Hello, everyone, and welcome to my new column for Guitar World. As a longtime fan of the magazine and someone who has learned a great deal from its pages, it’s an honor to join the ranks as an instructional columnist! I sincerely hope this series of lessons will prove useful to you.
When I was younger, it was more about how fast, flashy and impressive one could play. But the secret of it all, I think, is really the space between the notes. One’s own fingerprint has a better chance to shine through as a note is held, or in the way each phrase follows the next in the telling of a musical story. Speed is great, but it’s just one tool in the box.
Michael Schenker’s playing in UFO is a classic example of what I’m talking about here. His note choice, spacing, phrasing, technique and articulation offer a master class in expressive lead guitar playing. FIGURE 1 is an improvised example of soloing in Schenker’s style: the lines are based primarily on B minor pentatonic (B D E F# A) with the inclusion of the ninth, or second, C#. Throughout this demonstration, I follow a flurry of notes by lingering on one, adding expressive vibrato, and then leaving space between the phrases so that, like a good story teller, I’m “speaking” in cohesive sentences.
Articulation is tremendously important as well. I like to include pick scrapes, as in bar 2, on beat one; ghost-bends, or pre-bends, for which a note is bent first, then picked and released; gradual bends; fast or slow vibratos; quick hammer/pulls and slides; a sharp, staccato attack and whatnot. if I were to speak to you at a million miles on hour in a monotone voice, whatever I’m saying would fail to grab your attention. But if I speak expressively, in clearly defined phrases, I will be better able to get my point across. An effective guitar solo works the same way.
FIGURE 2 offers another example in Michael’s style, wherein I alternate between rhythm guitar and solo lines, played with a triplet-based 12/8 feel. As you listen and play along, keep in mind that a less-saturated/distorted tone will better serve the many articulation variables in your pick attack.
