In last month’s column, I demonstrated a variety of ways to transform standard A minor pentatonic-based licks into modal runs and patterns using the A Aeolian mode (a.k.a. the A natural minor scale: A B C D E F G). This month, I will expand on the concept by applying a slight rhythmic variation to a standard A minor pentatonic pattern, again transforming it to A natural minor, and then examine these newly realized melodic shapes in different areas of the fretboard. We will then transpose the new melodic ideas to another very commonly used mode: A Dorian (A B C D E Fs G).
FIGURE 1 illustrates one of rock lead guitar’s most well-known and widely used patterns: ascending eighth-note triplets played within the A minor pentatonic scale. I begin with the root note, A, as a pickup, as to set up the C note played on the downbeat of beat one in bar 1.
Each eighth-note triplet begins with a note from the A minor pentatonic scale, descends to the next-lower scale degree and then returns to the first pitch: beat one is C-A-C, beat two is D-C-D, beat three is E-D-E, and so on. This triplet pattern continues through three bars, ending on C, on the high E string’s eighth fret.
The rhythmic tweak I apply involves taking this eighth-note-triplet melodic pattern and converting it to 16th notes. In FIGURE 1, the first four notes of the pattern are A (the pickup) and C-A-C, the three notes that make up the eighth-note triplet played on beat one. If we take these four notes (A-C-A-C) and play them as straight 16ths, we get what is shown on beat one of FIGURE 2. I then take the three notes played on beat two of FIGURE 1, D-C-D, and add the first note of the following eighth-note triplet, E, and play these four notes (D-C-D-E) as straight 16ths on beat two of FIGURE 2. The remainder of the figure is built in this same manner, “compressing” the eighth-note triplets of FIGURE 1 into successions of straight 16th notes.
Applying this type of rhythmic reorganization is often referred to as “threes on fours,” as melodic shapes based on three-note patterns have been reassembled into four-note groups. Moving from one beat to the next in FIGURE 2, the result is a series of three different melodic shapes that then repeat as the figure progresses. Starting from the first note, A, on beat one, the figure goes up-down-up (C-A-C); starting from the first note, D, on beat two, the figure goes down-up-up (C-D-E); and starting from the first note, D, on beat three, the figure goes up-up-down (E-G-E). The melodic shape played on beat four mimics beat one: after the first note, G, is played, the figure goes up-down-up (A-G-A).
When transposing eighth-note triplets to 16th notes, the note sequence that had fallen across four beats now will fall across three beats: four eighth-note triplets equals 12 notes, and three beats of 16th notes also equals 12 notes. The result is a cool-sounding melodic pattern that repeats every three beats and creates a forward drive and melodic unpredictability. Jeff Beck used this approach in the melody to his classic fusion instrumental “Scatterbrain” (Blow by Blow), the genesis of which came from a scale exercise he was practicing in the studio.
Now let’s take this series of 16th-note-based melodic patterns and move them to different areas of the fretboard. In FIGURE 3, an A minor pentatonic-based run is played down to second/third position. Play the pattern in ascending and descending form at a comfortable tempo, then gradually increase it while maintaining clean articulation.
Now let’s apply this concept to the A Aeolian mode in various positions. The run in FIGURE 4 is based on A Aeolian played in first/second position. Throughout much of this pattern, three notes of the scale are played on each string, requiring a wide stretch on the low and high E strings, where notes fall at the first, third and fifth frets, fretted with the index finger, middle finger and pinkie, respectively.
The best way to learn this pattern all over the fretboard is to methodically ascend to higher positions of A Aeolian. FIGURE 5 illustrates the riff played in third/fourth position in both ascending and descending forms. You will notice as you move from each scale position to the next that the fingering sequence on each string will change accordingly, which will serve to strengthen your fret-hand chops greatly.
FIGURES 6 and 7 illustrate the pattern moved up to fifth and seventh positions, respectively. Use a metronome and work through these scale patterns deliberately, with focus on clear articulation.
Along with Aeolian, the Dorian mode is a very commonly used minor mode in blues, rock and jazz. Classic examples include the melodies and solos played by Dickey Betts and Duane Allman in the Allman Brothers Band songs “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and “Whipping Post,” as well as those played by Carlos Santana on “Evil Ways” and “Oye Como Va.”
FIGURE 8 shows the lick transposed to A Dorian mode, as played in third/fourth position, and FIGURE 9 offers an illustration of how one can play the pattern while descending through a series of scale positions. Now that you’ve gotten the formula, try applying it to any other scale or mode you know.
In a new In Deep DVD from Guitar World, How to Play Ozzy Osbourne’s “I Don’t Know,” Andy Aledort teaches you all the rhythm and lead parts as performed by the late, great Randy Rhoads.
You’ll also get an in-depth look at the equipment the guitarist used on this classic track. Plus, as a special bonus, we’ve included selections from Guitar World’s How to Play Like Randy Rhoads DVD! It’s like two DVDs in one!
Fig 1 – Intro lick, live version, 30th anniversary box set
Fig 2A – Intro lick, studio version
Fig 2B – Trill lick at end of the second verse
Fig 2C – High lick preceding the last verse
Fig 3A – Primary lick with artificial and natural harmonics
Fig 3B – Variation #1 on C5 chord
Fig 3C – Variation #2 on C5 chord
Fig 3D – Variation #3 on C5 chord
Fig 4 – Variation on primary lick preceding the pre-chorus
Fig 5A – Pre-chorus
Fig 5B – Pre-chorus variation
Fig 6 – Bridge, live version
Fig 7 – Live solo, bars 1-4
Fig 8 – Live solo, bars 5-8
Fig 9 – Live solo, bars 12-16 (chromatically descending shape)
In How to Play Guitar Weirdness DVD, Guitar World editor and instructor Andy Aledort shows how to play outside the box using chromaticism, pentatonic superimpositions, symmetrical diminished scales and more!
These techniques are used by many guitar legends, including Jimi Hendrix, Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde, Dimebag Darrell, John Scofield, John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck and Eddie Van Halen. Part of Guitar World's In Deep with Andy Aledort series, this DVD is available only at the Guitar World Online Store. Get your copy for just $9.99!
How to Play Guitar Weirdness contains lessons on:
• Moving minor pentatonic lines up and/or down the neck chromatically, à la Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde and Dimebag Darrell
• Using symmetrical-diminished scales to create unusual melodic shapes
• Exploring chromatic movement via the harmonic minor scale
I’ve been teaching guitar privately since a very short time after I started playing, beginning around the time I was 15 years old.
At the time, I didn’t know much, but what I did know I was happy to teach to people who were just getting started. (It’s possible I inherited a “teacher gene” because both of my parents were teachers — my mother for her career and my dad for a brief time when he first got our of college — and my sister became a teacher in the public school system, too.)
One of the first things people should learn when they begin playing the guitar is all of the open-position major chords, also often referred to as “cowboy” chords, like E, A, D, G, C and F, plus B7, just for good measure.
Believe it or not, just learning these seven chords will enable one to play hundreds (thousands?) of popular songs. And once you learn these chords, it’s very simple to learn their minor or minor seventh counterparts (Em, Am, Dm, or Em7, Am7, Dm7, for example), which opens the door to even more songs.
A great place to start is the immortal “Hey Joe,” written by Billy Roberts in 1962 and recorded in the mid-'60s by many different bands, such as The Leaves, The Standells, The Surfaris, Love, The Music Machine, The Byrds, Tim Rose and, most notably, Jimi Hendrix.
“Hey Joe” is great for beginners because it 1) can be played using all first-position “cowboy” chords, and 2) repeats the same five-chord cycle over and over, C-G-D-A-E, which is known as a “cycle of fifths.” Jimi also created a very cool, but easy to play, intro for the song, so learning his version allows beginners to play something that sounds cool but is not overly challenging.
Another great song for beginners is “House of the Rising Sun,” a very old song whose origins have been disputed. The English rock band The Animals had a big hit with the song in 1964, and their keyboardist, Alan Price, claimed it was originally a 16th-century English folk song.
Like “Hey Joe,” “House of the Rising Sun” is made up a simple first-position chord progression, Em-G-A-C, Em-G-B7, which repeats over and over.
In more recent times, a great song I’ve taught to many beginners is “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” by Green Day. The song consists of only four different first-position chords and is easy to learn very quickly, even for a staunch beginner.
When I first started to play, the very first songs I learned were “On Top of Old Smoky” and “The Streets of Laredo;” great songs but maybe not as much fun for many people as “Hey Joe” and “House of the Rising Sun.”
And — must I say it? — if you don’t feel compelled learn “Smoke on the Water” within the first week of picking up a guitar, you’re probably playing the wrong instrument.
A longtime contributor to Guitar World magazine, and the author and producer of literally hundreds of artist transcriptions, books, and instructional DVDs, Andy Aledort has influenced and inspired guitarists around the world for many years. During his long tenure at Guitar World, Aledort has written lesson features on such metal artists as Dimebag Darrell, Zakk Wylde, Avenged Sevenfold, Slipknot, Alexi Laiho, Yngwie Malmsteen, Trivium, Killswitch Engage, Nevermore and many others. He has also created many of Guitar World's best-selling instructional DVDs, including How to Play Hard Rock and Heavy Metal and Guitar World's best-selling DVD, How to Play the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Axis: Bold as Love. A brilliant guitarist in his own right, he has worked with Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell and the Band of Gypsys rhythm section of bassist Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles.
Jimi Hendrix: Signature Licks, a book/CD pack by Guitar World's Andy Aledort that's available now at the Guitar World Online Store, offers a unique and thorough examination of 12 of Jimi Hendrix's greatest compositions.
Each song segment is presented with all of the guitar parts fully transcribed, plus accompanying audio on CD, as performed by a full band. All solos, as well as complex rhythm parts, are also performed slowly for easier consumption and understanding.
Performance notes, outlining chord voicings, scale use and unusual techniques are included for each song.
Songs include "Foxey Lady,""Hey Joe,""Little Wing,""Purple Haze" and more.
Be sure to check out our Day 1 and 2 Deals under RELATED CONTENT to the left (OK, above left), and be on the lookout for our Day 4 Deal on Monday, December 10!
You can expect a great new deal every day, including today's deal:
Get our new book/DVD, Guitar World Presents the Best Instruction Book Ever for only $15!
Presented by the editors of Guitar World, this special edition is backed by their years of experience and instruction. Their step-by-step tutorial method will show you everything you need to master the guitar and play the riffs and licks of your favorite guitarists.
In this aptly titled book, a joint publication by Guitar World and Time Home Entertainment, Guitar World staffers Andy Aledort, Jimmy Brown and Paul Riario show you how to play guitar the easy way. Readers also benefit from advice from some of the greatest guitar players of all time.
The book's step-by-step tutorial will show you everything you need to master the guitar and play the riffs and licks of your favorite guitarist, plus:
• Essential guitar instruction—from first chords and scale to advanced tricks and techniques for rhythm and solo playing.
• 300 how-to photos, lessons and tips.
• Chords, scales and riffs used in your favorite blues, classic rock, country and heavy metal songs.
• Easy TAB system that shows you which strings to fret and pick.
• Hundreds of full-color photos and diagrams.
• A DVD with video examples for every lesson in the book.
• Plus tips and encouragement from guitar legends like Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Queen’s Brian May and B.B. King!
Be sure to check out our Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 Deals under RELATED CONTENT to the left, and be on the lookout for our Day 9 Deal on Saturday, December 15!
The following content is related to the March 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.
Over the years, students and fellow guitar players have often asked me how they can break out of their old licks and discover new territory for musical exploration. Like most of us, they want to play solos that sound creatively and emotionally inspired.
If this is your goal as well, there are two things you need to do. First, stop allowing your fingers to follow the patterns ingrained over the years through muscle memory and familiarity. Second, force yourself to see the fretboard in new and different ways that you have not yet investigated.
Sounds easy, right? In truth, it’s much harder to put into action than it may seem. In this edition of In Deep, I’ll show you a few practice techniques that I’ve used to help me break out of my patterns and phrases. These exercises have helped me discover fresh licks and sounds, and fortified my fretboard knowledge and soloing facility.
Few musicians in the history of rock have been as beloved — revered, really — as Ozzy Osbourne’s late guitarist and musical soul mate, Randy Rhoads.
Only 25 when he was killed in an airplane accident in 1982, Rhoads managed in a few short years to establish himself as one of the most innovative guitar players in the world.
On landmark Ozzy songs like “Flying High Again,” “Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley,” the guitarist wowed the world with solos and rhythm playing that managed to be explosive and tasteful, and a classical sensibility that was his alone. His premature death only served to solidify his legend, and his many fans keep his memory and spirit alive.
Guitar World acquired a tape of a seminar given by Rhoads himself before an enthralled group of Randyphiles at Music City in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, on February 2, 1982, only six weeks before his death. Here is the transcription of the lesson presented that day, in which he reveals himself to be every ounce the dedicated — and utterly unassuming — guitar hero.
Whether fielding questions from the audience about the details of his rig or the complexities of his technique, Randy was the perfect gentleman. And as his opening statement to the audience reveals, he was modest and humble, qualities that, as much as his guitar playing, endeared him to his fans:
“This is only the second time I’ve ever done this, so please don’t expect me to just come out and handle things real well; I’m very nervous about speaking in front of people, so you’ll have to give me a hand by asking a lot of questions. I’ll do anything I can to help you out.”
What effects do you use when you play live?
I have a pedalboard that’s got an MXR Distortion +, an MXR 10-band equalizer, a chorus, an MXR stereo chorus, an MXR flanger, a Crybaby wah pedal and a Roland volume pedal. I used them much more in the past than I do nowadays, but now our sound man is starting to add a lot more up front. Sometimes I use them more for quiet rhythm parts, just to enhance the sound. I never use echoes or anything for leads.
Do you have a preamp built into your guitar?
No, I just have the Distortion + on the board, and I just keep that on all the time. My amps are Marshalls.
What speakers do you use in your cabinets?
I use Altecs. I prefer those to Celestions because they’re very bright, clean speakers. I found that Celestion speakers are pretty dirty, and if you add a fuzz box to them they’ll sound terrible.
Do you ever have trouble with feedback?
Yes, I have lots of problems there. For example, if you let go of the guitar for a second, it will feed back. You’ve got to play so that you’re covering your pickup. If I don’t want to do something quiet, I have to either use the volume pedal or click off the fuzz—otherwise my guitar will squeal. I’ve gotten used to playing that way.
Do you have a special tremolo unit on your Charvel Flying V?
Grover Jackson, who owns Charvel, builds the guitars himself for me, and I use his tremolo units. There’s no perfect tremolo, except for maybe a Floyd Rose, but Grover’s are very good. I have another Flying V, the polka-dotted one, but it isn’t a Charvel, and I do have tuning problems with it all the time.
What kind of music did you play when you first picked up the guitar?
I’m 25 now, so I don’t remember what I was playing when I was seven. I just played the guitar. One of the early things I remember was strumming [the flamenco guitar standard] “Malagueñia” on an old Spanish guitar. Later on I just started playing anything I heard on the radio: “Gloria” or “Louie Louie” or whatever.
What players did you admire growing up?
I get asked that all the time: “Who’s your favorite?” “What are your influences?” If you play long enough, your influences are bound to change. I never had a phonograph ’til I was, I think, 16, so I couldn’t just sit and copy my favorite players. I had to listen to the radio, and I liked whoever was good. One of my favorites was Mountain and Leslie West — those harmonics and that sustain. I just thought Leslie was the greatest. But now, I don’t have a favorite — I just like anybody who plays guitar.
Did you take lessons or were you self taught?
Mostly self taught. When I was young I took lessons—basic folk and classical training—then I started playing rock. I’m actually taking lessons now.
You’re taking lessons now?
I did when I was in England.
Who was your teacher?
Anybody. I just take lessons from anybody, like when I have a day off or something. I’ll find someone in town and just pick their brain.
Were you in other bands before you hooked up with Ozzy?
I was in a local band in L.A. called Quiet Riot for five years. I was still with them when I met Ozzy, so I had to leave. Other than that, I was just in some garage bands and other little things that didn’t work out.
Didn’t you put out a couple of records with Quiet Riot?
Yeah. We had a record deal, but we were very young and we lost the deal. It just fell apart. The records were later released in Japan. I was 17 years old and the producer wanted to make us sound very much like a pop band. I mean, if you hear it, there’s hardly any guitar on it.
What do you think of other guitarists, like Michael Schenker?
I think Michael Schenker is excellent, a great rock player. He’s very melodic and he plays with lots of feeling.
Are there any other players you’d put in that category?
Oh, I could name a hundred. I mean, everybody who’s out there is really good at what they do. Eddie Van Halen is fantastic, Ritchie Blackmore…
There are critics who accuse you of copying Eddie Van Halen. Are you influenced by him?
Well, we’re both from the same town and we were both in local bands. It seemed like everybody in L.A. was a lead guitar player, and we all played very similarly. Everybody used to say we all sounded very much the same.
What do you think of Angus?
Angus Young? I think what he does, he does great. He’s so into it.
Tony Iommi?
I didn’t know too much about Black Sabbath when I met Ozzy. That’s probably why I get along with Ozzy—we’re different and come from different musical backgrounds.
Does he ever talk to you about why he left Black Sabbath?
Oh yeah, all the time. I guess they just weren’t getting along. They had been together a long time—14 years or something like that.
Check out Page 2 for the rest of the transcript, and some tabbed warm-up exercises from Randy
When you write a lead, do you focus on the melody or go for more of a technical, dazzle-type thing?
It depends on what the progression is and what the mood of the song is. You have to put down something that suits the song well. I like to play melodically.
What would you say is important for having a good band?
Aside from being able to play well together, you all need to be on the same level mentally. If one guy wants to go out and earn money in a lounge and another wants to go out and do originals, then you’ve got a conflict. I think you should all want the same thing out of your band and like the same kinds of things. That’s a good start, I think.
Is it true that when you auditioned for Ozzy you didn’t even have to play? That you just plugged in your guitar and tuned up?
Yeah, it was even more embarrassing than this. [laughs] I thought I was gonna play with a band. All I brought was this little Fender warm-up amp. When I got there, everyone was behind the glass, and in the room was just me and my amp. And they said, “Okay, play.” And I thought, You’ve got to be joking. I mean, what could I play? I didn’t have any other musicians with me. So I just started warming up, then Ozzy said, “Yeah, you’re good.” I had only played for a few seconds. Then I got kinda mad and thought, Well, you haven’t even heard me yet.
Can you play some stuff for us now?
What would you like to hear?
How about the solo breaks in “Over the Mountain,” where you play the fast, unaccompanied licks?
The first lick in that section is played like this It’s in E minor. Then the next break is just a series of real quick pull-offs to open strings , with a tremolo bar dive added at the end. That’s all there is to it. There’s just one real lick in it; the rest is just, oh, noise.
Play the solo to “Revelation (Mother Earth).”
Okay. It’s in E minor and is very similar to a harmonic [minor] scale. It starts on E flat [D#] and goes up to E flat [D#] again at the very end. For the next lick, I use the edge of the pick to make the riff sound an octave higher. It sounds a lot different live, because I’m trying to slow it down so you can see what I’m playing. Then the next bit is played like this. The only weird notes in it are the E harmonic minor parts.
Could you play the fretboard-tapping riff from your “Flying High Again” solo?
Sure. You start with your left-hand index finger on C# [1st string/9th fret], and you tap with your right hand on a high A [1st string/17th fret]. When you move over to the B string, both hands move up one fret. You then repeat the process on the G and D strings, which finishes off the lick.
The next four bars of the solo are played exactly the same way, but begin down a fourth, in E. The same process is repeated, shifting up one fret as you move to each lower string.
What key is “Flying High Again” in?
It’s in A. When I play “Crazy Train” and then go to play “Flying High Again,” I’m a half-tone out.
Did you tune differently on Diary of a Madman as compared to Blizzard of Ozz?
Yes, we tuned down one half step when we recorded Diary.
Why?
When we were recording the second album, the tuner we had was miscalibrated, and I began to like the sound of being tuned down a half step for some of those songs. A lot of people tune down a half step, but I’d never done it before then. It gives a much heavier sound to the chords, and it just gives you a meaner sound, overall. When we play live, some of the songs are tuned down and some are not, so I use different guitars which are tuned accordingly.
Could you play the beginning of “Crazy Train”?
Yeah, sure.
Are you using a wah-wah on that part at the beginning?
No, just a distortion pedal.
How do you play the main rhythm part to “Crazy Train”?
Like this. The chord progression is A E/A D/A A; the open A string is played against all of the chord voicings. The fast lick at the end is played with pull-offs to open strings. At the end of the verse section, I use chordal inversions, like this. Each chord is played with the third in the bass [the major third appears as the lowest note in the chord voicing]. Here, the chord progression is A/C# E/G# D/F#, with the third of each chord played on the low E string.
How do you play the rhythm part to the section that leads into the chorus?
That part’s played like this. On the second verse, I add a riff when I get to the F#m chord at the end of the progression, like this.
How do you play that really fast, ascending lick during the second chorus?
That riff is sort of a “fake”; I don’t even do that lick live, because it sometimes sounds really sloppy. I used to play it live, though. It’s just an [arpeggiated] F# minor triad shape that slides up the neck chromatically [ascending one fret at a time], but I’m going to lie and say that it’s played perfectly. All it is is this, after which I hurry into a pick slide before the lick dies. When you play loud, you can get away with playing a lick like that without playing it perfectly.
Did you use tapping in the “Crazy Train” solo, too?
Yes, the solo begins with this tapped lick, after which I play a slow trill that slides down one whole step.
How do you play the last lick in the “Crazy Train” solo?
It’s in F# minor. I’m trying to remember it because I don’t do that run live anymore. To the best of my recollection, it’s played like this [FIGURE 4H]. The lick begins one and a half steps below F#, on D#. If you were to play the lick in A minor, it’d be done like this.
Is there a term that describes these kinds of riffs?
These riffs are all articulated with hammer-ons. I know of no other particular name to describe them.
Do you do any particular finger exercises before you go out on stage?
I have some exercises where I use the first, second and fourth fingers in order to warm up. Here’s one [FIGURE 5A] in which I’m just sort of “wandering around.”
It’s good to do exercises like this [FIGURE 5B] using “alternate picking” [down-up-down-up, etc.], and to keep speeding it up. I used to like practicing licks that contained a lot of hammer-ons, like these [FIGURES 5C and D], but I don’t do those things that much anymore. These licks are great, though, for warming up your fingers before a gig.
Could you show us those unusual chords in “Diary of a Madman”?
Sure. The song begins with an A [major triad], with the flatted fifth added to the chord. So, you’ve got the root note, A, the third, C#, then the flatted E, with the open high E on top. The sound of the Eb and the E together gives you that dissonant sound. As you can see, the notes on the D, G and B strings descend as the chords progress through the first five bars. This section ends with an arpeggiated Emaj9 [Eadd2] chord, with the seventh, D, dropped in at the end.
The verse section features virtually the same chords as those used for the first four bars of the intro, but played in a different time signature. This section ends with some different chords played in yet another time signature [6/8].
Then there’s the heavy, distorted riff which appears a few times during the song. Here’s how it’s played during the intro. Following the bridge and the interlude, I shift to this heavy rhythm guitar part. The last chord in bar 1 [the two-note Em] is very similar to C7, but I think of it as E diminished, as both chords are built from almost the same notes [both chords comprise the notes G, Bb and E].
Right before the interlude, I play a heavily distorted riff that is similar to the first heavy riff, which is in A minor, but is here transposed to E minor. This is followed by the interlude, which begins with an Em(add9) chord.
When you take your spotlight solo each night on stage, do you ever improvise or do you always play the same solo?
It’s basically the same. But it depends on the sound I have onstage: if it’s a bad sound, I just do a basic form of the solo. But if it sounds really good, I like to carry on with it.
This video is bonus content related to the March 2011 issue of Guitar World magazine.
For full print reviews, lesson tabs and more, see the March 2011 issue of Guitar World. (It's the one with the 100 Greatest Metallica Songs on the cover. If you don't have that one at home, it's available now at the Guitar World Online Store.)
In this series of four videos, Guitar World's Andy Aledort explores the classic Jimi Hendrix track "Freedom," as heard on The Cry of Love.
After discussing Hendrix's tuning, Andy jumps into the intro, the verse chorus, the interlude and the bridge.
For more Hendrix, be sure to check out the April 2013 issue of Guitar World, which examines the new album of never-before-release Hendrix material, People, Hell and Angels. It's available on newsstands and at the Guitar World Online Store.
This video is bonus content related to the March 2011 issue of Guitar World magazine.
For full print reviews, lesson tabs and more, please see the March 2011 issue of Guitar World. (It's the one with the 100 Greatest Metallica Songs on the cover.)
In this series of four videos, Guitar World's Andy Aledort explores the classic Jimi Hendrix track "Freedom," as heard on The Cry of Love.
After discussing Hendrix's tuning, Andy jumps into the intro, the verse chorus, the interlude and the bridge.
This video is bonus content related to the March 2011 issue of Guitar World magazine.
For full print reviews, lesson tabs and more, please see the March 2011 issue of Guitar World. (It's the one with the 100 Greatest Metallica Songs on the cover.)
In this series of four videos, Guitar World's Andy Aledort explores the classic Jimi Hendrix track "Freedom," as heard on The Cry of Love.
After discussing Hendrix's tuning, Andy jumps into the intro, the verse chorus, the interlude and the bridge.
This video is bonus content related to the March 2011 issue of Guitar World magazine.
For full print reviews, lesson tabs and more, please see the March 2011 issue of Guitar World. (It's the one with the 100 Greatest Metallica Songs on the cover.)
In this series of four videos, Guitar World's Andy Aledort explores the classic Jimi Hendrix track "Freedom," as heard on The Cry of Love.
After discussing Hendrix's tuning, Andy jumps into the intro, the verse chorus, the interlude and the bridge.
For most of the past five decades, British guitarist Eric Clapton has been at the forefront of blues/rock guitar playing.
Though he has incorporated many different stylistic elements into his music during his long and very successful career, Clapton’s legacy was forged long ago on his brilliance as a virtuoso soloist, and he will long be remembered as one of the most important and influential guitarists ever.
This month we’ll examine that magical period from 1966 to 1968, when Clapton established the standard for modern blues and rock guitar with his incendiary work with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Cream — back when he was commonly referred to by the modest nickname God.
Though Clapton initially gained recognition with the Yardbirds, with whom he played from October 1963 through March of 1965, his work with the Bluesbreakers established him as one of the best guitarists of the day. His inspired performance on the 1966 classic Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton is also noteworthy for introducing a mind-blowing guitar sound.
Armed with his 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard, plugged into a 45-watt model 1962 Marshall 2x12 combo amplifier, Clapton forged a thick, overdriven sound with tremendous sustain. He routinely turned the amp full up, as he liked to say, “till it was about to burst.” In those days Clapton used light-gauge Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings (.009–.042).
Let’s first look at the scales Clapton relies on primarily for soloing. Following the lead of two of his greatest influences—B.B. King and Buddy Guy—Clapton often alternated between minor and major pentatonic scales in his solos. FIGURE 1a illustrates one of the most commonly used scale positions for G minor pentatonic (B Bf C D F). FIGURE 1b shows a signature Clapton lick based on this scale in this position: it begins with a repeated “unison bend” type lick, as C is bent up one whole step to D on the G string, followed by a fretted D on the B string. The phrase ends with hammer-ons and pull-offs played in 16th notes, ending with a pair of minor thirds, Bf, which are bent up one half step to the major third, B. Subtle use of minor-third-to-major-third bends is a standard stylistic element of Clapton’s soloing.
FIGURE 1c illustrates an extended position of G minor pentatonic, and FIGURE 2 offers an example of how Clapton moves smoothly between fretboard positions in the creation of improvised melodic phrases.
FIGURE 3a shows a fingering for the scale in 10th position, followed in FIGURE 3b with Clapton-esque phrases that utilize this fretboard pattern.
Additional scale fingerings for G minor pentatonic are shown in FIGURES 4, 5a, 6a and 6b. FIGURE 5b offers an example of how Clapton might use the scale position shown in FIGURE 5a in his improvised solos.
As mentioned, Clapton often alternates between minor and major pentatonic scales in his solos. FIGURES 7a and 7b illustrate two standard scale positions for G major pentatonic (G A B D E). In studying both minor and major pentatonic, remember that the intervallic structure of minor pentatonic is 1 f3 4 5 f7 (in G: G Bf C D F), and the intervallic structure of major pentatonic is 1 2 3 5 6 (in G: G A B D E).
FIGURE 7c illustrates solo phrases that are based on the extended position of G major pentatonic and played in Clapton’s style.
Our look at scales wraps up with FIGURE 8, which illustrates G major pentatonic in an extended pattern that starts at the 10th fret and ends at the 19th, making it very useful for inventive solo explorations.
One of Clapton’s best-known Bluesbreakers tracks is the instrumental “Steppin’ Out.” FIGURE 9 is a solo played over a “Steppin’ Out”–style backing track, which is simply a fast 12-bar blues shuffle in the key of G. I begin with sixths—pairs of notes that are six scale degrees apart—on the third and first strings, and for the rest of the 12-bar form I stick between first and third positions, using finger slides to connect the scale positions. Along with subtle bends, I also blur the line between minor and major by quickly hammering from the minor third to the major third, as shown in bars 10 and 12.
An effective stylistic device of Clapton’s is to use quick hammer-pulls on adjacent strings. FIGURE 10a demonstrates this technique on the top two strings, and FIGURE 10b moves the idea over to the B and G strings.
Let’s wrap up with a nod to Clapton’s classic 1968 Cream-era “Crossroads” solo, as shown in FIGURE 11. “Crossroads” is a 12-bar blues in A, and this solo is based on A minor pentatonic (A C D E G). Rooted in 17th position, this solo demonstrates how much mileage one can get from a single scale position.
Eric Clapton’s Bluesbreakers/Cream–era guitar work offers many valuable lessons that cover all of the ingredients essential to blues-rock soloing: touch, tone, phrasing, musicality and inspiration. Like all great things, these recordings sound better with age.
Want more Clapton? Check out our In Deep: How to Play the Cream of Eric Clapton DVD in the Guitar World online store, featuring a complete breakdown of the scales and lead lines used by Eric Clapton in his groundbreaking work with the Yardbirds, the Bluesbreakers and Cream. Get it here.
The following content is related to the May 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.
A true original, the late, great virtuoso guitarist Duane Allman led the Allman Brothers Band into rock history with his ferocious, deeply expressive and trailblazing guitar work. Rounder Records offers ample testimony to the beauty as well as the breadth of Duane’s recorded work in the new, beautifully compiled box set Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective. In this edition of In Deep, we will examine some of the key elements of Duane’s signature style as a lead guitarist.
One of the best examples of the genius of Duane Allman can be found on the timeless, classic live album, At Fillmore East (1971), which captures the Allman Brothers Band live in concert at the peak of their powers. Duane’s razor-sharp articulation and masterful touch abound, starting with the slide guitar tour de force “Statesboro Blues,” through the smoldering slow blues “Stormy Monday” and continuing through the fiery, aggressive solos performed on “Whipping Post,” “You Don’t Love Me” and other great tracks.
The following content is related to the June 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.
Last month, we examined the guitar genius of the great Duane Allman, who, as founder of the Allman Brothers Band, rose to prominence as one of the greatest and universally heralded blues-rock guitarists of all time.
In honor of the expansive new box set from Rounder Records, Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective, we focused on his single-note soloing on classic Allman Brothers’ cuts like “Stormy Monday” and “Whipping Post.” This month’s column is dedicated to Duane’s mastery of the art of slide guitar.
Duane possessed an instantly recognizable sound on electric slide, earmarked by masterful phrasing and smooth, “singing” vibrato.
Great examples of his slide guitar prowess include “Trouble No More” and “Dreams” from the band’s debut release, The Allman Brothers Band; “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’,” from Idlewild South; “Statesboro Blues” and “Done Somebody Wrong” from At Fillmore East; and “One Way Out” from Eat a Peach. He also lent inspired slide work to the title track and many others on the Derek and the Dominoes album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.
The following content is related to the July 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.
Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival, which has now occurred four times between 2004 and 2013, is a benefit concert held to raise funds for Clapton’s Crossroads Drug Treatment Center in Antigua. The concerts are always a showcase for a stable of the world’s foremost guitarists, handpicked by Clapton himself. This year’s event featured the talents of Albert Lee, Allan Holdsworth, the Allman Brothers Band, B.B. King, Keith Richards, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, Jimmie Vaughan, John Scofield and many, many others.
At each festival, Clapton leads a big jam on a classic blues standard. In 2004, the jam tunes were “Sweet Home Chicago” and “Rock Me Baby,” and they featured Eric alongside B.B., Jimmie, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy and the late great Hubert Sumlin. The same tunes were revisited in 2007, and for 2010’s concert, the B.B. King classic “The Thrill Is Gone” was chosen for the jam finale.
At the 2013 shows, Eric, B.B., Jimmie and Robert cooked up a smoldering blues jam on Memphis Slim’s “Everyday I Have the Blues,” performed in a moderate, swinging groove, a few notches up from the 1950 Number Three hit version cut by Lowell Fulson, but at a more relaxed tempo than B.B.’s well-known, hard-driving Live at the Regal reading of the tune. In this edition of In Deep, we’ll examine the soloing style of each of these blues greats as applied to an “Everyday I Have the Blues”-type of groove and progression.
In this edition of In Deep, we’ll examine some of the signature elements of the brilliant blues-rock guitarist Gary Moore’s stunning, immediately identifiable guitar style.
Born in 1952, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Moore picked up the guitar at the age of eight, inspired by the music of Elvis Presley, the Shadows and the Beatles.
But his strongest influences were John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers guitarists Eric Clapton and Peter Green, as well as legendary electric blues progenitors Albert King, B.B King and Albert Collins. Another important influence was Jimi Hendrix; Moore would regularly include Hendrix’s slow blues “Red House” in his live shows.
Though Moore was often seen playing a beautiful Fiesta Red 1961 Strat, his signature sound is more closely associated with the beloved 1959 Les Paul Standard that he played for many years (see sidebar on page 36). He purchased that guitar from Peter Green in 1970 and, fittingly, used it to record his 1995 tribute to his mentor, Blues for Greeny.
Often, Moore would begin a song using the warm tone of his Les Paul’s neck pickup, with which he would perform melodic, vocal-like lines, then switch over to the bridge pickup for his solos to achieve a more aggressive and biting sound.
Moore often employed a fair amount of gain—courtesy of Marshall heads (often JTM45s), 4x12 basketweave Marshall cabinets and Marshall Guv’nor and Ibanez Tube Screamer pedals—and was known for conjuring tremendous sustain, such as the celebrated “endless note” featured in his live performances of his classic song “Parisienne Walkways.”
A great way to approach incorporating Gary Moore–style licks into your playing is to start with the most essential scale for blues/rock soloing, the minor pentatonic. FIGURE 1 shows the A minor pentatonic scale in fifth position.
The fingering I use for this scale is index-pinkie on the low E string, switching to index-ring finger for the rest of the scale. One of the unusual things about Moore’s style is that he preferred to use his middle finger in conjunction with his index for a great many of his licks, similar to the fretting approach of Gypsy jazz great Django Reinhardt. When playing this type of scale in this position, Moore would often use his index and ring fingers on the top two strings and the low E string but would switch to index-middle for all the other strings.
Occasionally, Moore would stick with the index-middle approach across virtually all of the strings, along the lines of FIGURE 2. In this lick, I start by barring the index finger across the top two strings at the fifth fret and use the middle finger to execute the quick half-step bends on the B string, as well as the fast hammer-ons and pull-offs across the B and G strings.
FIGURE 3 details a “traditional” fingering for descending the minor pentatonic scale in this position within groups of 16th-note triplets.
A staple of Moore’s soloing style was to unleash fast flourishes of notes, executed with free-form “crammed” phrasing that rushed over the top of the groove. He would balance these fiery blasts with simpler, more vocal-like phrases that would effectively pull his improvisations back into the groove. For many of these runs, Moore would rely on quick hammer-on/pull-off figures between pairs of notes on a given string, as demonstrated in FIGUREs 4a and 4b.
In FIGURE 5a, I apply this concept to every string as I descend A minor pentatonic in a symmetrical fashion. FIGURE 5b offers a similar, albeit simpler, idea, and FIGURE 5c presents a similar approach applied to an ascending lick.
Further permutations on this concept are shown in FIGURES 6a–c. Once you’ve got a handle on these, try moving to other areas of the fretboard and apply the concepts to other keys, as demonstrated in FIGURES 7a and 7b.
FIGURE 8 offers an example of soloing in Gary’s style over a medium straight-eighths funk groove along the lines of his cover of Albert King’s “Oh, Pretty Woman.’
The title track of Moore’s hit album Still Got the Blues (a complete transcription of which appears in this issue) featured a “cycle of fourths” chord progression more common to jazz than blues or rock.
FIGURE 9 is a melodic solo played over this type of progression in the key of Am. Notice that each phrase makes direct reference to the accompanying chord by targeting its third. Also, bar 6 features a fast pull-off lick to the open high E string, a technique Moore utilized in a great many of his solos.
The following content is related to the August 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.
One thing that I believe all guitar players should try to make part of their daily practice routine is the study of scales. A common pitfall when it comes to working on scales is that, oftentimes, it’s easy to get lost or caught up in “Scale-ville,” where you might find yourself playing nothing but scales up and down all over the neck for hours on end.
Though there are great benefits from that type of dedicated scale study, it can easily turn into mechanical drudgery, rendering one’s practice time an unpleasant experience. The intent with the exercises presented this month is to demonstrate a concise way to incorporate dedicated scale studies into your everyday practice routine, but to do so in a very focused, concise manner.
Your Instructor is Andy Aledort, a longtime contributor to Guitar World and the author and producer of hundreds of artist transcriptions, books and instructional DVDs, Aledort has influenced and inspired guitarists around the world for decades.
Check out the complete chapter listing — and a video sample of the new DVD, featuring Aledort and his Gibson Les Paul in action.
Chapter Listing:
Chapter 1 – The open strings; tuning up: fretting method; tuning up: harmonic method; chord frames; E major chord; open-position cowboy chords; the "caged" system; F chord.
Chapter 8 – Combining power chords with single-note riffs; combining power chords and pedal tones; "galloping" rhythms;
Chapter 9 – Reading single not phrases; scale studies; E minor pentatonic; E major scale; E minor pentatonic scale studies; articulation: hammer-ons and pull-offs; C major scale studies; alternate picking; A minor pentatonic; A major pentatonic, sixth-string root; D major pentatonic, fifth-string root.
Chapter 10 - String bending; vibrato.
Chapter 11 – How to play the blues; the "shuffle" rhythm; blues soloing styles; key of E; key of A.
The following content is related to the September 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue.
A musician can express a wide range of feelings and emotions simply by changing the phrasing of a series of notes. Examples includes altering which notes are emphasized within a line, modifying the rhythmic syncopation of the melodic shape and changing the tone and/or pick attack. This month I’d like to focus on rhythmic and melodic approaches that can be easily applied when either composing or improvising a solo.
We’ll use one particular scale, E major pentatonic (E Fs Gs B Cs), which we will play over a repeating chord progression. FIGURE 1 shows this scale played in ninth position. As you play through this pattern, be aware of the note names as well as their intervallic relationships. You can do this effectively by reciting either the note name or its interval name as you ascend and descend the scale repeatedly.
In the DVD, Guitar World editor and instructor Andy Aledort shows you how to play all the techniques associated with the lighting-fast style of country shredding known as “chicken pickin’.”
Plus, you’ll get in-depth lesson on using two-note double-stops.
This video is bonus content related to the December 2011 issue of Guitar World. For full print reviews, lesson tabs and more, look for the December 2011 issue of Guitar World on newsstands now, or purchase this issue in our online store here.
Jimi Hendrix's stature as rock's greatest guitarist is by now an absolute and indisputable fact. In this month's edition of "In Deep," I'll examine his genius within the realm of rhythm guitar.
