I NTRO FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The founder of justinguitar.com lends GT his insight as one of the world’s most successful guitar teachers. This Month: The New Breed.
The next generation of guitar players is reaching out to new realms and making interesting connections between styles. And the sonic palettes available now have never been wider - blending digital and analog sounds in ways that are fresh and innovative.
Some contemporary players have been able to abandon the traditional approaches to guitar in a refreshing way, while others have embraced tradition but incorporated a whole new language and technique development. There are many incredible contemporary guitarists out there making incredible music, but two that stand out to me, for very different reasons are Tim Henson (of Polyphia) and Mateus Asato.
I've had a bunch of requests for lessons on some Polyphia songs but, to be honest, I can’t play it, let alone teach it. Tim’s approach to the guitar is unique and he seems to avoid the use of the common ‘blues guitar vocabulary’ that’s present in most players. He seamlessly blends hybrid picking, sweep picking, finger tapping, hammer-ons from nowhere, open strings, impossible-looking finger stretches, harmonics, slapping, percussive hits… but he’s not just some technical machine; he’s making contemporary music art.
Rock music has traditionally had one foot in the blues, but I don’t hear any of that influence in his playing, and it’s refreshing. His arrangements are full of unnatural patterns, things that are so unconventional and difficult to play it must have taken 100s of hours of practice to master some of them. Respect! Some of the insane riffs from his song Playing God were derived from copying an arpeggiator sequence in Spectrasonic’s Omnisphere synth plug-in, utilising technology to further his creativity.
The sounds that he’s using are also very fresh. I mean, he’s playing a nylon-string guitar with a rock band. That’s just so wrong that it’s perfect! The way he manipulates his tones to be punchy and full but also embracing contemporary effects and plugins to provide depth and sparkle, gives him a very modern sound. He also seems to seek and embrace the artefacts and glitches found in the digital domain.
There was a period where I was worried about the future of guitar, as ‘the kids’ seemed more into electronic music production and I encountered very few younger players putting the hours in to develop technique and musical dexterity. Tim Henson and his contemporaries are inspiring a new generation to put in the effort needed to push the boundaries with technique, sound and art. Another of my fav
