By: Guided By Voices Appears on: The Pipe Dreams Of Instant Prince Whippet The guitar work throughout “Action Speaks Volumes” consists of a single stum of a chord (there are many of Robert Pollard’s favorite chord shapes included in this song) followed by two E notes on the open sixth string. With this constant rhythmic […]
Tag: Guided By Voices
Fly Religion
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Universe Room “Fly Religion” is the first single to be released from the upcoming album Universe Room, and it sure does whet the appetite. There’s nothing groundbreaking here in terms of song composition or guitar work, but it’s just another great song by Robert Pollard and company with a […]
Flunky Minnows
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: English Little League The majority of the guitar work in “Flunky Minnows” relies on Robert Pollard’s guitar technique that I refer to as “open string drone.” He’s playing notes on the sixth string (both fretted and open) and keeping the open fifth string ringing out at the same time […]
Hangover Child
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: The Bears For Lunch The main guitar riff in “Hangover Child” uses a Robert Pollard guitar technique that I refer to as “dropping the bass,” which involves playing a power chord and then moving the finger being used to fret the lowest, or bass, note of the chord. In […]
For The Home
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Nowhere To Go But Up The main riff in “For The Home” features a type of guitar arpeggio that’s used less frequently in Robert Pollard’s arsenal. His typical arpeggio includes a fretted note (most commonly as the lowest note) followed by two open strings (most commonly the next two […]
Jack Of Legs
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Nowhere To Go But Up Considering the amount of starts and stops, plus the tempo changes associated with its multiple different sections, “Jack Of Legs” presents a number of challenges to play, and yet it has remained in the Guided By Voices live set since the Nowhere To Go […]
Show Me The Castle
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Strut Of Kings Track 1 of Guided By Voices album Strut Of Kings is “Show Me The Castle,” another fine example of Robert Pollard’s collage style of songwriting. There are several different sections, though they mostly use the same basic chords. You need to be logged in to view […]
Timing Voice
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Strut Of Kings “Timing Voice” has become one of the Strut Of Kings songs to make it to the live set, which should come as no surprise. It’s definitely one of the rockingest songs on the album, with a terrific riff that’s pretty simple to nail down on guitar.
This Will Go On
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Strut Of Kings When I published the tablature post for “Bit Of A Crunch,” I mentioned how it had already become one of my favorite Robert Pollard compositions to include guitar arpeggios. It was definitely remiss of me to not also mention “This Will Go On” from the same […]
Leaving Umbrella
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Strut Of Kings Certain elements of “Leaving Umbrella”—specifically the effect on Robert Pollard’s vocals and Doug Gillard’s tone on the brief lead guitar part—remind me of early Guided By Voices recordings. I don’t know if it’s any song in particular, but it just makes me think of those early […]
