Lemmy's Legacy II - AC & Roll

Hi GMC!

Welcome to Lemmy’s Legacy lesson 2! In these series of 4 lesson I’ll cover the composing and guitar style of Lemmy’s band Motorhead. These are not only a tribute to Lemmy, a legend of rock and heavy metal, this lessons are a masterclass for beginner/intermediate guitarists that want to take their guitar technique, composing and arranging skills to a new level.


Music Style:
This second tune is based on their mid-tempo tracks that sound with an AC/DC style Groove. They usually include one or two tracks like this one in their albums, being “Born to raise hell” the most popular from this group. The classic rock influence is even clearer on this type of tracks because the tempo is moderate and the riffs and licks are closer to their musical heros.


Tonality, Chord Progression & Scales:
This tune combines two scale modes, one minor and another one major: aeolian and mixolydian. The introduction, verse and bridge are in E minor scale (Aeolian), while the chorus and guitar solos modulate to Mixolydian mode which is a major mode and one of the most used in blues and classic rock (as well as country and southern rock) since its root chord is dominant. The typical mixolydian progression is I – bVII – IV which in the case of this tune is E – D – A, all major chords when playing triadic (3 notes, without 7ths) chords.

Techniques:
This is also a full song lesson so you’ll get into a real music situation. The lesson includes riffing, chord progressions and guitar solos so the techniques covered are palm muting, alternate picking, bending, legato and vibrato.

Sound:
I used LePoin plugins to create the guitar tone. These are free amp emulators that are extremely recommended. The cabinet used for this guitar tone is Lextac and before it a tube screamer emulation. Check out the settings:





I used Cubase to record audio and midi, superior drummer for drums and Trillian for bass.

Tuning: Standard Tuning

Tempo: 140 BPM