Steve Lukather - Solos, Licks and Style Analysis [PDF]

Citation preview

Steve Lukather Solos, licks and style analysis



By Magnus Carls son



Version: 1.0



Steve Lukather Solos, licks and style analysis Big hugs to our beloved dog Sixten who kept me company during
 late night hours in the man cave while working on this project.



Style analysis



5



Introduction



7



Picking and vibrato



7



Bends



8



Slides



10



Passing notes and chromatics



10



Scale runs



11



Pedal notes



12



Blues licks



12



Whammy bar



13



Solos



15



A Clue



17



Rockmaker (End solo)



18



Hold The Line



19



All Us Boys



21



All Us Boys (End solo)



22



Mama



23



White Sister



24



White Sister (End solo)



25



Breakdown Dead Ahead



27



Angel You



28



You Got Some Imagination



29



Survival



30



Back On The Road



31



Back On The Road (End solo)



32



Talk To Ya Later



33



Without You



34



Goodbye Elenore



35



Physical



36



Rosanna



37



Rosanna (End solo)



38



I Won’t Hold You back



39



Good For You



40



Lovers In The Night



41



Lovers In The Night (End solo)



42



She’s Still Mine



43



Wrong Side Of The Tracks



44



Never Gonna Let You Go



45



All Right



46



Running With The Night



47



Running With The Night (End solo)



48



Hasty Heart



50



Civilized Man



51



Carmen



52



Angel Don’t Cry



53



How Does It Feel



54



Isolation



55



Queen Of The Publication



56



Starlicks (Intro)



57



I’ll Be Over You



59



I’ll Be Over You (End solo)



60



Pamela



61



These Chains



62



These Chains (End solo)



63



It’s Only My Heart



65



It’s Only My Heart (End solo)



66



Forever Eyes



67



Animal



68



Look Before You Leap



69



Georgy Porgy (Live)



70



I’ll Be Over You (End solo, Live)



71



Licks Appendix: Notation guide



73








Style analysis



5



6



Introduction Steve Lukather can not merely be described as a product of different techniques, playing ideas and licks. His playing and musicianship goes much deeper than that. Nor are there any ”learn to play like Steve Lukather in 5 minutes” tricks. There are however key elements that makes him easily identifiable and in this chapter we’re gonna have a look at them, at least the ones I like and try to incorporate into my own playing. Once you’ve become familiar with these you’ll start to recognize them instantly in his playing. In addition to these key elements it’s also important to realize that his whole approach to playing the guitar is equally as important as the notes he plays. Steve Lukather plays with attitude. Period. It doesn’t matter if he’s playing a short melodic solo in a ballad or tearing it up at The Baked Potato, when he takes a solo he really steps out and plays like there’s no tomorrow.



Picking and vibrato The way a player picks and the vibrato that is applied is fundamental and unique, like a finger print, and can really make or break the sound. A couple of players all playing the same simple phrase and through the same gear will be easy identifiable based on the way they pick and how they apply the vibrato. Steve Lukather picks hard and really digs in, and sometimes even one or two of the lower strings (relative to the string he’s primarily gonna strike) are struck as well, but being muted by his right hand. As a general rule of thumb he also picks every note, mostly using alternate picking. Each guitarists vibrato is individual and cannot really be described in words, you have to listen to it. However, if I were to describe Steve Lukather's vibrato I’d say it’s wide and slow with lots of soul to it. Sometimes it really helps to actually see up close what’s going on. Back in the mid 80’s I bought the Starlicks audio tape which I studied a lot. A few years later I also got hold of a copy of the video version. To see up close how much vibrato he really was applying to the notes and how he attacked the strings was a real eye opener.



7



Bends Hold bend ”Hold bend” means that a bend is performed, and while holding that bend, another note is fretted on the same and/or another string.



Listen to the last phrase in the solo from Rosanna (bar 5) for a good example of this.



Wide bends A wide bend is at least a minor third bend and they contribute to the aggressiveness in Steve Lukather's playing.



You can hear a good example of it in the end solo from Rosanna (bar 4).



Slow bend and slow release This is a way of creating tension by bending or releasing a bend at a slower pace than usual, creating a tension begging to be resolved which happens when the target pitch is reached.



You can hear this type of bend in the end solo from These Chains (bar 12). When doing a slow release the note is often picked repeatedly while the bend is released.



This can also be heard in the end solo from These Chains (bar 2).
 8



Syncopated bends Steve Lukather if very ”on” in his playing and as a consequence of this he often syncopates a bend a sixteen note ahead of the beat instead of playing it straight on the beat.



The start of the solo from She’s Still Mine is a good example of this.



Bends inside a phrase When Steve Lukather plays scale runs based on the minor pentatonic scale he often incorporates bends which give them a more bluesy feel.



Listen for instance to the intro solo from Starlicks (bar 12-13). One technique that really is a trademark of his is to suddenly stop in the middle of a phrase, bend a note without picking it, and then immediately pick the note and release the bend.



It’s a relative simple technique but it lends a very nice crying vocal quality to a phrase. A good example of this can be heard in the solo from It’s Only My Heart (bar 5-6).



The ”Hendrix string grab” bend This one is performed by bending a note on the E or B string and at the same time pushing the lower adjacent string, using the same finger. Then you grab, still using the same finger, the note on the same fret but on the lower adjacent string, picks it and releases the bend.



You can hear this in the solo from Civilized Man (bar 8).
 9



Slides Position shifting Steve Lukather is definitely not a box type player that stays in one position on the neck. He moves around the neck a lot and often uses slides to shift position. A consequence of the slides are that they also functions as a ”breath” between phrases and contributes to a vocal quality of the solos.



Combined bend, slide and pull off This is a really neat technique where a bend, a slide and a pull off is combined resulting in a short chromatic lick. It takes some practice to get this right but it’s rewarding. It’s also a nice way to shift position on the neck.



For a good example of this, listen to the live solo from George Porgy (bar 3-4)



Passing notes and chromatics One of the things that really sets Steve Lukather apart from other rock guitarists is how he stretches out and plays a bit ”outside”, which makes for interesting and flowing lines. A lot of the times, at least in the solos that are more in the pop and rock genre, this sound is achieved by the use of passing notes. These are notes that do not belong to the actual scale, pentatonic, natural minor, dorian or whatever scale is used, and if you stay on these notes for too long they will sound quite awful. But if they are used just as passing notes they create a chromatic movement that sounds really nice and also creates a bit of tension.



10



One of the best examples of this is the classic chromatic lick from the end solo of Rosanna (bar 5-7). Sometimes a chromatic line is created more from a shape that is moved in half steps as opposed to using passing notes in a scale.



A good example of this can be heard in the solo from Breakdown Dead Ahead (bar 7).



Scale runs Descending triplets This is a nice type of run that to me sounds like a waterfall of notes. Notice how the first and/or last triplet are often played twice.



A run similar to the example above can be heard in the solo from How Does It Feel (bar 6)



Ascending triplets This type of run is basically the pentatonic scale played in groups of three where every group starts with a slide into it. Besides the fact that it sounds good it’s also an effective and easy way to move a large distance on the neck



Other scale sequences This is basically taking a major scale and play it in groups of notes. A simple example of this would be like the one below.



11



By changing how many notes there are in a group and where you come back to start the new group of notes in the scale will make a significant difference and the two following examples would be more in the style of Steve Lukather.



Pedal notes This is a technique where a note in a phrase is kept constant and you keep bouncing back to that note. This technique is also really handy in that you can stay in one position and still make something happen while you’re waiting to hit a specific note on a specific beat.



Listen to the solo from These Chains (bar 10) for a good example of this.



Blues licks Steve Lukather has a strong blues feel in his playing and he also frequently uses one of the oldest and most common blues licks known to man. His way though is to play it repeatedly at high speed creating an almost furious burst of notes. The rhythm within the lick can vary and be all sixteen notes, combined sixteen notes and sixteen notes triplets or even a quintuplet.



These are a lot of solos where this phrase can heard, for instance in the solo from Lovers In The Night (bar 6). 12



Whammy bar Changing the attack This is a bit more subtle use where the whammy bar is used to change the attack of a note. It’s also not uncommon that it’s combined with a slide and sometimes also a hammer on and/or a pull off.



Listen to start of the solo from It’s Only My Heart for a good of example of this. Sometimes it’s also used in a more scale type pattern.



The ending of the solo from Pamela (bar 4) is a good example of this.



Effects Steve Lukather uses the whammy bar as an effect in three ways essentially. The first one is in conjunction with a double stop that includes a bend and the whammy bar is used to enhance the ”ugliness” that is created when playing a double stop with a distorted sound.



The second one is to hit a natural harmonic, for instance the G string on the fifth fret, and then either do a dive on the whammy bar or repeatedly push it down and then release it, creating a sound almost like a police siren.



13



The third one is to do a trill using hammer ons and pull offs while the whammy bar is slowly pressed down.



14








Solos



15



16



A Clue



17



Rockmaker (End solo)



18



Hold The Line



19








20



All Us Boys



21



All Us Boys (End solo)



22



Mama



23



White Sister



24



White Sister (End solo)



25








26



Breakdown Dead Ahead



27



Angel You



28



You Got Some Imagination



29



Survival



30



Back On The Road



31



Back On The Road (End solo)



32



Talk To Ya Later



33



Without You



34



Goodbye Elenore



35



Physical



36



Rosanna



37



Rosanna (End solo)



38



I Won’t Hold You back



39



Good For You



40



Lovers In The Night



41



Lovers In The Night (End solo)



42



She’s Still Mine



43



Wrong Side Of The Tracks



44



Never Gonna Let You Go



45



All Right



46



Running With The Night



47



Running With The Night (End solo)



48








49



Hasty Heart



50



Civilized Man



51



Carmen



52



Angel Don’t Cry



53



How Does It Feel



54



Isolation



55



Queen Of The Publication



56



Starlicks (Intro)



57








58



I’ll Be Over You



59



I’ll Be Over You (End solo)



60



Pamela



61



These Chains



62



These Chains (End solo)



63








64



It’s Only My Heart



65



It’s Only My Heart (End solo)



66



Forever Eyes



67



Animal



68



Look Before You Leap



69



Georgy Porgy (Live)



70



I’ll Be Over You (End solo, Live)



71








72








Licks



73



74



This last chapter provides you with a selection of licks in the style of Steve Lukather and they serve two purposes. The first one is just to provide you with a couple of licks that can be used to spice up a solo and give it a Steve Lukather touch. The second one is to serve as a base for you to make up your own licks based on the techniques and musical ideas presented here. For the sake of uniformity all of the licks are in C major/A minor, even though in some cases it might not be an ideal key due to specific fingerings needed. A lot of the licks will work for more than one chord so use your ears and experiment. Licks that are based around the A minor pentatonic may also very well work over a blues progression in A major, once again use your ears. My advice is to record a couple of chord progressions in the key of C major/A minor, preferably in different tempos and grooves, and just fool around with the licks. Use whatever techniques and fingerings that work best for you, split or combine the licks, get them under your fingers and make them a natural part of your playing. Also work on ways to connect them since what’s happening in between the licks are equally as important. You don’t wanna sound like a guitarist that only spits out a series of well practiced licks out of context. Last but not least, don’t forget to work on your tone, feel, timing, pick attack, vibrato, slides, bends etc. This is primarily what makes great guitarists sound great, more so then what notes they play.



75








76




 77




 78




 79








80



Appendix: Notation guide Bends and slides



Legato, whammy bar and vibrato



Miscellaneous



Steve Lukather, legendary guitarist in Toto and one of the most in demand session musicians of all time. The artists he has recorded with reads like an encyclopedia of pop and rock and includes Boz Scaggs, Earth, Wind & Fire, Al Jarreau, Chicago, Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Don Henley, Joni Mitchell, Cher, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney just to name a few. His ability to combine the most soulful melodic playing with blazing runs up and down the neck, all with an attitude like there’s no tomorrow, makes him my number one favorite guitarist. Ever since the mid 80’s his playing has had a huge influence on me and this is my take on putting it all into words and sheet music. This book focuses on the years 1977 to 1990 and contains the following: Style analysis: A walkthrough of the various key elements in Steve Lukather’s playing that makes him sound like, well… Steve Lukather. Solos: Note for note transcriptions of 50 of his best, and in some cases most famous, solos. Licks: A tasty selection of licks that will spice up your solos and give them an instant Steve Lukather touch. I reserve the rights to all of the material presented here, except for the photos (Glen La Ferman [front page, p. 5], unknown [p. 15, p. 73, rear page]). However, I’d be more than happy if you use and share this material as long as I’m credited, and as long it’s not for commercial/profitable use. [Steve Lukather Transcriptions] Download the current version (version number can be found on the back of the front page). Like Follow Share Comment Donate if you want to support my work. Contact me if you find any inaccuracies that needs to be corrected or if you wanna get in touch with me for other reasons. Magnus Carlsson