Andy Timmons Video Masterclass

In a very special video masterclass Milton Mermikides analyses a unique guitar solo from this world-renowned rock virtuoso.

- Milton Mermikides

Andy Timmons is an all-round guitarist with an extensive experience of world-touring and chart-topping success (with the hard rock band Danger Danger). He’s a peer and regular jam buddy of the likes of Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Mike Stern and Steve Vai, a stylistically diverse and literate studio guitarist, leader of a highly-respected and busy instrumental trio and a guitarist’s guitarist with a thoroughly convincing heritage, great earthy tone and chops galore in the service of idiomatic melodic and harmonic interest.

He’s also humble and diffident to boot. If you want to get a flavour of the respect held for Andy in the guitar community, watch Steve Vai’s concert of Passion And Warfare in 2016 in Dallas, when – recognising Andy in the audience – Vai smiles and hands over his guitar mid solo and beams with joy at Andy’s impromptu soloing.

So there was no doubt that a video masterclass from Andy would be instructive and enjoyable, and what he produced with Jason Sidwell’s backing track shows a guitarist full of melodic ideas, harmonic and modal knowledge, feel, tone, technique and generous instructive commentary.

The backing track, Jubilant, has an immediately accessible rock feel but a fair amount of harmonic twists and turns requiring a through musical fretboard understanding. The track itself is centered in B but includes many non-diatonic chords (chords that include notes from outside the key). Let’s take the first section: