Molly Tuttle’s right hand technique is a melding of several uniquely virtuosic picking approaches: the forearm anchor of her rhythm comping, and the palm anchor she uses for crosspicked lead lines. “White Freightliner Blues” is a showcase for her ability to switch effortlessly between these modes, even while singing. In this clip, she gives us a closeup look at how the switch happens.
What makes a great musical performance? Blazing speed? Perfect accuracy? Andy’s acoustic performances in his latest Masters in Mechanics interview were recored separately and without a click. We never planned to play them together, and yet, when you do, they lock up almost perfectly. Andy has a concept for these pieces that takes us on a journey, and that, more so than the face melting chops, is why he’s such a great musician.
The solo to Molly’s original tune, “Girl In My Shoes”, weaves elegantly through the changes by way of intricate roll patterns. A staple of bluegrass mechanical vocabulary, the forward roll is equally at home here in Molly’s capable hands as a device for crafting spellbinding pop leads. In this clip, we take a slow-motion look at how this kind of patterning is achieved.
In this face-melting clip from his Masters in Mechanics interview, the amazing Teemu Mäntysaari delivers a blazing take of bandleader Jari Mäenpää’s solo in “Winter Madness”, a seminal early Wintersun composition which is fast becoming a modern metal classic. In the clip, Teemu talks about the song’s interesting “bariolage”-style open string arpeggios, and the unique picking patterns he uses to tackle them.