For All Seasons // Great God - Electric Guitar Tutorial

From Jeff Luckey, guitarist, For All Seasons:

This is a fun, straight-rock song. There are some complexities, but it’s super congregational. The rhythm section is my favorite part. The bass is so unique in the verses. It has more intricate lines than your typical worship song. But, you gotta play it on the right speakers. The drums are my favorite to listen to, though. Johnny is a SUPER talented player and some of the fills in the intro and first verse are a glimpse of his capability. I don’t see it as showing off, I see it this way: The music is super fun because it rightfully matches the joy found in pondering God’s unique love for us. When I wrote the lyrics, I tried to identify what makes God’s love significantly more powerful than the love we feel from other people/things. So, the verses highlight the fact that we are loved by someone who has every right not to love us. Even though He is the one that bore our shame, His love for us has not and will never change. And even though his throne-room is filled with terrifying power and blinding glory, He allows us to approach Him boldly with confidence. His love through Jesus has made us blameless in His sight, able to be with Him and praise Him forever! That strong, powerful love doesn’t make sense, but it has won me over. It’s grounds for celebration!

Check the For All Seasons // Great God – Electric Guitar Tutorial below!

LEAD GUITAR

Always On:

-JHS Superbolt- drive = 8, tone = 11, volume = 3.5

Intro:

During the build of the intro, I’m just arpeggiating a C#m chord inversion, but adding the 7th on the high E string to give it a little character. As the drums break, I throw on my boost and let it ring before I begin the “turn” line. Start in the middle position, then move to bridge when you throw on the boost.

-Strymon Big Sky- Hall- mix = 12, decay = 1.9sec
-Strymon Timeline- dTape, Dot8 (72 bpm), mix = 10, repeats = 10
-Fulltone Full-Drive (CompCut/Standard)- Volume = 9, Tone = 10, Overdrive = 8, Boost = 1

Turn

Here, I’m in the bridge position, I’m just striking single notes, and having fun with some hammer ons. You can also throw chorus on this part to make is stand out more. Ring it out into the verse.

Verse 1:

Here, I don’t come in until halfway through. It’s a pretty, clean picking part with the colorful 7th on the G string. I’m in the middle position.

-Strymon Big Sky- Hall- mix = 12, decay = 1.9sec

Chorus 1:

Here, I’m ringing out chords, but only playing the higher 4 strings.

-Strymon Timeline- dTape, Dot8 (65.5 bpm), mix = 10, repeats = 10
-Strymon Big Sky- Room, mix = 2, decay = 6sec

Verse 2:

This was originally a rhythmic synth texture, so I mimic it with a Dot8 on the guitar. Heavily palm mute it to almost remove the actual note. I’m in the bridge position.

-Strymon Big Sky- Hall- mix = 12, decay = 1.9sec
-Strymon Timeline- dTape, Dot8 (144 bpm), mix = 10, repeats = 10

Chorus 2/3:

Just playing and E bar chord here, and slightly changing the high note. Totally dry here, relying on the overdrive tone.

Instrumental/Bridge:

Let the rhythm guitar play first, and come the second time through the progression. Bend the strings, take off the reverb, and throw on the boost to cut through.

-Strymon Timeline- dTape, Dot8 (72 bpm), mix = 10, repeats = 10
-Fulltone Full-Drive (CompCut/Standard)- Volume = 9, Tone = 10, Overdrive = 8, Boost = 10

RHYTHM GUITAR

Always On:

I like to set my drive like this because it allows for more dynamic playing. The drive is right on the line of dirty, so when I need more dirt I can just play harder, and when I need it a little cleaner I can just play softer.

-JHS Superbolt- drive = 12, tone = 12, volume = 10

Verses:

The only pedal I turn on is a small Room reverb on my BigSky for each verse. Since the bass isn’t doing a whole lot, the verb is just a small way that I try and fill up the sound and make my guitar sound wider with stereo verb.

-Strymon Big Sky- Room, tone = 11, mix = 12, decay = 1sec