Week 1 – Black Velvet
I heard a prompt recently. Write a newsletter once a week for 52 weeks and see how it changes you.
I’ve thought a lot about the different topics I could cover. Adventure, travel, hobbies, business, etc. But the one thing that really resonated was the challenge of learning 52 solos in a year, one per week, and documenting that process along the way.
This is my first attempt at writing it down.
Why 52 Solos?
First, a few constraints.
It had to be between 20-60 seconds long. That keeps them long enough to be a complete musical thought, but short enough that they don’t become long, rambling statements.
I also want to keep out of the bin of oft-quoted repetoire, so nothing from a “top 100 solos” list.
And finally, for the most part, nothing before 1985.
There will probably be some exceptions to that rule, but I don’t want the list to become a year of classic rock minor pentatonic runs.
Though I may squeeze a couple in there 🙂
Solo #1: Black Velvet and the Art of Transcribing
For the first solo I chose Black Velvet by Alannah Myles.
I’ve heard the song plenty of times, but never really paid attention to the solo. Released in 1989, it has a nice sultry blues feel.
Interestingly, the song is played a half step down to Eb. I haven’t done that in quite a while.
I tuned my Strat down and instantly remembered why such a small change can be so much fun. The strings are just a bit slacker, which makes bending easier. The lower timbre also feels a little earthier and growlier.
The solo itself is about 25 seconds long, with some fun minor pentatonic runs and some cool rhythm placement.
How I Start
I always start transcribing a solo by charting out the number of bars I’m working with. In this case, there were eight.
Next, I listen to the bass and rhythm section to figure out the general chord progression and determine the harmony the solo is being played over.
The same notes played over a different harmony can completely change how a solo feels.
This particular solo is played over an Eb vamp until very end, where the harmony moves to Ab.
Once I understand the structure of the solo, I start working on the notes.
Going bar by bar, I listen to the solo (slowed down if needed) and transcribe what I’m hearing as best as I can.
Depending on how complicated or fast the solo is, this can be a quick process or take quite a while.
It’s great ear training though. I’m forcing what I hear to translate to something my fingers can produce.
Breaking Out of Muscle Memory
One thing I love about transcribing solos is that it forces me out of my muscle-memory cliches.
The Black Velvet solo starts on beat 2 of the first measure, which changes the feel right from the beginning.
When I improvise, I have a tendency to come in on beat 1. Waiting until beat 2 seems like a tiny thing, but it immediately creates more space and unpredictability. That’s something I want to experiment with more in my own playing.
As I transcribe the notes, I’m also thinking about what string sets feel the most comfortable for the phrases I am hearing.
Because the guitar has multiple places where the same notes can be played, it sometimes takes trial and error to find the position that makes a passage feel natural.
Learning It Slowly
After transcribing the solo, I go back to the beginning and slowly learn it bar by bar.
Some go quickly, and others can be trickier.
In this solo, the rhythm placement of the faster runs in the middle isn’t where I would naturally play them. I had to slow these sections way down and repeat them several times to get my fingers out of their phrasing patterns.
Once I’ve workshopped all the parts and get them under my fingers, I go back to the beginning.
While reading my transcription, I try to play through the entire solo.
Once I can do that, I turn on a metronome at a very slow tempo and start to work on the precise placement of the notes.
The notes matter, but rhythm can completely change the feel of those notes.
Getting the feel and timing right is what I’m trying do.
Bringing It Up to Speed
Once I can play through the entire solo cleanly with correct timing multiple times, I start increasing the tempo.
I’ll usually start at 60%, then increase to 70%, 80%, and eventually the actual song tempo.
Every time I increase the speed, I find places where my fingers get jumbled or confused. I go back and workshop those spots slowly, without a metronome, and try to improve the accuracy of my finger placement and coordination between my left and right hand.
Once I can play the solo cleanly at tempo, then I start thinking more about articulation, dynamics, and tone.
The guitar tone has some of that 80’s reverb and distortion. Since I don’t have a Jackson, I am getting as close as I can with my Strat in the neck pickup. I think that captures the feel good enough.
Want to play along?
Get the Black Velvet backing track I used for this week’s solo, plus the next solo and practice notes each week.
What I Learned This Week
My biggest takeaways from Black Velvet:
- Leave more space. You don’t have to start every phrase on beat 1, and you don’t have to fill every measure with notes.
- Dynamics matter. Playing every note with the same intensity provides no interest to the listener. Change it up!
- Transcribing can expose your habits. Learning runs that fall in unfamiliar places forced me to break out of the timing patterns my fingers are used to.
One solo down, 51 to go.
See you next week!
Jeremy