Tag: rock

Classic Blues Rock in Cm (+TAB)

02/08/2021 Video Tab 3 Comments

Original, classic blues rock instrumental and solo heavily inspired by Dire Straits (Mark Knopfler), Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, and others. Enjoy!

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Classic Blues Rock in Cm

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About The Track

This track in the key of C minor brings us the blues-inspired classic rock era of the 70s and 80s. The groove is reminiscent of Dire Straits, but more laid back. I’m a huge fan of Mark Knopfler’s playing, and – in that style – I tried to emphasize hybrid picking (playing with the pick AND fingers) and delicate details in the guitar playing while staying melodic and following the classic blues rock groove. The chorus has more of a Fleetwood-Mac vibe, with a recognizable motif of unison bends.  The middle section is – again – very much inspired by Dire Straits. See if you can spot a reference to Dire Straits in the background 😉

Featured Lick

A few times in this classic blues rock track, I play the above Cm pentatonic lick in the 8th position. This is a typical ‘reply’ or ‘relief’-lick in Mark Knopfler‘s playing. It serves to end a phrase or sequence in a solo.  Above the tab, you can see which notes are played with the pick (bracket = downstroke), and which ones I prefer hybrid picking (H.P). Alternatively, you can play the 8th fret on the G-string with an upstroke. Play a little vibrato on the 10th fret of the D-string and pull-off lightly to end the lick. 

I hope you enjoy this TAB and solo. Jam track is scheduled for release later this week,

Maarten

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Classic Rock Guitar Solo in G

30/09/2020 Video Tab No Comments

Classic, Uplifting Rock Guitar Solo in G, played on a Gibson Les Paul. Enjoy!

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Classic Rock Guitar Solo in G

1 file(s) 574.34 KB
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About This Solo

I turned out to be somewhat of a challenge to write a new solo for my latest jam track, but after a few improvised takes, I played this classic rock solo in the key of G. It is very much blues-inspired with a lot of minor pentatonic licks, blues licks, and rhythmic rock guitar licks. The melodic chorus is opened and ended with tasty unison bends in the 15th position As usual, you get the guitar tabs on the screen.

Featured Lick
Classic Rock Lick in G

The lick in bars 23 to 25 is a classic blues rock lick that stems from the G minor blues scale. Bend the 13th fret on the B-string a full step up, hit the 13th fret on the E-string and alternate between those 2 strings. In the video, you can see I play this with hybrid picking.  If you listen to blues, you’ll undoubtedly recognize this lick (it is often played on a blues harmonica!). Hold the bend on the B-string, and gradually release over the course of the next bar. This creates a cool, dynamic effect, fun to play and a real headturner! This lick is transposable to any key, so it fits into any classic rock solo!

Backing Track

Classic Rock Backing Track in G here. 

👉 Check out my gear page on Thomann: gear-thomann.guitar-inspiration.com

Epic 80s Rock Guitar Backing Track #02 (A minor)

21/08/2020 Backing Track No Comments

This second 80s rock backing track called ‘Out Of Bounds‘ is inspired by 80s rock guitar music and my love for 80s TV music (yes, a guilty pleasure). I took some inspiration from the Arturia Mini-V3, CM-V and TV-shows like Miami Vice Jam along with the YouTube video (chords are shown on the screen), or download the chord sheet below.

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Epic 80s Rock #02

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About the track

About 9 months ago, I released a first 80s rock jam track and – to my surprise – it’s doing very well on YouTube. So recently, I thought it was time to write another one of these tasty 80s rock guitar backing tracks, this time with a little more emphasis on the 80s synth sounds. The CMI-V and Mini V from Arturia provided just the right mood I was looking for.

Featured Lick

This 80s rock backing track follows a very simple chord progression (only 3 chords) in the key of A minor. During the verse, the clean guitar plays the following lick:

80s Guitar Chord Lick
Am9 Motif

So the main motif in this 80s rock backing track is an Am9 arpeggio, with a ringing 9th (open B-string). The part is doubled with an effects track and some heavy chorusing (Syntorus by D16-group). 

Improvising Tips

Improvising tips for this 80s rock backing track include A aeolian, A minor pentatonic.

Gear
  • Synths: Arturia CMI-V, Arturia Mini-V  (links to plugin boutique)
  • Electric Guitar: Suhr Modern HH
  • Amps: Fractal AX8
  • Bass: Spectrasonics Trilian
  • Drums: Steven Slate Drums 5.5
  • Recorded & Mixed in the Box.
Buy The Track

If you’re interested, you can purchase a high-quality (cd-mastered) version +mp3 of this guitar jam track here

👉 Check out my gear page on Thomann: gear-thomann.guitar-inspiration.com

Epic 80s Rock Guitar Backing Track (E major)

03/01/2020 Backing Track No Comments

This fast 80s rock guitar backing track called ‘Starflight’ is inspired by 80s rock guitar music. I took some inspiration from Billy Idol (the amazing Steve Stevens!), Joe Satriani and even Stratovarius. Jam along with the YouTube video (chords are shown on the screen), or follow the chord sheet below the video.

Chords

This 80s rock guitar backing track has an alternating A and B section, with the following guitar chords: 

Rock Backing Track - part A
80s Rock Backing Track - part B

Improvising tips for this jam track E Ionian, E major pentatonic works over this entire track For the B-section, you could start with F# Dorian. 

The track ends with the following outro:

80s Rock Backing Track - C
Riffs

The B-chord in the B-section gets often replaced with these guitar riffs:

Solo

I wrote and recorded an original Solo, that you can watch (and learn with the PDF) via this link. 

Gear

Maarten P.S.: the guitar in the picture is my Suhr Modern with Floyd Rose Tremolo, rendered in a lovely pink hue for the occasion 🙂 Happy jamming!