Truefire TrueFire's All-Around Rock TUTORiAL

All Around Rock is a collection of TrueFire lessons curated by Total Guitar Editor, Chris Bird. Chris’ selection of lessons from top TrueFire educators is designed to help you take your rock rhythm playing to the next level.

”For most gigging guitarists, rhythm playing is our bread and butter. Though a blazing solo gives you a moment in the spotlight, the simple truth is that most of our time is spent playing rhythm.

Most rock and pop songs are vocal-led and most guitar parts are based around strummed chords, ostinato riffs or simple melodic figures. With that in mind, I’ve compiled this selection of lessons for intermediate level players on the rhythm and riffing styles of some of rock’s greatest guitarists.

The course kicks off with Jeff Scheetz’s ‘Solidify’ lesson, a juicy funk-rock riff that’ll help you get your groove on, Jimi Hendrix and Tom Morello style. It’s all about feel and keeping your pick hand moving constantly as you change between the E7 triad, the muted stabs and the single-note lines.

And if you’re really feeling that funky single-note vibe, I recommend you check out Jeff’s ‘Tommy Boy’ lesson too. Inspired by the late, great Tommy Bolin, these blues-scale ideas can be applied in most funk-rock styles, from classic to contemporary.

Staying on the funk-rock theme, I’ve also chosen Jeff’s ‘Octave Slip’ lesson, which reminds me of early 90s Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction, but octave shapes are often used in punk and other styles too.

Next, I want to draw your attention to ‘Rokken’. Drawing on some obvious George Lynch influences, this is a fantastic lesson on power-chord riffs and how employing a few extra shapes can elevate them.

Angus Clark’s ‘Nu Metal Ostinato’ lesson gives you an alternative take on the power-chord theme, adding melodic notes into the mix. Nu metal it may be, but Angus is outlining a concept that can be found throughout the history of metal, used by everyone from Black Sabbath to Mastodon and beyond. There’s a lot of mileage in this idea.

I also wanted to include a tutorial that would help you improve your picking technique, and Jeff’s Randy Rhoads style lesson ‘I Know’ is a great workout. There are four bars of music but the main part of the exercise is a mere three notes long – the repeating ‘gallop riff’ played in bars 1 to 3.

I recommend you use TrueFire’s speed tool here. Either practice within your comfort zone or push the tempo to develop your speed picking – it’s up to you.

These are just a few of the highlights from my curated collection and there’s plenty more to learn once you get inside, whatever style of rock you play. Every lesson is self-contained, so feel free to dip in and choose the ones that interest you the most. Let’s get rocking!”

Who better than the top editors of our cherished guitar magazines to lend their eyes, ears and guitar acumen to help guide how we put our precious practice time to optimal use? Thanks Chris!
You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the performance studies. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson.

You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace. All of the backing tracks are also included to work with on your own.

Grab your guitar and let’s dig in with Total Guitar Editor Chris Bird's curated collection of TrueFire lessons!

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