In the first two installments of Chop Shop, we looked at some arpeggio-based runs that were spiced up with octaves, finger taps, pinch harmonics and behind-the-nut bends. This time, as promised, I’m going to talk about the ways in which I’ve employed ideas I’ve learned from guitarists in different genres to my own playing. To start off, I’m going to show you a lick in the key of B that I use on the track “The Nightmare Unravels,” from my latest solo CD, The Art of Malice.

George Harrison’s withering indictment of Britain’s progressive tax system was chosen to open the Beatles’ most progressive musical effort to date. Opening with a rasping cough and a droll count-in, “Taxman” kicks off Revolver in startling fashion, demonstrating both Harrison’s growing sophistication as a songwriter and Emerick’s budding talent for sculpting guitar tones.

Revolver is the album that made the Beatles recording artists in the absolute sense of the term. Their previous six albums had demonstrated John Lennon and Paul McCartney's increasingly ambitious songwriting skills and the group's competence with a range of musical styles. But the productions, while strong, were undistinguished.