Recently I had the opportunity to attend the Manuel Gardner Fernandes guitar clinic at Bentley Music Auditorium… and the coolest thing was in addition to attending the clinic, I also had the opportunity to interview him after his soundcheck, prior to the clinic!
I uploaded the 7-part series to my social media channels, but probably the easiest way to binge watch all the parts is via my YouTube channel playlist:
The guitar clinic itself probably ranks very high in terms of guitar clinics I’ve ever attended over the years. For one thing, Manuel is a really musical and technical player – he sounds so good! The other thing is that he was really comfortable explaining what he does and his whole process. It felt really honest as well which was great.
To kind of summarize what he covered, these are the top 10 lessons that I gathered from the session:
1) Early Foundations Matter
Manuel started with rhythm guitar at age 3-4, inspired by James Hetfield, and then transitioned to classical guitar for seven years to build a strong musical foundation. It’s really amazing to see how metal is such a big part of how he plays, and how the obsession with down picking shaped his technique so much.
I personally come from a grunge fan background going into classical guitar so I never really got into serious metal playing… so hearing Manuel’s story was interesting to me.
2) Embrace Genre Blending
Around 13-14, he began blending flamenco, metal, and funk, developing his signature percussive style with dead notes. It’s one thing to watch his videos online, but to see this live was a whole other thing. It sounds so good!
And the other thing is that he basically played into his laptop for the clinic and the sound was still amazing. I’ve been to some clinics where the guitarist was more of an online musician, so they had problems getting a good stage sound, but for Manuel – he was so on point.
3) Use Social Media to Break Out
Inspired by bedroom recordings, Manuel started posting videos, which led to his first viral song (“Abandoned”) and ultimately leading to his Ibanez endorsement.
Manuel shared his journey with posting videos online, which really happened after he already had a band, and had been performing in his local music scene for years. This was interesting because for some internet guitar heroes, they start off online and then start playing live… but for Manuel, he was already a stage performer prior to that.
4) Turn Challenges into Opportunities
Accusations of speeding up videos led him to prove himself live, which caught Ibanez’s attention and resulted in his endorsement.
This was honestly inspiring, because I can’t imagine being in that situation… and how it turned out was really awesome.
5) Collaborate and Experiment
During lockdown, he collaborated with Tim Henson, exploring harmonics and trying to make the guitar “not sound like a guitar.”
He also did talk about both of them learning from Tosin Abasi because they were both into the whole modern prog metal kind of techniques that Tosin had mastered. It just shows that even musicians at their level are learning and refining their skills all the time.
6) “Beyond Capability” Writing
Manuel’s unique writing process involves recording riffs he can’t yet play, forcing himself to improve and master them (e.g., “Dead Rose”).
This reminded me of Lo Guitarist who said he does the same thing. This makes sense of course because Lo is a big fan of Manuel’s music.
7) Develop Unique Techniques
He and Tim developed a distinct thumb-picking style with finger rolls, inspired by Tosin Abasi, for a bouncy, percussive sound.
This is to me one of the sounds that defines this generation of guitar players… this and probably selective picking (which I haven’t learned).
8) Strategic Production for Tone
Manuel uses extensive production, including creating soundscapes, stereo widening, and specific DAW techniques (like “complex pro” warping for glitchy tones) to shape his sound.
Manuel received Ableton Live as a teenager so it sounds to me like Ableton Live is as much an instrument to him as his guitar.
9) Clarity in Low Tunings
He achieves clarity and aggression in low tunings by using a low-gain Synergy amp module, the raw aggression from his custom Ibanez A-string with a single-coil switch, and applying more distortion to the bass than guitars in certain parts.
This was a technical gear thing, and it was interesting to hear him explain this.
10) Prioritize Musical Feel Over Strict Theory
While music theory can be helpful, Manuel emphasizes that for his emotional and expressive style, a strong “feel for music” and good songwriting are more important than theoretical knowledge.
This is really opposite to how I think about it, but when I reflect on this – most of my music doesn’t really come from a theory thing but rather a sound thing… so I realize that it’s similar to what he does, even though our music is different.
Conclusion
All in all, the clinic was amazing and inspiring for me, and I’m sure the many guitarists and musicians who attended.
A huge thanks to the entire Bentley Music team and Ibanez for hosting a top notch guitar clinic experience, one that I would personally say is one of the best experiences I’ve had for a guitar clinic. I look forward to future clinics and I hope I will have the opportunity to interview other world class musicians in future Bentley Music events!
If you enjoyed this post, I encourage you to explore my other articles and posts, which offer even more guitar and music tips.
You might enjoy reading:
Event Review: Laney Presents Lari Basilio Asia Clinic Tour at Bentley Music Auditorium, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
10 Things I Learned From the Ichika Nito Guitar Clinic at Bentley Music Auditorium, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
7 Things I Learned From Mateus Asato
and this series:
[WORKSHOPS: LEARNING FROM THE MASTERS]
10 Things I Learned From The “A Conversation with Mateus Asato” Singapore Event in January 2025
10 Things I Learned From The Mateus Asato Singapore Guitar Clinic
10 Things I Learned From The Julian Lage TIJC 2017 Workshop
10 Things I Learned From The Jack Thammarat Kuala Lumpur Workshop
10 Things I Learned From The Guthrie Govan Kuala Lumpur Workshop
And for jazzers… interested to check out what I learned from the Thailand International Jazz Camp 2017 (12 hours of workshops & 2 hours of jam sessions), check out the 3,100+ word blog post here: Thailand International Jazz Camp 2017 with Shai Maestro/Desmond White Group and Thailand International Jazz Camp 2018 with Will Vinson Quintet.
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