Danger Zone lick -Lost note after the bend pull off

Playing Technique
#1

Besides not being able to play it up to speed, I’m having an issue where the 2nd note (the one after the bend) is totally lost and u only hear the 1st, 3rd , 4th notes.
A friend who’s a teacher said I should rake the notes , but i ends up a chord sound since its so fast.

My picking and synch is terrible.

Also, my hand is fatigued from 6 hours practice today so I was only able to play it 70% of what I can normally play, so just imagine me playing this just as sloppy but at 145 bpm of the necessary 157bpm to the song lol. Also, somehow I got nervous while making this video for some reason I don’t know so even worse playing.

Anyways this lick is in every song I want to play actually and is a stumbling block to progress. Hope u guys got some ideas, thanks!

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#2

Man I really dislike playing that riff, mostly because I feel like I suck at it, I find it to be very “feel” based so a little harder to work up to speed.

As a progression / work around for playing songs with it, you can just fret the note that the bend is aiming for and play it without the bend, that would at least get your picking pattern up to speed without having to worry about nailing the bend every time.

#3

Well, I don’t want to make the best parts easy , the training wheels gotta come off. It’s only a half note bend. Its that the bend and then the 2nd note there’s a delay to make sure I hear that 11th fret before I can actually do the next hammer on pull off

#4

In your video you say you’re not sure how to pick it, and even in your post:

By eliminating the bend and just focusing on the picking and sync, you can build up the speed until you’re comfortable to do the bend. Like I said it’s a progression to the actual riff, and that’s just how I approached it.

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#5

oh ok, I get your intention now. I’ll focus on each part separately you meant!
I still find that even without the bend, the 2nd note can get lost and sound more like the 2 strings are making a chord though. Should I upstroke the 2nd string 11th fret or down stroke? Thanks

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#6

I normally do 2 consecutive downstrokes.

If it sounds like a chord, you’re likely letting the first string ring out. If you omit the bend, you can heavily palm mute the sequence so that it becomes excessively staccato in order to hear the pick strokes more cleanly. From there, you can start to lessen the palm muting to see if the first string is still ringing out, and if it is, focus your attention on releasing the first string as you pick the second.

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#7

Also, maybe start with a micro bend, it gives the right flavour, but allows you to focus on the picking as suggested by @Pepepicks66. IMO, the fluid rapid fire aspect is more important than the bend

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#8

Ok guys, working on it right now. Will get back to with an update progress in a some odd days!

#9

Hey man! I actually knew how to play this solo once upon a time and I remember just loving how it felt to play - such a classic and almost stereotypical guitar lick. I always just straight alt picked it though like this:

Can’t really tell but he’s probably doing a pull-off on the recording but this sounds pretty close. I’m starting with a single downstroke on the G string into the bend and then U-D-U on the B string to make it a nice even D-U-D-U 4 note picking pattern. Give it a try and see if it feels any easier!

Edit:

Took a quick crack at the solo from memory as well, so here it is in context:

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#10

Alternate pick it!

And I agree with the advice to work on the right hand first! I would go one step farther though: Try playing along to the recording with your left hand just totally muting the strings! I bet you’ll get it exactly right for a fleeting moment on the first try. Remember how that feels and loop it along to a metronome. Once your right hand is a machine add in your left hand. I bet if you try it this way you’ll be able to play the like in like twenty minutes! I think you’re way closer than you realize

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#11

I know that the tab you’re using says that it’s a legato phrase, but to me the original recording sounds like alternate picking. I could totally be wrong though

If you sweep through the first two notes it’s trickier to make the dynamics exactly how you want them. I would definitely recommend alternate picking the line so that you can articulate the second note more clearly

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#12

If you film yourself looking down the strings we can see the pick path…that may lead to some good insight into your actual picking motion. At the moment it also sounds like there is a bit of a ‘gallop’ in your fretting hand…where the lick in the recording is pretty straight (even). That part of it is hand sync IMO…it will smooth out…but likely a whole other topic.

This is a great core lick in any lead guitarists vocab - try re-filming looking down the neck and let’s see what shakes out in the comments.

Does anyone know is that was Stevie Stevens on the recording? Or was he just on the theme song. As an aside, Stevie Steven’s has great chops…he’s not mentioned a whole lot…but he’s a killer player.

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#13

I don’t have the camera to mount to do over the neck view. I’m using a webcam with a short cable on top of my monitor.

I always thought it was DAN HUFF who played the solo? I found his credits here. Maybe this one is wrong? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Zone_(song)

#14

Yea, that is a good crack at it for sure :smiley: Sounds grea t buddy :smiley:

Btw< i have found I have other problems with that lick…

I can’t practice it more than a few bars because my hand gets quickly tense, cramped and can’t play it on time.

I also find my ring finger is landing on the 14th fret before my right hand has a chance to pick the 2nd note or i’m over compensating and that rings out for a long time, OR the bend gets longer note value.

I don’t know what people mean by practicing only the right hand. If I mute the strings with my left, then how do u want me to pluck the strings? I’m then just getting dead notes and also its very slow if i mute it, can’t do hand sync either .

Thanks everyone for replying! I really really appreciate the time for u guys trying

#15

When I listen to the track, the 11th fret A# dissappears most the time anyway. Especially at speed

#16

Really? but I can hear all 4 notes played by Philausopher and several other players, including the original . Mine is just plain sloppy lol XD

#17

To me it comes across as more of a ghost note, sometimes there sometimes not, very hard to discern. And that is probably what gives it it’s feel. I don’t think there is really any pause between the bend and that note, they almost blend together. If you really slow it down you can hear it, but I personally wouldn’t worry about it. The speed hides it a lot and it becomes more or less lost to the ear, but still there adding to the sound. The time shuffling of the bend and that note I think gives it the feel. It’s never perfect. Just down down in a sweep I think is the way to go.

#18

I made some changes, its starting to get much better. I sped up my right hand so it’s hitting that 2nd note in time before my pinky hits the pull off. I’m also paying more attention to my tension and it seems I must stop every 4-5 bars for a few seconds, shake it off and go at it again.

I’m at 85% tempo hearing all 4 notes

#19

Look forward to more vids. It’s a cool lick

#20

Dear god, I’d never be able to play that lick, especially all picked. Amazing stuff.

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