General Interest

“There are other worlds (they have not told you of). They wish to speak to you.” —Sun Ra

Middle Eastern or Mediterranean guitar music is an entire musical world with its very own guitar heroes, legendary solos, coveted gear, mysterious deaths, and (of course) some wigs as well. As the ’60s arrived with a fresh wave of guitar madness, musicians worldwide chose the electric guitar as their voice, working it into their region’s musical vocabulary, which was often based on the local folk instruments. Guitarists like Omar Khorshid and Aris San created guitar history as they infused their regional influences with their new love of the electric guitar and brought a new style of playing to life. To me, these two legends are the Middle Eastern equivalents of the Western guitar world’s beloved Jimi and Jimmy.

A little bit about our stars: Omar Khorshid of Cairo, Egypt, took part in monumental recordings, often with Strat in hand. He played with Oum (also known as Umm) Kolthum, one of the most renowned vocalists in Arabic music. His collaborations with Hany Mehanna are pure Middle Eastern psychedelia. He has an extended list of covers of western tunes (including “Popcorn” and The Godfather theme), and his music goes everywhere from soloing along with huge orchestras to trippy tunes with just synths and drum machines. Khorshid’s playing is always spot on, tasteful, and with the melody as the top priority.

Full lesson playlist on YouTube

Aris San is from Greece, and his life story makes those of Elvis, Hendrix, or Cobain seem mundane by comparison. With an incredible voice and an ability to bring bouzouki chops to the electric guitar, San’s style is second to none. Shifting from various random European guitars, Aris eventually championed the Gibson ES-335 and turned himself into a musical powerhouse with a massive recording catalogue. At one point he even had his own music club in New York (donning the aforementioned wig). After a few encounters with the New York underworld, he returned to Europe and rumors abound.

Let’s dive into some of the techniques and tools that make this music so special. The more you practice and study them, the more you can add to your own music and enrich your style.

Scales of Choice

Here’s one interesting scale out of a vast melodic world of Middle Eastern music. It’s a great place to start as you’ll quickly realize this scale is used everywhere, which is why it has so many names. This scale appears in many a Kirk Hammett solo, as well as in Eastern European klezmer music. It’s the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale and is also called Maqam Hijaz, Ahava Raba, and Phrygian Dominant. Check out Ex. 1 and then listen to Aris San’s “Mish Mash.”

Ex. 1

Ex. 2 is reminiscent of Khorshid’s take on the tune “Habbina Habbina,” written by Farid El Atrash.

Ex. 2

Glissando

The Middle Eastern guitar style features guitarists who can play melodies with a deep vocal quality and a round, lyrical feel to their phrasing. A glissando, or slide, is an expressive tool that is often used in that way. Ex. 3 is similar to what Khorshid played with Oum Kulthum, keeping it classy as he takes his solo with the orchestra.

Ex. 3

Here’s another example (Ex. 4) by Yehudah Keisar, an incredible guitarist from the generation of musicians who followed the rise of Aris San. Keisar made a big contribution to the repertoire.

This is from the hit song “Basbusa” by Shariff, which was produced and played by Keisar.

Ex. 4

The 1980s era of recordings incorporated more drum machines and had a guitar tone consistent with 335’s plugged right into the PA with a short digital delay on them. That gave the player a quick, tight sound that worked perfectly for these melodies.

Right Hand Rhythmic Picking

Percussion and rhythmic elements play a central role in Middle Eastern music. That’s why you would sometimes see Khorshid playing with three percussionists on the bandstand. Here’s one example of that amazing line up:

Check out the rhythmic opening guitar part and how it sits perfectly together along with the percussion, and then try Ex. 5.Another example of tight rhythmic playing is on the opening bars of Aris San’s “Dam Dam,” which you can find in Ex. 6.

Ex. 5

Ex. 6

Harmonizing

Harmonized guitar parts were always a great device to strengthen melodies, long before the days of arena rock or the Eagles. Here’s the traditional Greek song “Afilotimi” in Ex. 7 to showcase that technique. You can play this with another guitarist, multitrack it, or even dare to play both intervals at once.

Ex. 7

Trills and Embellishments

Trills give the music its nuanced accent and dialect. Some are easy to pick up while others are a little trickier. This last piece is by Moshe Ben-Mosh, another pivotal guitarist who recorded and produced many hits with an emphasis on his Yemenite-Jewish roots. Here’s the title track from the Haim Moshe album Ahavat Chayai which was released in 1982.

Our final example, Ex. 8, covers the points we went over about trills. Notice how many of our examples are played across a single string, which echoes the regional folk instruments, such as bouzouki, oud, and baglama. It’s a doozy, but taking the time to learn it slowly and gradually will help to internalize all the techniques listed here. Practice slowly and make sure you dance to the music!

Ex. 8

As the US gears up for the 4 July, Reverb is kicking off its own celebration of independence. Back in April, the online marketplace was sold by Etsy, marking a transition to being an independent, privately owned company – and it’s marking the occasion with an “Independents” Day sale.

Running right up until 7 July, the ‘Independents’ Day sale will spotlight its vast community of independent shops and sellers across the online store. We’re talking thousands of discounts on new, used, and B-stock gear.

• READ MORE: Judy Schaefer of PRS: “Music is all about community building. If we do better, everybody else does better”

[deals ids=”cNuZ7viC562Bl3AIHVert”]

The sale offerings vary from top brands like Fender and Gibson, to more obscure vintage offerings. And the savings can be huge – smaller shop Tone Wolf is offering 20% discounts on Korina Explorers, while KORG is slicing £1,145 off its usual Vox Bobcat S66 pricetag, meaning you could get one for just £381.

There’s also plenty of pedal deals, whether you’re hunting for a simple tuning pedal or a more boutique effects stompbox. City Music Annex is offering a 60% discount on the Electro-harmonix and JHS Pedals collaborative Lizard Queen Octave Fuzz, a pedal we gave an 8/10 back in 2023. Elsewhere, a TC Electronic Polytune 3 Mini polyphonic tuning pedal has had a 41% price drop, now available for just under £50.

Warm Audio is also selling B-Stock at a fraction of the original price. The WA-DI-P Passive Direct Box in particular is available for 10% off, dropping from £82.46 to £74.21. You could also get your hands on a Two Notes Torpedo C.A.B. M+ Speaker Simulator for 15% off, now just £123.25.

As Reverb champions its independent sellers, the company will continue on its own path of independence moving forward. “There’s a lot for our community to look forward to and I’m very excited about what’s coming as we move forward as an independent company again,” Reverb CEO David Mandelbrot teased back in April.

To check out more ‘Independents’ Day sales, head to Reverb.

The post Step aside 4 July – Reverb’s “Independents” Day sale is here, and some of the savings are huge appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Last August, Sweetwater hosted its very first GuitarFest, allowing the public to get hands-on with new products from top guitar brands, engage with brand representatives and meet their favourite musicians – and its happening again this year.

The second annual GuitarFest will take place on 27 September at Sweetwater’s Fort Wayne, Indiana campus.

Manufacturers such as Gibson, Fender, Marshall, and more will be in attendance, allowing the public to test out new guitars and quiz brand reps. It’s also just a great opportunity to mingle with fellow guitar lovers.

• READ MORE: Judy Schaefer of PRS: “Music is all about community building. If we do better, everybody else does better”

While nobody has been announced just yet, Sweetwater has teased that multiple “major artists” will be making appearances throughout the day, including meet-and-greets and signings.

The festivities will serve as the grand finale of Sweetwater’s Guitar Month sale. The sale will see a slew of exclusive in-store deals popping up over an 8-day period, kicking off on 20 September.

GuitarFest is completely free, but you do need to register for entry. Early registration is already available via Sweetwater’s website, where the company will continue to post updates on artist meet-and-greets, planned activities, and more.

“We’re thrilled to bring GuitarFest back for its second year,” says Samantha Hunter, director of artist relations and campus events at Sweetwater.

“We’ve taken everything we learned from last year’s event – along with the valuable feedback from attendees – and used it to make the experience this year even better.”

“We truly believe 2025’s GuitarFest will be an unforgettable celebration for music lovers of all kinds,” she concludes.

The free festival is just one of many ways Sweetwater gives back to the community. The company’s 2024 Impact Report shared that the company’s Guitar Workshop recycled over a quarter of a million guitar strings last year, as well as generating 1.4 million kilowatt hours of electricity across its Fort Wayne campus’ 93,000 feet of solar roof panels.

If you’d like to get a sense of what GuitarFest has to offer, YouTuber Masters of Shred posted a thorough vlog of the 2024 experience, showcasing the wide variety of guitars, pedals, amps and artist signings on offer.

Registration to attend GuitarFest is open now. Browse all your favourite products over at Sweetwater.

The post Meet your heroes and try out the latest gear at Sweetwater’s GuitarFest 2025 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

With Black Sabbath’s long-awaited farewell show just around the corner, former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee has opened up about why he agreed to take part despite not having spoken to the Prince of Darkness in decades.

Speaking in the latest issue of Guitar World, Lee reveals that it wasn’t Ozzy who reached out directly, but Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, who’s serving as musical director for the all-star Back To The Beginning event.

• READ MORE: “When you get to our age, things just go wrong. We’ll probably keel over after two songs!”: Ozzy Osbourne on Black Sabbath’s final show

“Tom Morello called me. He said, ‘There’s going to be a thing, an original Sabbath performance and Ozzy Osbourne’s final performance. I can’t see this going on without Jake E. Lee in there somewhere,’” he recalls.

Lee, who played on hits like Bark at the Moon and Killer of Giants during his stint with Osbourne in the ‘80s, says he’s excited about the upcoming show both as a participant and as an audience member even if he hasn’t been in contact with Ozzy for years.

“It’s a thrill to be a part of it,” he says. “And even more so for me to watch it. I hope Ozzy can get through it. I haven’t spoken with him or seen him in decades.

“I really don’t know what condition he’s in, but he deserves a final farewell performance.”

“No matter how he is, or how well his singing is, he deserves to have that final farewell. I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Taking place on 5 July in Birmingham’s Villa Park, the one-day Sabbath-headlined show will be preceded by Osbourne’s own mini set and supported by metal heavyweights like Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, Gojira, and Anthrax. The concert will also be available as a pay-per-view livestream for £24.99 for fans around the world.

Meanwhile, Wolfgang Van Halen earlier this week revealed that he’s no longer appearing at Black Sabbath’s farewell gig due to prior touring commitments with Creed.

“I wouldn’t be able to pull it off – unfortunately. I’m very excited to watch it, but I unfortunately had to back out,” the guitarist told WRIF Detroit.

The post Why Jake E. Lee agreed to perform at Black Sabbath’s final show even though he “hasn’t spoken with Ozzy Osbourne or seen him in decades” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Guitar history has its icons and its rising stars, and every so often, those worlds collide – such as they did when 28-year-old Italian virtuoso Matteo Mancuso visited the legendary Jason Becker.

One one of the most celebrated guitarists of the late ‘80s, Becker made his mark alongside Marty Friedman in the neoclassical shred duo Cacophony before joining David Lee Roth’s band for 1991’s A Little Ain’t Enough. His meteoric rise was tragically cut short after being diagnosed with ALS (a motor neuron disease) in 1989. Though he eventually lost the ability to speak and now communicates via computer, his mind remains sharp and he continues to compose music using only his eyes.

• READ MORE: Matteo Mancuso: “Guitar players are better off now than in the previous generation – because it’s easier for us to reach a certain level faster”

Despite these challenges, Becker has remained a beacon of inspiration for guitarists around the world. Over the years, countless players – from Eddie Van Halen to 11-year-old prodigy Maya Neelakantan – have paid him visits. Most recently, that list grew to include Mancuso, whose jaw-dropping technique and expressive touch have drawn praise from icons like Steve Vai, Al Di Meola, and Joe Bonamassa.

The meeting, shared via Becker’s official Instagram account, was described as “a moment that beautifully bridged generations of guitar greatness.”

“Each of [the above guitarists who praised Mancuso’s skills] has echoed a powerful sentiment: if the future of guitar lies in Matteo’s hands, then the instrument’s legacy is in very good hands indeed.”

“But what struck us most during his visit wasn’t just his technical brilliance – it was his heart,” the post states. “Matteo arrived with sincere humility, kindness, and a deep respect for Jason and his story. Watching the two connect – one a rising star, the other an enduring symbol of courage and creative brilliance – was moving and unforgettable.”

“It was a meeting of minds, a celebration of music, and a reminder that true greatness lies not only in talent, but in the soul behind the strings.”

The post continues: “Jason and all of Team Becker want to express their heartfelt thanks to Matteo and his manager, Michele Mozzicato, for making this visit possible – and for being so generous with their time, energy, and spirit.”

“It meant the world to us. We’ll be cheering Matteo on every step of the way and can’t wait to watch his incredible journey continue to unfold. His future is as bright as his talent is undeniable.”

Check out the full post below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jason Becker (@jasonbeckerofficial)

The post “His future is as bright as his talent is undeniable”: Jason Becker applauds Matteo Mancuso after meet-up that “bridged generations of guitar greatness” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

One of the two electric guitars I play most is my beloved and battered 1952 Les Paul. Seventy-three years ago, it was cutting-edge. First, it’s a solidbody guitar. Although the solidbody concept debuted with the Rickenbacker A-22 “Frying Pan” in 1931, and notched up with the Fender Broadcaster in 1950, the Les Paul started with Les’ the Log, built in 1939. As Les accurately predicted, the tone was purer than hollowbodies, sustain improved, and feedback was no longer an issue.

My ’52 was later upgraded with innovations like the then-new Bigsby vibrato (introduced in 1951), a Tune-o-matic bridge (1953 technology), and a humbucker in the bridge position (circa 1957). Numerous other guitar innovations have emerged over the past seven decades. And some stuck, including:

• The compound radius fretboard, pioneered by luthier Denny Rauen in 1978.
• Locking tremolo systems, invented by Floyd Rose in the 1970s and widespread by the 1980s.
• Hybrid acoustic/electric designs that blend electric pickups with undersaddle piezo pickups. (With a toggle flip, my PRS can shift from angry distorted humbucker to a convincing, warm acoustic sound—or blend both.)

Other innovations fared less well, like Gibson’s ill-fated Firebird X, of 2011. This ambitious, controversial solidbody electric guitar aimed to modernize the iconic Firebird with digital technology. Originally priced at $5,570, its standout features included three FBX mini-humbuckers, a piezo pickup, and onboard effects (reverb, delay, distortion) via a pure analog DSP engine, controlled by complex toggle pots, sliders, and a gear shift knob. It also had robot tuners with 11 preset tunings, Bluetooth footswitches, and a G-Node USB interface, with software (Guitar Rig 4, Ableton Live Lite) for recording and patch creation. While some praised its innovation, many players saw it as a betrayal of Gibson’s heritage. The model performed so poorly that Gibson reportedly destroyed over half the Firebird Xs with an excavator.

Legacy companies like Gibson face a dilemma in evolution. Gibson’s bold innovation made it iconic, giving us the Les Paul, ES-335 (and 330, 345, 355), Flying V, Explorer, Firebird, and SG. Today, most players crave those classic guitars designed 60 to 70 years ago. This raises the question: What will the 2052 Gibson Les Paul, marking its 100th anniversary, be like?

“Nano-humbuckers might blend PAF warmth, single-coil snap, and synth-like capabilities, with AI tweaking tones in real-time to nail vintage or futuristic textures.”

I’m an original-recipe guy and have no clue what the future holds, so I asked AI for its prediction. Here’s what it envisioned: The 2052 Les Paul will likely retain its single-cutaway swagger, solid body, and maple cap, but sustainability will dominate—think lab-grown timber or carbon-neutral composites to address 21st century mahogany scarcity. Nano-coatings could offer self-healing sunbursts or holographic finishes that shift for stage flair, though, given the popularity of Murphy Lab relics, I suspect players will prefer keeping their dings and scratches but enjoy the ultra-thin finishes. AI-optimized chambering could trim weight to a svelte 6 to 7 pounds, paired with a slim-taper neck with a 10"–16" compound radius for easy playability. Hardware will be feather light. (I’ve been loving the TonePros Tune-o-matic, which is light and sounds great, but I suspect it will get lighter).

Electronics are where the 2052 Les Paul goes sci-fi. Nano-humbuckers might blend PAF warmth, single-coil snap, and synth-like capabilities, with AI tweaking tones in real-time to nail vintage or futuristic textures. The 1/4" cable will eventually be obsolete, replaced by quantum wireless systems or direct neural interfaces. Solar-powered circuits could keep the guitar eco-friendly.

Even crazier are ideas like haptic feedback, which uses touch sensation, like vibrations or pulses, to guide beginners or sync tempos. Augmented reality could overlay patterns on your fretboard to steer your fingers, turning your instrument into a Guitar Hero game where you are actually playing music.

Other potential innovations include features like biometric integration sensors that could monitor hand fatigue or heart rate, adjusting playability for long sessions—ideal for touring musicians. There could also be holographic pickguards with interchangeable designs, offering visual flair without physical changes. Also on the table are climate-adaptation sensors that will adjust string tension and electronics for humidity or temperature changes, ensuring reliability in diverse venues.

Here’s where it gets a bit Black Mirror for me. AI predicts that within 40 years guitars may use neural interfaces that would allow players to control effects, tone, loops, amp settings, recordings, and more via thoughts. Or you can ditch the guitar entirely and just use brain-computer interfaces (like Neuralink, already in trials) that would enable musicians and nonmusicians to compose music directly from thoughts. Electrodes might translate neural patterns into melodies, bypassing physical instruments so you can imagine “playing” a Les Paul riff in your mind and sounding just like Jeff Beck, Joe Bonanamassa, Paul Kossoff, or anybody else, with AI rendering it as a perfect studio track.

In 28 years, my goldtop will be 100 years old and I’ll be my father’s age. When I get to this imagined future, I can’t imagine the thrill of composing in my head can come close to the sensation of that old ’52 goldtop vibrating against my body when I hit the low E.

For years, an old upright piano soundboard had sat in the hallway of the tattoo studio where Robin Wattie worked. Wattie, the vocalist and guitarist of Montreal experimental post-rock trio Big Brave, knew it was destined for the garbage dump, but neither she nor any of her coworkers wanted to actually carry it to the curb. Wattie’s bandmate, guitarist Mathieu Ball, had walked by it plenty of times, but one day, he got a notion: It’d be fun to make use of the piano strings still tensed inside the soundboard.

Wattie worked down the hall, listening as Ball spent an afternoon using vice grips to snap the wooden pegs holding the lowest strings, each one cracking loose with a thunderous PLUNK. Ball estimates that he extracted 50 strings that day; 50 violent PLUNKS cutting the air of Wattie’s studio. “It was really, really funny to listen to,” says Wattie. “Also, like, the swearing.”

Ball, a woodworker, disappeared for a day. He returned with “the Instrument:” a stringed instrument made of a maple plank, measuring 9" wide and 5' long, strung with the salvaged piano strings. With the Instrument assembled, Big Brave had a new task: figuring out how to play it. “It’s not something that comes with a manual,” says Ball. He used a double bass bow to generate sounds; Wattie used mallets, and drummer Tasy Hudson took a turn, muffling it with a pillow before striking with the mallets.

Guitars

• Fender Jaguar

Amps

• Orange OR50H
• Orange 2x12
• Darkglass Microtubes 500v2
• Ampeg 4x10

Effects

• Boss FV-500H volume pedal
• Fairfield Circuitry Barbershop
• Dirge Electronics gain pedal
• TC Electronic Spark
• Line 6 Verbzilla
• Lehle Little Dual Switcher
• Strymon Zuma power supply

Strings & Picks

• Ernie Ball strings
• Dunlop Nylon .73 mm or .88 mm

This learning process was happening at Seth Manchester’s Machines with Magnets studio in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where the band was slated to create a collaborative record with experimental metal duo and Rhode Island natives the Body. When that band couldn’t make the sessions, Big Brave decided to record their experimentations with the Instrument; learning to play it, writing the songs, and recording them all happened at the same time. The result is OST, a collection of eight compositions centered on the Instrument. Wattie thinks that for followers of the band, it will be the most “challenging” music they’ve ever released.

That’s probably true, even though Big Brave’s music has never been particularly accessible. The songs on OST are sparse, shapeless, and heavy, taut with tension and discomfort. The Instrument is accompanied only sporadically by moments of percussion, electric guitar, or voice, and its essential sound is not melody-driven. “Is it an eerie-sounding record?” wonders Ball. “What’s really interesting is that you can’t really play chords on the Instrument. If you pluck a single string, it sounds kind of dark on its own. To me, that’s the fundamental sound.” That’s okay for Big Brave: “I don’t think we’ll ever be making happy music,” continues Ball, “because it’s not the world we live in.”

Guitars and Basses

• Gibson SG Special

Amps

• Musicman RD Fifty
• Hiwatt Custom 50
• Orange 2x12 cabs

Effects

• Dirge Electronics gain pedal
• EQD Hoof
• EQD Tone Job
• EQD Swiss Things
• Line 6 Verbzilla
• Strymon Big Sky
• MXR Carbon Copy

“We’re big-feeling people,” adds Wattie. “We do have a lot of joy, and we try our best to find joy. It’s really hard to, but this is kind of what comes out. It’s not in us to make happy music, because if it was, then we would make happy music.”

The record’s most unnerving and intense moments are on “innominate no. vii.” Ball’s vocals on the track are frightening and tortured, beginning as deep, uncomfortable groans before crescendoing into throat-cleaving screams. “I guess I’m only comfortable doing that in the studio,” says Ball, “but that’s how I want to just be walking down the street all the time. Luckily, we get to do it in the studio where people don’t cross the sidewalk.”

“I don’t think we’ll ever be making happy music, because it’s not the world we live in.” - Mathieu Ball

Ball and Wattie met while studying visual arts in Montreal, and Ball introduced his new friend to minimalist composers like John Cage, Tony Conrad, and Steve Reich. Ball became Wattie’s “unofficial guitar coach,” and imparted a critical lesson: If it sounds good to you, then that’s all you need to know.

Big Brave was initiated around the values of minimalism, tension, and space in sound, and OST is certainly the most extreme exploration of those values. Ball describes it as a “process-based project,” where the act of creating came first, and the conceptualizing and thinking came later. “I felt so free,” Wattie smiles, recalling the sessions in Rhode Island. “Playing the guitar, for me, is a bit of a weighted thing. I’m kind of bogged down by having to prove myself all the time on the guitar, even though now I don’t necessarily have to because of where we are. I love not knowing how to play an instrument, because the shit that you can come up with from not knowing, because you’re not bogged down by the technicalities and theory and all of this stuff. I’m not classically trained at all, clearly. It’s really freeing, especially when no one else knows how to play it, because there’s not a proper way to play this instrument.”

“We’re gonna burn it so no one will ever get to learn how to play it,” quips Ball.

As they’ve grown together as a band, Big Brave have turned more and more to the unexpected and incidental elements of their music. They never say no to an idea one of them brings to the table. Saying no without trying something is “a bad idea for so many reasons,” says Wattie. The approach is also partly a rejection of the ultra-professionalization of music work. “It’s what we’ve been doing more and more, just fully deconstructing and rejecting technicality, and making simpler and simpler music,” says Ball. “Like utilizing feedback that’s seen as a bad thing. There’s more and more mistakes in our music that I just see as character, like a buzzy string. It’s adding character to music that gets lost when something is too perfect.”

“There’s some beauty about not knowing what you’re doing.” - Robin Wattie

The approach reminds Wattie of Nan Goldin, the untrained photographer whose work influenced the fashion world. Wattie appreciates the same untrained character in visual art. “I really love seeing people’s drawings who aren’t technically trained,” explains Wattie. “They’re like, ‘I love to draw, but just for myself.’ I want to see it because it’s some of the loveliest drawings I’ve ever seen. It shows how they think about lines and color and how they make up a composition. It’s also why I’m okay with not knowing how to play the guitar, to a point.”

On a few occasions, Wattie has heard from thoroughly trained musicians who, in some ways, regret their training, and envy her lack of it. “It was engrained in them that this is correct,” she says. “It’s impossible to unlearn for them. There’s some beauty about not knowing what you’re doing.”

YouTube It

Ball, Wattie, and Hudson float through waves of feedback and distortion for a live performance of their 2024 song “Theft” in Montreal’s Studio Concrete.