Hi, I hope you’re all safe, keeping well, and having a nice day!
I really appreciate you all—I’ve fallen down a bit of a rabbit hole analyzing the solo in Takayoshi Ohmura’s Wanna Get a Good Love. Anywhere else, I feel like I’d need to hide or apologize for how much time I’m spending thinking about this, but here I feel at home! 
If you haven’t heard this song yet, the solo is fantastic. (And long—it lasts for about a minute and a half in a 4:45 track! )
I’d love to know exactly how he plays it, but there aren’t many resources outside of the video where he teaches the intro riff, a few YouTube lessons, and some concert footage with lots of camera jumps. There’s also a tab on UG.com, and I’ve copied part of it here in case you’d like to learn some of this—the intro alone is a great workout!
Section 1 – The dreaded banana shape!
Right from the first shape, I’m running into something I dislike: barring across frets with that “banana finger” shape. From my past work on the Serrana arpeggios, I know barring is probably the fastest option, and with proper muting, it’s hard to hear a difference compared to versions that avoid barring—like Jason Richardson’s approach (middle finger on the 4th string, ring on the 5th, etc.).
But for me, the issue is mostly feel:
- I don’t like how the barre feels physically.
- My pickups lack “snap” even at the best of times, so articulation is harder.
- Switching from sweeping/economy picking this shape into alternate-picking the following shapes feels awkward and throws off my timing.
Alternative approach for Shape 1
I’ve tried a Gilbert-esque string skip: 12–8–12 on the 5th string.
The downside is the wider stretch and skip, but the big plus is that I can use the same picking pattern as the following shapes.
Options I’m weighing
- Original barre shape – faithful, fast, but uncomfortable and tricky for timing.
- Altered fingering – more comfortable and consistent for picking, but loses some snap.
- Skipped version – Gilbert-style, wider stretch, easier to pick, but maybe a little slower/more tiring?
Other ideas?
I’d love any advice, insights, or alternative fingerings—especially from anyone who has tackled Ohmura’s/Yngwie-style solos or dealt with balancing barre shapes with economy picking.
Thank you so much for your help!
…
And then my overthinking extends to what follows…
…like repeating downstrokes spread out by hammer-ons and pull-offs, wondering whether to start the pedal-tone idea with an upstroke or downstroke, and whether to change the fingering of the run that follows, to make it 3-notes-per-string. I actually find it faster to start that run on an upstroke, but then coming out of it and starting the sweep with an upstroke is harder?!
And I cannot, for the life of me, figure out whether I should play the 4-notes-per-string chromatic run starting with an upstroke or a downstroke.
Gah, isn’t paralysis by analysis wonderful?