The Guitar Player's Resource
With Halloween such a popular holiday, it's just right that we prepare in advance and we do a lesson on how to create some threatening sounds with your guitar.
Here's our starting point to learn to sound spooky: the X-files theme, Metallica, Pink Floyd have all one thing in common. It's not obvious at first, but with a deeper look you will see that they all use the very same sound to create that unsettling feeling in their listeners.
In the video below we are going to do a very fast review of Metallica's arpeggios and we will connect them with other artists's songs (featuring of course Pink Floyd and the X-files theme, but also Tori Amos and Bela Bartok)
Once we have seen how all those artists use the very same trick, we will also see together how you can use it in your own music - with special care on how to use it in an original way and without copying! Copying is not cool.
Ready for the scary ride? Buckle up, keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle, here we go:
As you can see, just a little theory here goes a long way - and there are lots of options open to write your own music. So get writing... or just learn the X-files theme for your Halloween party.
Tommaso Zillio is a professional prog rock/metal guitarist and composer based in Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Tommaso is currently working on an instrumental CD, and an instructional series on fretboard visualization and exotic scales. He is your go-to guy for any and all music theory-related questions.
