GUITAR TECHNIQUES MARCH 2012 £5.50

201 MARCH 2012 UK £5.50/US $15.99

85 MINUTES OF MUSIC, VIDEO & JAMTRACKS ON YOUR CD!

His wonderful piece Gran Vals fully transcribed for solo guitar

FRANCISCOTARREGA

CLASSICAL

ALL YOUR REGULAR ELECTRIC FEATURES!

40 UNPLUGGED PAGES OF...

GUITAR TECHNIQUES MARCH 2012 £5.50

ELECTRIC FEATURES!ELECTRIC FEATURES!

Play a very scary Chopin Etude!

SHRED

Philip Sayce videoDavid Gilmour study

Albert King & Allmans

BLUES

ROCKLearn the licks of

Aerosmith, Steely Dan and more!

40 UNPLUGGED PAGES OF...ACOUSTIC! ACOUSTIC! ACOUSTIC! Go

Modern tapping techniques Acoustic blues slide styles Flamenco, classical & more

Grab that 6-string and have some fun!Grab that 6-string and have some fun!Solo over major chordsPlay new pentatonics

Master jazz endings

HOW TO

WORLD’S BEST TAB GUARANTEED!

GTC201.cover.indd 1 1/11/12 2:02:55 PM

March 2012 GuitarTechniques 3

I MARVEL AT some of the playing I see these days. And for once I’m not

presuming that we all think ‘electric’ when mentioning superb guitar technique. If you’re reading this I presume you’ve already bought the mag, having been teased by the words ‘Go Acoustic’ on the cover. Although we include acoustic music in every issue (have you tried Bridget’s classical pieces on steel string? If not you should!), sometimes we like to get a little more ‘woody’ about things and devote more of the mag to things unplugged.

We’ve had many requests over the years to do something on that most colourful of styles: Flamenco! And while in the past it’s not been something I felt was mainstream enough to cover, this time it felt right and so on page 46 you’ll fi nd a lovely Flamenco primer that Bridget has created specially for you. She describes all the techniques regularly used and there are some brilliantly musical examples to get your fi ngers working. If we get enough response I may well look at extending Flamenco coverage in the future.

Our regular acoustic guru Stuart Ryan has excelled himself too. You may have seen some of his excellent Play Guitar Now! mag/DVD packages, so we thought we’d take advantage of his presenting skills to bring you a stunning Acoustic Tapping video lesson. What better way to demonstrate such a physical style? If you don’t think it’s ‘your thing’ check it out anyway - you might fi nd yourself a convert to this intriguing form.

And that brings me to The Boxer. What a ground breaking track this was when Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel released it as a single and on the Bridge Over Troubled Water album. It’s surprisingly full of guitar, both from Simon himself and also session player Fred Carter Jnr, who played Telecaster, Martin 000-18, Dobro and 12-string on the track. Tristan Seume has done a superb job of creating what was, at the time, the longest ever recording session for a single track, at 100 hours! Bridget’s regular Classical column is still here - Tarrega’s Gran Vals, which some may recognise from a certain manufacturer’s cell phone ring tone.

Lastly, we haven’t forgotten our electric followers. All your regulars remain, including Paul’s scary Shred, Shaun’s Creative Rock, Pete’s Jazz, Martin’s Rock and John’s Blues - enough to keep anyone happy for a month!

Enjoy, and I’ll see you next time...

Welcome

WE WILL: Bring you the world’s fi nest guitar tuition every month, from the most inspirational of tutors. Our transcriptions will be as accurate as humanly possible, our lessons will improve your skills and our cover CD will provide you with hours of playing fun. We will make you a better player!

The GT Promise...

100HOURSOF TUITIONFOR £5.25!

Some of your regular GT technique experts...

PETE CALLARDPete’s many credits include Lionel Richie, Annie Lennox, Chaka Khan andShirley Bassey. He works regularly in the studio, on TV and in the West End.

MARTIN COOPERA tutor at BIMM Brighton, Martin’s Rock columns are written with style and commitment. His 2006 album State Of The Union is available on iTunes.

JOHN WHEATCROFT Head Of Guitar at Tech Music School, John is a master all guitar styles. He also fronts the Django-inspired modern jazz acoustic project, Ensemble Futur.

STUART RYANStuart is Head Of Guitar at BIMM Bristol, teaches at Bath Spa University and is a top solo acoustic guitar virtuoso. His debut CD, The Coast Road, is out now.

SHAUN BAXTEROne of the UK’s most respected music educators, Shaun has taught many who are now top tutors. His album Jazz Metal was hailed as a milestone.

BRIDGET MERMIKIDESGuildhall and Royal Academy trained, Bridget is a Royal College of Music, examiner, a respected classical player and award winning blues guitarist.

PHIL HILBORNEThe UK’s original techniques writer, Phil regularly plays guitar in We Will Rock You in London’s West End. He also helped to launch GT back in 1994.

SCOTT McGILLUS-born Scott runs the BA Hons course at BIMM Brighton. His book The Guitar Arpeggio Compendium and CD Return Of FreakZoid are out now.

DAVID MEADEx-editor of Guitar Techniques, Davidis the UK’s top writer of guitar tuition books. He’s also currently working on the follow-up to his album Nocturnal.

MANUEL AHLQVISTManuel is a super Swedish guitarist and tutor who takes over The Guitar Institute’s column for fi ve months, with a great new series on pentatonics.

PAUL BIELATOWICZOne of our greatest rock guitarists, Paul plays with prog legends Carl Palmer and Neal Morse, and is a most welcome regular contributor to GT.

JON BISHOPACM’s Jon is a great player and tutor, regularly writing for GT and recently presenting a Play Guitar Now DVD for us. He also rocks with Shakin’ Stevens!

TRISTAN SEUMEGuitarist’s acoustic columnist joins us again as he transcribes The Boxer, one of Simon & Garfunkel’s greatest ever tunes and a genuine modern classic!

ISSUE 201 MARCH 2012

GTC201.welcome.indd 3 1/11/12 2:41:09 PM

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LEARNING ZONE

VIDEO MASTERCLASS

LESSONS INTRODUCTION 57Captain Sidwell steers the good ship GT away from Troubled Waters and towards altogether calmer seas. Licks ahoy!

30MINUTE LICKBAG 58Six more great licks in easy, intermediate and advanced levels from Scott McGill - including Albert King’s blues phrasing, cool Steely Dan chords, Lenny Breau’s jazzy style and fi nally some violin shred.

BLUES 60John Wheatcroft shows that Pink Floyd guitar legend David Gilmour’s playing wasn’t just Another Brick In The Wall.

ROCK 64Martin Cooper examines the acoustic side of one of the most successful and infl uential American rock band’s ever: The Eagles.

CREATIVE ROCK 72Are you tired of those boring old triads? Shaun Baxter shows how to convert them into cool sounding ‘sus chords’ by substituting their 3rds for 4ths.

PERFECT PENTATONICS 76The Guitar Institute’s Manuel Ahlqvist talks about interesting and unique ways of playing the not-so-humble major pentatonic scale.

JAZZ 80Pete Callard continues his exploration of solo jazz guitar with a look at how players like Joe Pass, Barney Kessel and Martyn Taylor have approached song endings.

WELCOME 3An introduction to this month’s issue.

INTRO 8The latest news, One-Minute Lick, Hot For Teacher, 60 Seconds With, What Strings?... and lots more!

SUBSCRIPTIONS 55Save hassle, time and money and get your monthly GT fi x the easy way!

THEORY GODMOTHER 90Our resident guru David Mead answers your playing posers and technical teasers.

ALBUMS 94This month’s top CD and DVD releases, all reviewed and rated for you.

NEXT MONTH 97Your Ultimate Rhythm Lesson, plus Kansas’ Carry On My Wayward Son and a lot more!

March 2012 GuitarTechniques 5

ERIC SARDINAS PART 1 68Eric demonstrates his extraordinary style of hot resonator blues slide. Be prepared to rock!

FEATURES

• C O N T E N T S • M A RC H 2 01 2 •

TRANSCRIPTION #1SIMON AND GARFUNKELThe Boxer 14Tristan Seume kicks off our special acoustic issue with a transcription of one of Paul S and Artie G’s most popular songs.

TRANSCRIPTION #2TARREGAGran Vals 24You too can sound like a Nokia mobile phone with this superb classical transcription by Bridget Mermikides!

MODERN ACOUSTIC TAPPINGA video primer 36Wanna tap like Michael Hedges or Eric Roche? Stuart Ryan explains all!

ACOUSTIC SPECIAL #1

FLAMENCOAn introduction 44Bridget Mermikides shows you how to play in one of the most respected acoustic styles.

ACOUSTIC SPECIAL #2

CHOPINEtude 2, Op. 10 30Paul Bielatowicz shreds his way through an exceptional piece by Frederic Chopin.

TRANSCRIPTION #3

ROSE

CH

RIST

IAN

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ALL

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RETN

A

REGULAR FEATURES

LISTEN,LEARN

AND PLAY!All song and lesson tracks can be heard

on the CD!

ERIC SARDINAS PART 1Eric demonstrates his extraordinary style of hot resonator blues slide. Be prepared to rock!

NOW GET GT ON iPAD!Check out Apple’s Newsstand for the

GT page-turner app!

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that create tone, it’s clear that they can affect it too. It’s always worth experimenting with strings, gauges etc, before resorting to more expensive alternatives like pickups. Nickel sounds different to stainless steel, and the various styles of core

– hex, round etc – make a difference too. It’s why top players tend to find a string they like and stick with it – at least that way they can rule them out of the equation and look for other potential answers should a new guitar not sound up to par.

THE STRING’S THE THING Today the new issue arrived, with you writing about your ’50s Strat, asking for revelations to share, and I took this as some kind of divine cue. I too bought a ’50s Strat recently. Spotted it when on holiday: two-tone sunburst, beautiful amber glow, maple boat-neck and all, in a dingy Sam Ash’s outside Orlando, Florida. Immediately I felt connected. The price was a steal, too, compared to what I would pay in Germany.

It played wonderfully; however, as good as it felt, it sounded ‘dry’ without amp and just as disappointing when plugged in. My only working amp is a Victoria Tweed Deluxe. Tone-wise I am very pleased with it when paired with my ’52-type Tele clone. But with the Strat, there just was no spark. Was it the alder body? Was it the Strat concept? I really love my Tele tone - maybe I am not a Strat-boy? Was it the pickups?

I went to my trusted guitar doc, tried a number of different Strats, pickups etc. Although some sounded signifi cantly better, I couldn’t get THE tone. The guys assured me mine was a fi ne guitar, nothing wrong at all.

Back home, at a loss for anything better, I changed strings. I put on my regular 11-gauge round-core nickels. To my total surprise, all of a sudden the thing breathed! Miracle! I am still not completely where I want to be, but it really went from lifeless to jumping.

Could it really be the strings? Can it make such a difference? I am curious to hear your opinion. Bernhard Noll, Germany

There are so many variables – woods, their density and weight, type of finish, pickups, bridge, nut material and so on; any of them can make a sonic difference. And when you consider that strings are the very things that start the chain of events

STAR LETTER

March 2012 GuitarTechniques 7

STAR LETTER PRIZEOur friends at Sound Technology are donating a fab DigiTech HardWire pedal to our Star Letter writer every month.

– hex, round etc – make a difference

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HAVE GUITAR MAGAZINES KILLED THE GUITAR HERO? My question is: is it possible to develop your own style in this day and age; or have mags like yours led us down the path of ‘all styles’?

Back in the ’70s and ’80s it was the Holy Grail for a guitarist to develop his own sound and style. This was considered far more important even than developing technical ability. But with the advent of schools such as GIT et al, and the proliferation of magazines like your own, it seems that by the late ’80s the emphasis had moved much more toward technical profi ciency. This produced an entire generation of players who can play just about anything, by anybody, in any style, yet cannot be told apart. When I hear someone like Guthrie, yes I’m staggered by the virtuosity, talent, dedication musicality etc, but I don’t hear ‘Guthrie’, I hear Steve Vai, followed by Jeff Beck, followed by Chet Atkins, followed by Eric Johnson etc. This leaves me asking, why is it in a world where we have this calibre of guitarist, we haven’t had a ‘guitar hero of the people’ (someone who reaches the masses, whose playing you can identify within a bar), since Slash?

I think it’s a combination of every base having been covered and done to death (see You Tube!), so there simply is no room left for individuality and innovation; and the fact that a guitarist starting out today fi nds it hard not to be intimidated into knowing it all by the sheer weight of instruction and the calibre of virtuoso out there. This means he loses touch with what really makes a great guitarist/musician - someone who plays great guitar within the context of a great tune, and has a great sound! Maybe Joe Bonamassa is proving that it is still just about possible to produce a player with whom you can instantly identify.

You guys are, I know, caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. You are an instruction magazine, and the clue is in the name Guitar Techniques. I know you try to

cover all bases, but you can’t escape the fact that all your instructors are ridiculous virtuosi who are, consciously or unconsciously, trying to channel us down that path. I’m not sure you can solve this. I know you do articles on songwriting craft, developing melody, sound etc, but the majority of your mag is about developing great technique.

So are you killing individuality, demanding of us that we know and play it all? Or are you giving us the tools with which to express our own individuality? I know you would prefer to think

the latter, but maybe you should ponder the former.Damian Pieroni

What you say regarding Guthrie and players like him, is no different to what you could have said about Gary Moore, Clapton, Hendrix, Stevie Ray or BB King. All have worn their influences blatantly on their sleeves for all to see, and I don’t see that changing as the generations go on. I do agree that with so much tuition around the basic level has increased tenfold, if not more, but even taking that as read, genuine talent will always shine through. Regarding GT’s role in all this, we simply offer as much good teaching as we can, and

whether people decide to cherry pick from that or to trawl through every feature in every issue, is down to their aspirations – and stamina! I think players themselves are what create individuality and I’m not sure magazines can stifle it - if it’s there in the first place. Where I think the proliferation of tab mags and websites, tuition videos and DVDs may have impacted, is in giving people an excuse not to use their ears; it’s all on the page and they don’t need to do like I did – and like I know for a fact Guthrie did – which is to listen, copy and learn (and I can honestly recognise Mr Govan after just a few notes despite his influences). On balance though I’d say we are a force for good.

Don’t forget how the humble string can affect your guitar’s tone...

GTC201.letters.indd 7 12/19/11 3:51:25 PM

Wilko Johnson’s back in town!

• G U I T A R T E C H N IQU E S • M A RC H 2 01 2 •

Dunlop releases Bonamassa Cry BabyWHETHER IT’S with his bluesy solo career or with the rocking Black Country Communion, Joe Bonamassa’s playing is fi ery, deep, and powerful. And when he really wants to express himself in a solo, he steps on a Cry Baby wah. That’s why the folks at Dunlop worked with Joe to develop the Joe Bonamassa Signature Cry Baby, specially engineered to fi t in

perfectly with Bonamassa’s system, from the way it looks to the way it sounds.

On the outside, the pedal sports a classy copper top with a smooth-fi nish black body. On the inside, it features large, vintage

style thru-hole components, a Halo inductor (for added harmonic content), an output buffer (to prevent impedance imbalance with vintage fuzz pedals), and a switch for true-bypass or non-true-bypass operation. With its huge vocal sweep range, this is one of the most expressive Cry Babys ever and it’s Bonamassa’s tool of choice to accentuate every soulful bend and bluesy wail.

“The fi rst pedal I ever purchased was a Cry Baby, 25 years ago,” he says. “I am so honoured to have my name on this pedal and hope it brings you as much fun as it brings me every night on stage.” Visit www.jbonamassa.com for further details about Joe’s projects.

Bonus Blues JamtracksEach month we provide four fi ve-minute bonus jamtracks. If you don’t see the MP3s follow these instructions. Pop the CD into a computer and use your fi le-browser - My Computer or Windows Explorer on PC; Finder on Mac - to view disc contents. (Some Macs might take a little bit longer for the disc to load.) You will see a folder called ‘Bonus_MP3s’ where you will fi nd the jamtracks.

1BLUESY REGGAE AMReggae blues? Well not exactly, but

lots of reggae guitarists have adopted blues licks to add fl avour to their songs – think of Waiting In Vain and No Woman No Cry by the great Bob Marley! You can go A minor pentatonic here – A C D E G – but A natural minor gives you some sweet extra notes (B and F) to play with. F, being the b3rd of the second chord (Dm) in our sequence is an obvious one to target, while the tenser sounding B (6th of Dm) lends a sophisticated fl avour.

2CHICAGO SLOWY DYou can’t go wrong with D

Mixolydian over this one (D E F# G A B C), to evoke the dominant sound of a slow major blues, with all those 7th fl avoured chords. If you want to sound more earthy, go simple and minor pentatonic for the clash of the minor 3rd (F) against the underlying I chord’s major 3rd (F#). Add in the b5 (G#) for extra moodiness!

3JUMP STYLE CYou can get great results with the

next two tracks – both evoking pre-war blues styles – on an acoustic. You can use all your existing bluesy scales over them, but one thing sticks out immediately as a stylistic bonus – the semitone bend. Heavy strings, and a wound third especially, inhibited bigger bends back in the day, so try a semitone bend to any of your chosen scales’ upper notes until you fi nd what works best.

4SWING STYLE EAs above, but if you want some

great semitone bend ideas try these: bend up to the 5th from the b5 on the second string – it’s gorgeous, especially when let down and the 4th played directly after it (on the third string)! Now try the same move on the same fret but directly below on the third string. Other great semitone bends include the 9th to the b3rd (fi rst string, two frets up from your tonic note); and the b9 (fi rst string, one fret up from the tonic), but let this one down to the tonic itself.

Each month we provide four fi ve-minute bonus jamtracks. If

perfectly with Bonamassa’s system, from the way it looks to the way it sounds.

pedal sports a classy copper top with a smooth-fi nish black body. On the inside, it

Wilko: Feelgood guitar legend

8 GuitarTechniques March 2012

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Bonamassa and his Cry Baby

Details of the gigs: Thursday 5th April - Buxton Pavilion Arts Centre; Friday 6th April - Sale Waterside Arts Centre; Saturday 7th April - Clitheroe Grand; Thursday 12th April - Newbury Arlington Arts Centre; Friday 13th April - Tavistock Wharf; Saturday 14th April - Penzance Acorn Arts Centre; Sunday 15th April - Bristol Tunnels; Thursday 19th April - Huddersfi eld Lawrence Batley Theatre; Friday 20th April - Stockton ARC; Saturday 21st April - Lincoln Drill Hall; Sunday 22nd April - Bury St Edmunds Apex; Thursday 26th April - Leeds Wardrobe; Friday 27th April - Dunfermline

Carnegie Theatre; Saturday 28rd April - Stafford Gatehouse Theatre; Sunday 29th April - Bridport Electric Palace. Tickets for the Wilko Johnson 2012 tour are on sale via the 24-hour box offi ce phone line on 0844 478 0898, or can also be booked online via www.thegigcartel.com. Visit www.wilkojohnson.org for updates.

Look out for a forthcoming Wilko autobiography and a signature Fender Telecaster based on the Feelgood guitarist’s customised 1962 model. In April, EMI will also release a boxed set of three CDs and a DVD. The CDs will include a mix of the fi rst four Dr Feelgood albums, and previously unreleased material.

FOLLOWING HIS recent TV appearance on BBC 2 Television’s Later With Jools Holland, Wilko Johnson, the legendary former guitarist of Dr Feelgood, who’s manic playing has infl uenced the likes of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones and Steve Albini, has announced an extensive April 2012 15-date UK tour.

Dr Feelgood’s distinctive British R&B sound was centered on Wilko Johnson’s choppy guitar style. The original band line-up also included singer Lee Brilleaux, and the rhythm section of John B Sparks (‘Sparko’) on bass and John Martin (‘The Big Figure’) on drums.

Dr Feelgood was known primarily for their high energy live performances, although studio albums like Down By The Jetty (1974) and Malpractice (1975) were also very popular. Their 1976 breakthrough live album, Stupidity, reached Number 1 in the offi cial UK album chart. After the band released their fourth album, Sneakin’ Suspicion (1977), Johnson departed to pursue a solo career.

GTC201.intro.indd 8 1/10/12 4:12:58 PM

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GUITAR TECHNIQUES MAGAZINE 2 0 1 ONE MINUTE LICK - by Phil Hilborne

MELODIC ARPEGGIO LICK

One of the problems that I encounter when teaching is where the student has a good vocabulary of musical elements such as scales, chords and arpeggios, knows string bending, vibrato, legato and so on yet still has trouble playing musically. Often this situation is because these tools are practised in isolation. To make interesting music you have to work hard at combining ideas and techniques. This month we have

three inversions of an A minor arpeggio (A C E) and to make them sound more musical I have added a string bend and a target note to the end of each one. The target note on the fi rst arpeggio is a 9th (B), on the second it is a b7 (G) and on the fi nal one it’s the root (A). This type of idea works well with any chord form, and with any style of music. How many more ideas like this can you come up with?

GT: Who was your very fi rst infl uence to start playing the guitar?MT: Django Reinhardt. My dad used to play Hot Club records all the time, so I was listening to Django’s music from the day I was born.GT: What was the fi rst guitar you really lusted after and did you ever get to own one?MT: As a kid I used to watch the Val Doonican Show on TV. Val played a beautiful 1958 Cliff ord Essex archtop. Many years later, Val gave me the guitar as a present - it hangs on the wall next to my bed. GT: What was the best gig you ever did?MT: I played a solo set at the Carnegie Hall in New York for the Stephane Grappelli Memorial Concert. It felt great sitting centre stage all on my own in that iconic venue; the place was packed and the audience was so warm and appreciative - I loved every second of it.GT: And your worst playing nightmare?MT: I once played a week at a jazz club in Paris with a guitarist who was overly fond of the booze. It was the longest week of my life.GT: What’s the most important musical lesson you ever learnt?MT: That 50% of playing music is listeningGT: Do you still practise?MT: Yes and no. I learned to internalise music from a very early age, so I practise all the time in my head, but rarely pick up the guitar other than on the gig.GT: Do you have a pre-gig warm-up routine?MT: I tune the guitar 15 minutes before I go on, then tune it again 15 seconds before I go on.

A minute is all it takes to fi nd out what makes a great guitarist tick. This month the amazing jazz soloist Martin Taylor

GT: If you could put together a fantasy band with you in it, who would the other players be (they can be dead or alive) and what are the chances of that ‘dream band’ coming together? MT: It would be a jazz trio, with John Patitucci (bass) and Billy Cobham (drums). They’re both good friends of mine, so we’re playing some shows together in California next year, which proves that fantasies can come true!

GT: Who’s the greatest guitarist that’s ever lived?MT: A very diffi cult one to answer, but I’d have to say Django Reinhardt. Despite all the fads and fashions his playing still sounds fresh today.GT: Is there a solo by another guitarist that you really wish you had played?MT: Amos Garrett’s guitar solo on Maria Muldaur’s hit single Midnight At The Oasis is work of pure genius.GT: What’s the solo/song of your own of which you’re most proud?MT: I wrote a song called True, which has become very popular in Asia. Every guitarist in Korea seems to play it, and currently a very famous Japanese actress and singer has recorded it, with Japanese lyrics. I’m praying for a hit!GT: What are you up to at the moment?MT: I’m back working in the US from January 2012 and will be recording the Spirit Of Django Orchestral Suite that I co-wrote with Guy Barker, with a full symphony orchestra and big band. I’ve designed two archtop guitar models for Peerless Guitars (Martin Taylor Maestro and Martin Taylor Virtuoso), which will be in all good guitar stores soon, and I’m also keeping very busy with my online interactive guitar school, the Martin Taylor Guitar Academy www.martintaylorguitar.com or check out www.martintaylor.com for updates, tour dates and CDs. GT: And fi nally... what would you most like to be remembered for?MT: I’d like to be remembered for my contribution to solo guitar playing and for some of the tunes that I’ve written.

GT: If you could put together a fantasy band with

Martin Taylor and his trusty Vanden guitar

March 2012 GuitarTechniques 9

GTC201.intro.indd 9 1/10/12 4:13:00 PM

WHAT STRINGS DO YOU USE? JON AMOR

Dave Doherty (rhythm guitarist in JABG) has a white curly one, which I secretly covet.GT: Is there anyone’s playing that you’re slightly jealous of?

JA: Not jealous any more, no. There are countless players whom I admire, but there’s really no point in being jealous of someone else’s fi ngers.

GT: If your house/studio was burning down, which guitar would you salvage?JA: It would have to be my ’92 US Strat Plus, because my Dad traded in his clarinet to help me pay for it.GT: What’s your favourite amp and how do you set it?JA: My battered and abused ’93 Fender Vibroverb re-issue. It’s survived two car crashes and keeps on going. I have to set the bass real low or it starts grumbling and farting, treble at about 7, a touch of reverb... and it only really sings if I crank it up to ten.GT: What kind of action do you have on your guitars?JA: On my Strat I like the action quite high, for the big bends. For most of the JABG set I’m using an Epiphone Dot with a Bigsby trem – my fi rst semi-hollow guitar. I’m preferring a lower, snappier action on that. GT: What strings do you use? JA: Again, it’s different for each guitar. On my Strat I use Ernie Ball Power Slinkys, but I tune down half a step so I prefer to replace the bottom E with a big fat one so it goes: 11, 15, 18, 28, 38, 56. On the Dot I prefer that snappier, percussive sound so I use a straight set of 10s, but again I throw on a fat bottom E.GT: What are you up to at the moment?JA: I’ve been touring the new album (Jon Amor Blues Group), mostly in the Netherlands and Belgium, but we have a UK tour coming up in the Spring.

We ask a famous guitarist all those little questions you really do want the answers to… This month: UK blues guitarist extraordinaire, Jon Amor

GT: Do you have a type of pick that you can’t live without?JA: I’m really not fussy, but I avoid fl oppy thin ones at all costs – it’s like trying to play snooker with a bit of rope. We just had some Jon Amor Blues Group ones made so I’m favouring those at the moment – you can pass them on like business cards when shaking the hands of important people.GT: If you had to give up all your pedals but three, what would they be?JA: I’ve only got three pedals anyway! Tube Screamer, Buddah Wah (which I hardly use any more) and Boss tuner. I guess if I could only have one of those it’d have to be the tuner!GT: Do you play another instrument well enough to be in a band? JA: I always enjoy playing bass and I’ve done that live a couple of times... does bass guitar count? I’m guessing not... um... maracas?GT: If a music chart were put in front of you, could you read it?JA: Nope – wouldn’t have a clue. I can read no form of written music. Young guitar players often ask me if I can supply them with tabs for my riffs and I have to tell them I really don’t know what they’re talking about. GT: Do guitar cables really make a diff erence to you? What make are yours?JA: They probably do, but I can’t hear it. I always go for ones that are interesting colours or look like they won’t get tangled up too easily.

10 GuitarTechniques March 2012

BIMM (www.bimm.co.uk), one of the UK’s most popular music colleges, is to launch a new music business degree course – the BA (Hons) in Commercial Music Management, subject to validation by Bath Spa University for September 2012 entry. The degree course, which will run from BIMM’s Bristol campus, aims to provide a 360-degree overview and detailed understanding of all aspects of the international music industry. Covering the varied career paths available in the music business today, students will learn through a mix of classroom theory

Get a music business degree

Jon Amor with his favourite ‘92 Strat Plus

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and practical, hands-on experience. BIMM’s new Commercial Music Management degree will be delivered by tutors who have and continue to work at the highest levels of today’s industry - ensuring the qualifi cation is unique, relevant and cutting edge.

For British Rock enthusiastsMo Foster is a celebrated plucker of the four-string, and in his new book British Rock Guitar (Northumbria Press, £24.99), essentially an

expanded and renamed edition of his acclaimed earlier book, 17 Watts, he has gathered together anecdotes from everyone on everything to do with the development of British rock. The stories are hilarious and insightful, especially when it comes to the stars reminiscing about their fi rst guitars, and combined with Mo’s own recollections of session playing and observations about life on stage and in the studio, it adds up to an entertaining history that readers of a certain vintage will race through. Visit www.mofoster.com for further information.

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