Latest articles by Jenna Scaramanga
Joe Perry remembers Jeff Beck: “I was sitting with Jimmy Page, like two kids elbowing each other every time Jeff would play something!”
In his own words, the Aerosmith guitarist reflects on his hero – and that time he accidentally stole his fuzz pedal and paid him back with a Klon Centaur
The 50 greatest guitar riffs of all time
From metal to rock, punk to grunge, these are the best guitar riffs ever recorded, as voted for by you
Inhaler’s Elijah Hewson and Josh Jenkinson: “People are like, ‘Oh that riff sounds a bit like the Edge,’ and it’s like, ‘Yeah, well who f**king cares? The Edge is good!’”
What do you do if your dad is Bono and you want to make a name for yourself? Well, do as Elijah Hewson does. Don't make a secret of it, write the songs, find your sound, and build an audience...
5 ways to play a blues turnaround on guitar
Give your solos a satisfying ending with these foolproof lead ideas
Aerosmith's Joe Perry: "I’ve played some ’59 Les Pauls that frankly didn’t feel that good or sound that good"
Perry has his own legendary '59 model that he adores, but that doesn't mean – the Aerosmith guitar-slinger says – that every one of the legendary models has that same magic
5 ways to get more out of your power chords
Power chords are a rock rhythm guitar fundamental you need to know inside and out. Here are 5 options to spice up your hard-rocking jams
The Murder Capital: "We’re pretty big theory nerds – that thing of people thinking it’s uncool to know music theory is dying now. It’s just so stupid!"
Cathal Roper and Damien Tuit discuss the Irish post-punks' new album, Gigi's Recovery – a case study in leaning into the golden age of the stompbox for new tones and sounds, and geeking out on theory at the same time
Watch Jeff Beck play Locomotive with Guns N' Roses at a 1992 soundcheck for a live collaboration that never happened
Beck would ultimately pull out of his performance in Paris with the hard-rock giants – and, potentially, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry – leaving these rehearsal videos as a tantalizing 'what if'
Joe Perry recalls the time he accidentally stole a pedal from Jeff Beck – and gave him one of the first Klon Centaurs in return
The Aerosmith guitarist gifted Beck "the ’59 Les Paul of pedals" during rehearsals for the latter's all-star Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction performance in 2009 "to adjust the karma"
The 100 greatest guitarists of all time
A comprehensive rundown of the best guitarists of all time, featuring the trailblazers, the early innovators, the best jazz, rock, indie, blues, metal and acoustic players – and the top guitarists around today...
Mark Lettieri, Chris McQueen and Bob Lanzetti on Snarky Puppy’s unlikely success story, and the true heart of their unique jazz-funk sound
Following the release of Empire Central, the three session heavyweights unpick the band's ruthless gigging pedigree, their individual axe choices and how a viral hit helped propel them to stardom
How Nova Twins took their sound Supernova: “It’s more like electronic music where the bass is so loud. Guitar is the texture in between”
Amy Love and Georgia South on the making of their uniquely heavy sound – and why their pedalboards remain a closely guarded secret
Buddy Guy’s 5 greatest guitar songs
The electric blues pioneer, Chicago guitar great and world's greatest living bluesman's career in five key tracks
Take your blues jams to the next level with 10 inspiring chord shapes
Get to know the Hendrix Chord and a whole lotta options for adding variety to your blues rhythm playing
Larkin Poe’s Megan and Rebecca Lovell on their pedalboard pinch-hitters, the voice of lap steel, and the blues as a living art form
The music of Larkin Poe is both deep-rooted and future-facing, but as the Lovell sisters tell us, there are no rules but one golden rule: “Every song has to have a riff!”
How Lexii Lynn Frazier became Top Gun: Maverick’s new guitar hero and recorded her parts with just hours to spare
With no previous film experience, the session guitarist recorded the iconic theme for Tom Cruise’s latest blockbuster. Here’s how she did it, without the ability to read music and while battling a rare bone marrow disorder
5 albums shaping the sound of modern guitar music
Why the future of guitar music is secure in the hands of Nova Twins, Mdou Moctar, Covet and more
Tash Sultana on winning over MTV with a daring Unplugged performance and cracking Eric Johnson Strats in half onstage
The Australian polymath on an iconoclastic Unplugged performance that brought Strats and Teles to the party
Vance Joy: “When you write a great song you’re just like, ‘How did I do that?’ You get chills or the hair stands up your neck. That’s what keeps everyone going”
The modern singer-songwriter fingerstylist keeps cranking out hits – but doesn’t care what gear he uses to make them... In fact, he doesn’t even know the names of his guitars
The greatest guitar albums of the '90s
From Pearl Jam to Pantera, Metallica to Morello
Dirty Loops' Henrik Linder: "Set a hysterical end goal that you can’t reach. At least, that works for me!"
One of today's foremost bass virtuosos on how he honed his chops, what makes up his formidable rig, and why his band's bass parts got so weird
Black Midi’s Geordie Greep on how he learned to stop worrying and love his amp
Sometimes the best answers to our tone problems are right there in front of us. As Geordie Greep explains, even if you play experimental post-punk a dimed Marshall solves everything
The greatest guitar albums of the ’80s: the rise of the next-gen guitar hero
We examine the forward-thinking era that gave us monster records from Slash, Metallica and Randy Rhoads – and Joe Satriani tells us what made Van Halen's 1984 such a game-changer for guitarists
The greatest guitar albums of the ‘70s: Getting the Led out with Sabbath, the Who, Pink Floyd and more
Punk was a revolution, disco a global phenomenon, but the guitar music of the '70s was dominated by the giants of rock. Here are the decade's top 10 guitar albums, as chosen by you...
