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Dave Grohl's Grammys speech tells industry to learn an instrument

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:42:00 +0000

Foo Fighters scooped no less than five awards at last night's 54th Grammys. However, it was Dave Grohl's acceptance speech for Best Rock Album, reminding the crowd of the importance of music's "human element", that brought about a standing ovation.

Check out an abridged version (we took out some of the record company back-slapping) of Grohl's Best Rock Album rallying call below.

Dave Grohl's Grammys acceptance speech:

"This is a great honour, because this record was a special record for our band. Rather than go to the best studio in the world down the street in Hollywood and rather than use all of the fanciest computers that money can buy, we made this one in my garage with some microphones and a tape machine...

"To me this award means a lot because it shows that the human element of music is what's important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that's the most important thing for people to do.

"It's not about being perfect, it's not about sounding absolutely correct, it's not about what goes on in a computer. It's about what goes on in here [your heart] and what goes on in here [your head]."

Among the Foo Fighters' sizeable haul from the night were Grammys for Best Rock Album 'Wasting Light', Best Rock Performance 'Walk', Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance 'White Limo' and Best Rock Song 'Walk'. Check out the full 54th Grammy Awards results report here.

If Dave's got you inspired, you can learn one of the best riffs from 'Wasting Light' in our 'Rope' video lesson.

Graham Coxon offers free download of 'Truth'

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:31:00 +0000

There's a new solo album on the way from Graham Coxon, 'A+E', on 2 April and in a cunning move of savvy promotional awareness he's giving away a new track, 'Truth'.

You can bag said savvy-promotional-awareness-track by heading to www.thisisfakediy.co.uk and supplying your email address. It's dark and kind of shoe-gazey and we like it.

The new record has been produced by Ben Hillier, who has previously produced albums by Blur, Elbow and The Horrrors, and is a noticeably moodier collection than his last album, 'The Spinning Tap'.

Check out the full track list and accompanying tour dates below and then when you're done with that have a peek at the recent Fender Graham Coxon Signature Telecaster.

Graham Coxon 'A+E' track list

1. Advice
2. City Hall
3. What'll It Take
4. Meet+Drink+Pollinate
5. The Truth
6. Seven Naked Valleys
7. Running For Your Life
8. Bah Singer
9. Knife In The Cast
10. Ohh, Yeh, Yeh

Graham Coxon 2012 UK tour dates

13 April – Oxford, O2 Academy
15 April – Gateshead, Sage
16 April – Edinburgh, Liquid Rooms
17 April – Glasgow, Garage
19 April – Manchester, Sound Control
20 April – Sheffield, Leadmill
21 April – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
23 April – Brighton, Concorde
24 April – Cambridge, Junction
25 April – London, Forum
27 April – Gloucester, Guildhall
28 April – Bristol, Trinity
29 April – Exeter, Phoenix
30 April – Falmouth, Princess Pavilions

Periphery's debut album track-by-track (Part Four)

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:32:00 +0000

For the fourth and final instalment of the Periphery track-by-track Misha explains his approach to riff writing on 'Zyglrox' and his 15-minute magnum opus and album closer 'Racecar'.

The Special Edition of 'Periphery' features instrumentals of all the original tracks and a brand new bonus track, 'Passengers'. The band are also on tour in the UK this week, supporting Dream Theater on their Glasgow, Manchester and London dates. Buy the album on iTunes here: http://bit.ly/w4kmLc

New Slash album gets release date and snazzy video trailer

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:25:00 +0000

The second solo album from Slash is due out on 22 May in the UK and, as was the case with his previous record, will be released exclusively in 'fan pack' format via our sister magazine Classic Rock.

The new Slash Fan Pack will include a magazine dedicated to the guitarist (featuring behind-the-scenes photos), bonus album tracks, a pin badge and a poster of the album artwork and will be available nationwide via newsagents, music retailers and online channels.

There is also the matter of the aforementioned snazzy video trailer for the release, which you can check out above.

We spoke to Slash during the recording sessions for Total Guitar issue 223 and found out about new songs 'Bad Rain', 'Standing In The Sun' and 'Halo'.

Click here to pre-order the Slash Fan Pack, available May 22.

Periphery's debut album track-by-track (Part Three)

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:30:00 +0000

Here's Part Three of Misha and Spencer from Periphery's track-by-track guide to their self-titled debut. This time they talk weird tunings, groove-laden singles and the merits of having a vocalist that can write…

Watch the video to find out about album tracks 'Icarus Lives!', 'Totla Mad' and Ow My Feelings'.

Periphery's debut album track-by-track (Part Two)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:28:00 +0000

This time Spencer Sotelo (vocals) and Misha Mansoor (guitar) explain how they wrote and recorded 'Light', 'All New Materials'and 'Buttersnips', which is about the forthcoming zombie apocalypse.

Check back tomorrow for Part Three and catch Part One on the link below.

Periphery's debut album track-by-track (Part One)

Best Guitar Amps For Gigging: 15 of our favourites

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:59:00 +0000

Most guitarists will eventually feel the call of the stage and while your practice amp will see you through your early living-room gigs, it might not cut it in larger venues. With that in mind, we've put together our pick of five of the best guitar amps for gigging.

Check out our Buying Guides section for more gear advice!

Periphery's debut album track-by-track (Part One)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:25:00 +0000

American djent pioneers Periphery release the Special Edition of their self-titled debut album today and to celebrate we've got a track-by-track guide from guitarist Misha Mansoor and vocalist Spencer Sotelo.

Check out the video above to see Misha and Spencer explain the songwriting process behind 'Insomnia', 'The Walk', 'Letter Experiment' and 'Jetpacks Was Yes!' and check back tomorrow for the next part.

Gibson Tech Talk in London this Tuesday

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:52:00 +0000

Some of the world's best session musicians will be hosting a free Q + A session in London at the Gibson Guitar Studio on Tuesday 7 February at 1pm.

The AllStars Collective are a group of session players that between them have appeared on recordings and played live with the likes of Prince, Michael Jackson, Jeff Beck, Mark Ronson, Brian May, Sir Paul McCartney and Amy Winehouse, and they'll be taking questions from a small crowd at Gibson's London HQ.

Gibson has set aside 10 places for Total Guitar readers and all you have to do to claim them is head to www.facebook.com/gibsonguitaruk, 'like' their page and then add your name to the list on the wall.

The Gibson Guitar Studio is located at 29-35 Rathbone Street, London, W1T 1NJ. Check out the video of a previous Gibson Tech Talk above.

NAMM 2012: 10 Of The Best Electric Guitars

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:30:00 +0000

Trying to pick just 10 of our most anticipated new arrivals after this year's winter NAMM show is like picking a puppy from a shelter – we want to take them ALL home. Here's a selection of some of our favourite electric guitars from NAMM 2012.

Download the new Darkness song 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us'

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:12:00 +0000

Lowestoft's finest cat-suited cock-rockers The Darkness have unveiled a brand new track titled 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us' through their website. Check out the rather brilliant video above and head to www.theactualdarkness.com to download it for free.

UPDATE: Guess which amazing magazine we just spotted? Find the TG!

The band have been hard at work on their as-yet-untitled third album, the follow-up to 2005's 'One Way Ticket To Hell… And Back', for nearly a year. In fact, when TG spoke to frontman Justin Hawkins back in August last year, he reckoned that the album was nearly done.

"To use one analogy, the house is built," he told TG. "And it's a lovely house. How we decorate it is the next conundrum. We're getting to the stage where it's like, how much do we want to blow it?"

Recently, Hawkins told Billboard that we could see the album as soon as next month, a claim the emergence of this latest track would seem to support.

TC Electronic unveils John Petrucci signature pedal: The Dreamscape

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:52:00 +0000

That dazzling box of sparkling teal you're looking at is the brand new John Petrucci Dreamscape pedal from TC Electronic – a stompbox which collects together all of the Dream Theater guitarist's signature TonePrint settings into one unit.

John uses the firm's Corona Chorus, Vortex Flanger and Shaker Vibrato as part of his live rig and has worked directly with the Danish firm to build all of his TonePrint presets into one triple-modulation pedal.

Controls on the unit include Speed, Depth and FX Level knobs, a three-position toggle-switch with Bright, Normal and Dark settings and a seven-position knob for selecting the six preset modulation effects or a TC Electronic TonePrint setting (which allows the uploading of Corona Chorus TonePrints).

The Dreamscape also has the standard stereo quarter-inch ins and outs found on all of the TonePrint range, plus a rather fetching sparkly teal finish and a John Petrucci logo.

The Dreamscape is set to retail for £209 and will be available in the UK later this month. Head to the TC Electronic site for more information.

John Petrucci recently sat down with Trivium's Matt Heafy for a series of technique discussions: John Petrucci and Matt Heafy talk sweep picking