Tag Archive for: player study

Want to learn how to play guitar like Noel Gallagher of Oasis and High-Flying Birds?

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Check out this Noel Gallagher Player Study course – it’s so much more than “Wonderwall”. 

Background 

Noel Gallagher was born in Manchester, England, to Irish parents in 1967. As a teen, he hung around several Manchester-area hooligan firms, during which time he got six months of probation for robbing a corner shop, according to the VH1 Behind the Music episode on Oasis. During the probation, he began to teach himself guitar, playing along with the radio. He was inspired by The Smiths after seeing them on Top of the Pops. 

While working a construction job, Gallagher sustained a work-related foot injury and was given a less physically taxing position after recovering. This new job gave him more time to practice guitar and write songs – Gallagher has said that a few of the songs on Oasis’s debut album, Definitely, Maybe were written in the warehouse where he worked. 

Gallagher befriended a band called Inspiral Carpets in the late 1980s and became part of the band’s touring crew. In 1991, he returned home from a tour to find that his younger brother, Liam, had joined a band. Gallagher was initially unimpressed with the band’s performance. He agreed to an offer to join the band, with the condition that he would become the group’s sole songwriter. 

Style

Gallagher is left-handed, but plays guitar right-handed. When it comes to his style, Gallagher is a master of melody – both in choosing chords that are rich and full-sounding and playing solos that complement the melody of the song. He often uses slides to change chord positions. 

 

High Flying Birds 

Gallagher is best known for his time in Oasis, as well as his tumultuous relationship with Liam. Oasis disbanded in 2009. Gallagher formed his solo project, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds in 2010. The project has released four albums and a compilation album. 

 

Want to play guitar like Cory Wong?

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Do you want to learn to play like Cory Wong? The Cory Wong Player Study will take you on a deep dive of his funky signature style, including his innovative strum patterns and rhythmic single-note melodies.

Background 

Cory Wong was raised in Minneapolis, Minn.  His father exposed him to classic rock and jazz music at an early age, and he took piano lessons starting at age nine. Young Wong was inspired by bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Primus, and he decided to take up bass. Wong took both guitar and bass lessons, and started a punk rock band while still in high school. 

He decided to play music professionally at age 20 while studying at McNally Smith College of Music. Wong focused on jazz music in the early days of his career, performing in local jazz clubs and releasing two albums with jazz groups. He then started playing the Nashville circuit as a session player and guitarist, where he worked with a plethora of artists. In 2013, Wong met Ann Arbor band Vulfpeck and began touring and recording with the band in 2016. He’s also a member of The Fearless Flyers and has released solo albums. 

Style 

Wong is a modern funk legend, and is an expert at utilizing his right strumming hand to propel grooves into his music. In his playing, you can hear elements of Prince (natural for someone raised in Minneapolis, as well as some of the complex chords and scales he utilized while playing in jazz clubs. 

Variety show 

In 2021, Wong added another title to his resume – variety show host. “Cory and the Wongnotes” on YouTube is a musician’s dream – it features a full band, original music, comedy skits, and interviews with experts on topics like gear and music genres. 

 

Once you master Cory Wong’s signature style, you can find tabs for Wong and Vulfpeck in the Fret Zealot app!

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Want to learn to play guitar like Joe Bonamassa?

Want to learn to play guitar like B.B. King?

Want to play guitar like Stevie Ray Vaughan?

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Your guitar skills will be your “Pride and Joy” with the Stevie Ray Vaughan Player study. This course will teach you Vaughan’s signature brand of Texas blues, including lead playing and rhythm and chord techniques. 

Background 

Vaughan was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, and started playing guitar at age seven, on a toy guitar he received for his birthday. Young Vaugahn taught himself to play several songs by ear, following along to songs by Texas rock and roll band, The Nightcaps. He also drew inspiration from blues artists like Albert King and Muddy Waters, as well as Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack. His brother Jimmie gave him his first electric guitar, a Gibson ES-125T that he previously owned, when he was around nine years old. 

Vaughan played professionally in bands at local bars and clubs while still in his early teens. He dropped out of high school at age 18 to move to Austin for the music scene, establishing the band “Double Trouble”. Vaughan got the name from the title of an Otis Rush song. 

David Bowie saw the group play at the 1982 Montreux Jazz Festival and contacted Vaughan for a studio gig. Vaughan ended up playing blues guitar on Bowie’s 1983 album “Let’s Dance”, which resulted in major label attention and a record deal for “Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble”. 

Vaughan put out four albums and was one of the world’s most in-demand blues guitarists. Unfortunately, his life was cut short when he and four others were killed in a Wisconsin helicopter crash after performing at a mountain music venue in Aug. 27. He had several successful posthumous releases and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with his Double Trouble bandmates in 2015. 


Style

Vaughan cited Albert King as one of his inspirations – he jammed with the blues legend onstage in 1977 – but his biggest influence was Jimi Hendrix. “I love Hendrix for so many reasons,” he told Guitar World in 1983.”He was so much more than just a blues guitarist—he played damn well any kind of guitar he wanted. In fact I’m not sure if he even played the guitar—he played music.”

Vaughan used unusually heavy strings and tuned a half-step below regular tuning. He heavily used the vibrato bar on his instruments. Vaughan utilized vintage amplifiers and effects in his playing, setting a trend for other guitarists in the 1980s. 

Legacy

Though his life and career were cut short, Vaughan helped lead a revival of blues rock and inspired players like John Mayer, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Los Lonely Boys. In the months after his death, over 5.5 million of his albums were sold in the U.S., and SONY signed a deal with his family estate to gain control of Vaughan’s back catalog, allowing them to release his work, including “Family Style” which won the 1991 GRAMMY for Best Contemporary Blues Album. 

He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000. Rolling Stone named him number seven among the “100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time” in 2003. In 2022, Guitar World Magazine ranked Vaughan as #1 on its list of greatest blues guitarists. 


Once you master Vaughan’s signature style, put it to work with these song lessons!

Life By The Drop 

Pride and Joy 

Cold Shot

Want to play guitar like John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers?

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Want to play guitar like John Frusciante? You’ll find that you “Can’t Stop” once you start learning to play like the three-time Red Hot Chili Pepper guitarist with the John Frusciante Player Study course.

Background 

The children of two musicians – a Juillard-trained pianist and a vocalist – John Fruciante was born in Queens, NY but lived in Arizona and Florida before moving to California with his mother, where he became involved in the Los Angeles punk rock scene. He started playing guitar at age nine and was influenced by Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and Frank Zappa. At 16, he dropped out of high school and moved to L.A. to become a musician. 

John Frusciante was an 18-year-old Red Hot Chili Peppers fan when he was tapped to audition for the band after the 1988 death of the band’s original guitarist, Hillel Slovak. Frusciante was introduced to RHCP’s music through his guitar instructor, who was auditioning to be a guitarist for them in 1984. Frusciante saw a RHCP show at the age of 15 and became a huge fan. He met both Slovak and bassist Michael Peter Balzary (“Flea”) before auditioning, the latter through jam sessions with Frusciante’s friend D. H. Peligro, the former drummer for Dead Kennedys. Flea recommended Frusciante for an audition. According to a 1999 VH1 “Behind the Music” episode, Frusciante was so excited when he got the call welcoming him into the band that he jumped on the wall of his home, leaving permanent boot marks. 

Though he has left the band twice, Frusciante is a huge influence on RHCP’s sound – he played on their breakthrough album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), as well as their smash albums “Californication” (1999), “By The Way” (2002), and “Stadium Arcadium” (2006). He rejoined the band in 2019 and played on the band’s 12th studio album Unlimited Love. 

Style

“John Frusciante (52279421075)” by Hel Davies from United Kingdom is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Frusciante’s early style was inspired by punk musicians. He has developed a style over his career that’s based on melody, tone, and structure, versus virtuosity, as well as creating texture through chord patterns. Frusciante cites Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix as influences, but doesn’t focus on speed, telling Kerrang! Magazine that “People believe that by playing faster and creating new playing techniques you can progress forward, but then they realize that emotionally they don’t progress at all. They transmit nothing to the people listening and they stay at where Hendrix was three decades ago. Something like that happened to Vai in the 80s.”

All of the guitars he plays were made before 1970. 

Solo work 

In addition to his work with RHCP, Frusciante has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, including acid house music under the name “Trickfinger”. After leaving RHCP for the second time in 2009, Frusciante shifted his attention to electronic music as an alternative to traditional songwriting. 

“I’m always drawing inspiration from different kinds of music and playing guitar along with records, and I go into each new album project with a preconceived idea of what styles I want to combine,” he told Guitar Player magazine in 2006. 

 

Once you master John Frusciante’s playing style, try one of these Red Hot Chili Peppers song lessons! 

 

Under the Bridge


Can’t Stop


Scar Tissue


Californication

Want to play guitar like Slash of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver?

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You’ll be well on your way to “Paradise City”, picking up Slash’s signature licks and style with the Slash Player Study course. This course includes the scales and techniques that the “original guitar hero” uses, and shows you how to incorporate them into your own solos. 

 

Background

London-born Saul Hudson moved to L.A. with his father at the age of five. He was born to parents who were both in the entertainment industry – his mother, Ola J. Hudson, was a fashion designer whose clients included Janis Joplin and David Bowie, and his father, Anthony Hudson, was an English artist who created album covers for musicians including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.

Hudson sometimes went with his mother to work, and was given the nickname “Slash” by actor Seymour Cassel, because he was “always in a hurry”. He formed a band with friend (and future Guns ‘N Roses bandmate) Steven Adler in 1979, originally playing bass. Hudson switched to guitar after hearing music teacher Robert Wolin play “Brown Sugar” by the Rolling Stones. He started taking classes with Wolin, playing a one-stringed flamenco guitar gifted to him by his grandmother. Hudson was a champion BMX biker, but started devoting up to 12 hours a day to playing the guitar.

Hudson played in several bands before joining Guns ‘N Roses and auditioned for the band Poison. He was the lead guitarist of GNR from 1985 to 1996, then played with several other projects including Velvet Revolver until rejoining GNR in 2016.

 

Guitars

Slash is the owner of over 100 guitars worth about $1.92 million, but he calls the Gibson Les Paul “the best all-around guitar for me”. In the studio, he uses a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard replica. He has collaborated with Gibson on 17 signature Les Paul guitars, including the Epiphone Slash “AFD” Les Paul Special-II.

Style 

Slash has cited Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Keith Richards, and Jeff Beck as some of his biggest guitar inspirations. He often utilizes harmonic minor, pentatonic and full scales in his playing, and favors open chord progressions along with picking, hammer-ons, and pull-offs, so even his “rhythm” parts have melody to them.

 

After you’ve mastered Slash’s signature style with the player study course, check out these Guns ‘N Roses songs that are available on the Fret Zealot app.

Sweet Child O’Mine

This 1988 song was Guns ‘N Roses’ third single off of Appetite For Destruction, and was their only number-one hit in the U.S. The song was born when Slash began playing a “circus” melody during a band jam session, and rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin asked him to play it again.


Welcome to the Jungle

Slash describes “Welcome to the Jungle” as one of the first songs the band fully collaborated on from 1985 to 1986 while they were finding their sound. He says the song was written in about three hours.

Want to play guitar like Eddie Van Halen?

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Want to play guitar like Eddie Van Halen?

You can “jump” right into learning his signature style with the Eddie Van Halen Player Study. This course covers the finger tapping pioneer’s signature style, including harmonics, bluesy licks, and pentatonic playing.

Background 

Edward Lodewijk Van Halen was born in Amsterdam to a Dutch multi-instrumentalist father and a mother who was from the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies. The family moved to California in 1962. Both Eddie and his brother Alex started playing the piano at age six. However, despite winning multiple piano competitions, Eddie told Esquire in 2012 that he never learned to read music. The boys were drawn to rock music and Eddie bought a drum kit when Alex bought a guitar, but after hearing Alex play the drum solo from “Wipe Out”, they swapped instruments. 

The brothers formed their first band, “The Broken Combs” in elementary school. Van Halen cites a fourth-grade lunchtime performance with that band as one of the things that made him want to be a professional musician. 

The brothers formed the band Mammoth in 1972, and David Lee Roth joined as lead singer two years later, when the band officially changed its name to Van Halen and started playing the Los Angeles club circuit. They opened for UFO in 1976, and KISS bassist Gene Simmons said he was backstage by the third song waiting to talk to the band. Simmons signed the band and had them record demos, including “Runnin’ With the Devil”, but KISS frontman Paul Stanley and manager Bill Aucoin didn’t want to sign the band to Aucoin’s management portfolio. Van Halen got their own record deal with Warner Records the next year. 

Style 

Eddie Van Halen popularized – but didn’t invent – the two-handed tapping technique. Steve Hackett, Genesis’ lead guitarist in the 1970s, is broadly credited with inventing the technique and was cited as one of Van Halen’s influences. Van Halen also named Led Zepplin’s Jimmy Page as an influence. Up until 2005, Van Halen held a patent for a support device that attaches to the back of an electric guitar, flipping it face upward and allowing the user to tap it like a keyboard. Van Halen liked to dabble in the construction of guitars, playing many custom and heavily-modified instruments throughout the years, including the “Frankenstrat”, a guitar he built out of various parts. 

 

Legacy 

Van Halen died in Oct. 2020 after a long battle with cancer. Before that, he donated 75 of his own guitars to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, which gives instruments to students in low-income schools. Van Halen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, and Eddie is widely regarded as one of the best guitar players in rock history. 

 

Once you master Eddie Van Halen’s playing style, try one of these Van Halen song lessons!

Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love 

Eddie Van Halen wrote this song, but didn’t think it was good enough to show to his bandmates for a year! It was one of the few songs from the original David Lee Roth era that his replacement, Sammy Hagar, was willing to perform live. 

Panama 

“Panama” was reportedly written about a car David Lee Roth saw in Las Vegas, the “Panama Express”, after a reporter accused Roth of only writing songs about women, partying and fast cars, and Roth realized he hadn’t written any songs about fast cars. 

 

 

 

Want to learn to play guitar like David Gilmour?

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Want to learn to play like David Gilmour of Pink Floyd?

With the David Gilmour Player study, you’ll be “Learning to Fly” by learning his signature use of bends, vibrato, double note rhythms and minor scale notes.

Background 

David Gilmour joined English rock band Pink Floyd as guitarist and co-vocalist in 1967, just before founding member Syd Barrett left. From a young age, Gilmour’s parents encouraged his passion for music, and Gilmour was inspired by artists like Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, and Bill Haley. According to a 2008 biography, Gilmour taught himself to play guitar using a record set and book by Pete Seeger. He met Barrett and fellow future Pink Floyd bandmate Roger Waters at 11. The boys attended different schools on the same road. He practiced guitar at lunchtime with Barrett. 

In 1962, Gilmour joined a blues band called “Jokers Wild”. They recorded an album of which only 50 copies were made. Gilmour busked around Spain and France with Barrett and some other friends in 1965. With very little money, the boys were arrested at one point, and Gilmour had to go to the hospital at one point for malnutrition. In 1967, Gilmour traveled to France with two of his “Jokers Wild” bandmates, performing under the names “Flowers” and “Bullitt”. The group was not financially successful, although Gilmour contributed vocals for two songs on the Brigette Bardot film Two Weeks in September. When the band got back to England later that year, they were so strapped for cash that they had to push their tour bus. 

Style

Gilmour’s playing style has been described as a link between Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen. He welds electric blues and rock guitar techniques in his playing, which utilizes vibrato with a whammy bar, string bending, and use of scales and arpeggios. In addition to guitar, Gilour plays bass, keyboards, banjo, lap steel, mandolin, harmonica, drums, and saxophone.

Legacy and awards 

Gilmour continued to play with Pink Floyd after Roger Waters left the band in 1985. He has also released four solo albums, was inducted into the U.S and U.K. Rock and Roll Hall of Fames, and was made a Commander of the Order of the British empire. He has also produced several artists including Dream Academy. 

The Kate Bush connection

English singer Kate Bush enjoyed a new surge of popularity in 2022 after her 1985 song “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” went viral, thanks to being used in the soundtrack for Stranger Things Part. 4. Gilmour is often credited with bringing Bush into the public eye. In the 1970s, he received a mixtape by the then 16-year-old Bush from a family friend, and paid for her to professionally record three demo tracks. He also arranged for the EMI executive who signed Bush to hear the tape.

Once you learn Gilmour’s signature style, you can test drive it with Pink Floyd lessons on the Fret Zealot app!

Comfortably Numb 

Gilmour wrote the music for one of Pink Floyd’s most recognizable songs, and Roger Waters wrote the lyrics. The song is part of their concept album The Wall (released in 1979) and was inspired by Waters being injected with a muscle relaxant to help with hepatitis symptoms before a show.

Wish You Were Here 

The original album version of “Wish You Were Here” switches from the previous track, “Have a Cigar”, as if it was played on a radio switching from station to station, including a snippet of classical music and a radio play between tracks. The audio was recorded from Gilmour’s car radio. Gilmour then plays the intro on a 12-string guitar and overdubs another acoustic guitar solo. The part is mixed to sound like someone is playing guitar with the radio.

Want to learn how to play guitar like Carlos Santana?

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Want to learn to play guitar like fusion pioneer Carlos Santana? Learning his style will be “Smooth” with the Carlos Santana Player study from Fret Zealot.

This course covers Santana’s signature style, including legato style, playing pentatonic scales and the Dorian mode, and utilizing speed changes.

Background

Carlos Augusto Santana Alves is a ten-time GRAMMY award-winning guitarist who is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – but his first instrument was the violin. Santana, who was born in Jalisco, Mexico, was taught violin at age five and guitar at age eight by his father, who was a mariachi musician.

Santana was influenced as a child by blues artists like B.B. King and Gábor Szabó, as well as Chicano rock pioneer Ritchie Valens. In the 1950s, he joined bands playing along the Tijuana Strip and developed his sound as a guitarist. After moving with his family to San Francisco in 1961 – which was the birthplace of the burgeoning psychedelic movement – Santana started the Santana Blues Band. Playing a unique blend of Latin-infused rock, African rhythms, salsa, jazz, and blues, the band quickly grew a following in the Golden City. After being signed to Columbia Records, the band performed at the iconic 1969 Woodstock Music Festival – before their debut album was even released.

Style

"Carlos Santana" by badosa is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Santana has had a decades-spanning career, and his signature tone and playing style has evolved over the years. Some features of his playing that have held over time include his use of long, sustained notes sans vibrato, trademark trills, and unique sense of timing – he often plays riffs that are rhythmically complex.

Awards and legacy 

Santana has won multiple music awards, including the Billboard Lifetime Achievement and Spirit of Hope awards, two GRAMMY awards and a Latin GRAMMY award for Person of the Year (2004), Kennedy Center Honors, a NAACP image award, and many others. Along with his former wife Deborah King, he co-founded the Milagro Foundation, which supports children who lack resources in arts, education, and health. 

 

Want to learn to play guitar like Dimebag Darrell?

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Want to learn to play like Dimebag Darrell of Pantera?

With the Dimebag Darrell Player study from Fret Zealot, you’ll be able to “Walk” in the footsteps of the legendary Pantera and Damageplan guitarist, learning his signature tricks, licks, and techniques.

Background

Darrell Lance Abbott, known by his stage name “Dimebag”, co-founded both bands with his brother, Vinnie Paul. Abbott, the son of a country music producer, started playing guitar at age 12 on a Les Paul-style Hohner that he received on his 12th birthday. Young Abbott was influenced by bands like KISS, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, and Judas Priest.

According to GuitarWorld, at age 14, Abbott entered a guitar contest at a Dallas nightclub, which Dean Zelinsky, founder of Dean Guitars, was judging. “Dimebag blew everyone away,” Zelinsky recalled in a 2010 article.

Pantera was formed in 1981 as a glam metal band. Vinnie Paul accepted an invitation from his high school classmates to start a band, but on the condition that Abbott be allowed to join as well. They released their first album “Metal Magic”, in 1983 when Abbott was 16 years old. After releasing two more albums in the glam metal style, the Abbott brothers started being influenced by bands like Metallica and Slayer, which helped them to develop the groove metal style Pantera is known for.

Style

"Dimebag Darrell with Pantera" by Rik Goldman is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

Abbott used major thirds in his riffs and leads – a technique inspired by Van Halen – which created dissonance with tones in minor keys. He also utilized harmonics to create a signature “squealing” sound, and used alternative tunings throughout his career, including Drop D and down 1 and ½ step tuning.

Legacy

In 2004, while performing with Damageplan in a Columbus, Ohio nightclub, 38-year-old Abbott was fatally shot onstage, as well as the band’s head of security, a fan, and a venue employee. His funeral was attended by thousands of fans and artists, including Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen donated his original black-and-yellow guitar to be included in Abbott’s casket – Abbott had met Van Halen a few weeks earlier and asked him for a replica of the guitar. Abbott was posthumously inducted into Hollywood’s RockWalk in 2007, and was ranked as the most influential metal guitarist of the past 25 years by VH1 in 2015.

Once you learn Abbott’s signature style, you can test drive it with over 90 Pantera tabs on the Fret Zealot app!

@fret_zealot

If you want a wild ride, try learning #CowboysFromHell by Pantera. Here it is full speed on #FretZealot #fyp #GuitarTok #MetalHead #music #GuitarLesson #guitar #metaltok

♬ Cowboys from Hell – Pantera

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