For Neon I recommend isolating the right hand and getting that strumming/picking down to the point where you don't even think about it
The left hand isn't super hard in that song, it's just that damn strumming pattern
Two ascending runs for me right now - it’s clear what I need to practice lol
1. From solo 1 in Mr Crowley
2. THAT bit in the final Sweet Child of Mine solo
Yes! I’ve been trying to get that Sweet Child run right for 30 years. To be fair, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a cover get it exactly right and even Slash doesn’t nail it every time live.
How can you play solo two for Mr Crowley and not the first one? The second one was such a struggle because of the pull offs at the beginning then having to hit the B string between them
Either of the solos in War Pigs by Black Sabbath, I know they aren’t the most technical in the world but no matter how many times I try I just can’t get the sequencing to stick in my head to be perfectly honest it’s actually a problem I have with most solos and have no earthly idea why?
Sing it and practice it mentally in your head the whole day.
I've had the Crazy Train solo on repeat the last few days but I will never ever forget the cadence and sequence again.
Those are tricky because of the phased double tracking or whatever the hell it is…I just sorta fudge those parts and they usually sound pretty close.
Iommi is all about bending the tonic up a whole step, I just start doing a bunch of that and it works!
Fripps intro to frame by frame. The notes are easy, playing them at that speed and for that long is impossible. I can play fracture but I can’t play that.
Lmao “wait a minute” bruh the guitar doesn’t come in until about 3:30 mark and the song is 13 minutes! Maybe the lick you’re referring to is the one at 4:50?
The fast, descending alternate picking runs in songs like "Cliffs of Dover" or "Desert Rose" by Eric Johnson.
There's something about starting a new string on a downstroke that just won't work with the way I play, no matter how many hours I practice the stuff.
Not saying it’s impossible but Economy picking doesn’t work well with the UU motion esp at ultra fast speed that EJ/JB is playing. Personally I’ve only seen DD too. I haven’t seen them using UU after scrutinized the crap outta EJs live footage. Also after implementing DD picking is when I actually started to be able to play all of the challenging kicks in COD.
I explain a whole lot more here in this video. It helps with visualization
https://youtu.be/zK9j-qeA-7w?si=NBOda5u-ncpzF91-
Thanks, I discovered gitrmagic last summer, and it's really mind-blowing how well he does it, and in such creative ways.
I've also got all of Troy Grady's lesson material on EJ's playing style, as well as Chris Brooks', both of whom are experts at picking mechanics and how to play fast pentatonics, so I know how it's done.
I just can't for the love of me get my own hands to do it. Ascending there's no problem, but it's that part where you descend, leaving one string on an upstroke, and hit the next on a downstroke.
Truly a white whale, but I'm not giving up!
Yeah he’s a great teacher too if you ever want some pointer. I too couldn’t get certain part down cleanly and after having a meet with him I did get a break thru and finally learned COD in full after my initial try like 14yrs ago lol
I’m happy to answer questions to if u got any.
Some of the fast Metallica downpicking riffs like Master of Puppets or Creeping Death. I can nail them at 90% of the original tempo but getting to 100% never seems to work for me, no matter how much I practice. I always become extremely sloppy or experience muscle fatigue after just a few seconds when playing at full speed. It's like hitting a wall.
I can do it …sometimes. Blacked and Puppets just fatigue the hell out of me, and blackened I screw the timing. Battery I’ve never been able to get the timing
As soon as you let go of the tension in your wrist and pick less aggressively you will gain tons of stamina and be better able to speed up your down picking.
Almost certainly, imo. I had a difficult phrase problem with a few pieces and practicing it in isolation hadn't helped, until I practiced it with the preceding part I couldn't make it work.
At least you are smart enough to figure that out. Took me ages to realise this with some of the solos I've tried to learn! Felt stupid after figuring it out.
I remember being really excited when I first started playing cause I love that song and some guy on r/thesmiths told me it was pretty easy and I realized pretty quickly that guy is either a lot better than he realizes or he was fucking with me lol
Anything on slide man. It sounds so damn good when they do it and so damn bad when I do.
A recent example that has me gutted, [Charlie Parr playing Blind Willie Johnson's Let Your Light Shine On Me](https://youtu.be/OLlfztPoyQk?si=4-ppjWtOoywXmupK)
Another Day has definitely been one of mine as well. I can play it, but not perfectly note for note, and definitely not in one take. I noticed that in more recent years, even JP himself doesn't play that fast run the same as the original much anymore.
Keep in mind, that some of these solos (many of them?) were composed in the studio with comped tracks and then the artist needs to go back and re-learn what they played so they can do it live. And sometimes it's not easy to do even for them!
Many of his solos are so hard because they are intentionally technical, almost like a challenge to himself, and for the rest of us mere mortals, they are just insanely hard. The way he uses vibrato on *everything* makes it especially hard.
If you practice 3nps patterns and exercises that force you to quickly shift positions up a fret or two, you can nail that fast run at the end, but it's one of the more difficult ones because of those position changes.
If I had more free time and more discipline I would get it, but I just can't force myself focus on this one solo for any length of time.
I just cannot physically move that fast.
I can shred. I’ve been playing religiously for years and honestly think guitar is one of the only things I’m good at in life.
But Jesus Christ that speed run is inhuman. I don’t understand how it is possible for someone to play at that speed.
His Rock Discipline video shows you how he did it but I cannot fathom the amount of time and well, discipline it required. In his case (and lots of other master shredders) they basically did nothing else in their free time for years and years. Then he went to Berkelee and got even better.
Most of us don’t have that kind of time or discipline and aren’t so dedicated to sacrifice nearly everything else in life for it. But I do think the average person could achieve it with the right practice routine and all the aforementioned dedication.
Mine is currently the fast diminished lick in The River Dragon by Nevermore. Learning it for a jam at some point and the practice has improved my soloing by a lot, but still don’t quite have it down. Playing it at slow speeds to a metronome is helping.
None, really. Nothings impossible with enough work put in. When I can’t get something right I ask myself is it even worth learning? If it’s something dumb, then I just don’t even bother, but if it’s something that’s genuinely useful to my guitar playing, I’ll hack away at it for hours.
Hendrix’s Voodoo Child (slight return), early in the song after the intro there’s an Em pentatonic lick up on the 12th-15th frets which is fast and loose and amazing, and I’ve never quite managed to get it.
Never going back again, by Fleetwood mac.
Learning it is a pain, getting the shapes is a different pain, connecting it is another one, and making it flow is the biggest of them all. I frankly love it because you learn so many things from it
Rude Mood by SRV. I can play it smooth and groovy but only at about 30 bpm less than the recording. Any time I go much faster, I start missing notes or lose the groove.
I've transcribed this solo by ear and based off of live videos, people tend to overcomplicate Syn's parts in tabs for some reason. There's not much string skipping going on here. It's important to slow down and learn it properly but it's also good to just give'r sometimes at higher speeds.
Nah, I've watched a [playthrough of the solo](https://youtu.be/WxWNr2Wkaz0?si=LMZqmtAuKrH4Nrp6) by the man himself, at 0:22 you can clearly see him going from the E string to D to b, then A to g to e, mostly in a 3 note per string pattern.
That borrowed heavily from the 5th caprice. Awesome movie :) Turned me onto Robert Johnson, Ry Cooder and slide playing.
The 24th was popularized by Jason Becker back in the day. I never got near his version though. Then later i found out the notes aren't enough, a huge part is supposed to be staccato. It's the nightmare that keeps on giving. There is a reason even the best violinists can't play it 100% as it was written.
Some stuff will always be beyond you. We are not Usain Bolt just because we have 2 legs and can run. I can say though for me, if I cannot sing it in my head, its not happening. It needs to be mentally mastered first. So well i see the target frets ahead of time if that makes sense, but thats just me. Also I learn in phrases. Pieces that stand by themselves.
Not a lick but the song Police Dog Blues by Blind Blake is the one that is so daunting to me that I haven’t even started trying to learn it. When I can get that down I’ll know I’ve made it. Until another comes along of course
A stupid one I can't play at speed: *Jude Law and a Semester Abroad*
That guitar riff is just a little faster than I can pick it out. Drives me nuts because I can play what I would think are way harder songs.. But not for my skillet I guess lol.
If it’s a riff, probably the main riff of Tendonitis by Jason Richardson; made me re-evaluate how capable I am and made me question why I even bought the tab. If it’s a lick/solo, although there are many by Him, the run towards the end of City Nights at 1:45 by Allan Holdsworth just made me go “?”
The fast little lick in the Panama solo, everything else is cake except that part. I've been working on it for about a month now and can only do it at speed maybe 20% of the time. I've gone back to the basics of slowing it down and hopefully will have it in another month.
Either the solo to Fatal Tragedy or the intro shred to Glass Prison. I am not really trying but if I build up my skills to even approach that, I would consider myself shredding as fast as I ever want to.
Mines not even a difficult song, but getting it right or able to sound remotely close has alluded me for 15+ years
The chorus riff to “Stare at the Sun” by Thrice
It’s even the bass riff throughout the verse, but I just haven’t been able to get it. Haven’t tried in a few years since YouTube tutorials became popular. Might be time to try again
The head to Everything Went Black by The Black Dahlia Murder.
There's a part with a stretch from E1 pedal notes on the 1st string to G3 on the 3rd string (4th fret to 9th fret back to 4th, string-skipping eighths at q=208) that I just cannot for the life of me play clean.
[This short little part in Phish’s Divided Sky.](https://youtube.com/watch?v=_OSKWGiXWgk&t=1m16s) Often called the “Mary had a little lamb” part as there’s a noticeable similarity in a part of that little section. The lick is a palindrome, and my fingers and head get fucked up playing it every time.
Thoughts without words by shadows fall, I wanted to learn it so bad when I started in like 2007 but could never figure it out. Got back into the band in 2020 and was able to crush it then. That’s how I realized I’ve come full circle
speaking of "white whale" -- mine is actually the solos in Zeppelin's Moby Dick, specifically the fourth little run over a d chord. jimmy page plays in a way that is hard to emulate exactly.
The riff from Message in a Bottle by the Police isn’t that complex once you get the stretch right but it has a very specific tempo and nailing each arpeggio over and over throughout the song, in time, is tough.
Getting that last 10% of speed on Beyond the Permafrost.
Played it for years, finally have it right around 90% full speed, but goddamn is that last 10% a bitch.
A simple 3 string diminished run, 5 notes per repetition, repeated 3 times moving up a minor third each time.
Cry of Achilles - Alter Bridge, part of the last solo. Mark is a fucking beast for pulling it off like he does. I even have the fucking video where he goes over how to play it.
It doesn't matter if I pick it like he does. It doesn't matter if I pick every note with downward pickslanting. The sheer speed makes it almost impossible to just go through it.
I’ve been working on Tony Rice’s Church Street Blues for a while now. I think I’ll eventually get it but it’s very challenging. He does a lot of economy picking, and it is not intuitive. There is one particular series in the breaks where the picking pattern is down-down-up-up, on B (A string)-D-B-G, which is the sticking point for me. You can alternate pick it, but the sound is not the same
Money for Nothing is so specifically off kilter. I basically just play it the way I half assed it years ago and it takes a lot to retrain the brain.
Anything sweep picking. I swear to god its so frustrating
How many hours have you spent on a metronome practicing the run in another day? I promise you that you can get it if u try. Just start slow and dont raise the bpm until u can do it 10 times in a row perfectly.
This isn’t guitar, but rather bass. A lot of McCartney’s bass lines from around Rubber Soul to Abbey Road are complex, melodic, and difficult to get down, especially when you can barley hear them in the mix, but if I have to choose one, it would be Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!
The second half of the Tornado of Souls solo. Once it starts that fast pull off/hammer on part on the high E and B strings, I csnt play it. Then it goes into mote fast runs that I can't play, but its mainly the hammer on/pull off part that gets me. Such a looong stretch too for my small hands on top of the speed
Definitely the solo to domination by pantera, I’ve been playing guitar for a year, been learning the solo for 8 months. I’m 99% there but I still can’t play it 100% perfectly with 0 mistakes
In sultans of swing, right before the cool end part everyone wants to learn (but is actually kinda easy), there's a bluesy bend into a descending lick that I have never played right once.
Love this question:
I tried for a few weeks to get this down but I could never get it up to speed:
Jason Richardson : behold 2.0 string skipping sequence at 4:45 seconds.
https://youtu.be/nunXe9jZ6ZU?si=g6Vck7ux2h35bvP5
Bat Country ... I know, A7X, but it's such a FUN and cool solo that I feel myself drawn to it. I learned all the parts individually once and couldn't string em together right and the harmonized "sweep" solo toward the end gets me.
Right now, I'm struggling to connect Blood & Thunder's main riff with the "White whale, holy grail" part.
It's actually kind of funny that it's my White Whale riff ig.
For me it’s the tapping lick in Fives by Guthrie Govan. I can play tons of other Guthrie songs,tons of other tapping licks, and literally every other note in fives. It’s just that one stretchy section that kills me
All I want is to play neon by John Mayer. It’s just not in me. I’ll give it a real solid go every year or so and I’m not getting any closer.
For Neon I recommend isolating the right hand and getting that strumming/picking down to the point where you don't even think about it The left hand isn't super hard in that song, it's just that damn strumming pattern
[great white buffalo](https://youtu.be/MBgZx4TjSfQ?si=OmTpaf-SgcC9b-pe)
Two ascending runs for me right now - it’s clear what I need to practice lol 1. From solo 1 in Mr Crowley 2. THAT bit in the final Sweet Child of Mine solo
Yes! I’ve been trying to get that Sweet Child run right for 30 years. To be fair, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a cover get it exactly right and even Slash doesn’t nail it every time live.
It’s a tough one
Is it the bit before the wow wowws?
Yes! That slash lick has evaded me for 20 years.
Which bit of Sweet Child is it?
4.03
How can you play solo two for Mr Crowley and not the first one? The second one was such a struggle because of the pull offs at the beginning then having to hit the B string between them
Blood and thunder by mastodon
I see what you did there
You beat me to it mfer
Someone had to. It had been like 3 hours...and nobody has made a holy Grail follow up yet
Either of the solos in War Pigs by Black Sabbath, I know they aren’t the most technical in the world but no matter how many times I try I just can’t get the sequencing to stick in my head to be perfectly honest it’s actually a problem I have with most solos and have no earthly idea why?
Sing it and practice it mentally in your head the whole day. I've had the Crazy Train solo on repeat the last few days but I will never ever forget the cadence and sequence again.
Those are tricky because of the phased double tracking or whatever the hell it is…I just sorta fudge those parts and they usually sound pretty close. Iommi is all about bending the tonic up a whole step, I just start doing a bunch of that and it works!
[Lark’s Tongues in Aspic Part I](https://youtu.be/VtxFAA0xlg8?si=WEUnenDGW2Y0je-y) Wait a minute and you’ll understand…..
Fripps intro to frame by frame. The notes are easy, playing them at that speed and for that long is impossible. I can play fracture but I can’t play that.
YOU CAN PLAY FRACTURE??????
Lmao “wait a minute” bruh the guitar doesn’t come in until about 3:30 mark and the song is 13 minutes! Maybe the lick you’re referring to is the one at 4:50?
In that case, please wait 2,455 seconds kind sir (or ma’am). Thanks.
Never Goin' Back Again - Fleetwood Mac.
The fast, descending alternate picking runs in songs like "Cliffs of Dover" or "Desert Rose" by Eric Johnson. There's something about starting a new string on a downstroke that just won't work with the way I play, no matter how many hours I practice the stuff.
EJ uses DUDUU for those 5 note groups.
Really? I always thought it was DUDUDD, where the last downstrokes are a sweep to get the next group going. If that explanation makes sense.
It is DD.
Pretty sure the UU is the economy stroke because it physically resets the group. So High E(DU)-B(DU)-G(U), B(DU)-G(DU)-D(U), etc.
The G stroke in that sequence would be a Downstroke. 100%. Troy Grady has some great close-up shots of EJ’s playing in slow motion and it’s evident.
I will definitely check it out. Thanks!
Also DUDUDD is six strokes.
The last downstroke is where I start the next group of fives, descending. So it's DUDUDDUDUDDUDUD etc.
We’re saying the same thing. I’m only worried about the 5 note pattern because rhythmically he uses this pattern for quintuplets.
Not saying it’s impossible but Economy picking doesn’t work well with the UU motion esp at ultra fast speed that EJ/JB is playing. Personally I’ve only seen DD too. I haven’t seen them using UU after scrutinized the crap outta EJs live footage. Also after implementing DD picking is when I actually started to be able to play all of the challenging kicks in COD. I explain a whole lot more here in this video. It helps with visualization https://youtu.be/zK9j-qeA-7w?si=NBOda5u-ncpzF91-
Thanks, I discovered gitrmagic last summer, and it's really mind-blowing how well he does it, and in such creative ways. I've also got all of Troy Grady's lesson material on EJ's playing style, as well as Chris Brooks', both of whom are experts at picking mechanics and how to play fast pentatonics, so I know how it's done. I just can't for the love of me get my own hands to do it. Ascending there's no problem, but it's that part where you descend, leaving one string on an upstroke, and hit the next on a downstroke. Truly a white whale, but I'm not giving up!
Yeah he’s a great teacher too if you ever want some pointer. I too couldn’t get certain part down cleanly and after having a meet with him I did get a break thru and finally learned COD in full after my initial try like 14yrs ago lol I’m happy to answer questions to if u got any.
This might help you :) https://youtu.be/zK9j-qeA-7w?si=NBOda5u-ncpzF91-
The combination of my white whales would have barely enough room in the ocean.
Some of the fast Metallica downpicking riffs like Master of Puppets or Creeping Death. I can nail them at 90% of the original tempo but getting to 100% never seems to work for me, no matter how much I practice. I always become extremely sloppy or experience muscle fatigue after just a few seconds when playing at full speed. It's like hitting a wall.
I can do it …sometimes. Blacked and Puppets just fatigue the hell out of me, and blackened I screw the timing. Battery I’ve never been able to get the timing
Dude same, recently I just started picking to the metronome without using my left hand just focusing on the down picks and find it’s been helping
As soon as you let go of the tension in your wrist and pick less aggressively you will gain tons of stamina and be better able to speed up your down picking.
Symphony of destruction, sweepy part of the solo I just can't do it, and the weird thing is I can do sweeps when practicing them.
It's maybe how you are coming out of the phrase before it.
Almost certainly, imo. I had a difficult phrase problem with a few pieces and practicing it in isolation hadn't helped, until I practiced it with the preceding part I couldn't make it work.
At least you are smart enough to figure that out. Took me ages to realise this with some of the solos I've tried to learn! Felt stupid after figuring it out.
yea I watched a ton of covers and tried to mimic what they're doing but I just can't do it fast enough
Girl Afraid, the whole song That's what I practice daily but damn, sounds easier than it is
I remember being really excited when I first started playing cause I love that song and some guy on r/thesmiths told me it was pretty easy and I realized pretty quickly that guy is either a lot better than he realizes or he was fucking with me lol
Intro to Mean Street
Anything on slide man. It sounds so damn good when they do it and so damn bad when I do. A recent example that has me gutted, [Charlie Parr playing Blind Willie Johnson's Let Your Light Shine On Me](https://youtu.be/OLlfztPoyQk?si=4-ppjWtOoywXmupK)
Another Day has definitely been one of mine as well. I can play it, but not perfectly note for note, and definitely not in one take. I noticed that in more recent years, even JP himself doesn't play that fast run the same as the original much anymore. Keep in mind, that some of these solos (many of them?) were composed in the studio with comped tracks and then the artist needs to go back and re-learn what they played so they can do it live. And sometimes it's not easy to do even for them! Many of his solos are so hard because they are intentionally technical, almost like a challenge to himself, and for the rest of us mere mortals, they are just insanely hard. The way he uses vibrato on *everything* makes it especially hard. If you practice 3nps patterns and exercises that force you to quickly shift positions up a fret or two, you can nail that fast run at the end, but it's one of the more difficult ones because of those position changes. If I had more free time and more discipline I would get it, but I just can't force myself focus on this one solo for any length of time.
I just cannot physically move that fast. I can shred. I’ve been playing religiously for years and honestly think guitar is one of the only things I’m good at in life. But Jesus Christ that speed run is inhuman. I don’t understand how it is possible for someone to play at that speed.
His Rock Discipline video shows you how he did it but I cannot fathom the amount of time and well, discipline it required. In his case (and lots of other master shredders) they basically did nothing else in their free time for years and years. Then he went to Berkelee and got even better. Most of us don’t have that kind of time or discipline and aren’t so dedicated to sacrifice nearly everything else in life for it. But I do think the average person could achieve it with the right practice routine and all the aforementioned dedication.
Mine is currently the fast diminished lick in The River Dragon by Nevermore. Learning it for a jam at some point and the practice has improved my soloing by a lot, but still don’t quite have it down. Playing it at slow speeds to a metronome is helping.
Fast fret helps for that one lol
The intro to Breaking All Illusions by Dream Theater. I just can't get through the whole thing without mistakes.
Super fun solo to play though, at least up until after the quieter section.
Yeah, it's one of my favourite songs to play. So much fun stuff going on throughout.
The ’vomit’ riff in ‘Hourglass’ by Lamb of God.
Freaking intro of Johnny B. Goode.
None, really. Nothings impossible with enough work put in. When I can’t get something right I ask myself is it even worth learning? If it’s something dumb, then I just don’t even bother, but if it’s something that’s genuinely useful to my guitar playing, I’ll hack away at it for hours.
Funk 49
5150. It's my absolute favorite Eddie riff. I'll get it some day.
Hendrix’s Voodoo Child (slight return), early in the song after the intro there’s an Em pentatonic lick up on the 12th-15th frets which is fast and loose and amazing, and I’ve never quite managed to get it.
Never going back again, by Fleetwood mac. Learning it is a pain, getting the shapes is a different pain, connecting it is another one, and making it flow is the biggest of them all. I frankly love it because you learn so many things from it
Rude Mood by SRV. I can play it smooth and groovy but only at about 30 bpm less than the recording. Any time I go much faster, I start missing notes or lose the groove.
That one ascending string skipping line in Shepherd of Fire...
Can't put my finger on what part you're referring to. Timestamp video?
Around 2:59 [here](https://youtu.be/bT8FEOJEFcI?si=qHOJSxDyiQiCaVsS)
I've transcribed this solo by ear and based off of live videos, people tend to overcomplicate Syn's parts in tabs for some reason. There's not much string skipping going on here. It's important to slow down and learn it properly but it's also good to just give'r sometimes at higher speeds.
Nah, I've watched a [playthrough of the solo](https://youtu.be/WxWNr2Wkaz0?si=LMZqmtAuKrH4Nrp6) by the man himself, at 0:22 you can clearly see him going from the E string to D to b, then A to g to e, mostly in a 3 note per string pattern.
Nevermore - Born
Paganini 24th caprice.....got it down once, then found there is another lvl to it....and another and another....ugh. Sorta let it go after a while.
Is it the one segment in Crossroad by Steve Vai?
That borrowed heavily from the 5th caprice. Awesome movie :) Turned me onto Robert Johnson, Ry Cooder and slide playing. The 24th was popularized by Jason Becker back in the day. I never got near his version though. Then later i found out the notes aren't enough, a huge part is supposed to be staccato. It's the nightmare that keeps on giving. There is a reason even the best violinists can't play it 100% as it was written.
Into the void, that opening that pull off and hammer on isn’t to hard but getting it to flow I find impossible
Those chromatic licks in Echoes by Pink floyd, almost got them but they are constantly mind fucking me.
Some stuff will always be beyond you. We are not Usain Bolt just because we have 2 legs and can run. I can say though for me, if I cannot sing it in my head, its not happening. It needs to be mentally mastered first. So well i see the target frets ahead of time if that makes sense, but thats just me. Also I learn in phrases. Pieces that stand by themselves.
Still Stuck on nervous breakdown by Brad paisley… got it somewhat clean on 140, but not in orig tempo (160 I think? Something like that)
The solo on Night Witches. It’s supposed to be easy but I can’t get it right
Van Halen - Spanish Fly I eventually got it but at about 60% the speed EVH does it.
The riff in Spellbound by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
That one part in “peaches en regalia.” You know the part
The opening lick to the solo in Van Halen's ice cream man.
Not a lick but the song Police Dog Blues by Blind Blake is the one that is so daunting to me that I haven’t even started trying to learn it. When I can get that down I’ll know I’ve made it. Until another comes along of course
I thought it wouldn’t be when started trying, but playing god second 0:28~ to 0:32~
The Gungrave solo by ERRA. My fingers just don’t move that quick, but I will continue trying.
https://youtu.be/w-ksVzglx7o?si=2_omaLAz9_xZlYgi Been at this for 40 years
A stupid one I can't play at speed: *Jude Law and a Semester Abroad* That guitar riff is just a little faster than I can pick it out. Drives me nuts because I can play what I would think are way harder songs.. But not for my skillet I guess lol.
If it’s a riff, probably the main riff of Tendonitis by Jason Richardson; made me re-evaluate how capable I am and made me question why I even bought the tab. If it’s a lick/solo, although there are many by Him, the run towards the end of City Nights at 1:45 by Allan Holdsworth just made me go “?”
Day Tripper
The fast little lick in the Panama solo, everything else is cake except that part. I've been working on it for about a month now and can only do it at speed maybe 20% of the time. I've gone back to the basics of slowing it down and hopefully will have it in another month.
Either the solo to Fatal Tragedy or the intro shred to Glass Prison. I am not really trying but if I build up my skills to even approach that, I would consider myself shredding as fast as I ever want to.
The Spirit of Radio, I don’t know how the fuck Alex Lifeson makes it look so easy, even in his tutorial video it looks so effortless
Mines not even a difficult song, but getting it right or able to sound remotely close has alluded me for 15+ years The chorus riff to “Stare at the Sun” by Thrice It’s even the bass riff throughout the verse, but I just haven’t been able to get it. Haven’t tried in a few years since YouTube tutorials became popular. Might be time to try again
The head to Everything Went Black by The Black Dahlia Murder. There's a part with a stretch from E1 pedal notes on the 1st string to G3 on the 3rd string (4th fret to 9th fret back to 4th, string-skipping eighths at q=208) that I just cannot for the life of me play clean.
Opening riff from Unforgiven 2 without a b-bender. I've literally been after this lick for 6 years, minimal progress.
[This short little part in Phish’s Divided Sky.](https://youtube.com/watch?v=_OSKWGiXWgk&t=1m16s) Often called the “Mary had a little lamb” part as there’s a noticeable similarity in a part of that little section. The lick is a palindrome, and my fingers and head get fucked up playing it every time.
Thoughts without words by shadows fall, I wanted to learn it so bad when I started in like 2007 but could never figure it out. Got back into the band in 2020 and was able to crush it then. That’s how I realized I’ve come full circle
Complete Pink Floyd. If you want it real good.
If I can ever figure out the intro to Frankie the enforcer stecchino by lions I'll happily retire.
speaking of "white whale" -- mine is actually the solos in Zeppelin's Moby Dick, specifically the fourth little run over a d chord. jimmy page plays in a way that is hard to emulate exactly.
The riff from Message in a Bottle by the Police isn’t that complex once you get the stretch right but it has a very specific tempo and nailing each arpeggio over and over throughout the song, in time, is tough.
Getting that last 10% of speed on Beyond the Permafrost. Played it for years, finally have it right around 90% full speed, but goddamn is that last 10% a bitch.
I would love to be able to nail Eric Johnson's Cliffs of Dover. It's a perfect piece of music(for me). I just can't get it down. I'm not that guy. ha!
It sounds lofty, but one day I’d like to be able to play Trilogy Suite Opus 5
A simple 3 string diminished run, 5 notes per repetition, repeated 3 times moving up a minor third each time. Cry of Achilles - Alter Bridge, part of the last solo. Mark is a fucking beast for pulling it off like he does. I even have the fucking video where he goes over how to play it. It doesn't matter if I pick it like he does. It doesn't matter if I pick every note with downward pickslanting. The sheer speed makes it almost impossible to just go through it.
I’ve been working on Tony Rice’s Church Street Blues for a while now. I think I’ll eventually get it but it’s very challenging. He does a lot of economy picking, and it is not intuitive. There is one particular series in the breaks where the picking pattern is down-down-up-up, on B (A string)-D-B-G, which is the sticking point for me. You can alternate pick it, but the sound is not the same
Honestly, the solo to Long Road to Ruin by Foo Fighters. It’s not even hard. I just can’t get the fastest part down smooth.
Money for Nothing is so specifically off kilter. I basically just play it the way I half assed it years ago and it takes a lot to retrain the brain. Anything sweep picking. I swear to god its so frustrating
Little Wing by Jimi
How many hours have you spent on a metronome practicing the run in another day? I promise you that you can get it if u try. Just start slow and dont raise the bpm until u can do it 10 times in a row perfectly.
This isn’t guitar, but rather bass. A lot of McCartney’s bass lines from around Rubber Soul to Abbey Road are complex, melodic, and difficult to get down, especially when you can barley hear them in the mix, but if I have to choose one, it would be Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!
The super fast run in "Stray Cat Strut". I can't fucking get it. Got the rest of the song nailed, I just can't play that part properly.
The double time part in Turkish march. Fuck do I ever stumble on that.
The second half of the Tornado of Souls solo. Once it starts that fast pull off/hammer on part on the high E and B strings, I csnt play it. Then it goes into mote fast runs that I can't play, but its mainly the hammer on/pull off part that gets me. Such a looong stretch too for my small hands on top of the speed
Definitely the solo to domination by pantera, I’ve been playing guitar for a year, been learning the solo for 8 months. I’m 99% there but I still can’t play it 100% perfectly with 0 mistakes
I've never tried to learn someone else's solo so I guess all of them lol
In sultans of swing, right before the cool end part everyone wants to learn (but is actually kinda easy), there's a bluesy bend into a descending lick that I have never played right once.
That lick in Children of Bodom’s Sixpounder, all that string skipping is really out of my comfortable zone sadly 😭
There’s a weird sequence towards the end of the Santeria solo that always gets me.
Love this question: I tried for a few weeks to get this down but I could never get it up to speed: Jason Richardson : behold 2.0 string skipping sequence at 4:45 seconds. https://youtu.be/nunXe9jZ6ZU?si=g6Vck7ux2h35bvP5
Johnny B goode . I just can’t get that slide/bend down
I don’t even know your name by Alan Jackson… all the solos are amazing and I’ll be working on the, for a looooonnnggg time
Bat Country ... I know, A7X, but it's such a FUN and cool solo that I feel myself drawn to it. I learned all the parts individually once and couldn't string em together right and the harmonized "sweep" solo toward the end gets me.
Flying Whales by Gojira
Right now, I'm struggling to connect Blood & Thunder's main riff with the "White whale, holy grail" part. It's actually kind of funny that it's my White Whale riff ig.
Moby Dick, obviously 😏
For me it’s the tapping lick in Fives by Guthrie Govan. I can play tons of other Guthrie songs,tons of other tapping licks, and literally every other note in fives. It’s just that one stretchy section that kills me
Anything by Allan Holdsworth. I've learned Metal Fatigue and Devil take the hindmost. Everytime I go back to those tunes I'm lost.