PPINCLULING >> SweetHome...(1stsolo) Unleash — Basket Case Ka Tot a EUROPE’S BEST-SELL.'G : GUITAR MAG/"IV» Za 4 ; E (alt i Signature Biffy Squier guitar and bass! This man will 2” change the way i you play guitar! fe ' a i Zz DEO ENG The Ghost Of ATholisand Paramore ~ Funeral For ees AFriend Lamb Of God ‘rl WES Tae DaTel cet ILYNYRD SKYNYRD| SMEs aa uel Coen) |BOB MARLEY RIFFS = tee So 5 cool reggae licks | Pe fae 4 Racked feercesereey a : = Guitar starter packs é, for Christmas Sea ral , Raeeseed ner musicradarcom Sos. Bees INU ir 9 7715551504055“DigiTech has brought a truly innovative, Dre ec Fen Ue ale ca GD aCe ND Seu EL ced CG Wee ea Se Ree a > practicality with inspirational creativity." Ce Se foe Certs a \ Ss a eee eg ST ae ee cui ur TL CMe due eet ea a ATT CTS ei Sen a ce eee ea een ee ays ayaa TIM Ce eee eer eee TE ed eet eat eneNEW IMPROVED DISC PLUS THE SONG INDEX IS BACK! T Whenever you see the TGCD logo in your magazine it's time G to turn on your stereo or computer and check out the CD accompanying audio or video on your disc {un KHANNA a" RIFF OF THE MONTH Sex Pistols Pretty Vacant TM 5 Bob Marley rifts Is This Love (intro) Could You Be Loved (intro) [Shot The Sheriff (intro) Stir It Up (intro) Jammin’ (intro chords tf) S Biffy Clyro riffs That Golden Rule Who's Got A Match? Machines Saturday Superhouse Foiding Stars Beginner's acoustic Eight-bar blues Beginner's olectrie Blues scale solo Lynyrd Skynyrd: part 2 LISTEN & LEARN 8. Full track VIP AREA ‘Sweet Home Alabama (solo 1) Stick your TG CD in your stereo or 9. Backing track ‘computer and iisten to your audio Player profile: John Petrucci lessons, then play along with the Green Day Part 2: clean chords and soloing backing tracks. BASKET CASE 10. Full track VIDEO LESSONS Track 1106 11. Backing track NEW! Zakk Wylde Tuning guide ‘Tommy Emmanuel (Adee) Soutfly NEW! Joe Bonamassa No tuner? No problem... Get your UNLEASH guitar in tune with these reference MP3. Ful track MODERN MASTERS Notes for each string! MP8. Backing track Get the lowdown on Jeff Beck's guitar playing style Nail string skipping in amonth WATCH & LEARN ‘Your four-week practice routine Put your CD in your PC or Mac to GET YOUR GRADES! watch our Video Lessans and guest ‘Boost your accompaniment skils for ‘Those About To Rock: playin the spots from the world's hottest guitar RGT's Grade Two acoustic exam style of Deaf Havana players. If the disc doesr't run Pa tock ct Bociechooes automatically, double-click on the Veena pie tarieaienaeran (Q&A: Your technique and theory Interface icon to start up the TG CO. If Questions answered you are using a Mac, you will need to double-click on the CD leon frst. Hot Band: ‘The Ghost Of A Thousand BRIGHT LIGHTS MP3. Intro Denna nam nd Pg J ann ‘Strum-atong! Razorlight HOSTAGE OF Love “Zintro and backing Howtin’ Wott piel aren SMOKESTACK LIGHTNINGOn Your... Get your mojo flowing and use the tab and scales to help you play along with your free disc of blues backing tracks, courtesy of rock and pop exam board Rockschool Huot Huneuuiirariimiieeimerimenmiminenimimniiarneameioemninieiininei niin CCD of biues backing tracks from Rockschool (whose regular column's on pil8). This extra disc covers a wide range of bives, from strigped-down acoustic through to the modern stylings Of The Black Keys and Joe Bonamassa, As well as the eight backing tracks, the CD also features a lead lick for each track (tabbed here) his Issue you gat two free CDs with your magazine: your regular TGCD packed with audio and video tution, and a Its important to focus on fooling’ the phrases that you're playing. This isnot the time to worry about playing lots of different scale pod Pere Nn T a 8 patterns all over the neck — it's fine to use a single four or five-note pattern for an entife solo. instead of thinking about what scales to play, think more about rhythm and timing (When to play), the ‘dynamics (how hard or softly you play), and aim to react to the ‘backing music as much as possible. Ask yourself: has the track got ‘quieter or louder? Has a new section started with a different feel? How shuld I change what | play to complement this? Considering all these things is what makes a graat blues solo. m Visit www-rockschool.co.uk for tab of the backing tracks. in o Thisraptfire blues 0 cf your bends byl g the target note (in races) and then the bond. The bent rote shoul sound the same a the looks pretty daunting (special bar 2) so break t down int tnee-nate groups Double 04 taraii ‘SHUFFLE BLUES: tracks 2and10 ‘ON YOUR FREE ROCKSCHOOL CD_ sth = —— ‘hiss reat for bola hythmic phrases. oublestons bee up the sound and we've suggested you se the bes scale wth a couple ext? abueswith notes, which should be treated as passing’ notes (not held fr too ong) Listen to the to get the sncopated (offbeat) rhythms ght. adsed’sthssoth ‘SLOW BLUES: tracks 3 andl Ca Lx : ; f oh TO Qa aie ak Gebel Ce rp ed ero 1 [eel ne Trae a o DUO BLUES: tracks 4 and 12 Se : vo TOO . - 4 me = pee oo eet roe =o We — » —— 6/66 t ofa = enor = | = = — = 4 EEE ESE CMe 258 7 par EE Sd 0/66 I — thts = aa § = = == "sas enon snd eset sa get eas wih fos an ae pte ae ‘ae a a Ee anes Poin ee ae eat iar | 05ere Pera Loretto CS) eth box cae shape we've sugested e used by many blues legends, Clues box et the bluesy sound you'r afte. pattem 4 Vodog BB ag Th hoes Quckerone bers mate sen Ger bard Tour PES EEE) a ow Tn Slow, heavy bes track takes its spraton fram madet blues oc ayes ike Joe Bonamassa, With a slow, grooving Boaham ‘Thislickis a singe band that I -pcked while bang gradual released, blues esque tum par you can dla in and make the most CoE ‘ON YOUR FREE ROCKSCHOOL CD. ‘The suggested scale for this acoustic tracksin open poston, great fr fast laries of notes using open stings. Big bens are hac to elute achieve with heh acoustie stings, sa look tothe old blues payers and use small quarter-fone bends fr the ultimate lues sound,There’s not one thing that makes our amplifiers unique. There’s two. One's dual patent First the Infinite Shape Feature and everything in between. S and compression at any va reliability. Play BI lackstar amps and discover the sound in your head, Blackstar’ the sound in your head ealInbox & News 10 Guitar Tracks to Download Riff Of The Month: Sex Pistols, Nail string skipping in a month ‘Those About To Rock Hot new gear Steal Their Sound: Lamb Of God WIN Biffy'smew Squier signatures! Going Live/ TG's Guide To Effects Albums S88 RSRSSaER ‘As Only Revolutionsgets set for a release, guitarist Simon Neil and 5 bassist james johnston reveal the yest : secrets of their power triodynamic hae 52 SEASICK STEVE ‘The blues curio-cum-stadium star gives TGhis 10 blues commandments, Plus, T6's guide toahobo-rockingsetup 56 MUSE: ‘THERESISTANCE’ ‘TGsent experts from the Royal College Of Music, DigiTech and Native instruments undercover toanalysehow Muse created a masterpiece in The Resistance 60 STUDIOSPECIAL: FUNERALFORAFRIEND COVER STORY Everything studi ist-timers need to know about recording 64 PARAMORE Joshand Taylor on why Brand ‘New Eyesis their best work yet” 68 HOTBAND:THE GHOST OF ATHOUSAND (On the power of three chords and touring their way tosuccess 121 Gearintro 122 Schecter Apocalypse C-1 Limited 425 Orange Dual Terror 127 WashburnDS 128 Group Test starter packs for Xmas 133. Ibanez|et King|TKOSLTDIV 135 Italia Rimini-6 137 BuyersGuide 140 Ed'sShed 08) itar82 88 94 102 SEX PISTOLS Pretty Vacant (video riff) ‘STRUM-ALONG: RAZORLIGHT Hostage Of Love HOWLIN' WOLF Smokestack Lightning GREEN DAY Basket Case LYNYRD SKYNYRD (VIDEO) Sweet Home Alabama (part 2) SOULFLY Unleash 36 76 108 110 uz 14 118 gaa Your technique and theory questions answered BEGINNER'S Easy video lessons to get you started on acousticandelectric PLAYER PROFILE: JOHN PETRUCCI art 2: clean chords and soloing VIDEOLESSON: ZAKK WYLDE Reach Zakk’s fret-melting speed with some cool picking approaches VIDEOLESSON: TOMMY EMMANUEL Explore therhythmic possibilities of an acousticand create agroave VIDEOLESSON: JOE BONAMASSA arn the modern bluesman’s style, starting with pentatonics MODERN MASTERS Get inspired by thesoundsand techniques of eff Beck GET YOUR GRADES ‘Ace your exams with the help of ‘our Rockschool and RGT columns if youre a regular Total Guitar reader, 'd like to think you've noticed our recent change in direction. We've cut out the more frivolous content to make room for more in-depth interviews, tution and reviews. It’s part of an ongoing process to make TG the best value guitar mag for your money, And the process continues this month with our Biffy Clyro cover feature and preview of their Squier signature guitars, plus a proper guitar-orientated profile of Muse's latest opus, The Resistance. For the latter we recruited Professor of Guitar and Assistant Head of Strings at London's Royal College Of Music, Gary Ryan, to analyse the album from a classical perspective. People always bang on about how Matt Bellamy is inspired by classical music, so we thought we'd find out the true extent of his symphonic savvy, We even got DigiTech engineer Jason Lamb to pick apart Bellamy's use of effects. I's a great, in-depth read anda sign of things to come from TG. © LZ ‘Stephen Lawson, Editor tar 105)‘Contact! : nanan utr vtanemiaiii TM , ioarane To share your views, visit musicradatcon Write to: The Editor, Total Gui ‘TotalGuitar@futurenetcom 1, 30 Monmouth Stree! wvtotalguitar.couk wey Star Letter ‘Vaguely literate? Mildly amusing? Win a Boss Micro-BR! Backin the (bridge) saddle ve recently picked up the guitar for the first time in over 28 years, and have been, spurred on by the wealth of information available to the modern guitarist. In my day, if you wanted to learn a song you had to buy sheet music. There was no tab and it was only if you were very lucky that you got chord diagrams. Unless you had an exceptional ear or a friend who knew the song, learning licks or solos was pretty much impossible. Today, with the help of Total Guitar and the internet, Im finding that my playing and my understanding of theory is developing at a rapid rate. However, in recent weeks I've been struggling to master a certain song, The tabs | found online didn't seem to convey the essence of the song and the ‘lessons’ available on YouTube tend not to be lessons but clips of people showing off their skils. | was therefore overjoyed when | picked up TG to find that this song, Sweet Home Alabama, was the subject of a Video Lesson. I've nailed the intro, chorus and bridge and ‘can't wait for the next lessons. Thanks for making an old man very happy! Meee era eu cr Lee ee ener os imultaneaus playback Pome em Tenner senna Prretirie rime tera seein ets If Carsiberg made wives elt had to write to you to let you know of my awesome introduc to the gutar and how lucky am! Just over two years ago at the age of 3 and asa lifelong fan of eu based musi. | finally bought myself an acoustic guitar in order to teach ‘rye to play ~ even it meant playing And does she stay at home? No way! She's at every gg handing ou usiness cards, chatting with people, all while dressed to kl that wasn't awesome enough she has just oueht me an Ovation Mick Thomson signature acoustic [see photo, lett] because my other acoustic is Start to struggle with the gigng! Now you see why Tm the luckiest bloke around. | had to share this with you as a way of saying thanks to h and showing my appreciation forall shehas done. Thank, Karen! ‘lang to Patience by Guns N’ Roses! With the help of Total Guttar. ve sone on to lear plenty of amazing songs. Ive even managed to become ted to upgrading my eatipment, to the point that my liveg room looks Isthis letter abit leftist? .en tring £0 leern guitar for ouple of years now. In that have bought some cheap guitars. which have made beautiful furniture, but | knew | would never play them again, So. when a work colleague said he wanted to learn to play guitar | to the most understanding wife in the worl Not only does she put uo with the ‘aforementioned living room, she is fully supportive of my practice time {and the fact that min two ba both of which are geging regularly and could see that the range of cheap auitars on offer was next tohin uuu cocaevzaeoeaiai TU ‘ronexistent, | old him to try out my guitar fora couple of weeks and now he says he carit imagine going back to leftchanded playing So, my top th is if youre left: handed, try playing right-handed fo a couple of weeks itl save you lats cof money and hassle fincing a lef ‘Treader Wayne: “That shoule gota, ‘whetlie badreview" ha trl And its easier to wate! Total Guttar Video Lessons! Rocked & Rated: rated! Ive been playing guitar for almost two years and Id ke to say Total Gu has helped meno end, especially as'm teaching mysett.| particularly ‘admire the honesty of your Rocked & Rated reviews, My other hobby is riding BMX bikes few woeks back a friend was asked to test ride one of the latest bikes for ‘BMX mag, so they could review it. ‘We went down to the local park to ‘meet the editer with the bike ard all (of his camera equipment Less than an hour Into the test re my mate had canoe deste te Te IGE) exencrscenerssa ote Sitio whchreree a wince rene mats Lefty MarkKnopter Succumbedto ‘rant aces "Whenare yougonna tab Something Rammstein or ety Peat am?" ‘Tom, Carshalton Pease" ardallon he steretvota Fuwesent burst review inow have very ite AdlecantoytPe Corscence n meoaevcws ‘Arctic Monkeys. | However, your reviews in the Rocke RResdibforsthools) «Rated section always come a iaeeeaee as very honest, listing both the pros femme recon andro sch up a the compary so that hey val ay you. filowedbys) Recoect and one ba tums Te Seaeant youl, People locking to buy new gear wil no Weeeatep cout scocadvce and youcamnat MRE esta rmeonnerevew. tne wo can emanate | you runt Cher Email your shots to Totaluitarfuturenet com with your fullname and address. Thebest wil wna Freshman FAD. ‘This dreadnought acoustic teaturesa sta spruce to, ‘mahogany back and sides, nda rosewood fingerboard Solt'sideal for strumming and picking! Vist wir. ffeshmanguitas.couk or moreinfa THIS MONTH'S WINNER, Mike Reynolds, Cheltenham . Total eeu: WA Guitar Erpt alceatttson eee eee, ‘Aege asitng Scan Mrmabtasnten ac Phatpethy bre cau aoc carpe canth ay ‘ter ever et hy Ses peer at ‘een tur aera Me oas elspa soma (romansdetne Us: sata 705) [iSitiecnest mwryaromapchescous ‘rank Baan Gonteacer te anita rea inonecinger a oeeressaauefri ae fe ah votre xe) P ita Sound like your idols as Marshall brings its tone to the masseseo Bag yourself a Biffy 2 cy or bass! TE Peed nero Eseries CLAPTON WS BECK star icons Ere Cl and Jet an trom the pair ct Ge a Me ee en Cae ean the valve amps that are the rost expensive, Pets ee eee ce eer Etec sct oe Ces Pe ea Pony rere ete FT | eee ae Pape or folate Seach reat enero cee nd Pee tea 50 youcan understand ere rene ran Citic eas eee Mena TL MARSHAL een : Basenotes BOXSET Derren ene ie eee sl rocker Beer Cone te Ne mena Mo ee NE ee eee ee eer ee Men Peete ee Peer) lena en sree cir Ce ee Sagas rons area Petter named ere tees BM emast pairs prerieeanban band’s studo andive rte einer) foreoeer nny sr boris dela ae eevee meeraceceast Pepa | | forthe extra gain reared with thecal bere) een 1 eta eee porated pene mp hes esc itt Od Seas offta Panel a pear rieeeuer ortentshoused win Pestaetiversely aes vingone-wattare correo Heb , tothe! the| P 10Guitar Tracks to ee eyurallolacel thismonth rmup forthe release ofNort ish eas debut albumin then =" Bragg helps reform ‘Perm DFISOnNers with guitars Rock elite throws weight behind musical programme )y) THECAPTRIN o rig tiga ftir ath choclate hom acompanien 1 Chis Shit de world, and my hunch ‘rack d sie wour 2 ent become pe Shakira se fom a i ack of wolves, butts the Tom Tom Clubsh leks were really hot for )) Gesan queens reducer ood (U2, Nie Inch Nals) ensures Jared Leto and coa tadlum-worthy comeback upporting REET campaign are jersanather ti ‘guitar tune 1 single rom West Pauper atc Asylum with cool. funky andotibeat gutarift i ced atc Cee ee URS Live has been bolstered rockers Cars On Fire (see p24) and Grand Theft Audio. The Live rauksa: with Canadian acoustic and They Fell From The Sky, | Stage rovidiness will culminate MF sam carter Purr ora onary Sunday 8, when Music Live will Cuma ee ee need oer eat heusd eo ous yy) 10 zacezsueot ee ey Tickets for Music Live are Sonic Boom Six Cees priced at £16 in advance and can Peete tn ere err Roland and Rotosound. ede acd aiaeeemeie USIC BE i. ‘anawesome tee-and-a-hatvruvcurvuaieairiae co Bi elcciasiit around - on your Guitarist: AE he infamous Pretty this chord from low to high J. you repeat the picking pattern, Vacant was originally aie A, E and A, and are played | watch your pick to make sure released as asinglein on the fith, fourth and thrd that you ate moving from string 1977, buthas since enjoyed strings Held the chord chape to sting efficiently, with no second wid wil inclusion _as you articulate the notes Unnecessary large mavernents. Hero (Steve Jones with your pick. There's no place Moving from your wrst (instead remaining Sex Pistols foranarchyina good picking _of the elbow) wil ge you a had to re-record the track). technique, so this rif should comfortable range of movement ‘Theriffis based en an open be played with consistent ‘and the greatest amount of A powerchord, The notes of. downstrokes throughout. As. contro fr picking, (CG) So) aTessptal The chords you need to play iconic tracks PO ees in the ey of B major. Try eee ee ee ee ae enone Toplay these four chords. you needtouse {hig tuning (low to figh):8,A,8,6, 8,8 5 “Thefist chordis basedon an open Shape and he secondresembles open A, ‘You find the Petty Vacant Video Lesson by ching onthe Video RIS Unk on themanmanvof he TGCD. Dedicated FX store launches alvation has arrived for effects nuts those attending. There vill also be live music on who are tired of tripping over the same the night from Tin Spins and a raffe (Ela ticket) generic siompboxes in every guitar shop In ald of Cancer Research where you can win ever they visit. Stompphox (formerly known as 1,000 werth of prizes! Go to fxpedal.couk to buy EffectPowerSuppliescom) has opened a brand —_tickets for the launch and raffle. ew retail premises in Northwood, Londan, but Uniike regular guitar emporiums, they aniy sell effects pedals. As well as a huge stock of more reguiar names, youll also find a large selection of boutique brands lining the shelves, To celebrate the opening, Stemebox will be holding a launch party on 18 November at Woody's Bar, Northwood. Entrance to the event costs £3, and includes a Seymour Duncan goodie bag. for Clim add? ‘Acapo can open upnew chord voleings In ‘open pasion thaae shapes arin Grmaion. erst co ar Treen eon Def Leppard: Wanna Touch U PereMonitor! 1 i STRING SKIPPING 3: .:0r #6 Start playing cleaner licks with this cool lead guitar technique MMT vgn ivmunaei tring skipping is often» ‘String skipping involves missing pick hand, Memorise the pk ‘confident with the picking start used as an easier fut ane or mare strings hang patterns foreach of the fretting the nates and try nat to substitute for sweep play through a set of notes, ceercises fst, ensuring your look at your pick hand because picking and the resutt Dicking Is clean without scuffing i's important to develop a feel tends to sound a lot cleaner, aspectis the accuracy of your the idle strings, Once you're for the distances involved. BASIC PICK HAND EXERCISE EORCUE I = ———s —— = 2 ‘Much ofthe picking in string skipping ees on knowing exactly where each sting is without looking at your hand Thase exercees get you used to your pek hands eld of mokement Gnas Ee) This exercse uses pata chords, so you have t pick aut certain nots from a chord shape to reduce arpeggios, The ick rections mean you always pickin the direction ofthe next note eit SSS The adltion of the oth fet & rote avoids the much more ficult Ith fret onthe 2nd string which would mean sweep picking. You can also use pul-ofs fora bt more speed. PUES Ee) OY TA ae ee Try and pay thick wth your st, secand and fouth fnges throughout, usngalterate finger shit rom Sthta 6th poston wil make the whole exercise smoother too, rg. Nalin te fstU.S —~ ee J Ceeeetas i ren peop aria SIs UCase DEAF HAVANA Dk ee eee Peeaater clare ad ed ota Ee sound tke? eer eg eter) ome enh eur td inspiration from ‘think outside the box’ renegades formed five," he tells TG. “My dad owned a Pic epee ears three years agoat collegeand have pipe organ company. As | was getting a St ee dT ere ee ey the road racking up both miles and started bass, then guitar and found it eee eee en Ses at Renee ting See ed (aetna ONYOURTGCD Thistffswitches between single note on the second and tirdstrngs. Use ther your second and tir or third and Tourth gers te play the dovblestops. Using the mest comfy fingering wil elpmake the postion change ease Earpeepee’ er Havana."! play the more lead ris Peete Teed ores ta Rea see Porat ieg eee a enn rood Saphir) oe erica peered eet eee gas ee ede eas Prat’ et etc es eet from the rest ofthe bands we're eed Pee ert feet asd eos pace Cee a Sead Beet pose ree eer INNEI ATT FOR FANS OF: Young Guns, The Blackout KEV KIT: (Chis) Fender Telecaster Pus, Telecaster ee Parity rent Speen ae How do they cope on the road? eed Ott od ee etree Pee eee fon the other guys to pick you up” Senor Peano! eee ota Pe seared Practising solidly for a week and on {day one of the tour James’ head eee es Re eee Te eee! problems with their heads too. We eee eter td peerer re erent Se el re Ce ed Seer ietg pens Sear eee er ees eee eee {are all done by our merch guy, Da Cees ass rete eet al eae ad era Ta Ce eet eee ee ecg BIRDS OF TOKYO hoare they and what do ‘they sound like? has already beer stalia, Soaring dining rhythms lay t FOR FANS OF: 30 Second To Nar Geo als, Fist ‘OUTNOW: Universes MY OWN FLAG hho are they and what do ‘they sound like? When TG spotted these lo-fi tank on sentry duty at the MyOwnFiag have already played f ipsand killer ts:on top of that, Keep ed and your flanne hit creased, (CB) FORFANS OF: Ninana Fuga Shellac (OUT NOW: BvtMonitor | So Candin Seon eioarty ho are they and what do they sound lke? They've been around fora few years, but this Scottish metal brethren have gone back to the drawing board and shed their screamo baggage to emerge asa young melodic metal band ‘with true promise and songs with ‘classic’ written all over them. Listen tolimpressive new album Leaving Eversthing Behind. which offers the band's perspective on life growing pin a small town, and youll know exactly what we mean There are plenty of young bands emerging from Scotland right now, but these gus fare at the head of the pack. (CB) Enter Shika Funeral Fork rend TwinAtante Leaving Everything Beh TinBlyth, Adamcrowley LATITUDES ho are they and what do they sound like? You could well describe these London doom-metallers as stingy for only offering a single MySpace track to sample thelr audio ‘carnage — but boy what a calling cara! Antachamber’s seven-minute slab of sloth-lke aural destruction is the perfect intro to the band's debut album Agonist. Instrumental ‘bands can go one of two ways. but these guys go full pelt in the right irecton. With a line-up of influences including doom-ords Neurosis right back to Sabbath, they'e pulling from some dark places and their brooding delivery is nothing short of epic. (CB) Cut of Luna ss, Black ‘Seth Agonist ‘Guitarist: CARS ON FIRE ho are they and what do they sound like? necro of To/BIMM's Band Ala and. column picked up on an Cars On Fire in March of this vear. BelrOimGave since which the industry’ hype (invita) ‘machine has caught onto their iva, ‘killer tunes and passion to succeed. fryspacecon Bristol-based guitarists Mike Fell and rsontreband : All Ross had been playing for a while when they found John Pick (drums) and ‘borrowed’ Steve Gregory (bass) fom anather local band, and in 2006 Cars On Fite was born. Darekar toi paiement ed eens eee ean) Caer att ee ace oeecreN eee ar hs ene ara) eee ee a) Seu Cet) Pectin eee a Ee ee ety eeu ra eT Cool, so what's the guitar history port eon pee et as 16 when Al, who play Cee z ed Covueamelar ct] those, ‘about to OL ‘uu aeiauiinmnmemnimieniieeii Sounds promising. What made them pick up the guitar then? Ital started when Mike saw Slash wielding his Les Paul on TV in 1994: He inspired milions, including rset, to stop masturbating and pick up a uitar” Add to that some Faith No More inspvation ("the way they fused ‘0 many musical styles made me check out other gentes outside of rock") and the influential sounds of Pixies Joe Santiago ("the man is tke a sonic plough") and Mike was well and truly bitten by the rack bus. ‘Tells us more about the songs. Minialbum Dig Your Own Grave is melting pot of angst at modem life and rousing riffs. "t's an accurate representation of us” Mke explains, trying to fuse crushing ris with the catchiest choruses this side of ABBA! Talking of tunas, be sure to check out the video for Bum The Suits on the band's MySpace: "It was directed by a porn director! We were expecting a bevy of scantily clad ladies” says Mike, "but gat guys who looked tke extras from a ganster film!" (LR) “WE FUSE CRUSHING RIFFS WITH THE CATCHIEST CHORUSES THIS SIDE OF ABBA!" THE GILDED PALACE OF SIN cede Perec aed eatery nets Poethesiees eee WE TRIED VERY| |CRAMPS AND VELVET| UNDERGROUND" Le Ue art a preter oad eee eet Se nl eat Poems Neca ted ones aT Pere ea ara TM nuuuuaouaagevaiaaeaii noose froma00 ==" Line 6 re-vamps the Spider Valve range MKIl valve-powered modelling amps get new features ead containng a mixture of edt up to four looper and auto wah effects, and the abty to layer and “THE FBV FOOTSWITCH GIVES YOU HANDS-FREE CONTROL OF VOLUME, WAH, TEMPO AND PITCH” ricrmation anc to finda desler TM IN PRAISE OF... IBANEZ TUBE SCREAMER he various Ibanez Tube op-amp chip, which is largely boost to push a valve amp's I Screamers rank among __credited.as being the key to the preamp section into greater the most popular overcrive classic TS sound, The 808 was saturation. The Tube Screamer Pedals ever made. Originally later followed by the TS9, and circuit has formed the basis for produced by Maxon for Ibanez _these two pedals are recognised countless boutique clones and in the early 80s, the T5808, as the most popular of the Tube mods, and reissued versions became a pedalboard staple ‘Screamer range. ‘are presant in lbane2’s current thanks to high-profile artists ike ‘The Tube Screamer is product line-up, including the Stevie Ray Vaughan. The original commonly used ether tocreate _TS808 (with the same chip as TSEOB contained the JRC4555 theentie drive soundorasa _the orignal), TS9 and TS9DX, m EVOLUTION OF ANINSTITUTION 25) eltaealt = G Cots) 1 3 ps |ACOUSTIC GLORY| WIN AN ENDORSEMENT a Piolo ceaiaeretenins eet eae ee Renee ates 1 be availabe to buy from Vox dealers by the time you Ne ere eae ed ers cates (Mn etatsrt) Make Your MarkTM sa Peer SIS Pela ar Cad HUSH SUPER C Rue uty Ceca rte) Peers eae ud Sa Ear preety peed Coste) Ug GATE 266XL cue et ‘Thare'sacertain amount of gain Pesci eo se Er oe fel cere biracig MARKIV Mey rd Coes Cee as ey eos eed TM It's Grand Theft Axe as TG Pov ssa ect Fierce sence Tal Peucegee) iin pws Rec) Pe doerare no Brrr Penne Ett cemere Pere ny rence irae remetstny Catha se t y N as A Synyster Gates jwestsideMento APTA) voc vaaeteraciziieaimiiereaeiiamina TO MARK CLAYDEN. Pitchshifter/ ‘ThisisMenace’s ‘founder member andbassist has] Yyearsexperience in ‘hemusle Industry. 25 you come to record ting and tudo out what How many songs do we n 120d to write for the record? need fo go. replacing them with stranger new material. “BE HONEST ABOUT PARTS THAT ARE TOO LONG, SELF-INDULGENT OR OVER COMPLICATED. THIS HELPS TIGHTEN UP YOUR SONGS” Dowe need to prepare our equipment? reputable ing controls, piunvurea ae wy! oo wo f | andaddsavtomated | BE) However fits ith eo ete ctr eee Pe | lbh] IPeCTa eeoetions control recreating the | Ses pea) cei perce ter bons epee ieny eerie crt | et ei cd oa eed ee ae ae eot er eee mare tio ge a en Sacer RC cen ery cy See eas eee ett ee er te er eae meee eto and Joe Bonamassa. Applying. the tremolo more obvious. #6: TREMOLO | oe oo Ree How do we get the sound we want in the studio? The studio engineer needs direction. Decide on two track the ideal sound for you eae ‘ the stud and ex pelted 5 5 re) fction ane as Foote mT = ea pi Do we all recard the songs at the same time? cording lakes paces seperately: crums, bass ee erate eee enc ay el Sen Pe i ereearocet tee rarest an Saeed cemetery oer st 6, Once al of the Ree nino teeter i Pecfioeree rata ennticet eters bein Pooper terieet meen teenreme eigen pe vecr acetic ein rnd cg a ‘ee C Ce Dee ue te ee Seton ar eee ae Pee RE eae aad eee eee ec arm tet ree) Prien tes ere tne re unas SUSE Tet etc) ‘What do we do with the demo when it's finished? the cDMonitor! tt unc uocauuraacaoeeaieioaianaie Tn ed Excellent Converge: taking Pores pre World Painted Blood What's this? ery king and Jeff Haneman have set down the Jager and pickes up their axes to bring us a new record from the ‘most evil band of ‘Any good? 10 albums in and no sign of stowing down, The ffs here are some of thelr fastest and most Insane for year, the kind of fury that Biood the sickest metal ‘when it comes to thrashing; t reciscovered vigour makes WPB possibly their best album in years. In five words! ‘The immortal gods of Thrash Dewnload: Worid Painted Slood NINE BLACK ALPS Locked Out From The Inside What's this? The third aloum from Mane’s post srungers. Fans have heardit already ~ the band provided a free dawriaad with tickets to their October tour ‘Any good? Good yes, but about as original as those AC/DC taur t-shirts in Topshos Like their debut, at times Locked Out smells ike @ Nivana rio-off, However, Stone Temple Plots and Velvet Revolver loom larger; we had to 10 VR's Contraband again ust to be sure Every Photograph Steals Your Soul wasnt actually on Infive wordst Great sound just not thei Download: Suy Noth CONVERGE AxeToFall ‘What's this? ‘Thisis the atest sudo cutie for the Massachusetts ereme hardcore noise metallers, Gultarst Kurt Ballou is the musical genius bbehind the band and his playing has offically it sth gaar on the folow- vp to 20065 No Heroes. ‘Any geod? Tiveto the band’s devastating form, this s an aural punch to the face and fimly puts Ballo in the spotlight, His blazing solos andl nfs are simply untouchable and you can taste the undistiled rage pouring fom songs like Axe To Fall and the ‘awesorne opener Dark Horse. This Time for Converge warid domination Download: Dark Horse Crash Love What's thie? The eighth studio album tror California brethren AFI headed-up by Ferfoymance-era Mick Jagger lookallke Davey Havok and guitarist Jade Puget operatic opener are plenty of on Beau has a fluid cascadin ‘swagger af Too Shy tiff, the rackabily A Fire Inside burns bright Download: EncTHE PLIGHT Winds Of Osiris, seer What's this? Debut full-ength from the young Leeds punk’ rollers. Guitarsts Lewis Pugh and Richard Storrow evident graduated with henours from the school of the Southern rack nif, ‘Any good? Having been on the radar fora couple of years now we've certainly been ‘aware ofthe band’s potential, and this record is concrete proof that they have what it takes. Shying away from the clean-cut sound of today's heavier bands, Winds OF Oshis is ety, iffy and a damn fun listen In five words! Young guns 20 for it Chris Barnes. Download: inio The Night oS DEAD BY SUNRISE OutOfAshes oe What'sthis? Chester Bennington attempts to do something successful aside ‘rom Linkin Park. Features guitarists Ryan Shuck and Amir Derak from Californian ‘death pop! act Orgy. ‘Any good? Even with Chester's larynx-scorching shrek at the forefront this sitle more ‘than avarage nolge-reck with stadium, pretensions. A track lke Fire hints ra promise (let uses delay), but this is 90 per cent forgettable ub-gyunge that sulle the great work Chester's done with the Park ATREYU Congregation 0f The Damned tok What's this? Atreyu may be unfamiliar to many on these shores but ther rado-tlendly ‘metal will appeal to anyone with hair starting to grow in funny places, ‘Any good? Gultarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel capably demonstrate every tick in ther arsenal ftom 80s-inspred solos to diving pon rock nfs Shifting in style from Good Charlotte to fenged Sevenfold in a heart ‘manage to retain some ty when they do venture into stream teeitry In five wordst 3 FOOFIGHTERS Greatest Hits foie What's this? ‘long overdue hits package from the Led Zeopelin ofthe Noughts! Well ‘we teckon that’s what they shoule be called anyway. ‘Any good? No other rock band of the last 15 years has consistently churned out tune after tune, albu after album ie Dave Groht's Fos, New trac ‘may be a bit fo0 "Tor Pery 2s like Times Like These, Lea To Fly and Best OF You will be sun, around cartes for years to come, A towering rock calecton In five words In five words! Stick to Linkin Par, Chester Nivana schrrivana. Fos are forever! Nick Cracknell Lucy Rice Download: Fic Download: Sin And Sones HHH aUEEaKENe Eu Lane f lhe est Thebest guitar albums of the past three months KISS Sonic Boom Sei SERRANO | om EEStor fitescosia sinker KATATONIA Night IsThe New Day sree What's this? The gothvoom pedaling Swedes! eighth album of haunting, layered, gutar-crven bilance. Any good? ‘Any band that counts Opeth’s Mike Alerfeldt among their greatest fans deserves a listenin TG's book Not as wellknown as fellow goths Prac Lost, the melodic genius of frontman Jonas Renske ard guitarist Anders Nystrom’ mix of crunchirgly heavy and wistfully clean axework throughout should put this at the forefront of ther gene In five words! Give in to the dark Nick Cracknett, Download: Forsaken eink RAMMSTEIN LiebestFiir AlleDa tek What's this? ‘The Teutonic tans tun after another lengthy break with a new Collection of stomping party metal anthers. Prog fans need not apply. ‘Any good? You know what youre gonna get hugely overblown, industrial rs from Rechard Kruspe and Paul Landers and barking Gerrnan vocals that sound lke marching orcers Pussy is the most ‘audacious nonsense we've heard this (decade. Nothing's changed which Is precisely why we'll be inthe front row ‘when they tour the UK in early 2010. In five words! Dain sexist on fever! John Blackshaw Download: V2icmanns Hel aura shiek BOWLING FOR SOUP Sorry For Partyin’ sees ATION LIOTTA ENSUIMEAEIIMNSIOUEE.AN MASE ROATNTESISTuvuue}uutanemanni nuututiacigutaieiatiaia uuuzianamiiat Over the past 12 years ACW has developed some ofthe most innovate music | Industry education ‘valle | anymre inte wore And offers fll and part time courses in Guiter, Bass, Drums, Vocals, Musi Production. Creative Sound Design, ‘Musi Business, Muse Media & Rights and Tour Production Management. Tis columns put together by Jon Bishop. highly experienced teacher, Session player and gut tutor at the ACM. elle Aminor pentatonic Zemmees) Tre minor pentatonic Your technique and theory questions answered | Send your questions to: 06, Total Guitar, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath BAL ZEW or emailus at totalguitar.qanda@futurenetcom Lead the way base powerchord ifs some scales aso chord changes fm Wit earn auitast ny band How can increase my conficerce when slang? Lake Elf (16) via ema HiLute, you can start to improve your lead guitar skils by working ona simple scale, The minor pentatonic scale has been the basis for many great solos over the years Treminor pentatonic and most guitars find it easy to play once fomchoekgony” they've spent abit of time tearing it. You feek'valltobives can see the A minor pentatonic scale in Example | below. Thisis probably the most popular position because it provides some ‘€35y postions to play string bends and your first finger can stay atthe same fret as you play the scale First, try fo memorise the scale Play it —_—key to sounding stylistically authentic. Once from the low to the high strings and back you're confident with the fingerings and down again. As you gain confidence, move playing other guitarists licks, ry writing your the whole pattern higher up theneck and own ideas as well, Use your ear and choose practise it again. Try a lower position too, something that is melodic and fts the song (Once you've memorised the fingering have and style you'e playing in. a lsten to your favourite lead players. Zakk \Wylde, Eric Clapton and Slash are renowned for using this scale, but most classic rock and blues players use the scale extensively too. Try to work out same of thelr ideas by ear and incoxporate them into your playing This copycat approach has been used by many great players over the years and isthe (eee 718) 7 OPH ‘The box on the left shows you the A minor pentatonic cae. The tab shows a bues/rack lad lek that makes se ofthe sal. This ick s made up of short fiagments you can leam and reorder to create your own authentic sounng cs, 36 | litarESE >. ‘You can pay the fst 4/8 chord with one ger bared across the strings. Ach your finger to make sure the fst ting tilings out, The fngeting for the second YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED © Q&A hordin ech Bar tek, $0 pay atention tothe Finger umes shown inthe notation, vt ERG) Chord chaos | was recently given a chord sheet with some chord names | don't understand ‘written on it: A/B and D/C. It doesnt sound right when | play an & ora B chord and it's the same with D and C. What should | play? Quinty Bartlett, Coventry ‘The chords you're asking about are referred to as ‘slash chords. Slash chords are a way of ‘expressing a complex harmony in order to make it easier to play and read, ‘The first letter the slash chord refers to ‘the main chord you play and the second letter refers to anew bass note. So, in the ‘A/B chord you've seen, you should play an A ‘chord but with a B note in the bass, Slash chords are aften confused with lnversions, The basic rule si the bass note Is already foundin the main chord then it Is an inversion (eg, A/Ci fs an inversion because Cit isa note from the A chord); it the bass note Isn't part of the chord then Its slash chord, Slash chords depend on the addition of a new bass note so it won't sound right if you dont include that new bass note. Some fingerings are easier than ‘thers; you may need to play a differant voicing to incorporate the new bass notes. AC/DC riffing HIG, | was wondering if you have any tips for playing rock guitar like AC/DC. lve been a fan of the band fer ages but even though lve practised the rif stl dont sound quite lke Angus and Malcolm. Do you think should start saving up and buy a Gibson SG ‘anda Marshall stack instead? Dave Tayler, Stratford HiDave, don't splash out on ‘whole new rig just yet. Take ‘sore time to look at your playing first. Lots of Angus Youre! riffs ‘se powerchords that include open stings ‘and are based around AS, G5, £5 and DS chords. These are based on open chord shapes rather than the more common owerchord fingering (which is built off of the fifth or sixth strings), ‘Angus has an aggressive picking style for both rhythm and lead ~ and his vibrato Is formidable too, He uses alot of energy in his hands when he plays, unlike the smoothness of vituosos like Steve Val or ‘even Paul Gilbert, for example. Once youve practised the licks and know them off by hear, turn your focus on to tryin to rimic ‘Angus' energy. Gear-wise, select the bridge humbucker of your guitar and play with a medium overctive sound Pence pene) Tone trouble [Dear TG Id tke some advice an how to achieve a good electric guitar tone I've gat some decent gear and lke the sound of it However. sit possible to improve ‘my playing so that my sound improves or does I ust depend on al the gear'm using? Rob James, Epsom ‘The most significant factor in the way you sounds your fingers. Everything from the way you fret notes to the way you hold the pick and strike the strings affects your tone. Picking wise, listen to the effect of striking the strings at cifferent points along the string. You'll get a harsher ‘sound the closer to the bridge you pick. Refining your fret hand's, hharder, but note quality depends on how long you're able to hold them down for. Lifting your fingers to0 eary results in choppy, ‘uneven playing. Keep your hand and fingers as close to the neck. {as possible and always try to minimise your finger movernents. Fially, remember to practise with a clean sound. Distortion rmasks picking and fingering errors. JARGON BUSTER [ARPEGGIO| ‘Te notes ofa chord played inawdvaliy BARRE CHORD 2 chore where one fingerplays notes on ‘woof ore stings at thesame tet CHORD ‘Tree more notes layed together DOUBLESTOP 2 chord made upof only two notes FLAT Aflatsign (i) tels you | thatanotechoudbe | lowered by a semitone HARMONIC ‘The high-pitched sound ‘produced by gently {Touching and picking a string (ithout feng), at the 1th fet INTERVAL The distancein pitch between twonotes LecaTo Means smoothly’ and often rears to humane ‘ons. pull-offs andes MAJOR The name ofa horde scale that Iseharacterised by 2 bright, hapoy sound MINOR The name ofa chord orseal thats Charactesed by a dark, mount sound OCTAVE Twornates with the same letter name played ‘ght scale degrees apart (CDEFGABC) SCALE | Usually fv or seven notes played one after the other ‘SEMIQUAVERY AGTH NOTE Usually four notes played for every beat ‘SEMITONE ‘nintenal equal to one fret onthe guarDog Peete tert Des Sea ea Cree) e Cauca s ‘rom an entirely different (albeit just as powerful) ‘angle. Simon Nell s 30 years old, and a far cry er eee cy guitar cicles. But that distinction is what makes eee | ee eh eet time to become an unconventional guitar hero, Seen tk ete toe Cr Ta Ce aa one ee heart when it comes to playing his signature Squier Se et eure) Strat than write: songs that people will host up ee a een can sing and play along to; music that encourages ‘people to dscover their own musicality and not be afraid they'e not good enough. XR ne aa 7 Neel vaAW Cee ey Veania pects paren en BI 74 setae ace penne 1 Pelee retianresiaeeiy ROUGH orrireres erin eethoreriy om TH MI emer ey ray NT y ST Sot aheehadaleeerl tcl Bstact aT #.VOeI01 00.2 010 LOY WN ODN TT2 7M ete acetate eal eaprerenrrrteniseestt a tiers rater Poaceae ee eee eee reared av an album, Only Revolutions. in LA with producer :Biffy Clyro use various sound on Only Revolutions, Moumiains isn drop 0 turing, Which lends extra bass fo the sultar parts and makes for string shapes. ‘Bom On A Horse uses Nirvana- ‘syle dynamic changes: by & Garth Richardson (Rage Against The Machine, i Gallows). When TG heard the frst sind, a @ Mountains, we were overwhelmed by its geantic fly sound. That was back in August 2008, neaty & year before Only Revolutions was being mixed & But now, Biffy are finally ready to unvel thelr latest creation and explain how it difers so vastly rom thetr breakthrough album Puzz in a disused office spac on Carnaby StreeAondon, Simon fils usin. Puzzle was [rtten] so heavily about sadness and depression and being ina realy horible part of your life that everybody will go through. [Only Revolutions] falt immediately more hopeful. | think all good us and good art isa reflection of how the creator is feeling at that certain point! ‘And Only Revolutions certainly feels more hopeful from the pirate romp, chanting chorus nd crescendo brass section of latest ingle The Captain, to the rack fury, orchestral stabs and tving life with ‘ro regrets’ sensibilities of That Golden Rute all the way through waddled Gad & Satan and the lo-fi Booooar, Blast Ard Ruin, Whitten inthe secluded surroundings of the bands practice room in Aytshire, south west Scotland, in carly 2009, but recorded in LA wath Garth Richardson, Only Revolutions Is testament to the band's smile yet diverse songuiting skill The album encapsulates Simon's aperoach to suiter playing in that you donit need to hit millon nates to stop someone dead in thelr tracks with your playing fist .ulse in 1995 — under the name Screwfish, with Simon {and grummer Ben Johnston, and recruting bassist James not long after ~ Bi Clyro have had an arduous climé to the top. Only FRevelutions is Bifys fifth studio album. Far from the ovemight techniques to fatten up thelr easy one-finger powerchords However Simon extends these powercnords across Up to six ‘stings to give a wider sound than you can achieve withthe more cormmen two and three stating out with a sparse, funky sound on thei new album: single-note/doublestop guttar” Mountains includes plano and fff the powerchord sections organ parts, plus double-tracked sound huge by comperison, Vocals; The Captain has a driving hisaporoach i usedin The brass section: and That Golden Captain too where the guitar Rule features a string section. ‘drops out during the verse and Each of those pats is played in the compressed, dstorted bass rhythmic unison with Simon's guitar fils out the soundstage _gultar which creates a huge Uke a second guitar playing _‘Soundin the process. powerchorcs. This lets Simon ‘Check out £45 forthe ‘make use of the Figher register lowdown on Simon's use of nis guitar (lke on Bubbles). octave melodies with Video Bitfy have also used addtional Lessons of TC's pk ofthe Top 5 Instruments tofatten upthele Biffy Cbroviff, successes and fairytale music industry romances that more recent bands have enjoyed, this album isthe result ofthe 1S years of slag that has earned Bitty the recognition they now enioy. As teenagers they dct look to traditional or flamiboyant musical heroes for ther inspiration, rather the grunge and hardcore bands kicking Up a dust storm in the States. “intially, we started Sout playing stuf lke Nirvana, says James, “lust PP? irc thought of three guys making a Bh, ceally accealing tous, when it f came to bands who had’more complex thythms {and melodic ideas, Biffy would listen fut not reproduce, as Simon explains: "With bands Uke Nirvana we realised we dnt have to be great to be able to play ~ we dicht need to know a thousand chords or be the fastest players to play a ‘B00d tune. Nirvana made people lke us from small towns in Scotland think, "Yeah, we can da this: | \oved bands lle Guns N' Roses, but there was just no way we could ever play that stuff as a three-piece fi The threesome's solndis mammoth despite Simon's setup bing relatively simple: “Its a Fender Z —deVile, a Peavey Classic and a Marshall Supe Lead! he tells TG. Everytime | could afford to get J tysett a new amp | would ust add it in tothe setup | already had. st the moment |use @ Boss [MT-2] Metal Zone pedal, which runs through the Marshall and the eavey, and the Fender & just & Constant sound, | try and keep ‘as mary elerrents going at the same time rather t between them. But | lke to take credit for having a huge sound! ‘adding in amps to his existing setup, Simon has found that the b ‘0 develop the band's ferocious sound is through trial and errer, "On ane tau | had seven amps ‘saitched on! tt sounded loud but itjust wasn't ‘ute right. Ths [current] combination Is the ‘only way It sounds tke me playing. But because ‘we've been playing together ive for eight or rine years, every time we go out [on tour] again we get a slightly bettar sound and we know how to make our gear wark a bit better. think that's why we enjoy being @ trio because theres that suprise elementeck inighfavn GbionLesPa Fer Guta nclaing Hdaee nr 88 Vag v6 PRS rome _ntan aU ons ut a= 4,8 www.gear4music.com ehgatl: AREMR HEATH GATE AUR lel Osea TEM OROonly way we've ever played. Three's a good democratic number too. I's easy to mak decisions. And theres more rocm an the tour bus We ratle around that thing tiving to find each other Mike (Erna) from Oceansize has played times and it sounds huge. It's tempting. But | clon’ think we'd let anyone in ‘we could have somebody playing with usifit was a spacial aceasion maybe” adds James. “Last night “twhen we pay) [on Later With Jools Holland] we people say ‘Christ, Le Ese mnael hatsenellotaracket had a whole lve brass section, foratree-piece!™ uutasa band | don’ think we'd risk undoing what we have, even though sonically it could be exciting. I's not ike a fve-plece band is by definition better than a three-piece If 1d played with another ‘ BAA, cut20st Ic probabiy piay guitar diferent imon tells TG,“ just fling my fingers on the stings and try and ke as much meloo) "A lot of his melodies are the chords I'm play, | ute high up on the gutta E n-string chords | play lames explains, "so | try 10 4 drive our producer Garth crazy! balance it out by keeping I's something Ive always done, though, Iesolld down lowe. A lat of Instead of just playing bog standard the time it’s a rhythm thing owerchoras on the top three strings, with the drums, making I throw a pinky [fourth finger] on the B sure it eealy tight. | use = stting or bottorn E string, to eve a chor an octave pedal and character. We certainly couldn't have made have a few distortion ve records iit was all ust powerchords, cals depending on the song, Ihave @ Haycen combo amp that runs slightly dirty all the time. itjust aves it a bit of life the overall welant of aur sound, ike f most bass players !leck in with the drums. it sounds clichéd fut not lenough people do it. As a three piece you have to have the solid foundation and the bottom end of the bass. But alot of the time wel rade off each other on the guitar and bass, which is quite interesting That's one thing a three: of, ow down fing, because it can sound bering after a while. For us. I's always been bg sisting chords and “The bass is as integral to the something elsa has est Biy alive for al t years: talent, Even though Simon and! James hi 3s had a perchant for stringed inetruments Simon, the violin from the age of five: James, an age four), these Scottish lads ha COnyy Revolutions isa symbol of sound as the guitar” agrees Simon. in some bands where you've Bot 's onl laying the foundation, but alot of the melodies that James plays are ne main melosies in the songs and nat kind of dries them, We enioy being a three-piece because it makes Us Use every part of what we do Like Cream, The Jimi Hendtix Experience and Nivana before them, Biffy Clyro see no immediat for @ second full-time gut a safe but heathy place. allowing ther to move forward musically and emotionally. Together, We're doing this for We're sil as much of a gang as the start Sometimes suceess can ci between a band, but because we've been fiends since we were eight, paying musc since we were “Three pieces are the most powerful (14, we couldnt live life without each other in it ‘and dynamic forces in rack. in . and we couldn't ive life without this band. ally ‘my opinion’ says Simon, “It's the Is what makes my heart beat every day 42) citar So We)Nell [Whitcher] came up with the idea just before we were making the record and we were delighted. My very first _gultar wes a Squier so it's come full circle” “We've bean working ‘together for a good number of years now = the guys are Fender family. | chased them around various dressing rooms on Se . ‘our, got them some sample instruments and took it from there!” “Forus, it was basically getting the best possible guitars for a reasonably cheap price, We've used these guitars live and they sound absolutely amazin "Simon's Squier is based on his 60s | Custom Shop Strat Ithas a nine-and- Pounds ‘Simon, james and Fender GBI's Neil Whitcher on the new signatures | axhaltinch radius — which isa bit more modern = and medium jumbo frets, so its really payable guitar, We tweaked the pickups a bit too; the bridge has a | 800d, full-sounding pickup. James’ bass has the modern radius neck, bigger frets, and is finished in a Lake Piacid blue, with ‘matching head caps: Gguier Simen Neil Steatscaster Body Vintage styling Thegultarfeatuesal the standard NC Stratocaster features you dexpect tke theclasi alderbody, synchronised 5 vibrato, andfive postion pickup selector Pickups , Thestaggered pole pieces usea 7 mixture of alnio3 and 5 magnets, which should make fora reat balanco ‘of body laity and dynamics Gguier fumes pobrsten IR Buss \m Body ‘There'sno shortage of vintage style featureson the Biffy axes, Thetinted neck lacque, vintage style tuners and aged control alladé othe aesthetcs The basswood bodys frished wit ahard Neck Teneckon Simon's Strat conforms tothe standard25%" scale length, witha 5" fingerboard rads, ands adorned with the Bffylogo signature onthe font Nock | Te34" neck combinesa modern eating ploss polyester fnshinLakePlacd ‘Blue. 'stoaded with custom Jazz Bass slnglcols and irludes a thre-ply mint seen pick guardand etal contol plate C-shape profilewith a vintage- | styletintedlacquerontheback | Cee SY erect er i) ee Cee eett sd DTaP oT te ee ‘The Mass bridge and brass saddles shoudl offer plenty of sustain Bristol’s Independent Dedicated Guitar Shop eras Con eed emer rar eg) rere eee ees Td www.absolute-guitars.co.uk “This scapped with a matching Lake lack Blue fnishand Uke Simon's Stat, features the band’s logo con the front while James" | slgnatureison the back ABSOLUTE GUITARS aR By Teel) | Backwell Bristol feXS7 ECR as aC ROhPA eel Aaa Peo schecter etreeBIFFY CLYRO ® WIDEO LESSON Biffy Clyro Find out how Biffy write huge guitar Setters | riffs using simple powerchords and Bey | octave melodies with TGs Top 5, ur video walkthrau the exception of Folding jut your sound when ya a melody. If you the same name (sepa by ar ringing out. mf CHARLIE GRIEFTHS This opening iff 's based arouné a simple siding octave shape. The drop C tuning makes it easy to pay the octaves because you play both the sith and fourth stings at the same fret. Ths ingerng also makes it easier to mute out the fifth sting fo,VIDEO LESSON © BIFFY CLYRO y ‘This if also makes vse of octave fingerings but these ae harder han the previous track because the guitar im stone ‘muted strikes into this if, but apart fom ths the mhythm i created by sb orbeat downstrokes, xc turing, Simon Nel adds some percussive werchords may not seem ideally suited tothe acoustic guitar but in Mac ‘fingered E5 powerchord andthe G5 that flows it.The GS fingerings then move produce a dark, melanchaly med, Tere are ony two shapes to lam: the one ‘und into othe positions. Thecone-finger powerchor seas to pla but the pking canbe chal alteating donstwokes and upstrckes, 2 tr to fel the undeying ero it stats on an upstroke. Although this sucky, t's stil based on stralghtferward help nal your timing. rs off with aD5/CR chord, then goes va DS, O/F# ard D5/G, Yau can make theif easier by keeping you fourth finger on the thet (faurth ting) {even th fs quite a workout for what is most peoples weakest finge.Sel 10 10 BLUES COMMANDMENTS Half blues curio, half stadium star, Seasick Steve is walking proof you don't need to bea virtuoso to captivate your audience. Here's his guide to surviving life on the railtrack teven Gene Wold has seen and done more in hs lifetime (one-stringed Diddley-B0 In 59 different houses since 1962 and was mates with Kurt Cobain, Hes busked fora ving everywhere from Mi (0 Norway. And since becoming an overnight ree years ago (in his mid 60s), hes brought his own brand of ‘dusty, down out Robo rock to the wacker werld. reinforced by his recent and fourth album relaaca, Man From Another Time. To be a ‘song and dance man, you have to go your own way, THOU SHALT NOT RESIST “The reason | started playing guitar was | thought maybe it could ne girls, but also. | ust couldn't help it! The euitar for me een an excuse to tell stories, If It was just me talking no- would listen. Most people ain't ever gonna get famous, and that’s, a very big disappointment to them f they made that thelr top priority. Fm not trying to be flispant but | don't think rm a very good gutar player. just like making a racket THOU SHALT NOT SHOW OFF been into sports guitar, I don't see the point. For me. 5 to be hooked together Sing ait, playa litle. t's alla way to get out the st that's ide you. never was good at the ptr ook me long ie trea | could mae he nies aking with my mi the gutta as welll never had much Tectrigve loan ave at | play harcly THOU SHALT NOT STALL “Songs come real quick, i they Come at all. dont think my songs ze amazing of anything, they just come and IF thay aint too bad | tuy to remember thom. ale ts with the gutta. play vena kinda waiting to come out THOU SHALT NOT BE GOOD AT ue |e plane the rarmonica, man, and ran toa sate ‘millon great guitar players out there but th 1 ‘about the best thing THOU SHALT MAKE NOISE ‘When | started out the gullar was al ondary to me. Lust needed something to go make a racket on the street with. Inever the sve that if you make the musie your fiend, your had no musical education. | eared some of that stuff ater on but | stil can't read no music. But the guitar's lke a voice, I'm totally into Fred McDowell and Bina Wille Ichnson; these guys were all about ‘expressing themselves, and the guitar was like echoing ther! THOU SHALT NOT TAKE FAME FOR GRANTED ve lived a long and eventful life, but up until three years ago that iat seem to help me. | could pretty much clear a room outin fe just by playin. | don't know how long _ but | ain't gonna hold my breath! i's a goddamn miracle, man. | aint ‘tying to examine it too much. Im just really happy to have a job and pay my rent | dant have to wory what's gong to happen next month and that’s a big deal to me! THOU SHALT DREAM admire people who play good, but the fact that lve become all gonna lave them a lite Bit of hope. iF can get out there and doit they certainly can, goddammit! THOU SHALT NOT COVET COOL GUITARS Every Oncein a while! gointo agutar store but these Buta they don't have nothing to say > ‘more about trendship th that the first thing fd do 1 THOU SHALT MAKE MISTAKES cit now nothing abot chor 0 seales when | saad tl Just play according to sound. My guitars are so ‘last much through @ song hay! | try my very ha 10 per cent, when I play. Even fits a 100 per cent m | never just go out there and play gutar looking at my shows" »|Steve's modest rif Gilg oto) (eyecsterelly anaereeeel Laer es oreo ‘bursting with amp models and Cet eon Creer inteMab preattrous” in RT Pr a Pole ae Pras od Pree ri) Td reg ry aera feral ra ee J ead ria peas ech rid ro Ce ero Po and the rls Pat as Cy ee cis ry) Oye eave a et - Seren Sete a een Sone ee Po tas seo poe e —tOFML PENETRATE ‘THER! HOW MATT BI ‘We reckon eight out of 10 reviews of Aitsro et usur tem us ett eRe serum T nan! NOUS oN eee ORES TT TOE etree anette ten ee eee cena Tg Eker ene or en etn arrangement Exogenesis. The whole PC ema crs tng SS my SUC err Tas Penn aareV Cuetec TS Creek Veen tee sound. So, to find-out how he does it, RX ce RCN N gear crn prestigious Royal College Of Music, Ceara Cte m tse ent ROCIO OE NCU e Ota nn en carra crs wt ee ecer guitar professor Cai 1 Le ee eu a e