Here is the latest entry from our San Diego Guitar Teacher Jason M:
In this segment I wanted to breakdown how all of the things that we've gone over so far can affect your playing. 1.) Guitar transcription notes 2.) Ability to recognize chords and play to a track 3.) Discovering the influences of those you are influenced by and 4.) Using similar techniques to uncover signature sounds of those same artists.
This time I wanted to take that one step farther in a piece called: Unraveling the guitar solo.
Many guitarists 10 years ago loathed guitar solos. It was just a wanky thing Slash and Santana did to imitate proficiency, right? Wrong. But still kinda, yeah… I'll get to that.
You basically have a few ideas that are common to guitarists skills and ideas and are repeated thereafter. Rather than bore you with notes and garbage I'll share with you a couple secrets that I've noticed occur during these solos.
The classic bend: Figure out if you're in Em and whole step or unison bend on the 12th and 15th fret of the high e and B.
The rock lead bend/chop/hammer lick: Slash/Santana/Hammett all use it. Uses the 3 lowest strings. Bend your ring finger up on the 3rd string, barre the next 2 strings down with the first, hammer on and pull off the ring finger in a sequential order 4 or 5 times in a row.
The pedal or pull off ascension: Three finger pull offs I've mentioned before, but an open E pedal can be added to sound like pieces of Iron Maiden or Dethlok. Simply take the high e, tremelo pick it…. and sporadically hit the notes that sound right on that same string. (you'll probably be in Em, but I said I wouldn't mention notes).
End with a whole step bend on the highest note and shake it with a strong vibrato at the end. This is a great way to climax, unless you wanna shred down into open position for an aftermath.
Ok, so I mentioned a couple tricks… use em, abuse em. Now do yo know how to play a Slash solo? Maybe, but let me bring up the points.
The keys to rote memorization of the solo are awesome because it was designed to sound memorable, if what you're playing sounds like crap instead of Slash you'll know it. Break it down not only by measure, but by use of technique and also melody. Those three things are going to help you perfect the tones used.
Say you have 3 of the 4 techniques involved that I previously mentioned. Spot em, aniticipate them, and lock down about where they come in. If there is a measure you just can't get, don't get hung up on it…. you'll hear it again the next time you come into the solo. Your mind should be able to grasp it eventually. And last, listen for those moments in the solo that feel like passion. Those notes are the ones you hold on to, and they're generally not hard to play.
Secret of the day: If you see 16,000 notes in a measure, it's probably only six.
Rock,
Suzy S.