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 — June 30, 2021
Back for another Set Course For Andromeda edition of Riff Playbooks, Sithu Aye runs us through a fantastic jazz fusion inspired solo, taken from the song “Spiral”. This solo see’s Sithu dialing back the drive and digging into a dreamy passage full of tiny chromatic runs and soulful sliding phrases, which produce a perfect blend of Sithu’s signature sound and jazz fusion guitar soloing. If you’re a predominantly metal guitarist looking for a gateway into jazz fusion and some of the melodic ideas therein, Sithu Aye (in this solo and in many more passages from his catalogue), is a great first step.
Click here to grab the free tab for this solo, and check out the rest of Sithu’s catalogue here!
Here's what Sithu had to say about this passage:
This song is very much the definition of 'and now for something completely different'. Inspired heavily by the likes of Pat Metheny, this jazzy number sits right between two of the heaviest tracks on the album. Here we tackle the lead part which itself is actually present in the chord melody in the intro if you listen closely. I recommend you roll off your tone knob completely (pretty much the only time I've ever used the damned thing!) and go with the flow. This is a fun lead passage to play, repeating the melody over two octaves and leading nicely into the chorus lead part which outlines the chord progression before reinforcing the melody."
