Kris Norris

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Mr. Kris Norris was born August, 31 1978 in Canton, Ohio. He began playing around the age of 14. Early on the self-taught guitarist took an interest in metal and began playing in a local Virginia metal band. Kris' early influences were rooted in Swedish metal, bands include In Flames, Dark Tranquility, and Edge of Sanity. Norwegian Black metal also played a part in Kris' interest including early Mayhem, Emperor, and Ulver. Kris started Disinterment with future Darkest Hour bandmate Ryan Parrish. Disinterment lasted over 6 years and developed a local following in the Virginia metal by being some of the first players to incorporate Swedish metal and 3 guitar players.

College Days
When Kris was 17 he attended Virgina Commonwealth University School of Music (VCU). He studied Music composition and focused on film with world renowned composer Dika Newlin. Kris also studied classical guitar with John Patykula, prize student of Jesus Silva who was the prize student of Andre Segovia. Kris left the University after 6 years of studies. After college, he began his teaching career instructing private students and giving lessons at Mars Music. Kris' teaching career would eventually be put on hold to join Darkest Hour.

Darkest Hour Days
Kris' first album with Darkest Hour ,Hidden Hands Of A Sadist Nation, the 2005 release was recorded at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordstrom. Ironically, the same studio facilitated many of Kris' influences 10 years prior.

Darkest Hour's next release, Undoing Ruin allowed Kris to stretch his wings and show what he could truly do on the instrument with the addition of several solos. The record was produced by Canadian metal mastermind Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad, Steve Vai). Townsend was a big part of pushing Kris to his own musical potential on Undoing Ruin and even more so on the follow up record, Deliver Us.

Deliver Us was released in 2007 and debuted at 110 on the Billboard Chart. This would be the last Darkest Hour record with Kris as a member. The album like its predecessor was also produced by Devin Townsend, who was able to take a bigger hand in its production. Devin pushed Kris to experiment with his own playing and to hone in on his strongest abilities.

Kris' career with Darkest Hour spanned 6 years, 23 countries, 4 continents, countless tours, 3 albums, near 200,000 album sales, and many lifelong friendships made along the way. With the birth of his son in 2008, Kris felt he needed to take his career closer to home while still focusing on music and guitar. In order for Darkest Hour to devote 100% to their music and touring, Kris came to the decision to amicably part ways with the band.

His Future:
As of early 2009, Kris has full sponsorships from ESP, EMG, Peavey, DigiTech, InTune, and Morley. Currently, Kris is producing and mixing aspiring metal acts while also working for Final Symphony Studios out of Charlottesville, Virgina. Kris also edits records for James Murphy (Testament, Obituary, Death) at Safehouse Productions. Kris has released his first solo record through Magna Carta Records, entitled Icons Of The Illogical. His solo effort was recorded at Karma Productions with Cory Smoot (GWAR) and features vocals from Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe.

Kris is excited to be an addition to the JamPlay Instructor Roster. Lending his metal chops and thorough education to his lessons make him a valuable teacher. Kris is excited to be making lessons for JamPlay and just as stoked to learn new things from our other instructors. Check it out and stay Metal. (Less)

(More)

Meet Kris Norris
Video Runtime of 2:00

Kris's Contributions to JamPlay.com

Kris Norris has 51 videos at JamPlay, with 7 song lessons, 41 lessons in our Artist Series, 1 Lick & Riff Library entry and 2 entertainment videos. Use the tabs below to learn more.

Subscribing to JamPlay gives you unlimited access to all of Kris's lessons,
as well as all lessons from our roster of instructors.

Artist Series
Songs
Licks
Entertainment
Live Schedule

Kris Norris Artist Series

Kris Norris kicks off the JamPlay.com Artist Series with a wide array of ideas and lessons; from changing strings on a floyd rose, to advanced sweeping / legato techniques and soloing applications.

Lesson 1

Changing Strings - Floyd...

Kris Norris demonstrates how to install new strings on a guitar equipped with a Floyd...

Length: 13:43

Lesson 2

Warm-up Exercises with...

Kris Norris shows you his favorite warm-up exercises. These exercises will prepare you...

Length: 12:16

Lesson 3

Scalar Exercises: Left...

Kris covers chromatic and scale pattern exercises. Also, he explains some variations on...

Length: 20:23

Lesson 4

Scalar Exercises: Legato

Kris shows you the in's and out's of legato playing. These examples will benefit beginners...

Length: 11:01

Lesson 5

Chuggin' n Skippin'

Kris covers right hand techniques such as palm muting, tremolo, palm muted string skipping,...

Length: 13:26

Lesson 6

Advanced Sweep Picking...

Kris covers the right and left hand components of sweep picking separately. Then, he shows...

Length: 35:40

Lesson 7

Remaining Foolish: Arpeggios...

Kris presents excerpts from his song "Remaining Foolish" from Icons of the Illogical....

Length: 17:40

Lesson 8

Sweep Exercises Based...

Kris uses Pachelbel's "Canon In D" as a way to practice arpeggio sweeps. He shows how...

Length: 10:08

Lesson 9

Counterpoint: A Shift...

This lesson is about the concept of counterpoint and harmony. Kris explores contrapuntal...

Length: 8:52

Lesson 10

A Closer Look At Pick...

Kris analyzes different pick sizes and their effect on his playing. Using a slow motion...

View This Full Lesson!

Lesson 11

Satriani Inspired Tapping

Kris Norris explains how to play a Joe Satriani inspired tapping etude.

Length: 11:13

Lesson 12

Extending Your Musical...

Kris Norris takes a look at 8 string guitars and their possibilities. He demonstrates...

Length: 10:34

Lesson 13

Neoclassical Inspirations

Kris teaches neoclassical examples from three of his favorite guitar players.

Length: 29:17

Lesson 14

Rock & Metal Chicken...

Kris displays some adventurous ways to use chicken pickin' in a rock and metal environment.

Length: 15:25

Lesson 15

Exotic Embellishments...

Kris teaches arpeggio examples that use notes outside of a scale. He also demonstrates...

Length: 12:19

Lesson 16

Connecting Scale Patterns

Kris shows you how to connect the patterns of a G major scale together.

Length: 15:28

Lesson 17

Mastering Modes: Basic...

This is the first lesson in the "Mastering Modes" mini series. Here Kris explains the...

Length: 19:08

Lesson 18

Mastering Modes: Ionian

In this lesson, Kris explains the history behind the modes and then explains the Ionian...

Length: 9:59

Lesson 19

Mastering Modes: Dorian

In this lesson, Kris covers the Dorian mode, which is the second mode of the major scale.

Length: 13:39

Lesson 20

Mastering Modes: Phrygian

Kris explains the basics of the Phrygian mode, which is a minor sounding mode of the major...

Length: 7:43

Lesson 21

Mastering Modes: Lydian

In this installment of the "Mastering Modes" mini-series, Kris covers the Lydian mode....

Length: 9:47

Lesson 22

Mastering Modes: Mixolydian

Kris explains the basics of the Mixolydian mode, which is a major sounding mode of the...

Length: 10:00

Lesson 23

Mastering Modes: Aeolian

Kris explains Aeolian, which is the 6th mode of the major scale. This is also known as...

Length: 7:32

Lesson 24

Mastering Modes: Locrian

Kris covers the Locrian mode, which is the 7th mode of the major scale.

Length: 5:48

Lesson 25

Song Workshop Experiment

Aaron Miller sits down with Kris in the JamPlay studio to discuss songwriting techniques.

Length: 78:38

Lesson 26

Song Workshop Experiment...

Kris Norris and Aaron Miller are back to finish up what they started. Get ready for more...

Length: 32:00

Lesson 27

Picking Practice With...

Kris shows how some drum rudiments can be used to make exercises for your right hand.

Length: 18:33

Lesson 28

Sliding Arpeggios

Kris teaches how to use sliding techniques with arpeggios. He uses an example in the Lydian...

Length: 15:11

Lesson 29

Left Hand Finger Independence

Kris teaches exercises focused on getting the left hand fingers to be more independent.

Length: 26:19

Lesson 30

Building Triad Arpeggios

Kris explains root triad arpeggios and their first and second inversions.

Length: 25:12

Lesson 31

Practicing Triad Arpeggios...

This lesson focuses on sweep picking major, minor, and diminished triad arpeggios chromatically.

Length: 16:33

Lesson 32

Re-voicing Progressions...

Kris shows you how inversions can be used to create smooth voice leading within a progression.

Length: 14:34

Lesson 33

Dual Tonality Pentatonics

Kris shows how to combine pentatonic scales from different keys to form new and interesting...

Length: 24:06

Lesson 34

Betcha Can't Scale This

Kris shows you how to learn scales vertically and horizontally on the fretboard.

Length: 16:11

Lesson 35

The Neapolitan Chord

Named after the "Neapolitan School" from the 18th century and not ice cream, this chord...

Length: 7:13

Lesson 36

Diatonic Chords In G...

Kris shows the diatonic chords of G Major.

Length: 19:42

Lesson 37

Diatonic 7th Arpeggios

Kris teaches you how to play diatonic 7th arpeggios and their inversions in the key of...

Length: 15:47

Lesson 38

Tapping 7th Arpeggios

Kris shows you how to play seventh arpeggios with tapping, legato, and string skipping.

Length: 7:45

Lesson 39

Popular Chord Progressions

Kris shows some common major and minor chord progressions.

Length: 27:24

Lesson 40

Quick Connect EMG Active...

Kris installs these new EMG pickups into his guitar.

Length: 26:15

Lesson 41

Workshop With Chodypth

Kris Norris sat down with Chodypth, aka Cody, and this video is the result of a day of...

Length: 77:35

Title	Detail	Genre	Runtime	Skill
3 Finger Tapping In E Minor	Kris shows two, three finger tapping licks in E minor.	Metal Lead	6:14 minutes

Live Schedule for Kris Norris

You can now interact directly with JamPlay's teachers. You can ask a question in the chat and receive a video response via webcam. All you need to do is launch the JamChat when a session is scheduled.

When		Starts In	Duration	Topic
Sun, May 26th	9:00 PM	4 days, 20 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion
Tue, May 28th	4:00 PM	6 days, 15 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion
Sun, Jun 2nd	9:00 PM	11 days, 20 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion
Tue, Jun 4th	4:00 PM	13 days, 15 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion
Sun, Jun 9th	9:00 PM	18 days, 20 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion
Tue, Jun 11th	4:00 PM	20 days, 15 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion
Sun, Jun 16th	9:00 PM	25 days, 20 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion
Tue, Jun 18th	4:00 PM	27 days, 15 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion
Sun, Jun 23rd	9:00 PM	32 days, 20 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion
Tue, Jun 25th	4:00 PM	34 days, 15 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion
Sun, Jun 30th	9:00 PM	39 days, 20 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion
Tue, Jul 2nd	4:00 PM	41 days, 15 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion
Sun, Jul 7th	9:00 PM	46 days, 20 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion
Tue, Jul 9th	4:00 PM	48 days, 15 hours	2 hours	Open Discussion

* All times are shown in GMT-5: New York City (EST).

Kris Norris

Meet Kris Norris

Kris's Contributions to JamPlay.com

Kris Norris Artist Series

Songs with Kris Norris

"With A Thousand Words To Say But One"Darkest Hour

"Convalescence"Darkest Hour

"Tunguska Guitar Solo"Darkest Hour

"Doomsayer (The Beginning Of The End)"Darkest Hour

"Tranquil"Darkest Hour

"Demons"Darkest Hour

"Wolverine Blues"Entombed

Lick & Riff Library Entries

Entertainment - Licks and Riffs

Live Schedule for Kris Norris