For me, Tommy Bolin was one of the finest rock guitarists of his time and unfortunately passed away far too soon. He took over from my favourite player, Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple..not an enviable task by any means, and bought a whole new funky feel to that band. There is only one Deep Purple studio album with Tommy, "Come Taste The Band", and I highly recommend it if you like your hard rock to have elements of soul and funk.
Todays lick is really simple in one sense...but..contains TONS of information. I lifted if from the song "Getting Tighter" on the aforementioned album and it's a classic funk rock lick that is ALL about the phrasing. Pay careful attention to the staccato notes and the way the quick bend is choked off. Be sure to listen to the original to hear how Tommy makes the lick sound so percussive and funky (that word again!). It's played over an F7#9 type chord, and scale wise it's the classic rock mix of Pentatonic/Mixolydian/Dorian..all in one small phrase!.
Here's how it looks:
And how it sounds:
http://www.box.net/shared/2a2i5oo3d8gvv68g5b9z
Whatever level you're at, this is a really cool and useful phrase to get under your fingers. It's not too fast or hard, but you need to make it dance!
Have fun!
Todays lick is really simple in one sense...but..contains TONS of information. I lifted if from the song "Getting Tighter" on the aforementioned album and it's a classic funk rock lick that is ALL about the phrasing. Pay careful attention to the staccato notes and the way the quick bend is choked off. Be sure to listen to the original to hear how Tommy makes the lick sound so percussive and funky (that word again!). It's played over an F7#9 type chord, and scale wise it's the classic rock mix of Pentatonic/Mixolydian/Dorian..all in one small phrase!.
Here's how it looks:
And how it sounds:
http://www.box.net/shared/2a2i5oo3d8gvv68g5b9z
Whatever level you're at, this is a really cool and useful phrase to get under your fingers. It's not too fast or hard, but you need to make it dance!
Have fun!
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