I actually recorded a lesson for this song last week, but the upload failed for some reason. It’s all good though, because I wasn’t entirely happy with it. My schedule keeps getting tighter, and I have fewer and fewer chances during my day to record these lessons, but I’m committed to doing all 100 of ’em.

Today is the first of John Fogerty’s solos in the CCR version of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”. There’s an 8 bar break after this, followed by another solo. I’ll post that one soon. There’s another REALLY long solo that closes the song that I’m not doing (seriously, it’s nearly 5 minutes). If you’re going to do a 5 minute guitar solo and not improvise any of it, you have problems. Plus, learning this and the next one will give you some ideas for how to approach the changes and a good insight into Fogerty’s lead playing. Lots of minor pentatonic stuff, only deviating to grab the major 6th or follow the bass line.

Good stuff.

Well, that was fast…

Yeah, I already knew this solo. The Copycats play this song every show, so it’s always ready to go. Instead of sitting on it for a week, I decided to just get it out there.

This one is easier than most people assume. It moves around a lot, but everything falls under the fingers quite naturally. It’s also got a lot of classic rockabilly maneuvers in it, so it’s a great solo if you’re just getting started with that sort of thing.

Give it a shot.

#93 on the list is “The End” by the Doors. This song is just a big droning jam, and if you’re going to learn the whole thing, it’s best to just learn a few of the little things Krieger does throughout the tune and just improvise the rest.

The solo is pretty simple to take note-for-note though. You can play everything but the bend at the end with just one finger!

First, you need to tune to double drop D tuning. That’s where you tune both E strings down to D. The whole song is really dependent on having that droning D note on top.

Also, the track is flat. In fact, that whole album is flat. It was probably some tape machine that was running slightly fast or something, but it’s far enough off that it sounds REALLY bad when you try to play along. Either bump the track up slightly (about 25 cents) or dial in your tuning by ear.

Anyways, have fun.

This was, honestly, the most difficult solo yet. Not because it’s hard, it’s just hard to teach. This solo is Alex Lifeson simply tearing it up. That means there are a lot of weird little bits that are a result of reckless shredding rather than measured efforts.

Sure, you COULD learn it note-for-note, but I highly doubt anyone would be able to do such a thing AND play it with the same visceral quality that Alex did when he first cut the track. It would be technically impressive, sure… but musically? Probably not. I’d much rather listen to someone rip their own solo here than desperately try to mimic Lifeson.

Not only that, but I’m afraid that if I WERE to attempt a note-for-note recreation of this, my playing would actually get WORSE from the process. I’d end up a bland technician… a guitar athlete… a stunt guitarist… and I’m not interested in that.

Sometimes you just have to let go.

#95 on the list is Pearl Jam’s “Yellow Ledbetter”. Mike McCready rips off “Little Wing” all the way here, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s a great tune with completely indecipherable lyrics and a wonderful little solo.

The whole song is a 4 bar loop. E B A E over and over. The solo stays almost entirely within an E major penatonic scale, played up at the 9th position using what most people would consider a C# minor pentatonic box. There are a couple big bends, but nothing too complicated.

Give it a try!

I fall a bit out of time on this one. The track is really quiet and I couldn’t hear it very well while I was playing, but you get the idea.

When I saw this on the list, I couldn’t remember anything about the solo from this song. I was, of course, familiar with the song, but the solo totally alluded me. When I pulled up the track and gave it a listen, I discovered why: the lead lines are totally buried in the mix!

This was Mick Taylor’s first track with the Stones. Brian Jones was fired during the recordings and Mick was brought in to help finish it. The track was apparently all there when Mick came in and both he and Keith overdubbed an extra guitar part where they just noodle around. I’m not sure if it’s Mick or Keith doing the solo. I assumed it was Mick, but Keith plays it live, so it’s probably him.

There’s some cool stuff in here, but if were I playing this live, I’d simply improvise everything. That’s what Keith does live too, so mine the record for ideas then do your own thing. It’s more rock and roll that way.

ALSO: I found the official list on the Guitar World website. Turns out “Cherub Rock” wasn’t actually on it (or it was and they have since altered the list). “Beyond the Realms of Death” was #97. Next up is “Yellow Ledbetter”, and I’m really excited to learn that, so that’s for next week. I will try to throw “Beyond the Realms of Death” in at some point in the future, perhaps I’ll post that when I’m down in Mexico with Judas Priest next month…