Way back when, in every kid's first garage band, there were *chords* for the "rhythm player", and *scales* for the "lead player." What a difference 40 or 50 years can make. The longer I work on developing leads, the more I instinctively reach for chord shapes as my versatile platform for basic licks. I've started referring to each basic left hand placement as a Grip, rather than the tedious Chord-Shape / Scale-Shape reckoning. That which used to be rigid & distinct is now merging into happy little groups of useful tones, to be grabbed by the handfuls! 🎶👋🎉 It's also noteworthy that the best lead players start as the best rhythm players!
NEVER heard this solo explained this way - WOW - what a great lesson again ( also shows that BOTH Neil Geraldo and Rick Springfield are pretty great at writing and improvising melodic guitar solos ). Always been a fan of Neil's work and think his solo in "Hit me with your best shot" is absolutely STELLAR to this day !! Gotta add , you always know just how to teach us "intermediate" guitar players new things to improve our playing...even tho it's obvious you're pretty advanced. It's so neat that you haven't forgotten where you came from...always reaching back to help lift us up....speaks so well of you...thanks for what you do !!
Rick was my very first concert at 13, at the meadowlands June 1983. Always loved that song but affair of the heart and that guitar synthesizer sound really impressed me back then. My favorite neil solo is during promises in the dark and love his guitar work during fire and ice. He wrote and performed a lot of great songs. So cliche but take me back to the 80s. Music kicked ass back then.
Always liked Neil's playing but my favorite song was his solo on 'Shadows of the Night' - he kinda just does these huge bends and pinched notes- I love it! Between Neil's playing and Pat's larger than life voice- Damn! Love it
Mark…you’re a great teacher…I always tell a newbie to learn as many songs as possible…I don’t think I’ve ever worked out a song where I didn’t learn something new 👍
Thanks! You're right about learning songs for sure. BUT, it's important to try to take something away into one's own playing. I think this is where the "I must play it exactly like the record" crowd loses me. I want to play it so that it *sounds like* the record, but I want to play it the way it works for my own fingers, hands, guitar, and amp. Then try to understand what I think the player was getting at. Ultimately, I need to understand it and play it in a way that works for me. Thanks again!
Gotcha. I'm not talking about doing my own interpretation. I'm talking about using my own fingers, guitar and amp to do it. Not chasing tone with pedals or amps and not being a slave to someone's tab or even the way the artist fingered it. (Because after all, he has his own hands.) I know this is controversial, but it's an absolute key to really getting better and moving beyond being a "paint by numbers" player. It's why I advocate learning a song in 3 positions. You can't possibly play what so-and-so played, so it breaks the spell that you have to and gets you to work on sounding like you. Another thing is to commit to playing things that aren't meant to be exact. Like the blues or jam band rock like the Grateful Dead or the Allman Brothers. Those jams music is simply not supposed to be copied. So you sink or swim playing your own lines ... sink at first, but you learn to bob up and down, then dog paddle, then swim. You can do it.
Mr. Mark, I get it, but, the solo bars in The Knack/ My Sharona gets into some kin'a crazy other world magic! Your examination of the depth certainly could be fun, man!
I could do that one again. It's very straightforward - nicely melodic in the beginning and then a bunch - a ton ... really, A TON ... of stock licks played very fast and with great rhythm. And then that fantastic syncopated drop back into the end of the solo and back into the main riff. Berton Averre. Talk about an unknown great.
If u watch the Sunset Studio doc, Rick says the producer hated his guitar playing in the studio, & since Pat Benetar & Neil were also working on their album, they had Neil do it.
@ Correction; The documentary is “Sound City”… the other must see’s are “The wrecking crew”, “Muscle Shoals”, Slash, raised on the Sunset Strip and “Hired Guns”…. 🎸
You’re a good teacher. Those G&L Legacy are as good as the best custom shop Fenders. Finally, Neil is on my list of favorite guitarists. His solos fit the song. Elliot Easton is the same way. Examples of noodling solos are Rainbow in the Dark, or Cult of Personality. Yeah, they can shred, but it just sucks.
I had no idea Neil Geraldo slummed it on that sappy song, but I get the point for the sake of a lesson. His work with Pat Benatar is amazing, and totally under-rated! I can't believe they cut the solo out of (radio version) Love Is A Battlefield because the song was too long.
The day I became aware of phrasing in my soloing came one day while noodling. I was fast, I was articulate. And I sounded like everyone else. So what changed? Chicago! Terry Kath I started playing over Chicago tunes 2 weeks prior. I noticed something. I was grabbing the same things over the same chords. I sat down and plugged into a Peavey Bandit and started playing while listening to the chords. Then it hit me. I can say what I want and not say what everyone else was saying. But this is an internal thing that NO ONE can switch on but YOU. Good luck.
It's Neil's solo. He created/played it on the hit record. Tim certainly can play it, and played and recorded with Rick later. Tim's a fine player. I don't think he wants credit for Neil's work.
I didn't know NG played that solo. I guess I had Tim Pierce in mind because he toured so much with Rick. Was Neil just a session muso or did he also write Jessie's Girl with Rick?
Rick wrote the song, including the guitar riff. But when Neil played the riff on the recording, he added a lot of swing to the feel of it, whereas Rick was playing it more straight. Neil brought it alive and made it more distinctive. Everything Neil plays has a very distinctive rhythm and feel. Amazing player.
@@rexxengineering8333 yeah.... and if you play it real straight without that swing, it just lays there like a wet smelly rug. 😋 Neil is criminally underrated. I guess he wasn't flashy enough to appeal to the guitar geek crowd, but he sure wrote and played catchy riffs and melodies.
Neil was and is Pat Benatar's guitarist. (And her husband too!) He also did some producing (with John Waite and probably others) and probably a bunch of other things. I think he played with Rick Derringer in his early days. He's also does a lot of charity work through The Child Lifesaving Foundation.
@@MarkZabel Yes, I was aware of his connection with Pat but was unaware of his connection to Rick. Neil is one of those guitarists who I knew his name but only because he was Pat Benetar's husband. I should look into him a little more, I think. Thanks for piquing my interest.
The best way to play better leads and rhythm is to learn to ‘audialise’. Like visualizing, but sound. This is a skill which can be developed - by focus and persistence. Rather than allowing whatever technique and theory you have to basically *determine* what you *can* play, and therefore what you *do* play, learn to imagine music.
@@BenBreeg1138 That is correct, but there must be a musical term for doing this. It might be in the family of "delay resolution" in classical theory terms.
Okay Mike. Noodle away brother! Just don't afflict your listeners with it! (BTW, it's fine to limber up your fingers, just running through a scale or flying through a bunch of your favorite licks. Nothing wrong with doing something constructive with your hands and fingers to pass the time. Beats the alternative ... LOL)
Great solo, nice chord tone hits, thematic development, and it works with the changes. I really don't get why the pentatonic minor is pushed so hard for beginners. Quite honestly I think it's overrated. I think the pentatonic major ends up sounding A LOT better and more natural because it hits the chord tones and has gentle tensions, and lacks the leading tone (in D major that would be C#). Then introduce the pentatonic minor for some bite.
I'm not 100% certain, but I think it's because you can play it over a blues without thinking at all. That only "sort of" works anyway. Unfortunately, a great number of players just end up doing that. With private students I try to stay away from scales and scale patterns entirely for a decent amount of time. Along with tone and phrasing, I emphasize learning licks and connecting them to chords. Eventually scales come up and we dive in. Generally, I like teaching music rather than patterns, and I believe it works out best for the learner too. Patterns have their place of course. It's a mixture.
@@MarkZabel One can I guess but I never found it sounded good or coherent. As to scale patterns more broadly I think they're useful but a lot of times they're done in a way that's just disconnected from musical application, leaving players just scratching their heads about the whole fuss. Play them to get them in your fingers but make sure they get applied quickly.
No, Neil played the "Jessie's Girl" solo on the record. I'm not sure why so many people over the last few years think Tim Pierce played it. I never heard anyone say that until recently. My understanding is that Tim's big break came with his recording for Rick (and John Waite in the early 80s), so perhaps that's it. Tim's a celeb guitar player now, so maybe it's just easy to make that mistake, especially since he did record with Rick soon after Jessie's Girl.
In the early MTV days ... for me it was definitely Neil Giraldo on Promises in the Dark. That B.C. Rich Eagle and edgy haircut ... and the rest that came with that video of course!
That's certainly what's going on while he plays - like anyone does. But it's not random. if one is trying to develop that "feel", one can either play 10,000+ hours or be more efficient (or better yet, do both). Plus, understanding just a tiny amount of theory, as is presented, is immensely helpful for composition - of melodies or guitar lines or songs. Neil certainly knew what he was doing.
Great video and nod to my guitar idol, Neil Giraldo, since the early 1980s. And to top it off - you're playing my favorite model guitar - a G&L! Here's me playing Jessie's Girl through my trusty 1984 G&L Skyhawk that you were also gracious enough to comment on several years ago. ruclips.net/user/clipUgkxPeJTcXtLVF8x-nqflyoBNbbOjT9yKvTN
It's almost 100% guaranteed a constructed solo, so I hesitate to say it's all just heart (or ear). Did he think along the lines I present here? No, I doubt it. Did he play 10s of 1000s of hours and develop his ear in order to "play from the heart" - almost assuredly. Anyone can do that if one puts in the time. Being more deliberate and intentional with your skills and knowledge takes less time. So many players stop at "what scale is that?" This is such an easy way to initiate yourself into why randomly playing through a scale isn't what the best players did and do. (It's by no means all of it, of course.)
Don't kid yourself. None of this is easy. To be good at guitar.You have to practice and study. You keep saying simple and easy, and that's just not the case.There's no simple and easy path to becoming a great guitar player.
Easy? Simple and easy are not the same thing by a longshot - else every salesperson would be a multi-millionaire. 1. Use a single scale 2. Whenever there's a resting chord, land on a note of that chord I'd say that's simple. Nobody is claiming that's all there is to guitar. But if intermediate guitar players (INTERMEDIATE, as clearly spoken about in the intro) just practice that, their soloing improves immensely from where it currently is. (If one doesn't know how to play within a single scale, know the notes on the fretboard, know how to produce a melody, know how to get decent tone, phrase decently ... then one is still a beginner.)
After 35 years playing, 15+ teaching, I couldn’t disagree more with this entire thought. (Unless you’re the rare Zappa-esque person)Firstly, most beginners have zero interest in all that extra theory and information that ultimately teaches you nothing except how to dissect music to tedium. The Pentatonic scale, in all of its positions, and a favorite guitarist is all anyone needs. Along with understanding the concept of telling a story with notes, is all ANYONE needs. Jimi didn’t know this stuff, nor SRV nor BB King, not Eric, not any of the 80-90’s greats employ any of this…. Follow your instincts and play!
Yikes! What "extra theory" are you talking about? Knowing the chords you're playing over? I believe the greats knew that. And they played 1000s of hours to become fluent. If you examine the greats - B.B., Peter Green, Jimmy, EVH, Larry Carlton, you'll see they all know how to land on chord tones - whatever scales they use. (Have a look at the very first line of the STH solo and ask yourself why Jimmy plays a note outside of Am Pentatonic. You can develop that with 1000s of hours of play or with mere dozens if you know about it and consciously work at it.) Following your instincts is fine ... if you develop them. Of course it's good to play and develop your ear. But if you never notice melody and harmony are related, you're always going to be at an incredible disadvantage. (Note this video is not for beginners. It's for people who are tired of simply learning scale patterns and getting nowhere.)
Toured with Mayer 3 times as an FOH engineer - have a degree in music theory. John can play, is intelligent, and writes songs that people enjoy. Which is the point for selling units and putting asses in seats - he is very good at that. That said, as with most artists, there were guitar techs on tours whose ability and technique would shred him - no debate needed. Guitarists are everywhere - very few have the many other skills necessary to find success in the music industry. John’s talents are unquestionable - and his success is well deserved. While he may not be the most musically distinctive, the fastest, or the most soulful guitarist out there, he is a proficient and capable guitarist who can play things people like to hear. Yeah, it may primarily be stuff you’ve already heard from other guitarists, but there's nothing wrong with that; he crafts good songs, and his guitar playing is generally in service to that - the song. Plus, his playing seems to be improving and maturing constantly. If you are looking for “interesting” or "unique" maybe try Holdsworth, Beck, or Rosenwinkle.
Guitar techs who can "shred" = whoopie, now that's boring. They can always become RUclips famous. And while Mayer is able to cover Hendrix and SRV, he also created things that, by definition, no one has heard before . . . namely his hit songs and his not-so-hit songs. If someone is bored by that, it sounds more like a personal problem.
A guitarist can learn alot from Neil... He's a complete guitar player . He understands that playing rhythm is equal to playing lead
Yep. More than equal, actually.
Way back when, in every kid's first garage band, there were *chords* for the "rhythm player", and *scales* for the "lead player."
What a difference 40 or 50 years can make. The longer I work on developing leads, the more I instinctively reach for chord shapes as my versatile platform for basic licks.
I've started referring to each basic left hand placement as a Grip, rather than the tedious Chord-Shape / Scale-Shape reckoning.
That which used to be rigid & distinct is now merging into happy little groups of useful tones, to be grabbed by the handfuls! 🎶👋🎉
It's also noteworthy that the best lead players start as the best rhythm players!
NEVER heard this solo explained this way - WOW - what a great lesson again ( also shows that BOTH Neil Geraldo and Rick Springfield are pretty great at writing and improvising melodic guitar solos ). Always been a fan of Neil's work and think his solo in "Hit me with your best shot" is absolutely STELLAR to this day !! Gotta add , you always know just how to teach us "intermediate" guitar players new things to improve our playing...even tho it's obvious you're pretty advanced. It's so neat that you haven't forgotten where you came from...always reaching back to help lift us up....speaks so well of you...thanks for what you do !!
Wow, thank you so much for the kind words. I really appreciate it!
Well said ET! I second your emotions and... Thank you Mark, well done!
Hit Me With Your Best Shot is one of my favorite solos
Another great one of Neil's.
Heartbreaker and Promises in the Dark, as well.
Rick was my very first concert at 13, at the meadowlands June 1983. Always loved that song but affair of the heart and that guitar synthesizer sound really impressed me back then. My favorite neil solo is during promises in the dark and love his guitar work during fire and ice. He wrote and performed a lot of great songs. So cliche but take me back to the 80s. Music kicked ass back then.
Always liked Neil's playing but my favorite song was his solo on 'Shadows of the Night' - he kinda just does these huge bends and pinched notes- I love it! Between Neil's playing and Pat's larger than life voice- Damn! Love it
NG is great. Always loved his phrasing.
Definitely!
I had no idea that was Neil on that solo. I always liked that solo.
He played all guitars and bass guitar on Jessie’s girl and I’ve done everything for you
Holy Moses man. This was Fantastic. Happy New Year ❤
Same to you! Glad you enjoyed it.
Mark…you’re a great teacher…I always tell a newbie to learn as many songs as possible…I don’t think I’ve ever worked out a song where I didn’t learn something new 👍
Thanks! You're right about learning songs for sure. BUT, it's important to try to take something away into one's own playing. I think this is where the "I must play it exactly like the record" crowd loses me. I want to play it so that it *sounds like* the record, but I want to play it the way it works for my own fingers, hands, guitar, and amp. Then try to understand what I think the player was getting at. Ultimately, I need to understand it and play it in a way that works for me.
Thanks again!
@@MarkZabel …I’m not good enough to take a song and make my interpretation of it…if I do that, it just sounds like I’m playing it wrong😫
Gotcha. I'm not talking about doing my own interpretation. I'm talking about using my own fingers, guitar and amp to do it. Not chasing tone with pedals or amps and not being a slave to someone's tab or even the way the artist fingered it. (Because after all, he has his own hands.)
I know this is controversial, but it's an absolute key to really getting better and moving beyond being a "paint by numbers" player. It's why I advocate learning a song in 3 positions. You can't possibly play what so-and-so played, so it breaks the spell that you have to and gets you to work on sounding like you.
Another thing is to commit to playing things that aren't meant to be exact. Like the blues or jam band rock like the Grateful Dead or the Allman Brothers. Those jams music is simply not supposed to be copied. So you sink or swim playing your own lines ... sink at first, but you learn to bob up and down, then dog paddle, then swim.
You can do it.
Thanks! I've sort of been figuring this kind of thing out. Great way to demonstrate how it was done, and then putting your own signature on it.
Thanks!
Nice lesson Mark. Thanks for sharing.
Wicked stuff Mark that sounded so cool Cheers.
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Mr. Mark, I get it, but, the solo bars in The Knack/ My Sharona gets into some kin'a crazy other world magic! Your examination of the depth certainly could be fun, man!
It's 90% C maj pentatonic!
agree totally - I remember how that hit back then . .when I was uurrkk twenty five
I could do that one again. It's very straightforward - nicely melodic in the beginning and then a bunch - a ton ... really, A TON ... of stock licks played very fast and with great rhythm. And then that fantastic syncopated drop back into the end of the solo and back into the main riff. Berton Averre. Talk about an unknown great.
Thanks for another great lesson Mark, rock on!
My pleasure. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for this lesson Mark !!! You have a great method of explaining and demonstrating the lesson. My lead skills need a lot of work !!
Glad it helped!
This is cool and helpful. Thanks for sharing. Rock on!
Rock on!
I love Neal's phrasing! Giraldo and Schon's 😊 awesome video! Subscribed
Thanks!
If u watch the Sunset Studio doc, Rick says the producer hated his guitar playing in the studio, & since Pat Benetar & Neil were also working on their album, they had Neil do it.
Interesting note Skeeter. Thanks for sharing.
@ Correction; The documentary is “Sound City”… the other must see’s are “The wrecking crew”, “Muscle Shoals”, Slash, raised on the Sunset Strip and “Hired Guns”…. 🎸
Will check it out. Thanks!
Great lesson!
Thanks!
You’re a good teacher. Those G&L Legacy are as good as the best custom shop Fenders. Finally, Neil is on my list of favorite guitarists. His solos fit the song. Elliot Easton is the same way. Examples of noodling solos are Rainbow in the Dark, or Cult of Personality. Yeah, they can shred, but it just sucks.
Thank you!
Mark Speers playing on the Khruangbin/Otis Live 13:00 min version. Some damn good soloing there....
Thanks again!
My pleasure!
Neil Geraldo. I named my second son after Neil Geraldo and Neil Armstrong. Neil and Pat are second to none!
Neil is the man.
i never heard marshall crenshaw in there - and i never knew pat benetar was connected to rick springfield - til now. happy new year.
Check out Dave Grohl's rock doc "Sound City" where Neil gives the whole backstory.
@@N68172 that montage right up front is enough to be end of story lol jeez talk about a tough act to follow
Cheers from Canada...
Cheers!
Good job Mark
Thanks.
outstanding
What a fantastic video have a great day Mark also happy new year ❤😊
Thanks! Happy New Year to you too.
I had no idea Neil Geraldo slummed it on that sappy song, but I get the point for the sake of a lesson. His work with Pat Benatar is amazing, and totally under-rated! I can't believe they cut the solo out of (radio version) Love Is A Battlefield because the song was too long.
Okay got it
Cool!
We go back to the essentials, i.e mastering the notes on the fretboard.
The day I became aware of phrasing in my soloing came one day while noodling. I was fast, I was articulate. And I sounded like everyone else. So what changed?
Chicago! Terry Kath
I started playing over Chicago tunes 2 weeks prior. I noticed something. I was grabbing the same things over the same chords. I sat down and plugged into a Peavey Bandit and started playing while listening to the chords.
Then it hit me. I can say what I want and not say what everyone else was saying.
But this is an internal thing that NO ONE can switch on but YOU.
Good luck.
Chord progression at 3:23
DD AA BmBm GG AA DD
Good advice.
Glad you agree!
I believe Tim Pierce played that solo on Ricks Tour Tim also played the solo on BJ's Runaway! Facts.
It's Neil's solo. He created/played it on the hit record.
Tim certainly can play it, and played and recorded with Rick later. Tim's a fine player. I don't think he wants credit for Neil's work.
Great video of Tim and Neil talking tone and their history together.....ruclips.net/video/r2Nvu2aqpJQ/видео.html
I didn't know NG played that solo. I guess I had Tim Pierce in mind because he toured so much with Rick. Was Neil just a session muso or did he also write Jessie's Girl with Rick?
Rick wrote the song, including the guitar riff. But when Neil played the riff on the recording, he added a lot of swing to the feel of it, whereas Rick was playing it more straight. Neil brought it alive and made it more distinctive. Everything Neil plays has a very distinctive rhythm and feel. Amazing player.
@@rexxengineering8333 yeah.... and if you play it real straight without that swing, it just lays there like a wet smelly rug. 😋
Neil is criminally underrated. I guess he wasn't flashy enough to appeal to the guitar geek crowd, but he sure wrote and played catchy riffs and melodies.
Neil was and is Pat Benatar's guitarist. (And her husband too!) He also did some producing (with John Waite and probably others) and probably a bunch of other things. I think he played with Rick Derringer in his early days. He's also does a lot of charity work through The Child Lifesaving Foundation.
There's no swing rhythm in this tune... @@rexxengineering8333
@@MarkZabel Yes, I was aware of his connection with Pat but was unaware of his connection to Rick. Neil is one of those guitarists who I knew his name but only because he was Pat Benetar's husband. I should look into him a little more, I think. Thanks for piquing my interest.
Treat me right was the best solo Neil ever did to me. Not shred but very tasteful melodies
Nice. I'm partial to his work in "Precious Time" and of course, "Promises in the Dark".
The best way to play better leads and rhythm is to learn to ‘audialise’. Like visualizing, but sound. This is a skill which can be developed - by focus and persistence.
Rather than allowing whatever technique and theory you have to basically *determine* what you *can* play, and therefore what you *do* play, learn to imagine music.
Mark, Happy new year, best Wishes!....and i am wondering....are you losing weight?
Happy New Year! I lost some weight in the past year, yes.
Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl
I always thought Rick Springfield played that solo!
Yeah, I think they showed him "playing it" in the video. But he apparently didn't play much at all.
@@MarkZabel Hmm, as an Aussie, I know Rick was a GUN guitarist even back in his Zoot days, (70s) he WAs the lead guitarist!
How is Neil Giraldo way of soloing differ than using chord tone soloing?
Not totally different, but a lot of people try to resolve on a chord tone for every chord change, this resolves to a chord tone on the paused chords.
@@BenBreeg1138 That is correct, but there must be a musical term for doing this. It might be in the family of "delay resolution" in classical theory terms.
I feel like I’ve been an “intermediate “ guitarist for 30 years! Lol!🎉😂
Yep. I know the feeling too. Played for a long time without progressing. The main issue for me was relying on scale shapes.
Isn’t playing triads better for chord tones rather then using the major scale?
The one and only “Spyder James”.
Spyder ... with a Y!
Never! Love noodling 😆
Okay Mike. Noodle away brother! Just don't afflict your listeners with it!
(BTW, it's fine to limber up your fingers, just running through a scale or flying through a bunch of your favorite licks. Nothing wrong with doing something constructive with your hands and fingers to pass the time. Beats the alternative ... LOL)
😂
Great solo, nice chord tone hits, thematic development, and it works with the changes.
I really don't get why the pentatonic minor is pushed so hard for beginners. Quite honestly I think it's overrated. I think the pentatonic major ends up sounding A LOT better and more natural because it hits the chord tones and has gentle tensions, and lacks the leading tone (in D major that would be C#). Then introduce the pentatonic minor for some bite.
I'm not 100% certain, but I think it's because you can play it over a blues without thinking at all. That only "sort of" works anyway. Unfortunately, a great number of players just end up doing that.
With private students I try to stay away from scales and scale patterns entirely for a decent amount of time. Along with tone and phrasing, I emphasize learning licks and connecting them to chords. Eventually scales come up and we dive in.
Generally, I like teaching music rather than patterns, and I believe it works out best for the learner too. Patterns have their place of course. It's a mixture.
@@MarkZabel One can I guess but I never found it sounded good or coherent. As to scale patterns more broadly I think they're useful but a lot of times they're done in a way that's just disconnected from musical application, leaving players just scratching their heads about the whole fuss. Play them to get them in your fingers but make sure they get applied quickly.
Neil’s solos were so purposeful on every pb hit but I thought Tim pierce played this solo
No, Neil played the "Jessie's Girl" solo on the record.
I'm not sure why so many people over the last few years think Tim Pierce played it. I never heard anyone say that until recently. My understanding is that Tim's big break came with his recording for Rick (and John Waite in the early 80s), so perhaps that's it. Tim's a celeb guitar player now, so maybe it's just easy to make that mistake, especially since he did record with Rick soon after Jessie's Girl.
he never played with a lot of distortion at all, and ALWAY tasty. He says no one ever gets this solo correct, lol
It is not possible to take anything seriously with a guitar this color
If I was putting a band together it would be either Eddie Van Halen or Neil Geraldo for me.
In the early MTV days ... for me it was definitely Neil Giraldo on Promises in the Dark. That B.C. Rich Eagle and edgy haircut ... and the rest that came with that video of course!
I want to believe Neil is playing mostly by feel and isn't really thinking about the theory behind it.
That's certainly what's going on while he plays - like anyone does.
But it's not random. if one is trying to develop that "feel", one can either play 10,000+ hours or be more efficient (or better yet, do both).
Plus, understanding just a tiny amount of theory, as is presented, is immensely helpful for composition - of melodies or guitar lines or songs. Neil certainly knew what he was doing.
Funny how at the end he plays an entirely different solo from the one he teaches through the rest of the video.
Hmm, I think the point of the video went past you.
Great video and nod to my guitar idol, Neil Giraldo, since the early 1980s. And to top it off - you're playing my favorite model guitar - a G&L! Here's me playing Jessie's Girl through my trusty 1984 G&L Skyhawk that you were also gracious enough to comment on several years ago. ruclips.net/user/clipUgkxPeJTcXtLVF8x-nqflyoBNbbOjT9yKvTN
Wow, thanks! (And nice job!)
Mark, great teacher super nice guy, I just thought that sounded a bit too much like a Hawaiian luau, sorry.
Sorry, not following. What did? Neil's solo on Jessie's Girl?
Dude, you've lost a lot of weight since I started watching your vids. You OK? Or is it a project?
I'm doing well, thanks. Hope you're well!
I thought tim pierce wrote this solo?
No, Neil Giraldo. Tim played later with Rick.
I wonder if he was thinking in these terms or if he was just playing from the heart.
I suspect the latter.
I could be wrong of course.
I would imagine he was thinking with his ear.
It's almost 100% guaranteed a constructed solo, so I hesitate to say it's all just heart (or ear). Did he think along the lines I present here? No, I doubt it. Did he play 10s of 1000s of hours and develop his ear in order to "play from the heart" - almost assuredly. Anyone can do that if one puts in the time. Being more deliberate and intentional with your skills and knowledge takes less time.
So many players stop at "what scale is that?" This is such an easy way to initiate yourself into why randomly playing through a scale isn't what the best players did and do. (It's by no means all of it, of course.)
Neil Geraldo is criminally underrated. Just saying.
Don't kid yourself. None of this is easy. To be good at guitar.You have to practice and study. You keep saying simple and easy, and that's just not the case.There's no simple and easy path to becoming a great guitar player.
Easy? Simple and easy are not the same thing by a longshot - else every salesperson would be a multi-millionaire.
1. Use a single scale
2. Whenever there's a resting chord, land on a note of that chord
I'd say that's simple. Nobody is claiming that's all there is to guitar. But if intermediate guitar players (INTERMEDIATE, as clearly spoken about in the intro) just practice that, their soloing improves immensely from where it currently is.
(If one doesn't know how to play within a single scale, know the notes on the fretboard, know how to produce a melody, know how to get decent tone, phrase decently ... then one is still a beginner.)
After 35 years playing, 15+ teaching, I couldn’t disagree more with this entire thought. (Unless you’re the rare Zappa-esque person)Firstly, most beginners have zero interest in all that extra theory and information that ultimately teaches you nothing except how to dissect music to tedium. The Pentatonic scale, in all of its positions, and a favorite guitarist is all anyone needs. Along with understanding the concept of telling a story with notes, is all ANYONE needs. Jimi didn’t know this stuff, nor SRV nor BB King, not Eric, not any of the 80-90’s greats employ any of this….
Follow your instincts and play!
Yikes! What "extra theory" are you talking about? Knowing the chords you're playing over? I believe the greats knew that. And they played 1000s of hours to become fluent.
If you examine the greats - B.B., Peter Green, Jimmy, EVH, Larry Carlton, you'll see they all know how to land on chord tones - whatever scales they use. (Have a look at the very first line of the STH solo and ask yourself why Jimmy plays a note outside of Am Pentatonic. You can develop that with 1000s of hours of play or with mere dozens if you know about it and consciously work at it.)
Following your instincts is fine ... if you develop them. Of course it's good to play and develop your ear. But if you never notice melody and harmony are related, you're always going to be at an incredible disadvantage.
(Note this video is not for beginners. It's for people who are tired of simply learning scale patterns and getting nowhere.)
John Mayer = triad noodler. The most boring guitarist ever 😂
I know Mayer is very talented, but his lead playing is not interesting to me.
Tell me you’re a boomer without telling me you’re a boomer
Let us know where we can buy one of your albums
Toured with Mayer 3 times as an FOH engineer - have a degree in music theory. John can play, is intelligent, and writes songs that people enjoy. Which is the point for selling units and putting asses in seats - he is very good at that. That said, as with most artists, there were guitar techs on tours whose ability and technique would shred him - no debate needed. Guitarists are everywhere - very few have the many other skills necessary to find success in the music industry. John’s talents are unquestionable - and his success is well deserved. While he may not be the most musically distinctive, the fastest, or the most soulful guitarist out there, he is a proficient and capable guitarist who can play things people like to hear. Yeah, it may primarily be stuff you’ve already heard from other guitarists, but there's nothing wrong with that; he crafts good songs, and his guitar playing is generally in service to that - the song. Plus, his playing seems to be improving and maturing constantly. If you are looking for “interesting” or "unique" maybe try Holdsworth, Beck, or Rosenwinkle.
Guitar techs who can "shred" = whoopie, now that's boring. They can always become RUclips famous. And while Mayer is able to cover Hendrix and SRV, he also created things that, by definition, no one has heard before . . . namely his hit songs and his not-so-hit songs. If someone is bored by that, it sounds more like a personal problem.
Your videos are very informative but also extremely boring. 🥱