Licks in the style of Lynyrd Skynyrd, .38 Special, James Gang and more.
Growing up in Alabama, I had a difficult time assimilating. I didnāt chew tobacco, hunt, drive a truck, or fish very much. I just wanted to play music. I learned a little AC/DC and Van Halen as a young man, but I also enjoyed being exposed to many southern rock guitarists in bands such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, ZZ Top, and the Allman Brothers. All of these great artists and many others influenced me as a guitarist and inspired me as a musician in so many different ways. I thought they had a different approach to soloing and songwriting compared to the other artists I'd listened to. This approach gave me the opportunity to broaden my horizons a bit and add more color to my own guitar playing. I soon learned the melodic ideas they were utilizing can also be quite the challenge--not just technically speaking, but aurally as well. My appreciation of the artistry, technicality, and musicianship in the southern rock genre grew immensely.
In this monthās Lethal Guitar, Iāve illustrated six melodic ideas used by some of the masters of southern rock guitar. Youāll notice an ample amount of string bending, hammers-ons and pull-offs, slides, and some picking challenges as well. A number of the licks are also used by modern rock guitarists in other genres. In fact, the southern rock āsoundā has permeated its way into just about every area of rock guitar as we know it today.
Example 1: Reminiscent of Joe Walshās āFunk 49ā intro lick, this example is a staple for any southern rock guitarist. Itās based on the pentatonic major scale with a twangy whole-step bend and release from the 2nd (A) up to the major 3rd (B) and back, on the second string. The bend creates that āsouthernā tension which is then released to the root (G). The pentatonic major tonality is colored in even more with the addition of the 6 (E). Download Audio Example...
Example 2: Here's another idea incorporating the whole-step bend, but this time including a unison pitch 3rd (B) on the first string and building chromatically. Ascend from the 3rd to the 4th, flat 5th, and the natural 5th before resolving to the root (G). Slash, Zakk Wylde, and Duane Allman have used this line in their solos to create the southern rock tonality. Download Audio Example...
Example 3: The first solo in āSweet Home Alabamaā uses a cool major pentatonic line like this one that includes a 4th (C) at the beginning and resolves very nicely to the root. Many instructors use Lynyrd Skynyrd solos to illustrate the effective use of the major pentatonic scale. Download Audio Example...
Example 4: Iāve heard someone shout āFreebirdā at almost every gig Iāve ever played! This line is similar to the ending solo of the Skynyrd classic. It utilizes a number of pull-offs to create a ripping pentatonic minor line, sure to impress the most ardent of southern rock fans. Download Audio Example...
Example 5: Another classic Skynyrd line comes from the tune āI Know A Little.ā Based on the major pentatonic and played at an extremely quick tempo, it launches into a barrage of major blues ideas that can challenge any southern rocker. Download Audio Example...
Example 6: āRockin Into The Nightā by .38 Special has a great southern rock solo and this line based on the famous tune begins with a minor pentatonic triplet sequence before progressing to the Picardy 3rd (B) and into a minor 6th interval, very common to southern blues. Download Audio Example...
There you have it guys and gals. I hope you enjoy this month's Lethal Guitar. Thank you for logging on and tuning it. See you next month and keep on rockinā!
The Spirit Fall trio: drummer Brian Blade (right) and saxophonist Chris Potter (center) joined Patitucci (left) for a single day at The Bunker. āThose guys are scary. It almost puts pressure on me, how good they are, because they get it really fast,ā says Patitucci.
Legendary bassist John Patitucci continues to explore the sound of a chord-less trio that balances melodicism with boundless harmonic freedomāand shares lessons he learned from his mentors Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter.
In 1959, Miles Davisā Kind of Blue and John Coltraneās Giant Stepsātwo of the most influential albums in jazz historyāwere recorded. Itās somewhat poetic that four-time Grammy-winning jazz bass icon John Patitucci was born that same year. In addition to a storied career as a bandleader, Patitucci cemented his legacy through his lengthy association with two giants of jazz: keyboardist Chick Corea, with whom Patitucci enjoyed a 10-year tenure as an original member of his Elektric and Akoustic bands, and saxophonist Wayne Shorterās quartet, of which he was a core member for 20 years. Patitucci has also worked with a whoās who of jazz elites like Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, and Michael Brecker.
What distinguishes Patitucci is that he is one of the few jazz musicians who simultaneously enjoys a vibrant career as a classical bassist and first-call session bassist. His rĆ©sumĆ©āwhich includes recordings with pop icons like Sting and Bon Jovi, and hundreds of film datesāis virtually unparalleled. Patitucci also composes classical music and is frequently commissioned to write music for string quartets and other chamber ensembles. Among his numerous compositions are a piece for 6-string electric bass and string orchestra that was performed with Suono e Oltre, a chamber orchestra in Italy. In short, Patitucci is the very rare jack of all trades who is also exceptional at all.
Freedom without Chords
Patitucciās latest release, Spirit Fall, is a trio album featuring Patitucci, drummer Brian Blade, and saxophonist Chris Potter. This instrumentation leaves out a traditional chordal instrument, and can be tricky to make sound full, as there is a large harmonic hole in the sonic space. But in the hands of master musicians, this setting offers more room for harmonic exploration and conversational interplay amongst the band members. Patitucci has been exploring this chord-less format since 2009ās Remembrance featuring Blade on drums and Joe Lovano on saxophone.Throughout Spirit Fall the trio employs a variety of textures and colors to make for an engaging listen. āPole Starā has an open feel with the counterpoint between acoustic bass and sax discreetly implying the underlying progression. āLipim,ā which means hope in Cameroonian, has a lively afrobeat groove and a ridiculous sax solo by Chris Potter. Like many of his solos on Spirt Fall, Potterās solo on āLipimā veers through several harmonic detours that would have likely been hampered if a chordal instrument were imposing the harmony. āSpirit Fallā and āThoughts and Dreamsā sees Patitucci using his 6-string electric to explore gorgeously haunting figures. The bass solo on āSpirit Fallā sees Patitucci almost accompanying himself as he alternates between low notes and chords against blistering single-note lines.
Even though Patitucci had the luxury of studio time, Spirit Fall was recorded quickly, with mostly first or second takes, and the occasional third take. The trio was able to record a powerful musical statement in such a short time because they are a working band as opposed to hired guns that might possibly play together for the first time at the session.
John Patitucci's Gear
āIām just a kid from Brooklyn,ā says Patitucci. It was his formative years spent with his older brother (who played guitar) that led him to the bass.
Photo by Dave Stapleton
Guitars
- Yamaha TRBJP2 Signature Model 6-String
- Yamaha Custom Semi-Hollow 6-String
- 1965 Fender P Bass (Used on āLipimā)
- Gagliano Double Bass
Amps
- Aguilar DB 751 for acoustic bass
- Aguilar Tone Hammer for electric bass
- Aguilar 4x10 cabinet
- Aguilar 1x12 cabinet
- Grace Design FELiX Version 2
- Grace Design m303 DI
Effects
- Line 6 HX Stomp
- Line 6 DL4
Strings and Accessories
- DāAddario Nickel Round Strings (.032-.045-.065-.085-.105-.130)
- Gruvgear Signature Straps
- Pirastro Evah Pirazzi Weich gauge
- Pirastro Perpetual
Prior to the recording, Patitucci sent demos out, and by the time they got to the studio they were ready to commit to tape. They finished the whole record in just one day without any rehearsals. āNot with those guys,ā says Patitucci. āThose guys are scary. It almost puts pressure on me, how good they are, because they get it really fast [laughs]. I was hoping that my good takes were theirs too.ā
Interestingly enough, while iconic chord-less trio albums by saxophonists like Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Joe Henderson played a big role in Patitucciās musical upbringing, he came to record with that instrumentation almost by accident. āWe were going to rehearse for that record [Remembrance], and [pianist] Brad Mehldau, who played on some tracks, couldnāt make the rehearsal,ā recalls Patitucci. āSo we rehearsed at Lovanoās house and it sounded so good I was almost like, āWow, maybe we should do the record as a trio.ā But I had all this music written that really was for the piano. So I said, āWell, maybe someday.ā And then finally we got around to it.ā
Spirit Fall was tailored to the sensibilities of Blade and Potter, both of whom Patitucci has played with a lot over the years. āWe have a relationship and we have a sound together already because of the way they play. Brianās sense of dynamics has made it easier for me to get the kind of acoustic bass sound live that I've always wanted to get. Itās not easy to do that if the drummer canāt play those wide dynamics like Brian can,ā explains Patitucci. āAnd Chris has been playing my music for years. Heās just an incredible interpreter of my music, and I love that. I remember using him in the early ā90s. Interestingly enough, around the time I did Imprint, I was using him and I was also using Mark Turner. And itās funny. I started teaching college [Patitucci was Professor of Jazz Studies at City College of New York and is currently teaching at Berklee College of Music] a lot in 2000, and all my students were trying to sound like those guys.āāAs a composer, I wanted to have a chance to have major control over the sound and how we did things, as opposed to a live record.ā
As a precursor to Spirit Fall, in 2022 Patitucci had recorded Live in Italy with the same lineup of Blade and Potter. He could have easily just done Spirit Falllive againwith the trio but this time he specifically chose to bring them into the studio. āAs a composer, I wanted to have a chance to have major control over the sound and how we did things, as opposed to a live record,ā explains Patitucci. āLive records are great, but I wanted to record in the studio with that band so we can get into some new compositions I was writing, and some through-composed things with the 6-string, as well as the acoustic.ā
How Chick Helped Turn Four into Six
Patitucci isnāt fond only of the traditional trio sans chordal instrument format. In fact, heās recorded in just about every context you can imagine. From completely solo bass on Soul of the Bass, to his Electric Guitar Quartet with two guitaristsāAdam Rogers and Steve Cardenas on Brooklyn, to guitar trio plus string quartet plus Chris Potter on Line by Line. Patitucci uses each situation as a way to grow musically.When Patitucci first started playing with Corea it was in the trio format, along with drummer Dave Weckl. Corea was a keyboardist who covered a huge sonic range and Patitucci saw this as an opportunity to push the creative envelope. āChick and I became very close. I had enormous respect and love for him and he taught me a lot. Thatās how I really discovered the 6-string, because I felt like I needed it orchestrationally to play in that band,ā says Patitucci. āI started playing with Chick and at first I played my 4-string, and itās a trio, but I have to blow on every song. And heās got all these synths, and Iām thinking, āMan, I need a low string, because heās playing all these low notes. I want to play the low notes.ā [laughs] I need a 5-string at least. Then I heard Anthony Jackson play the six. He was the pioneer who invented it.ā
Spirit Fall is the documentation of a working band exploring new music in the studio. It features all new compositions and an inventive take on āHouse of Jade,ā written by Patitucciās longtime mentor, Wayne Shorter.
Corea fronted the money for Patitucciās first 6-stringāa Ken Smithāand took some money out of his check every week to pay it off. The transition to the 6-string wasnāt immediate for Patitucci, however. There was actually a big learning curve to the new instrument. To make matters even more daunting, the first big tour was to begin two weeks after Patitucci received the new instrument. Despite all the potential risks, Corea was very encouraging. āChick was really patient. It was ridiculous. It was so hard. I was just a glutton for punishment,ā admits Patitucci. āI just wanted the sound, and I was so naive about what it would be like. When I got the 6-string, it was a couple of weeks before we started going out on major tours and I was clamming. Like I would go down to what I thought was the E string but was now the B string.ā
Once he got a handle on it, the 6-string allowed Patitucci to finally maximize the potential of his fluid soloing style. āI wanted to play the 6-string because when the blowing comes around, the C string helps me get over the top as a band,ā says Patitucci. āChick dug the fact that when I was blowing I wanted to sound more like a tenor player.ā
āWayne [Shorter] made me have the courage to play very little and hang a note up in the air.ā
Shortly after Patitucci joined his band, Corea convinced GRP Records to sign Patitucci, whose 1987 eponymous first solo album reached number 1 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart. Patitucci reflects, āThe two biggest long term influences in terms of mentoring and what they did for my career would have been Chick Corea and then Wayne Shorter.ā
The Spirit of Shorter
Patitucci first met Shorter in 1986, during the Chick, Wayne, and Al (Di Meola) tour. A year later Shorter asked Patitucci to record several tracks on his album, Phantom Navigator. This began his association with Shorter and led to Patitucci ultimately joining Shorterās quartet in 2000.
Itās fitting that the only non-original tune on Spirit Fall is a Shorter tune, āHouse of Jade.ā Shorterās highly individual approachāparticularly the electric stuff he was doing from the Atlantisperiodāshaped a lot of Patitucciās conception of music. āI was playing electric bass and all the tunes were through-composed, except the blowing was like on one chord. And, you know, thatās challenging, actually,ā reveals Patitucci. āAnd he was creating these incredible things, and he could do it with density or almost nothing, almost like one note. His lyricism and melodicism is so powerful that it really changed me. I was like, āWow, I want to play like that. I want to be able to have a sound that I can be confident enough about to leave a ton of space and be able to just let space happen.ā Like, he got that from Miles.ā
Moving to a 6-string bass wasnāt as natural for Patitucci as you might think. āWhen I got the 6-string, it was a couple of weeks before we started going out on major tours [with Chick Corea] and I was clamming.ā
The minimalist approach that Shorter used at times was a stark contrast to some of the over-the-top pyrotechnics Coreaās Elektric Band was known for. āI was always into melodies too, but yes, in Chickās band there were a lot of changes to play over, and sometimes a lot of fast tempos,ā says Patitucci. āIt wasnāt only chops, there were a lot of melodies and we played ballads too. I mean, I wanted to do that, but I didnāt have the courage to. Wayne made me have the courage to play very little and hang a note up in the air. With the 6-string, you can really do that. I started to realize that I was really interested in moving people in that way too.ā
The Journey of the Kid from Brooklyn
Subliminally, the transition from 4- to 6-string bass might harken back to Patitucciās childhood in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. He originally picked up the guitar, influenced by his brother Tom who had already been playing. Tom tried to teach him but ultimately the guitar just didnāt connect, and Tom sensed it. āHe just said, āWhy donāt you try the bass?āā recalls Patitucci. āBecause we can play together then.ā And thatās where it all began.
At 10, Patitucci got his first bass, a short-scale Sears Telstar bass that was hanging on a wall like a decoration down the street at somebodyās house on East 39th Street. āWe bought it for 10 bucks and I thought it was great,ā reflects Patitucci, who enjoyed rock ānā roll and James Jamersonās playing on Motown Records in his formative years.
When he was 13, Patitucciās family moved out to the West Coast. Soon after the move, Patitucci started learning the acoustic bass, and by the early ā80s, Patitucciās career started taking off. In 1996 he moved back to New York, where he continues to break new musical ground.
With a career spanning over four decades and still going strong, Patitucci has achieved the dream that many aspiring musicians long for. What is the secret to his success? āNobody knows the secret and anybody who tells you they know that is lying,ā says Patitucci. āI don't even deserve it. I think that God was really good to me and blessed me. He somehow allowed me to have my dream come true. I look at it now as a 65-year old guy and go, āWow, that was really a long shot.ā [laughs] Itās kind of unbelievable. You know what, I mean? Iām just this kid from Brooklyn, you know?āYouTube It
This trio rendition of the Beatlesā āAnd I Love Herā showcases John Patitucciās ability to add chordal textures on his 6-string bass to create a full sound, even without a conventional chordal instrument like guitar or piano.
The National New Yorker lived at the forefront of the emerging electric guitar industry, and in Memphis Minnieās hands, it came alive.
This National electric is just the tip of the iceberg of electric guitar history.
On a summer day in 1897, a girl named Lizzie Douglas was born on a farm in the middle of nowhere in Mississippi, the first of 13 siblings. When she was seven, her family moved closer to Memphis, Tennessee, and little Lizzie took up the banjo. Banjo led to guitar, guitar led to gigs, and gigs led to dreams. She was a prodigious talent, and āKidā Douglas ran away from home to play for tips on Beale Street when she was just a teenager. She began touring around the South, adopted the moniker Memphis Minnie, and eventually joined the circus for a few years.
(Are you not totally intrigued by the story of this incredible woman? Why did she run away from home? Why did she fall in love with the guitar? We havenāt even touched on how remarkable her songwriting is. This is a singular pioneer of guitar history, and we beseech you to read Woman with Guitar: Memphis Minnieās Blues by Beth and Paul Garon.)
Following the end of World War I, Hawaiian music enjoyed a rapid rise in popularity. On their travels around the U.S., musicians like Sol Hoāopiāi became fans of Louis Armstrong and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, leading to a great cross-pollination of Hawaiian music with jazz and blues. This potent combination proved popular and drew ever-larger audiences, which created a significant problem: How on earth would an audience of thousands hear the sound from a wimpy little acoustic guitar?
This art deco pickguard offers just a bit of pizzazz to an otherwise demure instrument.
In the late 1920s, George Beauchamp, John and Rudy Dopyera, Adolph Rickenbacker, and John Dopyeraās nephew Paul Barth endeavored to answer that question with a mechanically amplified guitar. Working together under Beauchamp and John Dopyeraās National String Instrument Corporation, they designed the first resonator guitar, which, like a Victrola, used a cone-shaped resonator built into the guitar to amplify the sound. It was definitely louder, but not quite loud enoughāespecially for the Hawaiian slide musicians. With the guitars laid on their laps, much of the sound projected straight up at the ceiling instead of toward the audience.
Barth and Beauchamp tackled this problem in the 1930s by designing a magnetic pickup, and Rickenbacker installed it in the first commercially successful electric instrument: a lap-steel guitar known affectionately as the āFrying Panā due to its distinctive shape. Suddenly, any stringed instrument could be as loud as your amplifier allowed, setting off a flurry of innovation. Electric guitars were born!
āAt the time it was positively futuristic, with its lack of f-holes and way-cool art deco design on the pickup.ā
By this time, Memphis Minnie was a bona fide star. She recorded for Columbia, Vocalion, and Decca Records. Her song āBumble Bee,ā featuring her driving guitar technique, became hugely popular and earned her a new nickname: the Queen of Country Blues. She was officially royalty, and her subjects needed to hear her game-changing playing. This is where she crossed paths with our old pals over at National.
National and other companies began adding pickups to so-called Spanish guitars, which they naturally called āElectric Spanish.ā (This term was famously abbreviated ES by the Gibson Guitar Corporation and used as a prefix on a wide variety of models.) In 1935, National made its first Electric Spanish guitar, renamed the New Yorker three years later. By todayās standards, itās modestly appointed. At the time it was positively futuristic, with its lack of f-holes and way-cool art deco design on the pickup.
Thereās buckle rash and the finish on the back of the neck is rubbed clean off in spots, but that just goes to show how well-loved this guitar has been.
Memphis Minnie had finally found an axe fit for a Queen. She was among the first blues guitarists to go electric, and the New Yorker fueled her already-upward trajectory. She recorded over 200 songs in her 25-year career, cementing her and the National New Yorkerās place in musical history.
Our National New Yorker was made in 1939 and shows perfect play wear as far as weāre concerned. Sure, thereās buckle rash and the finish on the back of the neck is rubbed clean off in spots, but structurally, this guitar is in great shape. Itās easy to imagine this guitar was lovingly wiped down each time it was put back in the case.
Thereās magic in this guitar, yāall. Every time we pick it up, we can feel Memphis Minnieās spirit enter the room. This guitar sounds fearless. Itās a survivor. This is a guitar that could inspire you to run away and join the circus, transcend genre and gender, and leave your own mark on music history. As a guitar store, watching guitars pass from musician to musician gives us a beautiful physical reminder of how history moves through generations. We canāt wait to see who joins this guitarās remarkable legacy.
SOURCES: blackpast.org, nps.gov, worldmusic.net, historylink.org, Memphis Music Hall of Fame, āMemphis Minnieās āScientific Soundā: Afro-Sonic Modernity and the Jukebox Era of the Bluesā from American Quarterly, āThe History of the Development of Electric Stringed Musical Instrumentsā by Stephen Errede, Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL.
With authentic stage-class Katana amp sounds, wireless music streaming, and advanced spatial technology, the KATANA:GO is designed to offer a premium sound experience without the need for amps or pedals.
BOSS announces the return of KATANA:GO, an ultra-compact headphone amplifier for daily jams with a guitar or bass. KATANA:GO puts authentic sounds from the stage-class BOSS Katana amp series at the instrumentās output jack, paired with wireless music streaming, sound editing, and learning tools on the userās smartphone. Advanced spatial technology provides a rich 3D audio experience, while BOSS Tone Exchange offers an infinite sound library to explore any musical style.
Offering all the features of the previous generation in a refreshed external design, KATANA:GO delivers premium sound for everyday playing without the hassle of amps, pedals, and computer interfaces. Users can simply plug it into their instrument, connect earbuds or headphones, call up a memory, and go. Onboard controls provide access to volume, memory selection, and other essential functions, while the built-in screen displays the tuner and current memory. The rechargeable battery offers up to five hours of continuous playing time, and the integrated 1/4-inch plug folds down to create a pocket-size package thatās ready to travel anywhere.
KATANA:GO drives sessions with genuine sounds from the best-selling Katana stage amp series. Guitar mode features 10 unique amp characters, including clean, crunch, the high-gain BOSS Brown type, two acoustic/electric guitar characters, and more. Thereās also a dedicated bass mode with Vintage, Modern, and Flat types directly ported from the Katana Bass amplifiers. Each mode includes a massive library of BOSS effects to explore, with deep sound customization available in the companion BOSS Tone Studio app for iOS and Android.
The innovative Stage Feel feature in KATANA:GO provides an immersive audio experience with advanced BOSS spatial technology. Presets allow the user to position the amp sound and backing music in different places in the sound field, giving the impression of playing with a backline on stage or jamming in a room with friends.
The guitar and bass modes in KATANA:GO each feature 30 memories loaded with ready-to-play sounds. BOSS Tone Studio allows the player to tweak preset memories, create sounds from scratch, or import Tone Setting memories created with stage-class Katana guitar and bass amplifiers. The app also provides integrated access to BOSS Tone Exchange, where users can download professionally curated Livesets and share sounds with the global BOSS community.
Pairing KATANA:GO with a smartphone offers a complete mobile solution to supercharge daily practice. Players can jam along with songs from their music library and tap into BOSS Tone Studioās Session feature to hone skills with YouTube learning content. Itās possible to build song lists, loop sections for focused study, and set timestamps to have KATANA:GO switch memories automatically while playing with YouTube backing tracks.
The versatile KATANA:GO functions as a USB audio interface for music production and online content creation on a computer or mobile device. External control of wah, volume, memory selection, and more are also supported via the optional EV-1-WL Wireless MIDI Expression Pedal and FS-1-WL Wireless Footswitch.
For more information, please visit boss.info.
In our third installment with Santa Cruz Guitar Company founder Richard Hoover, the master luthier shows PG's John Bohlinger how his team of builders assemble and construct guitars like a chef preparing food pairings. Hoover explains that the finer details like binding, headstock size and shape, internal bracing, and adhesives are critical players in shaping an instrument's sound. Finally, Richard explains how SCGC uses every inch of wood for making acoustic guitars or outside ventures like surfboards and art.