As guitarists, many of us are fans of the late, great Jimi Hendrix, who has influenced players in all genres of music, including jazz.

While Hendrix left a legacy as one of the greatest rock improvisers of all time, he also left his stamp on the harmonic side of the instrument, including a chord that bears his name.

Taken from the song “Purple Haze,” and spelling out an E7#9 voicing, this chord has become synonymous with Hendrix’s playing and is even referred to simply as the “Hendrix Chord” by many players.

In this lesson, we’ll be taking a look at how you can take the Hendrix Chord and apply it to your jazz guitar comping phrases, slightly altering this classic shape to give it a jazzy feel along the way.

Jazzy Jimmy Hendrix Chords

Here are four chord shapes to check out on your guitar, the first being the classic “Hendrix Chord,” E7#9, with the next three being jazzy variations of this important voicing. The first jazzy shape simply takes off the root, creating the commonly used “rootless” voicing for this chord.

The second shape keeps the root off and adds the 5th on the first string to produce a four-note rootless chord. Finally, the third shape uses the b13 note on top of the chord, producing an E7#9b13 rootless chord based on the original Hendrix Chord shape.

Try working these shapes out on the guitar first, to get your fingers around them, and then move on to the comping examples below where these shapes are applied to practical, musical situations.

Jazzy Hendrix Chord Example 1

To help you take these shapes off the page and onto the fretboard, here are three examples of minor ii-V-I progressions with the Hendrix chord used to outline the V7alt chord in each progression. The first example uses a common chord riff that works between the rootless 7#9 and 7b9 chords based off of the original Hendrix chord shape.

As well, there is an AmMaj7 shape, G#-C-E, used over Am7, another common jazz choice in this type of progression.

Jazzy Hendrix Chord Example 2

The next example brings the four-note shape to the same progression, with the 5th on top of the chord, using a common jazz rhythm pattern to solidify the changes.

Jazzy Hendrix Chord Example 3

Lastly, here is a cool sounding comping pattern that mixes both the four-note 7#9b13 and 7#9 shapes together, which provides movement to the line as you move from the V7alt to the Im7 chord in this minor ii-V-I progression.

Once you've worked out these three comping examples, try to come up with three or more examples of your own using the Hendrix chord and its variations as the basis for your V7alt chords.

From there, try comping over your favorite jazz tune and use the Hendrix chord and its variations every time you see a V7 chord in the changes, allowing you to bring these chord shapes to a jam situation in your studies.

What do you think of these jazzy Hendrix chords? Share your thoughts in the COMMENTS section below.

Matt Warnock is the owner of mattwarnockguitar.com, a free website that provides hundreds of lessons and resources designed to help guitarists of all experience levels meet their practice and performance goals. Matt lives in the U.K., where he teaches Skype guitar students all over the world, and is an examiner for the London College of Music (Registry of Guitar Tutors).

Superimposing common arpeggios can add a new and exciting sound to your solos, helping you to utilize patterns and shapes you already know.

When we "superimpose," we take one sound and layer it on top of another. In other words, when playing over a particular chord, you "think" a different chord in your improvisation. All it takes is modifying your approach over the chord you're playing over.

One of my favorite superimposed sounds is made by playing major 7th arpeggios over a minor 7th chord. But you need to play the major 7th sound starting on the minor 3rd of that minor 7th chord.

Let's look at how to use this idea over an Am7 chord. The notes that make up the Am7 are: A (root), C (b3), E (5th), G (b7). If we play a C major 7th arpeggio over Am7, we are superimposing the sound of one chord over another! And a C major 7th arpeggio over Am7 works nicely.

The notes that make up a Cmaj7 arpeggio are C (root),E (3),G (5),B (7). But these notes, measured against the Am7 chord we are playing over, become: C (b3), E (5), G (b7), B (9). And it's the B note, which is the 9th of Am7, that adds the color to the line. Another way to think of this is as a Am9th arpeggio.

Check out the lesson video below to hear the sound of superimposed arpeggios. The example in the lesson utilizes a challenging Cmaj7 sweep arpeggio over an Am7 chord. The tabs for this lesson are available at carlroa.com.

This entry comes from Dimebag Darrell's classic Guitar World column, "Riffer Madness."

This month we're gonna talk about harmonics—how to get 'em, where you can find 'em and what you can do with 'em. There are a number of different ways you can make harmonics happen.

You can induce 'em with your pick (pinch harmonics), you can tap 'em like Eddie Van Halen does sometimes (tap or touch harmonics) or you can get 'em by lightly resting one of your left-hand fingers on a string and then picking it.

The last type are called natural harmonics, and they're the suckers we're gonna be dicking with.

How

The easiest place to get a natural harmonic on any string is at the 12th fret. All you do is lightly rest one of your left-hand fingers on a string directly above that fret and then pick it.

Don't let the string touch the fret, though, or it won't work, dad! When you do this right you'll hear a bell-like note that's exactly one octave higher than the open-string note. To help make harmonics easier to get, use your lead (bridge) pickup and a lot of gain.

When I first started experimenting with harmonics, I'd sometimes hook up two distortion boxes just to get my strings "frying," which helped bring out the harmonics. Also, once you've chimed the harmonic, it's not necessary to leave your finger on the string—in fact, if you let go of the string immediately after you pick it the harmonic will ring twice as well.

Where

You can also get harmonics happening above other frets like the 7th, 5th and 4th. Some dudes seem to think that these are the only points where harmonics happen but, as far as I'm concerned, there is literally a harmonic to be found at any place on any string. Check this out and you'll hear what I'm saying: rest your left-hand bird (middle) finger lightly over the highest fret of your fat E string.

Then start chugging out a groove on that string with your pick. While you're doing that, keep your left-hand finger resting lightly on the string and start moving it slowly toward the nut. You should hear a shit-load of different harmonics all over the string!

Some of my favorite harmonics are located between frets. There are two really cool ones between the 2nd and 3rd frets that I use a lot. One is at about a quarter of the way between the 2nd and 3rd frets and the other is at about three quarters of the way. They're pretty hard to get, so once you find 'em make a mental note of exactly where they are.

I use some pretty radical harmonics at the beginning of "Heresy" [Cowboys From Hell.] FIGURE 1 shows a riff similar to the one I'm talking about and, as you can see, it uses harmonics on the low E string.

The best way to make sure you're playing this right is to listen to the record real carefully and then find the exact spots where all the harmonics are. Use your ears and your eyes, man--look and listen!

To Bar or Not To Bar

A lot of guitarists tend to only use harmonics when they want to make weird noises with their whammy bars. That's cool but, as FIGURE 1 shows, you don't need a tremolo arm to make harmonics wail. Two of my favorite players, Edward Van Halen and Randy Rhoads, did some real happening things with harmonics without reaching for their bars! FIGURE 2 is similar to the verse riff of "Mouth For War" [Vulgar Display of Power].

In bar 4 I play a simple little fill using harmonics a quarter of the way between the 2nd and 3rd frets on the G and B strings to create a high-pitched percussive sound that gives the riff an extra dimension. And, once again, no whammy shit is going on.

Harmonics are cool to screw around with, so don't be afraid to experiment with 'em. As long as you remember to look and listen you'll do just fine. Next month I'll tell ya all about how I get my trademark harmonic screams, like the ones at the end of "Cemetery Gates" [Cowboys From Hell.]

Until then...try, fail, live, learn--and die happy trying!

Guitar Workshop Plus has announced its 2015 program with yet another incredible artist lineup.

This top-ranked summer music program continues to provide the ultimate experience in music education and has scholarships available.

Guitar Workshop Plus has announced four sessions including the new location in Southern California for its 2015 summer schedule. Confirmed session dates are as follows:

San Diego Session: June 21-26, 2015
Toronto (Session 1): July 19-24, 2015
Toronto (Session 2): July 26-31, 2015
Vancouver Session: August 11-16, 2015

2015 guest artists include: Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big, Racer X, solo), amazing guitarist and respected clinician Andy Timmons (Danger Danger, sessions, solo), bass legends Stuart Hamm (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, solo) and Rhonda Smith (Jeff Beck, Prince, solo), Duke Robillard (Roomful of Blues, Fabulous Thunderbirds, solo), jazz icon Mike Stern (solo, Miles Davis, Bill Evans), Gary Hoey, one of the world’s foremost fingerstyle guitarists, Muriel Anderson, shred king Dave Martone, acoustic and Celtic master Tony McManus, the rock professor himself Jon Finn, drummer Dave Langguth (Nelly Furtado), and more!

Special seminars including Deep Blues, Monster Rock Guitar, Planet Acoustic, Tools for the Modern Drummer, The Bass Summit, and more have also been added to the course options.

Designed for aspiring musicians of all ages including teenagers, adult hobbyists, students pursuing music careers, semi-professional and professional musicians, Guitar Workshop Plus offers attendees a unique setting for intense musical and personal growth. As well, this program allows for group development (entire bands will sometimes attend) and the family experience (father and son, mother and daughter, brothers and sisters, etc.). The program provides students with the opportunity to study multiple styles, courses, and levels with some of the industry’s leading musicians.

Having enjoyed the experience of a lifetime, students leave each session with enough material to work on until the following year. The program’s administration has been organizing and directing summer music workshops across North America for 14 years. This unique program has been sold out the last few years running. Musicians of all ages and levels have been attending from across Canada, the U.S., Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia. Considered by many to be the premier summer music education program in North America, the program has been offering workshops in Toronto and Vancouver for many years and has now expanded to San Diego.

By directing instruction to the student’s personal style, level of experience, and musical goals, the program creates a healthy, non-competitive environment in which to learn. In addition to an outstanding faculty roster, the list of artists who have worked and continue to work with the administration is truly astounding.

Joe Satriani, Alex Lifeson (Rush), Robben Ford, John Scofield, Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan, Randy Bachman, Andy McKee, Andy Summers (The Police), Pierre Bensusan, John Petrucci (Dream Theater), Orianthi, John Abercrombie, Brent Mason, Tommy Emmanuel, John Knowles, John Jorgenson, Sue Foley, Jennifer Batten, Paul DeLong, and Billy Sheehan are just a few of the world class artists on this list.

Courses are offered for all levels (Beginner to Advanced), ages (12 through adult), and styles including blues, jazz, rock, acoustic, and classical. The intensive bass, drum, keyboard, vocal, and songwriting courses cover many styles and afford students with many rhythm section and ensemble performance opportunities. Each day consists of morning and afternoon classes that involve a hands-on approach, late afternoon clinics (rhythm studies, improvisation, music business, etc.), ensemble performances, and evening concerts.

The new San Diego session will be held at California State University San Marcos. Both Toronto sessions will once again be held at Appleby College in Oakville just west of Toronto. The Vancouver session will once again take place at Quest University, which is located just north of Vancouver in Squamish, BC. All of these locations are scenic with breathtaking views and facilities which provide fantastic accommodations, modern classrooms, performance space, and exceptional dining facilities.

Resident and non-resident tuition is available; registration has already begun for the 2015 sessions.

For more information on the Guitar Workshop Plus program, contact:

Guitar Workshop Plus
99 Queen Street South,
Mississauga, ON L5M 1K7
Tel: (905) 567-8000
Email: info@guitarworkshopplus.com
Web: guitarworkshopplus.com

PureSalem announces its new La Flaca model electric guitar. The La Flaca combines quality construction and components with off-kilter styling reminiscent of the vintage rock and roll era.

All of PureSalem’s new 2015 models come equipped with quality hardware and upgraded electronics, such as Bigsby- and Vibrola-style vibratos, Grover tuners, vintage cloth wiring, a carved headstock, a new PS logo, and the company’s own Custom Wound “Jimmy, Mendiola and Pumpkin” pickups.

La Flaca Specs

Mahogany body / with binding / German carved
Mahogany neck with binding and block inlays
Rosewood fretboard
24 3/4 scale length
42.75 nut width
2 1/16 string spacing
Modern C-shape neck / satin finish
12-inch radius
Grover tuners
Bigsby B7 vibrato (Vibrola on left-handed model)
Roller bridge
Single-coil pickup custom wound to vintage specs in neck
Custom-wound humbucker in bridge
Vintage-style cloth wiring
3-way toggle with master volume and master tone
Medium jumbo frets
Dual truss rod
Finishes include Wine and Black
RETAIL PRICE: $1,055

PureSalem Guitars adopts an inspired approach and attitude while honoring the electric guitars’ glorious past. The company’s guitars are already embraced by known and established artists and bands, including the Flaming Lips, the Black Angels, Lady Gaga and Toni Braxton.

All PureSalem guitars are sold direct through the company’s web site and select dealers. PureSalem is a lefty-run and -owned company. All models are available in lefty versions at no additional mark-up.

PureSalem Guitars was founded in 2012 and officially launched in September 2013. Based in Miami, Florida, PureSalem Guitars continues to offer players a much needed break from the norm. Unique and off-kilter stylings merged with the best in quality construction provide guitarist with instruments that are gig ready and road tested. Boutique appointments at a price point working musicians can afford.

For more information, visit PureSalemGuitars.com.

Sure, there are scores of stellar live versions of Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Texas Flood" online, but there's simply something magical about this raw performance of the Larry Davis tune from July 17, 1982, at the Montreux Jazz and International Music Festival in Switzerland.

The extended, dynamics-filled rollercoaster ride finds Vaughan reaching into his bag of Albert-King-meets-Jim-Hendrix licks—not to mention behind his back, where his Fender Strat rests for the final quarter of the 10-minute-long performance.

Vaughan floored everyone that night, except for a handful of blues purists who can be heard (and clearly seen in the video below) booing loud and clear.

"We weren't sure how we'd be accepted," Vaughan told Guitar World in the early Eighties. But he must've known it went well when David Bowie appeared backstage ... and important alliance was born.

In the video below, Vaughan puts his guitar behind his back at 8:22, and it stays there for the rest of the song. As for the booing, it starts right away, then picks up during the quiet part of the song (around 6:50 in the clip). You can actually see a group of knuckleheads booing at 10:14.

Although I'm not defending the knuckleheads, I should mention that a good portion of the crowd was expecting the type of music they'd been hearing for most of the day: quiet, acoustic blues guitar (For instance, John Hammond played solo acoustic guitar at the event). When Vaughan and bassist Tommy Shannon turned up the amps and went to work, well, it was a bit of a shock.

By the way, this entire performance is available on DVD right here. As the DVD's title suggests, Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985 also features the band's 1985 performance at the Montreux Jazz Fest. No one booed him in '85. No sane people, anyway.

You can find Damian Fanelli's most recent liner notes in Sony/Legacy's Stevie Ray Vaughan: The Complete Epic Recordings box set from 2014. Follow him on Twitter.

With more than 100 minutes of instruction, Dale Turner's Guide to Acoustic Rock Guitar is the ultimate DVD guide for acoustic rock guitar players!

With this DVD, you'll learn the acoustic rock secrets of:

• John Mayer
• Dave Matthews
• Paul McCartney
• Eric Clapton
• Neil Young
... and more!

You'll also be taught:

• Basic and Intermediate Soloing
• Basic Strumming Patterns
• Fingerpicking
• Using a Capo
• Alternate Tunings
• Acoustic Blues
• Arpeggiated Patterns
... and much more!

Your instructor, Dale Turner, is a teacher at Hollywood's legendary Musicians Institute and a Guitar World magazine columnist. Turner is also the author of more than 50 instructional books, including Power Plucking - A Rocker's Guide to Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar. You can hear Turner's masterful playing on his album, Mannerisms Magnified, available through Amazon.

Head to the Guitar World Online Store now!

Electricity can do strange things.

When it was added to the guitar, some years ago, it opened up new possibilities for players of the old box o’ six strings.

The following sonic scientists, using varying proportions of technique and effects, set out to discover just what these possibilities were.

The result? Guitars that don’t sound like guitars!

10. Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago”

This is a rare occasion—Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck playing guitar together in the Yardbirds.

Before the solo kicks in, the two guitar heroes, in tandem, unleash 15 seconds of controlled feedback that sounds like an air-raid siren. Think context: this was the 1960s, before everyone started using signal processing.

09. Johnny Marr “How Soon is Now?”

What is that pulsing sound in the Smiths' coolest song? Marr cranking the tremolo setting on his Fender Twin to make his one-chord riff sound like an automated machine.

Actually, the effect was studio enhanced: he re-recorded the part with five twins.

08. Eddie Van Halen, “Eruption”

Again, it’s the context, mang. In 1978, Eddie’s fingerboard tapping and whammy-bar divebombs were like the shape of video-game soundtracks for years to come.

Then, of course, every guitarist in L.A. jumped on the bandwagon, and before long things got much more sophisticated than Space Invaders.

07. Paul Gilbert, “Solo” from Live Extreme, Vol. 1

Some players use effects as tools. Paul Gilbert uses tools as effects.

One pick wasn’t enough to get the tremelo-picking sound he wanted. The solution? A cordless drill, on whose bit were mounted three picks. This produces overtones that make it sound as if he’s playing in unison with himself, if that makes sense.

06. Tom Morello, “Revolver”

The intro sounds like R2D2 on a bad trip, while the start of the solo calls to mind a factory treadmill.

It just goes to show that if you give a man a DigiTech Whammy pedal, an Ibanez Talman with a sturdy toggle switch and few Allen wrenches, he can make all the same noises as a turntablist—and then some.

05. Buckethead, “Dead Man Walking”

From Praxis Transmutation, this is the next level of video-game soundtracks played by electric guitar. The masked man’s hyper-frenetic tapping here out-blips a computer in heat.

04. Jimi Hendrix, “The Star Spangled Banner”

Jimi performed this at the height of the Vietnam War, and his revolutionary use of feedback and tremolo bar was the perfect musical correlative to “bombs bursting in air.”

When you first listened to this, did your mom come into the room and ask if the stereo was broken?

03. Steve Vai, “Next Stop Earth”

From his solo-debut, Flex-Able, this gem finds Vai imitating the inflections of a human voice via finger slides, micro-bends and a wah pedal. Can you tell he used to play with Zappa?

02. Fred Frith, “Should Old Arthur”

On his 1974 album, Guitar Solos, this former member of obscure prog-rockers Henry Cow pioneered the concept of “preparing” guitars: tuning them to unorthodox pitches, attaching alligator clips to the strings, and playing them by any means other than picking.

This particular track sounds like a drunken ghost talking.

01. Adrian Belew, “Elephant Talk”

When Belew joined Robert Fripp’s reformed King Crimson for 1981’s Discipline, he stunned guitarists by harnessing the effects in his rack to sound like a herd of animals.

In this case, an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff running into a Deluxe Electric Mistress flanger helps transform a guitar into a roaring elephant.

There's a saying in professional soccer that there are piano players and piano movers.

There are the forwards (the players), who—with skilled footwork and finesse—score goals, and therefore score with fans.

And there are the backs (the movers), whose grunt work, though important, doesn't appear in the stats.

The point is, you can't have success without both. In the world of guitar, this metaphor is best illustrated by AC/DC's Young brothers during that band's heyday. While Angus did most of the "playing,"Malcolm, with his yeoman-like rhythm work, really moved pianos.

And in doing so he became the ultimate unsung rock guitarist.

Here are some others.

By the way, we are well aware of the fact that this list could go on forever. We all know incredible players who don't get the recognition they deserve—while Miley Cyrus is raking it in for some reason. Off the top of (at least one of) our heads, there's Clarence White,T.K. Smith,Dave Wronski of Slacktone, Frank Marino (who is featured in the upcoming August 2015 issue of Guitar World, Albert Collins,Bob Warford,Shawn Lane,Criss Oliva,Rik Emmett, almost anyone in any corner bar in Nashville ... .

We invite you to list your own unsung picks in the comments below or on our Facebook page!

We’ve teamed up with Harry Edwards of StudyGypsyJazz.com to bring you a wonderful introduction to playing gypsy jazz style guitar.

Gypsy jazz guitar, otherwise known as “Jazz Manouche guitar,” is a style pioneered through the playing of the late Belgian-born guitarist and gypsy, Jean “Django” Reinhardt.

The playing of Django Reinhardt has inspired an entire sub-genre of jazz, one that is unmistakable in its hard swinging rhythm guitar and passionate lead improvisations.

Today, StudyGypsyJazz.com creator and instructor Harry Edwards guides you through an introduction to playing rhythm guitar in this distinct style.

Click here to watch a StudyGypsyJazz.com introduction video where you can learn more about the site’s offerings. To register as a student and get access to more high quality video gypsy jazz lessons and downloadable PDFs, visit StudyGypsyJazz.com today.

For now, pull up a seat, grab your acoustic, and let Edwards introduce you to the world of gypsy jazz!

The Importance & Role Of The Rhythm Guitar:

Introducing La Pompe - Strumming Hand Motion:

Christopher Lee, the legendary actor who played Saruman in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequels, died Sunday in a London hospital at age 93.

He had been in treatment for respiratory problems.

While he was best known to the general public for his film career—he appeared in an estimated 250 films—metal heads might know him for the work he did in that genre late in his life.

Lee released two full-length metal albums (2010's Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross and 2013's Charlemagne: The Omens of Death), two EPs of metal Christmas covers (2012's A Heavy Metal Christmas and 2013's A Heavy Metal Christmas Too) and a third, non-holiday-themed covers EP, 2014's Metal Knight.

For these releases, Lee collaborated with, among others, Italian symphonic metal band Rahpsody of Fire and guitar prodigy Hedras Ramos.

For Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross, Lee was awarded the "Spirit of Hammer" prize by Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi at Metal Hammer's Golden Gods awards in June 2010.

Lee remained active in metal virtually up until his death. In December he released "Darkest Carols, Faithful Sing," a heavy metal parody (of sorts) of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" featuring Ramos.

Check out this ridiculous new video of elders reacting to Slipknot below.

And by the way, we don't normally use the word "elders" (we're not suddenly part of an obscure tribe in The Lord of the Rings). We're just using the word because, well, because that's what the video is called!

For more "React" videos (which, we assume, show other people "reacting" to other things), head here.

FROM THE GW ARCHIVE: Originally published in Guitar World, August 2010. The Triumph guitarist talks to GW about his early days and gives some advice for beginning players.

What inspired you to start playing the guitar?

Like most guys of my generation, I started playing because of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals and the whole British Invasion thing that was starting to happen in North America. I tried to convince my parents to buy me a guitar; I would always stand in front of the mirror with a tennis racquet pretending I was playing guitar. Eventually, when I was around 10 years old, my grandfather gave me one, and that became my first guitar.

What type of guitar was it?

I’m not sure who the manufacturer was. It was a plywood “catalog special.” It had palm trees and hula dancers painted on the front of it. I sanded the finish off one summer at camp.

What was the first song you learned?

“Gloria” by Them and “The Last Time” by the Rolling Stones—any song that had three chords, really.

Do you remember your first gig?

I was 12 years old and performed with a band at a local park. We played a couple of Led Zeppelin songs. By that point I had progressed from my first guitar to a Kay electric. I didn’t have an amp, so I just plugged into a radio’s external input and used that.

Ever had an embarrassing onstage moment?

I once went onstage in Philadelphia at the Spectrum, which was a large arena and ice hockey rink. I was wearing a pair of skin-tight white pants and a blue shirt that I had tucked in. Unbeknownst to me, the fly had ripped open and the blue shirt was sticking out through the fly. I was jumping around onstage with this blue piece sticking out of my crotch. Once I realized it, I went and fixed it with duct tape, which was only slightly less embarrassing.

What is your favorite piece of gear?

There are a few, but I couldn’t live without my Vox ToneLab LE, as I use it for practically everything. Also, I have a Godin Spectrum guitar, which is a hybrid acoustic-electric with lipstick pickups. It’s very cool sounding.

Got any advice for young players?

I always tell young players to be versatile and stay interested in a range of styles. Also, I have always viewed the guitar as a compositional tool, not just an instrument that you play. To me, writing is the core value of what you do as a guitar player.

The Rolling Stones have announced From The Vault: The Marquee — Live In 1971, a DVD of the band's legendary, highly sought-after performance at London's Marquee Club in 1971.

The film will be released on DVD in four formats and on iTunes via Eagle Rock on June 23.

The show was an intimate, rare club appearance, and very little footage has been released to date. Part of the “From the Vault” series of live concerts from the band’s archive, the DVD features restored footage and sound mixed by Bob Clearmountain.

The four formats of the release are:

DVD: Main tracklisting and bonus features

SD Blu-ray: Main tracklisting and bonus features

DVD + CD: The DVD and a single CD

DVD + LP: DVD and a single LP (main tracklisting only)

TRACKLISTING:
1. Live With Me
2. Dead Flowers
3. I Got The Blues
4. Let It Rock
5. Midnight Rambler
6. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
7. Bitch
8. Brown Sugar

BONUS TRACKS:
1. I Got The Blues– Take 1
2. I Got The Blues– Take 2
3. Bitch – Take 1
4. Bitch – Take 2
5. Brown Sugar (Top Of The Pops, 1971)

You use stomp boxes to affect your guitar’s signal. How about something that lets you change your tone right at the source: the guitar’s strings?

Vo Inventions’ Vo Wond lets you vibrate the strings of your guitar individually to create string- and flute-like sounds.

If that sounds like an EBow, you're only halfway there, because the Vo Wond also features a pressure-sensitive tip that senses how hard you squeeze it. The harder you squeeze, the more power it delivers to the vibrating tip, producing changes in the resulting timbres.

The Vo Wond also uses haptic feedback to send vibrations back to the user’s hand, to provide a sense of physical interaction with the device and the guitar.

Paul Vo, the founder of Vo Inventions, has some solid credentials. He’s the creator of the technology behind the Moog Guitar and Moog Lap Steel, which controls the amount of energy within the strings to modify the guitar's performance capabilities.

Vo calls his method of acoustic sound design Acoustic Synthesis, a trademarked name that pretty much says it all.

In addition to the Vo Wond, Vo has created the Vo-96 Acoustic Synthesizer, a device that controls the vibrations of an acoustic guitar’s strings, resulting in some pretty amazing sounds and performance capabilities that are highly musical and within the performer’s control.

Check out the Vo-96 and Vo Wond in the videos below.

And for more information about Vo’s devices, visit Vo Inventions.

Vo-96

Vo Wond

Today, GuitarWorld.com presents the exclusive premiere of ". _ _ _ _," the new video single by guitarist Angel Vivaldi. The song is from Vivaldi's latest self-release, Away With Words Pt. 1.

And in case you're wondering, ". _ _ _ _" isn't a typo. It means "One" in Morse code.

The track showcases everything this Ibanez artist has become known for, including soaring melodies, technical phrasing and seamless song arrangements.

"I put a ton of emotion into writing/now performing this song," Vivaldi says.

"For the video, I wanted to visually capture the dynamic of artistic struggle—which most of us know well—coupled with severe mental illness. The best thing an artist can do is to paint a picture in someone's mind of what a song would 'look' and 'feel' like. We really worked hard to achieve this, and I couldn't be more pleased with the results."

Away With Words Pt. 1 was released in March following Vivaldi's Universal Language EP, which includes "A Martian Winter" and "A Mercurian Summer." Both releases are available on iTunes and Bandcamp.

Vivaldi will be touring this summer and fall; check out his current dates below. For more information, follow Vivaldi on Facebook and YouTube.

July 5: Middle East
472-480 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139

July 6: The Space
295 Treadwell St., Hamden, CT 06514

July7: DV8
201 Westminster St., Providence, RI 02903

July 17: Blackthorn
80-12 51st Ave., Elmhurst/Queens, NY 11373

Photo: Brian Fijal

I know I should know more about the stuff I publish, but I'll admit right off the bat that I haven't touched Legos in decades, and I have no idea what Lego Mindstorms EV3 is.

However, I know a good-ish guitar video when I see one.

In this particularly good-ish "guitar video," we see a Lego bot—as programmed in Lego Mindstorms EV3 bundled software—playing an acoustic guitar. The Lego bot is actually playing a cover of "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men.

The video has received several comments on YouTube, and fastythefastcat, the YouTube user who's responsible for the video, has chimed in:

"I don't have any building instructions for this," he writes.

"I built this bot to fit this particular guitar and to play this particular song, and any variation on that would change the design significantly; the fretting part has been designed to play those four chords in that order, so different chords in a different order would need a different design, etc. I've tried to do a few closeups of all the main working parts so you could incorporate those ideas into your own variations. Hopefully I've given you some ideas!"

He has indeed, although I'm not sure what they are.

Either way, check out this interesting video. Be sure to follow fastythefastcat for more videos like this. Note that we've also included the original Of Monsters and Men version of the song, for reference. Enjoy!

For more about Lego Mindstorms EV3, head here.

Peter Frampton has put his star power behind a campaign to create an affordable self-tuning system for guitars.

The guitarist has been a user of AxCent Tuning Systems’ TransPerformance system for years. The self-tuning product allows players to change tunings at the touch of a button on the guitar, or via smart phone. The system can hold hundreds of tunings and uses motorized tuners to retune a guitar in about two seconds.

Unfortunately, it’s been prohibitively expensive for most players—which probably explains why most of us don’t have it, while stars like Frampton, Eddie Van Halen,Joe Perry, Jimmy Page and many others do.

AxCent wants to change that, and Frampton is happy to help them by promoting a Crowdfunder.com campaign to raise $1 million for the manufacture and marketing of Performer, an affordable mass-consumer edition of TransPerformance. If successful, AxCent expects to sell the device for about $400.

“This new AxCent system will have the same functionality at a fraction of the price,” says Frampton, who provides a friendly and informative overview of the product in the video shown below.

Frampton first heard about the AxCent system about 20 years ago, when he learned Jimmy Page was using it. “When I read that Jimmy Page was playing a guitar that not only tuned itself but could change to a different tuning immediately,” he says, “I just had to have one.” (Check out the video at the bottom of this post to see Page use his AxCent system onstage.)

“I do a lot of writing using open tunings, including some that I’ve made up myself,” Frampton says. “AxCent can store loads of user tunings, which is great, as I tend to forget which tuning I used when I’m writing a song.”

Frampton notes that because it takes just a second or two for Performer to change tuning, it’s possible to retune even in the middle of a song.

Pledge perks for the campaign include signed Frampton memorabilia and concert tickets, backstage passes ($25,000), a signed Gibson guitar ($50,000) and more.

Fans should note that Frampton has long had an interest in gadgets, including the talk box, whose popularity soared after he used it on “Show Me the Way” and “Do You Feel Like We Do.” He also has his own line of Framptone products.

“I’ve always been very gadget-conscious,” he says, noting that he made his own electric guitar out of an acoustic when he first began playing. “It’s very interesting to me.”

Frampton is out on tour with Cheap Trick and reportedly has recorded nine songs for a new album he hopes to release later this year or in 2016. His plans also include a fall acoustic tour with his longtime collaborator Gordon Kennedy and his son Julian Frampton.

Go out and see him. In the meantime, you can see Jimmy Page using a guitar fitted with the AxCent system in the video below for “Whole Lotta Love,” from a Page and Plant performance in Irvine, California, October 3, 1995. He uses it to change tunings at the 2:13 spot.

Secrets of the Great Acoustic Songwriters, an impressive compilation of nine instructional video lessons and tabs by Dale Turner, is now available through the Guitar World Lessons App and Webstore.

It joins the ranks of the hundreds of lessons already available through Guitar World Lessons.

To celebrate this new release, Guitar World is offering the first Secrets of the Great Acoustic Songwriters lesson, "The Sound of Simon," as a FREE download! Note that all nine Secrets of the Great Acoustic Songwriters lessons are available—as a package—for only $14.99.

Below, you can watch the trailer for lesson 4 ("Happiness Is Some Fingerpicking Fun: John Lennon").

This new collection, which was produced by Musicians Institute instructor Dale Turner for his Guitar World magazine column, "Hole Notes," offers a gold mine of analysis of the signature playing and songwriting styles of some of the most legendary names in acoustic folk, pop and rock guitar: Paul Simon, John Lennon (see the video below), George Harrison, Elliot Smith, John Frusciante, Jeff Buckley, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Nick Drake and Ani DiFranco.

Each chapter focuses on a particular artist and features several musical examples inspired by his or her most celebrated songs. Techniques covered include fingerpicking and more:

• Chapter 1: The Sound of Simon This chapter looks at Paul Simon’s signature playing and songwriting elements, such as the use of alternating bass figures, Travis picking, chord arpeggiation and double-stops with hammer-ons and pull-offs. Check out the trailer below.

• Chapter 2: Mr. Melancholy This lessons looks at Elliot Smith’s distinctive playing and writing style and use of techniques such as fingerpicking, Travis picking, alternating bass figures and finger strumming.

• Chapter 3: The Funky Monk Unplugged This lesson looks at the acoustic side of John Frusciante’s playing and writing style with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

• Chapter 4: Happiness Is Some Fingerpicking Fun This chapter looks at John Lennon’s go-to acoustic playing and songwriting techniques and approaches, such as his use of fingerpicking, Travis picking with alternating bass figures, chord-melody-style strumming and double-stops.

• Chapter 5: Dream Brother This lesson looks at Jeff Buckley’s unique stylistic traits on the acoustic guitar, such as his use of open strings in conjunction with notes fretted high up on the neck, strumming in 6/8 meter, unusual and sophisticated chord voicings and shapes and his use of open G tuning.

• Chapter 6: Brazil Nut This chapter explores the signature “crossover” jazz/bossa nova-style rhythms and sophisticated chord voicings and progressions employed by the legendary Brazilian guitarist-composer Antonio Carlos Jobim.

• Chapter 7: Pink Moon Rising This lesson explores the unique, original acoustic guitar style of British folk artist Nick Drake and his use of fingerpicking technique, thumb strumming, capo'ing and unusual open tunings.

• Chapter 8: Something In the Way He Grooves This chapter looks at the signature elements of George Harrison’s acoustic guitar style, with an exploration of his acoustic demo versions of such Beatles classics as “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Something.”

• Chapter 9: Righteous Babe This final chapter explores Ani DiFranco’s trademark aggressive fingerstyle guitar playing and songwriting, on such songs as “As Is,” “32 Flavors,” “If He Tries Anything” and “Sorry I Am.”

For more information, visit the Guitar World Lessons Webstore and download the App now.

Besides teaching at Musicians Institute, Turner holds a bachelor’s degree in studio/jazz guitar performance from the University of Southern California. He composed, arranged, produced and recorded all the music on his latest CD, Mannerisms Magnified, and sang and played all the instruments, including guitar, bass, acoustic drums, piano, accordion and mandolin. He's the author of more than 50 instructional books, including Power Plucking—A Rocker's Guide to Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar.

Today, GuitarWorld.com and Tremonti—the band led by Mark Tremonti of Creed and Alter Bridge—present an exclusive video showing guitarists how to play "Cauterize," the title track from the band's new album.

Cauterize, which was released June 9 via Fret12, is the follow-up to 2012's All I Was. It was produced by Michael "Elvis" Baskette, who has worked with Slash and Alter Bridge.

Cauterize is available digitally and on CD.

For more information, follow Tremonti on Facebook.