Latest articles by Amit Sharma
Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal’s top tips for guitarists: “Learn things that aren’t guitar solos - learn horn parts, violin pieces or piano parts on your guitar”
From Shrapnel to Guns N’ Roses and now newest project Sons Of Apollo, Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal dissects his mad professor-like approach to the fretboard and beyond…
Richie Kotzen: “You should be able to solo in any key, major or minor, if you plan on playing music”
American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Richie Kotzen walks us through his inimitable guitar style…
5 minutes alone - Sevendust's Clint Lowery: "Steve Vai broadened my perspective on what could be done with the guitar"
Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery talks Vai, a PRS called Bruce Lee and the real key to survival in a band...
Black Stone Cherry: “We don’t even know that many scales. We came up with our identities through trial and error”
Ben Wells and Chris Robertson discuss Family Tree and their guitar-playing evolution
Parkway Drive: “We play songs, not wanky guitar bits to make each other or our audience feel like they’re not good enough!”
Parkway Drive guitarists Jeff Ling and Luke Kilpatrick give us a run-through the crushing tones heard on latest opus Reverence...
Randy Bachman's top 5 tips for guitarists: “The guitar is the most personal instrument of them all; it’s right against your heart and soul”
Sat inside the main meeting room of Gibson’s central London HQ, Randy Bachman has a guitar in his hands and is excitedly showing MusicRadar how he came up with his latest set of ideas
Night Verses' Nick DePirro: "With vocals, I often found myself competing with the registers; now I can go from lead to rhythm and anything in between"
Shred-meets-post-rock guitar ace talks going instrumental on From The Gallery Of Sleep
5 minutes alone - Ihsahn: “Thinking smart can often brush off the edges of what might make you unique”
Norwegian metal visionary Ihsahn on making it and why Jonny Greenwood is a genius…
The Darkness's Frankie Poullain: “I honestly believe irreverence is the key to great rock music… and we just didn’t care”
The bassist on his past, present and beloved Thunderbird bass
Bullet For My Valentine: "Right now, I believe more than ever that our strengths are in songwriting, not just guitar playing"
Matt Tuck and Michael ‘Padge’ Paget discuss the tones and technique behind Gravity's sonic reinvention
5 minutes alone - Fall Out Boy's Joe Trohman: “It’s better to have an identity than be the world’s ultimate shredder”
Fall Out Boy axeman Joe Trohman on giving up the trombone, his biggest playing weakness and starting a band with one of his all-time guitar heroes...
Rig tour: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have long defied convention. They blur the lines between indie garage and stoner fuzz, swap sides/rigs mid-set, plug hollow bodies into bass amps and use live loops
Michael Schenker's 10 tips for guitarists: "The key is making each note carry a meaning"
Michael Schenker is easily one of the more philosophical guitarists seen in these parts
Of Mice & Men’s Phil Manansala: "I never realised the similarities between pop songwriting methods and our music - I just wrote breakdowns and sick riffs!"
Metalcore mainstay talks analysing Britney with Linkin Park, Austin Carlile's departure and why OMAM have just had their best year yet
Five Finger Death Punch’s Zoltan Bathory - my top 5 tips for guitarists: "Turn the gain all the way down so you have to hear every f**k-up"
Hungarian-born hard-rocker shares his songwriting, gear and technique secrets
Michael Lee Firkins’ top 5 tips for guitarists: “A solo is an open field where you can play anything; filling it with just a scale or sequence seems like a waste”
Country shredder shares his technique secrets
Brent Cobb's 10 essential country guitar albums: "What those guys were doing was imitating the sound of their surroundings"
Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter names the country records you need to hear
Gus G's top 5 tips for guitarists: "All techniques need to have a musical meaning"
Greek shred sage talks building speed, effective practice and life after Ozzy
Galactic Empire's Dark Vader: "This was all about making a cool YouTube video. We didn’t have any expectations about this turning into a band"
The viral Star Wars superstar and Sith shred lord on the band's guitar orchestrations and unlikely success story
Def Leppard's Rick Savage: “As a bassist, you should be the perfect bridge between the rhythm and the colour”
Heavy rock. Heavy metal. Pop-rock? Def Leppard bassist Rick ‘Sav’ Savage has heard it all, played it all and sold millions of copies of his band’s music. whatever it is, it has enduring power
Miyavi's top 5 tips for guitarists: "The distance between you and the guitar - you need to overcome that"
Japanese superstar reveals the secrets to passionate playing
Andy Summers' career in gear: "It’s all mythology: sometimes old guitars are great but not always"
The Police guitarist on the guitars, pedals and amps that shaped his hugely influential sound
