Just like the kilometer markers on the Mexican highway system, I'm resetting the measure numbers, just to fool the gringos.
So... measure 1 is now the second ending of the section G.
Measure 1:
Finishing off the previous motif with a crotchet slide on the first beat, John plays a run of open-string triplets based on a G-Major chord. He lands on A, played on the b-string, and bends it up to B on the downbeat of the next measure. If you're a stickler for details, and if I've still got your attention I guess you are, John picks as he's bending this A up to B on the audio lesson, but I don't hear that on the record. Both the Jesse Gress and Dave Whitehill transcriptions are a bit ambiguous on this, unless I'm reading them wrong. I usually try not to pick this note.
Measure 2:
A tiny detail which I haven't heard discussed in John's audio lesson, or documented, is that to my ear it sounds like after holding this bend for two beats, with a tight vibrato applied toward the end, he wiggles the bend up to C then back to B before releasing and pulling off to F#. Actually, he could just be pulling off at the 'top' of his vibrato. Listen to it yourself and act accordingly. Note the accidental E# on beat 4. While on this topic, I must say the key signature here is something of mystery. John mentions the key signature modulating to Bm, and if that happens anywhere in this piece, then I guess it's gonna be in this section. Yet there are still three sharps on the staff, while Bm has only two. Hmmm... mysterious.
Measure 3:
Appropos the pick squeals on beats 3 and 4, the DW and JG transcriptions diverge. On beat 3, JG's shows only the E being played while DW's shows both the E and G# played. My ear tells me that DW is more accurate to the record in this case. Also, the pick squeals introduce harmonic overtones which DW marks as a G# on beat 3 and an F# on beat 4. Particularly on beat 4, I don't hear that. I hear an overtone, but can't recognize it as an F#. I defer to his superiour ears. When I play it myself I just accept whatever random squeal comes out, or not. I'm just happy if I can manage to add some little dash of spice here.
Measures 4-5:
These are pretty straight forward, and I can't think of anything very enlightening to say about them.
Measure 6:
Notice that the pentatonic run begins on the and of the first beat, not on the downbeat. This the level of micro-detail that defines a player's style, and the DW book provides this level of detail. The JG tab, lacking the traditional notation, doesn't really represent this detail well.
Measure 7:
I like the tension created by the nice wide bend up to D.
Measure 8:
Pay special attention to the triplet on beat 4, and the half-step bend to the accidental.
Measure 9:
A crotchet, held from the last bar, into a triplet, into four semiquavers, into a quintuplet. Might have to slow down that metronome for these next couple bars. Note too that the accidental is naturalised on beat 2.
Measure 10:
Why does the room starts to swirl a bit in this measure? I think it's because after the first beat, the remaining downbeats are shifting around inside these three sextuplets. Eric Clapton uses a similar technique sometimes, rapidly repeating three notes but cycling the accented beats every four notes. Therefore it's hip and shall remain forever so.
Make sure not to simply play the downbeats with your tapping finger. If you do, it will sound like another great piece called Eruption, and that's not what we're studying now.
Measure 11:
Bending the last note of this phrase with your tapping finger gives you a chance to scoot your fretting hand up the neck quickly. I try to pull off of this bend and save a pick attack before the slide. I think John does too, and if I'm reading the score correctly it looks like DW indicates this as well.
Measure 12:
This bar makes a good argument for tablature being supplemented by good old-fashioned notes on a staff. Using only tablature it's tough to show that these bent notes are oscillating between E and F#. But the notes show it very clearly, and if you listen your ears will tell you the same thing.
Measure 13:
Shake that high B for a while. On the and of beat 3, slide all the way to the B on the 19th fret, starting from the 3rd fret G on the e-string. This is emphasis is because often I get lazy and just begin the slide from some unspecific low fret, and then adjust the sliding speed accordingly. But since this level of detail is offered, why not do it that way? It sounds to me like that's how John does it.
Measures 14-15:
Oddly, these are probably the two easiest measures in this solo, and they're also the ones that are most likely to grab the ear of your non-musician friends. It always seems to be this way.
Measure 16:
There is a moderately advanced bending technique documented beautifully in measure. I'm talking about the bend from D to E on beat 3, that is flatted to a ghostly whisper on beat 4, then slowly resolved back to D (in the next measure). You can hear it on the record. The 1/4 bend in the triplet of beat two is also interesting and reminds me of the way Dickey Betts uses this to create tension in the melody of Jessica.
Measure 17:
Because I'm usually trying to marathon through the entire piece, and not just punching in a solo, I play the G to G# bend ahead of beat 4, somewhere around beat 3, since on beat 4 I'm trying to kick of the next WR solo. It costs a few points in authenticity, but it helps keep things flowing in time and still sounds musical, so why not?
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