Guitar World “Last Licks” Video Lesson on Classic Open Chord Riffs by Martin Goulding
For the June 2012 edition of Guitar World magazine which features Slipknot on the front cover, I put together my back cover column “Last Licks” based around five classic 70′s style open chord blues-rock riffs in the style of Jimmy Page, Brian May, Angus Young, Moody&Marsden (Whitesnake) and Tom Scholz (Boston)
The use of open powerchords, embellished with single line riffs and ¼ step bends has provided a framework for some of the most classic riffs of all time. Influenced by the blues and rock’n’roll eras, these types of idea were commonly used by the blues/rock players of the classic 1970’s era as well as the modern hard rock styles of the 1980’s. Big and powerful sounding, these driving riffs are a great way to hot rod your open chords and get that old school, authentic blues/rock feel.
For the audio I used an Axe FX II set up with Marshall Plexi Treble type sound, with the drive set to 3 o’clock and the boost engaged, and a TS808 type tubescreamer with the drive set to zero, all played using my 1984 Tokai Goldstar loaded with DiMarzio choppers! (see gear page). Then straight to an Apogee ensemble card into a Mac Pro running Logic. For Video, a Canon 60D and FCP X for editing. The supporting video goes into some detail breaking down and counting through the examples in a way that will be accessible for intermediate level players.
