until I read about them in your magazine and followed up by listening to them. So I believe it is incumbent on you to make more of an effort to showcase female guitar talent that is out there and provide them with
DIGITAL DILEMMA I’ve been a player for over 40 years, but recently I had the most depressing accident and cut off the first finger of my fretting hand. It has been sewn back on but the middle knuckle is fused so the finger is ‘set’ straight. Now all I can use it for is the soft pad at the root of the finger to fret first and sometimes second strings for something like a first position Bm chord (I also cut through the tendons in the ring finger but this has been repaired and, though stiff, I can use it). I am slowly teaching myself to play again, using the remaining three fingers, and thanks to my style which was mainly fingerpicking and ragtime(ish) my pinky is used to doing something so it’s not a complete new beginning. However, here is my problem: I’m
I believe it is incumbent on you to make more of an effort to showcase female guitar talent greater exposure so that some of your readers, like myself, may take the time to give them a listen. After all you have the wonderful Bridget Mermikides on your team: there must be more of them out there! Ali GT Production Editor Katie Nicholls replies: Thanks for your letter, Ali – this is a topic that’s well worth exploring! Undoubtedly, the majority of players that feature in GT are male (although we have had some wonderful female players recently: Eva Cassidy and Joni Mitchell and, as you mention, Emily Remler). I think the lack of female players is reflective of a wider, societal problem whereby girls aren’t encouraged at a young age to become guitarists, drummers or bass players but rather stick with being the vocalist. I wrote a feature on this issue for the Musicians’ Union and it’s certainly an issue that needs to be addressed by schools and teachers. To some extent, GT is reflecting what is a bigger issue. It’s just a real shame that we don’t have more female guitarists to feature!
struggling to find good sounding replacements for chords that are now impossible for me to fret, like a simple C or F chord. I can’t play barre chords shapes any more (unless I mute the low strings because I can’t reach to fret them, so I end up playing partial chords or open major 7ths and the like, which are great sounding chords when you want a major 7th, but awful when you don’t. I am beginning to develop a new style which is almost chordless, but sometimes you just want to ‘bash-out’ an old song and it’s very frustrating. Can you or the readers offer any advice on maybe long forgotten chord shapes or any other tips? Maybe a feature of simple three-fingered alternatives that might be useful to any player. And please don’t anyone suggest I take up the banjo! PS. I have kept a diary of the recovery and story of my relearning so far, so if any readers suffer a similar fate and would like support or advice I’m happy for
you to give them my contact details! Dave Hardman What a terrible story, Dave. Three things spring to mind: open tunings, slide guitar, and ‘thumb over the top’ playing. Look at Derek Trucks and Sonny Landreth; both play slide almost exclusively, so perhaps a slight musical career change is a possibility. And check out the awesome Joey Landreth (no relation) who plays regular guitar and slide interchangeably, so wears a tube on his finger almost all the time – of necessity limiting the number of fingers available. He plays simply, but amazingly! Many open tunings rely on having open strings ringing into chords, and often use two or three-finger shapes. So that’s another thought – although it doesn’t address your ‘bashing out a tune’ question. And many players – from Hendrix to Pat Metheny to Richie Havens – use the thumb-over technique to play bass strings, thus ‘sort of’ replacing the first finger on things like barre chords. In a way your playing problem is a bit like when we fortunate all-finger players put a barre down and then try to play regular chords – C, G and D are all tricky – on top. So it looks like that’s your basic option; simply to reconfigure those shapes. As weird coincidence would have it, in the next issue we are running a feature on ‘avoiding the first finger’. It’s in Charlie’s Woodshed article and so is more to do with lead than rhythm, but it is sure to offer something. I do hope some readers can come up with ideas that might help. In the meantime we all wish you all the very best!
Joey Landreth: wears a slide
August 2016
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Play } BLUES
ON THE CD
TRACKs 3-17
Exotic Blues The Altered scale In this exclusive feature John Wheatcroft shows how to broaden your harmonic horizons and add tension, spice and excitement to your blues by using the Altered scale. ABILITY RATING Info Key Various Tempo 120 bpm CD TRACK 3-17
G
Will improve your… Melodic sophistication
ot your thinking caps on? Good – we’ve got a lot to get through! I promise that there will be some sexy licks to learn at the end but let’s start with the theory bit – stick with it, as this will help you later on. It’s possible to view the jazz Melodic Minor scale as a Major scale with a lowered 3rd (R-2-b3-4-5-6-7). This has a knock-on effect on all the subsequent modes of the Major scale, so that this modified note moves through and impacts upon the scale one note in turn. So this means the second mode is like a Dorian with a lowered 2nd (R-b2-b3-4-5-6-b7) and by the same logic the seventh mode would be like Locrian with a lowered 4th (R-b2-b3-b4b5-b6-b7). If this sounds like a foreign language then you should recap the basic Major scale modes as a matter of some urgency. Back to Locrian with a flattened 4th; notice everything is flattened in this scale, so from a C root it would look like this: C-Db-Eb-Fb-Gb-AbBb. If we follow conventional chord construction, taking the root, 3rd 5th and so on, with this scale we’d end up with a C diminished triad (C-Eb-Gb) and a C halfdiminished 7th chord (C-Eb-Gb-Bb). All well and good, until we listen to the sound that C to Fb creates. All the theory in the world cannot
Easy to advanced ✪ ✪ Command of tension and release Application of theoretical concepts
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hide the fact that our flattened 4th sounds undeniably familiar and rather like something else. Why not play those notes now? Sounds like a major 3rd, right? Well, sound trumps theory on every level, so what we now have is a scale with both major and minor thirds, sonically if not theoretically. Like every good Hollywood movie, light triumphs over dark and the Major pushes the Minor out of position, so the opening steps of this scale now sounds more like this: Root-b2-#2-3. If we’re opening the door to enharmonic respelling then we can do the same with the next notes in sequence: the b5 can stay but our b6 could in turn be seen as #5, leaving the b7 as we’d find it. This new way of seeing this scale, the ‘Super-Locrian’ now looks more like this: Root-b2-#2-3-b5-#5-b7 (C-Db-D#-E-Gb-G#-Bb). Now might be a good time for some tea! Suitably refreshed? Let’s continue. One of the strongest moves in music is the V7 to I resolution, known in the trade as a ‘perfect cadence’. By definition, a dominant 7th chord needs to have a major 3rd and a flattened 7th to be considered worthy of this title, but we can enhance the sense of tension and release by raising or lowering the 5th degree and
raising or lowering the 9th. This works musically because these new notes attach themselves to particular target tones in the intended resolution chord. So, G7 (G-B-D-F) can become G7#5 (G-B-D#-F). The D# note resolves perfectly to the E note found embedded in the structure of our destination C major7 chord (C-E-G-B). This is just one example as we’ll see – and these connections can be found in melody lines, chord voicings and solos. So a Dominant 7th with raised or lowered 5th and raised or lowered 9th comes under the heading of ‘Altered’. If we string the notes together we get R-b2-#2-3-b5-#5-b7. Recognise it from earlier? Yes, this is the same ‘Super-Locrian’ scale we got from Melodic minor, also known conveniently as the ‘Altered scale’. Hopefully that didn’t hurt too badly (and if it did seem scarily complex, simply read it again, and maybe again until it starts to sink in). As promised here are those sexy chords and licks I mentioned earlier, guaranteed to turn heads at your next blues jam. You’ll be a huge step closer to the exotic sophistication of Larry, Robben and a host of other blues players with that illusive jazzy edge. 6
Gain
6
Bass
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Middle
6
Treble
3
reverb
Technique Focus Diminished Whole-Tone
The Altered scale is sometimes called the ‘Diminished Whole-Tone scale’ due to its similarity to these two structures: Diminished is based on whole-tone-half-tone steps, while Whole-Tone is a series of two-fret gaps. Altered scale is: root-half-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-whole; then second octave, half-whole and so on. So, from the 3rd to the octave we have five notes as in the Whole-Tone scale; and from the b7th to the b5th is a six-note pattern of alternating whole and half steps, with six of the seven notes as you would find them in the Half-Whole scale. This makes it easy to go from Altered to Whole-Tone or Altered to HalfWhole; simply replace the 2 and #2 with a major 2nd for a complete Whole-Tone scale, and replace Altered’s #5 with a perfect 5th and major 6th for Half-Whole scale. Easy! 12
August 2016
You can use pretty much any guitar for these examples, but when you’re dealing with single-note lines you can add anything from a light crunch to a fully blown distortion sound. The one thing that we always want to keep clean, however, is articulation, so ensure all notes ring true and that you keep any idle open strings at bay with adequate muting.