The Top Five Beatles Guitar Solos by Paul McCartney
As a musician, Paul McCartney is probably best known for his
creative, melodic Beatles and Wings bass lines, but he's always been a
guitarist at heart. The guitar was, after all, his first instrument (if you ignore the trumpet his father gave him for his 14th birthday), and it's always been his main songwriting tool.
Here are McCartney's top five electric guitar solos as a Beatle. Of course, George Harrison played most of the Fab Four's lead guitar parts, but McCartney stepped in occasionally, as did John Lennon (and Eric Clapton, for that matter).
Deep Water: The Down-Tuning Advantages of a Fender Jaguar Bridge System
OK, by now, we've all worked the Strat thing to the point of making that guitar, or some variation of it, a part of almost every electric guitar player's arsenal. We also just work around, or just avoid, some of the limitations of the Strat-style vibrato bridge.
One of the limitations is that you cannot D-tune, or down-tune a guitar with a floating Strat-style bridge without it going drastically out of tune. The same goes for when you break a string. The whole guitar goes out of tune.
Some people set up a Strat with the bridge flat on the body to avoid these issues, but I think that really takes away from the charm of a Strat. Subtle tremolo bar effects are really compromised if the bridge is not floating off the body.
But just because you have more than one Strat doesn't mean you want to haul a bunch of them to shows just to cover all the songs you want to play that have different drop tunings. Drop-D and Drop-C are just two that I like. I used to have a dedicated Strat for each of those tunings.
With a Strat-style vibrato bridge, if you want a nice floating bridge that gives you a nice, smooth vibrato action, you will need to set up the guitar specifically for the altered tuning.
So the big surprise is that Leo Fender figured out a fix. With a properly set-up Jazzmaster / Jaguar-style bridge system, you can down-tune from standard tuning, and the guitar will still be in tune, and, as a bonus, you can still use the tremolo bar, though only go down in pitch when down-tuned. This also can allow you to keep playing if you break a string in the middle of a song.
Here I am playing some stuff doing some down-tuning on the fly. First I'm in standard tuning, then Drop-D, then Drop-C, then back up to standard tuning with no problem:
To properly setup a Jaguar-style tremolo so that you can down-tune a string, or continue to play in tune after breaking a string and still be able to use the vibrato bar, follow these steps:
1. First, tune the guitar. Then hold down the the vibrato bar as low as it will go, and push the round sliding lock back toward the Fender logo, and then let go of the tremolo bar.
2. Pull up on the vibrato bar. If there is some upward movement possible before you feel it stop, turn the tension screw clockwise to close the gap. As you continue to turn the screw clockwise, you will not be able to pull the vibrato bar up as far, until you get to the point where you cannot pull up the vibrato bar at all.
3. Tune the guitar again. If you can pull up the vibrato bar, and it moves a bit before hitting inside, tighten the tension screw some more.
4. The end result we're looking for:
~ The guitar is in tune
~ The tension screw is tightened just enough so that the mechanism is "zeroed." That means that when you gently pull up on the vibrato bar, it's the tiniest distance to when you feel it hit.
~ The guitar is in tune
~ The tension screw is tightened just enough so that the mechanism is "zeroed." That means that when you gently pull up on the vibrato bar, it's the tiniest distance to when you feel it hit.
5. Now slide the lock forward toward the headstock. The vibrato works normally.
6. When you want to down-tune a string, push the sliding lock back toward the Fender logo. Down-tune any string, and you can now use the vibrato bar with the guitar remaining in tune.
Thanks for checking out this technique! Hope it made some sense to you. If I see any questions in the comments section below, I'll get to them as quickly as I can.
Till next time,
~ dave
Guitarist Dave Wronski is one third of Slacktone, a Southern California-based modern surf band that has toured the world and elsewhere. He also has written and recorded music for TV-show themes, commercial soundtracks and films. For more info, visit DaveWronski.com.
Music © Dave Wronski
Metal Mike: If You're Not Getting Better, You're Getting Worse
I want to briefly touch upon a subject many guitar players (and musicians in general) seem to have a difficult time understanding.
I often hear guitarists tell me they want to attend one of my workshops because they've reached a certain "plateau" they can't seem to get past. It sounds logical, right? Unfortunately, this is incorrect.
In guitar playing, there are no plateaus. We never arrive and stay at some flat, secure place. Not for long, and certainly not over a period of 24 hours.
This means that if you're not getting better, you're getting worse.
It's true. For example, if you get pretty good at playing a particular scale and take two weeks off, your ability will slide back from where you left off when you put the guitar down.
Even song writing must be practiced. Sure, there are people who write only one song and it becomes a hit, but this is an exception to the rule, kind of like winning the lottery. If you want to be wealthy, you have to constantly work at it. Becoming better at your instrument is very much like this.
This thought process has always been a source of motivation for me. It's very simple: If I'm not getting better, I'm getting worse. It stuck and has kept me practicing throughout the years. Hope this helps you as well!
Polish-born Metal Mike Chlasciak has recorded or performed with heavy metal greats Rob Halford, Sebastian Bach, Bruce Dickinson and Axl Rose. Mike is the long-time guitarist for Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford's solo endeavor, Halford. Mike's new album, The Metalworker, is available at metalmike.net. For more info, check out his official website and visit him on Twitter.
Ear Training, Part 2: Rhythm — and Bringing Soul to a Drum Machine
Part 1
It's common to hear the idea that guitarists need pitch and drummers need rhythm. These are both half true, as guitarists and drummers need both pitch and rhythm.
Could you imagine what a duo band like the Black Keys would sound like if Dan Auerbach had bad rhythm? Not so great. Playing great riffs out of time is sort of like driving a Ferrari into a wall.
You'll also need good rhythm for your solos. Guitarists may have a reputation of wanting to play as fast as they can, but as the old Yngwie proverb goes (I'm actually not sure if he ever said this), “Playing slower in time sounds faster than playing super fast out of time."
So here are some fun ways to develop rhythm for solos and rhythm playing.
One reason people play rhythm parts out of time is because they don't know/feel the subdivisions of the beat they're playing to. Sixteenth notes and sextuplets and general funk strumming can seem overwhelming, so it's good to start simple and build from there.
There are a few ways to do this. The first is to use a metronome and slow your rhythm part way-y-y down. When playing a part slower, it forces you to feel the subdivisions of the beat and really understand the rhythm of the riff. On most metronome apps, there are options to subdivide the beat into eight notes, triplets, etc., for help.
Say you're playing the awesome verse riff from Muse's song “Unnatural Selection” that starts around 48 seconds in. Sloppy playing on a riff like that would completely ruin the vibe of the verse, and if it's tough for you to play speed-wise, your arm will get tired and you'll slow down the riff. You don't have to spend two hours practicing this riff or anything, but 10 minutes of starting at a slow tempo like 90 bpm then building up 8 bpm at a time after a minute of playing the riff is a good idea.
Another good way to tell if you're playing tight is recording yourself along with the song. Using a program like garageband and having something convenient like a guitar-cable-to-USB-adapter around makes recording yourself very easy. Just upload your favorite cover(s) to play, pan it left and you right, play along, and then listen back very critically.
Things to look for: Are you locking in with the groove? Are you in tune? How is your tone in relation to the guitar on the song (more/less saturation, brighter/darker, more/less reverb, etc.)? Is your pick attack too strong/too weak? Although it sounds so good, I'd recommend using no reverb/delay as to get the most accurate representation of your playing.
Learning how to keep time with your soloing gets a little trickier. A great way to understand your licks better is to move them over an 8th or 16th note. Take Example 1: Normal descending A minor blues-rocky lick. No surprises here.
![Ex 1[1].jpg](http://www.guitarworld.com/files/imce-images/Ex%201%5B1%5D.jpg)
Example 2, though, moves it over an eighth, which doesn't seem difficult until the ending. Bouncing the last notes off the first beat of the next measure will feel much different.
The toughest, and my favorite, is Example 3. This is the same lick but moved over a 16th note, which can feel tricky at fast tempos. Use a metronome and try the examples back to back several times, transpose them, then try to use them in a solo. Do this with your other licks too, and 1. You'll have a better grasp of time and 2. You will have some new licks.
Bent Out of Shape: Learning Mozart's Symphony No. 25 in G Minor, Part 5
Welcome back to "Learning Mozart's 25th Symphony in G Minor!"
In case you've missed them, here are parts 1 through 4;
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
In this lesson, we're going to continue learning Mozart's 25th Symphony in G minor. So far, we haven't encountered anything too difficult technique-wise.
That is — until now!
We have learned a large portion of the piece, and for this new lesson I'm going to set you a rather difficult challenge. At this point in the piece, we are meant to repeat in full everything we have learned so far. I thought it would make a fun challenge if we played everything one octave up for this repeat.
To explain further, if you look at the backing track, parts 1 to 4 go from 0:00 to 2:04. You will then play parts 1 to 4 again one octave higher from 2:04 to 4:07. This is the challenge for Part 5.
You're going to have to transpose everything from the previous parts, and you might have to make slight changes to the arrangement of the notes.
Having played through everything a few times in the upper octave, I would suggest a few very slight alterations we will have to make to to previous parts. You may like to make additional changes you feel necessary, but these are just a few I felt I needed to make.
The bass notes during the theme at the beginning of Part 2 could be omitted and played like the theme in Part 1.
In Part 2 the final alternating chords should be played on just the high E and B strings. By omitting the D string, these chords are much easier to play in such a high position on the neck.
In Part 3 the F7 arpeggio begins with an Eb, which is played on the 23rd fret on the high E. If your guitar has only 22 frets (like mine), you should bend up a half step from the D note on the 22nd fret.
Good luck with this challenge. To play everything correctly from start to finish should be considered a big accomplishment even for advanced players!
Will Wallner is a guitarist from England who now lives in Los Angeles. He recently signed a solo deal with Polish record label Metal Mind Productions for the release of his debut album, which features influential musicians from hard rock and heavy metal. He also is the lead guitarist for White Wizzard (Earache Records) and toured Japan, the US and Canada in 2012. Follow Will on Facebook and Twitter.
Book Review: 'One Way Out: The Inside History of The Allman Brothers Band'
Democracies very rarely work in rock bands.
Most successful groups usually have one dominant member (maybe two) who provides the artistic vision the rest can respect and rally around.
Without strong leadership, you can usually kiss any band goodbye. This appears to be the underlying lesson in Guitar World writer Alan Paul’s excellent new book, One Way Out: The Inside History of The Allman Brothers Band (St. Martin’s Press).
Bent Out of Shape: Learning Mozart's Symphony No. 25 in G Minor, Part 4
Welcome back to "Learning Mozart's 25th Symphony in G Minor!"
It's been about a month since the last installment (which you can check out here), and I've been reviewing the previous parts.
In fact, here they are:
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
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