Lemmy's Legacy IV - Stoner Roll

Hi GMC!

Welcome to Lemmy’s Legacy lesson 4! In these series of 4 lesson I’ll cover the composing and guitar style of Lemmy’s band Motorhead. These are not only a tribute to Lemmy, a legend of rock and heavy metal, this lessons are a masterclass for beginner/intermediate guitarists that want to take their guitar technique, composing and arranging skills to a new level.
Before we start, let me share some info that you need to know about Lemmy and Motorhead:

“Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy, was an English musician, singer, and songwriter who founded and fronted the rock band Motörhead. His music was one of the foundations of the heavy metal genre.”
“Motörhead (/?mo?t?rh?d/) were an English Heavy Metal band formed in June 1975 by bassist, singer, and songwriter Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister, who was the sole constant member, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. The band are often considered a precursor to, or one of the earliest members of, the new wave of British heavy metal, which re-energised heavy metal in the late 1970s and early 1980s.” - Wikipedia


Music Style:
My brother Sebastian Leopardi created and showed me this killer riff that he composed on his bass guitar and I’ve took it as an starting point for this song called “Stoner Roll” which recreates the more classic metal side of Motorhead related to Black Sabbath. The tune has a moderate tempo and a galloping rhythm that has been replicated by lots of bands labelled as heavy and stoner rock / metal.


Tonality, Chord Progression & Scales:
This tune is in D minor and the main riff is again based on D blues scale. The chorus can be seen as Mixolydian repeating a concept covered on tune 2. The verse is a simplified versión of the main riff that becomes more interesting in the second half when playing the octaves. The bridge is base don power chords that creates the tension that releases into the chorus. The guitar solo is played over the chorus progression and it’s in D pentatonic minor.

Techniques:
This is also a full song lesson that introduces the Black Sabbath stoner groove. The lesson covers techniques like palm muting, alternate picking, bending, and vibrato.

Sound:
I used LePoin plugins to create the guitar tone. These are free amp emulators that are extremely recommended. The cabinet used for this guitar tone is Lextac and before it a tube screamer emulation. Check out the settings:


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I used Cubase to record audio and midi, superior drummer for drums and Trillian for bass.

Tuning: Drop D tuning

Tempo: 136 BPM