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Troy Stetina

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Troy Stetina
BornNovember 16, 1963
GenresRock
Occupation(s)Guitarist, music educator
InstrumentGuitar

Troy Stetina (born November 16, 1963) is an American guitarist and music educator. He was the director of Rock Guitar Studies at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and writer for Guitar One magazine, and now teaches independently. He has more than forty rock and metal instructional methods and has sold over 1 million units.[1]

Background and early years

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Stetina grew up in Indiana, the youngest in a family of Olympic cyclists, including his brothers Wayne, Dale and Joel,[2] and won several national medals as a teenager.[1] According to the Rushville Republican, issue July 9, 1973, at the Indiana Bicycle Road Racing championships, Troy won the two miler race for boys aged 8 & 11. Brother Dale was a winner in the 50 mile race for boys 15 & 17. Also Brother Wayne, aged 19 at the time won the 85 mile men's race.[3]

Stetina's mother, an opera singer, supported his interest in music, and at age 12 she bought him a $60 beginner guitar and little practice amp.[1]

After playing in Private Wave and Wraith, Troy Stetina began teaching guitar part-time at a local music store, where he met Hal Leonard editor Will Schmid. This led to his heavy-metal instructional books, including Heavy Metal Rhythm Guitar (1986) and Heavy Metal Lead Guitar (1987).[4]

In 1986, he joined the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, later becoming Director of the Rock Guitar department before leaving in the early 1990s to focus on recording.[5]

According to The Journal Times, Stetina is a founding member of the Milwaukee hard rock / alternative band Oversoulss. Teaming up with prog metal drummer Eddie Shapanske, Stetina and Shapanske spent a year working with and auditioning vocalists before teaming up with David Rangel who was previously with the Minneapolis-based band, Mersey Side. They then added bassist Dan Evans.[6] Stetina was also a member of the Milwaukee based progressive metal band Dimension X, replacing the previous guitarist.[7]

According to the Guitar Instructor website, he is internationally recognized and his book Speed Mechanics, has sold more than 100,000 copies.[8] Stetina was an article contributor for the Guitar One magazine in the 2000s.[9] Via the Urban Milwaukee news site, the Wilson Center for the arts refers to him as an "internationally renowned guitarist and clinician".[10]

Stetina is also a Christian. In an interview with Guitariste Metal, he never thought he'd embrace something like Christianity, but certain things in life made him look deeper. From what he said, he didn't subscribe to all of the doctrine in a traditional sense.[11]

Career

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1990s

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Along with guitarists Dominic Miller and Tony Zemaitis, Stetina was featured in the March 1993 issue of Guitarist magazine.[12]

Collaborating with Charlie Busher, Stetina had the book and CD combination, Speed and Thrash Metal Drum Method released in 1993. It was reviewed in Issue 166 of the Modern Drummer magazine. It received a positive review, beginning with, "It's about time! In the wake of countless rock chart books that assume too much, along comes an instructional book/ CD package that assumes nothing". It catered for those who didn't read music and went from the basics upward. Even though the reviewer said an aspect of it was a bit cursory and misleading, the package was "so valuable" and those who couldn't read music, rockers and non-rockers and those experienced players who play by ear could benefit.[13]

Two videos hosted by Stetina were Beginning Lead Guitar and Beginning Rock Rhythm Guitar were marketed through the Hal Leonard Corp., and were released around 1994, 1995.[14]

2000s

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Stetina was interviewed by Bobby Tanzilo for the online magazine, OnMilwaukee in 2005. In the interview he talked about his musical background and the new band Oversoulss that he had put together and who had recorded their debut album and were getting ready to tour with the band Alter Bridge.[15]

Stetina's band, Oversoulss, were set to appear at the Brat Stop in Kenosha in May 2015. At the time the line up comprised Stetina on guitar, David Rangel on vocals, Eddie Shapanske on drums, and Dan Evans on bass.[16]

One of Stetina's articles Return of the Shred, Come Together Two Essential Hybrid Scales appeared in the Volume 9, No 2 February 2006 issue of Guitar One magazine. It was about combining scales and having a wider range.[17]

In 2007, the band he was guitarist in Generation X released their album Impilcations of a Genetic Disease.[18]

2010s

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The Conservatorium van Amsterdam reported on November 3, 2010, Troy Stetina and Mark Tremonti were hosting a guitar clinic on the 7th of that month.[19]

Working with Mark Tremonti, helped create the Sound and the Story dvd,[20] which was published by Fret12 Productions.[21]

Stetina was interviewed by Mohsen Fayyazi for Metal Shock Finland which was published on June 25, 2015.[22] Fayyazi has also interviewed people and musicians such as Markus Grosskopf,[23] and Martin Popoff.[24]

Stetina's interview with Mike Huberty of the long-standing Madison music magazine, Maximum Ink was published in September, 2012. He mentioned that he had reached a point in the 1990s where he had given up on bands. He also mentioned is association with Mark Tremonti and his band Second Soul and coming across the lead singer for his band, Scott Yanke.[25]

According to La Scena Musicale, Stetina was booked along with Leo Kottke, Antoine Dufour, Ana Vidovic, and Jonathan Kreisberg to appear at the Wilson Center Guitar Competition & Festival which ran from August 13 to 15, 2015, at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts.[26]

Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar

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Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar (ISBN 0-7935-0962-9) is a guitar tutorial book by Stetina first published in 1990. It is split into three sections Mechanics, Rhythm and Creativity. It Includes a rock version of "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, "Caprice No. 10" by Niccolò Paganini and "Prelude in D" by JS Bach.[27]

Associated bands

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  • Private Wave
  • Wraith
  • Titan
  • Second Soul
  • Dimension X
  • Exottica

Guitar lessons: book, book/CD & DVD

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Troy Stetina Series guitar lessons:

  • Metal Rhythm Guitar
  • Speed & Thrash Guitar Method
  • Metal Lead Guitar
  • The Best of Joe Satriani by Dale Turner (Troy Stetina recorded all of the music on the accompanying CD)[28]
  • Dream Theater - Signature Licks
  • Speed Mechanics for Drums
  • Speed and thrash metal drum method (with Charlie Bushor)

Appearances

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  • Mark Tremonti, The Sound And The Story, 2009.[29]

Books & further reading

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Troy Stetina, Bio & Quick Facts". January 14, 2001. Archived from the original on January 14, 2001.
  2. ^ Lardner, James (April 17, 1978). "Big Spill, Photo Finish Enliven Bike Race Here". Washington Post. Washington D.C. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  3. ^ Rushville Republican, Monday, July 9, 1973 - Page Three Hoosiers Win Bike Races
  4. ^ HalLeonard.com. "Metal Rhythm Guitar Vol. 1 Hal Leonard Online". Hal Leonard Online. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  5. ^ "Troy Stetina - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". www.metal-archives.com. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  6. ^ The Journal Times, May 19, 2005 - Center Stage /Oversoulss /5-19 By Loreen Mohr
  7. ^ Prog Archives - DIMENSION X
  8. ^ Guitar Instructor - TROY STETINA
  9. ^ Guitar One, Volume 9, No 2 February 2006 - Page 20 EDITORIAL, CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
  10. ^ Urban Milwaukee, Aug 6th, 2019 - Telepathically Tight John Scofield Trio Headlines International Guitar Festival
    Seventh Annual Wilson Center Guitar Festival Features Free Masterclasses, Music, Competitions
  11. ^ Guitariste Metal, 3 Octobre 2014 - Troy Stetina interview
  12. ^ Beat Chapter - Guitarist, March 1993 - Guitarist Magazine March 1993 Extreme Dominic Miller Tony Zemaitis Troy Stetina
  13. ^ Modern Drummer, September 1993 - Page 106 SPEED AND THRASH METAL DRUM METHOD by Troy Stetina and Charlie Busher - Review by Matt Peiken
  14. ^ Billboard, January 7, 1995 - Page 14 Words & Music by Irv Lichtman
  15. ^ OnMilwaukee, Apr 07, 2005 - STETINA
    Despite impressive resume, Stetina lacks name recognition at home
    For nearly 20 years, Stetina, an astonishingly skilled hard rock/metal guitarist, has been working in Milwaukee. But, he's hardly a household name here. By Bobby Tanzilo
  16. ^ The Journal Times, May 19, 2005 - Center Stage /Oversoulss /5-19 By Loreen Mohr
  17. ^ Guitar One, Volume 9, No 2 February 2006 - Page 176 RETURN OF THE SHRED Come Together Two Essential Hybrid Scales
  18. ^ Prog Archives - IMPLICATIONS OF A GENETIC DEFENSE Dimension X • Progressive Metal
  19. ^ Conservatorium van Amsterdam, November 3, 2010 - Nieuws, Extra gitaarclinic door Mark Tremonti en Troy Stetina
  20. ^ Music Radar, 14 May 2011 - Mark Tremonti on solo album, Alter Bridge, instructional DVDs and Creed By Joe Bosso
  21. ^ Ultimate Guitar - News / Music news, Fret12 Releases The Sound And The Story With Troy Stetina
  22. ^ Metal Shock Finland, October 13, 2011 - Interview with TROY STETINA: Music truly is the world’s best hope to cross borders, cross cultures and show humanity what we have in common. Interview by Mohsen Fayyazi
  23. ^ Metal Shock Finland, June 25, 2015 - Interview With HELLOWEEN ‘s Bass Invader Markus Grosskopf
  24. ^ Metal Shock Finland, May 11, 2015 - Martin Popoff Chats With Mohsen Fayyazi: Part Three; Biographical Books
  25. ^ Maximum Ink (Madison's music magazine), September 2012 - Second Soul
    AN INTERVIEW WITH TROY STETINA OF SECOND SOUL
    BY MIKE HUBERTY
  26. ^ La Scena Musicale, 3 August 2015 - International Guitar Legends Headlining Wilson Center Guitar Competition & Festival: 2015 Artists include Leo Kottke, Antoine Dufour, Ana Vidovic, Jonathan Kreisberg, Troy Stetina
  27. ^ Accordo.it. "ACCORDO - Massimo Varini: didattica internazionale". www.accordo.it (in Italian). Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  28. ^ "Guitar Lessons". Stetina.com. Archived from the original on January 6, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  29. ^ Music Radar, 22 May 2009 - Win a signed Mark Tremonti instructional DVD By Joe Bosso
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