Total Guitar

Total Guitar is Europe’s best-selling guitar magazine, crammed full of songs to learn plus backing tracks. From the latest metal and indie hits to classic rock from the likes of Led Zeppelin and AC/DC, TG has more songs than ANY other guitar magazine!. Please note: This digital version of the magazine does not currently include the covermount items or content you would find on printed newsstand copies

Total Guitar

Welcome…

“I’M CHANGING SIX PEDALS AT ONCE!” • IT’S LIKE TAP-DANCING, SAYS THE AMAZONS’ LEAD GUITARIST CHRIS ALDERTON

FENDER JOE STRUMMER • THE LATE CLASH FRONTMAN AND PUNK ICON GETS A NEW SIGNATURE MODEL FROM THE BIG F

MORTON MOVES TO GIBSON!

MXR DUKE OF TONE

JACKSON AMERICAN SERIES SOLOIST SL3

LARKIN POE • Bad Spell

12-BAR BLUES • Paul takes on three chords that are the foundation for every modern guitar style

PLAY LIKE JEFF BECK • Learn how to bend it like Beck can with TG’s rundown of Jeff’s techniques and musical style

“HEAVY DISTORTION AND CHAOS AND POWER!” • For fast-rising punk pop band Pale Waves, there’s only one way to play guitar: “Loud!”

The Metal Issue

“YOU’VE GOT TO SCRAPE EVERY DOWN-PICK. IT’S F*CKIN’ HARD!” • In the revitalised Machine Head, leader Robb Flynn is playing as fast and heavy as ever – while also channelling Bob Marley!

“WHAT REALLY MATTERS IS THE RIFF” • The sheer power of Amon Amarth comes from two guitarists with no-frills gear...

“WE SWING HARDER BY STAYING ON THE ONE STRING” • For the two guitarists in Lamb Of God, the heaviest riffs are all about groove

“IT SOUNDS AGGRESSIVE, BUT I HAVE A VERY SOFT TOUCH” • Arch Enemy’s riffs are “a merciless onslaught of fast picking”. But there’s also room for “sexy” vibrato...

BLACK SABBATH BLACK SABBATH (1970) • How the young Tony Iommi harnessed the evil power of the flattened 5th to create the most influential metal song of them all

ERUPTION VAN HALEN (1978) • The ultimate game-changer: a technique tour de force that inspired a million shredders, placing EVH in a category of one

HALLOWED BE THY NAME IRON MAIDEN (1982) • A perfect example of twin-lead guitar dynamics – in an epic track from the album that elevated Maiden to legendary status

MASTER OF PUPPETS METALLICA (1986) • The mighty epic that elevated thrash metal to an art form – powered by “the best rhythm guitar player on the planet”

COWBOYS FROM HELL PANTERA (1990) • The reinvention of Pantera: how the band found its groove and a new level of heaviness, and Dimebag became a guitar hero

BLIND KORN (1994) • With detuned seven-string guitars and a hip-hop influence in the mix, the boys from Bakersfield delivered the big bang of nu-metal

EYELESS SLIPKNOT (1999) • In a brutal anthem as fearsome as the band’s image, Mick Thomson created darkness and discordance with the guitar he couldn’t live without

Metal …can go in a million different directions!” • The new Slipknot album is their most eclectic to date – with experimentation amid the fury. Guitarists Jim Root and Mick Thomson reveal all...

MARCH OF THE FIRE ANTS MASTODON (2002) • Heaviness with a vast sonic range – achieved with an unorthodox approach to tuning and a classic sense of two-guitar harmony

THE HEAVIEST MATTER IN THE UNIVERSE GOJIRA (2005) • Disorienting rhythms, juggernaut grooves and pick scrapes. A defining moment in 21st century extreme metal

PHYSICAL EDUCATION ANIMALS AS LEADERS (2014) • With two virtuosos playing eight-strings, the possibilities are limitless – as illustrated in this prime example of ‘thumping’

Metal's Rising Stars • Three bands with huge potential – delivering frenetic alternate picking, uber-melodic chord runs, speaker-rattling feedback...