A Perfect Circle

Hi GMC!

Welcome to my new lesson in the style of the super group A Perfect Circle, formed in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan.

Music Style:
APC is an alternative rock band with influences from different styles like Art Rock, Progressive Metal, New Metal, and Industrial, among many others. Billy Howerdel is Nine Inch Nails guitar tech, and they also had members from bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. All this bands can be heard in APC sound and albums. This tune is an original composition based on the style of their most powerful songs like "Judith", "Weak and Powerless" and "Outsider".

Tonality, Chord Progression & Scales:
As most of their songs, this tune is in C# Minor key. The scale used for melodies and riffs is C# minor aeolian but there are also some riffs in C# Phrygian mode which is also very used by Billy in his compositions. The use of Sus 2 chords combine with Power Chords and riffs is also a very important element in APC songs.

Techniques:
This is mostly a rhythm lesson so the techniques used here are Palm Muting, Strumming and Alternate Picking. In this tune, I also show how they arrange guitars, combining Riffs, Melodies, Power chords and Octave chords.

Sound:
I used Fractal Ax8's 5153 (Peavey 5150 emulation), Cubase 9.5 to record audio and midi, Superior Drummer 3 for drums and Trillian for bass.

Tuning: Drop C#.