Blues Riffs

British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage is widely admired for his distinctive blending of jazz and contemporary classical traditions, high energy and elegiac lyricism. Turnage was the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Composer in Residence from 2005–10 and this is the third volume of his music to be released on the LPO Label. It features five works recorded for the first time, including the world première peformance of his violin concerto Mambo, Blues and Tarantella with soloist Christian Tetzlaff.

All six of the albums Hanoi Rocks made in their original incarnation – Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks, Oriental Beat, Self Destruction Blues, Back to the Mystery City, Two Steps from the Move, and All Those Wasted Years – are packaged together, one album to one CD, in this straightforward six-CD set. There are no extras, just the albums as they were originally released, though there's a 12-page booklet with a solid history of the band and numerous (if small) reproductions of sleeves from their original releases. It's too much at once even for many fans, but for the more dedicated of that lot, it's a handy encapsulation of their primary recorded work. Hearing all of it does make it clear that, although they're often classified as a heavy metal band, they might be more accurately pegged as a hard rock band with substantial traces of glam and pop (and even some bar band blues-rock) along with the metal.

Here's a lesson that's packed with dozens of time-tested musical phrases that will help you become a strong lead guitarist. Even beginners will be able to start playing hot licks over blues changes. As the phrases get more advanced, you'll start to use slides, bends, hammer-ons, pull-offs and other techniques to increase your speed and dexterity.