A conversation with guitar virtuoso Thorsten Koehne
Itīs been a while since I first met Thorsten Koehne. I had heard of him and knew that he was an awesome player. Since I was planning on organizing some concerts ( this turned into the upcoming Guitar Summit 2002 ), I got in touch with Thorsten, and we decided to meet up, just to jam and get to know each other.
Thorsten Koehne
I was immediately impressed by his technical abilities and his ideas. Thorsten definitely is an amazing player, and technically right up there with some of our influences, such as Paul Gilbert, Joey Tafolla etc.
And so we spent several afternoons jamming, talking guitars, preparing the Summit. It definitely is fun to hang out with a player whoīs a shred-head just like I am, and it sure keeps me on my toes... itīs interesting to listen to Thorsten and to see how he does it.
And he has become a good friend, too.
So, since I wrote a bunch of articles about topics such as fast picking, I figured "Why not introduce Thorsten to the visitors of Ibreathe ? After all, heīs a fantastic player, and he sure does have a bunch of awesome licks to share."
And I am sure that it will be interesting for many of you to read about his work with Demon Drive ( the band he is in, led by Michael Voss ( Ex-Casanova, Ex-Mad Max... ), his opinions and stories about the upcoming, new DD-album "Four Play !", and of course, guitars, his development as a player etc.
So we sat down with a guitar ( Thorsten is a Dean-Endorser and brought a beautiful Dean Les Paul-copy ), an amp ( my Laney Chrome-O-Zone combo ), a mini disc-recorder, and started talking.
I hope this will be interesting for all of you... at the end, Thorsten gave away some mind-boggling licks, which you can hear as MP3īs, too. So, here we go...
Related Links:
The official Demon Drive Website: Demon Drive
Thorstenīs site: Thorsten's Official Site
Guitar Summit: The Guitar Summit Site
Southpaw
Thorsten has a rather unusual way of playing. He is a left-handed player, but he puts on the strings "upside down". That means, he is using a regular left-hand guitar and has the high E-string where usually the low one is located... the way Albert King had his guitars set-up.
That way, Thorsten can just grab any right hand guitar and play on that, too. It is quite confusing to watch him play, but he can nail all the stuff you play on a regular guitar... bar chords, basic chords, sweeps etc. Keep that in mind, cuz Iīll be referring to that during our talk, and youīll hear him play some of his favorite licks later...
The Present
EV: OK, to start off, the recordings for the newest Demon-Drive album just have been finished. Iīd like to know what people are to expect from that new album.
An early draft of the artwork for the new album. Go to the Demon Drive site for an MP3-excerpt
TK: The newest album goes a step further into the direction DD was heading to with the last album.
The music of the band has gone through several changes, a slow development. The first album still was very much influenced by Hard Rock / Metal, the second one combined rather traditional Hard Rock-stuff with a rather rockier sound.
Its tough to put our music into just one category. Usually, when someone asks me for a category or an overall style, I simply say "Itīs Demon Drive-music". You might give away hints such as "Melodic Rock" or "AOR", but itīs not really easy to fit the band into just one category. Itīs like with Ozzy Osbourne or Van Halen... theyīre making "Ozzy-music" and "Van Halen-music". You just canīt put that into categories.
EV: Well, what I meant exactly was "How would you say the bandīs changed between the last and this upcoming album ?", are there any changes or new components, such as more acoustic stuff etc.
TK: Now, there are a lot of acoustic guitars on this album.
First of all, this time I played all guitar-parts, and that was a lot of fun. The album could be described as even more influenced by pop-music, mixed with rock, midtemp-songs mixed with ballads and even a few
uptempo-rockers. There also is a song that was completely written by me, lyrics and music...
EV: ...so youīre now an equal part of the band, involved into the songwriting and everything ?
TK: Definitely, even more than it was the case on the other albums. Back when I joined the band, most of the songs for the album they were working on back then had already been written, and all I contributed were some rhythm-tracks and a few leads. Michael ( Voss, singer of DD ) handled most of the guitar parts on "Rock N Roll Star", while on this album, I had a chance to add some of my facets and play my own parts.
EV: Now, I have learned myself that you usually adjust a bit to the musical situation youīre currently in. I mean, I, like you, am a "shredder", but when I work with someone like country singer-Wolfgang Malende, or Andrea, I definitely hold back a bit and focus on other things but fast licks etc.
Do you feel like you have to hold back as the guitarist for DD, and does that bother you ?
TK: Well, you and me both are from the shred-era, we kinda grew up with all that hardcore-stuff that today, not many people care for anymore ( chuckles ). Now, itīs a bit of understatement that I do when working with Demon Drive.
Itīs a bit like "We could, but we donīt", meaning that we try to focus on what and who we are today. I donīt mean looking at whatīs hip, in or out today. Itīs just that weīre not teenagers anymore, and we donīt feel as if we have to prove anything anymore.
We still enjoy to do that from time to time, but the most important thing with DD is the song, good songs, good melodies... thatīs one of our strengths.
EV: But you donīt feel as if you have to hold back or limit yourself ?
TK: No, not at all. As a musician, you can develop in many different ways. It does not only mean to become faster or play faster. I learned a lot during my first year as the guitarist for DD, like i.e. about songwriting: Michael Voss is a great songwriter, and I learned from him. I also learned to play something that really fits the song.
Of course there were occasions where I played some solo-ideas to him, and he was like "Now, hold on..." ( laughs ). Like "Less is more". You gotta really use your ears and play what suits the song.
EV: What about playing live ?
TK: Playing live is a different topic. With many bands, it always was like this: there was the studio-album, which had a certain sound, mainly focussing on accuracy and a good production, and live it was a different story... it was more about the attitude, energy and the live-feel.
Our songs will certainly change a bit once we play them live. We leave ourselves some freedom, some space to improvise, eg. regarding the solos.
EV: Would you say that the band is rocking more live, a bit more agressive ?
TK: Oh yeah, you could say that. During the live shows last year, the songs were a bit harder, more energetic. One reason for that sure was that we donīt use a lot of acoustic guitars live, although many songs were based or written on acoustic guitars. Michael usually says "A good song can be played on acoustic guitar and still is a great song", meaning that if you strip away everything and just play the song on an acoustic guitar, the song still should be there and be good.
Some songs are faster live, which usually is due to the adrenaline and the atmosphere of the live-show, you know, when youīre playing for a crowd. That depends on the mood, too.
EV: How about the promotion for the upcoming album ? Are you guys gonna tour after the release, or are you just gonna play some showcase-gigs...
TK: Now, currently weīre in the process of changing the label weīre on. Iīm not gonna tell you which one weīre gonna go with, but weīll have more support from them than we had from the one we just left. And that lack of support was the reason for our live-hiatus this year... we didnīt play live a lot, there was no real live-support for "Rock N Roll Star". There were some other reasons too, though, like Michael becoming a daddy etc.
But it is certain that the new album will be released in early 2003, and it also is certain that weīre gonna tour to support it, play some festivals etc.
EV: During itīs existance, DD has gone through a few line up changes, and you joined the band just like a year and a half ago. Would you say that the band now is completely "played in", a solid line-up, with the musicians used to each other ?
TK: Yeah, the band is "played in", we played a few live shows, wrote and recorded songs together, so weīre really a band and also a bunch of friends.
EV: I always wondered how you guys approach the songwriting. There are many different approaches to it, like exchanging tapes full of demos and riffs, sitting together in the rehearsal room with acoustic guitars, jamming on ideas... how does Demon Drive approach it ?
TK: Well, this album really is a band-effort, many of the songs were written by the whole band. Sure, Michael brings in a lot of ideas. Heīs a brilliant songwriter, and the demos he records are often sounding better than many albums released by other artists. ( laughs )
So with those demos, you often just say "Ok, weīll record it exactly like that, because the arrangements and parts are great". I wrote about 4-5 songs for the album, and although we all liked them, we just picked one of those for the album, just because we had so much material already. We tried to create an album which just seemed balanced, with one song fitting to the other.
EV: One thing I do like about DD a lot is that, compared to other bands you used to play in such as ATTACK, I can perfectly picture DD performing all their songs in an unplugged setting...
TK: Yes ! DD was derived from CASANOVA, and Casanova did unplugged-performances already back then ( late 80īs / early 90īs- EV ), proving again that a good song can be played in any setting, even just with a few acoustic guitars.
DD would have no problem to perform the whole album unplugged. Well, ok, maybe except my song, that would be tough ( chuckles )
EV: Why ? What about that one ?
TK: That one is uptempo-rock...
The Past
EV: Letīs talk about your past a bit, about your development as a player. You did start playing the guitar at age 10, right ?
TK: I was 10, or 11. I donīt remember exactly.
Thorsten early in his career...
EV::When did you reach the point where you got serious about it ?
TK: Thatīs tough to answer. Iīd actually say that I was pretty serious about it ever since I started. I never was like "I have to be SERIOUS about it"... instead I tried to have fun... and I always had fun making music.
I actually did start out on keyboards. It was the late 70īs, and I was listening to stuff like Jean Michael Jarre and Tangerine Dream. That was before I got into rock music. A cousin of mine had a lot of punk records ( it was 1977 or 1978 ), and an electric guitar. So, one day I visited him and I picked up that guitar and tried to play for the whole afternoon.
And ever since that day, I was pretty serious about music and playing the guitar. I would like to point out that I started out on electric guitar, too. So I didnīt do it like many others did, starting on the acoustic, then switching to the electric. I got my first acoustic guitar after I had already been playing the electric guitar for a year or two. Even before that, I used to meet up with other guys from my school, and we took some cardboard guitars and used to play air guitar, listening to stuff like the "Live Killers" album by Queen.
And those were my early influences: bands like Queen and the Sex Pistols. One thing that I really liked, and that really made me play was "Now Iīm Here" from Queen. In school, we were listening to albums, and one of the guys in my class brought Queenīs "Sheer Heart Attack" album... and I heard the intro of "Now Iīm Here" and immediately was hooked. ( plays the infamous intro of that song)
That guitar sound, and the pure power of it... that attracted me.
EV: What I really would like to know: how come that you did this unconventional thing, just turning a right hand-guitar upside down and playing it with the bass-strings on the bottom ( the way Albert King does it ) ?
TK: Well, you know, I was 10. I just went by my gut-feeling and picked up this right hand guitar and immediately held it the way I do these days. Thatīs the most natural way to hold the guitar when youīre a leftie. I also never had a teacher who could have told me that what I was doing was wrong or rather unusual. And until someone told me that it was unusual that I didnīt put on the strings the other way, I had already learned the basics, so it was pretty much too late to learn it the other way. I had taught myself a bunch of chords. I did listen to a lot of music, transcribed stuff. I think that it is an extremely important process and can help every player. I certainly did watch a lot of other players, too. I never considered it difficult to adjust the stuff I picked up to my way of playing... I just heard something or watched something, and just played it on my guitar the way I do... it wasnīt difficult. And, looking back at it now, it was a good thing, actually. There arenīt a lot of players who play that way, and it also helped me to develop my own style.
EV: How about music theory ? I know that you never took any regular guitar-lessons. So, do you pick up the theory stuff any other way, or do you just play without caring what that and that chord is called... or do you even think itīs limiting that you didnīt take lessons ?
TK: First of all, Iīm not exactly proud of the fact that I never took lessons. I think that lessons can help your development tremendously. Like, some stuff I worked on for a very long time, and I am sure that a teacher could have showed it to me or explained it to me way faster.
On the other hand, I did develop my very own style, and I think I explored the guitar quite thoroughly on my own. So, instead of picking up anything from a teacher, I figured out stuff on my own and worked on my technique a lot. Actually, there was no one around who could have taught me a whole lot, mainly because of the way I play, with the guitar turned upside down. So I pretty much had no choice.
Regarding theory, I think I picked up quite a bit of that throughout the years. And today, you can get a lot of that stuff without a teacher... there are so many instructional books & videos, stuff on the internet etc.
I have a solid foundation regarding theory, I can do some sight-reading. Iīm not a perfect reader like those studio-cats, but I can work my way through a sheet.
EV: Did you get trapped in a lot of ruts, you know, reaching a plateau where you feel like you donīt know what to work on, where you kinda feel trapped in your playing etc. ?
TK: No, not really. Never really had that happening.
EV: So you constantly developed and kept progressing ?
TK: It is a constant development. You can only develop, go forward. Its not only about technique, you can develop by working on songwriting, recording techniques etc. Also, there are so many different styles on the guitar, itīs pretty much impossible to get to the point where thereīs nothing new.
If Iīd go to a school like the GIT, like you did, I think Iīd be buried by all the material you get there. At the end, you have enough material to work on for the rest of your life ( Agreed-EV )
So thereīs a lot of ground to explore. Take i.e. jazz, that still is an unexplored area to me. I could work on that one day in the future. Or look at all the classical music. I pretty much picked what I considered important and worked on that.
Thorsten a few years later, with the Dean-girls...
EV: OK, fess up-time. I would like to know: Who, despite of Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen and Ed Van Halen, who are some of your main influences, is a major influence to you ?
TK: The most important influence, my all time favorite would be Brian May, who just always plays the right notes... Heīs just so unique. He still is my favorite. Also, there certainly are the shred dudes ( Vinnie Moore etc. ).
EV:Did you listen to fusion players such as Larry Carlton or Lee Ritenour ?
TK: Well, usually you listen to the guitar players that play the kinda music you like. I listened to a lot of metal and rock music, so I kinda grew up with the players from that style of music. I donīt really listen to a lot of fusion. I do have some Jeff Berlin-records ( who also is Dean-endorser, by the way ), and I like that, but Iīm more into rock music, that always fascinated me. It really does have to rock.
EV: I hear ya. Thatīs something that bothers me too about certain fusion-albums. I mean, I am not gonna mention any names, but there are some records with some cool playing, but there just is no life in there, it all sounds very technical and clinical.
TK: Well, one thing that sometimes bothers me about certain fusion-players is... well, I do have a tremendous respect for them, for their theory-knowledge, all the "over that chord, you can play that scale", superimposition, voice leading etc. Thatīs difficult. But sometimes I just donīt hear a good tone. Itīs all like muddy or fuzzy, and just doesnīt rock...
EV: OK, well, then letīs talk gear...
Gear, Gear, Gear !
EV: Well, youīre a endorser for Dean-guitars, and you play several of their guitars, most of them very much customized for you. What is important for you about a good guitar ?
TK: Itīs a long process. It takes a few years, but eventually you just figure out what youīre looking for in a guitar, what you need or donīt need.
Iīm at a point where I definitely know how to get my sound, what kind of guitar and amp I need etc. Iīm talking bout a few simple features that a guitar should have for me to like it. One of the basic ideas these days for me is: Less is more. See, I still do have 4 ESP-custom guitars, cause I worked with ESP before I went with Dean. And those four guitar all have pretty much the same features... two pickups, a three way-toggle switch, and a volume knob. No tone knob, no fancy stuff. And the first of those guitars was the only one with a Floyd Rose on it, the latter ones all simply had a fixed bridge. And those and the Dean guitars I am using these days are just great, simple stage-guitars. I donīt have to worry about something breaking or whatever. I just use the three way toggle to switch pickups.
Another important thing: The guitar does have to have a great acoustic sound by itself.
Dean MLs
EV: Today, you brought a Les Paul-copy by Dean. Are you able to play all the stuff you play on the MLs on that guitar, also ? With those pickups in it etc. ?
TK: Yes. And about the pickups: If I would not like the ones in this guitar, I would replace them. I spent a lot of time experimenting with pickups, trying different ones. They donīt have to be higain-pickups for me. Most amps these days have plenty of gain anyway. I always look for guitars that have a lot of presence. I like those in a guitar sound, lots of trebles. In one of my Deans, I am using the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates, and those really have a good amount of treble, with lots of harmonics, and that I really like...
EV: Oh yeah, I used to use these pickups too before I went with DiMarzio. Those Pearly Gates have a pretty low output too...
TK: Exactly. Low output, but lots of presence. Actually, I do like Strat-sounds a whole lot. I really like that typical strat-sound, I just donīt play a lot of strat-shaped guitars, which is due to my way of playing. Back to your question whether I could play all the same stuff that I can play on a Flying V on this Les Paul. I could, but live I would prefer the V, just because I feel more comfortable with its shape. You know, you can put that Flying V between your legs ( the way Michael Schenker does it), and that gives me a bit more control, which I like a lot. You just have total control on the neck, since it does not move at all once you hold the V that way. I canīt really do that with a strat-shaped guitar, it just kinda dangles around in front of my hip. A strat-style guitar may look cooler, but I really have more control with a V or a Dean ML. I started out on an Explorer, then I used the Vīs, and today, for the shred-stuff, I use the ML, which is kind of a mixture of an Explorer and a V.
EV: What if youīre in a situation where you have to use someone elseīs gear, say someone just hands you a Tele and a small combo... can you deal with that, can you feel comfortable if you have to play with that...
TK: I know what you mean. See, I always try to work with the gear that I have.
Sure, with a Tele and a Bassman, it would be tough for me to play something
like "Frenzy" ( a legendary, very fast instrumental / solo by Racer X / Paul Gilbert- EV). For that you need a certain kind of guitar and sound. Even Paul knows that and couldnīt play it easily on that kinda gear.
So I adjust to the gear I have. It always sounds stupid if you try to do something which you just canīt with the gear you have. Actually, we played a lot of stuff on the new Demon Drive album with a Tele. We really didnīt need that ultra gain-style sound, which is another reason why I am using those kinda Les Paul-copies with Demon Drive. That Tele-sound fits really well to our music, that kinda crunch as opposed to mega-higain-sounds.
EV: We have talked about rack-stuff before. You still do have a bunch of rack gear, but you told me that you hardly ever use that kinda stuff. I am pretty sure that live with DD, youīre not gonna use it either.
Is that because you like the simpler way, or prefer another sound, or is it because you experimented with it a lot and figured out that itīs not really for you ?
TK: Well, first of all, itīs often too complicated to use a rack. In many live situations, you just have it set up your stuff and have your sound set up quickly. Itīs important to be able to sound good with just your guitar and an amp. Simply guitar-cable-amp. Itīs as simple as that, and I am convinced that the majority of todayīs worldclass-players generate their sound that way.
Even guys like Steve Vai or Steve Lukather, who are well-known for their huge racks and trucks full of gear would be able to get their sound with one guitar straight into the amp. Theyīd still sound like Vai or Lukather.
So, for me it was a long process to figure out that I donīt really need that rack-stuff. You slowly figure out what you need and what you donīt need. Of course you have to spend a bunch of money on buying stuff to try.
So, I collected all that 19"-stuff which I still do have, but I donīt really use it anymore. Maybe in the studio, I do. The ADA MP-1 for example. I might sometimes use that in the studio, cuz it still is a great preamp.
But I wouldnīt use that MP-1 live, simply because of the dynamics. I mean, youīre up on stage and you have to play with a huge drum-kit and a loud bass-player, and all that rack-stuff just takes away from that. You just need some punch.
EV: Ok, imagine Vossi calls you up tonight and tells you you do have to play a show with Demon Drive tomorrow. What gear do you take with you for a show?
TK: I always take two guitars, just in case. If I i.e. break a string on one of them, or a pickup stops working, I simply grab the other one. That is the reason why I usually have two of every guitar... two MLs, two Les Paul-copies etc. SO one is always a backup.
My amp is the Marshall JCM 2000 Dual Super Lead, works great. For solos, I use a Boss Overdrive / Distortion ( OS 2 ). Works fine.
EV: K, letīs get to the licks...
Licks, Licks, Licks !
EV: Letīs talk about picking first. First thing I noticed about your playing is that you have an awesome picking technique. To me, itīs right up there with dudes like Paul Gilbert and Joey Tafolla etc.
I know that one essential lick for you to develop that technique was the legendary "Paul Gilbert Lick" ( check out my picking-articles to read more about that lick and see it as a TAB-EV)
What were other essential exercises for you to work on your picking ?
TK: Well, I can narrow it down to variations of that very lick. That lick was really one of the most important and helpful exercises to help me work on my picking.
Actually, it was used by Al Di Meola way before Paul made it popular. If you listen to Meola and his stuff from the 70īs, you can hear all the stuff that Paul and Yngwie later picked up and built on. He was like the "granddaddy of shred", and surely an influence for all the fast pickers that came next.
EV: Where did you pick up all the licks and exercises you practised ? Did you see them tabbed out anywhere, or did you transcribe them from records ?
TK: The first dude who really impressed me with his technique certainly was Eddie Van Halen. I had listened to Brian May, but he was more of a melodic player. Then I heard "Eruption", and it really got me going and inspired me to work on my technique.
I started to learn all kinds of different Van Halen licks, tried to learn every song on the newest Van Halen-album.
Then I got into the music of guys like Paul Gilbert / Racer X, Yngwie and those kinda guys, players who took the techniques another step further.
So it was a natural progress... I started out learning from Eddie, I guess I even sounded like him for a while, doing tapping and all that. Then I went to Yngwie, worked on picking etc.
EV: What are some of your favorite licks, you know, licks that you feel comfortable with, that you just naturally use a lot, i.e. to warm up.
TK: Definitely the Gilbert-lick. Itīs just the perfect lick to work on picking. I mean, the difficult part about alternate picking is going from one string to another, as opposed to picking on only one string. So, you have to work on picking on two adjacent strings, and the Gilbert-lick is perfect to work on changing strings... youīre constantly going from one string to the other.
EV: Players like Vinnie Moore always refer to a certain routine that they run through every day to maintain their technique. Do you have something like that?
TK: I sure do, but itīs not carved in stone or anything. I donīt have a solid list of certain licks that I always play, itīs always a rather spontaneous thing. It also depends on what Iīm preparing for. If Iīm going to play an acoustic show, itīs pointless to prepare by playing fast string-skipping stuff or something. I usually warm up and prepare myself by playing the stuff Iīm eventually going to play later. Like, when Iīm warming up before I play a workshop, I warm up with stuff that Iīm gonna play during that workshop.
There is one thing I usually do when I get to the point where I wasn't able to play for a few days straight. When that happens, I start out slowly, and play through the modes. Using three note per strings, I start low on the neck, F major, then I go to G Dorian, A Phrygian etc.
I then gradually increase speed until Iīm up to my usual picking-speed again.
EV: Are there some licks that youīd like to show to the people at ibreathe?
TK: OK, no problem. You see, all the Paul Gilbert stuff is pretty much based on having three notes per strings. And that works. Some people talk bad about that and stuff, but it works and sounds good.
And I tried to take that a bit further by playing four notes per string. And one of my favorite licks based on that goes like this:
( Measure 1 ). Click HERE to hear Thorsten play the lick like it is tabbed out in measure No.1
TK: Now, that lick is pretty good to add some variety to your picking-technique. But... you mentioned my picking-technique. Well, actually, I do use a lot of hammer onīs and pull offs mixed with picked notes. Guys like Paul Gilbert do the same. It makes things a bit easier sometimes, and you get a very nice sound that way. So, actually I play the lick I just showed you this way...
Click HERE to hear Thorsten play the lick like it is tabbed out in measure No.2 ( above )
TK: And finally, you can move this down an octave and play it on the G-string, and then you can move it down another octave...
Click HERE to hear Thorsten play a variation of the lick above
TK: What I like about picking is the control... I do have both hands on the guitar and kinda shape the sound a bit better.
EV: Youīre really good at sweeping too. And since we had that topic being discussed at ibreathe a few times, I wonder whether you want to show the people at ibreathe a cool sweeping lick ?
TK. Sure. Well, one of the sweeping licks I came up with is based on a song by Joe Satriani, "The Mystical Potatoe Head Groove Thing". In that song, he played six string-arpeggios by hammering on each note with his left hand. ( Also check out the instructional piece "The Power Cosmic" by Satch for another example of that approach-EV)
He played these cool arpeggios in there, and so I started playing them with sweeps. Here are the two arps, an E Minor11-arp ( measure 1 ) and an Emajor-arp ( measure 2 )
Click HERE to hear Thorsten sweep the Emin11-arp in measure 1
Click HERE to hear Thorsten sweep the Emaj-arp in measure 2
TK: Ok, so now I have a minor-shape and a major-shape, and I can move that up and down the neck diatonically. I did so in a piece of mine called "Shred It".
The chord progression is: Em-G-D-F-C-Eb-Bb-Bm-Am-Bm-Am
Hereīs the TAB:
And hereīs how it sounds...
Click HERE to hear Thorsten play an excerpt of "Shred It"
EV: Awesome. Now, can we take a look at another trademark piece of yours, "Aeon Flux" ? Like the tapping part of it
TK: Not really a trademark, cuz it has a whole lot of tapping in it. Actually I donīt remember all of it, but hereīs a part of it... first, the basic shape:
Itīs played like this then:
And I also switch the string combination I play it on:
So, you get something like this:
That one uses a combination of tapping, pulling, hammering and picking, and it took quite a while to get it up to speed. Here is that lick used in context, sounds like this...
Click HERE to hear Thorsten play the excerpt of "Aeon Flux"
TK: What I really like about this is that, by changing the tapped top-note, you actually create a little melody on top.
OK, one more lick for the people at ibreathe... another excerpt of "Aeon Flux", using the same approach, a combination of picking, tapping and hammer on / pull offs. This is one way to play wide-interval arpeggios.
This is the basic idea:
The idea is to tap the first note, then you pull off two notes, repick the first one you pulled off to, pull off to the other one, then you pick the first note on the adjacent string, pull off to another note, and then you hammer on to the next adjacent string... that is the toughest part about it.
After that, you do the whole thing again, one octave lower. ( above, measure 2 ).
If you go down another octave, you have a whole long lick together, it looks like this:
Click HERE to hear Thorsten play the 2nd excerpt of "Aeon Flux"
EV: Alrighty, thanks a lot. Do you have any last words of advice for the visitors of ibreathemusic ?
TK: I think the most important thing is ear training. Listen to as much music as possible, and transcribe and play along, too. Try to figure out stuff by listening to it.
And donīt forget the fun... itīs called "play guitar" not "work". Fun is essential. Try to figure out what you wanna do, and then work on it. Itīs great to learn and play a lot, itīs great to have a good technique and lots of theory-knowledge, but itīs very important to apply all that to actual music.
Technique is just a tool, donīt forget about that !
Conclusion
Well, thatīs it. Hope you enjoyed our conversation, and I hope you liked the licks and exercises Thorsten gave away.
Check out the music of Demon Drive... youīll find links to their site and Thorstenīs site on the intro-page of this article.
If you do have questions for Thorsten, post them at the forum, he might drop in and answer them himself, or Iīll forward them to him. And maybe, if you liked the licks, he might give away some more in the future...
It was a lot of fun to do this conversation, and itīs always fun to hang out, jam and play with Thorsten.