Australian Guitar

The Arrebato Ensemble is contemporary flamenco with edge. Led by acclaimed guitarists Greg Alfonzetti and Damian de Boos-Smith (who also plays cello), the longtime collaborators are joined by Byron Mark (cajon, percussion and piano) and dancer Chachy

A quarter-century since they first kicked down the barriers of a male-dominated rock scene and cemented themselves as a force of blunt, unwavering fury, Sleater-Kinney are still fighting the good fight – with, by way of necessity, more incandescent f

So, you’ve bought your dream guitar and it’s perfect in every way. The guy at the shop said it’s ready to go and, in no time at all, you know you’ll be playing the big gigs. But as soon as that first rush of excitement wears off, you’ll start to find

As Devin Townsend was wrapping up recording the latest chapter of his storied career, he quickly realised that in order to complete the album, he would have to mix it himself. Sure, Townsend had been involved in production, mixing and so on since the

Generally in the studio, it’s customary to keep things as simple as possible at all stages of the recording process. When miking instruments, we tend to use only as many mics as needed, rather than introduce too many random elements, phasing issues,

This issue we are taking a look at two concepts that I hope will break you out of any improvisation ruts you may find yourself in. The first two exercises are designed to help you break out of the pentatonic box shapes and give you some ideas on how

Fast, ‘shred-style’ licks invariably involve picking from one adjacent string to the next. This makes sense, since most scale-based lines move from note to note via small intervals (the distance between two notes). This feels (and sounds) quite natur

When people think of an acoustic guitar, they picture a dreadnought. It’s an iconic image that’s been drilled into us ever since the Great Folk Scare of the 1960s. Back then, almost everyone played a dreadnought – the projection, the booming bass, th

If you look close, you’ll notice there’s something of a trend arising among guitar companies at the moment. A lot of high-end brands are releasing Stratocaster-like guitars with two humbuckers, non-locking tremolos and an extra wiring trick or two. S

For this issue’s lesson I’m once again feeling a little inspired by Steve Vai. If you’ve seen Vai live any time in the last, oh, 15 years, you would have caught him playing a song called “Building The Church” which includes a few very cool over-the-t

Not everyone wants to master the entire fretboard. So much good music can be made with just a couple of notes. If you’re someone who’s learnt that first pentatonic shape and milked it for all it’s worth, this column is for you. I just wanted to provi

In one storied year of hard-nosed hustling, Press Club have vaulted from virtual nobodies to veritable superstars of the Australian rock scene. Driving their rise is a piquant brew of pummelling drums, belting vocals and layer upon layer of stiff and

Ever since Eddie Van Halen and Fender started releasing guitars in the Striped Series - instruments that paid tribute to Eddie’s iconic guitars over the years - fans have been screaming for a reproduction of the Shark, Eddie’s chopped-up Ibanez Destr