How To Approach Learnings SOLOS | (Don’t Make This Mistake!)

WEEKLY LESSON VIDEOS AVAILABLE AT: / jamierobinson 🎸
Today we're looking at an important concept when learning solos! This is something I cover with all of my students because I think it can save you a lot of headaches when learning certain pieces!
We take a look at Under The Glass Moon by Dream Theater and Since I’ve Been Loving You by Led Zeppelin and how I would personally approach learning these solos!
Thanks to my Patron Rob for the great question that inspired this video!
Message me directly with any questions you have about guitar and request lesson content you'd like to see me cover on Patreon!
Sign Up For A FREE 7 Day Trial
Save 15% When You Join For The Year!
Guitar I'm Using: Custom A2 From @KieselGuitarsTV
Pickups: Tone Zone + Air Norton From @LarryDiMarzio
0:00 A Great Question
0:30 The Original Intention
1:24 What I Suggest
2:24 How To Approach PETRUCCI
3:41 Quick Picking Lesson
4:51 How To Approach PAGE
6:33 Ask Me Questions!
#guitarlesson #guitarsolo #kieselguitars

[@darrelladams4886]

EVH is definitely one of those players where trying to go note for note is a waste of time and trying to capture the general idea and feel is more important. A lot of Satriani’s legato runs fall into that category too where certain notes are more important to target than others but you have some flexibility in how you get there. What scale is used, what kinda general rhythm is used, how busy is the line. It becomes a template instead of a set in stone idea. Randy Rhoads on the other hand was a definitely a player who planned his lines out more and likely drilled them with a metronome a lot like Petrucci. It’s why Randy’s solos sound more constructed and deliberate than EVH and why his style in general is easier to figure out. I know guitar world or maybe it was guitar one mag once did a transcription of eruption where rather than try to go note for note rhythm for rhythm they listened to multiple recordings of the song and came up with a simpler easier version to learn Eruption that captured the song quite well but didn’t force you to try and nail all the slight rhythmic idiosyncrasies that were more or less of a byproduct of that moment in recorded time and less of a deliberate choice

[@jamierobinson777]

Yes, you’re absolutely right. I used to say it would be a torturous job to have to transcribe Van Halen note for note with accurate rhythms 😂 When you know he wasn’t approaching it that way!

[@CorbCorbin]

@@jamierobinson777 I’ve found tabs that don’t work, because the recordings had a slightly out of tune guitar. Frusciante has a few.

[@francis0751]

5:42 the advice I needed. Thank you

[@robhebert5137]

Solid advice, man! I recently drove myself absolutely nuts by trying to learn all the solos in Mississippi Queen note-for-note. It was WAY more frustrating than learning Under a Glass Moon!

[@Liam19860]

You inspire me to keep playing everyday, and you're really helpful!! Thanks man!! \m/

[@jamierobinson777]

Thanks! 😁🙏

[@payamelahian7511]

Since I've been loving you is also my favorite

[@aaryanvipin2412]

Dude, you should start a newsletter!! I'll read it and share it everyday!!

[@assassin1872]

I love using Petrucci licks for exercises with my students, I love using As I Am for alt picking especially

[@motomotolikesya9965]

Ive never thought about this approach, amazing !

[@RoddSantiago]

Wow, this is huge for me, i was struggling with this so much, thanks Jamie.

[@jamierobinson777]

Glad it was helpful!

[@gigachad7452]

Well this changed everything for me...thank you

[@juddwatson1067]

This idea took me years to learn. The song that really taught me this concept was Heartbreaker by Led Zeppelin.

[@jamierobinson777]

I can’t imagine learning that note for note 😂

[@malyorus362]

Since I've been loving you is probably my fav Led Zep song and certainly is my favourite solo ! That song it not talked a lot when it comes to Led Zeppelin and is probably a bit underated by the fan. Live version(s) are incredible. Could we please, please get a cover of the solo ? Live or studio as you wish !

[@nikmay1696]

I faced this problem, when I had to play crying by aerosmith. I wish I have watched this video!

[@maqam_guitar]

I agree with you for the most part. The idea is that the classic rock solos are difficult to nail down because it's difficult to transcribe the timing and note values, whereas Petrucci/Gilbert play on the beat with known note values. That's true, however most guitarists think in licks. You can still learn the notes and licks, then close your eyes and try to play in sync with Page. And you can slow it down manually, just not with the precision of a metronome. The actual techniques in those classic solos aren't very difficult (correct me if i'm wrong). This also applies to EJ and Vai where their licks are polyrhythmic (quintuplets etc).

[@Jarsepaani]

Damn. This was very simple and kind of makes sense when you thought about it. Still its mind blowing because never thought about it😂

[@baflin]

For me learning Randy Rhoads solo is easier than learning any solo from Deep Purple exept Smoke on the water and Highway Star

[@paulbufano6061]

Jamie - do you give one on one lessons in toronto? You mention having students in some of your videos but can't find a way to book lessons with you.

[@jamierobinson777]

All my lessons are online but I haven’t accepted new students for a while only because the schedule is full and there’s a long waiting list. That’s why I started the Patreon page. To reach a wider audience with lesson videos, respond to people’s questions, give people a chance to connect with me directly without it taking up all my free time!

[@maxwellblakely7952]

So you’re saying that players like Pertucci aren’t improvising their solos, at least some what, when they play live?

[@jamierobinson777]

I'm talking about learning the recorded (studio version) solos note for note. Petrucci may improvise them slightly when playing live. But it definitely wasn't fully improvised when it was originally recorded. Which makes it easier to learn since it was worked out ahead of time. Jimmy Page improvises 99% of his solos on the record. Which can make it super hard to learn perfectly exactly what he did.

[@lenafelipe]

In other words, there are robots (Petrucci/Gilbert) and humans (Page/Blackmore) 😂😂😂

[@daddydoodle]

How To Approach Learnings SOLOS | (Don’t Make This Mistake!) Ok, I won't approach making solos. Life is about to get a whole lot simpler. :D

[@mikey-dubs]

I disagree with solos. As new player Jimmy Page, Slash solos are so much easier to learn. Way less notes and you can feel your way through it once you learn some. No way I am learning a Petrucci solo, he is too fast and too many notes. Not at the beginner level. That seems insane to teach a beginner.

[@jamierobinson777]

Just to clarify, I didn’t say beginners I said people who are new to my lessons. Most of the students reaching out to me on social media aren’t beginners who are new to the instrument. But if they’re wanting to increase their speed, technique, accuracy, etc. That’s exactly the stuff they should practice to develop it.

[@mikey-dubs]

@@jamierobinson777 fair point! That makes more sense

[@retroquest3579]

I wish I could slow things down... or even practice. ADHD sucks sooo bad. I have accepted my fate as a noodle god. :(

[@emerycomputer]

To be fair, Page probably wouldn't know who he is, where he is, and what is that thing hanging around his neck, breaking his back for no good reason. High as a kite. I'm sure he was seeing 8 fingers, or maybe a spider, crawling all over the neck. No way was he equipped to repeat any of his solos. He is probably still in recovery from the good old days.

[@michael1]

Yep and it's comical suggesting that his live performances were somehow him "improvising" and that's why the solos were never the same way twice. Watch the Live Aid gig and you'll see he's apparently "improvising" the entire set rewriting some of Zepps body of work as he goes along. That said, on the record in the 70s they are playing to the drummer - and the drummer isn't playing to a DAW grid. The tempo shifts just as it does in classical music. The moden pro tools ushered in an era where more bands are playing rigidly to the grid losing a lot of feel. There's really no sense where it makes a lot of sense to play this kind of music to a metronome. You'd be better finding a backing track. I think the key thing is to listen to the backing track rather than listening to yourself. In the same way you should be listening to the track as a whole not just listening to lead guitar part. That's how you get in the pocket - you're holding a guitar but you're playing the drums. Sometimes your notes will land on the drum hit and you'll hear how the snare makes your note punch, other times you can be doing counter point to the drums, i.e there's a rhythm created. Similarly the bass player will make your playing big - a lot of people turn up the gain, mess with the bass, or strum hard all these things because when they listen to the record they hear this big heavy sound that they think is the guitar tone but it's the other musicians. People say they can't hear the bass, well buy a pair of 770 pro and listen because one of the best ways to improve your guitar playing is to let the bass player improve it by playing - and unless you're Ted Greene if you let the bass player do all the bass part you can play triads and chord melodies without having to stretch your fingers silly trying to play a bass line. But if your mindset is to learn a riff and then to play that in a particular timing and hope that it magically fits over the top of the drums and bass it won't sound tight. You have to listen to the other musicians and get in a groove with them. And the best way to do that is not to either play riffs with no backing (and never ever play an electric guitar that's not plugged in) nor to play to a metronome. I'd suggest sitting down over the backing track and instead of closing your eyes and trying to play whatever lick you automatically play when you're asked to solo - play the drums. Hit notes on the kick, hit them on the snare...play his fills and build up. Your mindset it should feel like you're making the drum play - and I find I get into a groove where I'm completely in the track not noodling random crap over the top without even listening to the backing as I used to do when I might have roughly followed the tempo and vaguely reflected whether my note choices were in tune with whatever else was going on but I wasn't really playing with the music and my focus was on my noodling. I find another good way of doing this is to play some of your fave riffs over the "wrong" drum beat, i.e you make the riff fit the new tempo and timing and that way you're learning to play the riff along with another musician rather than in a particular muscle memory way that you practised either without a backing or just over the top of one. 'm reminded of a lesson online Satriani has some competition winner there getting a lesson from him. He plays a reasonable facsimile of satch boogie, but then Satriani starts talking to him about swing and how it fits into the groove and how laid back the drummer is. Satriani is listening to and playing to the drummer but this guy has learned a riff from a tab. He's got all the whoops and wails and whammy bar tricks. He's playing the right notes - but he's not playing with the backing he's playing on top of it. Hitting it sometimes, not others. He's rushing because he's trying to keep up at points. He lacks any nuance in terms of realising how much thought Satriani put into where he picked the strings and how. Yet, to most casual observers he's playing Satch boogie. Well, just play the intro to Satch boogie being absolutely as relaxed as you can and fit it over whatever beats you can find. Eventually it gets into your fingers in a much better way than the robotic, play over a metronome, play with some timing in my head thing that ignores the outside world because unless you play entirely solo guitar pieces you have play with other musicians and it's generally not the lead guitarist who picks the rhythm and tempo (although I guess there are a lot of songs that start with a guitar riff - which is often why rock bands end up racing through paranoid or whatever because the guitar player starts off way too fast.

[@melody6840]

Live Aid is a bad example.. That whole gig was a disaster, Jimmy’s guitar was handed to him straight out of the case so it was out of tune ..The Song Remains the Same is probably a better example..take Dazed and Confused if you’ve followed Zeppelin over the years you can hear how this song developed over time through improvising..Page was more about feeling than say technical ability

[@Pasta_Fazool]

Frist