Finnish Power Metal: Stratovarius

Hello GMC!

Welcome to my new series of lessons based on Finnish Power Metal bands. I will be covering the style of some of the most important bands of Finland that play Power Metal. In this first lesson we will start with the band Stratovarius. They formed in 1982 and are considered one of the leading groups of the Power Metal and Symphonic Metal genres.

Music Style:
Stratovarius has a very personal style that has influenced lots of metal bands. They style can be analyzed as a mix of Power Metal with Neoclassical influences.That’s why they are also considered “Symphonic”. Their repertoire could be divided in 3 big groups: fast songs, mid tempo songs and ballads.

Tonality & Chord Progression:
Their songs are usually in minor tonalities. In this tune I used a progression and some cadences that are commonly used in their songs. The lesson is in E minor. One important characteristic is the use of the V chord major or dominant instead of minor as it should be in a natural minor progression. Every time that this V7 chord appears, the scale that must be used for the vocal melody or solo is the harmonic minor scale.

Techniques:
This is a rhythm metal lesson so we will use palm muting, alternate picking, only down strokes and pull offs. It’s not an easy lesson because of the fast tempo but I think that different level of players could give it a try, at least using the slower backing tracks.

Sound:
I used my Pod HD 500 to record this lesson. I used the Treadplate Dual Amp Model with a 4x12 2001 Treadplate Cab Model and a Screamer emulation. If you want the tone you can ask for it at my personal board. My guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Studio.

Tuning:
I used standard 440.

Tempo:
140 bpm.

Ok guys - let’s go faster than the speed of light!