A Metal Christmas

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Instructor: Chris Feener Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Holiday

Excerpt: Around this time of year, we begin hearing tons and tons of the traditional songs which serve as landmarks for the season. If you're like myself, things tend to get old after about the 487th time hearing the same tune. In any event, that's what we're here for; breaking free of the mold and applying something we love, year-round, to the great, festive melodie...

Media Length: 2:35

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Instructor: Chris Feener Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Holiday

Excerpt: We start with "Carol Of The Bells". Heavily based on the Trans-Siberian Orchestra metal arrangement of the song, here we feel the uplifting effects of some good ol' fashion classical composition. And again, the melodies should "ring a bell" once you start breaking down each individual section. The main issue (on a technical level) in this section is th...

Media Length: 1:12

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Instructor: Chris Feener Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Holiday

Excerpt: Up next, the only "fully original" section of the medley; an arpeggio sequence used as a compositional segway. Ay 180BPM, 8th notes should be well within our grasp. Some will find "slower" arpeggios more difficult than "fast" ones. And the reason being that it's rather difficult to avoid nasty noises with more space for them to find their way in. Pay close...

Media Length: 0:55

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Instructor: Chris Feener Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Holiday

Excerpt: ...The basic melody-line from Walter Rollins' "Frosty The Snowman"! Be sure to, yet again, focus on phrasing nuances and vibrato; it's important when faced with situations where the melody is slower-paced and heavily carried on the higher register of the guitar.

Media Length: 1:20

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Instructor: Chris Feener Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Holiday

Excerpt: Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. This is the segment where we totally sell-out and play one of the all-time most famous Christmas songs. Forced into a new meter, 4/4, this is yet another section which heavily revolves around executing a simple melody-line. Notice the smooth legato approach as well as the more stuccato one from one bar to the next. The regga...

Media Length: 2:22

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Instructor: Chris Feener Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Holiday

Excerpt: Check out the full backing track and be sure to post your renditions of the tune on the IG forums!

Media Length: 2:25