By: Robert Pollard Appears on: From A Compound Eye “Kick Me And Cancel” is yet another great example of the Robert Pollard guitar technique I call “Open String Drone.” This technique consists of playing a melody on one guitar string while also playing an adjacent open string. In the case of this song, the melody […]
Category: tab
Shocker In Gloomtown
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: The Grand Hour “Shocker In Gloomtown” was released on the EP The Grand Hour in 1993, and Guided By Voices has been performing it at almost live show since then. Check the song’s live stats on GBVDB; it’s right up there behind the other classics such as “Game Of […]
Tractor Rape Chain
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Bee Thousand One of the Robert Pollard guitar techniques I mention frequently on this site is one that I call “Floating Chord Shapes.” This involves taking an open position chord shape and playing it elsewhere on the guitar neck. In the case of “Tractor Rape Chain,” Pollard crafts a […]
Game Of Pricks
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Alien Lanes, Tigerbomb There’s an exciting moment in all live Guided By Voices shows where Robert Pollard brings the microphone to his lips and shouts, “PRICKS!” That’s the band’s cue to launch into the Alien Lanes classic, “Game Of Pricks.” Except they usually don’t play it the way it […]
Cut-Out Witch
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Under The Bushes Under The Stars Long-time Guided By Voices guitarist Doug Gillard has mentioned that Robert Pollard gives the band a fair amount of freedom with his songs so that they can incorporate their own ideas. In this way, some songs have evolved a bit from their original […]
Pop Zeus
By: Robert Pollard with Doug Gillard Appears on: Speak Kindly Of Your Volunteer Fire Department As I mentioned in the post for “Avalanche Aminos,” another song that was co-written by Robert Pollard and Doug Gillard is “Pop Zeus” from Speak Kindly Of Your Volunteer Fire Department. Just as in that song, Gillard wrote the music […]
Unfun Glitz
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Sweating The Plague “Unfun Glitz” features a guitar technique frequently used by Robert Pollard that involves taking an entire chord shape and shifting it either up or down a string. In this case, he’s taking a simple “power chord” shape (consisting of the root note, the fifth note, and […]
Immortals
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Sweating The Plague “Immortals” from Sweating The Plague is fairly simple to play on guitar. There are only a few chords and a quick riff to learn. According to Doug Gillard’s “Track By Track breakdown” of Sweating The Plague on Consequence Of Sound, the riff was sung by Robert […]
Downer
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Sweating The Plague “Downer,” the opening track from Sweating The Plague, seemed to throw a few curveballs at us fans. It sounds unlike other Guided By Voices songs, with its backwards cymbal effects, guitar harmonics, and a Robert Pollard guitar technique I’m calling “Barre Four.” You need to be […]
Heavy Like The World
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Sweating The Plague “Heavy Like The World” is one of two revamped Suitcase tracks on Sweating The Plague, along with “Your Cricket Is Rather Unique” (the original “Heavy Like The World” was titled “I’d Choose You” and appears on Suitcase 2: American Superdream Wow). Another trait they share is […]
