I need help

Hello folks :)
So here is the thing. Id like you to tell me which scales Slash use in this video from youtube. I know he uses alot of pentatonic and some minor scale and harmonic minor stuff. Not too many fancy modes if im correct?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj4I_oF9YKc

Especially those crazy fast runs he does, is there a pattern in which the notes come. Can you hear something repeat? If yes, please tell me or type a quick tab. It would be a great help!
Maybe it's just those scales he uses, if you hear more id like you to tell them to me :)

I never think i will be that good, he navigates and runs trough the notes so damn good. Wish i could have a private session with the man so he could show me the little things he does to tie it all so good and cool together.

well.... you can just hope to achieve it yourself one day. I practice alot and have become so good, something is just missing. And i think it's the navigation, variation and visualisation of the notes that restrains me from improvising all that cool stuff that the great guitarist do.....

Thank you
Casper

Someone might have a detailed technical answer for you, but I'd like to suggest that you find your own voice with the guitar rather than just try to emulate what Slash is doing there. Honestly, while I think Slash is a great guitar player, I thought the soloing in the video was really more just noodling.. it didn't seem connected with the rest of the band, more just "hey look at me" rather than a firm musical statement.

I watched a video a while back of Neal Schon (Journey) in concert(I think it was Live in Manila), and he did kind of the same thing during a guitar break/solo.. lots of flashy riffs and then out of no where he did this really melodic part that was just beautiful. He uses a whammy bar and sustainer, and he really used it tastefully, along with this nice little understated keyboard line. It sounded fantastic. Maybe it was just showmanship, but it really seem like Schon bled the part.. put his heart into it. I find that kind of guitar playing way more inspirational than some of these videos coming out now where it shows a counter for how many notes were played in x amount of seconds.

If you focus on how to play like Slash, you'll aways be compared to the original. If you allow your voice to come out through your guitar playing, you'll be an original. At least thats my 2 cents worth!

Yeah i know the bad things about that kind of obsession i have, i can't help it though... Im so frustrated...

Ok, well to take a totally different approach then, here's three things I'll throw at you to help you with your goal:

1) Get to know about Slash's early years... do some research and find out what kind of music influenced his development, and then listen to that yourself.

2) Learn your modes... this will take some time, but its an attainable goal. Part of learning about modes though should include recognizing tonal centers. For instance, if you play the Cmaj scale and the A minor scale, its the exact same notes. However, one has a tonal emphasis around C, and the other A. Get used to playing the same notes, but "hearing" the tonal center being Cmaj, or A minor. If you come up with a little riff using the notes of the C maj scale over a C major chord progression, that riff will sound like a major scale riff. You should be able to hear that. If you suddenly change the chord progression to Aminor, that riff will suddenly sound minor, even though the notes are the same. This really helps with what your after, because you can listen to riff that someone like Slash is using, slowly work it out for yourself, and then figure out the tonal center that is defining the scale. I know it sounds a bit confusing, but think back to the Cmaj/Amin example. If I just showed you a riff using those notes, you might say "oh, its Cmaj" or "oh, is Amin..." either is correct... its whether the riff feels like its resolving to C or A that will define the actual mode.

3) Check out sites like "Lick Library"... they have some really good "pay-per-lesson" deals on GNR songs like "Sweet Child 'O Mine"... learning some of Slashes stuff note for note will really help you get a grasp of what he's doing stylistically, especially if you've done your homework. That's not a bad song to learn either because Slash does that very identifiable key change in the later half of the song.

Good luck!

Thank you

I will follow the advises that you have given me, I know stuff about that Cmaj and Aminor. but Im gonna try to work on it for sure!

If i look at it from another perspective.... Slash has played for 30+ years. Me i have played for 4. I can pull of some pretty serious solos of his and others. I already know how to play sweet child and welcome to the jungle and so on.... And it don't take me long to figure stuff like that out.
It's improvising stuff like he did in the video, iv become kinda good at it. But i just want SO much. I never get satisfied i feel.

I think it all comes down to finding the right notes, the right time, and being able to variate them. I know alot of licks, but it's the notes that you play inbetween that is the hardest actually. Atleast i think. There is ofcourse also those crazy fast licks, that he does in the video for example that i would like to learn, i don't know how im gonna learn those. Cause even though i slow it down i can't see what he is doing.

But thank you, i will work on it!

Hey Capion..
Try learning with your ears and not your eyes..
Maybe you are too focused and tense..
Tense muscle slow you down..
I say take a break from SLASH for awhile if it's so frustrating..
Relax and find yourself... Some day kids will be saying I wished I could play like CAPION..
Good luck

As you say, Slash mostly uses:
The Pentatonic scale
The Blues scale
The Major scale (ionian)
The Minor scale (aeolian)
The Harmonic minor scale
The Dorian scale

It would take weeks to transcribe that whole video, is there a certain part of the video you're interested in, for example "at 2:20 there's a cool lick"?

There is a really good app called Transcribe!, do you use that? You can get a 30 day trial and try it out. You can slow down, speed up, remove vocals, etc., and it works with video too.

That's what I would do - slow it down to 10-20% of the speed, and carefully go through each note until you figure out what he's playing. Sometimes that's the only way :).

Hey ben,

I think it's pretty hard stuff. From 1:17 to 1:26 there are some crazy runs i would like to get down. And then again at 1:30 to 1:36 theres is a real cool ''forever and ever going run'' that i would simply love to nail! Is there a special pattern that repeats or something? can you maybe break some of it down for me Ben?
And also just that improvised blues solo that he does starting from 2:00, it's so awesome how he can variate and mix up all the notes like he does (sick run again at 2:56 what scale is he running trough on those runs?) And it's improvised.... Im out of words, and i don't know how to aproach it.

I would love any possible help you can give me, thank you