Techniques Overview

A nice tutorial which shows a lot of different techniques for soloing (and not only).

Tools of the trade: Versione Karaoke

Versione Karaoke is an italian website which provides karaoke versions of songs; the most important and useful thing is that once you bought the (cheap) song you can customize it, picking only the tracks that you want:

So you can, for instance, mute the guitar parts and play along with the track. You can also change pitch and add a nice metronome sound. Neat, isn't it?

Guitar Heroes: Metallica

Kirk Hammet, James Hetfield and Robert Trujillo of Metallica. Here some from their softer side.

Fade to black

Nothing else Matters

Orion

One

Guitar Heroes: Rodrigo y Gabriela

This dynamic duo from Mexico brings acoustic guitar to new heights.

Diablo Rojo

Orion (Metallica Cover)

Educational channels

Great resources to learn :

• YourGuitarSage , YouTube channel   
• Massimo Varini , YouTube channel   (Italian) 
• CifraClub , YouTube channel  (Portuguese)
• Marty Schwarz , YouTube channel

You want to learn Ke$ha

Tools of the trade: Guitarist Reference

There are tons of pretty good tools for a guitarist of the modern era, out there. If you are looking for a quick reference (chords, scales, arpeggios) here you are Guitarist Reference. Available as a Chrome Plugin and a classic web site it can help finding what you need quickly. I'd rather have the guitar fretboard in horizontal view, but you can't have everything, right?

Guitar Heroes: Igor Presnyakov

Igor "Iggy" Presnyakov, another YouTube celebrity.
Nothing Else Matters (cover Metallica)
Sweet Child O' Mine (cover Guns 'n' Roses)
Pirates Of The Caribbean Theme

Guitar Heroes: Frank Gambale

Frank Gambale.

Guitar Heroes

My posts tagged Guitar Heroes are just a reminder of the guitarists I admire or listen to. So:

• they are not meant to be comprehensive (neither the list nor the single post)
• they are not necessarily the "best" guitar players
• they play very very different music styles and genres
• they are not about speed: there are fast ones and slow ones

The only trait they have in common is that I would like to learn something from anyone of them!

Guitar Heroes: Al Di Meola

Al Di Meola... well... what can I say... here in Aliens 3:
Here playing Libertango:

Guitar Heroes: Earl Slick

Earl Slick used to play lead guitar to David Bowie, and that's enough (for me, at least) to put him amongst the living legends. Listen to this beautiful version of Stay:

Or this cover to the Beatles' song One After 909:

Guitar Heroes: Andy McKee

Andy McKee took youtube by storm, and for good reasons. A cover of Africa (by Toto): And, while your mouth's still agape:

Guitar Heroes: Tommy Emmanuel

Tommy Emmanuel plays The Beatles:

Tommy Emmanuel plays Amazing Grace:

Tommy Emmanuel convinces 75% of guitar players in the world that they'd better give up:

Guitar Heroes: Jimi Hendrix

Does Jimi Hendrix really need an introduction? Here some of his classics:

Hey Joe

Purple Haze

Little Wing

All Along The Watchtower

Guitar Heroes: Stevie Ray Vaughan

Stevie Ray Vaughan's music succeeded to mix blues, rock and jazz with his unique style. Here's an example: My favourite songs of his is a cover, though:

Guitar Heroes: John Petrucci

If you've never heard of John Petrucci maybe you've heard of Dream Theater. John gives you a Glasgow Kiss (don't be flattered): John goes for Damage Control:

Guitar Heroes: Steve Vai

Among Joe Satriani's students Steve Vai is the one with the better understanding of how the show biz works. He worked with Zappa, he acted in movies, he wrote soundtracks, he even worked with Eros Ramazzotti (whose guitar skills are unfairly shadowed by his utter lack of talent in songwriting). Vai shredding: Vai chillin' out: and then some:

Guitar Heroes: Joe Satriani

A true master of modern guitar, Joe Satriani can do almost anything, from shredding so fast he too has trouble following his fingers:

to heart-melting ballads:

But I find it even more amazing that he was the one who taught people like Steve Vai and Kirk Hammet.

Guitar Heroes: Paul Gilbert

Paul Gilbert is freaking fast:

But he also knows his Haydn:

How not to love him?

Guitar Heroes: Michael Angelo Batio

Since I discovered Michael Angelo Batio's video for the song No Boundaries I could not stop watching it.

It's not just the speed, it's the ease with which he sweeps through the song apparently effortlessly. Not always his music strums the right chords (pun intended) in the listener's soul, but the technical prowess and the strenght of the character stand out brightly.

There's a lot more to say about Michael Angelo, but I'd rather let the music talk.

His instructional DVDs seem to work, too, since someone's been able to learn his song note by note. I bought the DVD... but I'm nowhere near that skill level, so I put it back in its box, for the time being.