If I were to tell you that I spent a large portion of my early playing days trying to master the art of playing a Les Paul down by my knees, leant back at 45 degrees and with my hair falling across my face, would you believe me? Of course you would – chances are you did the same thing. Why? Saul Hudson, the pride of Stoke On Trent – better known as Slash – that's why.
I had a sunburst Epiphone Les Paul – because of Slash.
I once set my hair on fire (by mistake) – because of Slash. (Cigarettes aren't cool, kids)
I played through Marshalls (ever tried wrestling a 4x12 cab into the back of an Austin Metro?) – until the fourth one on a row expired on me – because of Slash.
In fact, I'm going to posit that – possibly, possibly not - after Hendrix, Slash is probably THE most influential guitar player on the planet. Even more so than his fellow '80s icon, Eddie Van Halen (at least on this side of the Atlantic).
So it's well after time that we take a look into the instantly identifiable phenomenally influentual style of the “saviour of the Gibson Les Paul” - and I'll be honest, in 222, I've been in deep with the absolute best of the best, Vai, Satriani, Eric Johnson, John Petrucci.. I had to wonder, would my childhood hero hold up?
Yes. Yes he did. I'm happy to say Slash's playing is like the Mona Lisa – the closer you get to it, the better it gets. The more in detail I got transcribing his solos, the more I learnt and the more I appreciated. Sometimes, you should meet your heroes (metaphorically, at least).
First, a quick potted history – go check out “Slash”, the eponymous autobiography released in 2007. There are a lot – a LOT – of drug stories in there, regrettably rather little on learning the guitar but still.. one story that stayed with me is the re-recording of “Sweet Child O'Mine” after buying the famous Gibson Les Paul clone after laying down the initial tracks with a BD Rich that simply wasn't up to the job - essentially, our hero had to re-record the ENTIRE SONG.. in one take... with no click. Think about that for a second. I'd need a drink after that. Short version – born near Stoke to artist father and fshion designer mother, moved to LA around 5 years old, picked up the guitar about 14 after being exposed to a combination of Aerosmith, marijuana and the desire to get his end away in the space of a single afternoon, and then attempted to form a band with his friend Steven Adler. Intially Adler was going to be the guitarist and Slash on bass, but after seeing his teacher perform “Brown Sugar” decided to move to guitar – interestingly, Slash cites Jeff Beck as his biggest influence, and as I write this, I've just caught the sad news of his passing at age 78. I think that being the guitarist who all your heroes (including my old sensei from Access To Music, Brian Thompson) look up to is probably the most appropriate tribute to his unique and phenomenal talent. Rest in peace Jeff, and thank you for everything you showed us.
But far more interesting than the history are the licks, right? Never mind the drug stories that may or may not be true – we want to know how he does what he does – and trust me, Slash knows a LOT more than you might think. No one plays with that level of creativity without having a decent level of understanding of how it all works. I normally copy and paste how such & such a player uses the minor & major pentatonics.. but with Slash we need to dial in the blues scale, the Dorian mode, natural minor, and harmonic minor (R 2 b3 4 5 b6 7) as well as these regularly contribute to his sound. Not that you can always tell, as Axl was fond of wailing, screeching, or faking an orgasm over some of the REALLY good bits.
And yes, I will be showing you the flash bit from “Sweet Child O'Mine”. One thing I want to point out, however, is the difference that gear makes. Slash playing a Les Paul – which is a big, hefty slab of mahogany, promoting a more solid, thoughtful, playing style – is radically different to EVH (who I'm covering next month) on a Strat copy.. light, easy to throw around... plus have you tried tapping on a Les Paul? That pickup switch gets right in the way – so tapping is conspicuous by it's absence from Slashs technique, whereas it forms a constituent part of Eddie's. Who's best? Depends on where you're looking at it from, and what you're looking for!
OK, so, licks. Let's get this out of the way by getting the flash bit out of Sweet Child – God knows I've been asked about this enough! Here, Slash plays over the build on A power chord, making heavy use of the D# from the E harmonic minor scale (R 2 b3 4 5 b6 7 – E F# G A B C D#) to create tension. I'll demonstrate the various fingerings on the YouTube companion video, but from a theory point of view it's worth looking at the chord sequence that precedes this lick – Em, C, B7, Am. Em – EGB, C – CEG, B7 – B D# F# A, Am – ACE. None of these chords contain the D natural that you would find in the E natural minor scale which is the relative minor to the G major (or D Mixolydian) chord sequence that powers the verse. The next part of the song is where it modulates to E minor – Em, G, Am, C , D – and that's where he reverts to good old E minor pentatonic. What I think is really interesting about this lick is it's sheer technical complexity, and the fact that it's almost hidden in plain sight, as a bridge between two sections. Although we don't tend to think of Slash as a technical player in the manner of a Satriani, Vai or Malmsteen... he clearly can cut it in their league, and little flourishes like this are hidden all over Appetite For Destruction almost as “Easter eggs” for those who really want to get in depth with his approach.
Speaking of “Sweet Child..” - if you're reading this, you almost certainly know how to play the riff, but have you ever thought of how it came to be? Essentially, it's born from an arpeggio – Slash visualises a D shape, moved up an octave. The start note then moves to fit the chord it's played over – D (root) over the D chord, E (3rd) over the Cadd9, G (root) over the G chord and back to D again. There also seems to be some controversy over whether the song is in D or G – technically G is more correct, but it's more accurate to say D Mixolydian, the 5th mode of the G major scale and having a flattened 7th relative to the D major scale.
So there.
One of my absolute favourite solo's -by anyone, really - is Slash's wah-drenched opus on “Mr. Brownstone”, and this next example is him in full flight, showcasing his “blues on steroids” approach. We're in F# minor pentatonic but notice Slash dials in the 2nd (G#) in the pick up and in the little “pick, hammer, pull, pull” legato flurry that is a classic Slash-ism. Check out the way he manipulates the “3 magic notes” concept and develops it – very similar to the approach of a Clapton or Hendrix but just going a step further.. without getting into 3 note per string 80s shred territory. There are a LOT of subtleties to be found in Slash's playing when he's really in the zone.
Motivic development is another very musical idea Slash frequently builds solos around, and this happens in the first solo in Paradise City – he plays the initial pattern on the B and E strings before moving the same pattern, with fingerings adjusted to follow the contours of the A minor pentatonic scale before rounding things off with a filthy sounding blues scale run. Pick this one hard and really go for it!
The final example is from Paradise City's end solo – I covered the insane sounding chromatic widdly bit in a One Minute Lick a few weeks ago, but I saved this little gem! This is another use of G Mixolydian – G, C, F, C, G.. so the I, IV and V from the C major scale but using the G as its main chord. Slash is using a hybrid scale here mixing major and minor pentatonics to create the interval pattern R 2 b3 3 4 5 6 b7 (G A Bb B C D E F). He ascends using a sextuplet pattern and descends sequencing in 4s. This is a tremendously useful pattern, worth practicing in every key and building the tempo gradually with a metronome.
I have to say, it's been a blast revisiting these solos, this was all the sort of stuff I aspired to when I first got started and I'm very pleased to say that there is much I can still learn from Mr. Hudson – don't let the image or the rock & roll affectations distract you from the fact that Slash was, is, and will hopefully remain for many years, one HELL of a guitar player. And for all that I think he's possibly the most iconic and influential rock guitarist ever, I can't honestly think of anyone who sounds like him!
Onto another 80s icon next month, a long overdue look at the sadly late, but undoubtedly great Eddie Van Halen! Two 80s icons back to back – makes you want to break out the hairspray..
