“Wanna get popular on YouTube? Play mind-blowing solos and post ’em up. Wanna get employed with a touring band? Play mind-blowing rhythm parts”: Alice Cooper guitarist Ryan Roxie on why nailing rhythm guitar is the key to landing big gigs

Ryan Roxie, who played guitar for the who’s who of classic rock bands including Alice Cooper and Slash’s Snakepit, has one piece for guitarists aspiring to become touring musicians: master rhythm guitar.

“The skill to play solid rhythm guitar always takes the back seat to playing lead and I don’t know why,” he reflects in a new interview with Guitarist.

“Without Malcolm there wouldn’t be Angus, or at least not the Angus we all know. Learning rhythm guitar will actually help you become a better lead player as it will lock you in more with the ‘rhythm section’ aka bass and drums.

“Wanna get popular on YouTube? Play mind-blowing solos and post ’em up. Wanna get employed with a touring band? Play mind-blowing rhythm parts as well as solos that ultimately lift the song that becomes popular on all musical platforms, including YouTube!”

Ryan Roxie “Poison”, Paris, France 05/04/2013 – YouTube

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In a 2023 Guitar World interview, Roxie talked about the importance of being a versatile player and relinquishing any ego related to only playing solos, especially in the Alice Cooper setup.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s me, Tommy [Henriksen, Alice Cooper guitarist], Nita [Strauss, guitarist], Kane [Roberts, former guitarist], or whoever; we all have a role to play during each song. There’s never really an argument about who’s taking a solo; the bottom line is that a lot of the songs have two or three solos, so there’s never a shortage.

“Also, we all have such different styles, which is also considered when we choose who will do what. For instance, if it’s a song from the ’80s era, that’s tailored more toward someone like Kane or Nita – Kane especially, since he wrote those songs.

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“But if we’re talking about the classic stuff from the ’70s, that’s where I get my pentatonic thrills in. And Tommy is someone who can slip in anywhere and pretty much comfortably cover anything that we need.”

Alice Cooper, Ryan Roxie “Suffragette City” David Bowie Tribute, Albany NY – YouTube

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Elsewhere in the new interview, Roxie refers to Brian May as “one of the most important guitarists I know” when it comes to “style, tone, image and, most importantly, songs.”

“One only has to listen to Queens’s 1977 News Of The World to hear just how many different styles of guitar you can record on one record,” he notes. “Classical, punk, blues, Spanish… it’s got it all! Plus the guy still looks like a rockstar when he hits the stage. Absolutely love and respect that guy!”

For more from Ryan Roxie, plus new interviews with Samantha Fish and Richard Hawley, pick up issue 514 of Guitarist at Magazines Direct.

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