I’d like to start a dedicated thread for the Bark At The Moon Solo! I searched around but I don’t believe it’s been covered in depth. IMO the hardest part of the song is all of the fast picked runs at the end of the main solo. There are three sections/runs moving across the strings (all similar in structure) and then the finale run climbs on the two highest strings. I havnt heard anyone refer to jake as a two way pick slanter but this seems to require it. Also ive seen Zakk Wylde categorized as a downward pick slanter and he plays this live. (I’m not sure if zakk changes the pattern at all but he usually plays stuff pretty close)
For me I’m doing okay with the finale run that climbs the scale on the last two strings. It’s the 3 sections before it that I find the most challenging. Can anyone here do it? And if so, do you have a video of it? Are you using 2wps? Is anyone doing this with downward pickslanting somehow?! Would love to hear everyones input.
This is something I’ve been working on for a while. I know guitar one did a tab on it forever ago that wasn’t completely accurate…so I’m sure theres a few different ways to play it floating around at this point.
I’m willing to bet he swipes it. On a lot of the Badlands stuff, where the production and guitar tones are a lot drier, you can hear him swiping a lot of those fast runs, like in The Last Time.
I can play it using legato 
. It’s quite a fast lick, I think in the 140bpm region, too fast for me to pick.
Are you talking about this “simple” run?
Should be possible with UWPS/DSX, no 2WPS required. If your version is different we might be in a different situation. Absolutely out of my reach at 146 bpm.
On the other hand, if the original is different and not doable using 1WPS, who cares at that speed? Just be happy if your able to pull this version off, nobody will be able to tell the difference.
Tom
Doesn’t the bark at the moon tour footage show him playing the solo?
These are the tough runs starting at 2:27–there are three of them. Jake plays them using 3nps shapes across the neck which means 2wps and some tough inside string changes.
You can see the scale shapes at 3:18:
Uncle Ben Eller has a cool approach–set it up so you can play using 1wps–USX or DSX depending on how you start (upstroke or downstroke.)
I’m having a nightmare with this sequence, I can’t get it up to speed at all. I always suffer with those kind of sequences. Some other examples of stuff like this is the intro of Technical Difficulties and Mr.Scary.
Any advice?
I’ve been looking at and listening to this solo…especially the palm muted ascending scale runs in the solo just before the super shreddy climax of the solo.
Can’t be 100% sure but I don’t think they’re fully alternate picked…my ear is hearing some pull offs and such. I think it’s more of a pull off ‘escape hatch’ type picking as the four note patterns on each string don’t work with DWPS or UWPS…it would have to be 2 way of some sort and I don’t think Jake would have done it that way, he’s quite a bluesy player when you listen to how he plays the rest of the solo.
In the last part of that solo, Jake is actually letting his right hand outrun the left a little. It’s not PERFECTLY picked, just so you know.
But that’s what makes it awesome. A little controlled chaos on that last run is what makes that part sound so sick.
Yea i use ups while playing on the first string and dps on the 2nd, much easier for me