# Techniques that sound like something you've never heard before?
**URL:** https://forum.troygrady.com/t/techniques-that-sound-like-something-youve-never-heard-before/94074
**Category:** Songwriting
**Created:** [January 16, 2026, 3:00am UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/techniques-that-sound-like-something-youve-never-heard-before/94074 "2026-01-16T03:00:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Sully75](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/Sully75)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2026, 3:00am UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/techniques-that-sound-like-something-youve-never-heard-before/94074/1 "2026-01-16T03:00:04Z")
I’m a jazzer, not a shredder, but I really dig cool techniques on the guitar, specifically things that seem like they’re not possible on the guitar or make a sound that doesn’t really sound guitar like.
That Nuno solo on Rise is the one I’m thinking of. Sounds like a different instrument entirely.
I was just wondering about other stuff like that, where the lick makes the guitar sound like something totally different.
Other stuff like this for me is cascading harmonics.
Just wondering if you had other examples of stuff like that?
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### Author:  [@familyguy1223](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/familyguy1223)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2026, 4:05am UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/techniques-that-sound-like-something-youve-never-heard-before/94074/2 "2026-01-16T04:05:16Z")
Alan goggol harmonics
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### Author:  [@Gravenous](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/Gravenous)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2026, 11:56am UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/techniques-that-sound-like-something-youve-never-heard-before/94074/3 "2026-01-16T11:56:59Z")
As someone primarily into metal, the first things that come into mind are the harmonic tapping of Alkaloid:
I’ve time-stamped the video but listen to the whole song if you like prog-ish death, it is genuinely one of my all-time favourites
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/sidk6sU5bXs/maxresdefault.jpg "Alkaloid - "Cthulhu" (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sidk6sU5bXs&t=182)
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CU7tomrjKQ4/maxresdefault.jpg "How to play fast Harmonics on guitar (Alkaloid "Cthulhu" style)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU7tomrjKQ4)
And Archspire’s gravity picking:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5uK4OtjFug&t=170)
Not sure these exactly match what you mean, but I think they’re nifty.
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### Author:  [@Sully75](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/Sully75)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2026, 1:03pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/techniques-that-sound-like-something-youve-never-heard-before/94074/4 "2026-01-16T13:03:52Z")
that’s what I meant! That’s cool stuff.
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### Author:  [@Jacklr](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/Jacklr)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2026, 1:49pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/techniques-that-sound-like-something-youve-never-heard-before/94074/5 "2026-01-16T13:49:29Z")
Always thought this was a cool effect, not something he does often and not really sure how he’s doing it, sliding on one string up and down and moving the tapped note up or something?
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfR7Gp3ZCpE&t=101)
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Gilroy](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/Tom_Gilroy)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2026, 2:25pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/techniques-that-sound-like-something-youve-never-heard-before/94074/6 "2026-01-16T14:25:10Z")
That’s a cool effect, I have absolutely no idea what I’m hearing!
On topic, I think Eric Johnson’s koto technique is exactly the sort of thing @Sully75 might be interested in checking out.
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### Author:  [@ShadowoftheSun](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/ShadowoftheSun)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2026, 11:54pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/techniques-that-sound-like-something-youve-never-heard-before/94074/7 "2026-01-16T23:54:22Z")
For me a real simple one is the opening riff of Kerosene by Big Black.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXV6EmSBULY)
It’s just the harmonics of the 3 highest strings with distortion, but it doesn’t sound like something a guitar should be able to make.
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Gilroy](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/Tom_Gilroy)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2026, 12:27am UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/techniques-that-sound-like-something-youve-never-heard-before/94074/8 "2026-01-17T00:27:57Z")
I feel stupid for not mentioning this earlier.
Jeff Beck’s playing is _full_ of this stuff.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFxTmNBk29M)
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### Author:  [@AustinK](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/AustinK)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2026, 5:30am UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/techniques-that-sound-like-something-youve-never-heard-before/94074/9 "2026-01-18T05:30:33Z")
I think Charlie Robbins has a tasteful approach to selective picking. Bernth has a cool technique he calls “modular picking.” Myth of I guitarist has posted on IG using elbow palm muting for muted two handed tapping.
Expanding on the harmonic tapping already posted, folks are using arpeggios shapes with this technique now as well
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### Author:  [@Samsara](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/Samsara)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2026, 10:19pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/techniques-that-sound-like-something-youve-never-heard-before/94074/10 "2026-01-18T22:19:03Z")
This technique probably belongs in your described category. It’s called glitch tapping. It’s such a silly sound that most people won’t even bother learning it because the effort you’d need to put to making it usable vs the sound that you get is so not worth it. Watch through the vid a bit, because he shows interesting variations on the technique in a musical context…
But it’s so niche :'D !!
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xCTRCG20Jb4/hqdefault.jpg "Josh Martin of Little Tybee - "Glitch Tapping" on his Ibanez SIX28FDBG") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCTRCG20Jb4)
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### Author:  [@Sully75](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/Sully75)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2026, 1:22pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/techniques-that-sound-like-something-youve-never-heard-before/94074/11 "2026-01-19T13:22:51Z")
That’s pretty cool in his musical context.
There’s a Southeast Asian wind instrument that sort of sounds like that. It’s on an old 78 I used to have on CD, I’ll have to find it.