In the last weeks, I got several requests for the Christmas Swing Guitar Solo I wrote last year.It brings me great pleasure to hear from people all over the world learning my solos! You can now download the backing track FREE from my shop. Just use the sellfy checkout, and you’ll get a link to the files for download.
Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays!
Original, heavy metal / hard rock guitar solo (155 BPM) in D minor, inspired partly by 80s Rock (Iron Maiden, Stratovarius and others), but mostly by Arcade game – boss fight – music! Are you up for a challenge?
This melodic rock solo in the key of D minor took a while to put together! In other words, I had to level up, both in playing and in editing skills to make everything work. e.g. playing the sweep-picking part ‘cleanly’ took more practice than anticipated. In fact, I re-recorded the entire video because I wasn’t happy with my first performance. Although – obviously – a lot can be corrected in the ‘editing’-phase, I like to keep these edits to a minimum, to keep things ‘real’ for you guys! Hopefully, this 80s game solo, called ‘Arcade’ is as fun and inspiring for you as it was for me.
I know this is a bit of a gimmick, but I wanted to see If my guitar solo would work as an 8-bit game melody. Here is the 8-bit version I composed with the Magical 8-bit plugin. This was too much fun 🙂
Original, classic blues rock instrumental and solo heavily inspired by Dire Straits (Mark Knopfler), Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, and others. Enjoy!
This track in the key of C minor brings us the blues-inspired classic rock era of the 70s and 80s. The groove is reminiscent of Dire Straits, but more laid back. I’m a huge fan of Mark Knopfler’s playing, and – in that style – I tried to emphasize hybrid picking (playing with the pick AND fingers) and delicate details in the guitar playing while staying melodic and following the classic blues rock groove. The chorus has more of a Fleetwood-Mac vibe, with a recognizable motif of unison bends. The middle section is – again – very much inspired by Dire Straits. See if you can spot a reference to Dire Straits in the background 😉
A few times in this classic blues rock track, I play the above Cm pentatonic lick in the 8th position. This is a typical ‘reply’ or ‘relief’-lick in Mark Knopfler‘s playing. It serves to end a phrase or sequence in a solo. Above the tab, you can see which notes are played with the pick (bracket = downstroke), and which ones I prefer hybrid picking (H.P). Alternatively, you can play the 8th fret on the G-string with an upstroke. Play a little vibrato on the 10th fret of the D-string and pull-off lightly to end the lick.
I hope you enjoy this TAB and solo. Jam track is scheduled for release later this week,
Maarten
Enjoy this bluesy funk soul jam track in Gm. It fits the funky guitar solo I posted earlier. I remixed & remasterd the track to give you a lot of space to improvise! Download this free chart of the G Dorian mode if you’re unsure what notes to play:
Funk tracks are great to learn and improve your rhythmic timing. Try to play these ‘stabs’ (=short, dramatically emphasized notes) at the right time. This part of this bluesy funk-soul track is inspired by 70s TV themes like ‘Shaft’.
When we look at the harmony of this track, it is a 12/24 bar blues, with a minor I chord. This brings a Dorian flavor to the track (G Dorian).
I offer a high-quality (WAV + MP3) download of this bluesy funk soul jam track that you can use on your own social media channels. Get it here:
