Writing Riffs From SCALES With Olly Steele of MONUMENTS | GEAR GODS

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Straight from the progressive metal master himself, Monuments guitarist Olly Steele took us through his process for writing complex riffs from fairly simple scales!
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[@musicjrb4119]

Can we all agree that olly needs to keep making tutorials for us🔥🔥🔥

[@2giantmonsters]

This is an excellent eye opener.

[@tcookie12]

Emmure is known for using a very simplified version of that scale. They just use the 0 and 1.

[@fieldyznuts997]

*triggered reply*

[@crowing3886]

Binary scales you mean.

[@ethanbriendo7096]

Shawn Mitchell the one and only JOKE DESTROYER

[@crowing3886]

@@ethanbriendo7096 sorry dad

[@blacklotus3205]

I get the joke, but ever since Josh Travis joined its a whole different story lol

[@petermuller161]

Djent dudes are riff factories.

[@512banana1]

@JThorsson Bael Invictus i'm dead lmao

[@512banana1]

@JThorsson Bael Invictus after looking that "fabbotry" up lmao

[@KHANPIN]

1) Learn the scale as it was taught to you. 2) Play the same scale on one string. 3) Create patterns of the scale on one string. 4) Expand the scale in other parts of the guitar using the notes of the scale. 5) Add chords using the notes of the scale. 6) Mix and match the notes and chords of the scale you learned all around the neck to make riffs!

[@fredstonell7119]

To turn the scale from “normal” to only one string, is it just a case of finding and playing the same notes on one string or is there something more to it? Sorry i’m really new to theory

[@MetalDoraemon6]

can it be more ambiguous...

[@CommandoK17]

@@fredstonell7119 that's exactly what it is. You would take a multiple string scale and play it on your low string. For example, a 5 string, D minor scale can be played across multiple strings or your low string.

[@MtMars]

@@fredstonell7119 yes, always remember theory is about the *notes* not about the *shapes.* Shapes are useful for memorizing the notes.

[@shredgod6394]

dream Think of it this way. Every scale is a series of whole steps and half steps. The notes are the same distance apart no matter where you play them.

[@bedaskun5312]

His tone is so percussive it's sounds amazing.

[@Demithrium]

He's so happy talking about G#

[@Dustinchugs]

That's cause G# is that 🔥

[@CorvinRayne]

I naturally kind of write this way, but I love the way he can articulate these ideas in an easy to understand way.

[@infernapeDLS]

i actually never write this way and I think it will help me out creatively. I mostly think about a melody in my head and then just riff it out. But with this I can at least start with a certain scale or pre determined sound.

[@maxmustermann-hf7vw]

Probably one the best tutorial for an intermediate player there is. I was at the point where my actual playing is quite qood, yet im feeling bored with guitar. A tutorial just like this helps me out so much

[@joshualippert1746]

THIS is what i needed! Been playing for years trying to figure out how to break out of my shapes and i think this will finally get me started! Not sure why I've never thought of it. Thanks Olly! Your lessons are the best on KZbin!

[@sunnymittal1906]

Man, Olly just seems like such a friendly guy and is sharing his thoughts with us for free...so awesome.

[@DriFD3S]

Wow, Trey looks really different without a toque.

[@ph0kused]

That ibanez looks cool

[@SkunkDozer]

You got a great gift: you're an excellent teacher. Super clear and immediately applicable. Thanks!

[@dylanedwards2056]

His right hand technique is great. Awesome pick attack and his ability to play riffs like this so dynamically and articulately without distortion shouldn't be overlooked.

[@DontThinkOnit]

This video is 90% of the reason why I am subbed to gear gods.

[@drphalanges1520]

This is great insight. I've always been stumped as to how these guys write their riffs. I feel like they know some secret I don't, but that's not true. I really liked this. I'd love to see Periphery's process too.

[@archkarr18]

These djent dudes piss me off!... (cause they're so bad ass..lol)...I'm an older school shredder but I'm trying to include this stuff in my playing..again..because it sounds badass! (forcing me to explore more "chord" shredding..etc...)..some get a little too far out there, but done right it's awesome and very technical..just how I like it!....Olly does a good job in this video..playing and teaching

[@albertodjento2197]

One of the best Riff writers of this era and genre , God bless you Olly..

[@-lien8string541]

Olly is such a well-rounded guitarist. He has great vibrato, tone, and style.

[@t1aoDC]

"I'm in G sharp". Olly you give me life. Haha.

[@tianwatskree]

Oooh that Spite shirt, took me a while to realise haha!

[@jacobwhitus3715]

One if I he best lessons I’ve ever seen on KZbin!

[@hallowedsword9362]

Love Egyptian style metal, thanks for this content!

[@Nnamdinnamah]

Omg what an amazing teacher for intermediate

[@ibuiltthesky]

That smile...That damn smile 😍

[@curseyou_bayle]

We need more video like this!

[@tammycoates7816]

I'm with you!

[@TheJutincase]

Finally an useful tutorial from a celebrity guitarist

[@Pr0v0kat0r777]

I've been searching this for a while, love Monuments, but john brown don like to comunicate thats much on his channel, and alot of questions about music/theory related themes are usually ignored... Olly is more open, and he answeared almost all my questions here. Always wanted to know what scale makes monuments sound so "mysterious" - phrygian dominant. Thx Gear Gods, that is really healthy content u put out there!

[@SmashSquatch30]

I recommend checking out Signals Music Studio's channel if you want to explore more theory, particularly how different modes produce different sounds. \m/

[@Pr0v0kat0r777]

thank you, any info on that would help me alot!

[@lalainaichane319]

You can check out John's new lessons on riffhard dot com !

[@Pr0v0kat0r777]

jesus dude, where have u been whole time!? *BroHug*

[@johannsoncrusoe5589]

Cool power and energy! Each one teach one like. I like that a lot.

[@nuke97]

This is seriously an amazing and inspiring video presentation on riff making.

[@samsancheziii]

He’s so well spoken. Great video.

[@nathanstatham5022]

Dudes picking hand is out of this world.

[@PeripheralPurity]

I know absolutely nothing about Monuments but god I love this dude

[@dragonsan45]

These Olly lessons are fantastic.

[@EXSENTRIX]

This really made alot of sense to me. Never heard anyone explain this like he is. Thank you!

[@noodle845]

He seems like a really nice bloke. Good tutorial too 😎

[@6maxgrinder549]

Dude, this is exactly what i've always done! didnt know other people did it too

[@ethanbriendo7096]

That’s not the subject of the video but... damn THAT TONE IS FIRE

[@chur44]

Olly just drops a banger on a lesson vid. What am I even doing?

[@joshieaman]

Amazing perspective as always!

[@aerocorby]

Dude this was so sick!!!!!

[@hansolzy]

anyone know where i can get that SPITE shirt?

[@Chanarchism]

I got it from the merch table

[@nsiepmann]

More great stuff from Olly, and well-explained!

[@Bedangamer]

love you Olly...... so much!!! ADVICE to my fellow djents... get a guitar lesson from this dude. answers all your questions, and give you concepts to work on!! great deal!!!

[@buzzard22]

This is outstanding!

[@tezzamusic6445]

5:18 -- Put to .25 speed. You're welcome.

[@SeriousDamageBand]

Broots

[@reneebear3641]

Hilarious

[@Grandfather_Goose]

I'm in G#

[@scotthornsey]

Oh man I want that guitar tone!

[@LukeVidler]

Great teacher, need to check out his music.

[@Yusufmasron]

thats so cool

[@metalheadblues]

Been doing this alot lately , most of my songs are in A harmonic minor since I play in drop A on my 7 string. Nice lesson.

[@ronswary]

Got that finger anchored into his nose thanks editing

[@dobby240]

I would like to push the fact that this dude really fucking knows his theory. Sick video. But really pushed me to learn my theory more than ever.

[@smilleur]

That was fucking incredible

[@Knosferatu]

Amazing human

[@kristopherarvey320]

We need mooooarr!!

[@dannyamit6000]

Damn. He is just so good

[@JoeyHanna96]

Big up the spite shirt 💖

[@richardtoth7240]

it is fucking useful for intermediate players!! I wish I have seen this a few years ago....

[@MarkHolden73]

great pointers

[@holmesteadready]

Sooooo sick

[@bradleyrayson2955]

Great teacher

[@Thedudewhoknocks1825]

When Olly plays some Chopin prelude no. 15 👀

[@Outer0Heaven]

I have this problem with playing outside the box, that I feel I've just altered the shape of the box, but Personally I'm okey with that and don't really think to much about "boxes". But if I make a riff out of the sound within a scale, It's still inside the box, but I've just shaped the box. U know

[@citylights2765]

That guitar 😍

[@r1too]

4:46 Where is the pick?

[@ixw820]

Tucked in the knuckle on his middle finger! Look close

[@TheOnlyInstall]

He pulls it from thin air at 4:56

[@quinnmitchel4075]

5:50 progressive metal version of thunderstruck?

[@Wonderlust69420]

Riff master

[@TempleGuitars]

This sounded a lot like Javier, something about that mode.

[@RavencoreLZR]

Yo anyone known which mode 8 string he was holding before the gear gods intro?

[@PhelpsLife]

Can anyone tell me what is needing to get that specific tone? VST? Guitar? Pickups?

[@shakthivelcr7]

CAN SOMEONE FUCKING TELL ME HOW I CAN DIAL THIS BEAUTY OF A TONE ON MY NEURALDSP PLINI OR FORTIN CALI SUITE

[@AtlasGaming935]

How do I get that percussion near boosted or slightly driven dirty ish clean tone? That'll sound killer on my hellraiser 8

[@Rkotbagx2]

What tuning should you use on a 7 string?

[@N0ahplause]

Drop G. G D G C F A D . Sounds great for me if you like lower tunings.

[@christopherdoucet4112]

What tuning is he in?

[@johnandjennifertaylo]

Does Olly have a side project or another band where he's the soul writer?

[@rybanberr2770]

The Taylor Twist Sole

[@Isaiah_McIntosh]

@@rybanberr2770 is that a no because I really like olly but I'm not huge on monuments right now.

[@romansalmiyanov3334]

Wow, dude! What do you use to clean your fretboard?

[@lemniscatefortunecanfinall2707]

O ye Gods of Gears what is thou track in your opening theme/intro? Also, I think it's just me and my ears but that Mike Stringer of Spiritbox is mostly using the Phrygian dominant scale (also in G sharp tuning) for most of the riffs in his repertoire.

[@matthewbratton5003]

It's A Me, Dat Random Dick Butt Mike Stringer tunes to Drop C# for 6 strings, and Drop F# for 7 strings. He does use a bit of Phrygian Dominant, but he uses a bit of Hirojoshi as well I believe.

[@NicuMihai]

you mean "how to write an Animals as Leaders song"

[@qanderson]

it legit sounds exactly like an AAL song

[@imnotcreative2913]

That or Polyphia

[@cody181818]

Dat Right hand Doe

[@JohnnySideburnsX]

I saw the band, "Spite" live at a local show, and I got knocked out! That's how hard Olly Steele truly is!!

[@tipsyniugini9311]

How do you get that snappy tone?

[@yusefmustafa5073]

ending song?

[@slithergore]

Damn skippy hippy!!

[@theefirststepband6506]

There were so many cuts in this video lol

[@adrianvelante8014]

How does he get that tone?

[@JasperKaamino716]

how do you achieve that kind of toneeeee???

[@lerouxl8139]

Jasper Kaamiño mids

[@lerouxl8139]

Eq

[@juicebox86]

Phrygian dom is Polyphia's favorite

[@jaylee1902]

how can i get his tone?

[@fudabi7850]

I formed a band years ago called monument inspired by adtr lmao funny to see a band whose taken the name and actually gotten somewhere in the music industry

[@XxAiRuNxX894]

Caboose Michael J. Seems you just needed a “s” and the end.

[@Isaiah_McIntosh]

An S away from greatness

[@Vexicrypt]

What a scary t-shirt monkaS

[@xander4644]

monkagiga

[@uglymeez236]

Tomato Miles MonkaS

[@sumitnxt]

i can't downpick so fast, will this sound bad with alternateg picking.

[@jayday1934]

No

[@Isaiah_McIntosh]

It will sound different. Like kiko of mega death explained he would use downpicking to get a super precise robotic sound and alt picking to manipulate the accents of each note more readily. Maybe try to use down picking and alt picking at different points in the riffs. Yeah I just realised you've definitely learned the song by now

[@CoreyRive]

“Those are just two chords that I know” Stop bragging man

[@xander4644]

Lmfao

[@TurboFog]

#dead

[@denzldeezyournuts]

3:50 sounds like super mario 😅

[@TheMeJustMe75]

Not related to riffs but I have noticed that Ibanez has gotten rid of the tone nob on several series. Not a complaint just an observation.

[@ianbarber2937]

Learn like 100 licks and you can start making your own with fragments of them

[@santaclause6839]

He picks really hard

[@nuke97]

"Am I in G sharp?...I'M IN G SHARP" lol.

[@denisblack9897]

Like for the sound! i cant stand listening to overused distortion on my laptop

[@HronisArva]

💜💜💜💜💜💜