Mastodon masterclass: Nick Johnston reveals his insane soloing techniques

Canadian rock fusion virtuoso Nick Johnston sure has had a colorful career. Spanning 20+ years, he has released six stunning rock fusion based instrumental albums, enjoyed numerous collaborations with everyone from Guthrie Govan to Polyphia and worked with Schecter for his signature S-style guitars.

Now as a member of Mastodon and an integral part of their new album, Marrow Deep, Nick has created an exclusive lesson on five of his favorite playing approaches.

Heavily influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani and Yngwie Malmsteen, Nick's style is a blend of legato, hybrid and sweep picking plus tapping. His vocabulary blends post-SRV blues licks and Malmsteen-like intensity with a compositional sophistication influenced by film composers such as Bernard Hermann (Citizen Kane, Psycho, Taxi Driver).

All this adds up to a versatile technique that provides numerous options for his large intervals and chromatic passing notes.

Jon Bishop

Jon Bishop wears many hats as a guitarist from articles for guitar magazines to transcribing video tutorials for GuitarWorld.com. He tours with UK rock and roll legend, Shakin' Stevens and various film and orchestra performances including Love Actually, Toy Story, Twilight and Labyrinth. As a fan of all rock styles, Jon is an ideal transcriber for Nick's video feature.

In his video, Nick plays all the examples free time without a backing. For context, we have included the chord type that these licks would ideally fit over.

In terms of vocabulary, Nick often uses the minor pentatonic scale as a foundation and then adds chromatic notes to create color and sophistication. With his style of intricate lead guitar, the devil is in the detail. So we have written in all the picking directions, and would encourage you to use the slow-motion feature available on YouTube for detailed study.

Nick performs all of the examples on his signature Schecter guitar, and uses a saturated lead overdrive with a bit of reverb and delay.

Example 1a - Hybrid picking and string crossing (version 1) (0:31 in the video)

Nick starts out with an impressive-sounding line that fits in with an A minor tonality. He combines accurate picking and use of the picking hand's second finger (shown as m below the tab) to deal with the string jumps. The basic rule is the second finger pluck can be used after a down pick, in place of an up pick.

Example 1b - Hybrid picking and string crossing (version 2) (1:24 in the video)

Here Nick demonstrates how the approach from Example 1a can be moved and adapted to work in different keys. Here you'll move up to the key of E minor. The line sounds more sophisticated due to the inclusion of choice chromatic notes (Bb and D#). The hammer-on and pull-off technique helps with speedy articulation and a fluid delivery.

Example 1c - Hybrid picking and string crossing (version 3) (1:27 in the video)

For this third variation, Nick lets rip in the key of B minor. This line has the same road map and fingering as the previous two examples. However, Nick adds in an extra B minor 7 arpeggio flourish to end with a colorful chromatic note (E# or F note). This is the b5 interval often used by guitarists in the context of the six note B blues scale (B-D-E-E#/F-F#-A). This creates a run of three chromatic notes that can be played quickly with hammer-ons and pull-offs.

Example 2a - Fast legato chromatics (version 1) (2:04 in the video)

This is a good workout for your hammer-on and pull-off technique. The phrase starts with a down pick followed by two hammer-ons. The second finger (m) then plucks the D note on the first string.

This is followed by a six-note sequence of hammer-ons and pull-offs. Finally, there is a fast down and up pick. It may be worth experimenting here by replacing this up pick with a second finger pluck.

Example 2b - Fast legato chromatics (version 2) (2:11 in the video)

Nick demonstrates how the previous example can be used in a different key. To fit in with the key of G major, the fingering pattern needs to be adapted from before. To get more mileage out of this idea, it would be a fun exercise for you to migrate it to other major and minor keys.

Example 2c - Fast legato chromatics (extended) (2:14 in the video)

Here you'll move back to the key of A minor and see how the pattern can be extended. There is a large A minor 7 arpeggio to negotiate at the end. This fits nicely under the fingers, and includes fretting hand tapping notes on the 17th and 19th frets on the first string.

The final part of the arpeggio is completed with fretting hand hammer-ons/taps (a favorite approach with Richie Kotzen to descend an arpeggio).

Example 3a - Bluesy phrasing (version 1) (3:03 in the video)

Time for some blues as this draws inspiration from Nick’s SRV influences. Here there is a great sounding string bend that plays in many of his lines. First, the note on the 10th fret of the third string is played (beat 1&e), then the note below (9th fret) which is then immediately bent up a semitone to a virtual 10th fret. This is reminiscent of Eric Johnson, ball parking his koto-like technique.

For a strong SRV nod, check out the 8th-9th-8th fret slide on the first string - the C-Db-C looks odd on paper within the Cm7 context but actually enriches the greasy blues sound here. To end, the notes on the first and second strings are played with fingers, the tone and extra pop helps to create an authentic bluesy bite.

Example 3b - Bluesy phrasing (version 2) (3:51 in the video)

Here's a further demonstration of the string bending from a semitone below you looked at in the previous example. Nick refers to this as an “outside to inside” sound.

With this example, you have three opportunities to bend into 10th fret notes on the fourth, third and first strings. Very slinky, very greasy!

Example 4 - Picking and intervallic variations (4:48 in the video)

This demonstrates how effective a pattern can be. The phrase starts out by linking the chord tones of A minor with chromatic notes such as G#, Eb and Bb. The legato technique is very effective for this.

For the descending portion, the A minor pentatonic is phrased in a groups of four pattern. Guitarists like Eric Johnson and Joe Bonamassa are fond of using this approach.

Example 5 - Percussive phrasing (6:41 in the video)

This final example has a bit of everything Nick has demonstrated including chromatic notes, legato, hybrid picking and the semitone approach bending.

In addition to adding extra facility, the hybrid picking technique is ideal for adding extra tone, bite and snap to the notes. If the string is popped with the picking hand's second finger, a percussive attack is added.

Hear Mastodon!

Mastodon - Snakes For Dinner

The first video track from Mastodon's new album features Nick as well as an appearance from the band's longtime friend, Josh Homme.

Mastodon - Snakes For Dinner (Official Video) - YouTube

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