Articles by: Grant Moon

James Dean Bradfield shares the secrets behind his songwriting and guitar craft

By Grant Moon published 16 December 21

He started out playing a Les Paul to sound like the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones. Now, he’s channeling Abba and declaring “I love my Strat!” The Manic Street Preachers frontman offers a few lessons he’s learned along the way

Pond’s Jay Watson on the search for improv gold, the freedom to make weird noise and why lead guitar rules

By Grant Moon published 14 December 21

The multi-instrumentalist unpacks the Australian psych-rocker’s freewheeling sound and explains why they don’t need rhythm guitars to make a guitar album

Joe Bonamassa: “Being semi-retired for a year and a half has given me a new lease of life”

By Grant Moon published 30 November 21

The blues-rock maestro on how a no-frills recording approach didn't get in the way of his most musically ambitious record to date

Sam Fender: “When you write a melody, it’s like your soul talking – you’re finding it through pure feeling”

By Grant Moon published 25 November 21

Acclaimed by Elton John and Paul Weller, Fender's new album Seventeen Going Under is a masterclass in songwriting – he walks us through his process and looks back on his guitar journey so far

Rory Gallagher bassist Gerry McAvoy remembers making the great bluesman's debut album

By Grant Moon published 27 October 21

“Rory was experimenting with everything – he loved folk, he loved jazz, he loved blues... And pop elements would creep in there as well”

How John Mayer conquered the world

By Grant Moon published 27 September 21

Inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan and feted by Clapton, John Mayer is one of the most gifted guitarists of the modern era. This is his story

Jocelyn Gould: "Jazz is a language – if you don’t hear it, you can’t speak it"

By Grant Moon published 27 September 21

The Canadian guitarist and composer on balancing teaching with writing original, award-winning jazz

Billy Gibbons: “I was fearless when I started playing, but learning that agonizing F chord was miserable!”

By Grant Moon published 17 August 21

With new solo album Hardware in record stores, the ZZ Top icon sits down with TG to share some hard-earned wisdom

The 50 greatest guitar riffs of all time

By Amit Sharma, Jonny Scaramanga, Ellie Rogers, Grant Moon, Jonathan Horsley, Sian Llewellyn, Henry Yates, Matt Frost, Joel McIver published 10 August 21

From metal to rock, punk to grunge, these are the best guitar riffs ever recorded, as voted for by you

How Gary Moore's propulsive playing and fiery tone changed the course of blues guitar

By Grant Moon published 1 July 21

With extracts from a previously unpublished 2004 interview, Total Guitar profiles the career of a blues-rock guitar legend

Steve Lukather: “I used to learn George Harrison s**t and everyone thought I was a badass! Now little kids on YouTube play like Stevie Ray Vaughan“

By Grant Moon published 11 June 21

Lukather has played on the biggest-selling album of all time, is in a band with Ringo Starr and remains a member of Toto, and here he shares some of his hard-earned wisdom

Why Albert Collins was the true master of the Fender Telecaster

By Grant Moon published 28 May 21

The Iceman put a whole lot of fire in his playing with wild vibrato and a stinging blues tone

Jonathan Wilson: “I always say timing and rhythm is what makes you money, not speed and tons and tons of notes”

Jonathan Wilson: “Timing and rhythm is what makes you money, not speed and tons and tons of notes”

By Grant Moon published 18 May 20

The Americana artist on Nashville, his musical father, touring with Roger Waters and perfecting your craft...

Seafret's Harry Draper: “We wrote Oceans in an hour after being in the pub. Now we go all over the world and play it”

By Grant Moon published 14 May 20

Draper takes us below the surface to reveal the secrets of the Yorkshire duo's indie-pop sound

Vivian Campbell: Me and my guitar

By Grant Moon published 3 April 20

The Leppard, Dio and Whitesnake legend talks us through his beautiful Les Paul Custom signature model

Andy Shauf: "Follow the melody and look at the chords later"

By Grant Moon published 28 February 20

The Canadian multi-instrumentalist on the craft of songwriting, vintage gear and his new album, The Neon Skyline