In
this lesson, I am going to take you through one
of my own songs which uses many of the techniques
taught on this website. Play the video to listen
to the song.
The
tabs for each guitar part can be downloaded here:
Get
The Tabs
Part
1 - Page1
Part 1 - Page 2
Part
2
The
song can be broken down into six parts: intro,
first riff, harmonised
solo, bridge, scond (harmonised) riff and outro.
Intro
The
intro uses a fast right hand riffing technique.
To understand the rhythm play straight semi quavers
and then add in the triplets. Don't try and play
it really fast yet, just understand the rhythm.
Use all downstrokes for most of the riff. When
it comes to the triplet use a quick up-down-up
alternate picking technique. Practise this slowly
and then build up the speed to that in the song.
You also need to palm mute most of it.
The
trick with this sort of playing is to relax your
right hand. The more tense your hand is the harder
it is to play fast. Keep your wrist straight and
let most of the motion come from your arm. Allow
some flexibility in the wrist when it comes to
the triplets.
First
Riff
This
riff is brought in by a pinched
harmonic fill. Practise getting the harmonic
on the second fret and then bend it up and down
again before pulling off to the open D string.
As
with the intro, get used to the rhythm by going
through it slowly before speeding up. Palm mute
everything played on the low E string. The tricky
bits here are the fills at the end of each line.
They consist of a series of triplets played in
very quick succession. Pick the first note in
each triplet then hammer-on to the next note and
pull-off again in one smooth movement. The easiest
way to this for all of the triplets is to then
slide down the the next position and use the same
fingers. Practise these bits on their own and
then put it all together.
Solo
This
Dragonforce style guitar solo is not as hard as
it may seem at first! Take a look at the second
guitar part to see how the two harmony parts go
together. If you haven't done so already, check
out the harmony guitar lesson here.
Don't
pick every note here, but use hammer-ons and pull-offs
where appropriate to make it sound smoother. Practise
getting that pinched harmonic right every time
before moving on. The last three bars are worth
studying closely. This is a really useful technique
to be able to pull off well. Pick the first note
with a downstroke, then pull off to the next note,
and then use an upstroke to play the note on the
B string. The pick is then ready for the next
downstroke on the E string. Practise this pattern
and then apply it to the end part of the solo.
Bridge
You
will need to open page 2 of the tab for this section.
This
part uses fast alternate picking. Keep the right
hand moving up and down and then just change the
notes fretted by the left hand. As with the intro
keep everything nice and relaxed. If you tense
up you will find it really hard to play.
The
pinched harmonic can be hard to get right every
time and will take a lot of practise. The hardest
part is getting back to the low E string after
plaing it. Play this part over and over until
you can do it smoothly.
Second
Riff
This
is my favorite part of the song. Lightly palm
mute the whole section. Practise with a mate if
possible, to understand how the two harmony parts
go together.
Outro
This
is the same as the intro so you shouldn't have
any problems if you've come this far!
Well
that's it! I hope you have enjoyed this lesson.
I will post a backing track of this song if enough
people request it. Any comment or questions to
andywebber@hotmail.co.uk.
Andy
Webber.
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