Steve Smyth

Steve Smyth

From Forbidden, Nevermore, Testament, EssenEss Project

Steve Smyth (Forbidden, Nevermore, Dragonlord, Testament, Vicious Rumors) is no newcomer in the metal music or shred guitar world, first being tipped for the top in Shrapnel Records president Mike Varney's “Hometown Heroes” column in the October 1993 issue of Guitar World magazine. A four year tenure as lead/rhythm guitarist with Bay Area power metallers Vicious Rumors started in 1995. During this time, Smyth contributed to two well received albums; 1996's Something Bu... (more)

Steve currently offers 9 guitar lessons at JamPlay, with 1 song lesson and 8 lessons in our Artist Series.

Steve Smyth's contribution to JamPlay

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Lessons With Steve Smyth

Veteran metal gunslinger Steve Smyth currently is in the bands Forbidden and The EssenEss Project. Having also been in bands such as Testament and Nevermore, Steve has a unique style that he teaches here on JamPlay.

1

Interview With Steve Smyth

JamPlay sits down with veteran fret grinder Steve Smyth of Forbidden and The EssenEss Project. He talks about how he got started with guitar, his inspirations, general tips about playing, and of course a look at his gear. Steve also covers his EVH 5150 III amp and gear that he uses live.

15:00 Runtime

0.5 Difficulty

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2

Technical Approach And Warmup Routine

Steve covers his overall approach to playing with a focus on his right hand technique. He also shows his basic hand stretching and warmup routine that he recommends doing before any practice.

7:00 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

3

Vibrato And Bending

Steve covers how he uses vibrato and bending to give a more vocal sound to lead lines and solos.

5:17 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

4

Scale Fragments

Steve Smyth shows you how to use smaller bit-sized scale chunks to create a blistering solo.

9:00 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

5

String Skipping

Steve goes in-depth with a topic that is integral to his style: string skipping. He teaches you a basic etude and then moves it across the strings for variations. He also teaches a couple of really cool licks that utilize string skipping and are signature to his sound.

18:05 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

6

Intervallic Playing

Steve gives you some different ideas on the topic of "intervallic playing". He covers playing in 4ths, 5ths, and 6ths. And he shows you his favorite way to use this concept.

9:30 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

7

Sweep Arpeggios

Steve shows how to practice sweep picking arpeggios. He shows major and minor forms and how to connect the shapes.

14:30 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

8

Coloring Arpeggios

Steve shows you how to "color" arpeggios with different intervals and combining swept arpeggios with tapping.

12:00 Runtime

4.0 Difficulty

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