Here you’ll find a buch of short videos with free downloadable guitar TAB.  Some are actual licks from actual songs, some are my own “in the style of” type things.  I hope you find something worthwhile here.  These are all recorded direct into Logic through the Atomic AmpliFIRE pedal (except in the case of acoustic guitars, which are mic’d).  Some of the iPhone vids are not the best quality, sorry ’bout that!

Gypsy Rhythm Lessons. 

#01 – Click here for blog post. TAB: AC01

#02 – Click here for blog post. TAB:  AC02

#03 Neo Riemannian Theory.  Voiceleading Triads – TAB: AC03 AC04

A couple of years ago I studied a bit of Neo Riemannian Theory (NRT) as part of my Master’s degree at the University of Surrey. It’s a really interesting way of looking at triadic harmony and, most importantly, voice leading.  I’m not going to explain it here, for two reasons:

  1.  It is not required knowledge in order to be able to enjoy/benefit from the warm-up.
  2. Other people can explain it better!

This whole thing is simply a way of me putting a particular theory into practise. In this case I have made a study that allows me to play EVERY major and minor triad exactly once before returning to the starting point – and it’s all voice lead. Only one note changes at a time, meaning that adjacent triads always have two notes in common. For example:

D maj (D, F#, A) moves to F# min (F#, A, C#) which moves to F# maj (F#, A#, C#) and so on…

If you know about NRT, the sequence of transformations is L, P, L, P, L, R (x4).  If that means nothing you, don’t worry because could think of it like this:

I, iii, III, bvi, bVI, i.  Then repeat another three times, each with your new “I” a minor 3rd higher than before.

Building on this concept here is a more musical application.

Hendrix, Jimi. Watchtower lick  – TAB: watchtower-style-lick

This uses the Cm blues scale (C, Eb, F, Gb, G, Bb, C).  It’s a reasonably fast lick that is originaly (from what I can hear) all picked, but there’s no reason why you can’t add pull-offs if you want to.

Knopfler, Mark. Why Aye, Man Lick – TAB: why-aye-man-lick

Uses D minor pentatonic (D, F, G, A, C, D).  I’ve tried to replicate the sound of the original recording with a warm overdrive setting on the Atomic AmpliFIRE, but the most important thing is to get rid of the plectrum and use your fingers!

Schmitt, Tchavolo. Gypsy Jazz Lick  – TAB: tchavolo-lick

Based on a D7 arpeggio (D, F#, A, C) but also features a b9 (Eb) and starts with a C# approach tone.  A Similar lick can be found in one of Schmitt’s live recordings of Sweet Georgia Brown.  You may or may not wish to adhere to the Gypsy picking rules (on the TAB).  It certainly helps get the right sound, but it also flies in the face of modern electric guitar picking technique.

Sheeran, Ed. What Do I Know? / Love Yourself – Click here for blog post.

Two riffs using the E major scale played in 10ths.

Walker, T-Bone. Blues Lick – TAB: t-bone-walker-style-lick

Based on Gm pentatonic (G, Bb, C, D, F) with the addition of an E (major 6th) and an A (9th).  For those that are interested, this is actually the G dorian scale (G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F).  The added 9th (5th fret on high E in this case) is a favourite of T-Bone’s and a great way to add an extra bit of colour to the pentatonic.  You can hear similar licks on T-Bone Shuffle and many other recordings.  It’s a triplet based lick, but the last four notes are played like straight 16th notes to replicate the liberal approach to rhythm he often has.

Young, Angus. You Shook Me Lick – TAB: angus-young-lick

Classic rock lick in G up at the dusty end of the neck!  Could look at it as being G mixolydian based (G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G) but with the typical Bb clash.  Let’s not over think it, just play it!  I really like the sound on this, it’s the ACDC patch from Singtall which is available through the AmpliFIRE website.  Even with the wrong guitar is sounds pretty close!