How do YOU guys play FTLOG solo?

[chilln2music]

I was wondering how you guys approach the first part of the solo section which starts with the wah almost full open. To me it sounds pretty random as far as sequences go. Do you just take the main notes and make up your own sequence and rhythms? I tried that but doesnt sound the same (technically its not incredibly difficult but I can't seem to get the notes right). Any suggestions?

by the way the tab in the P&W book looked crazy with random 32nd and 64th and 6 note trips etc...

[carlos seo]

I'm not sure what part is that, but if we're thinking the same thing, that's quite easy if you can play fast. Just try some high notes on E Dorian (I think...or E minor... I don't remember... ).

Tell us when it starts (xx:yy / minutes:seconds) and it's gonna be easy to help you.

[AJ Love]

generally speaking lately when I play FTLOG live I'm playing a few parts from Steve's solo but basically improvising my own solo in the song...however I am constantly working on learning and playing more and more parts of the solos that Steve played so as to be able to do both

[Josh Blagg]

That part is faster than I usually practice alternate picking, but I will say that at least it isn't a crazy position shifting solo. *Once you work out the speed and the notes, you should have a good time with it. *You don't really have to jump all over the place to play it, so the degree of difficulty isn't as high as some other things of equal speed. *

Work on getting every note right. *I know the musical notation looks weird in the book, but you can't just look at it and say, "Hmmm, well it doesn't sound like that!" unless you are a phenomenal notation reader. *Try putting those notes and rhythms into a computer program and then taking it up to speed to see what it sounds like, then slowing it down so you hear everything clearly. *It will sound a lot different slow, thus the "weirdness" of the notation.

This part really goes hand-in-hand with the chord progression, so I would try to play it note for note. *Plus, just playing something close isn't going to make you any better. *Start slow, then build up.

[bachle7]

Terribly!! I improvise on the parts I haven't learned yet. -Andy

[sixstringphoenix]

You're right - it's completely random.

When Steve Vai plays his superblazing solos in the studio (like for his 7th songs), he just takes a general idea or motif, and gives it 120% - the transcribed rhythms are completely improvised.

There's no way Vai wrote those rhythms out beforehand, and it would be a waste to try and nail it note-for-note. I mean, when he plays it live, he's not thinking about the 32nd notes followed by the 16th note sextuplets or blah blah blah. :bash: That would be an incredible frying of the brain!

I read in another post that someone said that when he attempted a Vai song, he sounded like all the other Vai clones he heard - completely unemotional in attempting to nail the technique. The emotion, the expression, the idea... is more important than, say, the 11 notes jammed into 2 beats starting after the 32nd rest in the six hundredth measure.

So my approach is not much different than yours - I simply take the main notes and 'just go for it' - play as fast as possible, picking every note. I played it once for my eighth grade talent show, and a second time at my high school (for an Oscar-style award ceremony), with my approach to the solo, and it worked just fine.

-Justin

[Big Job]

Yeah, I just balze away. usally falling over afterwards

[Jupiter]

Sixtringproenix-played it in eighth grade ?!!! You freak ! How long had you been playing by then ?!! It's funny, i just now read this thread, and tonight, i began working on this song ! So far, as for that first insane lick that's been mentioned, yeah, i play the actuall notes, but not in the actuall order...but then again, i just started work on it tonight ; ) ! Wish me luck on the rest, Ben

[Kremlin]

You pulled it off in the eighth grade? wow.. I'm in the 12th and I can't make the solo sound right.

[sixstringphoenix]

Quote: from Jupiter on 2:12 am on Sep. 5, 2001
Sixtringproenix-played it in eighth grade ?!!! You freak ! How long had you been playing by then ?!!

Quote: from Kremlin on 9:43 am on Sep. 5, 2001
You pulled it off in the eighth grade? wow

:biggrin: Thanks guys for the compliments... By the way I had been playing for 3 years at the time.

Best of luck on that solo,
-Justin

[chilln2music]

I noticed people saying they pick all the notes. To me it sounds like Vai is doing a good deal of hammer ons and pull offs while he's on the high e string and when I watched the old G3 vid I thought I remember his picking hand resting quite a bit during that part making it look so easy.

[sixstringphoenix]

Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit; I pick maybe 90% of the notes, and I know Steve doesn't pick them all either... But hey, it's better for your technique if you do, no?

-Justin

[warmregards]

So? *A friend of mine in the Philly area could play Far Beyond the Sun as a 15 year old! *That song perfectly sums up his skills -- great speed and accuracy. *Although he is lacking in other areas. *He's been playing for 3 years.

I on the other hand, have been playing for 5 and im about 2 years behind him in ability...not to mention Im a year older.

For some people it clicks fairly quickly. *For a lot of us, our guitar classics are fairly simple songs...and its fair to say that after learning those songs, we've lost some motivation to play.

Having mastered the songs we've dreamed of playing as little kids can't be good for our musical development.

This is why I blame all my shortcomings in guitar on Kirk Hammet. *

[sixstringphoenix]

Quote: from warmregards on 6:25 pm on Sep. 5, 2001
A friend of mine in the Philly area could play Far Beyond the Sun as a 15 year old!

Well, I guess that means I got a year left to learn Far Beyond the Sun (I just turned 15)! :biggrin:

-Justin

[J ackson]

Who needs another rendition of FTLOG?! *L* God, I'm sick of that song.

You said you had the music for it, right? *That's all the guidance you need.