This is from the Jamzone where we are exploring songwriting. Listen to the Normal Speed Audio (under Tools) to hear the final 'song'. Or download it:

So now we have 3 basic song riffs and have organised them into a song format that works. That's most of the hard work done, but still the song isn't finished. Listening to the last ActionTab, it is pretty clear that it could sound better.

The problem is that I've used just 1 clean guitar to record the whole thing. Now that's great, it's given me the whole song format. But because of the clean guitar sound, there isn't enough bite in the places that are meant to reach out and grab the listener - namely, the Chorus and Bridge riffs. What we need is a heavier guitar to beef them up.

I turned up the distortion (about halfway), and just played along with Guitar 1. While recording, I left the Verses alone (I just kept my guitar quiet). So, they are still technically played by Guitar 1 here, but I'm still going to show them in the animation rather than have ugly blank gaps while I was silent with Guitar 2. All you need to know are the new riffs:

Chorus - This is nearly the exact same as the constant palm muted downstrokes Guitar 1 plays. The difference is that I used open stabs on beat 1 of every 4 beats. I know it's fast here (unfortunately the song sounds too weird if I slow it down just for the chorus) but its really just simple rock stuff. Divide it into 4's:

Open stab - Palm Mute - Palm Mute - Palm Mute (repeat)

Check out the Core Skills section on Palm Muting if you need to brush up on this technique.

Bridge - Played exactly the same as Guitar 1. However, adding the distorted guitar really adds some kick.

Outro - Just 3 notes, played exactly the same way as the verse riffs are. These 3 notes are higher up and blend really nicely over the 3 notes of the verse. The reason I did this was because I wanted to end on a nice melody in the solo (which hadn't been recorded yet). I know from experience that this kind of simple layering works well for that. This particular riff probably wouldn't sound good with too much distortion because of the clean background guitar. To help blend them more together, I added a subtle choir effect in the background too.