Guitar Study
Using 7-String Guitars in Metal
Total lessons in study:
7-string, 8-string, and even 9-string guitars are becoming more and more the norm in today's metal scene. In this study, we'll be taking a look at 7-string playing.
1. 7-String Etude, Scales, Arpeggios & Chords
For this tutorial I wanted to focus on some 7-string goodness! For those of you who may be just getting used to the extra low B string, or for those who've never really examined it for what it is, theoretically, hopefully you can take something from this.
It's important to think about the guitar normally, as you woul...Read More
Let's learn our B string by examining how it corelates with the rest of the strings by playing through the 7 modes (in G major).
A few notes...
By ignoring the low B string, you'll quickly see how 'normal' everything else looks.
Whichever notes you'd play on the high B string (in a scale context) corelates to t...Read More
Because our low B string is tuned a perfect 5th below the adjacent E string, (much like our E to A, A to D and D to G strings are) arpeggios and scales will seem to fall together relatively quickly due to the familiar symmetry.
Bars 1 through 4 demonstrate our 3-adjacent-string basic triad arpeggios (major, minor, di...Read More
So let's start out this lesson by analyzing how chord shapes work with a low B string.
You'll notice that the basic bar-chord shapes remain the same, but we must avoid the G string (and all strings lower) due to the guitar's natural tuning 'flaw' causing the G to be a semitone too high. Some of the chords are still wr...Read More
Download the backing track and have fun! \m/Read More
2. Another 7-String Etude
You're waiting patiently for a parking spot. You see someone backing out. You then turn on your car's blinker to claim the spot. But just as you're about to pull in, an old lady driving a corvette speeds her way into your spot! You then get mad! How do you release your inner rage?
...by playing mean 7-string riffs of cours...Read More
Most of the notes in this riff are played without palm muting, however at the end of bars 1 and 3 make sure to mind those palm-muted Low B notes. Make them solid and chunky so you hear a clear differentiation between the normal notes and palm-muted notes.
To add some extra pizazz and attitude to the riff, try making the la...Read More
This section illustrates a cool contrast between a riff being played with tight palm-muted chunk and then the same riff being played with a more open feel. Bars 5 through 8 being the former. Bars 9 through 12 being the latter.
Keep the palm mutes tight! The rests should be blatantly obvious and contrasting with the notes y...Read More
Here is the backing track at full speed, 180bpm. If this is too fast for you right now, go to the next page to access the backing track at 110bpm. Have fun!Read More
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10. 7-String Metal Riffs - Backing Track (Slow - 110bpm)
Cool Riffs
Metal
Intermediate
Here is the backing track slowed down to 110bpm. Practice hard!Read More
3. Richard Lundmark's "The March"
Welcome Guitar Athletes!
In this month’s tutorial we’ll be looking a song transcript from my 2004 FretDance album, called The March. We won’t be going into detail with every single overlay and harmonized lead in this song, but rather focusing on the main themes and riffs of the tune. We’ll be lookin...Read More
Get set, ready, GO!
In this first event, we’ll look at the main 6-string riffs in the tune, the main riff, the bridge, the chorus and the bridge leading in to the solo sections.
In the first riff, the key element is muting. Since you’re using two fingers on the 7th fret (which is a harmonic nodal point), every...Read More
First off in event 2, please note that the 7th B string is down tuned one whole step to A. Furthermore, you might note that the part is noted with bass clef instead of G clef, which is something that GP seems to do by default, so concentrate on the Tab in this case if you have problems reading bass clef.
This first riff is...Read More
For the final event, we have the melody line and some other fun stuff.
First of all, I have noted the melody line with the same kind of alternate picked approach as the riffs. However, this can be played using legato, hybrid picking or whatever your preference is! You will see in the video, how I play it switching between ...Read More
Here is the backing track. Enjoy!Read More