Guitar Stuff » Guitar Lessons http://www.guitar-stuff.net Guitar Reviews, Ratings, Tips, and Comparisons. Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:46:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Awesome Dimebag Darrell Harmonics and Squealing Video Lesson http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2007/07/22/awesome-dimebag-darrell-harmonics-and-squealing-video-lesson/ http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2007/07/22/awesome-dimebag-darrell-harmonics-and-squealing-video-lesson/#comments Sun, 22 Jul 2007 17:30:55 +0000 Matt http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2007/07/22/awesome-dimebag-darrell-harmonics-and-squealing-video-lesson/ This is a pretty amazing video I just found. I believe this was for Young Guitar Magazine. Usually when the guitar masters show us their signature techniques they don’t really go into much detail. In this video Dimebag goes into perfect detail how he plays harmonics and how he does those crazy squealing dive bombs like at the end of Cemetery Gates.

Basically in his technique he flicks the string with his left hand, dives with the whammy, and then hits a natural harmonic on the way back up. It seems so simple, but seeing Dime do it close up is just magical.

Alexi Laiho uses this technique in his playing as well.

]]> http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2007/07/22/awesome-dimebag-darrell-harmonics-and-squealing-video-lesson/feed/ 3 More Alexi Laiho Guitar Video Lessons http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2007/03/04/more-alexi-laiho-guitar-video-lessons/ http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2007/03/04/more-alexi-laiho-guitar-video-lessons/#comments Sun, 04 Mar 2007 19:11:01 +0000 Matt http://guitarstuff.mattvanstone.com/2007/03/04/more-alexi-laiho-guitar-video-lessons/ I have had a lot of hits on the Alexi Laiho video lessons that I posted a while back and I came across a few more that I thought might be helpful for those aspiring shredders. I like these videos because Alexi shows off some of his best riffs. I really am amazed by his ability to write really unique sounding songs.

In this video there are 5 examples played at both normal speed and slow speed for learning. I have also included a Guitar Pro 5 tab file below that includes all of the riffs demonstrated. Here are the riffs that Alexi teaches us in this video:

  • Ex-1 is the riff that starts at 1:03 on Are You Dead Yet’s first track Living Dead Beat.
  • Ex-2 shows the intro riff that starts at 0:48 from that same song.
  • Ex-3 shows the intro and chorus from Downfall.
  • Ex-4 shows the intro to Are You Dead Yet?
  • Ex-5 shows the riff that starts at 0:42 in the song In Your Face.


When I was watching this video and looking at some Guitar Pro tabs I realized that although the tabs are very close to the way Alexi plays the songs, they were not exact. For example, I found several differences where the tab shows you to play a riff on the 7th frett, but Alexi plays it on the open strings. The notes are the same, but the open strings give a much heavier sound to the riffs. I think this is part of what makes Alexi’s sound so unique. Here is an example of where I found a difference.

In the 5th example, all of the tabs that I found for In Your Face were tabbed like this:

E||-----------------------|------------------------|
B||-----------------------|------------------------|
G||-----------------------|------------------------|
D||-----------------------|------------------------|
A||-----------------------|------------------------|
E||--6----3----5----0~----|--6----3----6--6--0--0--|

-----------------------|-----------------------------||
-----------------------|-----------------------------||
-----------------------|----------------------8--11--||
-----------------------|---------------7--10---------||
-----------------------|---------6--9----------------||
--6----3----5----2~----|--7--10----------------------||

But when you watch the lesson with Alexi he clearly plays the last bar in a position that is lower on the neck like this:

|--------------------------||
|--------------------4--7--||
|--------------2--5--------||
|--------1--4--------------||
|--0--3--------------------||
|--------------------------||

I just think it is something to keep in mind when learning or writing metal music. If you want it to sound heavier, try and play the same notes on lower frets.

Here is a Guitar Pro 5 tab file that includes all of the riffs as Alexi plays them in the above video.

Also, check out these other Alexi Laiho Lessons:
Alexi Laiho Guitar Lessons and Instructional Videos

]]> http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2007/03/04/more-alexi-laiho-guitar-video-lessons/feed/ 1 Alexi Laiho & Paul Gilbert Sweep Picking Lesson http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2007/02/19/alexi-laiho-sweep-picking-lesson/ http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2007/02/19/alexi-laiho-sweep-picking-lesson/#comments Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:00:13 +0000 Matt http://guitarstuff.mattvanstone.com/2007/02/19/alexi-laiho-sweep-picking-lesson/ Alexi Laiho is a pretty popular guitarist these days so I thought I would go through some of his stuff that I have been learning. Alexi likes to use a technique called sweep picking. Although it is a “picking” technique, it takes both hands to do this guitar trick.

Sweep picking is like strumming a chord, except you want to accentuate each note in the “strum” . What you are actually going to do is pick several different notes in succession on adjacent strings with a very very slight pause in between notes. When switching strings in the direction of low to high you always pick the string down, when switching from high to low you always pick up. Using this motion it allows you to play notes much faster than if you were to alternate pick. The catch though, is you must have great coordination between both hands. As your picking hand moves up and down the strings, your fretting had has to be quick enough to keep up.

Forget trying to explain it using words, lets watch Paul Gilbert show us how in this video:

The reason I have been practicing Alexi Laiho licks is he is not the worlds greatest sweep picker. As a result his riff are somewhat simple compared to someone like John Petrucci. Although the following riff is not from Alexi, it is a common exercise for learning and practicing sweep picking.

E||------------------12--15p--12----------------------|
B||--------------13---------------13------------------|
G||----------12-----------------------12--------------|
D||------14-------------------------------14----------|
A||--15---------------------------------------15------|
E||-----------------------------------------------12--|

----------------------12--16p--12------------------|
------------------12---------------12--------------|
--------------13-----------------------13----------|
----------14-------------------------------14------|
------14---------------------------------------14--|
--12-----------------------------------------------|

--------------------------14--18p--14--------------|
----------------------14---------------14----------|
------------------15-----------------------15------|
--------------16-------------------------------16--|
----------16---------------------------------------|
--12--14-------------------------------------------|

------------------------------16--20p--16----------|
--------------------------16---------------16------|
----------------------17-----------------------17--|
------------------18-------------------------------|
--16----------18-----------------------------------|
------14--16---------------------------------------|

--------------|-----||
--------------|-----||
--------------|-----||
--18----------|-----||
------18------|-----||
----------16--|-----||

Download the tab for this riff for Guitar Pro 5.

The following riff is from Children of Bodom’s Towards Dead End off of 1999’s Hatebreeder. This is the intro riff as well as the chorus. I have just posted the sweep picking parts that I use to practice the technique.

----------17--22p--17--------------17--22p--17------|
------18---------------18------18---------------18--|
--19-----------------------19-----------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|

----------17--22p--17--------------17--22p--17------|
------18---------------18------18---------------18--|
--19-----------------------19-----------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|

----------12--17p--12--------------12--17p--12------|
------13---------------13------13---------------13--|
--14-----------------------14-----------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|

----------12--17p--12--------------12--17p--12------|
------13---------------13------13---------------13--|
--14-----------------------14-----------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|

----------12--17p--12--------------12--17p--12------|
------15---------------15------15---------------15--|
--14-----------------------14-----------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|

----------12--15p--12--15--18--17--15--------------|
------14-------------------------------18--17--15--|
--14-----------------------------------------------|
---------------------------------------------------|
---------------------------------------------------|
---------------------------------------------------|

Download the tab for this riff for Guitar Pro 5 now.

The following is the start of the solo from the song Children of Bodom which is also from the album Hatebreeder. It just shows how sweep picking can be incorporated into a solo. The sweep picking part starts on the 4th bar below and can be found at 3:03 in the song.

E||--------------------------------------------|
B||--------------------------------------------|
G||--------------------------------------------|
D||--10--9--7------------12--10--9-------------|
A||------------10--9--7-------------12--10--9--|
E||--------------------------------------------|

---------------------------|
--15b--------17b----18b----|
---------------------------|
---------------------------|
---------------------------|
---------------------------|

--19--17--15--------------15--14--12--------------|
--------------19--17--15--------------15--13--12--|
--------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|

------------------12--15--------------------------|
--------------13----------15----------------------|
--12------12------------------16--------------16--|
------14--------------------------17------17------|
--------------------------------------17----------|
--------------------------------------------------|

------------------14--17S--19p--15-------------------||
--------------15--------------------17---------------||
----------14----------------------------16-----------||
------16------------------------------------17S--14--||
--17-------------------------------------------------||
-----------------------------------------------------||

Download the sweep picking riff from Children of Bodom solo for Guitar Pro 5 now.

So that is my little sweep picking lesson. It is not a technique that comes easily. It takes a lot of practice and you really have to focus on timing when practicing it so that when you build up speed everything is coordinated.

]]> http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2007/02/19/alexi-laiho-sweep-picking-lesson/feed/ 3 John Petrucci Chromatic Picking Exercise http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2007/01/28/john-petrucci-chromatic-picking-exercise/ http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2007/01/28/john-petrucci-chromatic-picking-exercise/#comments Sun, 28 Jan 2007 19:09:59 +0000 Matt http://guitarstuff.mattvanstone.com/2007/01/28/john-petrucci-chromatic-picking-exercise/ Ok, so here is an exercise I use to improve my alternate picking speed as well as my left and right hand coordination. I picked up this little exercise from John Petrucci’s instructional video Rock Discipline and just modified it a little bit to my liking. It is a chromatic pattern, but a little bit more interesting than the standard 4 note, 4 fret up and down pattern. The following should be played using alternate picking, or up/down/up/down.

E||----------------------------------|
B||----------------------------------|
G||--------------------------3-4-5-6-|
D||------------------3-4-5-6---------|
A||----------3-4-5-6-----------------|
E||--3-4-5-6-------------------------|

--------------------------5-6-7-8-|
------------------5-6-7-8---------|
--7-6-5-4-5-6-7-8-----------------|
----------------------------------|
----------------------------------|
----------------------------------|

--9-8-7-6-------------------------|
----------9-8-7-6-----------------|
------------------9-8-7-6---------|
--------------------------9-8-7-6-|
----------------------------------|
----------------------------------|

----------------------------------|
----------------------------------|
----------------------------------|
--5-6-7-8-7-6-5-4-----------------|
------------------7-6-5-4---------|
--------------------------7-6-5-4-|

----------------------------------|
----------------------------------|
--------------------------5-6-7-8-|
------------------5-6-7-8---------|
----------5-6-7-8-----------------|
--5-6-7-8-------------------------|

----------------------------7-8-9-10-|
-------------------7-8-9-10----------|
--9-8-7-6-7-8-9-10-------------------|
-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|

--11-10-9-8-------------------------------|
------------11-10-9-8---------------------|
----------------------11-10-9-8-----------|
--------------------------------11-10-9-8-|
------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------|

-----------------------------------|
-----------------------------------|
-----------------------------------|
--7-8-9-10-9-8-7-6-----------------|
-------------------9-8-7-6---------|
---------------------------9-8-7-6-|

--------------------||
--------------------||
--------------------||
--------------------||
--------------------||
--5-----------------||

Download this tab for Guitar Pro 5

You can see with this pattern, each time you complete it you have moved up 3 frets. I usually start this pattern on the 1st fret and repeat it all the way up the neck until I cant go any further. John Petrucci does this riff at 200bpm. I can’t do it quite that fast. But remember, the key is not speed, it’s accuracy. Play it at a pace where you hit every note perfectly, and then speed it up just a little bit. Once you get comfortable with that speed, go 8 beats faster and then master that.

]]> http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2007/01/28/john-petrucci-chromatic-picking-exercise/feed/ 2 Mark Morton & Will Adler of Lamb of God Guitar Lessons http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2006/10/24/mark-morton-will-adler-of-lamb-of-god-guitar-lessons/ http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2006/10/24/mark-morton-will-adler-of-lamb-of-god-guitar-lessons/#comments Tue, 24 Oct 2006 17:00:09 +0000 Matt http://guitarstuff.mattvanstone.com/2006/11/04/mark-morton-will-adler-of-lamb-of-god-guitar-lessons/ These lessons were from March 2006’s Guitar World CD and were accompanied by a tab in the magazine. I had not really heard much Lamb of God until this month when Mark Morton was on the cover of Guitar World and I decided to check them out. On first listen I wasn’t a very big fan, but I find that with a lot of music. A lot of the stuff I listen to now I was either indifferent to or hated the first time I heard it. Already I have grown a liking for the song For Your Malice, and I think thats going to be my gateway to loving Lamb of God.

For Your Malice Intro Lesson

This first video is just Mark Morton showing us how to play the intro riff to For Your Malice off of 2003’s As the Palaces Burn.

I can vouch for this tab below. It is correct. You will, have to practice the open Ds a bit to get the right rhythm though. The way that I got it was its d u d u dud u dud u dudu where down = d and up = u. If you listen to it a few times and commit the rhythm to memory and then try it it will be easier. Start out slow and build it up. Also, take note that this is played in drop-d tuning.

Dm/A
e---------------------------------------|
B--10-10-10-10--------------------------|
G--10-10-10-10--------------------------|
D--12-12-12-12--------------------------|
A--12-12-12-12--------------------------|
D--------------0-0-0-0-000-0-000-0-0000-|
---d--u--d--u--d u d u dud u dud u dudu 

E7/A
e-------------------------------------------|
B-10-10-10-10----------9--9--9--9-----------|
G-10-10-10-10----------9--9--9--9-----------|
D-12-12-12-12---------12-12-12-12-----------|
A-12-12-12-12---------12-12-12-12-----------|
D-------------0-0-0-0-------------0-0-0-0---| 

Bb
e--------------------------------------|
B-11-11-11-11--------------------------|
G-10-10-10-10--------------------------|
D-12-12-12-12--------------------------|
A-13-13-13-13--------------------------|
D-------------0-0-0-0-000-0-000-0-0000-|
--d--u--d--u--d-u-d-u-dud-u-dud-u-dudu 

e--------------------------------------------||
B-11-11-11-11---------11-11-11-11-----------o||
G-10-10-10-10---------10-10-10-10------------||
D-12-12-12-12---------12-12-12-12------------||
A-13-13-13-13---------13-13-13-13-----------o||
D-------------0-0-0-0-------------0-0-0-0----||

Lamb of God – Hourglass

This second video is Mark Morton and Will Adler showing us how to play all of Hourglass. I don’t have a tab or anything for this, so if anyone has a good one they would like to post that would be great. I havn’t tried to learn this one yet. If I ever try I’ll post mine too.

Lamb of God in the Studio

This final video that I leave you with isn’t really a lesson, but is more of just a “this is lamb of god’s sound” video. It is a 5 minute clip of them being interviewed while in the studio, and I like it. So check it out.

]]> http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2006/10/24/mark-morton-will-adler-of-lamb-of-god-guitar-lessons/feed/ 0 Zakk Wylde Guitar Lessons Instructional Videos http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2006/10/14/zakk-wylde-guitar-lessons-instructional-videos/ http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2006/10/14/zakk-wylde-guitar-lessons-instructional-videos/#comments Sat, 14 Oct 2006 16:03:33 +0000 Matt http://guitarstuff.mattvanstone.com/2006/10/14/zakk-wylde-guitar-lessons-instructional-videos/ Zakk Wylde has been one of my favourite guitarists since the first time I heard him back in about ‘97. His style of pure speed shredding mesmerized me. For those of you who are new to Zakk, he started as Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist in 1988, he had a side band Pride and Glory in the early 90’s, and then formed Black Label Society after that. His style is unique and is nobody’s but his own. Obviously he is famous for a few things like his use of pinch harmonics and “chickin-pickin”. But he still preaches the basics: Start off slow and build up speed.

Zakk Wylde – Pentatonic Hardcore

The following video is probably Zakk Wylde’s most famous. I believe it was originally distributed by the magazine Young Guitar. The instructional video is an hour long and has Zakk going through many different basic and advanced skills including Pentatonic scales, chickin-pickin licks, vibrato, pinch harmonics, alternate picking and much more. If you follow this video and practise it every day for about 3 years, maybe you will be able to shred like him.

Zakk Wylde – Machine Gun Man Video (Headbangers Ball)

Now this next video I think is my favourite ever. It is Zakk playing Machine Gun Man (Pride and Glory) on an acoustic at Headbangers Ball. Not only does he show of his insane acoustic shredding skills, but he blows me away with his amazing singing ability. Some people can sing, but you can always tell a good singer when they can maintain their tone when singing at full volume. This video gives me goose bumps pretty much every time I watch it.

Zakk Wylde – Pentatonic Speedballer

This last video is title “Zakk Wylde – Pentatonic Speedballer”. Essentially it is just him shredding and you watching. If you happen to have the book that goes along with this though you would get the tabbed music so you can follow along. I find it entertaining to watch, but from a learning perspective it doest really have much to offer on its own, unless you are already that good. I like it because he plays a lot of bluesy riffs in there and tosses that in with his shredding.

These three videos should give you an idea of Zakk Wylde’s playing style. I suggest you just do some searches on the video sites like Google Video and YouTube to see what else you can find. He has quite the cult following and I’m sure there are a lot more out there.

Happy shredding.

]]> http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2006/10/14/zakk-wylde-guitar-lessons-instructional-videos/feed/ 0 Alexi Laiho Guitar Lessons and Instructional Videos http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2006/04/10/alexi-laiho-guitar-lessons-and-instructional-videos/ http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2006/04/10/alexi-laiho-guitar-lessons-and-instructional-videos/#comments Tue, 11 Apr 2006 04:59:07 +0000 Matt http://guitarstuff.mattvanstone.com/2006/04/10/alexi-laiho-guitar-lessons-and-instructional-videos/ I have been seeing lately that a lot of people have been finding this site by searching for Alexi Laiho Guitar Lessons or Alexi Laiho Instructional Video. Since I don’t really have anything directly related to that on this site I thought I might post some videos I found on Google Video.

Alexi Laiho Interview and Instructional Video

This first is pretty sweet it’s both an interview and a practical lesson. Alexi talks about a lot of important stuff like practicing with a metronome, starting slow and building speed, how he writes a solo, and his musical influences.

At about the half way point he does do some hands on stuff on his guitar. He starts off playing it quickly and then slows it right down so you can learn it. He shows off some sweep picking licks with some tapping thrown in and then some chord phrases. At the end of the video he goes through 5 or 6 licks from some of his songs as well.

Alexi Laiho Lesson Riffs

This second is another half and half. There are two sections of Alexi Laiho and his “buddy Robert” playing some licks and two instruction bits where Alexi slows the riffs down.

At about the 4:30 mark Alexi starts to show the licks at a slower pace, however the video is a little blurry so you will have to get the general position of his hand from the video and figure out the rest by ear. At the 8:30 mark there is another demonstration section where the two seem to jam for a bit. At the 13:00 mark more of the riffs are demonstrated slowly. The video is still very blurry though so don’t expect much. I’m guessing that with the original video there is an accompanying tab or sheet music book.

Young Guitar Magazine Alexi Laiho Video

In this next clip its pretty impossible for the average person to determine what Alexi is doing. It is still pretty sweet to watch though.

Children of Bodom playing Downfall at the 2003 Tuska Open Air Metal Festival

To finish it off here is a 4 minute video of Children of Bodom playing Downfall at the 2003 Tuska Open Air Metal Festival in Helsinki. “Ooh Hell yeah!”

So there you go. I hope some people can find what they are looking for now!

]]> http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2006/04/10/alexi-laiho-guitar-lessons-and-instructional-videos/feed/ 15