Guitarists appreciate inventing fresh methods to play, and regardless of all of the innovations that’ve currently been created, there are nonetheless new methods to uncover. Just appear at Columbian progressive/tech-death metal axman Sebastiside, whose “hybrid rasgueado” rhythmic strategy is astounding absolutely everyone who sees it.

In a new interview with Guitar World, Sebastiside – whose true name is Sebastian Garcia – reveals that his initially wanted to be a lead guitarist. Early into his profession, even so, he realized that he’d be greater suited attempting some thing else: “I couldn’t shred like Rick Graham and Stephen Taranto [The Helix Nebula], and maybe because of that, I focused on my rhythmic playing.”

Influenced from artists such as Caligula’s Horse, Plini and Karnivool, he sooner or later moved to Australia and started honing his craft when teaching. His debut EP, Reincarnate, arrived in August of 2023, and his ground-breaking system shines all through it.

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Sebastiside’s “Hybrid Rasgueado” Technique

In the videos beneath, you can see Sebastiside demonstrating his “hybrid rasgueado” method (which basically sees him sweeping his fingernails across many strings so swiftly that it creates a condensed and muted staccato sound). In a way, he’s fusing conventional rasgueado fingerpicking (usually related with flamenco music) with the distorted tones and irregular slapping of djent and other prog/tech-death metal practices.

“With chords, you have dominant chords that create a lot of tension, and tonics for the release. It’s like telling a story. I try to do the same with my rhythms,” he tells Guitar World, adding: “So if you’re playing eighth notes, using triplets, syncopations, or polyrhythms adds tension and interest to your story.”

Regarding his incorporation of slapping, in distinct, Sebastiside reflects: “I realized there were hybrid picking elements – you could use your thumb to slap and your fingers to pull on the other strings to create a strong percussive effect. So I used that idea to combine hybrid picking with rasgueado.”

By holding the choose among his thumb and index finger (as is common), he’s in a position to use the remaining fingers for raking (generally, scrapping strings just prior to the notes ring out or are bent). Per Guitar World, he routinely plucks a note “on a low string” and then “rake[s] with his pinky, ring, and middle fingers.”

“It can be used for chords and rhythm playing and leads,” Sebastiside explains. “It has endless rhythmic possibilities. . . . You can make music with just one riff when you have enough variations. [It’s about] thinking about riffs in a very melodic sense.”

If that weren’t sufficient, he also bucks trends by endorsing the positive aspects of economical and second-hand guitars.

He mentions:

I wanted a guitar to play far more contemporary designs of music, but they’re pretty highly-priced to ship to Colombia. I identified a seven-string Legator Ghost on Facebook Marketplace, which I traded for an old Laney tube amp head and cab plus money. . . . [Cheaper guitars are] significantly much easier to play. The strings really feel loose and the pickups are sensitive so this tends to make the playing practical experience pretty diverse from my standard guitars. I get a lot of new concepts anytime I play a single of these guitars. . . . I appreciate the challenge of generating a inexpensive guitar sound great!

Back in 2022, Sebastiside garnered focus for providing Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” the prog rock therapy and for demonstrating the virtues of playing “modern metal” on a $200 guitar. So, he’s been displaying the globe his expertise for a extended time.

You can verify out Sebastiside’s “hybrid rasgueado” method beneath, and be certain to let us know what you believe about his playing and his stance on more affordable guitars.

Sebastiside – “Try This Rasgueado Exercise”

Sebastiside – “Hybrid Rasgueado Tutorial”