Spatial Gravity

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Rock

Excerpt: Welcome! In this tutorial, we'll be looking at a progressive rock piece I wrote called "Spatial Gravity". We'll be learning a good mix of rhythm and lead playing in this one while also incorporating various time signatures. Once you've checked out the video above, head on over to the next page for Exercise 1!

Media Length: 1:29

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Rock

Excerpt: Before we learn the first exercise, I want to highlight the fact that we'll be using a couple different time signatures in this song, primarily being 7/8 and 4/4, and a little bit of 2/4. If you need a refresher course on any of these time signatures or just time signatures in general, be sure to check out this tutorial. We'll be starting the tune with an o...

Media Length: 1:34

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Rock

Excerpt: This is the section where the drums come into the song and we play a bit of a teaser before building up into Exercise 3. In bar 5, we'll start out by playing a G power chord on the 3rd fret of the Low E-string. Make sure to let the chord ring out so it sustains for the full measure. Right when bar 6 begins, we'll be strumming the G chord two more times to ...

Media Length: 0:57

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Rock

Excerpt: This is the main "groove" part of the song. Now, let's pay very close attention to what's going on rhythmically here. When you watch the Full Video, listen carefully to what the guitar and drums are playing in this part. Basically, both instruments are playing in two different time signatures at the same time, which means we have a polyrhythm (or polymeter)....

Media Length: 1:40

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Rock

Excerpt: It's time for the solo! We'll now be branching away from the 7/8 time signature into a more groove-oriented 4/4 feel. When you look at the tablature below, you'll see quite a few "wavy lines" above certain notes. Those markings simply indicate that you are to give a substantial amount of vibrato to those notes. This section of the solo is pretty straightf...

Media Length: 1:54

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Rock

Excerpt: This section is definitely the most difficult part of the song. So warm up, stretch your arms and fingers, and get ready to rock! First, let's observe the type of rhythmic notes we'll be playing: thirty-second notes. 32nd notes equate to having a span of 8 notes for every beat, so these notes are usually very fast. We're going to be using 100% legato in th...

Media Length: 1:16

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Rock

Excerpt: The final section of the solo has a bit of a bluesy feel with lots of bends and pentatonic phrases. The goal here is to add as much "attitude" to these notes as possible. Give the vibrato-indicated notes a good amount of heavy and fast vibrato. We also want the bends to produce heavy tension within the phrasing. Lastly, don't forget about the palm mutes indi...

Media Length: 1:46

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Rock

Excerpt: As we conclude the song, we'll be playing an exercise that is very similar to Exercise 3. The main difference is that in this exercise, we'll be playing a brief descending pattern to close out the song. There is one other difference between the two exercises that you might observe if you listen closely to both parts in the Full Video. In Exercise 3, the dru...

Media Length: 1:27

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Rock

Excerpt: Now, it's time to put all those exercises to use with the backing track. Have fun, and if you ever make a recording of yourself playing along, be sure to post it in the forums so we can all hear your awesome skills. See you next time! Sean

Media Length: 1:27