So the dust settles on another year and although The Great Plague is not yet done with us, things are undoubtedly better than they were this time last year. Personally I've had two Astra Zenecas, a Moderna shot and a flu shot so I've practically got vaccine coming out of my ear...
This year, I've built on the success of my 2020 resolution but branched out a little – the blues greats (SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, – this time in his Cream incarnation – and the Three Kings) were still on the list but this time joined by the melodic majesty of Neil Zaza, YouTube sensations Sophie Lloyd and Pete Honore, Led Zeppelin's own riffmaster Jimmy Page, “God's Own Guitarist” Jeff Beck, and the modern day blues rock genius of Joe Bonamassa... and I've got to say, it's been a hell of a ride.
Particular standouts have been transcribing every solo off “Are You Experienced” (albeit helped by having done “Red House” in 2020), finishing all of “Texas Flood” (up till 1am with wine last night because I was damned if I was going to let the end bit of “Rude Mood” stymie me..) and at the start of December I set myself the goal of working out SRV's sublime cover of “Little Wing” which I heard and fell in love with back around 99-2000.. and from then on set the gold standard for how well the guitar should be played, as far as I was concerned. And I GOT it!!! Keep an eye on the YouTube channel for a performance (although it will be a while till I'm happy with it).
I also managed the “WOW” lick that floored me when I first heard Joe Bonamassa's cover of “Going Down” on “Live At The Greek” - and I'll admit, YouTube helped with the fingerings – but doing that keyed me into a different approach with the minor pentatonic, leading to this, “The Scariest PentatonicLick Ever?”.. so yeah, feeling pretty good about this year in guitar playing terms.
My point? Transcription is WHERE IT'S AT. Don't believe me? Try it. Take something simple, find the key, start with the appropriate pentatonic, and find those notes, just 2 or 3 at a time.
Of all of them though, the one I probably learnt most from in sheer “Oh holy SH*T THAT'S SO COOL” factor... was actually Pete Honore. Unfortunately the interview didn't quite pan out but the fact that I regularly found myself at gone midnight with the headphones on still picking out licks from his YouTube jams on the Andertons guitar channel is a testament to just how jaw droppingly good this guy is. And he hides it all in plain sight as well, there's very little overly widdly stuff... just a ton of intricacy hidden in what might seem like a simple line... BB King, Robben Ford, SRV, all combined in one hell of a player. His wide interval stuff, his use of the b5 in the blues scale and the b3 in the country scale.. put it this way – I can drive a car. Lewis Hamilton can drive a car. We both go about it the same way. The fact that Lewis could take my car and probably shave 15 minutes off a drive that normally takes me half an hour isn't down to him using different tools, it's about lots of tiny subtleties that add up to putting him in a completely different league.. and that's the same with Pete. Make no mistake about it, all the players I delved into this year are all brilliant, but there's something about Pete that just gelled with me.
Anyway, on to the future – here's the plan for 2022:
January – Larry Carlton
February – John Petrucci
March – Steve Vai
April - Joe Satriani
May - Eric Johnson
June – Ritchie Blackmore
July – Yngwie Malmsteen
August – Shawn Lane
September – Brent Mason
October – Paul Gilbert
November – SRV Pt. III
December – Slash
Some august company, I think you'll agree. The reason is simple – I'm planning to take my FLCM diploma this year and with the exception of Mssrs Blackmore & Slash, all the above feature on the performance list. So I plan to dig down into their styles a little – if you're performing (let's say) a Satriani track, you're going to do it more convincingly if you've learned a few others. And if (when) disaster strikes and it goes wrong, you're going to do a better job of improvising your way out of it if you can perform a convincing Satriani impression.
Ritchie Blackmore – well, Yngwie has often referenced Deep Purple's “Fireball” album as a huge influence on him, spending time transcribing everything off it.. so I'm going to do the same. Should help prepare me for a month of MAXIMUM SHRED. Slash? He's SLASH. 'Nuff said. You can't argue with Stoke's finest.
So where will we be this time next
year? I know my guitar plans.. what are yours?
Roll on 2022.
Can't wait :-)
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