Welcome back to another Quick Lick guitar lesson! Time for some fiery pentatonic action courtesy of an all time legend, Slash. Throughout his career Slash has always brought blues infused, rock and roll swagger that has helped him create some of the most iconic guitar parts. From his early work with Guns’n’Roses all the way to his current solo offerings with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, Slash’s unique style, which combines elements of blues, rock, and classical music, has ensured that he is one of the most influential and iconic guitarists of all time.
With this fiery hot lick, we explore some of Slash’s pentatonic flavours when he’s kicking it up in some of his harder rock moments (…think about his lead work in Velvet Revolver, on his latest solo records and on guests spots on songs like ‘Give in to me’ by Michael Jackson). There’s a tonne of things to explore in Slash’s playing so with this lick, we’re focusing in on his signature big bends, tasty double stops and some bluesy hammer ons and pull offs.
Lick run through
We start with a screaming double stop bend on the 17th fret which really sets the tone for this lick. Make sure you’re supporting your third finger with your first and second fingers here to ensure you’re able to reach that tone bend. Catching the B string on the way up from bending the E string is key here. If you’re slightly flat on reaching those high B and F# notes, that’s actually ok is this example. You’re gonna add more flavour to the overall sound complement that Bb in the chord progression.
Next we have a lazy descending walk down from the high E on the E String in typical Slash bluesy swagger. The lazier the better here, especially on that tone and a half bend from the 12th fret on the B string. A straightforward arpeggio up to another big bend on the 17th fret is accented by palm muted notes here which really adds a rhythmic element to the lick and is a great tool for breaking up your lead lines. Lastly we end on a signature Slash flurry of bends, hammer ons and pull offs to round this lick out into the next phrase. Mute any unwanted string noise by utilising the fleshy part of your picking hand palm to suppress any strings you aren’t wanting to sound.
So crank that volume, add some crunch and crank it up for maximum effect! And as always, feel free to steal and experiment with some of these ideas in your own playing to really step up your pentatonic game.