Soloing Secrets - Neal Schon

Hey everybody! Here's the next episode of Soloing Secrets with yet another big one - Neal Schon! I created a Journey Chordplay a few years ago, along with a Three-For-All hitting some of Neal's fiery licks, but this time we're doing a deep-dive into his lead playing, so if you're a Journey/Neal Schon fan - this episode is totally for you!
This lesson tackles a few specific areas within Neal's playing style, which are his trademark overly melodic solos and attention-getting ideas. This includes his work with Journey but these ideas can also be found in plenty of Neal's other work with groups/artists such as Paul Rodgers, Carlos Santana, Jan Hammer, Bad English, Hardline, and various other places you can hear Schon's music and guitar playing.
Aside from hitting moments from classic Journey songs - including melodic sections from anthems such as Just The Same Way, Stone In Love, Who's Crying Now, Majestic, Still They Ride, and Be Good To Yourself - this lesson also tackles a common area hiding in Neal's bag of tricks. It's a concept that I've nicknamed "Modal Pockets" and it was featured in the August 2017 issue of Guitar Player Magazine with my lesson 'Melodic Journey' - a full-fledged tribute to Neal Schon.
Needless to say, if you're a fan of Neal Schon, Journey, classic rock guitar, or maybe a player searching for some legendary secrets to stick into their bag of tricks - this episode is totally for you! Give this episode a view, leave some comments/feedback, and please subscribe to Late Night Lessons - THANK YOU!
Become a Patreon supporter of Late Night Lessons for only $5 (or more) each month and gain access to PDF notation/tab files of these lessons. Thank you!
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[@leechild4655]

Neal is blowing me away on his Facebook page where he often jams to some random backing track. Watching what hes doing up close is priceless stuff. And he responds to comments. Super cool rock star. Long time fan.

[@knightfall9394]

he responded to one of mine when I inquired about a les paul he was playing because i mistook for one he had in the early part of his career

[@leechild4655]

It thrilled me to no end when he responded to some of my comments. wow, i`m talking to a real fricking legendary rock star. Also, Al Di Meola. He answers questions and comments. So stoked to correspond with these cats. 😲

[@binkywarren21]

He's responded to me several times, as well, on Twitter!

[@johnnymoraes23]

He responded me a few times also. Great player, so expressive. He always talks about the importance of studying the blues; all the fundaments are there; expressive bending, vibrato, not choice, and so on.

[@johnnymoraes23]

Hey Dave, what do you use to record these videos? You always use the V-amp? I always see it turned on there. I have the impression that the audio is from your cell phone also.

[@billydeewilliams9104]

I'll always remember our drunken uncle, who had to live in the garage, and his only reading was stacks of old Guitar magazines. He staggered out one day and proclaimed, "Journey was NUTHIN without Neil Schirron!!'

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

🤣😂🤣 Classic.

[@binkywarren21]

Go Brewster! There are way too few Neal Schon analyses out there. Neal's my favorite soloist. Everyone knows how melodic he is but his tone and vibrato are perfect. 👍

[@jimdep6542]

Well done. My favorite Neal Schon playing comes from the 1st three Journey albums. I was fortunate enough to see Journey a whole lot in the 70's before they had to add a front man. Song's like Topaz, Of a Lifetime, Look into the Future ,etc have some great solos on them.

[@kathyscoppettuolo7168]

The outro on Of a Lifetime is mind blowingly tasty! 😍🤩

[@evalex71]

Great lesson. There’s nobody like Schon - you can sing all of his solos. Tasty, melodic player

[@gcrauwels941]

Sat in my room with a cassette recorder learning the 'Stone in Love' solo. Brings back a lot memories. Neal can play.

[@anthonydavella8350]

how long it take you? Magnus opus LOL

[@leogolive]

I’ve been learning that solo today lol!

[@powerswish]

I love when he descends at high speeds, it's not all one dynamic "rat-tat-tat-tat-tat". You'll hear like a couple of louder notes, and a few blurry notes, with some louder notes in the middle somewhere. It's something I've never been able to replicate confidently.

[@davidmcauliffe8692]

I watched some of Neal's shorts on IG of him shredding. I noticed that he would put vibrato in with a bar or straight fingers. I asked in the comments if there was a reason for what particular technique he used. He replied that there was really no rhyme or reason and he was just going with the flow.

[@arifq123]

"Don't let the chord progression push you around." Nice 🙂

[@RipVDub]

Outstanding lesson. Tough to go wrong with Neal. Easily one of the top five rock guitarist of all time. Thanks Dave!

[@davidmatela9868]

Neal is a ferocious player! Thanks for your analysis 👍 I actually meet Neal a few times, he was cool = The dude is a LEGEND!

[@georgew.morrowiii118]

He has written some of the most melodic solos.

[@esteban1487]

Monster player!

[@jimmyc5498]

David, nice job at 11:00 explaining the A scale over those diatonic chords, slight adjustment, grabbing chord tones. That concept is so misunderstood and underrated. You can swap out Bm7b5 with an F Lydian to E7 to Am. Those ideas are endless. Thanks for posting!

[@musicmotorskate7540]

Probably the most melodic rock guitarist ever, his solo's like you said sing. Absolutely a guitar legend!🙂

[@nunestunes]

Growing up in the Bay Area my dad's record collection had quite a bit of "local bands" Santana, Montrose, Journey, Y&T(they rehearsed on my block) and it's cool listening back to all them and even noticing some similarities. They obviously were watching and hanging out with each other.

[@myoldmate]

Ronnie Montrose! There's a little mentioned geetaririst 😊 Space station #5, bad motor scooter etc. Great album that also introduced Sammy Hagar. Thanks for the memory jolt man.

[@danriley5848]

Neal is one of my favorite guitarist for sure and thanks for sharing this. ✌🏻

[@mattmacarthur520]

Neal is something else man! Timeless and legendary player . Some of the best phrasing you will ever hear

[@kevinswift1036]

Thank you David!

[@leem1416]

Dave Dave, you’re a Huuuuge Neal Schon fan for sheerrr! Gotta love you man! You’re a great guitarist!

[@thomasaquinas601]

Hard to call Neil underrated, but I think he is. He might be the best melodic rock player in a couple generations. He makes his guitar talk is ways that no one else can. And when he starts to rip with a fast run, you always know it's him...incredible.

[@billtice5057]

He’s maybe the most passionate guitar player ever! The breadth and width of his work through his career screams pure passion.

[@xavierortiz2690]

Brings back great memories, my favorite guitar players now r from the bands l listened to in High School,Pat Benatar, REO Speedwagon,Cheap Trick and Journey among others.Thanks again for the lesson

[@dhamilton67]

Neal is my favorite melodic shredder!

[@wulfenii64]

Saw Journey a couple times. Neal is just perfect live.

[@matthewdelap5404]

Superb playing. Beautiful LP.

[@AGRGTR09]

Love seein' Neal get some cred...he's the all time Underrated ANYTHING not just musician. A true MASTER of the electric guitar.

[@anthonydavella8350]

I could watch you and listen to your vibrato all day

[@seekthetruths22]

Among other great traits, you've got exceptional tone and vibrato, which I consider to be the best technical aspects of Neal Schon's guitar playing. I really enjoyed this video and it won't be the last to spend my time with your channel.

[@benclark2026]

I can't tell you how much I love this channel. I honestly don't understand how you don't have at least 300,000 subscribers. I've done my part and told all my buddies about this channel and they all love it and have subscribed.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Same here. I'm subscribed to a lot of great guitar channels, but this one is my favorite.😊

[@skipneumann1]

Exactly! You are the Rick Beato of great guitar lessons!

[@johnfesta8249]

Neil’s playing on the Frontiers record is simply as good as it gets!

[@journeyquest1]

Underrated awsome guitarist.

[@glentodd6064]

Thanks David , Neal is awesome

[@Krullmatic]

Thanks Dave! Schon is one of my favorite axe players. He is definitely melodic.

[@StealthParrot]

I think Majestic was the first time I ever heard Journey and was instantly hooked. Neal has for sure given us some of the most memorable, creative guitar solos. Thanks for this video lesson, amazing how some of the same modal pockets work over so many chords.

[@michaelmerrullo2043]

This is so crazy! I just bought the Journey Through Time and have been noodling over Look Into The Future all afternoon. talk about synchronicity. Awesome!

[@jamiegustkey2573]

Great selection for discussion!! All my favorites for sure- thank you for your lessons and work you put in… cool spending time with you! 👍🏻

[@pedromoose8860]

"Push your ideas thru the chord progression ..." as I usually struggle to play the changes, this is a most welcome and liberating idea.

[@Lemonheater2010]

schon is a name of influence usually not mentioned in guitar heroes as much as some others.. he should be... Ive never met a guitar player that didnt like and appreciate Neals playing.. we all usually mention names like beck , page , hendrix , clapton , moore , stevie ray , etc...Neals a real Major/Minor Blackbelt grand master in my opinion...hands down.. wish I had that mojo

[@MarkEdward-bl6cr]

Look into the future by far my favorite Journey album 👍

[@jamessator5564]

MAJESTIC!!!!!!

[@mikeivey8471]

Yes !!!! Finally some Neal Schon !!! Been waiting for this one a while !!!! Thank you so much !!! His emotion and tone are the up there with the best of all time !!!

[@willraven7]

MAJESTIC ON EVOLUTION❤❤❤

[@dsalbert9572]

Thanks Dave for this content! Neal slays! - Absolute killer player. Beautiful tone, melody, feel, and when you take the leash off .... watch out!

[@Viper_555]

The way Neal (and Tom Scholz) bends and holds these long sustained notes during solos is so sweet to my ears (and a little bad ass as well). Two of my favorites, since I was a kid. Thanks Dave.

[@MarkH457]

When it comes to solos that feature in major (or variant thereof) I immediately think of Neal, but also Tom Scholz, both are among my favorites

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Neal is super melodic and soulful. I can see why he preferred to play in Santanas band. When I was a wee child years before I got a guitar, Santana was my favorite band. I've always loved unique fusions of different styles. There are so many different bands these days though, I keep discovering new ones. Last night I discovered Tesseract and Sleep Token. Tesseract has some really cool riffs and weird tunings. Definitely worth a listen.

[@geoffduncanmusic]

another killer video - thanks man. My personal fav Neal Schon material is the 'Trial By Fire' album and also his solo record 'Beyond The Thunder' - so tasty ! anyway. - thanks for sharing this, so good!

[@easter_sunday]

Hey Sensei Dave, Neal Schon is a favorite! Right on man!

[@mattiamontato8414]

I remember discovering and falling in love with the song 'anyway you want it' when i was maybe 12 watching MTV late night.

[@martinwilliams9098]

Loved this video ,thank you On to your next Neal licks video 👍👊

[@harrisonbergeron5393]

You and your information are awesome. Thank you!

[@yourguitarist]

Thank you for covering one my heroes! "Push your ideas..." what a great way to put it. 👏 I just found you... looking forward to learning more from you 🙂

[@lancesheffield1212]

Great video as usual...Neil Schon is a guitarist who is so good I think alot of people take for granted but you can tell with one note its him when you hear him.

[@fj5144]

I recently got back into to studying Schon and there is so much good stuff other than Journey which itself is iconic. He posts a daily jam video every day on his social media when he is not touring and he is guitar all day it is the coolest thing!!! His emotions and heartfelt playing come through like he is definitely in my top 5 all-time guitarists ever!

[@stephenredmond8035]

Superb once again 🔥✊

[@timw.6910]

Neil was afforded lots of room to add fills, mini-solos, out-tro’s in addition to the usual space allotted in song for a guitar solo. In my opinion, Neil was never accused of overplaying because his contribution (excluding the solos) always served the song so well. Obviously, that’s not to say he wasn’t an absolute monster solo player, because he definitely was 😎👍

[@lawrenceosueke810]

Great lesson, always so well explained and easy to understand!👏🏾

[@progjsa]

Great vid! Neil is a beast. Thanks!

[@uncleremus5046]

Great Chops but always played for the song with great melodic solos! TY 🍺’ski

[@scottdunn2178]

His trills are insane. Very aggressive and fiery style for such a commercial band on those classic Journey records.

[@mikesparks3398]

Neal is in my top 3 ever guitarist! He goes back and forth from one to three, lol. I was hoping for the shred part in this instead of the melodic parts, I generally pick out the melodic parts pretty easy, it’s the shred parts that get me..”anyway you want it” “separate ways” love the lesson anyways. He’s always melodic for 10 seconds and then shreds to his next melodic place back to shred..

[@briannorman952]

Great lesson. Great tone as well. He always does this speed burst lick. He does it a lot especially on the outro solo of Any Way You Want it. Legendary player.

[@petegagnon9082]

Haven’t Evan watched this yet and know it’s gonna be great !! First video I’ve seen w/o strat Dave ! 🎸

[@ernstschlafer6258]

Majestic! :)

[@thetonetosser]

Of all the guitar players I've listened to and been influenced by over the past 50 years, I've found Neil one of the most difficult to emulate or, if you like copy. He has such a unique style and approach to his guitar playing. Especially his soloing. Thanks for sharing some Schon licks with us.

[@kathyscoppettuolo7168]

Neal just turned 16 when he first performed onstage with Santana 🤩🙂

[@davidstock2713]

Vintage live stage schon/berry, both blues foundation runs, schon within one his strats, berry within one his hollow body guitars. Both really lit up stage.

[@rikshredder]

@Late Night Lessons I've always been intrigued by his typical fast bluesy runs. He does it a lot. Love those runs.

[@timw.6910]

Another fantastic class Dave, always time well spent

[@michaelg.5000]

David thanks for doing this episode. My first concert was Journey in 1980. I have started to rediscover his music and you are spot on about his melody and his voice on the guitar. I love that Muddy Waters blues album from Paul Rodgers. Keep up the great work brother!

[@jpmcmullan8666]

Yes!!!!! Thanks for this masterpiece of a video. Can’t wait for the Oliva one ☺️

[@davidnoy3964]

Love the Hardline Album Double Eclipse. Fantastic guitar work on that Album

[@fabghassem]

GREAT Material Dave…Thanks Bro.🎸⚡️🎶🍃🍃🍃

[@jodyinalaska1]

Awesome video! Neal is one of the best guitarists ever! Thank you for the lessons!

[@michaelsingley5641]

The second/middle solo in Stone In Love makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Just a quick rip. 🎸

[@csgexec]

Great content David. Neal Schon was the reason I started playing guitar. Isn’t the outro solo from Stone in Love in Mixolydian b6? It sure sounds like it.

[@MS-yk6kn]

Thank you for posting this. Neil is too often forgotten in discussion of all-time greatest guitarists from all perspectives: feeling, technical play, melodic solos etc. As you say his genius can be found in Journey and many other releases including HSAS, Bad English, solo records. Send Her my Love, Whos Cryin Now, Escape, Where Were You, Ghost in Your Heart are just a few of his many memorable performances!

[@pumkinbreath]

Yes David

[@dlee6266]

Majestic!!! What a jam!! Much much too short in my opinion. I've always wanted that soloing to go on for at least a few more minutes but...one can dream, right? Neal Schon has always been a favorite of mine. From the first time that I saw Journey live on their "Escape" tour, I've been hooked on his work. Thanks David for doing this video on Neal!! Aloha!!

[@bradprince8731]

Great episode once again. This is the kind I love the most. Thanks!

[@lindasmith3978]

Thank you for this! I quit playing guitar years ago. I still have a musical desire. Don’t know what to do with it, besides suppress it. I have enough musical instruments for a band.

[@Sunriseblues5150]

Fantastic episode 😊 keep on grooving 😊

[@akasgsvirgil9503]

First tune: Majestic from "Captured". Great tune. Love Dixie Highway. BTW, is that Les Paul a Norlin Era LP? If so, late 70's to early 80's, perhaps? I recognize the tone. I have an 83 LP with Duncan JB's. It came with that awful Kahler trem. I had it removed, the whole filled in and a traditional two piece bridge installed. I think Neal's best guitar work was before Escape. Fun fact: The main part of the guitar lead in "Who's Crying Now" was all Steve Perry. He hummed the line and Neal picked it off and that became the main line of the solo. The middle section of the solo is all Neal. Bonus Fun Fact: Neal never liked "Open Arms". In fact, he admits he hates the song. He says, "I don't get it", whatever that means. Off all their tunes, Open Arms has the least amount of room for a guitar to get up and walk around a little. Stylistically, Neal doesn't like to sit in one spot for very long. So, its not surprising that he and Open Arms are not on the same wave length.

[@FLguy1967]

glorious bro 😎

[@muanjoca]

His playing on the first Betty Davis album is 🔥

[@sunnys5150]

The best guitar channel out there period! Thanks for all the inspiration man

[@Popsarocker1]

Would love to get a peak behind some of his fiery licks. He often uses similar patterns but he can burn so it’s tough to follow what he’s doing. For instance - the.added section of still they ride solo!

[@That1GuyUShouldKnow]

Steve Perry often overshadows Neal Schon and Johnathon Cain. In reality, they were all not as good without each other. The 3 of them together was pure magic.

[@turkeeg7644]

the best melodies always come out of the wazoo

[@pedroberetta4934]

Soling secrets of Steve Lukather please please please.

[@waynegram8907]

LATE NIGHT, Make a separate Neal Schon Modal Pockets YT lesson. A repeated Motif pushing through the chord changes/chord progression. What Neal Schon is doing is repeating a motif melody line while the chord changes/chord progression underneath. Mostly when repeating a motif melody line you would need to do melodic sequencing but Neal Schon doesn't do any melodic sequencing, instead he keeps the tonal center of the motif the same. The non-sequenced repeated motif melody line is "Diatonic" to the chord changes/chord progression.

[@dc8023]

Not that you can't do it, but every time I see somebody break down Neal Schon, they always stop playing at the fast parts. Would be nice to see someone break those down because his phrasing was absolutely unique to him, and that's where the real mystery lies..

[@leogolive]

Man I used to have that same Jimi Hendrix shirt!

[@teegleason8044]

You Sir are awesome. So Glad I found this channel. Your tone is incredible Dave... What year and Pups are in your standard?

[@billydeewilliams9104]

Looks like a Seymore Duncan at the bridge...

[@0421072]

I hear a lot of Neal Schon in Andy LaRocque's playing.

[@thejamnasium6447]

that intro photo has to be Steven Wright. there's no way that's Neal Schon!

[@LateNightLessons]

Hahaha! Yep, that was Neal when he had an afro. I think in the 1970s, it was between Neal Schon and Sib Hashian (Boston's drummer) that had the best "white boy afro." : )

[@nunestunes]

"thin line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot"

[@thejamnasium6447]

@@LateNightLessons haha both Neal AND Steven are so badass

[@michaelsingley5641]

​@@LateNightLessonsSib Hashian 🥁 right on David 🤘

[@poitrenaudyohan7570]

Great video thanks, do you know pete lesperance from the canadian bands " Harem scarem " ?

[@MojoDudeX]

I was a fan of Neal's years before i got to know his name. *66

[@patrickcasey357]

That “D” chord in Be Good to Yourself is actually D minor.