00:00 Hey everybody, Andy Timmons here.
00:19 Welcome back to Melodic Muse for Guitar World Magazine.
00:22 We're going to continue to examine my tune one last time from the Electric Truth record.
00:26 Today we're looking at the bridge, which is basically the solo section of the tune, a
00:31 little two chord progression.
00:33 So we're going to break down how I played it, what the thought process was behind it.
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01:15 So let's break down the solo section now to one last time.
01:24 And it's still in Bb minor, but luckily we're going to just have two chords to navigate.
01:29 And it's a basic, I always kind of think of it as Pink Floyd-esque, because it's Bb minor.
01:36 I guess we can consider it like an Ab over Eb into Eb major.
01:49 So that's essentially what I'm going to be playing over, and it's all Bb minor pentatonic.
01:56 Maybe some of the...
01:59 I'm certainly going to address, when I get to that Eb major, I'm going to want to address
02:04 that note G to really give the flavor.
02:09 The flavor of that going to that major, whatever you want to call it, five chord in the key
02:14 if we're thinking Ab major.
02:21 Really nice to hear that flavor as we go by.
02:25 So we're coming out of a big bend, kind of a big Albert King bend.
02:32 I guess I'd be on the Db.
02:36 I'm bending up all the way to the F.
02:41 And then releasing it.
02:44 And a slight bluesy, cracky kind of bend at the end.
02:51 Not quite up to the D, but...
02:54 And then I just play it.
02:59 Because right then we're on that Eb.
03:07 And then the next little move...
03:14 It's probably my favorite part of this solo because I'm playing down here, I've got the
03:21 F note on the D string on the 3rd fret.
03:25 So I'm playing just the 5th and 3rd of that, the Bb minor.
03:32 But then I'd bend from the Bb, that 3rd fret of the G string.
03:39 And if I get just the right finger...
03:46 Get a little bit of a fleshy overtone.
03:50 Right there.
03:53 Slapping it a bit.
03:57 Releasing it.
03:58 That's a whole step bend up to the C.
03:59 This is a nice tension note, that's the 9.
04:03 It really wants to go somewhere, it wants to resolve either to the Bb or up to that
04:09 3rd.
04:10 So it's a real pleasant resolution because I'm bending up to the Db, the 3rd.
04:20 Releasing at a half step to that C, then down to the Bb.
04:24 That's the melody happening in the bend.
04:31 And there, since I'm down in this position, I've got that Ab to G to give the 3rd of that
04:44 Eb chord that we're going to.
04:49 You can use some finger vibrato, I might use the tremolo bar a little bit.
04:56 And then...
04:59 So I'm dipping the tremolo bar just slightly as I pull off from that Ab.
05:08 We're not often in the key of Bb minor going to Eb, so it's kind of nice to have that open
05:12 G be the 3rd of a chord.
05:17 So I pull off, but while I pull off, I'm dipping into the open G string.
05:27 Then I play the root, play the Eb, Bb, Db.
05:34 So of the Eb, it's the 3rd, root, 5th and b7th, I'm just arpeggiating.
05:43 The simplest notes you can play, but sometimes the most effective.
05:54 Another...
05:56 I got a little whammy happy on this one, it sounds like...
06:01 But again, it's just a way of making more out of it, because I could have...
06:08 I could have just played the notes, but it just needed the energy.
06:16 So I finish that phrase, and then I'm just climbing up the Bb minor pentatonic.
06:28 Now again, I'm going to make use of that tension of the C natural over that Bb minor chord.
06:34 Just a real pretty sound, I've always liked that sound on a minor.
06:44 But here, I'm bending from that Bb to C, down to F to Ab.
06:57 You can kind of hear, there's points of tension, and going places, but finally...
07:05 Just kind of getting back to home, the home tone, that Bb.
07:13 Right? Could have been...
07:19 Here I'm bending from that Db up to an Eb, so it's the 4th.
07:25 And just going scalerly back to that root.
07:28 And then...
07:32 I think I bent from the F, yeah.
07:34 So as I get out of this Bb minor...
07:40 Now we're going to Eb, so guess where I'm headed?
07:43 I'm going to bend from that F to Ab.
07:48 Now I'm just, again, just surrounding that 4th to the 3rd.
07:54 So bending F, up a minor 3rd, releasing it, and then bending back up to just the G.
08:02 So it's a minor 3rd bend, releasing, then up to a whole step bend.
08:09 Then I go back down.
08:12 So again, now I'm thinking back into this position here, but playing the Eb to F.
08:17 And I'm bending from that F up to the Ab, so it's that minor 7th again.
08:26 And to get a little emphasis, you'll notice a little...
08:31 A little pick rake, where I'm muting everything leading up to that Eb.
08:40 Just to give it a little energy, again, just to set that note apart in a particular way.
08:47 And the muting that's happening, it's happening in two places.
08:51 It's happening a little bit in the right hand, the picking hand mute.
08:55 So I might have the palm of my hand on the strings I'm wanting to just get the rake.
09:00 But also, it's also happening in the left hand, where my thumb is wrapped around and muting the low string.
09:08 And even the underside of my fingers I'm not using for that note.
09:16 Anyway, all these little things add up and it's part of the delivery of these notes.
09:28 And I'm basically doing an ascending bend. It's the whole step bend on the G string,
09:36 and then re-articulating the note that I've arrived to on the B string.
09:44 Originally I would have gotten this type of thing from Hendrix with it.
09:49 Where he would have bent that note and then held the fretted note that's being bent to in unison.
10:01 So I'm going from that F.
10:04 But this time I'm bending the note on the G string the whole step,
10:09 and then fretting that note on the B.
10:14 And that's right off the Bb minor pentatonic.
10:18 So you hold the target notes and then you go down to the G string two frets above.
10:24 And that's kind of the big peak of the solo as it goes into the little bridge channel.
10:37 If you notice, there's a lot of times where it might make sense to alternate pick something,
10:45 but sometimes the energy requires it.
10:50 And on that big top note, that's pretty common for me on the treble strings,
10:55 meaning the E and the B string.
10:58 Instead of down picking to get the tone, I'll pick underneath.
11:05 Just get a little bit more meat of the pick.
11:12 A lot of times some additional harmonic.
11:15 Anyway, just pointing that out for you.
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