Nailing a favourite solo

rsvmark

Coming back from work yesterday I had my music on shuffle and up pops one of my favourite songs with one of my favourite solos. It's not a Vai, Satch, Srv, Kotzen thing, it was James Dean Bradfield and the track was La Tristesse Durera. IMHO its a masterpiece and serves the song so so well.

i have never though I was good enough to play it but I thought, sod it, I am going to put a session in and attempt it. After a few hours of working it out, building up the speed, at about 10pm last night I managed a rather scrappy, un clean play along with the track.

I an very  chuffed with myself. Today's session will concentrate on cleaner picking and playing it faster (so that when I play at tempo it feels easier)

Great feeling to be able to play one of my favourite solos ever

Stevepage

I remember years ago when I was about 13. Watching Wayne's World with my family and there's a scene where Alice Cooper is on stage performing Feed My Frankenstein.

I remember the guitarists were playing their solos and my Dad says to me "you should be playing that".

I felt a bit crappy about it at the time but I forgot all about it. Then one day about a year ago I remembered him saying that so I went and learnt the solo note for note in an evening. I felt really chuffed with myself.

TTBZ

Been meaning to learn the Live And Dangerous solos in Cowboy Song for a while now, thanks for the inspiration to make a start on it

uncledick

I remember when someone in our band suggested covering Word Up by Gun, I thought 'no chance of nailing that' but got there in the end.  Not quite a solo but wanted to do Mr Brightside for a while and thanks to the brilliant tutorial by @Danny1969 on here I've done it at our last 4 or 5 gigs.  Getting that weird finger position for the start of the second verse is pretty much impossible but if you listen to The Killers live, he can't manage it either.  

Currently working on Peaceful Easy Feeling for some open mic nights.  Not that hard to do an ok version but it's always that last 10% which takes the effort.

There's a discussion somewhere on here about the problems of getting older.  I'm 56 next week but still think my playing improves with every gig.  I've played since schooldays but had a very long sabbatical involving children, business, and motorsport.

Epsilon

James Dean Bradfield is great - one of my favourite guitarists and he has certainly put out some tasty solos. Good choice!

dazzajl

uncledick said:

I remember when someone in our band suggested covering Word Up by Gun.........

That’s a whole other thread right there perhaps. The question of can there be a cover of a cover, as opposed to a cover of the original?

Voxman

The more you learn and practice stuff that's out of your comfort zone, the easier it becomes to learn the next thing. It's partly mindset (discipline), building mental agility and confidence to think differently, improving physical dexterity, and finally improving listening skills.

And sometimes it's simple songs that can stretch you and or your fingers. An example is Princes Purple Rain...yes its just 4 chords but Wendy Melvoin uses a wierd chord that requires an unusual finger stretch and takes some practice if you're not used to it...which I wasn't.

I work on the principal that we all have the same starting tools...fingers, brain and a guitar, and if someone else can do something, with the right mind set and practice I should be able to at least make a reasonable stab at it so at least it would be recognisable ....even if I can't replicate their mojo. 

Vaiai

I learned 3 sets of material in 4 weeks and we had 3 rehearsals before a wedding gig - but Mr Brightside took me 2 months to get better at and I actually finger pick it as I can't do it with the pick! I also do all of the parts - not just the intro - getting back to that position for the 2nd verse is a bugger but getting better!

Wonky

My playing is a bit of a weird mix, starting out playing jazz stuff as a kid and later playing in metal bands.  These days I'm more a sort of fusion shredder, but I love to try different sorts of playing and music out.
So the other day I thought I might have a crack at a few classic rock solos, just to see how they compared to modern shred solos.
So I sat my ass down and had a go at a few Led Zepp solo's, stairway to heaven and whole lotta love, Dire Straights sultans of swing, Eagles hotel california.
Really enjoyed it, much more than I thought I would.  Loads of bending on the Zep and Eagles stuff and great finger style stuff on Knopfer's stuff.
Once I nailed them as they should be, I then decided to modern them up a bit and add and change a few things.  Adding sweep picking to Hotel California was a blast and actually sounded pretty cool too.  Adding a few jazz notes to Sultans was mad too.  I highly recommend everyone try it if for no other reason than it's so much fun.  Add in a backing track and there's a smile a mile wide.
Haven't decided what I'll have a crack at next though.

clarkefan

TTBZ said:

Been meaning to learn the Live And Dangerous solos in Cowboy Song for a while now, thanks for the inspiration to make a start on it

Fantastic stuff  Tip, a lot of the solos on that album appear to be in the major scale, 3 frets down

Bellycaster

Well done, keep doing it, another then another. You'll get to a point where you'll recognise intervals better and be able to pick out phrases, techniques, tricks. You'll start to explore different areas on the guitar where a phrase is easier to play and also learn to be more economical.

tone1

I find nailing a solo really takes all the mystery and wonder out of a masterpiece... I remember learning ‘Another brick in the wall’ and feeling a bit deflated afterwards.... Well it did take me years to learn

imalrightjack

I’m still working on Marty Friedman’s Megadeth solos on Lucretia, High Speed Dirt, Symphony of Destruction, Tornado of Souls. All have a passage or two that is too quick but I still love it!

axisus

I don't really know James Dean Bradfield's stuff at all, but I remember years ago they transcribed one of his solos in Guitarist mag, and I thought it was a brilliant solo. I can't seem to find it now and I don't know what the track was? 

Anyone remember the track that Guitarist transcribed or the mag it was in?

tralfamadan

Nice one. It's so easy to just reach for Tab but taking the time to transcribe yourself is really the best way to nail a solo.

Love the manics too. There's a great video on YT of James Dean Bradfield going through his riffs on various guitars. It's a great watch.

Tenebrous

axisus said:

I don't really know James Dean Bradfield's stuff at all, but I remember years ago they transcribed one of his solos in Guitarist mag, and I thought it was a brilliant solo. I can't seem to find it now and I don't know what the track was? 

Anyone remember the track that Guitarist transcribed or the mag it was in?

I remember learning Motorcycle Emptiness from a magazine years & years ago. Maaaybe?

Jonathangus

Have a look here:
https://sites.google.com/site/guitarmagsongs/

clarkefan

tralfamadan said:

Nice one. It's so easy to just reach for Tab but taking the time to transcribe yourself is really the best way to nail a solo.

Love the manics too. There's a great video on YT of James Dean Bradfield going through his riffs on various guitars. It's a great watch.

Yeah, great video, great player.  I remember being stunned when he said the Motorcycle riff was Richey's Thinline tele, it was one of my references for great Les Paul neck tones  Actually, still is

skullfunkerry

I don't know much Manic Street Preachers; just had a listen on Deezer. That is a great solo!

ESBlonde

Sometimes being faced with a list of new covers to learn is quite daunting, but in reality getting stuck in usually reveals 80% of it is quite manageable and you just need to learn the geography. It also reveals the bits that need repetition and practice, but the satisfaction of doing a good job is wonderful, getting it right on the first gig is the goal.

mudslide73

I have to learn loads now but the first hard-ish solo I learned note for note was Clapton's "Badge". It really was a satisfying feeling when I finally did it properly.