Rob Ternus - Saydie’s Song
Rock, Blues
Washington, United States
Overall Impression: Brimming with melody and bursting with sublime guitar virtuosity, "Saydie's Song" is a masterclass in guitar technique that combines a marvelous sense of showmanship with awe-inspiring musicality. Rob Ternus offers up a smorgasbord of alternate picked runs, sweeped arpeggios, out-of-this-world tapping, and liquid legato lines that both dazzle and astound. Having grown up listening to many of the instrumental guitar greats, it's great to hear an artist such as Rob continuing to keep this style of guitar playing alive. With a deeply heartwarming story at its heart, "Saydie's Song" serves as a passionate and endearing tribute to a lost loved one.
Strongest Point(s): As aforementioned, the sheer amount of technical dexterity on display is marvelous, there are a plethora of interesting and varied guitar techniques on display that allow the many melodic elements of the track to be expressed in a multitude of interesting and diverse ways. Each technique possesses a very specific tonal quality that results in interesting timbral and textural changes to occur throughout, helping to add continued excitement to the arrangement, for example, the tremelo picked lines around 1:53 inject a certain aggressive tonal characteristic into the melodies being played that contrasts wonderfully with the more free-flowing smoother sound of the tapping licks that follow at 2:15 and the even more delicate nature of the exquisite delay section at 2:55. The opening and closing piano sections are a welcome addition and help to provide further variation in the arrangement that again, serves as a great way to provide contrast with the main rockier elements of the track.
Target Audience Appeal: Lovers of instrumental rock guitar will certainly have a great time with "Saydie's Song".
Artist target suggestions: Gary Moore, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Jeff Beck, Blues Saraceno, Paul Gilbert, Andy Timmons, Van Halen, Steve Morse, Marco Sfogli, Steve Vai
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About the Reviewer:
Andre Avanessian is a freelance session musician, composer, and sound engineer based in the U.K. Having studied music production and composition at a degree level, he has taken his passion for all things audio-related to a level that has allowed him to become both a competent musician and performer. Being a self-confessed "Guitar Nerd" Andre has been continually studying the guitar, as well as teaching it, helping students both learn the instrument, develop their songwriting, and how to become proficient in home recording.