In this lesson we’re going to look at how to use the Phrygian mode to create a metal rhythm part. We’ll look at how to play the mode on 6, 7 and 8 string guitars.
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Greetings, today we’re going to play a little game for guitar. We’re going to construct a metal rhythm by rolling a dice to determine the note values. This can be a fun way to come up with some interesting ideas. It can also help get you out of a rut if you are feeling like your rhythms are starting to all sound alike. Don’t worry, we won’t be removing the creative process and leaving everything to chance! The dice will determine the note values but it will be up to you to select the actual notes and dynamics you play them with. Let’s get started!
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Greetings! Today we’re going to look at some ways of writing lead melodies and leads over a riff made up of single notes rather than chords. We’ll assess each riff to work out which modes can be used. Included are 3 simple backing tracks. You can use these to improvise over and test out ideas. Let’s get started!
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Today we’re going to look at a quick warm up exercise. This one combines a descending sweep arpeggio with an ascending picking run. This is a great way to warmp up both hands.
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In this lesson we’ll combine some tapping with a riff to create an unusual “alien” kind of sound. I’ll keep the riffs quite simple so that you can focus more on the tapping side. However once you get the hang of things you can start to combine these ideas with more complex riffs.
We’ll also look at doubling up on the tapping parts with a minor 2nd harmonised part. This will give it a dissonant and more alien sound.
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Today we’re going to look at some ‘Tritone Substitutions’. So what is a Tritone and what is a Substitution?
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Writing (not Falling) In Reverse! In this lesson we’re going to look at some ways to add rhythms to a lead guitar part when the lead part was written first. We’ll use a lick that we’ve previously written in B phrygian to demonstrate and find inspiration to how this can work.
Most commonly you would write a rhythm track and song structure before exploring how melodies and solos can work over the given chords. Understanding how to reverse engineer these ideas will not only help writing a guitar solo, but it will help your guitar playing in many other ways too. If you can master this you’ll be a versatile band musician as well. If you’re anything like us you’ll always find times where you’ve written an incredible lead lick, solo or melody that then needs backing music to support it! Let’s get into it!
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Hello! Today we’re going to look at a few different ways you can add some extra interest to a solo, chord progression or riff by using a wah-wah pedal. The Wah is a truly classic pedal, however, even now, there’s still many reasons to have this formidable pedal in your effects arsenal!
There are various makes and models of ‘wah’ out there. The Dunlop ‘Crybaby’ is probably the best known. There’s also the Morley ‘Bad Horsie’, the Boss ‘V-wah’ and the Snarling Dogs ‘Fire Bawl’ (See cover image) to name just a few. I personally use an Ibanez ‘Weeping Demon’.
Let’s go through some examples of how the wah effect can be used, how it works and some examples of songs which use it.
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Today we’re going to look at some ways of playing chords with high gain amp settings.
With high gain, power chords sound great, basic triads can sound pretty good too depending on your tone.
7th Chords and beyond however, start to sound ‘muddy’ and unclear like this:
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Today we’re going to be adding some sweep picking into our heavy riffs. Note that I said “INTO” and not “over”. The difference is that these examples would be played on one guitar. Not a lead guitar playing over the top of a rhythm guitar.
In this lesson we’ll be looking at incorporating arpeggios into riffs. We’ll be looking at an example on an 8 string guitar and another on a 6 string. One of the reasons I like 7 and 8 string guitars is because you can get plenty of low end without losing any of the higher notes. Mixing lower riffs with arpeggios that go up into the higher notes can give your playing some really interesting dynamics. So, let’s check out these ideas with some examples.
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In this lesson we’re going continue to build on our knowledge of music theory and learn how to use the Circle of Fifths to change keys.
Let’s take a simple chord progression and put it under the microscope. Analyzing an example like this using the circle of fifths will help you to write your own music and ideas using this concept. If you’ve started to learn about music theory the following progression might seem ‘wrong’:
E Major – D Major – G Major – D Major
This is because there is no Major key which contains all three of these chords. If you want to learn about which chords occur in each key check out this post.
If I play that progression E – D – G – D, it sounds like this:
Today I’m going to write a rhythm part for a metal song and explain the process I go through at each stage. I’ll go for a combination of Thrash and Melodic Death Metal.
I’ll assume that you have a “metal tone” for writing metal rhythm guitar, but in a future post we’ll cover some tips for getting a good tone. For now just remember that you want plenty of mids, and a decent amount of gain, but not too much. We want a nice tight rhythm not tons of crackly white noise and feedback.
Writing Metal Rhythm Guitar : First Steps
I’ll start by playing around with a combination of 8th notes and “gallops”. Below is a quick example of an E5 power chord played as 8th notes:
Tremolo picking involves picking the same note multiple times in a row, usually at least four. This technique originates from classical guitar and other stringed instruments. The idea was to create modulations in volume by finger picking a note multiple times with harder and softer plucking.
In rock and metal Tremolo Picking is more common to use the technique to maintain volume by giving each note less time to decay. It also provides more attack giving a harsher, more aggressive sound.
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This is an interesting concept I’d like to demonstrate for creative songwriting. We’re going to look at writing a progression that changes key but remains in the same mode.
In this lesson we’re going to take full advantage of the beautiful lydian mode to write a mysterious chord progression that employs a key change. The really clever thing about how this works is that it uses the idea of pitch axis.
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Michael Jackson is a massive inspiration for us here at Strings of Rage™. In this episode we’re going to take a close look at the composition of one of MJ’s most awesome, but little known heavy rock tracks “Do You Know Where Your Children Are”.
This track was a previously unreleased song recorded for the Dangerous album. It’s a shame this song didn’t make the cut because it’s such an aggressive solid rock tune from MJ. It would have easily complemented the likes of “give in to me” and “black or white” on the Dangerous album.
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