One habit that great guitarists have in common
Plus, how to use octave linking to see patterns on your fretboard
Hey guys! Super quick issue of the newsletter this weekend. I’m trying to enjoy a little time off for Memorial Day, and will be playing lots of guitar in the process. Speaking of which, I got a new guitar this week! I picked up an Epiphone ES-355, outfitted with Custombuckers. This guitar is fantastic. If you’re looking something right in the middle of Gibson/Epiphone’s lineup, I think this is the perfect guitar. It seems like brands are making this type of guitar more and more. I’ve seen the same thing from PRS, Fender, etc.
What are you getting into this weekend?
This week’s guitar links!
1 habit all amazing guitarists have in common - Continuing my latest push of small (250-300 word blogs), this week I talked about a habit I’ve seen all my favorite guitarists have. And it’s not something they’re born with either - I’m talking about active listening. Guys like Guthrie Govan, Greg Koch and others seem to be able to soak up all different styles and play them with ease. That didn’t happen by accident. Check out the post for more.
Understand The Fretboard Right Now: Use Octave Linking - Chris Shetland shows you how to understand the entire fretboard by using octave linking. We’ve been talking about this for what seems like forever, and for good reason. It’s one of the best ways to see patterns all around the fretboard. If you learn a scale in one place on the fretboard, use this octave tactic to start seeing it everywhere else. That way you won’t have to get stuck in just one position on the fretboard.
PolyChrome DSP HyperRig Kiesel - McRocklin’s PolyChrome DSP brand came out with a new plugin this week - the HyperRig Kiesel. McRocklin takes guitars from his awesome collection, and demos them through this brand new plugin. It features a couple of amps, effects, and cabs, with a bunch of great sounding presets. I think the tones sound great, but the thing I was most interested in was the Hypertune feature. It allows you to change your tuning right from within the plugin, without ever having to touch a tuning peg. For folks that have PolyChrome DSP’s first plugin, it looks like some of these cool features are coming out for V2’s of that plugin as well.
Ariel Posen - Angeline (Live) - Ariel Posen’s cover of “Angeline” is a classic. You might remember it from the YouTube video - “Possibly the best guitar solo I’ve heard in 12 years of owning a music venue!”, which got nearly 3 million views. Now Posen’s trio is back with a new video of the track, recorded live at Powerplay Studios in Switzerland. Spoilers - it has an equally epic solo section.
James Hetfield is the undisputed master of metal rhythm guitar – and his downpicking will seriously test your abilities - James Hetfield is without a doubt, one of the best rhythm guitarists of our time. His downpicking ability is absolutely insane. Metallica were one of the first bands that inspired me to get into guitar, and I can’t imagine how many hours I spent over the years learning James and Kirk’s riffs. If you want a short lesson on Hetfield’s rhythm work, check out this quick lesson from Guitar World.
The 13 best effect pedals for all styles and budgets - My inbox is jam packed with Memorial Day sales. If you’re looking to pick up a new pedal, check out this post from Guitar.com. Their team listed 13 different pedals in all different styles - distortion, fuzz, delay, reverb and more. If you want any recommendations on my favorite effects, reply to this email and I’ll let you know what’s worked for me over the past couple of decades.