Favorite guitar solo opening phrases

First impressions mean a lot in many circumstances, but especially in guitar solos. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: What are some solos where the initial second or two really grabs your attention?

As I was driving home earlier, Slayer’s Dittohead came up on my shuffled playlist (which immediately caused me to start speeding a little), and I was reminded how much I liked Jeff Hanneman’s intro to his solo - he comes in early, on the and of beat 4, and plays an E minor triad lick (well, Eb min) that has always made me think of the theme to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (though they aren’t really alike). There’s just something about the super fast EBEGE lick I’ve always found cool, and I also dig his ending run… totally chaotic goodness.

Whatcha got? Any style/genre is game.

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without a doubt, Chris Poland guesting for LoG

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just absolutely savage.

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Originally caught this one on Headbanger’s Ball decades ago, not long after first picking up the guitar - I was not prepared for the immediate legato assault. Kicked off a several year long DT obsession. haha

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Still gets me

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Chris Poland plays some great opening licks. His soloing always grabs my ear.

I was having a think about this and my first thought was Steve Vai’s opening lick in the Big Trouble solo -

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