YouTuber Nik Nocturnal steps in for a little history lesson on this edition of Gear Factor. Nocturnal, who has his own band Termina, spoke with us about how his love of guitar evolved over the years, sharing some of the riffs that shaped his development.
Nocturnal credits part of his start to Guitar Hero, revealing that one song in particular stood out from the rest. “Guitar Hero had a bunch of amazing songs and bands and riffs, but there was one song that really stood out to me, which was ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ by Guns N’ Roses,” says the guitarist. “I remember playing that song literally every single day trying to get the highest score on Guitar Hero and when I finally got it, I was like, ‘I need to make my entire life about whatever this is and I have to play guitar.'”
As for the first riff he learned to play on his own, that falls on Avenged Sevenfold‘s “Unholy Confessions.” Nocturnal says, “You can pretty much blame my entire love of modern core music on this song. I remember playing that, except way, way, way worse and thinking, ‘Hey, I’m a little less bad at guitar.’”
Other songs that factored into his style included doses of Disturbed, As I Lay Dying and Killswitch Engage.
We also spoke with Nocturnal about his band Termina and he shared a riff from the song “Lucid.” “It’s not a super techy riff by any means. There are far more techier riffs on the actual album, but when it comes to groove, interval choices and all the chromaticism that’s happening in this riff, it’s just so damn fun to play,” says Nocturnal.
Nik Nocturnal Plays His Favorite Guitar Riffs
Check out the Nik Nocturnal edition of Gear Factor above. Watch Nik Nocturnal’s YouTube videos here and be sure to check out Termina’s music at this location.
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