Classical Concepts for Rock Guitar

Who doesn't remember that YouTube video of funtwo (and countless other YouTuber copycats) playing that rock guitar version of Pachelbel’s Canon?! Tens of millions of views and all that controversy about who really performed the piece made front page news all over the world (it was Lim Jeong-hyun). One thing's for sure though -- we guitar players watched and listened to that video with our mouths wide open. And not just because of the technique; the music itself grabbed our ears and wouldn’t let go until the very last note.

Classical influences on rock music has tickled our ears for decades and will continue to do so for decades to come. That’s why Dave Celentano’s Classical Concepts for Rock Guitar belongs in every rock guitarist’s practice studio.

The Moody Blues, Nice, Deep Purple, King Crimson, Emerson-Lake-Palmer, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Pink Floyd, Yes, Focus, Rick Wakeman, Camel, Electric Light Orchestra, Muse and hundreds of other bands draw heavily from classical music in their compositions and performances. Guitarists Randy Rhoads, Paul Gilbert, Ritchie Blackmore, Edward Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen and Marty Friedman (to name just a few) likewise take advantage of classical techniques and harmony in their playing.

Art rock, progressive rock, neo-progressive, symphonic metal, neo-classical metal and a dozen other modern styles of music pull influences and inspiration directly from the classical playbook BUT really, ALL music taps into classical harmony, progressions, chord voicings, techniques and vocabulary in one way or another. Classical Concepts for Rock Guitar drills down on several core and essential classical elements that you can put to work immediately in your playing without having to take formal classical lessons.

Recording artist, performer and monster player Dave Celentano is also one of the most prolific and sought-out educators in the biz today. Dave has authored and published over 40 books, videos, DVDs and albums. Classical Concepts for Rock Guitar is Dave’s first interactive video project and we’re proud to welcome him to the TrueFire family!

Dave organized his curriculum in a very innovative and engaging way. No tedious exercises or boring theory to work through -- you will play your way through the lesson material and then immediately apply the key learnings in a contemporary rock musical context.

The curriculum is organized into 10 sets of lessons. For each of the 10 sets, you’ll first learn a classical piece arranged for electric guitar, which in itself will give you a variety of cool classical tunage to get a grip on and play for family and friends.

Dave then extrapolates and demonstrates the key classical concepts and techniques from that piece -- these are the tools you’ll be using in your own playing. These include triads and inversions, alternate picking, sweep picking, two-hand tapping, pedal points, hammer-ons from nowhere, string skipping arpeggios, trills, hybrid picking, legato technique and volume swells with a dotted eighth note delay.

Next, you’ll apply those key learnings over a practice rock rhythm track as you play-along with Dave so that you can learn how to pull your new-found classical influences into your own performances and solos. All of the critical material is tabbed and notated, plus you’ll get the practice rhythm tracks to work with on your own.

“It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.” - Johann Sebastian Bach