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10 - Thumping, Glitch, and Butterfly Tapping: Innovations in Guitar Technique in the New Millennium

from Part III - Musical Style and Technique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2024

Jan-Peter Herbst
Affiliation:
University of Huddersfield
Steve Waksman
Affiliation:
Smith College, Massachusetts
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Summary

Guitar playing styles have gradually, albeit substantially, changed over time. The new millennium in particular brought a fundamental change in playing techniques, primarily due to technological advances such as extended-range guitars. Established techniques were adapted to new instrument designs and their use in progressive musical styles. This chapter introduces novel approaches to melodic playing in three areas of progressive rock subgenres: percussive techniques, tapping, and using the thumb. The analysis of contemporary techniques includes adaptations from the electric bass that inspired thumping, slapping, and popping techniques. Concerning tapping, traditional shred tapping is complemented by forms of pianistic multi-finger and multi-role tapping, as well as percussive glitch and butterfly tapping. Finally, examining thumb use demonstrates that the picking-hand thumb is now involved in techniques such as under-strumming. The chapter shows how these techniques are used in progressive rock and metal, where virtuosity is expected and where guitarists must actively explore unique ways of playing to distinguish themselves from other skilled players.

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Chapter
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

Selected Bibliography

Herbst, Jan-Peter, “Shredding, Tapping and Sweeping: Effects of Guitar Distortion on Playability and Expressiveness in Rock and Metal Solos,” Metal Music Studies 3/2 (2017): 231250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Herbst, Jan-PeterEmpirical Explorations of Guitar Players’ Attitudes Towards their Equipment and the Role of Distortion in Rock Music,” Current Musicology 105 (2019): 75106.Google Scholar
Herbst, Jan-Peter and Vallejo, Alexander, Rock Guitar Virtuosos: Advances in Electric Guitar Playing, Technology and Culture (Cambridge University Press, 2023).Google Scholar
Heritage, Gareth, “‘It’s Like a Mach Piece, Really’: Critiquing the Neo-Classical Aesthetic of ’80s Heavy Metal Music,” in Global Metal Music and Culture, edited by Brown, Andy R. et al. (Routledge, 2016), pp. 5067.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shelvock, Matt, “The Progressive Heavy Metal Guitarist’s Signal Chain: Contemporary Analogue and Digital Strategies,” KES Transactions on Innovation in Music 1/1 (2014): 126138.Google Scholar
Slaven, James E. and Krout, Jodie L., “Musicological Analysis of Guitar Solos from the Roots of Rock Through Modern Heavy Metal,” Metal Music Studies 2/2 (2016): 245251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vallejo, Alexander, “Development, Mechanics and Compositional Uses of Virtuosic Electric Guitar Techniques,” unpublished master’s thesis, University of Huddersfield (2020).Google Scholar
Waksman, Steve, “Contesting Virtuosity: Rock Guitar Since 1976,” in The Cambridge Companion to the Guitar, edited by Coelho, Victor Anand (Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp. 122132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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