Category: Level Up! english

Danish Spring – Level Up! (english)

This article is part of the series “Level Up! – 42 guitar solos for a better sex life”

Meaning of the Solo

Do you know how spring time in Denmark feels? – Neither do I

Tonal analysis

Harmonic analysis: For this, I write the chords again side by side and add the thirds and fifths in the lines below:

Akkord | F# | B  | G | D  | A  |
Terz   | A# | D  | B | F# | C# |
Quinte | C# | F# | D | A  | E  |

Now I sort the tones in the order of their occurrence: B C# D E F# G A A A#

You see we have a little problem because A and A# occur together, so we cannot determine  the key to 100%.

It could be a natural minor (A) as well as a harmonic minor (A#). Bummer, what do we do now?

We choose a natural minor and only bring the A# when the F# major chord comes in. Done!

Bars 1 to 4

We start with an F# major arpeggio at the 9th fret and play to the target note D (third of Bm) in bar 2.

Then we bring in some nice syncopation again. Target notes are G and D (root and fifth of G major).

As well as F# and G (third and fourth of D major), and C# (third of A major).

Bars 5 to 8

We repeat the theme from bars 1 and 2, but spice up the target tone D with a trill (fast hammer-on/pull-off).

Then we increase the tension with the 12th position. Target notes D as before and E (fifth of A major).

Bars 9 to 10

A few smooth bendings over F# major with the target notes F# and C#, over B minor F# and D.

Bars 11 to 12

Then alternate picking with the complete B minor scale.

Bars 13 to 14

Triolic sweep picking with F# major arpeggio, and a small run with target F#.

Bars 15 to 16

Then it continues in triplets with B minor down to the target note B in bar 16. And that’s it

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Level Up! – Overview (english)

Crapping on your Throne Harmonization – Level Up! (english)

This article is part of the series “Level Up! – 42 guitar solos for a better sex life”

Maybe you have notices that there is a second lead guitar in the Crapping on your Throne solo

Take a listen again

Now you might ask yourself how to add a second guitar voice to a melody.
The easiest way to create a good sounding second voice is to harmonize with diatonic thirds.

Ok, so a third is an interval with 3 (minor third) or 4 (major third) semitones distance to the fundamental.

But when do I take 3 semitone steps and when do I take 4?
This is hidden in the word “diatonic” thirds: scale thirds.

Since we are still in E major, we can clearly identify the thirds:

Our melody notes in bars 3 and 4 are E, F#, and D#; the corresponding thirds are G#, A, and F#.
The second voice then looks like this:

All right, but we are applying the concept economically.
We only add the second voice in bar 3 / 4 and bar 7 / 8.

To add a little pepper to the soup, a second voice is added to the last four bars.
But since we have already gone extremely far up on the fingerboard in the main voice, the second voice doesn’t come above but below.
You just play the thirds an octave lower and Bob’s your uncle!

Bars 13 to 14

Bars 15 to 16

Backing Track

Video

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Danish Spring

Voices in my Head – Level Up! (english)

Meaning of the Solo

Voices in your head – normal

Listening to them – common

Arguing with them – acceptable

Losing the argument – BIG PROBLEM

Tonal analysis

Since the rhythm guitar only picks single notes, we have to collect them shortly:

On the D string D E F G A C

These notes could be from C major or F major, depending on whether we add B flat or B flat.

On the G string G A B C D F

These notes could be from either F major or B flat major, depending on whether we add E or B flat.

With 6 out of 7 we can’t win a key jackpot yet: we have to choose a key.

For the first part, I take C major, so I still bring the B into play, for the second part from bar 9,
I take F major and play the E.

But since D and G are each the tonal center, we can also say that we don’t play C major but D Dorian,
or not F major but G Dorian. But that would almost be showing off.

Bars 1 to 4

With a little tapping action, we enter the first part of the solo.

Accent Shifting is the magic word here because we play groups of three to even six- tenths.
This shifts the emphasis further and further back until, after five repetitions, we end up on a difficult count again.

Tonally, the following results from the tones of the rhythm guitar to the arpeggios:

Bar 1: D + D E F -> Dm9

Bar 2: F + A B C -> F#11

Bar 3: C + E F G -> Cadd11

Bar 4: A + C D E -> Aadd11

Bar 5: D + F G A -> Dadd11

Bar 6: F + A B C -> Fadd#11

Bar 7: G + B C D -> Gadd11

Bar 8: same as bar 7

Bars 9 to 10

Here it goes with a little lick over two strings into the second part of the solo.

Bars 11 to 12

We increase tension with sixteenth notes.

Bars 13 to 14

These bars are simply a repetition of bars 9 and 10, but we have to slide from the last note into the first note of bar 15.

Bars 15 to 16

String Skipping at its best. Pimped up with little slides, we land in our target tone, D. Bravo!

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Joe Would Be Proud

Crapping on your Throne – Level Up! (english)


This article is part of the series “Level Up! – 42 guitar solos for a better sex life”

Meaning of the Solo

Work hard in silence. Let success make the noise.
And then: take a dump right on their desks!
Take a listen

Tonal analysis

Chord analysis

  • E – G# – B
  • A – C# – E
  • C# – E – G#
  • B – F# – D#

And put in the right order: E – F# – G# – A – B – C# – D#

That doesn’t make things difficult for us, we’re dealing with a pronounced E major as a key.

Bars 1 to 4

We begin cozily with a syncopated figure of eighth notes. The target here is the E, root of E major and fifth of A major.
A few bendings loosen everything up a bit.

Bars 5 to 8

We repeat the melody from bars 1 and 2, but now we take the melody to higher layers to build up tension.

Bars 9 to 12

We continue with a string skipping episode that takes us to the 21st fret on the high E-string.

Bars 13 to 16

To increase the tension further, we now take out the sixteenths.
We play notes in groups of three, which shifts the emphasis within the group of sixteenths, this is called accent shifting.
With the target tone E, we are also back on the safe side.

Backing Track

Video

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Crapping on your Throne Harmonization

Blood Angel – Level Up! (english)

This article is part of the series “Level Up! – 42 guitar solos for a better sex life”

Meaning of the Solo

When you dig to deep in your nose, it might get bloody

Tonal analysis

The chords are Em, D and C. So, we are dealing with the key G major or E minor.

Bars 1 to 4

Let’s start by building a motif. Our motif starts on the 3 of the first bar and goes to the 2 of the next bar (green circle).

Our motif becomes rhythmically interesting through the syncopations.

The motif is repeated four times, but the second time I only change the last two strokes.

The third time I move one string up, the fourth time also up to the 17th fret. So, we increase tension by moving the motif over the fretboard.

Bars 5 to 8

We can build up even more tension if we play rhythmically denser. That’s why I also add the semiquaver triplets in bar 5.

In bar 6 I play the original motif from bar 1 again, but now on the G and D strings.

This changes the sound because the lower strings sound a bit muffled, and also the pinch harmonics have a different sound.

In bar 7 I create some attention with a small string skipping concept before we move on to the target tone E with relaxed eighth-note triplets (bending from the 22nd fret).

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Joe Would Be Proud

Into the Darkness – Level Up! (english)

This article is part of the series “Level Up! – 42 guitar solos for a better sex life”

Meaning of the Solo

Standing at a crossroad in life, our hero might chose the path to the dark side of chocolate.

Bar 1

Don’t choke on it. The first bar got it all figured out. Melody Tapping Deluxe.
So, here’s what we’re going to do: We take a normal E minor arpeggio (green) and tap it with the melody (red).

If this is too fast for you, here is the melody again, one by one:

There is one more special feature. The last note in the bar is an F sharp instead of a G. This is due to some mechanical reasons.

The next arpeggio in bar 2 is a C major arpeggio where the 15th fret is tapped, so I have to make room for this.

Bars 2 to 4

What can I say? I pull the same boot in bars two and three.

The arpeggios are C major and B minor. In bar four, I finish the phrase with a relaxed quarter triplet run.

Bars 5 to 8

That’s a cool topic. I just have to repeat it.
That’s why there’s nothing new in bars 5 to 7.

The triplet run in bar 8 has a few other notes, but that’s just it.

Bars 9 to 12

Now things are getting a little more exciting again.

The following bars could be summarized as “call and response”.
In bar 9 I call and in bar 10 I answer one octave higher (response) with a similar motif.
I repeat this in bar 11 and finish with a slightly different phrase in bar 12.

Bars 13 to 16

The last part is not for introverts: here you have to get out of your shell, as Attila Dorn from Powerwolf would say.

A little shredding part in E minor. The interesting thing about it is that we loosen up the run a bit by grouping 6 notes each.

This leads to accent shifts which is good against scale boredom.

Since our basic tempo of almost 160 BPM is already quite sporty, we need a solid picking technique for this part.

I tried to work with Economy Picking here.

Economy Picking is a mixture of Alternate and Sweep Picking.

You pick Alternate first but keep the picking direction when changing strings if the direction of the string change is the same as the picking direction before the change.

Have fun playing!

Full Track

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Blood Angel

Beyond the Veil Harmonization – Level Up! (english)

This article is part of the series “Level Up! – 42 guitar solos for a better sex life”

For the remastered track I’ve created a second voice in the solo for Beyond the Veil. Here we go!

Bars 1 to 5

Since the pitch of the first voice is considerably higher, I prefer to put a third below it. That’s it.

Bars 6 to 9

In the tapping part, I wasn’t so sure that a third fits, or rather I wanted to keep the cool tapping pattern and therefore remain a fifth below the first voice.

Bars 10 to 13

Thirds are the safe bank here again. The second voice follows the first directly.

Bars 14 to 17

So, we’ve already had a fifth. What else is suitable for elegant harmonization?
Yup, exactly fourths will work, too! Listen to the old Scorpions classics.

Full Track

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Dream

Level Up! – Overview (english)

Here you find the overview of my book

“Level Up! – 42 guitar solos for a better sex life”

Dream Harmonization – Level Up! (english)

This article is part of the series “Level Up! – 42 guitar solos for a better sex life”

For the album version of Beyond the Veil, I’ve recorded a second voice in bars 13 to 16.

Of course, I don’t want to keep this from you:

Simply play the original motif a third higher. That’s it!

Full Track

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Into the Darkness

Dream – Level Up! (english)

This article is part of the series “Level Up! – 42 guitar solos for a better sex life”

Meaning of the song

Everyone’s got a dream. So let’s dream big, dream on!

Tonal analysis

Okay, what’s happening? The chords of the accompaniment are as follows:

Three chords and good. That’s the way it has to be.
Quick analysis:

Chord B minor G major F# minor
Third D B A
Fifth F# D C#

Let’s get to the solo on those chords.

Bars 1 to 4

I start off very comfortable with a fifth (F#) and the root of B minor and let it ring. You can do that confidently if the tone matches the chord, as in this case.

Then it continues comfortably. I play a G and bend it up to the A.

A is the major ninth to G major and at the same time already the third of the next chord F# minor.

So, I give a hint of the direction of the journey. I arrive in F# minor at the latest with the C# (fifth of F# minor) at count time 4.

Bars 5 to 8

More dynamics, please. How’s it going? In bar 5 it goes up (E-string 14th fret),
in bar 7 I add eighth notes, so rhythmically denser.

It’s interesting that in bar 7 a D major sounds over G major.

Why does that work?

D-Major consists of D-F#-A.

D is the fifth of G and A the major ninth, as mentioned earlier.

F# is the major seventh to G major, doesn’t sound so great normally.

But in this case, it’s not so bad, since F# comes on the count 1+ and is, therefore, a passing note.

Bars 9 to 12

Howdy! We tighten the noose: more eighths, string skipping, double stops, and syncopation.
Everything a guitar cowboy should be able to do.

Bars 13 to 16

Rhythmically even denser by bringing out the triplets.

The B minor scale now serves as the tone material.

But there are several minor scales, which one do you mean exactly?

Correct, we differentiate between:

Natural, harmonic minor and melodic minor.

Which one do I take now? I can’t decide, I fluctuate between natural and harmonic. They only differ in one tone, the A or A#.

At the beginning of a triplet run I take A# (harmonic minor) and then in bar 14 I take the A again.

In bar 15 I take the A# again for a double stop.

Bars 17 to 20

Hell bend for leather! Bendings till you have to call the ambulance!

Bars 21 to 22

A nice Open String Lick prepares us for the final.

Bars 23 to 24

Now only a tiny run and a tasteful bending on our target tone C#. Voilà!

Full Track

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Dream Harmonization