By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Crystal Nuns Cathedral For “Re-Develop,” Robert Pollard calls upon his trusty “D pedal note” chords. The D note on the open fourth string rings out for pretty much the entire song while the chords change around it—mostly on the third, second, and first strings. You need to be logged […]
Tag: Guided By Voices
The Birthday Democrats
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: How Do You Spell Heaven “The Birthday Democrats” provides a solid opening track for How Do You Spell Heaven. Robert Pollard’s main guitar riff, which occurs before the verses and during the song’s ending, is simple to play on guitar and very catchy. You need to be logged in […]
Orange Jacket
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Guided By Voices/Cobra Verde (Split Single) “Orange Jacket” uses a lot of Robert Pollard’s signature arpeggio style guitar, which involves a fretted note on a low string followed by the two strings above it being played open in succession. The song has a few repeating sections but they are […]
Planet Score
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Motivational Jumpsuit Robert Pollard’s ode to a beloved St. Louis, Missouri record store is certainly one of the highlights of Motivational Jumpsuit. The song is somewhat basic in terms of guitar playing and song structure, just like some of the best classic GBV songs. You need to be logged […]
My (Limited) Engagement
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Spanish Coin
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: It’s Not Them. It Couldn’t Be Them. It Is Them! In “Spanish Coin,” Robert Pollard pulls out some of his best guitar tricks: floating chord shapes and open note drones. Doug Gillard embellishes the tune with string and trumpet arrangements, plus an impeccable nylon string guitar solo. You need […]
That’s Good
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Space Gun Originally released in the form of a Robert Pollard boombox demo on Suitcase 3, “That’s Good” got the full band treatment for Space Gun, complete with a string arrangement. The main guitar parts really didn’t change, but Doug Gillard did add some lead fills, so those are […]
Sons Of The Beard
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Sweating The Plague “Sons Of The Beard” is the best kind of Guided By Voices album closing track: a sprawling, epic prog masterpiece featuring multiple different sections, tempos, time signatures, and some scorching lead guitar work by Doug Gillard. There is nothing I don’t love about this song, so […]
Goodbye Note
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: August By Cake “Goodbye Note” is one of the two songs contributed by Doug Gillard for the August By Cake album. It features a few terrific riffs and some slick lead work. You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please Log In. Not […]
Free Agents
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Earth Man Blues “Free Agents” is a classic example of a Guided By Voices song that grew on me the more I heard it. I used to think it was just okay, but I eventually became obsessed with it, especially after seeing the band perform it live in Lancaster […]
