Introduction
The "Riff Playbooks" column is designed to make you a better player. By gleaning some insight into the technique, composition, and execution of these fine riffs by fine SH artists, you are bound to make headway in your own playing. We cordially invite you to steal a page from our books in order to expand your own diabolical playbook of musical wizardry (not literally though, the books are expensive to create).
Posted — May 26, 2021
Sithu Aye, our favourite anime inspired progressive metal shredder, is back for a second round in the Sheet Happens Riff Playbooks series! Sithu happens to be our very first Riff Playbooks artist, and he is raising the bar in this triumphant return with a fantastic section from the song “Set Course For Andromeda”. This passage comes from the book / album of the same name, which you can check out right here. But if you need any convincing that this book is well worth your time, grab the free tab for this section here, and check out the video below, in which Sithu demonstrates this riff / solo combo with absolute precision and some ridiculously clean technique. There’s a lot to be gained from learning Sithu’s music, whether it’s one passage or an entire record, we can’t recommend it enough.
Here's some insight from Sithu himself into this section of Set Course For Andromeda!!!:
"Getting the vibe right in this first passage of the title track was super important and I really wanted to drive home the feeling of going on a fun and grand adventure or journey. Here, we tackle the second part of the opening riff of Set Course for Andromeda!!! which is a more straight version of the bouncier first part, leading into the opening solo which I really wanted to be memorable and have an impact. The solo itself covers a lot of ground, with a big melodic opening passage, chromatic bits and a fast ending. This entire passage is super fun to play live and hopefully you guys will get why that is by tackling this section."
