I missed this thread earlier!

Originally Posted by: Poundhound

However, even playing the parts I'm up to speed on, I'm struggling to get the phrasing right. Take the very 1st lead lick. It's only 7 notes, yet somehow I'm not getting it to sound right. I have a similar problem with at least another couple of the licks. I've got all the notes memorised and most licks up to speed. But something is missing that I can't explain.[/quote][p]Phrasing starts with rhythm. It's about when notes happen & how to group them into cohesive little units. The next aspect is to consider the articulation of the notes; how hard or soft you attack the notes. If you ramp up or down the dynamic level relative to the next group of notes. How you start & end a phrase.

It helps to think of musical phrases as sentences in speech. You have a subject, verb, modifiers, articles. The sentence starts, states its piece & finishes. There is a pause for a period, question mark or exclamation mark! Then you start the next sentence. Eventually you can think in paragraphs, until you can think of a solo or whole song as a little story.

[quote=Poundhound]I'm playing my guitar unplugged so as not to disturb anyone. I always do. I know that kind of defeats the purpose of having an electric guitar, but that's the situation. Could the fact that there's no volume and effects be affecting it, or is there some technical issue behind it?

Phrasing doesn't require electric guitar. But it certainly can affect your expectations when playing a piece like this! EJ's tone is a sweetly overdriven Strat through a loud Marshall amp. Tons of sustain on tap, reverb & delay. If you are just learning the piece it's okay to just mechanically learn the notes without amplification. But to get the notes to sing anything like the original you should be amped! Try a low setting, or try headphones.

Knowing just how hard you have to dig in, or how much of a light touch you can use on the fast passages while letting the power of the overdriven signal help you is certainly going to help you phrase a piece like that in a much more satsifying way!

Also, I've heard at least a dozen versions of this tune by EJ. I saw it live. He changes it up a little bit every time. I've even seen him struggle to get some of those licks happening. Sometimes he's rushing a little bit, or dragging behind the beat. That's hard stuff. Be patient with yourself.

Finally, it's electric guitar! Electrify it! :) Hope this helps. Have fun with it!