LogicalLeadGuitar.com Newsletter
#14
Hello friends
and guitarists!
I apologize
for not having gotten a newsletter out in awhile, so I'm going to try to get
them rolling more regularly again, with exercises and riffs and samples from
Logical Lead Guitar and more.
But in this
issue I want to give a bit of teacher-ly (is that a word?) advice meant to
get you grounded and keep you working in the right direction for success on
the guitar
In the private
lessons I teach – particularly to teenagers who often want only to learn the
hottest new songs by new artists – I regularly have students intent on learning
guitar solos (or songs) that are totally out of the realm of possibility for
someone at their playing ability.
I'm happy to see students with lofty goals, but I'm forced over and over again
to tell them one simple and sad-but-true rule:
You can't run before you can walk!
Take a step
back and learn a bunch of easy solos first. And whether or not you're really
into the song or solo isn't all that important, though if you put your mind
to it, you can probably find something you like that isn't out of your league.
Then, after
you master a bunch of simpler or slower solos, you'll have the skills to move
up to more difficult solos.
Here is
a list of solos or artists you should learn from first:
1) Most
solos by Pink Floyd make great learning experiences. David Gilmour usually
sticks to basic pentatonic riffs and keeps to a slower pace, with lots of
long, drawn out notes.
3) Most ballads – ballads usually have
shorter solos, and often long, drawn-out notes.
More Easy solos you could learn:
"Burnin' For You" by Blues
Oyster Cult (first solo)
"Pretending"
by Eric Clapton (intro solo)
"King Of Pain" by The Police
"Day Tripper" by the Beatles
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2
"Can You Take Me Higher" by Creed
"Don't
Stop Believin'" by Journey
Try "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck and "The Thrill Is Gone" by B.B. All the solos mentioned here are available in songbooks and on instructional DVDs all over the place. If you need a source for such songbooks, try BluesLessons.com or RockChops.com.
Wanna Know More About LLG?
There's
so much more I'm ready to teach you. Are you ready to learn?
If so, CLICK HERE.
My
Latest Guitar Industry Projects
I went out
to see Sammy Hagar and his Waboritas Wednesday night in Milwaukee. Guitarist
Vic Johnson never ceases to amaze me. He's not only a shreddin' guitarist
who can play every Van Halen lick note-for-note perfect, but he's a hell of
a nice guy who I've always enjoyed hangin' with ever since he joined Sammy's
band 10 years ago. It bums me out that he doesn't get more recognition than
he does – in a decade rockin' with one of the most successful singers around,
I'm the only guitar industry journalist who has ever written about Vic. I'm
going to post an interview with him on my site in the near future. And Sammy
and I have been talking about working together on his life story for more
than 10 years now, but he still just ain't ready to do it. I'm gonna keep
pushin' him, though, 'cause it's an amazing and truly inspiring rags to riches
story most people have absolutely no clue about…
Inspiration
The late
Danny Gatton is one of my favorite guitarists of all time. I just got a new
concert DVD of him with Tom Principato titled "Blazing Telecasters,"
which I haven't yet had time to watch (maybe tonight!). But you can check
out this amazing virtuoso right now on YouTube::
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vOuey2_h7oM
In the
meantime…
Practice,
Practice, PRACTICE!
Adam St.
James
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