Latest articles by Amit Sharma
Session ace Monte Pittman’s top 5 tips for guitarists: "Versatility is a huge thing for me. If I just did one style, I don’t know if I would have survived this long"
In-demand player on the merits of diversity, the key to faster speed-picking and teaching Madonna to play Pantera
Uriah Heep’s Mick Box: "I try to stay away from the scales and just go with my heart"
Rock stalwart reflects on his fluid guitar approach, the band's 25th album and… wah-wah shoes
Production legend Michael Beinhorn: my 12 career-defining records
Reflections on working with Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Marilyn Manson and much, much more...
Alex Skolnick: "Being on a track with Joe Satriani made it feel very real - time to up the game!"
Testament guitar ace on Metal Allegiance's star-studded second album
Code Orange: “We don’t give a s**t about what the typical structure should be; it’s about what we feel is right for our sound”
We speak to the Grammy-nominated hardcore band
The Pineapple Thief’s Bruce Soord: the 10 guitar albums that blew my mind
Prog mage names his faves
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
