Opeth's guitar technique

[ConradFord]

HI, im a huge fan of opeth and i am obsessed with their riffs and soloing. I have tried to learn how to play like them and can play many songs but I want to learn how they play.

My main goal is to be able to improvise using the scales that opeth uses but I dont know what they are. They must be some kind of minor scales but I dont know much about theory or anything. Hopefully someone knows how I can learn to improvise opeth style!

 

[FRUGiHOYi]

You should get your own style, dude.

 

[Graft]

why ? if its sounds good and u like it , then go for it.

 

[Jester-Race]

As a beginning guitarist, I've come to the fact that you won't be able to play exactly like the next person, each and every guitarist is different in so many ways it's unbelievable. Playing LIKE someone is a different story though, and if you can already play a lot of their songs I don't see why you can't make up some awesome riffs yourself while playing around with different settings.

Also starting the guitar has made me realize more than ever how amazing Opeth is, I still can't come to grasp the fluid-like progression that they have in all of their songs. They are truly unparalleled when it comes to amazing music.

 

[LightningLixxx]

Using a certain scale/mode really won't do much. It varies from song to song and sometimes within a song.
If you're a beginner, I wouldn't concern myself much with scales, I'd go for a more "what sounds cool" approach. Come up with some chords that sound cool or possibly just some intervals that you like the sound of.
If it was extremely easy to come up with great music, everybody would be doing it. There are only a few great artists/bands (compared to the number of bands that exist) and there's a reason.

 

[Sanzen]

Obviously, the majority of Opeth stuff is in a minor key - usually E or D. In terms of soloing, a lot of Mike's stuff is bluesier / pentatonic based, while Peter tends to sweep arpeggios more.

I would just start learning their songs, man - you'll see how the riffs flow together and what patterns they use.

 

[all_sins_undone]

peter's solo on wreath is jizzworthy fyi

 

[Weakness]

I like Duane Allman.

 

[Serhan_pnr]

You should get your own style, dude.

exactly

 

[BloodSword]

Develop your own style and technique. Akerfeldt and Lindgren are excellent influences, but no one will ever completely match their tone.

 

[N-MAYH]

peter's solo on wreath is jizzworthy fyi

all peter's solos are jizzworthy, as are akerfeldts ... yeah i would just attempt learning their songs and develop your own style derived from them and any other artists you listen to

 

[the opeth affinity]

peter's solo on wreath is jizzworthy fyi

i couldnt have put it better myself

 

[Belligerent]

mix some of steven wilson's style in w/ akerfeldts and you've got your self a great sound
that is if you can pull it off

 

[batastrophe]

You should get your own style, dude.

FRUGiHOYi. I know that your ex-girlfriend's name is Marietta and you got mad at her once for taking your drums/keyboard/something. You went to Cypress High School and you dated some Asian chick or something. IDK.

AMIRITE? I'm watching you.

 

[Botfly]

^ahahahahaha

 

[snake101st]

FRUGiHOYi. I know that your ex-girlfriend's name is Marietta and you got mad at her once for taking your drums/keyboard/something. You went to Cypress High School and you dated some Asian chick or something. IDK.

AMIRITE? I'm watching you.

Dude, you live in Orange city? I live in Deland!

Small world...

 

[batastrophe]

Haha. Wow, I do live in Orange City. That's a very small world, considering how small each of our cities are!

 

[snake101st]

Yeah thats a bit crazy. I would say we should hang out some time but thats weird, huh?

Oh yeah, and youre of the female sex? Girls can like opeth? Wow. If I didnt have a gf, youd have a stalker!

 

[Kenneth R.]

HI, im a huge fan of opeth and i am obsessed with their riffs and soloing. I have tried to learn how to play like them and can play many songs but I want to learn how they play.

My main goal is to be able to improvise using the scales that opeth uses but I dont know what they are. They must be some kind of minor scales but I dont know much about theory or anything. Hopefully someone knows how I can learn to improvise opeth style!

learning other band's music isn't going to make you good at improvising unless you're playing your own ideas over their tracks. no matter how you look at it, experience is the only way to get better, and if you want to learn improv, you'd best start practicing it.

and yea, get your own style. clones are so boring.

 

[Loomer]

From what I've heard, some middle eastern scales are used sometimes as well.

The chord progressions, though, are a completely different story. Many times, the progressions make NO sense whatsoever, from a theoretical standpoint.

The one very important lesson to be learned from this is probably just, that you have to play whatever sounds cool to you. Just sit and mess around until you stumble upon something cool. That's how Mikael does it, if I recall correctly