Learning Guitar World's top 100 solos

klaasvakie · 2018-05-31T12:29:39+00:00

Not sure how many of you read r/Guitar on reddit, but this guy has a cool thing going where he is learning Guitar World's top 100 guitar solos in order from...

Learning Guitar World's top 100 solos

klaasvakie

So I just gave this a listen --- a very clean playthrough. Two things stood out:

Bending accuracy, these were spot on. Also, this is one of the few songs I know that has double-bends (Check, 4:03, 6:05, 6:15, 6:33). I haven't tried to do this yet, but I think its hard getting these right.
Unless he has a clicktrack going in the headphones, this guy's counting is phenomenal. There is a 50-second stretch from 2:00 to 2:50 where the backing track has no indication of the beat and then he merges flawlessly after that much dead time.

NorioDS

klaasvakie Great feedback.

I gotta agree with you. His bends are great and when you're playing Gilmour... well you just can't without flawless bending. The double bends sound great, for sure. Definitely something I'd like to introduce to my playing.

The gap between 2:00 and 2:50... it does look like he's counting. Would be interesting to know if he's just counting or if there's a clicktrack. Don't suppose you could ask him? ? Would be keen to see how he's dealing with that.

With the 2 songs I tried learning recently, I found counting in my head to be far too unreliable. I'm sure it's a skill that can be developed but I imagine it takes years.

NorioDS

klaasvakie Fixed, thanks again! (The issue was the the tag "Editor's Pick" was read-only by administrators.)

klaasvakie

NorioDS Thanks for fixing this! O wait, I can see the thread now, but can't reply

klaasvakie

NorioDS

NorioDS With the 2 songs I tried learning recently, I found counting in my head to be far too unreliable. I'm sure it's a skill that can be developed but I imagine it takes years.

The previous song I spent a bunch of time on was Brothers in Arms which also has a couple of fairly dead stretches in the beginning, not surprisingly I found my counting ability severely lacking. It is never completely dead though (like on Shine on you), so in the end I think I learned to listen for subtle changes in the synths in order to decide when to drop in. I am still not happy with my timing on that.

klaasvakie

NorioDS The gap between 2:00 and 2:50... it does look like he's counting. Would be interesting to know if he's just counting or if there's a clicktrack. Don't suppose you could ask him? ? Would be keen to see how he's dealing with that.

So here is his reply:

I totally missed the little hidden click the first time around ? The more you know ...

NorioDS

Ha! Awesome! Thanks for asking ? Such a simple answer and I would've overcomplicated it myself ?

klaasvakie

No. 89 is up. Some Rage Against ? ? ?
This looks super fun to play, and possibly easy enough that I have a shot at nailing it. I must give it a try when I get home.

klaasvakie

MMM, while I was out of town two posts came up, No 88 and No 87

Man, that Living Colour solo has some fast stretches in it ?

klaasvakie

No 86 is up:

I really liked the chromatic run at about 4:00. Another interesting thing is how the song progresses from being very rock at the start to almost BB-King-type blues at the end. I like it.

klaasvakie

No 85 is out:

This solo didn't really do much for me, but maybe I just got out of bed grumpy. I can see it being quite the bendy workout, especially with the vibrato on top of the bends. Definitely something that needs work in my playing.

NorioDS

klaasvakie Yoh I dig those bends. Yeah I agree, great solo for practising good bends.

That speedy riff at the end was also a nice "manic" way to end an otherwise sparsely "noted" solo. Me likey.

(At some point, I hope to check out this entire list but I reckon I'll need a few hours of time set aside for that ?)

klaasvakie

No 84 is out. I've listened to some Michael Schenker before, but mostly his solo stuff. After hearing this I think I should give UFO a whirl as well. I haven't given this a good listen yet, will give it a proper spin tomorrow with headphones.

klaasvakie

Second no 84 is out. I like this solo quite a bit. For some reason it doesn't feel so far out of reach as many of the others. I also a solo like this that really works for the song. A massive shredfest here would be out of place.

klaasvakie

It's finally time for Scuttle Buttin'. Interesting that he chose the bendy version instead of the slidy version. Defenitely not as clean as the other solos in this series which I think attests to the difficulty of this piece. So well done @NorioDS and @V8 for attempting it earlier this year. Would like to hear what you think of the attempt.

NorioDS

klaasvakie Interesting that he chose the bendy version instead of the slidy version.

I think if your finger tips will forgive it and you have the finger strength, the bendy version offers the benefit of less jumping around. Which is something I definitely struggled with! But there's no way after so long of not playing that my fingers would've handled those bends in the early frets. (I have no idea how SRV did it on the strings he used!)

klaasvakie Would like to hear what you think of the attempt.

I really liked it. Way better than either of ours, I'd say.

And it's comforting to hear him say he struggled. That he swore. Put down his guitar in frustration. Took multiple takes to record it. Allll sounds very familiar. This thing is a nightmare! It's NOT an easy song at all. But you don't improve by doing the easy kak in life, nê? ?

The fact that he did this in ONE week?!?! He's a beast. I'm impressed. Does he not have a dayjob or something? ?

I love how much detail he goes into. Maybe it's because I also attempted this solo but, I really enjoyed this post.

V8

klaasvakie . So well done @NorioDS and @V8 for attempting it earlier this year. Would like to hear what you think of the attempt.

Haha, thanks @klaasvakie - keep this thread going, It's a fine thing this fellow is doing!

I thought he did realllly well on this one. The feel is there for the main riff - sounds pretty good to me. Better than almost all of the tutorials I saw. And he got it in a week. (&^(& hell ?

From what I read/saw - It's bends on the studio take and slides live - I agree, probably to save fingers. My fingers got sore after 15m of bendy version. Though I thought the slidey version easier to play fast than the bendy version. Though both of mine were sloppy.

Just a thought on string gauge - though SRV did play 11's, he also played in Eb - which will kinda balance out the string tension - (My strat used to be in Eb w/11's). On my strat it feels like 10's in E are a teeny bit stiffer than 11's in Eb - though not in the same brand of string (11's were nickle fender bullets, 10's are Elixir's - elixir's do feel a teeny bit stiffer than non coated strings of the same gauge - to me anyways).

klaasvakie

I also think it is amazing to get this down in a week. The lesson I take from this is that it is important to get the basics right (speed, picking technique) . This guy was obviously an accomplished guitarist before starting this challenge (he played for some canadian metal band), and having a strong base allows him to pick up new things quickly.

I think a lot of my frustration comes from having to learn new techniques as well as having to learn the new song at the same time, but I think as I put in more practice, learning new songs will become more of "learn the song" and not "learn the song and master some new techniques". This is basically where I am stuck with my November Rain outro solo, really struggling to bring those fast alternating picking runs up to speed.

V8

klaasvakie This guy was obviously an accomplished guitarist before starting this challenge (he played for some canadian metal band), and having a strong base allows him to pick up new things quickly.

Exactly what I was thinking - he has a decent library/base of skills and is building on them. Still...one week to get through the whole of Scutttle Buttin'...hiesh.

klaasvakie really struggling to bring those fast alternating picking runs up to speed.

There's a dark art to alternate picking - my mate talks of economy picking and starting on a up stroke instead of always on a down stroke. And being able to switch between the two as you need.

If I think about it, I can do it....but when the fingers are flailing away - I go to what I'm comfortable doing - which is starting on the down stroke. I'm fine on one string, but the moment I've gotta move to another string and start on a up stroke...wheels fall off. Every. Friggin. Time.

klaasvakie

V8 If I think about it, I can do it....but when the fingers are flailing away - I go to what I'm comfortable doing - which is starting on the down stroke. I'm fine on one string, but the moment I've gotta move to another string and start on a up stroke...wheels fall off. Every. Friggin. Time.

Gosh, I'm glad I'm not the only one !!!!!!

V8

klaasvakie Haha, no - and until one tries something at real speed, you'll not likely realise it either!

Didn't notice it during Scuttle Buttin, but after chatting to my mate and feeling the picking hand getting horribly tangled - I figured it out.

P.s. He's a teacher at the jazz workshop - probably been playing for around 30+yrs and he's just getting this stuff under his belt. Never to late or too old...gotta love music!