When the Sun Meets the Sky - Solo Cover by Peter C

Thanks for the quick response. No apologies needed… the video is helpful enough… and I appreciate the time you have taken.

Appreciate the kind words. I’ll answer everything.

I actually have the Hal Leonard tab but I don’t think it’s correct… or at least your run is cleaner (EJ/Troy Grady-ish)…

I don’t have the Ah Via Musicom tab but I have Venus Isle, and while I cannot say it was of no help, I definitely found it misleading in many parts, but especially so regarding speed runs. They are quick to transcribe everything in three note patterns when EJ and typical chunking patterns are often 2 note per string licks, with the occasional “cheat note” achieved via pull-offs for sonic effect and to make it sound less pedestrian-pentatonic, but as I said, just for effect, not the primary sonic signature. Of course, you cannot play it this way using three note per strings because it doesn’t flow and sound percussive enough.

Troy’s lessons which I think I paid a measly 80 bucks way back, for the entire EJ catalogue so to speak, and listening to albums till I eventually started hearing everything in slow motion at proper tempo, was the shortcut.

I’ll be frank, I’m not a very quick picker nor quite “accurate” in the sense of michelangelo-batio shred. I’d like to think I have decent command, left hand finger dexterity, and an ear for what sounds good but that’s about it.

On the subject of what sounds good to the ear, it’s actually what prevented me from progressing quicker because I wanted all the cascading sonic effects instantly instead of paying my dues with exercises. The trouble is that because of that ear, I expected things to sound beautiful, even the exercises. The harsh truth was that exercises in themselves outside the musical context, and especially at slower tempo didn’t sound musical at all (not Troy’s fault obviously) and it discouraged me until I just said, “I’m sticking to it.”

But downward pickslanting/2 notes per string/chunking, is not EJ in of itself. His real genius is to know when to discard it and the bravery to go outside the box so to speak to achieve things musically. For me it’s both my signature and a crutch and for him, it’s just another tool. So many other things make up his lead playing. However, it’s not to undermine the importance of technique. In fact it’s the single most important thing that allows you to recognize what other things he’s incorporating. Without this, one’s a blind man figuratively.

I am particularly interested in (and confused by) the first quick run in the solo (at 00:17 in your video above) that starts on the high E string at the 17th fret. If you have time could you walk me through that lick focusing on what you are doing picking wise with the right hand.

Unless your referring to the very first run, which is basically a slightly altered version of a maj 7th pickup (legato turnaround) 1st position F pentatonic, then the one at 0:17 is:

The archetypal EJ lead intro that I’ve changed up very slightly. I make it a little more aggressive sounding and extend the run and play the last three notes differently. (D for downstroke, H for hammer-on, U for upstroke, notes in parenthesis are slid up to or slid down to, not picked)

E–11(D)–(13)–15(H)–16(H)–13(U)---------------------------13(D)–11(U)----------
B----------------------------------------------16(D)–13(U)–(11)-------------------13(D)–11(U)
G----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B---------13(D)–11(U)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G–13(D)----------------13(D)–10(U)--------13(D)–10(U)-----------------------10(D)–8(U)–
D-------------------------------------------13(D)-----------------13(D)–10(U)–(8)-----------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B------------------------------------------------------------------14(U)-14(D)–(16)–15(U)–14(D)~
G--------------------------------------------------------------13(D)-------------------------------------
D–10(D)–8(U)--------10(D)–8(U)------------------11(U)----------------------------------------
A------------------11(D)-------------11(D)–8(U)–(11)----------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Any help you can provide is appreciated! … And your playing is beautiful… you really infuse your own style into the solo.

Makes my day really :slight_smile:

… Also, do you know of a way to slow down YouTube videos??? Thanks!

Lower right hand, little wheelmark, click speed and choose 0.5 or 0.75x :slight_smile:

EDIT: Oh my god, I got confused and thought you meant desert rose 0:17 instead of when the sun meets the sky. I’m sorry I’ll transcribe it again, but it’s the same skeletal structure.

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