Extreme - Get The Funk Out

Show and Tell
#1

Here is my take at this great solo:

It’s not super polished, and I decided to play it standing which makes the tapping part even harder, so it’s not brilliant overall but I’m proud of it and I wanted to share this little project with my fellow guitar players here :smiley:

To play it, I had to learn a few tricks:

  • the pentatonic lick with USX and hammer-from-nowhere for the last note. I never thought one could phrase like that, but now that I’ve “understood” how to do that, it occurred to me that probably this is something EVH was also implementing. Moreover, the idea of inserting hammer-ons interspersed to reduce the load on the picking hand seems worth exploring further.

  • tucking/un-tucking the pick in the middle finger in order to free the index for “serious tapping” :grin: - I tried to perform the tapping sequence with the middle finger at first, but somehow got stuck - say - around 85-90 bpm.
    I then had to learn how to free the index of the left hand, and how to engage the pick again… It took me quite a while, relatively speaking (I probably spent some 25 hrs on the whole project)

  • For the fast tapping part I hit several roadblocks - I know is not perfect in the take but I became impatient and did not spend time doing multiple takes and wait for ‘the good one’ - At first I was using only the pinky for the hammer-ons. It was the most natural fingering. However, close to speed target (90 bpm) I started sensing a lot of tension and probably even some mechanical friction (I’m 52 after all, joints start to crackle a bit). I had to devise several ‘finger sharing’ strategies and basically re-learn the pattern a few times over, until I found a scheme that I could bring to speed with the necessary solidity.

Overall, a nice project, I enjoyed it!

Michele

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#2

Nice work, it sounds really good! About two years back, I moved to only practicing whilst standing, because I didn’t want to get thrown by a position shift, I see it as a trade-off of better posture vs certain notes and positions being a lot harder to reach on certain guitars.

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#3

Thanks :slight_smile:

About playing while standing, it’s been a long time since I performed in front of a crowd of any kind so in the few instances I play, I tend to play in the most mechanically favourable position :smiley:

On the other hand - and this is a bit bizarre and new to me, I don’t remember having had this “need” before - standing while playing allows me to bounce and move about on my legs, which I find very complementary to what I’m expressing with my fingers. In other words, I feel the need to move about while I’m playing this kind of stuff.
It’s not showing off or anything although it might seem like that to an external observer. Actually, I would like to move more but of course I can’t just start swinging here and there in my little room :smiley: - besides looking ridiculous, it would also impair my playing beyond a certain level :grin:

But it’s strange, I don’t remember feeling this need to move around. Maybe it’s the nature of the song?

#4

Cool playing, and I relate to the whole love/hate thing of trying to get all tapping to work with the middle finger.

Also, is that a Wolfgang Special EXP, or something else?

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#5

Thanks @Frylock :slight_smile:

Yes, it’s a Peavey Wolfgang Special. I am not sure about the “EXP” part as I can’t see it printed anywhere, however I’ve googled the phrase and I come across guitars that pretty much look like mine.

On the index finger tapping, I still don’t understand mechanically why it should be preferable to the middle. Maybe it’s a dexterity thing, nervous system and stuff… Sure enough, you appreciate Nuno’s choices of inserting “rest points” in the solo, perfectly blending at least in his playing, to allow for the pick to transition from one position to the other one. Brilliant!

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