
Steal inspiration, vocabulary, and picking techniques from legendary acoustic players.
Intermediate
Beginner
- Improve your alternate picking.
- Discover how to use the ācountryā scale.
- Create a deeper understanding of chord shapes across the neck.
There have been many bluegrass guitar icons, from the pioneering Doc Watson, Clarence White, and Tony Rice, to such modern masters as Bryan Sutton and David Grier. Today, younger players like Molly Tuttle and Carl Miner keep the genre alive.
Traditionally, bluegrass is played on acoustic instruments. Some people will tell you that putting the words āelectricā and ābluegrassā in the same sentence creates an oxymoron, like ābaroque jazz.ā Although those purists have a valid point, electric bluegrass and newgrass are accepted genres that take influence from the early pickers and apply it to more modern instrumentation. And thatās exactly what weāll do right now.
This lesson will focus on the fundamental techniques and note choices youāll need to unlock the essence of flatpick guitar. Once you digest the basics, youāll be ready to steal endless amounts of vocabulary from the masters of the style. The first thing to discuss is alternate-picking technique. Traditional flatpickers exist in a purely acoustic world, and being heard over loud banjos, Dobros, and fiddles is extremely important. The best way to achieve this is with a strong picking hand thatās capable of projecting each note to the audience.
Ex. 1 is a simple ascending and descending G major pentatonic scale (GāAāBāDāE). This is played with strict alternate picking: Begin with a downstroke, then follow it with an upstroke, then play a downstroke, and so on.
The problem with alternate picking will always be when you cross strings. (Note: Entire books have been devoted to this subjectāweāre just scratching the surface here.) The two aspects weāll examine right now are āinsideā and āoutsideā picking.
Outside picking is what happens when you pick a string, and then while targeting the next one, you jump over it and swing back to pick it. The flatpick attacks the outside edges of the two strings.
In Ex. 2, play the A string with a downstroke, then the D string with an upstroke. This is outside motion. Each subsequent string crossing motion uses this outside picking technique.
Most players find the outside mechanics easier than the more restrictive inside motion. As you may be able to work out, inside picking technique is where your pick is stuck between two strings.
The following lick (Ex. 3) uses only this inside motion. Play it slowly and then compare how fast and accurately you can play it relative to Ex. 2.
You wonāt have the luxury of structuring all your phrases to eliminate one motion or the other, so itās best to accept this reality and develop the skills needed to get by with both approaches. The best of the best didnāt make excuses, they just played down-up-down-up over and over for decades.
Ex. 4 features one note per string. This fast string-crossing motion requires a good level of proficiency with both inside and outside approaches to build up any sort of speed.
The secret to alternate picking isnāt to always alternate pickstrokes between notes, but to keep the motion of the hand going. In short, the hand will move in the alternating fashion whether or not you strike a string. If you have a stream of eighth-notes, theyāll be alternate picked, but if there are some quarter-notes thrown in, the hand wonāt freeze and wait for the next note. Youāll play the note with a downstroke, move up and not play anything, then drop back onto the strings and play the next note with a downstroke (Ex. 5).
This way all your downbeats are played with downstrokes and upbeats are upstrokes. Youāll see people refer to this as āstrict alternate picking.ā With that out of the way, itās worth looking at the note choices of a typical bluegrass player.
A quick analysis of some bluegrass tunes will reveal this isnāt harmonically complex music. Nearly all of the chords youāre going to be dealing with are major and minor triads, so note choice isnāt going to break the brain.
One approach would be to play a line based on the major scale of the key youāre in. For example, if youāre playing a song in G, the G major scale (GāAāBāCāDāEāF#) makes a good starting point.
A more stylistically appropriate approach would be to use the ācountry scale,ā which is a major pentatonic scale with an added b3. In G that would be GāAāBbāBāDāE. Ex. 6 shows this scale played beginning in the open position and moving up on the 3rd string.
Letās put all this into practice. Ex. 7 shows a line built around a G chord using this strict alternate-picking motion applied to string crossing mechanics in both directions. This sticks closely to the country scale, but thereās also an added C in the third measure to allow the 3 to land on the downbeat of measure four.
This next line (Ex. 8) uses the same idea, but now beginning up at the 5th fret area and moving down over the course of the lick.
Itās worth looking at each string crossing to categorize it as inside or outside. This will help further your understanding of the importance of these two picking techniques.
Hereās another idea around G (Ex. 9), but to create some smoother motion, this time we add notes from G Mixolydian (GāAāBāCāDāEāF), as well as a bluesy Db (b5) as a chromatic passing tone. The trick here is nailing all the position shifts as youāre going from the 3rd fret up to the 10th fret.
Our final example (Ex. 10) takes what weāve learned about approaching a major chord and applies it to two different chords. First, we have two measures of G, then C, and back to G.
When playing over the C, your note choice changes to the country scale, but now built from C (CāDāEbāEāGāA). Switching between these chords poses a technical challenge, along with a visual one. Take your time with a lick like this, and make sure youāre able to see the underlying chord at all times.
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Handcrafted in the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop, each set includes gray bottom flatwork and a pad-printed signature from Joe. The first 500 sets will be aged, packaged in limited edition boxes, and include a certificate of authenticity.
This set faithfully captures the tone of one of Joe's most cherished instruments. These period-correct pickups feature precisely staggered Alnico 5 magnets and an authentic design that recreates the magic of this special '64 Strat. Handcrafted in the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop, each set includes gray bottom flatwork and a pad-printed signature from Joe. The first 500 sets will be aged, packaged in limited edition boxes, and include a certificate of authenticity signed by Joe Bonamassa and Seymour W. Duncan.
Pre-CBS Fender Stratocasters have long held the mystique and imagination of Fenderās biggest fans. By early 1964, Fender had started to build their StratĀ® pickups with gray flatwork, and these gray bottom pickups were known for a notably punchy sound and higher output. Finding a pre-CBS StratĀ® with these rare pickups can be a challenge.
However, as Joe Bonamassa discovered, sometimes looking beyond a guitarās originality can lead to uncovering a truly exceptional example. Joeās 1964 StratocasterĀ® started its life with a three-tone sunburst finish and stock gray-bottom pickups, but was refinished with a unique āGreenburstā, which instantly captivated Joe. With the powerful sounding pickups, great playability, and striking look, Joe knew it was āan instant starā.
Lucky for guitar players everywhere, Joe Bonamassa has once again collaborated with the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop to offer the magic sound of one of his favorite instruments through a new set of signature gray bottom StratĀ® pickups. The Joe Bonamassa āGreenburstā StratocasterĀ® Set is made with period-correct wiring and staggered alnico 5 magnets. The gray bottom flatwork is pad printed with Joeās signature, and the first 500 sets will be aged, and include limited edition packaging and a certificate of authenticity signed by Joe and Seymour W. Duncan.
Fans of Joe Bonamassa have seen the Greenburst StratĀ® light up the stage on tour with Joe, and now the powerful sound of āthe coolest, most hideous guitarā in Joeās collection can be attained in a StratĀ® of your own.
For more information, please visit customshop.seymourduncan.com.
The Joe Bonamassa āGreenburstā StratocasterĀ® Pickup Set - YouTube
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Set, Bonamassa 64 Greenburst Strat LTDClean power is an essential part of the pedalboard recipe. Hereās a collection of power supplies that will keep you up and running.
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Strymon Zuma
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Mission Engineering 529i
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Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 3 PLUS
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DāAddario XPND Pedal Power Battery Kit
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Killswitch Engage are, from left to right, Justin Foley on drums, guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, vocalist Jesse Leach, bassist Mike DāAntonio, and guitarist Joel Stroetzel.
The metalcore pioneers return with an album for the times, This Consequence, that explores division, war, and other modern-day troubles to the tune of the bandās tandem guitar duoās brutal, lockstep riff-ery.
āWe donāt consider ourselves politicians or into politics by any means, but the sense of national unrest, and the unwillingness to work together, itās really grated on us,ā admits Killswitch Engage guitarist/producer Adam Dutkiewicz (Adam D, professionally). āItās manifested itself into the songs and lyrics.ā
As a result, Killswitch Engageās ninth full-length LP, This Consequence, has all the hallmarks of a band meeting its moment. Itās been nearly a quarter-century since they released their eponymous debut, and theyāve subsequently achieved a career-sustaining amount of success as one of the main architects of the metalcore genre, but This Consequence is likely their first album to highlight such a clearly articulated, socially conscious through line.
Lyrically, cause-and-effect is a driving theme on This Consequence, and Killswitch Engage (KSE) captures the zeitgeist of the 2020s with incisive, often cautionary, commentary regarding topics like war, hatred, division, and falling in line. Musically, the band has channeled those same sources of inspiration into performances that feel more urgent, and thus more sincere, creating a viscerally brutal yet brilliantly melodic slab of postmodern metalcore. KSE has long held a reputation for having a good time and riling up crowds with uncontainable energy and unpredictable performances, but itās been hard to ignore the degradation of discourse in this country over the last decade, even for these renowned ringmasters.
KSE was formed in 1999 in Westfield, Massachusetts, from the remnants of Overcast and Aftershock, two prominent local metal bands. KSEās early lineup featured founding members Dutkiewicz on drums and Mike DāAntonio on bass, along with vocalist Jesse Leach and guitarist Joel Stroetzel. The fledgling band quickly gained attention for its mix of melodic and death-metal influences: a musical amalgamation that would become the template for metalcore. The bandās second album, 2002ās Alive or Just Breathing, was pivotal, marking a major shift in their sound and identity, with a dual-guitar attack leading the charge. In order to accurately render that album in concert, Dutkiewicz switched to guitar, and they brought in Tom Gomes on drums. The record includes some of the bandās most iconic songs to date, including, āMy Last Serenade,ā āFixation on the Darkness,ā and āThe Element of One.ā Adopting a two-guitar approach was a masterstroke and Alive or Just Breathing has since become one of metalcoreās most definitive albums, blending deft, tightly synchronized guitar riffs with battering rhythms, guttural verses, melodic choruses, and a hardcore punk attitude. It was a winning formula that enabled KSE to build a huge fan base.
āEverything I bring to the table, I tell them, āWe can throw it away.āāāAdam Dutkiewicz
In 2004, they released The End of Heartache, their first to feature Howard Jones on lead vocals and Justin Foley on drums. The album reached No. 21 on the Billboard200 and earned a Best Metal Performance Grammy nomination for the title track. Songs like āWhen Darkness Fallsā and āRose of Sharynā continued to elevate KSEās status within the metalcore hierarchy. In 2009, Jones left and Leach returned. Disarm the Descent was released in 2013 and debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard200, marking the bandās highest charting debut to that point. Incarnate followed in 2016, and then Atonement, their first release on Metal Blade, in 2019. KSE was on a roll with Leach firmly back in the fold, and ready to tour when the pandemic struck. During the downtime, inspiration hit, so they regrouped, wrote, rehearsed, and eventually recorded This Consequence. Songs like āAftermath,ā āAbandon Us,ā and āBroken Glassā exemplify the kind of relatable cultural commentary that can be cathartic for todayās disenfranchisedāespecially when paired with the bandās other equally memorable musical attributes.
In riffs they trust: Killswitch Engageās Adam Dutkiewicz (left) and Mike Stroetzel prefer strong, arranged guitar parts that create scenes within arrangements, rather than flash shredding.
Photo by Mike White
The writing and rehearsal process for This Consequence was the first time since Alive or Just Breathing that all five members convened in a studio to work out the material before recording. Like many artists nowadays, KSE had been writing and recording remotely for at least the last decade. Stroetzel says it was great to be able to work on the tunes together, in the same room, and that, musically, it allowed the arrangements to come together a little bit faster. āEspecially the songs that were only partially finished,ā chimes in Dutkiewicz. In addition to his role on guitar, Dutkiewicz has been the bandās producerāhis major at Berkleeāalmost since inception. Perhaps having a skill set with that kind of overview is why heās also the only member of the group to craft fully fleshed-out songs on his own. And yet, even he recognizes how his material benefitted from their rehearsal process this time. āIt was really good for everybody in the band to get their hands on their instruments, learn the riffs, and then tweak them to their level of comfort,ā he says. āTheyāre more invested in the song that way because their voice and their sound is on it. And when we play the song live, itās more their song, instead of that song that Adam wrote.ā
āA tight staccato section needs a wide, harmonically rich section to complement it. We try our best to have scenes in a song like that.āāAdam Dutkiewicz
The cultural continuity of the lyrics on This Consequence didnāt just come about by happenstance, either. Itās not a concept album per se, but the band encouraged Leach to continually refine his lyrics and elevate his ideas and topics. āWhen youāre writing lyrics for that many songs at once, itās easy to fall into the tendency of writing about the same topics, with the same vibe,ā says Dutkiewicz. āHe just needed to try something completely different.ā As a result, Leach tapped into his own angst about the current state of world affairs, bestowing upon This Consequence the kind of social relevance that previous KSE albums never quite captured so succinctly. āJesse gets the gold star for trying the hardest,ā commends Dutkiewicz.
Per usual, Adam Dutkiewicz served as producer for the new album, but engineer Mark Lewis at MRL Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, played a significant role in determining its final sonic character.
Dutkiewicz isnāt particularly attached to his own musical ideas or songs and admits heās willing to deconstruct just about anything for the good of the group, even after heās submitted a complete demo to the rest of the guys. āEverything I bring to the table, I tell them, āWe can throw it away.ā I think a big part of being an artist is just the creation of things and sometimes the destruction of things.ā Dutkiewiczās willingness to analyze material from that perspective is part of what makes him such a good de facto producer for the band. āItās just not having an ego about anything,ā he says. āYou always have to remember you have to do whatās best for the song and not for my riff.ā Another theme that runs through KSE songs on This Consequence, and in general, is how their arrangements work. They employ a visual, almost cinematic approach to production and songcraft. āItās almost like you want scenes in a song,ā explains Dutkiewicz. āA tight staccato section needs a wide, harmonically rich section to complement it. We try our best to have scenes in a song like that.ā
āWe play together a little behind the beat now. Before, we were fighting each other a little bit.āāJoel Stroetzel
Dutkiewicz and Stroetzel have been playing guitar together since long before the release of Alive or Just Breathing, mostly because the former has always worn multiple hats within the band, and share many of the same influences, including Megadeth, Slayer, Testament, Sepultura, and especially Metallica. They both credit James Hetfield for setting the bar when it comes to their own obsession with fast, articulate rhythm-guitar playing. As Stroetzel got older he gravitated towards classic rock, especially Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. āNow I can play things other than metal,ā he jokes. Dutkiewicz, on the other hand, got into the classic stuff at a younger age, citing his early infatuation with Eddie Van Halen and Angus Young. āItās more so Angus Youngās spirit and onstage attitude,ā he clarifies. Dutkiewiczās high-energy stage presence validates that sentiment.
Adam Dutkiewiczās Gear
Adam Dutkiewicz, telegraphing his love of suds, onstage at Los Angelesā Wiltern Theatre in February 2022, playing his Caparison TAT Special FX āMetal Machineā with Fishman Fluence Signature Series Killswitch Engage Pickups.
Photo by Debi Del Grande
Guitars
- Caparison TAT Special FX āMetal Machineā with Fishman Fluence Signature Series Killswitch Engage Pickups
Amps
- Kemper Profiler
- Kemper Stage
- Mesa/Boogie 4x12 cabs with Celestion speakers
Effects
- Electro-Harmonix Magnum 44 Power Amp
- Maxon OD808 Overdrive
Strings, Picks, Microphones, &
Accessories
- DāAddario EXL115 XL Nickel Wound (.011ā .049)
- In-Tune XJ Jazz 1.14 mm
- Shure ULXD and GLXD wireless systems
- sE V7 Dynamic Microphones
- DāAddario Planet Waves cables
Stroetzel confesses that it took some time to develop into the symbiotic guitar tandem thatās become a signature musical element of the KSE sound. āWe play together a little behind the beat now,ā he explains. āBefore, we were fighting each other a little bit. I always thought Adam had a very forward style with his picking, but heās mellowed over the years. I had to pick up the pace a little, Adam relaxed a little bit, and I think we found a happy midpoint. It only took 25 years [laughter].ā Part of the challenge has been adapting to how the other person writes. āI struggle with some of Joelās articulate phrasing sections,ā explains Dutkiewicz. āIām just a big mangler and heās got these well-phrased sections. And Iām just like, āGod, ah.ā He plays a lot more guitar than me, so his string skipping and pick phrasing is way beyond what Iām capable of doing.ā Stroetzel says he struggles with some of Dutkiewiczās chord voicings because he has such big hands. āSome of these chords he can reach, Iām like, āMan, how do you even do that?āā
āJust hearing the Kemper for the first time, and what it could actually do, was pretty impressive, especially for high-gain tone.āāJoel Stroetzel
Surprisingly, however, they donāt actually even take guitar solos in the traditional sense. āWeāre not necessarily looking to throw leads on everything,ā admits Dutkiewicz. āTo us, itās just a musical interlude. You canāt have vocals [constantly] for three minutes and 30 seconds, so itās just a quick little side journey in the song.ā One of the closest things to an actual guitar solo is probably on the opening track āAbandon Us,ā right after the first chorus, which features the nimble-fingered fretwork of Dutkiewicz, but even thatās more like a short detour than a bona fide lead break. Instead, they tend to incorporate a lot of Thin Lizzy/Iron Maiden-style harmony parts and deploy single-note phrases, counter melodies, and sub-hooks to the vocals in bridges and choruses, weaving a layered tapestry of melodic ear candy. Songwriting is ultimately their primary focus, and the songs are relatively short and to the point for a metal band, so there doesnāt seem to be a need to clutter things up with unnecessary solos. When it comes to crafting such parts, the general rule of thumb for assigning these melodious forays is whoever writes the song, or initiates the song idea, does the honors. And so, songs like āDiscordant Nation,ā āI Believe,ā and āRequiemā highlight Stroetzelās nuanced lyrical phrases, while āAbandon Usā and āWhere It Diesā feature Dutkiewiczās more shred-like soloing style.
When it comes to tone, Stroetzel in particular remains a big fan of tube amps, and the band has a long history of utilizing heads from boutique manufacturers like Diezel, Framus, and Friedman. In recent years, however, software sounds have gotten much better, and theyāve gravitated towards profiling amps and plugins, especially live. āJust hearing the Kemper for the first time, and what it could actually do, was pretty impressive, especially for high-gain tone,ā explains Stroetzel. āIf you want an aggressive metal tone, I think the Kemper does a nice job capturing that, and it works great liveāweāre consistent from night to night.ā And besides, they both openly admit itās not like KSE requires a lot of nuanced technique. āWe donāt have very delicate parts in our songs,ā jokes Dutkiewicz. āEven our clean tones arenāt very touch sensitive.ā
Joel Stroetzel's Gear
Joel Stroetzel, here, and Adam Dutkiewicz both play signature-model Caparison guitars. Stroetzelās is a Dellinger-JSM V2.
Photo by Debi Del Grande
Guitars
- Caparison Dellinger-JSM V2 with Fishman Fluence Signature Series Killswitch Engage Pickups
Amps
- Kemper Profiler
- Kemper Stage
- Mesa/Boogie 4x12 cabs with Celestion speakers
Effects
- Electro-Harmonix Magnum 44 Power Amp
- Maxon OD808 Overdrive
Strings, Picks, Microphones, &
Accessories
- DāAddario EXL115 XL Nickel Wound (.011ā.049)
- DāAddario Duralin Black Ice 1.10 mm
- Shure ULXD and GLXD wireless systems
- sE V7 Dynamic Microphones
- DāAddario Planet Waves cables
Dutkiewicz says that what listeners end up hearing, tone-wise, is ultimately up to whoever mixes the album, which, in the case of This Consequence, was Mark Lewis at MRL Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Aside from that, everything else is very cut-and-dried. Stroetzel says thereās always a Maxon OD808 on everything they do thatās dirty. āThrow a little bit of that boost in there, and it just kind of compresses the tone a little bit and brings out the midrange a little more,ā he explains. āAnd then, all we really need is a noise gate. Thatās it.ā They both play Caparison signature model guitars, incorporating elements of other instruments theyāve played over the years. āIāve always liked Fender-style guitarsāStrats and Teles,ā says Stroetzel. āSo, my signature model is constructed with those in mind, but to sound a little bit thicker and have some thunder in the low end, like a hot-rod metal guitar.ā Dutkiewicz says his guitar was designed with simplicity in mind. āI was ruining guitars on tour,ā he admits. āI had a bolt-on once, and my sweat got into the bolt holes and it actually rotted out. I couldnāt believe it. Sweat was getting in the cavity of the guitar, and it was cutting out the pickups and causing corrosion on the electronics inside. So, I got rid of the neck pickup and made it a neck-through. Iām a mangler, so itās loud, bright, and obnoxious, just like me [laughter].ā
As for their revered place in the pantheon of metalcore, Stroetzel takes the humble approach, as many in his position often do, saying theyāre not really concerned with putting a label on KSE. āWe all just try to put in elements of what we like,ā he says. āEverybody in the band has listened to so many different types of music over the years. Itās like, āWho cares if this is a hardcore song or a thrash song?ā It doesnāt really matter. I donāt think weāve ever tried to stick to a specific style. Weāre just a rock band.ā
YouTube It
In this full-set performance from 2023ās Wacken Open Air festival in Itzehoe, Germany, Killswitch Engage dances the line between beauty and brutality.