Guitar World | 1 decade ago
These videos and audio files are bonus content related to the June 2014 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now or at the Guitar World Online Store:http://guitarworld.myshopify.com/collections/guitar-world/products/guitar-world-june-14-motley-crue
Using the same "mandolin trick" I introduced last month—deploying a capo high up on the neck to emulate the sound and feel of a mandolin—I'd like to present another cool-sounding, alternate-picking-friendly solo guitar interpretation of a popular bluegrass fiddle tune, this one being an arrangement of a traditional Irish reel called "Red Haired Boy" (also known as "The Red Headed Irishman" and "The Jolly Beggar").
While most bluegrass standards are based on the major scale, this one is based on the Mixolydian mode, specifically A Mixolydian (A B Cs D E Fs G). The mode's minor, or "flatted," seventh, G natural, gives it a distinctly Celtic, old-world quality, which to me sounds kind of mystical and brings to mind the highlands of Ireland and Scotland.
