Chops From Hell 1

GUEST COLUMNIST:
SHRAPNEL RECORDING ARTIST
DEREK TAYLOR
Mercury Bath
Be sure to check out Derek's second and third columns at chops from hell...plus Derek's instructional CD Extras "Extreme
Legato Chops" and "Advanced Legato Phrases"!
Greetings, guitar-kin. This is Derek Taylor. First of all, I would like to thank Chops from Hell for inviting me to share some of the
licks, concepts, and techniques that I have studied and developed over the years.
The lick I will be showing today is from Mercury Bath, an instrumental that appears on the Shrapnel Records compilation,
Ominous Guitarists from the Unknown. I have had numerous requests to transcribe this lick so here it is:
This lick is derived from the B minor pentatonic scale. It is a good example of how strong left hand technique, string skipping, and
right hand tapping can be combined to produce a fluid, hyper warp-speed musical passage.
Here are some notes for execution:
S : slide
T2: tap with right hand 2nd finger
T3: tap with right hand 3rd finger
Most notes are hammered/pulled or tapped when changing strings ascending: PICK when changing strings descending:
HAMMER-ON as with all licks, practice SLOWLY--and build speed gradually...
full-speed half-speed
"MercuryBath" published by Varney Metal Music Co., BMI. (p) (c) 1991 Shrapnel Records,Inc.
For MP3's/LESSONS/INFO/DISCOGRAPHY...
GUEST COLUMNIST:
DERRYL GABEL
Pentatonic Pandemonium
In this lesson we will be exploring a new approach to pentatonic scales. In this

excerpt from "Tell Me" I use a concept that I refer to as 313313. I developed this with
the help of guitar master, Derek Taylor. This concept incorporates all hammer-ons
except for the two fingered right hand rolls denoted as "T" in the tablature. These two
fingered rolls were also developed by Derek. "313313" refers to three notes on the
low E, one note on the A, three notes on the D, etc... As a side note, this concept
works great with economy picking. Harmonically, I am using the minor pentatonic
over the minor 11 chord. This idea is simple but effective.
Special thanks to guitar master Marshall Harrison for helping me with this lesson.
Be sure to check out Derryl's homepage.

GUEST COLUMNIST:
DEREK TAYLOR
Children that Hate Toys
Be sure to check out Derek's first and newest columns at chops from hell...plus Derek's instructional CD Extras
"Extreme Legato Chops" and "Advanced Legato Phrases"!
hey, guitar freaks... are you prepared for another insane legato lick? this time around, i've transcribed a lick from an
instrumental called 'children that hate toys.'
this lick is based on an E7 flat 5 arpeggio played in an ascending sequence of 12's. when played quickly, this lick
seems to blur... (this is due to all the repeating notes played in rapid succession)
Here are some notes for execution:
ITUNE DOWN a 1/2 step (toEb) none of the notes in this lick are picked.
every note will be hammered with the left hand 1st and 3rd fingers
or the right hand 2nd and 3rd fingers (indicated in the tab by a T)...
the idea is really quite simple--- you should get the hang of it in no time...
but remember-- practice SLOWLY and increase speed GRADUALLY.
untilnexttime,thanks, derek taylor
you can download an MP3 of 'children that hate toys' or get info on learning more
over the top legato techniques by visiting EXTREME LEGATO CHOPS
GUEST COLUMNIST:
JERE HAAKANA
Use Your Fingers
Whazzup y'all, my name is Jere Haakana, and I'm gonna uncover some sans-pick
fun in my column here in Chops From Hell. First of all, I may not be showing any
flashy shit to impress your friends with, but some unorthodox techniques you can try
out and perhaps use in your songs and playing in general. These will not incorporate
a pick, so you can lose it for a while. I'm playing everything with a 7 string guitar
here, so everything but exercise 7 sounds a fourth lower than written. I've made sure
the fingerings are ok though so you can play these with a 'normal' guitar.
First, a thing I'm really into: Bass-guitar. I probably came up with this idea when I had
just woken up and was too lazy to get outta the bed, playing fingerstyle things. If you
wedge either your right hand index, middle or ring finger under a string, pull it up a
little and let it snap back down, a fun little *pop* sound is heard. Mute the strings with
your left hand and try it. Like this hehe:
I'm guessing that didn't really rock your world? Ok, let's get on with it, you can
produce some pretty fun sounding things with muted *pop* notes alone, use either
your thumb, index and middle or index, middle and ring fingers for the triplet rolls,
and whack the 3 muted notes at beats 2 and 4 with your left hand middle finger (
You'll probably be muting the strings with your index finger ).
Let's do the same with real notes. This is your basic rock bass groove, use your
thumb and whatever finger to pluck the octaves. Shouldn't be too hard.
Now let's get on with harder stuff. This riff is from one of my songs, and utilizes all the techniques
shown above. It's fun fun fun and doesn't sound too bad either. By the way, if you play a lot of
bass-guitar ( uh, you did notice the " - " didn't you? Bass-GUITAR geddit, geddit? Ok, I'll get me
coat ) you'll eventually develop hardened fingertips to your right hand, before that it may hurt a
little. Remember the magical words from Rocky's trainer: "No pain". Repeat if necessary.
Now, on to another bass-geetar thing, slapping. You may have noticed that pretty much all the
bass players slap just at the end of the fretboard, since it's the string hitting the corner of the neck
that produces the slapping sound. On guitar, that doesn't necessarily bring out the greatest of
tones.. Instead, you can try slapping the neck. C'mon, pick a note on either D, A or low E strings,
hold it down and slap the string and the wood underneath it with the side of your thumb. Gives the
notes a nice percussive tone. On example 5 you'll be slapping the low E and G notes while
hammering the others with your left hand fingers, like this.
The next one is a little different. First, place your left hand over the neck, and mute
the strings with your pinky. Tap the notes at 14th and 16th frets with whatever right
hand fingers you feel comfortable doing so, and the lower ones with your left hand
fingers. Muting the strings with your left hand and playing rhythmic things with your
right hand can produce some synth like sounds, as you don't hear a pick attack.
Experiment with a wah pedal left halfway down, sounds fun. Again, this is just a
simple example, find your own usage of this technique in songs and what not.
Here's a more technical, a bit trippy sounding lick moving up and down in minor 5ths.
Right hand handles the high notes and the left one the low ones. For the right hand,
the most comfortable way of doing it might be tapping with middle and ring fingers,
but do whatever feels good for you.
In the last example we'll more or less sum everything I've shown up, with a groove
loosely based on the one on "Aeroplane" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It has bass-
guitar and 2 handed stuff, so get busy.
Ok, that's it, hope you got some new ideas that you can use in your own material too.
You can visit my website here, and listen to my music at Mp3.com. See ya later!
GUEST COLUMNIST:
JOEL WANASEK
Psychotic Sweeping
In this lesson we are going to take sweep picking where few have taken it before.
After learning the standard arpeggio shapes, I soon became extremely bored with
them. I decided to take scale sequences and apply them to sweeping. Our first
example is in D Aeolian. The key to flawless execution of this lick is ultra fast shifting.
You should isolate the shifts and practice them slowly.
The next example is a good way to sequence an arpeggio while staying in the same
position. Pay careful attention to the picking in this lick. I have indicated each change
in the direction of your picking.
The next lick we're going to tie some of these ideas together into a lick of pure
insanity. Learn it in sections. Most importantly, learn it slowly, before you try to burn
with it!
Enjoy! Be sure to check me out at: http://www.joelwanasek.com

GUEST COLUMNIST:
FRANCESCO FARERI
the following bio material provided by Francesco Fareri
Francesco Fareri is a guitar player influenced by
neoclassical and progressive metal. He is going to release
his first instrumental album where he plays all guitars,
bass, keyboards and programs a drum machine.
Francesco Fareri started to play guitars in 1995 influenced
by Vinnie Moore, Joey Tafolla, Tony MacAlpine, Marty
Friedman but above all by Jason Becker. Francesco was
really involved in Jason's guitar style, and in the previous
live performances he played some songs from Perpetual
Burn. Now the new Influences are Vitalij Kuprij, Greg
Howe, George Bellas, Jon Doman and Shawn Lane...they
are awesome musicians and very kind persons, infact he is
in contact, by email, with Jon and George and they made a
good friendship.
In The Official web-site of Francesco Fareri you can find

every month new Guitar Exercises and a lot of Guitar
Transcriptions , some guitar solos by Greg Howe from
High Definition by Vitalij Kuprij, "Symphony V" and
"Parallel in Time", some from George Bellas solos
albums, "Ripped to Shreds", "Airborne", "Voyage in Time"
and some from Mind Journey by John West and something
from Jason Becker and Vitalij Kuprij. There are also a
Quoting page, where these musicians and other talked
about Francesco and a Sounds page in which you can
hear some audio files from his album Suspension and if
you are more interested you can check out his About CD
page.
I hope you enjoy his web-site and for any kind of questions
please write to: Francesco Fareri
#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE----------------------------------#
#-This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the-#
#-song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship or research.--#
#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------#
Written by Francesco Fareri on October 2000.

|---------------------15-19-15-------------------------------------12-15-10----|
|------------------17----------17-------------------------------12----------12-|
|------------12/16----------------16\12----------------------12----------------|
|---------14----------------------------14----------------14-------------------|
|------14----------------------------------14----------14----------------------|
|12-15----------------------------------------15-12-15-------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------10-14-10----------------------|
|---------------------------------------------12----------12-------------------|
|12---------------------7/11---------------11----------------11----------11/16-|
|---12----------------9------12---------12----------------------12----12-------|
|------14-10--------9-----------14-9-14----------------------------14----------|
|--------------7-10------------------------------------------------------------|
|---14-19-14----------14-14-10----------10-10-7--------------------------------|
|15----------15----15----------12----12---------7------------------------------|
|---------------16----------------11--------------7------------------------12/-|
|---------------------------------------------------9-------------------14-----|
|-----------------------------------------------------9--------------14--------|
|-------------------------------------------------------10-7---12-15-----------|
|------15-19-15----------------------------15-19/24-19-------------------------|
|---17----------17----------------------17-------------20----------------------|
|16----------------16----------------16-------------------21----------------21-|
|---------------------17----------17-------------------------21----------21----|
|------------------------19-14-19-------------------------------22-19-22-------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---19-15----------15-15-12-------------------------------------15-19-15-------|
|20-------17----17----------12-------------------------------17----------17----|
|------------16----------------12----------------------12/16----------------16-|
|---------------------------------14----------------14-------------------------|
|------------------------------------14----------14----------------------------|
|---------------------------------------15-12-15-------------------------------|
|---------------------15-20-15----------------------------15-21-17-------------|
|------------------17----------17----------------------17----------17----------|
|---------------16----------------17----------------17----------------18-------|
|17----------17----------------------17----------17----------------------19----|
|---19-14-19----------------------------19-15-19----------------------------19-|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------17-22-17----------------------------17-22"""""""""""""""""-----|
|------------17----------19----------------------19----------------------------|
|---------18----------------19----------------19-------------------------------|
|------19----------------------19----------19----------------------------------|
|16-19----------------------------21-17-21-------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
GUEST COLUMNIST:
M.A.C.E RECORDING ARTIST
TOM KOPYTO
Alternative Legato Techniques: Scales & Arpeggios
Most players are familiar with the tapping technique popularized by Eddie Van Halen.
The sound most associated with the tapping technique is the "Eruption" style triad
pattern. However, the technique can also be applied to scalar runs and arpeggios.
This is accomplished by not only tapping, but also plucking notes with the right hand
ring finger. Although it sounds complicated, the concept of the technique is pretty
easy to grasp. There are two points to remember while working through the
examples:
1. If ascending, pluck the first note of the new string with the right hand ring finger.
2. If descending, tap the first note of the new string with the right hand index (or
middle) finger.
PLEASE NOTE: "down" triangle = tap with RH index finger, "up" triangle = pluck with RH ring finger
Example 1: D Mixolydian, descending
Example 2: D Mixolydian, ascending
This technique also works great when playing four note per string scales.
Example 3: Four note per string D Mixolydian, ascending

Notice that the pattern changes back to three notes per string between strings two
and three; this is done to avoid the uncomfortable physical jump that would normally
occur.
A combination of three and four note per string scales is a great way of changing
positions smoothly. When playing the last example, notice how smooth the transition
is from fifth to tenth position.
Example 4: Three/four note per string combination D Lydian Dominant, ascending
Because the intervals of an arpeggio are wider than in a scale form, picked notes
must be mixed in with the plucked, pulled and hammered notes. To make this work,
you must hold the pick normally while tapping with your middle finger and plucking
with ring finger.
PLEASE NOTE: "up" triangle = pluck with RH ring finger, "down" triangle = tap with RH middle finger .
Example 5: C# Mi7, ascending
Example 6: C# Mi7, decending

Let's expand the arpeggio into the lower octave.
Example 7: C# Mi7
Notice the use of repetitive notes in Example 3; this allows the player to extend the
length of the sequence. This technique also works well with sweep picking.
Example 8: G Ma sweep/ E Mi7 "alternative legato" arpeggio (generates G Ma6

sound)
Hopefully these examples have given you something new to think about. If you have
any questions, feel free to contact me via E-mail: TomKopyto@aol.com.
the following bio material provided by Tom Kopyto

About the artist:
TOM KOPYTO began playing in 1991. It didn't take long for Tom to become
obsessed with the guitar; during his high school years he often studied with three
different guitar instructors in one week! He later went on to study at The Chicago
Musical College (Roosevelt University) and the prestigious Berklee College of Music.
Tom's debut CD, entitled YTK, was released in December of 1999 by MACE Music,
Inc. "The staff is blown away by Tom's playing and compositions," says MACE Music
founder (and world-renowned guitarist) Michael Angelo Batio. "Touches of 'modern'
metal, neoclassical and fusion influences combined with complex mixed meters give
this disc and guitarist a sound all his own. Tom is a true prodigy on guitar."
Tom's music has been favorably reviewed by numerous Internet and print guitar
publications, and has received regular airplay on East Coast, European, Asian and
Internet radio. Several well known artists including John Petrucci of Dream Theater
have also praised Tom's music.
Current happenings:
In addition to working on new instrumental material, Tom has also begun working on
a vocal project called Society Seven. Tom describes the band as "modern
progressive metal. The material is a combination of high-tech musicianship and
melodicism that you would expect from a progressive metal band mixed with the dark
and heavy sound of modern metal." The band is currently writing for a future CD
release. For more information, please visit www.societyseven.com.
Contact:
Tom Kopyto
TomKopyto@aol.com
www.geocities.com/kopyto
M.A.C.E Music, Inc.

michael@angelo.com
www.angelo.com
GUEST COLUMNIST:
AAPO AROLA
the hirajoshi scale
Hiya all. My name is Aapo and in this column we will cover some exercises using the
Aeolian scale without the 4th and the 7th degree, also known as the Hirajoshi scale.
This exotic scale was introduced by Marty Friedman and Jason Becker in the 80s,
and examples can be found by listening to their band Cacophony and their solo
recordings. This scale is just the natural minor scale without the 4th and 7th intervals.
You can either memorize the new scale fingerings all over the neck or think of the
aeolian scale and avoid the 2 notes. Here are some exercises, where everything
should be executed by using alternate picking.
Practise this pattern slowly and gradually build up speed. A great exercise for 2-note-
per-string stuff.
The next patterns of this same idea.
Arpeggio sounding idea.

A hirajoshi scale ascending in groups of three.
Hirajoshi arpeggio in the key of A.

Hirajoshi scale, descending in groups of three.
A picking exercise.
Simple pattern made of the hirajoshi scale on 2 strings.

Slight variation of the previous lick.
This can be played using tapping, legato or alternate picking.
String skipping.
String skipping # 2.
Descending groups of five.
Hope you liked my column, practise them all slowly, don't rush. If you want to visit my
Jason Becker tribute page where you will find more lessons & tabs, go to A Tribute
To Jason Becker. If you have any questions drop me a line to angwie@hotmail.com
GUEST COLUMNIST:
DERRYL GABEL
Apocalyptic Arpeggios
This is an excerpt from my tune "Visions and Dreams".
Technically I am using a legato approach which requires you to stretch your hand.
Also take note of the liberal use of hammer-ons. For those of you that like the
Holdsworth style this lick is right up your alley.
Harmonically I am using a G flat Lydian Dominant arpeggio sequence from the D

melodic minor scale to play through this set of changes. Please come visit me at my
site. There you can check out soundclips of my CD. If you are interested in getting
my Guitar Technique Book, Video, and CD just email me at derrylgabel@aol.com"
GUEST COLUMNIST:
MARSHALL HARRISON
Diminished 7 Ideas
© 2000 Marshall C. Harrison
Instructions: Use sweeping, hybrid picking, and tapping where appropriate. For more
licks: marshallharrison.com
Lick #1
Lick #2
Lick #3
Lick #4
Lick #5
Lick #6
Lick #7
No audio from Marshall on the following licks...

Lick #8
Lick #9
Lick #10
GUEST COLUMNIST:
MAGNUS NORDH
Chromatic Concepts
Listen to Magnus on the solo from the Majestic track "I'll Shoot the
Moon" from their new CD Trinity Overture.
Hi! My name is Magnus Nordh and I play guitar in the

band Majestic.
I would like to talk about some different chromatic
concepts that I've been working on and found really useful
and cool sounding.
In example one, I took an A altered dominant legato line and put some passing tones
to fill in the gaps. This one could be used over an altered A7 or why not a D or Dm, G
or Gm. That's what the jazzers would recommend, I guess.
Example two is just an extension of example one. I think you'll see where I put the
passing tones if you compare it to example one. Try this approach with any of your
scales that you happen to use, and make four fingered legato lines out of them. Also,
if you put the accents on different parts of the beat it will spice it up a bit. Notice that I
only pick the first note of each example. Try picking every note if you like or just
some of them, there are no rules on how to play this stuff.
In examples three and four I've used the targeting method with triads, one major and
one minor. Targeting deals with taking the important notes of a chord [1 3 5 (7)] and
approaching them with 1, 2, 3, or 4 notes either from below or above.
I've kept the examples pretty basic, not to confuse anybody.
Example three is just a standard Am triad and I've put one note below the 1 on the
way up and then on the way down I put one note above the 5. Also at the end I put
the G# in there. This could also be thought of as part of the harmonic minor scale
played in an odd fashion.
Example four is an F# major triad. I've approached the 1 with two notes from below
and then 3 with one note from below and then finally the 5 with three notes from
above. These examples also have some cool accents. Try this technique with any
triad or arpeggio that you know of.
And finally, this is a more "out" sounding way. Take a triad or arpeggio and make a
chord that's resolving back in half-steps. One note above or below each one of the
notes in the original arpeggio.
In example five I've made a rather easy example. I chose an E5add9 and an F M7.
This way of creating tension is often found in modern classical music. Also it's not
that jazz-sounding.
OK, I hope someone found this stuff useful. I'd like to thank Chops from Hell for
inviting me to do a column.
the following bio material from the Majestic website

MAJESTIC was formed by Richard Andersson (key) and Peter Espinoza (git) under the name
of LAB RAT. They started writing songs together with focus on strong melodies and heavy
guitar riffs with turbo-charged solo parts. Richard got a call from the Swedish management
Roastinghouse Productions and they asked him if he could show them his new material.
Richard called up some old friends and the line-up was completed with Joel Lindér (drums),
Martin Wezowski (bass) and Jonas Blum (vocals). One month later the recordings took place.
The debut album "Abstract Symphony" was recorded during November, December 1998 and
was released worldwide by Massacre Records (Europe, except France - released by NTS
Records), Toshiba/EMI (Japan) and NEMS (South America, Mexico). This neo-classical metal
album received tremendous attention worldwide and achieved excellent reviews (Aardshock,
Force, Powerplay, Metallium, Spin City etc.). 7 out of 7 in Metal Hammer (Germany). 9,5 out
of 10 in Metal Heart among others.
Afterwards MAJESTIC joined Pretty Maids on their European tour in 1999. According to
Richard it was a great experience to perform live with this kind of music. During the summer
of 1999, discussions about the future and the new material lead to a split of most of the
members. However, during the autumn of 1999 Richard started his writing process and at
the same time he was looking for a new line-up. One month later, everything was set with
Magnus Nordh (guitars), Peter Wildoer (drums) and ex-Faith Taboo singer Apollo (vocals)
and of course Martin Wezowski (bass) and if you listen to the new album you can just
congratulate Richard to his decisions.
In late autumn the recordings took place, and the album "Trinity Overture" was completed in
January 2000. This second album is just genius; melodies like Rainbow at their best, high-
speed solos that would honour every Yngwie Malmsteen album and a sound that kicks ass!
At Massacre Records the first listen led to sheer surprise and enthusiasm. Ten neo-classical
metal highlights with a band, that will surely make it to the top !!! This album is so well
written and well played that it will satisfy every metal freak. The album is also released as a
limited digipak-edition with a bonus MAJESTIC-screensaver (Europe only). The Japanese
release will include one bonustrack (Cadenza No1 A-minor) as well as a MAJESTIC sticker for
the 10 000 first buyers.
MAJESTIC also recorded their first video, on the song "Voodoo Treasure"… check it out !!!
MAJESTIC are the forerunners of the New wave of Swedish heavy metal, which will find the
way back to the success of the Eighties Swedish heroes like Europe and Yngwie Malmsteen.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
PABLO GARCIA
New Tapping Sequences
Hi I´m Pablo Garcia and I play in the Progressive Rock Band Relative Silence.
I would like to introduce you to some new ways to play tapping licks. Tapping will
sound a little different than typical EVH taps. Behind every tab is the fingering that I
use and where I pick and tap the notes to make tapping. I use fingers 2 and 3 so I
can hold the pick and play taps. All licks are in the key of E minor / G major. Practice
them slowly and clean and then increase the tempo.
First are groups of 9 notes played in 16th sextuplets so we create an accent

displacement which makes this sound more interesting. The left hand goes up an E
minor scale on one string following the three note per string pattern but starting with
an open string note (E). The right hand is tapping always on twelve fret (E) this way
we create an obstinato repeating always the tonic E on root position and an octave
higher. First of all get down the nine notes pattern [0-2-3-5-12-5-3-2-3] and then try
the full lick. This can be played on any string and in any key that has some open
string notes like A minor, D minor, G minor, etc.
Lick two is a tap with string skipping. The notes are groups of seven notes played in
16th sextuplets. On this lick the left hand follows the G major three note per string
pattern and the right hand is playing octaves (G``-G`-C`-C-G`-G-D`-D). We are again
creating an accent displacement. Notice that I only pick the notes when I go from a
lower string to a higher one. This also combines starting with a downstroke on one
string and starting with a tap note on next string, which creates a fluid sound.
This final lick combines the previous licks so we will have 9 and 7 note groups, some
string skipping, two right hand fingers taps, and some other ideas I hope you will
enjoy..
I hope you find these ideas interesting and that they show you some new ways to
play tapping licks.
For any comments pabloguitar@terra.es
For more information check out my site Pablo Garcia´s Guitar Website. Here you will
find some more lessons, transcriptions of George Bellas and more ,etc..
the following bio material provided by Pablo Garcia
I was born on the 26th of December, 1976 in Oviedo, Spain.
I began to play the guitar at the age of 16, summer of 1993, by my own. A month
after I started playing, I saw Michael Angelo´s instructional video and I was in shock,
I said to myself that I have to practice all that I could so I started to practice, practice,
practice...even eleven hours a day. I tried to listen to all the guitar players I could:
Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt, Paul Gilbert... But when I discovered John
Petrucci I was in shock. He is my biggest influence, as Dream Theater´s and LTE
music are.
In the summer of 1997 I went to IMT in Madrid where I learned Modern Harmony, I
studied the three years in just one month. At that time my life was fully dedicated to
the guitar and the music. I played from when I woke up until I went to bed. I also
have gone to some jazz classes with Joshua Edelman and Chema Saiz.
I´m actually more into instrumental shred music and of course progressive rock.
Listening to George Bellas, Jason Becker, Symphony X, etc...
My first band was when I started to play with some friends playing covers and
making some of own songs. Then when things became more serious I joined a
Speed metal band called WAR-CRY. The vocalist was Victor Garcia, actually in
Avalanch, and the bassist was a friend of mine, Aitor. I stayed there for about a year
and a half, then I joined Presto as second guitarist and we record a four song demo
titled "Discipulos del Miedo". The more important thing to me is that we opened a
show for Yngwie Malmsteen at Quattro in Aviles! Then things were´t very good so
the band was dissolved.
With Dani, the drummer of Presto, I began a progresive rock project that later would
become Relative Silence. We made some covers of DT and Rush, and we recorded
a cover of Iron Maiden's "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" for a radio contest . Now
we are recording our new CD that we hope will be out early 2001.
Relative Silence Home Page
Relative Silence at MP3.com

GUEST COLUMNIST:
SIMONE GIANLORENZI
Develop Your Style
Hello! My name's Simone Gianlorenzi and I'm an italian guitar player. In this column
I'd like to speak about a few problematic aspects that I've found in some of my
students (but not only!!). I've noticed that often rock guitar players seem like they're
trapped in the cage of usual sounds. It seems so difficult to escape from them all, but
in the end, it's not.
Let's think about tapping. It's like an obligation to propose always the same equation:
Triads + Tap + Triplets = ERUPTION!. Going out from Van Halen's tapping sound is
easy! First of all, you need to use intervals far from being a triad, a rhythmic figure
different from triplets, and string skipping, as you can see in my first example. It
sounds good over A dorian.
After this, you can apply other devices to create your tapping phrases. The next
phrase, in Greg Howe's style, uses 5ths with left hand, and 4ths with right hand. It
sounds good over E dorian.
To escape from scalar sounds you must work with intervals. For example, when you
use alternate picking, seems inevitable playing scales.
Instead, dispersing notes in a different way, by thirds, you can obtain a new sound
thanks to playing triads that exist within the scale.
Speaking about sweep picking, you are not forced to play triads! As you can see in
example 5, thanks to the knowledge of intervals, you have the possibility to create
new extended arpeggios. In my example I've used also tapping and a rhythmic figure
in quintuplets: it sounds good over F lydian or D dorian.
In the end of this speech, I can say that, to go out from standard and common
sounds, you need to use intervals, rhythmic figures different from triplets and
sextuplets, and of course, your fantasy! That's the right way to develop your style!
Take care. See you soon, ciao.
Simone Gianlorenzi
the following bio material provided by Simone Gianlorenzi
Simone Gianlorenzi started playing in 1992. In a little time he began to teach in many
schools and to play in a lot of bands. At the moment he is a contributor for the italian
guitar magazine "CHITARRE" and he teaches rock & heavy metal guitar in the
magazine's school. Last March 26th Steve Vai went to do a clinic in that school and
Simone had the honour to play before him. But, in the same time, Steve Vai had the
honour (?!?) as well to play Simone's guitar. In this last period Simone is working on
different projects and the realization of his personal web site. If you want, you can e-
mail him at simogianlo@libero.it or you can visit the "CHITARRE" web site at
www.chitarre.com to know more about the school and the magazine.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
GEORGE BELLAS
Sweeping 9th Arpeggios
I'm personally thrilled to have Shrapnel recording artist George Bellas as guest
columnist at the site. Thanks a million, George, for participating...can't wait to hear
the new "Ring of Fire" project with George on guitar, vocalist Mark Boals, keyboardist
Vitalij Kuprij, drummer Virgil Donati, and bassist Barry Dunaway!
Be sure to check out George's fabulous instructional series available at

www.GeorgeBellas.com.
the following bio material from GeorgeBellas.com
Chicago native George Bellas started playing guitar at age 7 on a Classical guitar his
father had bought him. His influences include: Franz Liszt, J.S.Bach, L.V.Beethoven,
Paganini, Debussey, Yngwie Malmsteen, Walter Piston, Ted Greene, Michael
Schenker, Dream Theater, Magellan, Jason Becker, Robin Trower, Montrose, Van
Halen, Tony MacAlpine...By the age of 12, George was playing live in local bands
while studying Music Theory, Harmony, Rhythm, Counterpoint and Form. Soon after,
George began teaching guitar and opened Prodigys School Of Music, during which
time he continued to perform and compose. George had an affection for classical
counterpoint and Odd Rhythms very early on.
George's compositions include progressive odd-meter/exotic scale pieces as well as

simple straight forward rockin' vocal tunes and Classical Orchestral/Soundtrack
Music. George exhibits great technical prowess and a beautiful sense of melody and
finesse. George eventually got his first 4-track recorder and began recording day in
and day out. George's catalog of music began to grow very rapidly.
George sent demos of his compositions to Shrapnel Records, and president Mike
Varney immediately recognized George's talent and versatility. He signed George to
a solo deal and flew him out to the west coast to record his first album. The
musicians were: Deen Castronova/Drums, Kevin Chown/Bass, Matt
Guillery/Keyboards, Brad Kaiser/Drums, Mike McCarron/Drums, George
Bellas/Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Macintosh programing. He recorded in December,
1996 and his first album "TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM" was set to be released May
21,1997.
Days later George got a call from Mike Varney asking him if he would be interested
in joining UFO, Phil Mogg and Pete Way decided on George after hearing George's
playing and songwriting. George traveled to Pete Way's house and began writing
and arranging the songs. After meeting several times and developing the songs, it
was time to fly out to San Francisco and record the album. The recording took place
February, 1997 at Prairie Sun Recording Studios, CA. The band consisted of Phil
Mogg/Vocals, Pete Way/Bass, Ansley Dunsbar/Drums, George Bellas/Guitar. The
band went under the name MOGGWAY and released their first album entitled
"EDGE OF THE WORLD".
And in between those 2 albums George managed to write and record an album for
John West entitled "MIND JOURNEY" that was recorded January, 1997 and
released May, 1997.
George finished his 4th album for Shrapnel Records in November, 1997. It is an all
instrumental, neoclassical album, rich in classical counterpoint and rippin' guitar. The
line up was: Deen Castronova/Drums, Barry Sparks/Bass and George Bellas/Guitar
& Keyboards. This album is titled "MIND OVER MATTER" and was released in
February, 1998.
George has also written songs for the "2nd" John West CD "PERMANENT MARK"
released in the 2nd quarter of 1998.
In March, 1998 world famous russian classical pianist Vitalij Kuprij flew to Chicago to
record an all instrumental CD entitled "EXTREME MEASURES" for Shrapnel
Records. George engineered all the keyboard and guitar tracks using Logic Audio
and his PowerMacintosh. The album is Neoclassical in style and is a showcase of
mindboggling chops performed by the two virtuosos along with Jon Doman/Drums
and Jon Onder/Bass. Quite an incredible performance!!!
After finishing the album with Vitalij, George wrote music for an upcoming vocal band
of his own, which will include this incredible singer out of New York named Matthew
Guarnere. George and Matt are working under the name "AUDIODROME". They
hope to have the album out by 2000.
As of June 1999 George Bellas just finished writing his next all instrumental album
"IMAGINATION". It is a combination of Neoclassical and Progressive songs. He
plans to have all the guitar tracks recorded by the end of July '99. This record will hit
the stores sometime in 1999. Needless to say , George keeps extremely busy
dividing his time between composing, recording and performing live, not to mention
teaching guitar and trying to continue to learn and grow as a musician.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
MARC PATTISON
Tap Monster
I'm very pleased to have Marc Pattison as guest columnist at the site. Marc's playing
has been a huge inspiration for me. Be sure to check out Marc's new instructional
CD Extra release "Tap Monster: Level One"!
The first note of each phrase is plucked with the right hand, just like in most of my
"tap monster" licks. Tune to Eb...
normal medium slow
the following bio material from MarcPattison.com
I live in Northern California. I moved here in 1986 from a small town in Michigan. I
moved out here with a friend so that I might hook up with musicians and form a band.
I have been playing guitar for almost 19 years now. I started playing because I loved
the way the Young brothers (AC/DC) played guitar. I eventually started liking groups
like Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Judas Priest, The Scorpions, Whitesnake, Dokken, Dio,
Ozzy, Sabbath etc. That stuff influenced me for most of my teen years. Now I like
many different types of music, from the blues, to industrial, funk, classical, r&b and
pop.
Just as I was about to graduate from high school both Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe
Satriani came onto the scene and made me re-evaluate my pursuit for technical
expertise. In the long run, after learning many fast licks realized that soul and
conviction and phrasing make up most of what people like to hear and fast playing is
just like salt and pepper, and is often only needed in just the right dose.
People have asked me what I like to listen to now...and who my favorite band is. I
would have to say the band I like the most is King's X. I like clever licks, beatlesque
vocal harmonies, and soulful guitar solos, and that is King's X in a nut shell .
I like some heavy bands as well...like Pantera, Seven Dust, Meshuga and Fear
Factory. Other instrumentalists I like include, Michael Lee Firkins, Ron Thal (just
recently.), Steve Vai, Jeff Beck, Paul Gilbert, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and more recently
Neil Zaza. They aren't the only guitarists I like, but they are definitely on the top of my
list. Anyway as far as what I do musically now:
I used to play with my band Picture This (vocal project) and have my instrumental
side project, on which I play all instruments. But now my instrumental stuff is my
main project. Check out my mp3.com page if you want to hear some of my stuff.
For Any guitarists who are interested I use: Ibanez and Jackson electric Guitars (No
official endorsement) I do however officially endorse: Sabine Tuners, Dean Markley
Strings, Morley Wah pedals.
String Gauge: .011's for Drop tuning and .010's for regular tuning (1/2 step flat),
Fender and Washburn Acoustic guitars (No official endorsement), Ada MP2 preamp,
Line6 Combo's, Schecter 7 string, Alesis Quadraverb 2, Dimarzio PAF pro pickups.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
DARAN AMOS & RICK LAND

Old School with THUNDERBREW
This month we're going to start with some classic shred licks that we have created
over the years. These riffs seem to work in any rock situation, and can be easily
transposed to different keys.
This riff comes from the A Blues scale, sliding in and out of the b5 giving it a bluesy
feel. The lick resolves on the "B" note to give a touch of the Dorian scale.
This riff uses the E pentatonic box and pivots off the root. Notice the b5 in the middle
of the lick. Works over an E5 or Em7 chord.
This is a cool way to descend through several scale patterns using a sliding
technique.
Here is a chop that moves through the D Dorian scale using a combination of legato
and staccato or hammers, pulls, and picking.
This one rips ass through the D minor pentatonic box using different bends in the
scale.
This is a cool way to switch between major and minor pentatonic scales in the key of
G.
Here is a harmony line Daran and Rick created at the end of Thunderbrew's "Mr.
Greed". This lick presents some odd harmonies, but they sound cool together.
the following bio material from thunderbrew.com
Thunderbrew is one of the Philadelphia area's premier heavy rock bands. Formed in
1997, Thunderbrew began touring thoughout Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey,
and Maryland, building a dedicated following. The band began promoting themselves
for two years before joining with H.S.R. Entertainment Group in 1999. Thunderbrew
has been receiving great press reviews through local papers and on the internet,
proving their determination and confidence. Voted "Best New Talent" in October
2000, the group's songwriting ability is one of their strongest selling points musically.
The creation of www.thunderbrew.com brought a whole new group of listeners and
fans. Ranked in the top 100 on the Heavy Metal Charts at MP3.com for the past six
months, "Mr. Greed, Mother Earth, and Spare Change" all topped out at #17 on the
list of thousands of competitive bands in their genre. Thunderbrew is a heavy, guitar-
driven metal band with all-pro musicians and "catchy" vocal hooks. The group is
currently finishing their full-length CD project and are shopping for label interest.
Daran has been playing since the age of 15 in various bands and clubs in the Tri-
State area. In 1999 he won the best musician award, and has continued his career
as a full-time guitar instructor at Pro Musica Studio in Kennett Square, PA.
Rick has been playing guitar in the Delaware Valley with various bands for 13 years.
He's toured most of the Delaware Valley clubs. Rick has developed a good
reputation as a guitar player opening for national acts.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
DEREK TAYLOR
Advanced Legato Phrases
Be sure to check out Derek's first and second columns at chops from hell...plus
Derek's instructional CD Extras "Extreme Legato Chops" and "Advanced Legato
Phrases"!
This lick is "multiple-element" lick taken from my new instructional release "Advanced
Legato Phrases". Only the notes with an "x" above them are picked. Everything else
is completely legato with "sl" indicating a slide, of course.
For MP3's/LESSONS/INFO/DISCOGRAPHY...
GUEST COLUMNIST:
RUSTY COOLEY
Shred Guitar Manifesto
I'm really pleased to announce Rusty Cooley as guest columnist at the site, and am
looking forward to his continued involvement with CFH! Be sure to check out Rusty's
new instructional release "Shred Guitar Manifesto" of which the following example is
taken. Please note that the video included on the actual "Shred Guitar Manifesto"
instructional release is larger (320x180) and of better quality than that of this column.
This was done to reduce the file size for this column to help those who are
bandwidth-challenged (aren't we considerate?).
The following example combines a number of A minor arpeggio shapes. Buckle your
seat-belt.
the following bio material from The Rusty Cooley Online Experience
I started playing guitar on my 15th birthday. Frustrated with guitar lessons, I decided
to study on my own. I remained almost exclusively self-taught until my junior year of
High School when I was offered music theory courses in which to enroll. That
summer I attended the National Guitar Summer Workshop in Conncecticut.
I obtained my first teaching job my senior year of High School. Upon graduation, I
went on to further my studies at North Harris County Community College. My first
sigificant band was "Revolution", with whom I recorded and performed original music.
We were fortunate to open for such headliners as Badlands, Nitro, Every Mothers
Nightmare, and Southgang. Upon my departure from "Revolution", I formed the band
"Dominion" with bassist Brent Marches.
In '95 I entered and won the "Guitar Master Series" in Houston. It was during this
period that I began to work on my own original guitar compositions. These songs
represented my desire to record an over-the-top guitar instrumental release featuring
state of the art chops and strong melodic content. I was also selected as a runner up
in the AIM "Jason Becker Scholarship Search". I got my first seven string in early 96
and have played them exclusivley ever since. I also hosted 3 episodes of a local
access cable show called "World Class Guitar Techniques", which airs in the
Houston area. In March '98 I was invited to join Shrapnel recording artists Haji's
Kitchen but declined due to relocation problems.
My demos have been reviewed at Guitar 9, Guitar 2001, and numerous other sites. I
have been featured on numerous compilation CD's such as the Guitarapalooza
compilation, and currently perform in the group "OutWorld" along with bassist Brent
Marches, and keyboardist Bobby Williamson. We are currently in the process of
writing and recording instrumental as well as vocal music.
I have recently gained an endorsement with Jackson guitars and Seymour Duncan
pickups. Remember...live, eat, sleep and breathe music for the mind!
GUEST COLUMNIST:
AARON HARRIS
Applied Technique
Every guitarist comes across licks that you just fall in love with. After learning one the
next question invaribly is, "Now, how can I use this?" What I'd like to cover in this
column is a very useful and effective method of developing new ideas so they can
become a functional part of your repertoire. Let's face it, no matter how scary a lick is
if you can't use it on demand in a song, it's a useless lick.
The basic idea is to take whatever pattern you've learned and mold it to fit in a chord
progression. I use a circle of fifths chord progression because it contains a variety of
chord types: Maj Min, Dim, 7, Maj7, m7 and m7b5. You can use another chord
progression, but just make sure there are a lot of different chord types and that the
progression will take you through the full range of the neck.
In this column I'll take some standard arpeggio and scale techniques through the
chord cycle. I'll also use little bits and pieces from other columns on this site for some
material. The first example is just a standard 4 note arpeggio form.
The next example comes from the CFH column 'Don't Fear The Sweeper'. In
measure 5 the fingering is slightly more difficult. Those of you with big hands won't
find the stretch from the 8th fret to the 14th fret too difficult. I don't have large hands
and the stretch is a challenge.
Next I get a bit jazzy with some tapped scales based off of the material in Tom
Kopyto's 'Alternative Legato Techniques' column. I go up during one chord and down
the next.
I stick with some tapped arpeggio patterns for the fourth example. Always keep in
mind which note is the root, third, fifth, etc. so that you can effectively modulate the
pattern into any key, over any chord. This way the lick truly becomes a part of your
lick repertoire that you can call upon whenever you wish. I stopped this one's tab
after the first five measures to save space.
Finally, I end with a simple scale pattern winding between the third and root of each
chord. There's a passing note to lead to each new chord as well. I couldn't help but
add the harmony to make it sound more cool.
As you can see by taking a lick and running it through this sequence you learn
something about it and possible ways you could use it. You'll learn how a lick may or
may not be useful to you. It's interesting to note that even simple patterns of two and
three notes can become something very intense when modulated through a chord
cycle . Try taking some of your own licks and running them through this cycle or any
other chord cycle you can think up. You'll get a feel for what tempos certain licks feel
comfortable at and in what types of meters they fit best.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
TOM GELDSCHLÄGER
Sweep-Picking Arpeggio Runs
Hi, this is Tom Geldschläger again. In this Column I want to show you how you can
build cool sweep-picking arpeggio runs yourself.
This is a part from one of my yet untitled songs: D E F#m E D A E
Over D, E and A we play the major arpeggio and over F#m of course the minor arp.
The arpeggios would look like this:
That´s simple and effective, but we can make this even cooler. What we do now
gives the whole thing a lot more interesting sound. The basic idea is to play the
original arpeggio over the strings E, A and D and the opposite arpeggio about the
strings G, B and E. When playing E major, for example, this would mean to play the
major arp from E ( A string, 7th fret ) to B ( D string, 9th fret ), then play the minor arp
from E ( G string, 9th fret, ) to E ( E string, 12th fret ). You don´t have to care about
the name of arp that you are playing now. Let´s take a look at the tab:
Sounds quite different, doesn´t it? But there´s one thing left that we can do. We can
add the major or minor third with tapping on the high E string. For D this would be F#
( 14th fret ), for E G# ( 16th fret ), for A C# ( 9th ) and for F#m A ( 17th fret ). So now
let´s play the whole thing like I do it in my song. The change from D to A and back
can be very difficult when played fast. Try to practise all changes with absolutely
perfect syncronisation between left and right hand. Only then it works.
This is just a rough guide to this ideas and how you can include them in your own
playing. Try to find your own variations and have fun! For any questions, comments
or conversation contact me at 1181-465@onlinehome.de
the following bio material provided by Tom Geldschläger
Tom Geldschläger was born in Greifswald, Germany in 1984 and began playing
classical guitar at the age of ten. In `98 he started taking lessons for electric guitar in
a local music school. Now practising seriously, he quickly developed his own playing
style which includes elements of jazz, blues, exotical and neo-classic. His influences
include unique players like Al Di Meola, Marty Friedman, Joe Satriani, James
Murphy, Uli Jon Roth and Steve Vai as well as shred masters like Tony MacAlpine,
George Bellas, John Petrucci, Paul Gilbert, Criss Oliva ( R.I.P. ) and the great Jason
Becker. While he´s still at school, he carries on to improve his playing technique,
theoretic knowledge and songwriting skills. From time to time he also gives guitar
lessons himself. In January 2001 he started a yet untitled Rock/Electro project and is
now working on new musical ideas.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
TOM GELDSCHLÄGER
Tapping Tricks
Hi, my name is Tom Geldschläger. I´m a 17 year old german guitar student. In this
column I want to show you some ideas that can make your tapping technique more
interesting. First, I like to show some ways to use tap-harmonicks. This technique is
often used by Eddie Van Halen to spice up the standard tapping licks a bit. But I
figured out some other cool things you can do with it.
Lick 1: This first lick uses the Algerian scale in F. After every tapped note the left
hand bends the note in ( ) a half step up and then release it.
Lick 2: This lick combines tap-harmonicks with a fast legato run. Be careful with the
last two taps on the B and high E string. It can be difficult to make these notes sound
clear. Practise it slowly until you can do it perfectly and then speed it up.
Lick 3: This one consists of 3 parts. The first uses double-taps, the second uses
string skipping and with the third we are again in the world of tap-harmonicks. This
lick sounds only good when you play it fast, so you better practise. The part with the
tap-harmonicks is played a bit different from the other licks. You must play the note in
( ) and the tapped note in < > almost simultaneously. You can get some very cool
sounds and licks with this way of playing tap-harmonicks so you should experiment
with it. For me this works great to create exotic soundings.
Let´s look at some things you can do with tap slides. There are many guitarists out
there who use this technique very often but I hope I can show some things you didn´t
think of, yet.
Lick 4: In this lick the left hand plays a simple sequence in the F# major scale ( in 3-
notes-per-string form ). I only added some tap-slides to create a "moving" sound.
Lick 5: Now, let´s come to something more difficult. This is a sick one! It´s basically a
Paul Gilbert-like string-skipping lick. I tried to keep this easy to understand as
possible. It´s all C major pentatonic in 3-n.p.s. form. The only unusual idea is to play
a part of the scale on one string. I do this with some total crazy legato and tap-slides
on the high E string. Now it has a real "screaming" sound. Playing scales on one
string is an important part of modern guitar playing. Every shredder should learn this!
Btw: Playing this lick without a pick in your hand can help a lot.
Lick 6: The idea that I showed you in Lick 5 can also be used for little "fill-ins" in your
solos because this is a cool way for going from one end of the fretboard to another.
This can make a lot of fun. But don´t hurt yourself when doing this too often.
And to finish it off, I wanna show you one of my favorite guitar tricks. It´s simple but it
looks very impressive. There´s no tapping in here but i hope you´ll find it as
interesting as I do.
Lick 7: While you´re playing this legato lick with your left hand, use your right to
dampen the strings about the first or second fret. So you can avoid any noises. This
technique is used by Joe Satriani in "Cool #9" in a more spectacular way. Try to find
your own variation of it. Basically it could also be played with sweep-picking but this
way it sounds better and looks very cool.
I hope you enjoyed this little trip in the world of tapping tricks.
For any questions, comments or conversation contact me at 1181-

465@onlinehome.de
Tom
GUEST COLUMNIST:
DARAN AMOS & RICK LAND

Old School with THUNDERBREW - #2
They're back with the second installment of "Oldschool with THUNDERBREW".
Lick 1. This lick has a cool blues feel and uses the E minor blues scale in the open
position. (Rick)
Lick 2. This is a classic sequence in C# minor using several pull-offs. (Daran)
Lick 3. This is a way to sweep pick through E and B minor arpeggios. (Rick)
Lick 4. This is a cool tapping lick using some open strings along with the E minor
pentatonic scale. (Daran)
Lick 5. This is a riff in A minor that pivots through the pattern, resolving in the 5th
position. (Rick)
Lick 6. This riff is very bluesy and moves through two patterns in the key of C minor.
(Daran)
the following bio material from thunderbrew.com
Thunderbrew is one of the Philadelphia area's premier heavy rock bands. Formed in
1997, Thunderbrew began touring thoughout Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey,
and Maryland, building a dedicated following. The band began promoting themselves
for two years before joining with H.S.R. Entertainment Group in 1999. Thunderbrew
has been receiving great press reviews through local papers and on the internet,
proving their determination and confidence. Voted "Best New Talent" in October
2000, the group's songwriting ability is one of their strongest selling points musically.
The creation of www.thunderbrew.com brought a whole new group of listeners and
fans. Ranked in the top 100 on the Heavy Metal Charts at MP3.com for the past six
months, "Mr. Greed, Mother Earth, and Spare Change" all topped out at #17 on the
list of thousands of competitive bands in their genre. Thunderbrew is a heavy, guitar-
driven metal band with all-pro musicians and "catchy" vocal hooks. The group is
currently finishing their full-length CD project and are shopping for label interest.
Daran has been playing since the age of 15 in various bands and clubs in the Tri-
State area. In 1999 he won the best musician award, and has continued his career
as a full-time guitar instructor at Pro Musica Studio in Kennett Square, PA.
Rick has been playing guitar in the Delaware Valley with various bands for 13 years.
He's toured most of the Delaware Valley clubs. Rick has developed a good
reputation as a guitar player opening for national acts.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
GEORGE BELLAS
Tearing It Up With The Phrygian Dominant Scale
George has been kind enough to allow us to post another sample from his killer
instructional CD Rom series. Be sure to check out George's website,
www.GeorgeBellas.com, for availability information. The clip below is a minute and
40 seconds of George tearing it up with the A Phrygian Dominant scale. It's a fairly
large download (1.5MB), but well worth it to watch the master in action. I've included
a chart of the entire fretboard for the A Phrygian Dominant scale so you can see
what George is basing his improv around. Do keep in mind that the video on
George's CD rom is of much higher resolution, better quality, and much larger
picture, with crystal clear stereo shredding. We've had to reduce these factors to
decrease the file size for the band-width challenged.
Bellas news update: Ring Of Fire be at Steve Vai's Studio in early March recording
their new album. The CD will be released this summer with a tour beginning in July
or August.
the following bio material from GeorgeBellas.com
Chicago native George Bellas started playing guitar at age 7 on a Classical guitar his father
had bought him. His influences include: Franz Liszt, J.S.Bach, L.V.Beethoven, Paganini,
Debussey, Yngwie Malmsteen, Walter Piston, Ted Greene, Michael Schenker, Dream
Theater, Magellan, Jason Becker, Robin Trower, Montrose, Van Halen, Tony MacAlpine...By
the age of 12, George was playing live in local bands while studying Music Theory,
Harmony, Rhythm, Counterpoint and Form. Soon after, George began teaching guitar and
opened Prodigys School Of Music, during which time he continued to perform and compose.
George had an affection for classical counterpoint and Odd Rhythms very early on.
George's compositions include progressive odd-meter/exotic scale pieces as well as simple
straight forward rockin' vocal tunes and Classical Orchestral/Soundtrack Music. George
exhibits great technical prowess and a beautiful sense of melody and finesse. George
eventually got his first 4-track recorder and began recording day in and day out. George's
catalog of music began to grow very rapidly.
George sent demos of his compositions to Shrapnel Records, and president Mike Varney
immediately recognized George's talent and versatility. He signed George to a solo deal and
flew him out to the west coast to record his first album. The musicians were: Deen
Castronova/Drums, Kevin Chown/Bass, Matt Guillery/Keyboards, Brad Kaiser/Drums, Mike
McCarron/Drums, George Bellas/Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Macintosh programing. He
recorded in December, 1996 and his first album "TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM" was set to
be released May 21,1997.
Days later George got a call from Mike Varney asking him if he would be interested in joining
UFO, Phil Mogg and Pete Way decided on George after hearing George's playing and
songwriting. George traveled to Pete Way's house and began writing and arranging the
songs. After meeting several times and developing the songs, it was time to fly out to San
Francisco and record the album. The recording took place February, 1997 at Prairie Sun
Recording Studios, CA. The band consisted of Phil Mogg/Vocals, Pete Way/Bass, Ansley
Dunsbar/Drums, George Bellas/Guitar. The band went under the name MOGGWAY and
released their first album entitled "EDGE OF THE WORLD".
And in between those 2 albums George managed to write and record an album for John
West entitled "MIND JOURNEY" that was recorded January, 1997 and released May, 1997.
George finished his 4th album for Shrapnel Records in November, 1997. It is an all
instrumental, neoclassical album, rich in classical counterpoint and rippin' guitar. The line up
was: Deen Castronova/Drums, Barry Sparks/Bass and George Bellas/Guitar & Keyboards.
This album is titled "MIND OVER MATTER" and was released in February, 1998.
George has also written songs for the "2nd" John West CD "PERMANENT MARK" released
in the 2nd quarter of 1998.
In March, 1998 world famous russian classical pianist Vitalij Kuprij flew to Chicago to record
an all instrumental CD entitled "EXTREME MEASURES" for Shrapnel Records. George
engineered all the keyboard and guitar tracks using Logic Audio and his PowerMacintosh.
The album is Neoclassical in style and is a showcase of mindboggling chops performed by
the two virtuosos along with Jon Doman/Drums and Jon Onder/Bass. Quite an incredible
performance!!!
After finishing the album with Vitalij, George wrote music for an upcoming vocal band of his
own, which will include this incredible singer out of New York named Matthew Guarnere.
George and Matt are working under the name "AUDIODROME". They hope to have the
album out by 2000.
As of June 1999 George Bellas just finished writing his next all instrumental album
"IMAGINATION". It is a combination of Neoclassical and Progressive songs. He plans to
have all the guitar tracks recorded by the end of July '99. This record will hit the stores
sometime in 1999. Needless to say , George keeps extremely busy dividing his time
between composing, recording and performing live, not to mention teaching guitar and trying
to continue to learn and grow as a musician.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
RUSTY COOLEY
Maximum Shred Factor
Here's Rusty's first issue in his new column series at CFH. Be sure to check out Rusty's new
instructional release "Shred Guitar Manifesto".
Lick 1 is in the key of F# minor. It's more of an intervallic lick than scalar. If you
analyze what's going on, each individual string is as follows:
6th string: F#add4 arp

5th string: Badd4 arp
4th string: Eadd2 arp
3rd string: Aadd2 arp
2nd string: C#m add4 arp
1st string: F#m add4 arp
To execute this lick, pick the first note when ascending only, no picking descending.
Lick 2. This is a C#m arp lick. It contains tones from C#m11, F#m, F#m7, G#m7.
Execution: sweep like hell.
Lick 3. This is a tapping arpeggio lick that uses two fingers of the right hand to tap.
The tonality of the lick is Em7 to D7. There is no picking in this lick. Everything is
either a hammer, pull, or tap.
Lick 4. This is a two string F#m pentatonic lick utilizing economy picking.
Lick 5. This lick is for the die-hard shredders only. No tab could be used. It has to be
heard to be believed. One can of coke used in making this monster lick (ed. note:
your favorite cereal beverage works equally well).
the following bio material from The Rusty Cooley Online Experience
I started playing guitar on my 15th birthday. Frustrated with guitar lessons, I decided
to study on my own. I remained almost exclusively self-taught until my junior year of
High School when I was offered music theory courses in which to enroll. That
summer I attended the National Guitar Summer Workshop in Conncecticut.
I obtained my first teaching job my senior year of High School. Upon graduation, I
went on to further my studies at North Harris County Community College. My first
sigificant band was "Revolution", with whom I recorded and performed original music.
We were fortunate to open for such headliners as Badlands, Nitro, Every Mothers
Nightmare, and Southgang. Upon my departure from "Revolution", I formed the band
"Dominion" with bassist Brent Marches.
In '95 I entered and won the "Guitar Master Series" in Houston. It was during this
period that I began to work on my own original guitar compositions. These songs
represented my desire to record an over-the-top guitar instrumental release featuring
state of the art chops and strong melodic content. I was also selected as a runner up
in the AIM "Jason Becker Scholarship Search". I got my first seven string in early 96
and have played them exclusivley ever since. I also hosted 3 episodes of a local
access cable show called "World Class Guitar Techniques", which airs in the
Houston area. In March '98 I was invited to join Shrapnel recording artists Haji's
Kitchen but declined due to relocation problems.
My demos have been reviewed at Guitar 9, Guitar 2001, and numerous other sites. I
have been featured on numerous compilation CD's such as the Guitarapalooza
compilation, and currently perform in the group "OutWorld" along with bassist Brent
Marches, and keyboardist Bobby Williamson. We are currently in the process of
writing and recording instrumental as well as vocal music.
I have recently gained an endorsement with Jackson guitars and Seymour Duncan
pickups. Remember...live, eat, sleep and breathe music for the mind!
GUEST COLUMNIST:
SCOTT STINE
Nuthin' But Pickin'
I'm pleased to have Shrapnel Records' Recording Artist Scott Stine as guest columnist at CFH. As you
probably well know (and if you don't already, you will shortly) Scott is a truly terrifying guitarist. I look
forward to his continued colaboration with Chops from Hell...
Hi All,
Welcome to my first column for CFH. This is a lick from "Nuthin' But Pickin'" on my
CD Broke (Shrapnel Records) It is basically two licks in one. The first half is what I
call a half picking lick, because it is half picked and half hammer ON's and pull
OFF'S. This gives the illusion that you are picking more and is easy to play very fast.
The second is all alternate picking played as fast as possible. The whole lick is just A
minor Pentatonic played three notes per string. The challenges are the wide intervals
while skipping strings, playing evenly and cleanly and trying to maintain the half
picking in the right places. Make sure to always start slow and work up to speed.
Around 160bpm.
Enjoy
Scott Stine
GUEST COLUMNIST:
BOFATRON SOFASAURUS
Disturbing Shred
Play guitar long enough and you'll eventually contemplate the musicianship concept
and how it transcends the limited idea of being a mere guitar player. Few people
would deny that musicianship, at its summit, is an art. Wouldn't you like to be known
as an artist instead of just a player of an instrument? Maybe you already think of
yourself as an "artist." Maybe you are and maybe you aren't. To illustrate what I'm
getting at, let's juxtapose two well-known jazz musicians: Kenny G and John
Coltrane – I realize that jazz fans everywhere are cringing at the comparison. But
why would they?
Kenny G, the entertainer, plays the sax whereas Coltrane, on the other hand and so
the story goes, was an artist who happened to express himself through the sax. But
why, exactly? Did 'Trane know more scales? Did he play faster? Is there some
technical gulf that separates the two? Undoubtedly there are analytic differences
between Kenny G and Coltrane, and I would concur that the artistry of Coltrane can
not be compared to the fluff of Kenny G. But the main thing that separates the two,
the thing that differentiates candyfloss from gold, is what we might call, momentarily,
the quest for transgressive fluidity. What does that mean? How does that relate to
you? And, finally, assuming that I wanted to be an artist rather than a guitarist, how
do I get to that point myself?
The Artistic Imagination and Fantasy
"Art is" according to one noted authority, "a stylized form of fantasy" (Zerubavel, The
Fine Line). And as "stylized fantasy" it's greatest power is in its ease and facility in
transgressing boundaries, exploring new frontiers, and blurring distinctions. Check
out what Zerubavel has to say about art and reflect upon how you might like your
playing to correspond to this characterization or just how far away you are from it:
As a mental adventure, art, like fantasy, "…respects no boundary (which is precisely

what makes it at the same time so attractive yet so feared by the rigid mind)….
Fantasy likewise blurs the conventional distinction between live and inanimate…and
mocks the very notion of insularity…. Typically abhorred by the rigid mind, blends
and mixtures, too, haunt our imagination in the form of mythical…. Art also promotes
unconventional mixtures and combinations. Artistic 'promiscuity' is prominently
featured, for example, in the arts of collage, assemblage, and photomontage and is
likewise manifested in culinary art…and well as in music (in stylistic melanges such
as Astor Piazzolla's blend of chamber music and tango, Pee Wee Hunts' Dixieland
version of instrumentalists accompanied by jazz rhythm sections)…. The quest for
fluidity also underlies the artist's attempt to defy the conventional partitioning of
reality into entities by blurring the very distinction between figure and ground…..we
normally regard the ground against which we perceive 'things' as empty, a void.
Artists, however, often attend such 'negative' spaces and use them dynamically in
painting and sculpture…. (The Fine Line). When I read this, the thought that springs
to my mind is just how far away most guitar music is from embodying the artistic
spirit.
Anti-Art: The Rigid Mind
Of course, the opposite of this artistic form of imagination is the rigid mind. The rigid
minded person, unlike the artist, subordinates themselves to established boundaries,
rules, and norms. The rigid person recognizes the authority and formulas of
established ideas and they obey the rules. They fear the personal consequences of
transgressing socially accepted ideas and they adhere closely to well-worn and
conventional formulas – whether linguistically, with fashions, and with the production
of music. The rigid person fetishizes methods and techniques and the efficacy and
"correctness" of traditional methods, seeking not to revolutionize the domain that
they find themselves, but to "fit in" and be "normal" and, if they work hard enough at
it, become well known and distinguished from the crowd. The rigid person also finds
an existential necessity in establishing their activities, like guitar playing, within an
established and hopefully respected tradition. They devote huge quantities of time
and energy in learning the products of their predecessors, i.e., heroes and influences
rather than striking out on their own. The thought of isolation, independence, and the
threat of public opinion is frightening. Moreover, they lack confidence in their own
charisma to say "Thou it is written I say unto Thee!" In other words, they seek not a
transvaluation of conventional values, as Nietzsche so eloquently put it, but merely to
be good at embodying those values and, hopefully, profiting from exemplary
conformity.
Guitarists Caught in a Dilemma
When I hear the vast majority of guitarists I see not the experimentation, fluidity,
playfulness, and free-form fantasy characteristic of art but a determined, self-
negating, and often dogmatic adherence to conventionality and established
expectations. Armies of young people chain themselves to metronomes and play
scales, modes, arpeggios, and whatnot, day in and day out – sawing away and
staying firmly within clearly delineated and conventional lines. And the world of
"shredding" may be more guilty of this than any other genre of guitar and this hold
especially for those in the neo-classical vein where discipline, subordination of self to
repertoire, and technical rationalization are highly articulated. Think about it this way,
when I see and hear most guitarists, especially a lot of "shredders", they remind me
of Kenny G insofar that they stay comfortably within the lines, they quote familiar
phrases, they utilize familiar scales, etc. And it is safe to do this; the best are even
rewarded for continuously reproducing, perhaps with a slight twist, what has already
been repeatedly done – following the tried and tested formula.
So what's it going to be?
What implications can we draw from all this? Musicians like to think of themselves as
unconventional or even rebellious. But the sad fact is that most are very conventional
and at the best rebellious – rather than revolutionary. They'd like to think of
themselves as musicians or even as artists (and warm themselves by the cozy flame
of moral indignation at the likes of a Kenny G) then feel not a tinge of hypocrisy at
donating most of their "artistic" life not in playful and imaginative exploration but in
mimicry and subordination to the expectations of other people and aesthetic forms
that already exist. They seek distinction not in creation of art but in image, lifestyle,
and technical perfection. So, should you forget about learning your theory and stop
practicing your scales? Of course not; theory can be an iron cage for a lot of people
but only for the rigid ones that make it their prison. Theories are ideas. The more
ideas you have the better. Scales are great as heuristic devices or general guides
but don't allow your self to be trapped by them. Scales are not laws of nature and
you are not necessarily obligated to adhere to them like the law of gravity. You will
not burn in Hell for deviating from the Harmonic Minor scale. Of course you might be
kicked out of your band for getting too wild but that's one of the occupational hazards
I guess.
Strategies and Exercises
It might seem paradoxical to suggest exercises for developing creativity but it can
work for those willing to slip out into the deep water of the unknown and the
unfamiliar.
A. Some Mental Strategies:
1. Listen to some non-Western, non-Euro-centric music for a change. Listen to the

environmental noises around you. Focus on rhythms instead of melodies.
2. When you practice try visualizing scenes from movies or imagine you're creating
sound-scapes for an art installation. Think in terms of texture or geometric patterns
rather than 'notes' and 'melodies'?
3. Next time you go for that big solo throw away your scales and try to emulate the
sound of a person screaming in horror.
4. Listen to free-form jazz: the improviser is free to play any note at any time. You
may find it a bit disturbing at first but just let your self go and swim in the "chaos" and
"disorder." Also, try some jazz 'tricks' such as playing in the 'wrong key' momentarily
like playing the A major scale against G maj (I) chord – this results in a Lydian b9
sound. Or try minor third substitutions for an unconventional sound.
5. Tape yourself playing and then ask yourself: do I sound like a flimsy copy of
____________________________________? (Fill in the blank with the name of your
hero of the moment). It's good to have influences but don't become a slave to
fashion. Instead of 'sounding like' somebody else, try becoming an echo of the world
around you. Read the news. Get out in the world some.
6. Give the metronome a break for a while. Why? You figure it out.
7. Smile when you play. There's about an 85% chance that you haven't smiled one
time while playing or practicing in the last year. This is supposed to be fun you know.
B. Exercises
Chromaticism: few things can add color, literally, to your playing as chromatic notes.
Players full of daring-do, individuals like Vernon Reid, used a lot of chromaticism in
their lead lines. Try a few exercises like these and create your own:
Superimposition of Triads: get to know the augmented, diminished, major, and minor
triads and how to arpeggiate them all over the neck.
String Skipping: practice some banjo rolls and country-style chicken pickin'.
Open Strings:
The Matrix: Begin to think of the guitar as a matrix-based instrument instead of a

linear one like the piano. This is tough to explain in a nutshell (I have an entire web
site devoted to explaining this) but it amounts to what I call 'multi-tasking' on the
guitar. The results are unconventional to say the least but if you're interested in
generating unusual speeds then a new approach is necessary.
Give this little mp3 file a spin. It demonstrates the sound of hybrid 'multi-tasking' on
the guitar…it is a bit odd, I'll admit, but you've got to be prepared for an odd sound if
you want to make the quantum leap from conventional shred into the domain of
extreme guitar. Here the sound is of 32nd notes at 250 bpm.
Low Fi (slow connection)
Hi Fi (fast connection)
Thanks for taking the time to read this little article and I hope that you get some good
ideas from it. Best of wishes in your future pursuits and shred like hell.
Bofatron Sofasaurus is the lead guitarist for Tryptophane and the inspiration behind
Shred Like Hell. Get disturbed at http://www.mp3.com/stun. Check out the Bofatron
Sofasaurus lesson page.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
ELECTRA RECORDING & LEGATO RECORDING ARTIST
DERRYL GABEL
Sweep Dreams
Hello again! First I would like to thank Chris at Chops from Hell for having me back.
Thanks bud.
In this lesson I would like to cover one of my approaches to sweep sequenced

arpeggios. This excerpt is taken from the acoustic free style solo that I do in the tune
"Visions and Dreams". Technically I'm using a combination of sweep picking and
pull-offs to execute this lick. Refer to the chart for pick direction etc...
SWEEP DREAMS
Sweep Sequenced Arpeggios
Level: Advanced
Written by Derryl Gabel
Harmonically I'm using arps from Eflat melodic minor over the Bflat 7 #5/D chord.
The arps are Cm7, Aflat7, Fm7, and Dm7flat5. Over the EflatM7flat5 chord I'm using
the B diminished arp. Now don't let that confuse you. You might be thinking
(diminished arp over a M7flat5 chord? This guy is nuts!) Well, I'm hearing the
EflatM7flat5 chord as the upper extention of an F13#9flat5 chord. Over the
Fm/M7flat5 I finish up the B diminished arp and then go into the Em7flat5flat9 arp
which both can be found in the Fm/M7flat5 scale. I end the lick by landing on the A
note which is the seventh of the BflatM7flat5. chord. To get more mileage out of this
lesson analyze how the notes of the solo fit with the chords. Have fun!
Be sure to check out the cool stuff at my site Welcome To Derryl Gabel's Home
Page. For full length audio of some of my tunes go here MP3.com - Derryl Gabel
GUEST COLUMNIST:
ELECTRA RECORDING & LEGATO RECORDING ARTIST
DERRYL GABEL
Improvising Through The Changes
Derryl's fourth column at the site is a performance clip. Derryl has got some truly
smokin' chops, as well as being harmonically terrifying, both of which can really be
appreciated by watching him in action! For more about Derryl, be sure to visit his site.
This performance clip is from a song called "Friends" from Derryl's Visions and
Dreams album. This video in its entirety, along with others, will be available on an
upcoming Derryl Gabel CD rom from Chops from Hell. Check back here at CFH for
details and release date. The video on the CD rom will be of much higher resolution,
better quality, and much larger picture, with stereo sound. We've had to reduce these
factors for this example to decrease the file size for the band-width challenged. The
clip is roughly 1:30 in length and weighs in around 2.3MB.
the following bio material from Derry Gabel's website
Derryl Gabel was born in 1970 and has been playing guitar since the age of 15.
Derryl was featured on the 1992 George Lynch solo CD "Sacred Groove." Derryl
beat out several other guitarists in a contest to win this coveted opportunity. He was
also featured on the 1994's "Guitar on the Edge #4" performing "Blue Fingers." In
1995 Derryl's "Nathaniel" (later renamed "Song For Jessie") was featured on "Guitar
on the Edge #5".
Magazines which have covered Derryl's music include: "Guitar World" Sept. '90
(page 124), "Guitar for the Practicing Musician" May 1992 (page 168), and again in
"G..P..M" Oct 1992 (page 11) and in Oct 1993 (pages 93 & 150)
Derryl is excited about the release of his new CD entitled "Visions and Dreams".
GUEST COLUMNIST:
SHRAPNEL RECORDING & LEGATO RECORDING ARTIST
SCOTT MISHOE
Jaw-Dropping Slap Guitar
Scott was kind enough to allow the use of the following clip at the site. This has got
to be seen to be believed! For more info on Scott and his incredible playing be sure
to visit www.scottmishoe.com. Although there aren't any performance tips to go
along with this clip, just seeing it should be inspiring enough to get you thinking in
new directions! The clip is 1:15 in length and a fairly hefty download at 2MB, but
definitely worth the wait.
the following bio material from scottmishoe.com
I began my quest for Guitar Stardom at the early age of five. Since that time, some
seventeen years later, I've accomplished more in my career than most people could
ask to accomplish in a lifetime. Making my first live appearance in front of an
audience at the age of eight years old, and at the age of ten, I performed a benefit
show with Shrapnel Recording Artist, Pat Travers. In 1989, at the young age of
eighteen, I landed my first major endorsement with Fender Musical Instruments. In
the years that followed I've been featured in numerous guitar magazine articles. First,
was Guitar Player Magazine's "Spotlight" column in the August 1990 issue. Then
being featured in Guitar for the Practicing Musician's December 1990 issue in the
"Resume" column. In 1991, I entered Billboard Magazine's song writing contest, and
won an achievement award and was rated in the top ten percent of the entire
category. In 1992, I appeared in Fender Frontline's "Artist Advice" column (volume #
7). 1992 began my professional recording career, armed with a guitar, and
knowledge of two-handed arpeggios and some unusually quick techniques, I took on
my first recording project with Shrapnel Records. The album entitled, "Ominous
Guitarist from the Unknown", a compilation album featuring original recordings,
"Tonic System" as it's first cut. Moving on to then record, "Domesticated" on Mark
Varney's Quarterly C.D. Sampler, "Guitar On The Edge" Volume I No. 2. This was
also a compilation album which featured such artists as Greg Howe, Allan Holdworth,
Brett Garsed, and the Dixie Dregs. In 1995 my self-titled album, "Omnidirectional"
was released on Legato Records. Currently I'm working on new material and plans
are in effect to record more albums in the near future.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
STEPHEN ROSS
Utilizing Sweeping and Legato Techniques
I'm thrilled to announce Shrapnel recording artist Stephen Ross as guest columnist
at Chops from Hell. For more info on Stephen and his outstanding playing visit
www.stephenross.com.
the following bio material from stephenros.com
Stephen Ross who sometimes goes by the name Stephen Rogouski, depending on what kind of mood
he is in, has been told that he has a knack for plucking, picking, twisting, and breaking guitar strings.
Beginning his quest for musicianship at age 5, his parents soon realized that Stephen had some talent
for this kind of thing. Using his five dollar no frills axe, Stephen began exploring what this strange
object that was given the name "guitar" was capable of doing. By age 9, Stephen and his friend Chris
Harding were recording original compositions on a cheap tape recorder pretending they were the
beatles.
By age thirteen Stephen began formal training with jazz virtuoso, the late Harry Leahey. Because
Stephen had such a ravenous appetite for knowledge Harry would push Stephen to the limit. After his
first year, Stephen had a firm handle on the modal concept of improvisation, chord sets, and reading
music. Harry would comment quite frequently on Stephen's finger dexterity and speed. "That boy is
going to get a speeding ticket if he keeps playing like that," he once said to Stephen's mom after one
of their many jams.
By the age of 16 the shy Stephen Ross was starting to gain acceptance by the so called "cool kids" of
his high school due to his guitar skills. It was at this age he started playing with other musicians. A
year later he joined his first professional band, "Gems Edge," with vocalist Robert Mason, who later
went on to join and record with the band "Lynch Mob."
Torn between a career in Computer Science, or Music, Stephen chose music and dedicated up to 10
hours a day refining his musical skills. I think it was the Cobol class that finalized his decision. By the
time Stephen reached his twenties, he was part owner and playing five nights a week in the band
"Flashback." Flashback was known to be one of the hottest bands in New Jersey, and played before
the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, and numerous others.
During his time with Flashback, Stephen began listening to guitar masters such as Eddie Van Halen,
Rhandy Rhoads, Steve Morse, Allan Holdsworth, Alex Lifeson and Di Meola. He was quickly
becoming known as one of the most technically proficient guitarists in the area and was getting offers
from numerous bands. After listening to Mike Varney's "US Metal" albums Stephen felt he should
send Varney a tape of his music.
In about two weeks, he got a phone call from Varney. Mike said that he really liked the material he
sent him and would like to hear more. Mike than went on to say that he knew this other kid, with major
guitar chops, from Pennslyvania named "Richie Kotzen" who he would like me to get together and
write with. Although Stephen and Richie wrote some really impressive stuff together, the joint effort
never made it to CD.
It was at this time Stephen became obsessed with recording an album for Shrapnel and would spend
hours and hours in is parents basement recording new material for Varney. About 30 songs later,
Varney said, "let's do it." By the age of twenty three, the now married, Stephen Ross released his solo
debut recording, "Midnight Drive." The album received favorable reviews from many major
publications and helped Stephen land a Carvin and an ADA endorsement.
About two years later, Stephen realized he didn't have the business skills to handle his career properly
so he decided to go back to school and earn his college degree. While pursuing his education
Stephen was involved in a number of reputable projects, including Epic Recording Artist "Adrian
Dodz", Dannny Vaughn (Vocalist formally with Tyketto), Polygram recording artist "Motorbaby," and
Tangent Recording Artist "Look."
So after five years from the release of "Midnight Drive" Stephen says he is ready to put out his most
inspired work to date, "The Inner Voice." "This recording," he says "is for me and because I am doing
it for myself, others will like it."
GUEST COLUMNIST:
SHELBY WILLIFORD
The Road To Hell
Hello there and welcome to my column. I remember when I first started out; I bought
just about every guitar book and video known to man. I wanted to be the latest and
greatest thing on the guitar the world had ever seen! While I tried to play the songs
and licks of all my favorite idols, I usually would give up after a very long time (hours
and hours), accomplishing nothing, and being frustrated. All the
books/magazines/videos had the coolest licks in them but I kept wondering why I
couldn't "just play it like it was". Then, one day out of the blue, I broke down and
decided to take lessons. From those lessons I learned that I needed to develop my
technique through developing an organized regimen of exercises and drills as well as
learning things like theory, scales, arpeggios, chord/scale relationships, etc. Low and
behold, I did just that and within my first year of playing, I had developed very decent
chops as well as the ability to play those really cool licks that I wanted to learn so
badly.
The following exercises are little sextuplet (groups of six) sequences that I practice to
get my alternate picking going. I have seen some of these used by others. Some of
them I made myself (feel free to do this too). I have only included single-string
examples this time around due to the fact that this lesson is aimed at those that are
just starting out. Still, I've been playing for 14 years and these still help me quite a bit.
I tend to practice them chromatically and diatonically, on all the strings.
Here are some additional pointers to help you in your quest to shred:
1) WHEN LEARNING ANYTHING, PRACTICE IT REALLY SLOW.
This will help you in perfecting your technique. I tend to start all my warm-ups and
exercises at about 40 bpm on the metronome. Ironically, playing a
lick/exercise/drill/whatever as slow as possible is the quickest way to becoming fast
which leads to the next tip:
2) ALWAYS USE A METRONOME.
All the great shredders swear by a metronome. If you don't have one, get one. It'll
help develop timing as well as technique. Don't speed it up until you've MASTERED
it at the current level. You need to be able to play it clean, consistent, and
effortlessly.
3) RELAX.
This one is often overlooked. Your body and hands should not be tensing up the
faster you go.
4) DON'T LIFT YOUR FINGERS ANY MORE THAN YOU HAVE TO.
I once had a martial arts instructor tell me that speed is the absence of unnecessary
motion. Make sure there is no wasted movement
5) DO NOT REST THE PALM OF YOUR LEFT HAND ON THE NECK.

The only thing that should be touching as far as your left hand is concerned, is the
thumb on the back of the neck and the finger(s) that are doing the fretting.
6) WHATEVER TECHNIQUE YOU USE, STAY CONSISTENT.

Some people pick with their wrist, some pick with their forearm, other use a combo of
the two. Do whatever works for you, BUT make sure that you use the same approach
to playing fast as you would practice slow and vice versa.
7) BUY ALL THE STUFF FROM CHOPS FROM HELL.

Out of all the books, videos, and other resources I've seen, the stuff here is very top
of the line. Besides, I found my 3 new favorite guitarists from this site; Rusty Cooley,
Derek Taylor, and Chris Brungardt.
In the next installment of this column, I will show some of my cross picking and
position shifting exercises, but for now, have fun with these and remember if you
practice these consistently, you'll shred in no time.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
MICHAEL GARGIULO
of Project Finster
Finger Independence and picking Synchronization
Michael Gargiulo of Project Finster

http://www.projectfinster.com
As a lead guitarist, my ultimate goal is to get to the point where, while improvising over a given chord
progression, I will be able to play almost any phrase or lick that comes to mind, or that my fingers
decide they want to play. Two areas that I've focused on in recent months, finger independence and
picking synchronization, have greatly improved my ability to do this.
The first two exercises are ones that I frequently use to warm up and get the fingers feeling
independent. The first one is chromatic and in no specific key. The second is in Emin.
Chromatic Legato
Clip of chromatic legato pattern
Emin pattern
Clip of Emin pattern
Remember to play these at a speed that allows the notes to be clean and even in tempo, and move
your metronome up 8 bpm at a time until you reach your speed threshold.
I use the following two licks while warming up to focus on picking synchronization.
Chromatic picking pattern
Clip of chromatic picking pattern
Emin picking pattern
Clip of Emin pattern
To hear Project Finster, please visit www.projectfinster.com. Project Finster is a guitar instrumental
band from the CT area. Project Finster is made up of two people, Michael Gargiulo and Sonny Parlin.
Both have been playing guitar for over 13 years and both have similar influences. Michael has been
playing guitar for about 14 years. Self-taught, except for a few local lessons, his influences include
Greg Howe, Marty Friedman, Steve Morse, Kee Marcello, and Tony MacAlpine. Michael's song-writing
influences include anything that catches his ear, whether it be a classical piece, a heavy metal tune,
or music from a videogame. He continually strives to improve his playing technically and melodically.
Michael has released one CD prior to Finster which was given glowing reviews by Guitar Nine
Records. Michael has played in various bands in CT including "Extreme Caution", and "Hocus Pocus".
GUEST COLUMNIST:
SONNY PARLIN
of Project Finster
Make Your Arpeggios Stand Out
Sonny Parlin of Project Finster

http://www.projectfinster.com
The most powerful impact that shred ever has on me is when I hear a guitarist who can play a melody
with feel and authority and only shreds when the time is right and doesn't play a stock scale or
arpeggio. That said, I have put together a couple of arpeggios and variations of those arpeggios that I
would like to share with you.
The first is a Minor 7 b5 Arpeggio. I use a variation of this in a Project Finster song called "Into Deep".
The first one is the stock Minor 7 b5 arpeggio, the second is the variation I use in the song which is in
the key of Em:
B Minor 7 b5 Into Deep
Clip from Into Deep
The stock arpeggio uses the b5 twice, I only use it once in the variation, during the decent. When I
play the ascending half of the arpeggio, I don't play any b5's (which turns it into a Major 7 arpeggio).
Here is the second variation. I use this in a Project Finster song called "Error 58":
Error 58
Clip from Error 58
The third decending lick is actually the stock Minor 7 b5 arpeggio. As you can see, adding a b5 to your
arpeggios can really make them stand out!
To hear these songs in their entireity, please visit www.projectfinster.com. Project Finster is a guitar
instrumental band from the CT area. Project Finster is made up of two people, Michael Gargiulo and
Sonny Parlin. Both have been playing guitar for over 13 years and both have similar influences. Sonny
has been playing guitar for 14 years. Self-taught, his guitar influences include Greg Howe, Paul
Gilbert, and Ritchie Kotzen. Some of Sonny's song writing influences include Greg Howe, Radiohead,
and movie scores. Most of Sonny's song writing combines fusion and rock with changes not usually
heard among guitar instrumental music, bringing a refreshing new style to the table. Sonny has played
in many bands that span music scenes from CT to Boston, some of these bands include "Two Faced",
"Higher Step", "Inate 53", and "Pull" (now known as Amusia).
GUEST COLUMNIST:
THEODORE ZIRAS
Neo-Classical Sweeps
the following bio material provided by Theodore Ziras
Theodore Ziras born 1975 in Poros, Greece. His music training started at the age of
13 with Music Theory and Piano lessons. His main influences include F Liszt, J.S
Bach, N Paganini, J Becker, Allan Holdsworth, Y. Malmsteen, J. Becker, S Vai, G
Bellas, V Kuprij, J Petrucci, G Howe and generally anything from Classical Music,
Rock & Progressive Metal and Jazz/Fusion.
Two years later he also started studying guitar, which became his main instrument.
From the beginning of his music carrier Theodore was fascinated by musicians with
high level of Technical ability regardless of style etc. At the age of 18 he moved to
Athens and he continued his studies in Music Theory, Jazz Harmony, Rhythm,
Counterpoint. The next two years found Theodore practising very hard.
His first appearance with a band was in 1994 when he joined the progressive power
metal Greek band Ice Divine as the lead Guitar player. With Ice Divine he released 2
demos and he appeared in 2 compilation CD's. Ice Divine appeared in many gigs in
Athens with more important the shows as a support band with Iced Earth (Rodon
Club November '97) and U.D.O. (Rodon Club February '98). Ice Divine voted in 1997
Metal Hammer's magazine Best Newcoming and Best Live band. In October 97 they
signed their first contract with "Noise International" but finally this cancelled 2 months
later under strange circumstances. This incident had as a result the split up of Ice
Divine…
So, in early '98 Theodore joined the Greek progressive metal band Guardian Angel.
Theodore as a member of Guardian Angel didn't release any demo or CD but he
played a lot of gigs all over Greece. After all, his cooperation with Guardian Angel
was a very important experience and established Theodore as a great soloist and
solid performer.
In late '98 Theodore decided to leave Greece and he registered at the Guitar Institute
of London for further studies in Music performance and composition. He developed
further his Technical and composition skills, also he deal with different styles as Jazz
and Fusion. He started working on his first solo instrumental release. He graduated 3
years later getting his degree, Bachelor (Honours) in Music Performance &
Composition. In early 2001 he returned to Greece and he signed a record deal with
Steel Gallery Records.
His first instrumental solo Cd called "Trained To Play" released in April 2001. It's a
mix of Orchestral Neoclassical & Power Metal with complex harmony/orchestration
and mind-blowing lead guitar parts.
Theodore keeps extremely busy dividing his time between studying, composing,
recording, teaching guitar and trying to develop his style and grow as an performer
and composer.
Contact: tziras@hotmail.com
Website: www.thodoris.cjb.net
GUEST COLUMNIST:
BOFATRON SOFASAURUS
Getting "Out There" Part I: Scale Fragments
Typically, when rockers think about soloing or over chord progressions, they keep
fairly well to the diatonic realm – staying tethered to a scale that "fits" the harmonic
current of a given song. That's not a bad idea. Generally, playing the "right" notes
that fit with the chords of a song will resonate with most people and sound "normal."
But sometimes you need to get "out there." In this article, I'm going to discuss one
"mindful" strategy for going outside the diatonic sphere in an effort to add color (or
chaos) to your lead lines.
One way to get "out there" is by thinking in terms of, not a scale, but, structurally
consistent scale fragments taken from multiple keys and threading them together into
a chain. The resulting chain would be relatively independent of the underlying
harmonic framework of the song. The purpose of this is to develop what I call the
sound of "transgressive fluidity" characteristic of art if not commercial music. For
more on this see my first Chops From Hell article titled "Disturbing Shred."
If you've spent time learning about tetra-chords, hybrid scales, or pitch axis theory,
you know that you can play a lot of non-diatonic notes in your leads. And these
approaches do lend themselves to very interesting sounds and are extremely useful.
For example, hybrid scales are musical entities built out of different scale materials or
unusual scales resulting from the mixing together of two completely different scales.
An example of hybrids might be to fuse the Lydian mode (G A B C# D E F# G) with
the fourth mode of the Melodic Minor scale, the Lydian Dominant (G A B C# D E F
G). The result of this fusion would be a non-standard, eight note Bebop scale: (G A B
C# D E F F#). But "pitch axis" theory and hybrid scales are relatively "unilinear" in
that note functions are analyzed in relation to an axial pitch or a parent tonal center.
This is not quite what I have in mind in this article. We are leaving behind the notion
of an axial pitch altogether. The song goes one way and the solo goes another. You
are walking without a net.
Scale fragments take you toward a "key of the moment" proposition or "Harmolodics"
where independent melodies collide, diverge, or are woven together. Here a soloist
can, if so desired, depart completely from the song's tonal center. I know this sounds
a bit unconventional but we're going for absolute improvisational freedom here. The
tyranny of the Id, if you will.
This was the basic approach in my "song" Jupiter Proximity.
http://www.ampcast.com/bofa
Jupiter Proximity was going for an ambient, frenzied, chaotic feel like racing
headlong through space toward some terrible disaster. Instead of just playing some
lines from one scale or playing some arpeggios up and down, I aimed at a fluid,
braided tapestry of sound by playing through many different scale fragments in
different keys that ultimately "landed" or returned to the song's parent key (C minor).
Check the notation for an approximation of what my thinking was in the first 26
seconds of Jupiter Proximity.
Here's the logic behind the Jupiter sound encapsulated in just a couple of measures:
the first few notes, as I was thinking of them, are taken from the G major scale. The
remainder of the first measure comes from the A major scale. I then shifted to notes
taken from A major to B major and then on to F# major. So, one way to look at the
run of notes is to see them as fragments progressing through time: (| G major, A
major | | B major F# major |). Now, in the actual song, the first 26 seconds goes
through G major, C major, A major, D major, B major, E major, F# major, and lands
in C melodic minor before being followed by a mostly diatonic sequence derived from
the C natural minor scale.
You can, however, profit by examining each set of fragments in relation to the
underlying C minor tonality of the song if you so desired. Doing so will demonstrate
that the approach is not arbitrary.
The shift from G major up a whole step to A major is a classic jazz move. If you
examine your "circle of fifths" you'll notice that the distance between G and A, on the
wheel, is fairly close…I think of them as related cousins that are basically identical
except for two notes. And those differences in accidentals (C# and G# in the case of
A major) impart a Lydian Dominant sound to the G which is a scale frequently used
by jazz musicians. However, against the underlying C minor tonality of the song, the
G and A scale fragments provide sounds from C major and C Lydian b9. Adding the
major third interval imparts the sound of the Aeolian major scale (a natural minor
scale with a raised third interval). The second measure takes us into the B major
scale which imparts, perhaps the easiest way to analyze it, is a truly chromatic sound
against C minor. B major played on top of C minor would result in the combination of
C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F# and so on. You can carry out this analysis through all the
various scale fragments to see how they relate to C minor.
The whole point of this approach to scale fragments is to achieve a very non-linear
chromatic sound in a song or part of a solo. Of course you could just play from the C
chromatic scale. However, the shift in mental perspective offered by scale fragments,
the interval shifts, and the resulting technical angle (see the notation) can give you a
sound that is totally chromatic yet does not sound as if you're just racing up and
down the neck playing a scale.
The difference, essentially, is that playing from the perspective of the chromatic scale
will sound linear. By playing as I did in Jupiter using scale fragments the sound is
totally circular and non-linear. I guess it has it's time and place ;-)
Shredders have been long criticized that they just race up and down scales. Many
do. However, by breaking musical elements down into smaller entities (fragments)
like the first four notes of one scale, or however many different scales, you can avoid
that trap. Regardless of whether you find it pleasing, the sound in Jupiter is not that
of scales up and down the neck. Instead, as I hear it, it is a wall of structured sound
that takes on visual shapes in the mind. Close your eyes and "look" for geometric
shapes moving as you listen.
In my next installment I'll cover the idea of "interchanges" and how you can use them
to get "out there."
As always, I hope you found this to be interesting and useful. Best of wishes.
Bofatron Sofasaurus plays in the hybrid rock band Tryptophane and is the inspiration
for Shred Like Hell a site devoted to avant garde and experimental guitar.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
THEODORE ZIRAS
Tapping Arpeggios
the following bio material provided by Theodore Ziras
Theodore Ziras born 1975 in Poros, Greece. His music training started at the age of
13 with Music Theory and Piano lessons. His main influences include F Liszt, J.S
Bach, N Paganini, J Becker, Allan Holdsworth, Y. Malmsteen, J. Becker, S Vai, G
Bellas, V Kuprij, J Petrucci, G Howe and generally anything from Classical Music,
Rock & Progressive Metal and Jazz/Fusion.
Two years later he also started studying guitar, which became his main instrument.
From the beginning of his music carrier Theodore was fascinated by musicians with
high level of Technical ability regardless of style etc. At the age of 18 he moved to
Athens and he continued his studies in Music Theory, Jazz Harmony, Rhythm,
Counterpoint. The next two years found Theodore practising very hard.
His first appearance with a band was in 1994 when he joined the progressive power
metal Greek band Ice Divine as the lead Guitar player. With Ice Divine he released 2
demos and he appeared in 2 compilation CD's. Ice Divine appeared in many gigs in
Athens with more important the shows as a support band with Iced Earth (Rodon
Club November '97) and U.D.O. (Rodon Club February '98). Ice Divine voted in 1997
Metal Hammer's magazine Best Newcoming and Best Live band. In October 97 they
signed their first contract with "Noise International" but finally this cancelled 2 months
later under strange circumstances. This incident had as a result the split up of Ice
Divine…
So, in early '98 Theodore joined the Greek progressive metal band Guardian Angel.
Theodore as a member of Guardian Angel didn't release any demo or CD but he
played a lot of gigs all over Greece. After all, his cooperation with Guardian Angel
was a very important experience and established Theodore as a great soloist and
solid performer.
In late '98 Theodore decided to leave Greece and he registered at the Guitar Institute
of London for further studies in Music performance and composition. He developed
further his Technical and composition skills, also he deal with different styles as Jazz
and Fusion. He started working on his first solo instrumental release. He graduated 3
years later getting his degree, Bachelor (Honours) in Music Performance &
Composition. In early 2001 he returned to Greece and he signed a record deal with
Steel Gallery Records.
His first instrumental solo Cd called "Trained To Play" released in April 2001. It's a
mix of Orchestral Neoclassical & Power Metal with complex harmony/orchestration
and mind-blowing lead guitar parts.
Theodore keeps extremely busy dividing his time between studying, composing,
recording, teaching guitar and trying to develop his style and grow as an performer
and composer.
Contact: tziras@hotmail.com
Website: www.thodoris.cjb.net
GUEST COLUMNIST:
GUITAR RECORDINGS' ARTIST
HOWARD HART
'Sweep-Sounding'
Hi Everyone,
I've been asked off and on about some of the 'sweep-sounding' things that I
occassionally do in my solos. The truth is, I really don't use the sweeping technique
very much... a few small ditties here and there, and that's about it. What you're
actually hearing is a combination of hammer-ons and pull-offs; usually playing across
an arpeggiated shape that outlines a particular chord voicing.
Here's a brief example using a simple C Major Arpeggio in 3 octaves... It DOES

require some serious left hand dexterity, but the right paw has it pretty easy for the
most part. However, I would definitely suggest starting with an up-stroke for the first
note in each phrase, and then using a down-stroke for the last note in each phrase...
This just seems to be more comfortable on the paws for some reason - But feel free
to experiment for yourself. - Howard
Lick #1 - MP3
RealAudio (plus verbal explanation)
This is an excerpt from the Book & CD "Metal Guitar" - Similar

licks, riffs, and ideas can also be found in the "Technique" Book & CD lesson.
Visit www.hhgiguitar.com for more lessons!
(C) Copyright 1995/2000 HHGI Guitar Instruction
Howard Hart - Brief Bio

Howard has been writing, recording, and teaching in the world of guitar for many
years. His initial demo "Fatigue Free" caught the attention of John Stix at Guitar
Magazine, who promptly signed Howard to the Guitar Recordings label. After
contributing two cuts to the "Burnin'" CD, he also provided a track for the "Guitar On
The Edge" CD Vol.1/No.4, which can now be found newly remixed and remastered
on his own "Dancing Madly Backwards" release.
Howard has appeared in Guitar Magazine, Guitar World, and Guitar Player; as well
as Southern California's BAM and Mean Street publications. Along with creating his
unique brand of instrumental guitar music, he is also the creator and founder of HHGI
Guitar Instruction, which has quickly become recognized as one the most innovative
and forward thinking in its field - He has literally given personal correspondence
lessons to students from all over the world!
In 1999 Howard released "Mind Grind" - a unique blend of high energy rock meets
scorching emotional ballads and over-the-top fusion... The track "Crying Hunger"
quickly climbed to the top of MP3.COM's instrumental rock charts; enjoying an
extended stay and becoming one of the most popular songs of 1999! In November of
2000 it once again jetted to the top of the charts, along with several other songs in
his catalog.
You can listen to tons of music from Howard at: www.mp3.com/howardhart
Official site: www.howardhart.com
Instructional site: www.hhgiguitar.com

GUEST COLUMNIST:
MARCELO BARBOSA
Arpeggios with Two Handed Tapping
First of all, I would like to thank Chris for inviting me to work in this so cool project,
beside some well known and respected guitarists.
In this column I want to show one of my favorite techniques. It is a mixing of sweep

picking arpeggios and tapping using two or three fingers of your right hand. This is a
very difficult technique and you have to start practicing it very slowly to obtain a clean
sound.
Above the tab I¹m showing the picking and below the numbers of the left hand
fingers. When you see a number inside a circle , it represents which finger on your
right hand it¹s to be used for tapping.
The first example starts with a G major 7 arpeggio, then I add 9(A) so then13(E). The
next step is adding the major 3 and 5th, an octave higher, tapping with my middle (2)
and pinky (4) finger, respectively.
fast slow
The second one starts with a sus 2/4 (root, 2 nd, 4th and 5 th) arpeggio with the root
F. At the second part of the arpeggio, add 13 th and then, with my right hand, 3
diatonic notes (Bb, C, D ), with fingers 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
fast slow
Remember that when practicing the two examples, you¹ll have to mute the strings
with your left hand index finger when you are tapping with your right hand.
I hope this examples work not only to develop technique but also to open some new
sound possibilities, and help you to create music!!!
Any question you can e-mail me at marcelobarbosa@gtr.com.br
Name: Marcelo Barbosa

Age: 26 years
Main influences: Greg Howe, Ritchie Kotzen, John Petrucci,
Frank Gambale and Eric Jonhson.
Projects: Khallice - Brazilian Prog metal band, that you can listen
to at www.mp3.com.
GTR Quintet of Guitars - Classical Music, you can listen at
www.gtr.com.br.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
WILLIE LOGAN
"The Blame Game"
This passage is pure blues melody without sticking entirely to blues shapes. It's in
the style of Gary Moore's 'Still Got The Blues', but is the intro from my own piece
called THE BLAME GAME. It has a few string skips & jumps which are quite tricky
and a little diminished arpeggio, altogether it displays how a strong melodic guitar
intro can give an instant impact and signature to a song.
Listen to original music by Willie Logan :)
http://www.mp3.com/willielogan
View the CITRUS FACTORY, Willie Logan's official web site :)
http://wakeup.to/willielogan
GUEST COLUMNIST:
WILLIE LOGAN
"Who Am I?"
Hi ! My name is Willie Logan & I'm a guitarist from Scotland in the UK. In this column,
which I wish to update in time, I want to explore the almost mystical, elusive & almost
lost art of playing melodically. Not just speed chops for the sake of it. This first
example is part of a solo section from WHO AM I ? A catchy, melodic tune with
heavier breaks. This is from one of the heavy sections and it includes tapping,
hammer-ons, pull-offs, sweep and alternate picking. Yes folks, it's got the lot, and
although it's not as melodic as the main section of the tune, it displays a good choice
of notes and is still tuneful. The full tune can be found at
http://www.mp3.com/willielogan .
Willie Logan
Listen to original music by Willie Logan :o)
http://www.mp3.com/willielogan
View the CITRUS FACTORY, Willie Logan's official web site :o)
http://wakeup.to/willielogan
GUEST COLUMNIST:
RYAN MAZA
of Warp 3
"Mr. Rush"
Excerpt from the ending section of 'Mr. Rush'
'Music has Evolved' CD
Performance Notes:
This ending segment from the tune, 'Mr. Rush' has all the fun chops a guitarist could want.
Fast 16th note alternate picking, accending string skipping and a big ole' arpeggio in the last
measure! The only thing that's kinda funky about this line is the 5/4 time signature in the 2nd
measure. This lick is based in A Dorian mode. During the 2nd measure I accent up the neck
with a 4 note pattern, while 'pedaling' off the open D string to give it an underlying common
tone. No mystery there...just a cool technique (often called a 'pedal point' or 'pedal tone'). I
also used this same concept on the main rhythm section to 'Lights in the Sky.' I only mention
this because it's a technique that I use occasionally. You might want to try experimenting
with this by playing a 3 or 4 note pattern ascending and descending while the last note of
each phrase is the same open string. Joe Satriani, for example, likes to do this A LOT!
During measure 4 I try to build the tension with diatonic arpeggios (in A Dorian) in an
ascending 3 note string skipping technique (a la Eric Johnson) that ends with a Gmi7
arpeggio (Gmi9 in the second octave by adding the A note).
I chose this passage for a lesson clip because I wanted a versatile lick for you to
practice/learn and be able to incorporate some of these concepts into your playing style. If
you've already got these licks down, then FINE....time to move on to something more
challenging, like the Pentatonic tapping lesson on the Warp 3 site! See you there."
Ryan Maza / Warp 3
the following bio material provided by Ryan Maza
Ryan Maza, Warp 3 - B I O G R A P H Y

From their formation in 1999, WARP3 has since captured a sizable
niche audience in the states as well as overseas, particularly in Italy,
where Maza writes an ongoing instructional column for the Italian
publication 'Guitar Chef Magazine.' Ryan has recently been asked to
contribute similar articles for the 'Guitarapalooza.com' website.
Along with last year's release of their debut CD, 'Music has Evolved,'
the band launched a companion website which has catapulted to top
positions in major search engines on the World Wide Web. The eye-
catching site has also received critical acclaim in Internet circles,
leading to product endorsements for Maza from Elixir Strings and
Kradl Picks.
Guitar virtuoso Ryan Maza founded Warp 3, and also writes and arranges most of the
band's music. Dense close-voiced harmonic structures, clean, chopping stabs of chords
and horn-like "sheets of sound" round out the guitarist's arsenal. Although he can
execute intricate passages with speed and finesse, Maza prefers to 'hold-back,' focusing
the listener's attention on the song. In fact, he considers his compositions to be an
integral part of his playing style, in which leaving space for other instruments to share
the spotlight is a major component.
Maza is no neophyte to the Arizona music scene. Well known and respected as a 'hired
gun' for studio projects, and as an 'on call' fill-in for other bands, he has done demo-
compilation work for the Roland music company as well. Ryan, who plays a custom
Warp 3 guitar built by renowned luthier Bob Mick, was nominated for the 'Best Guitarist
1999' award in the band's hometown.
GUEST COLUMNIST:
MARK SCHUSTER
X-press Yourself!
In a world of ever-increasing numbers of mind-boggling guitarists, sometimes you

have say to yourself "less is more." I'm certainly not the fastest or the most technical
guitarist around, but I do like to think of myself as someone who really works hard to
be expressive with my playing. Creating an incredible melodic and soulful passage,
to me, is as intense as Eddie's "Eruption" or an Opus by Yngwie.
I've been playing guitar for about 20 years, and before that, drums and piano. Safe to
say – music's been a big part of my life and continues to be. I've played all styles. But
for me, nothing ever quite compares to Hard Rock and Metal. I think it takes a certain
personality/mentality to grasp the concept of these genres and be able to deliver the
goods. Let's face it, this stuff's not taught in school. These musical styles, like blues,
have the potential to be extremely expressive. Their fundamental nature provides a
platform, and almost begs for guitarists to let it bleed! I think that's what attracts me.
It's seductive and alluring. I have to believe that if Beethoven was alive today, he'd
be writing some of the best Metal around!
The following are a few examples from a new release I'm working on which illustrates
how I approach expressiveness. Obviously, this is a very subjective topic. How do
you teach someone to be emotional and expressive in their playing? I'm not 100%
sure, but I think you start by helping them to get in touch with something inside, and
let them take it from there. I use a couple of different techniques to help me get in the
right frame of mind. I also think these techniques help provide for well-rounded
instrumental compositions.
1. Harmonies
2. Expressive melodic passages (sometimes called "hooks." I call them "The

Instrumental guitarist's chorus")
Tab Index
v – vibrato
x - muted, struck string
/ - slide up
Example #1 – Harmonies
This is a huge topic, so I'll just touch on a few things I tend to do. I work with thirds a
lot – most people do. It's common, but sounds great. When in doubt…
I'm a big fan of the Harmonic Minor scale (raised 7th). So here's a harmony using the
E Harmonic Minor scale (E-F#-G-A-B-C-D#-E) as line one, harmonizing a 5th above
in line two.
and here they are played together...
Example #2 – Expressive Melodic Passages (Hook/Instrumental Chorus)
I usually start with a solid underlying drum pattern and a good chunky rhythm guitar
line. The better that is, the better I write. I almost always tightly couple the rhythms
and the melodic lines, and then make it repetitive (this is my personal taste and due
to being a drummer at heart). Some groups that I think did (do) this well are AC/DC
and Judas Priest, to name two. If done right, it really makes a statement and
compliments a composition. This example uses two guitar lines. I like to make this
particular statement as rich as possible. One good way to do that is by filling it out by
playing an octave below. Another is to make use of harmonies.
This example demonstrates a melodic passage within the framework of a chorus

within a instrumental song. Melodic passages are a great way to be expressive in a
solo as well. It compliments the shredding going on in a solo by providing some
depth, personality and melodic complexity to an otherwise shred-fest.
and here they are played together...
Here's everything together in a tune called "Anti-Social". Notice the key change to
Am at 1:04.
Anti-Social
lo-fi
hi-fi
download
For more examples of this kind of playing, visit my site:
http://www.mp3.com/markschuster.
If you have any questions about this article, or would like more information in general
– feel free to drop me an email at schuster_mark@hotmail.com.
Mark

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GUEST COLUMNIST:

SHRAPNEL RECORDING ARTIST

Here are some notes for execution:

In this lesson we will be exploring a new approach to pentatonic scales. In this

Be sure to check out Derryl's homepage.

Here are some notes for execution:

untilnexttime,thanks, derek taylor

Enjoy! Be sure to check me out at: http://www.joelwanasek.com

In The Official web-site of Francesco Fareri you can find

Written by Francesco Fareri on October 2000.

Example 1: D Mixolydian, descending

Example 2: D Mixolydian, ascending

Example 3: Four note per string D Mixolydian, ascending

Example 4: Three/four note per string combination D Lydian Dominant, ascending

Example 5: C# Mi7, ascending

Example 6: C# Mi7, decending

Example 8: G Ma sweep/ E Mi7 "alternative legato" arpeggio (generates G Ma6

the following bio material provided by Tom Kopyto

M.A.C.E Music, Inc.

The next patterns of this same idea.

Arpeggio sounding idea.

Hirajoshi arpeggio in the key of A.

Simple pattern made of the hirajoshi scale on 2 strings.

This can be played using tapping, legato or alternate picking.

Descending groups of five.

This is an excerpt from my tune "Visions and Dreams".

Harmonically I am using a G flat Lydian Dominant arpeggio sequence from the D

No audio from Marshall on the following licks...

Hi! My name is Magnus Nordh and I play guitar in the

I've kept the examples pretty basic, not to confuse anybody.

the following bio material from the Majestic website

First are groups of 9 notes played in 16th sextuplets so we create an accent

For any comments pabloguitar@terra.es

the following bio material provided by Pablo Garcia

I was born on the 26th of December, 1976 in Oviedo, Spain.

Relative Silence Home Page

Relative Silence at MP3.com

Take care. See you soon, ciao.

the following bio material provided by Simone Gianlorenzi

Be sure to check out George's fabulous instructional series available at

George's compositions include progressive odd-meter/exotic scale pieces as well as

normal medium slow

the following bio material from MarcPattison.com

DARAN AMOS & RICK LAND

the following bio material from thunderbrew.com

This is a part from one of my yet untitled songs: D E F#m E D A E

The arpeggios would look like this:

the following bio material provided by Tom Geldschläger

For any questions, comments or conversation contact me at 1181-

DARAN AMOS & RICK LAND

They're back with the second installment of "Oldschool with THUNDERBREW".

Lick 2. This is a classic sequence in C# minor using several pull-offs. (Daran)

the following bio material from GeorgeBellas.com

6th string: F#add4 arp

The Artistic Imagination and Fantasy

As a mental adventure, art, like fantasy, "…respects no boundary (which is precisely

Anti-Art: The Rigid Mind

Guitarists Caught in a Dilemma

So what's it going to be?

Strategies and Exercises

A. Some Mental Strategies:

1. Listen to some non-Western, non-Euro-centric music for a change. Listen to the

The Matrix: Begin to think of the guitar as a matrix-based instrument instead of a

Low Fi (slow connection)