Master of downstrokes

TODAY I'D LIKE to talk about downpicking — picking or strumming consecutive downstrokes — and why it can be so musically effective. This is something I learned from studying the riff-writing style of

Amid the mayhem of his European tour, Joe takes time out to give us a guided tour around his 2025 live gear, delivers the lowdown on some of his more storied guitars, and tells us why his mighty multi-amp rig has to run at breaking point in order to make the earth move and those riffs resonate…

Chaos, blood, death, resurrection – Kerry King and Tom Araya look back on the tumultuous journey of the thrash icons who pushed metal to new extremes

Few guitarists are loved as equally for their acoustic work as their electric playing but such is the unique talent of Richard Thompson . We meet him to find out how he’s preparing to go head-to-head with Tommy Emmanuel, chat about the end of his touring days, and talk alternative tunings

For something versatile or offbeat, reimagining a classic could be the way to go

Richard Barrett is on a mission to make you a better blues player – with full audio examples and backing tracks