Whitesnake Christmas, New Video Collab ! Options

[Ben Higgins]

Hi guys - welcome to my new video collab !

Whitesnake Christmas !

 Whitesnake_Xmas.mp3 ( 1.29MB ) Number of downloads: 821


I've concocted a suitably slushy ballad for you, perfect for those big hair and pointy guitar moments. Instead of buying a bottle of wine and romancing your other half this festive season, why not submit a take to this instead ? It might have the same desired effect !

The overall key is E. Here are the chords that can be found in the backing.



I've joined the A5 rhythm guitar with the clean arppegios to form the Asus2/11+ chord but you can treat this is an A5 or A.

The E Major scale will work over the whole progression so if you want to, you can find the scale and use it as your base to compose your melodies. If you want to get a bit more technical you can approach each chord as a new movement and look at the notes found within that chord. You can pick out strong tones like the root, 3rd, 5th, 7th. You can use both approaches. Or you could even take a more modal approach. If you play the E Major scale but start it from the root note of another chord in the sequence, you will find the appropriate mode for that chord.For example, if you played through the scale of E Major but you started from A, you would be playing A Lydian.

Another effective way to handle major chords is to use the Major Pentatanic scale over the major chords like E and A.

For the F#Minor chord, you could use the F#Minor pentatonic but don't make the mistake of using the F#Minor scale, the F#Dorian mode would be better because the major 6th is a much better fit over this chord progression than the minor 6th. The G#m/5+ is an interesting chord. I'm sure you'll recognise the sound of this type of chord. To me, they're like halfway chords. They provide a bridge between one chord to another but they sound major overall. How do you approach a chord like this ? The root note is G# but the rest of the chord is basically E. So you can treat this chord the same way you would treat E. E Major scale or E Major Pentatonic.

Tempo is 92bpm.

I've let the end fade out.. my idea is that you will end your solo on a satisfactory note that can fade out and pave the way for the next solo.

As I've said, this is a VIDEO collab so I know there will be a VERY excited German & Finn right now.

-I'll need a video file (with audio if possible) I can download these straight from Youtube
-an isolated wav or mp3 of your solo.

Ok, let's pretend it's 1987, it's coming up to Xmas.. the fire is roaring in the grate, it's snowing outside. You've just had a romantic meal and some wine. Now you pick up your guitar... what do you play ?

Deadline is Saturday 21st December !

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

This post has been edited by Ben Higgins: Dec 11 2013, 05:59 PM

[Ben Higgins]

Friends, check it out - the video is done ! I've been hard at it, trying to get it ready before Xmas. As such, there's some instances where the synch is a bit out and some minor visual issues so I'm sorry about that ! But I hope you'll forgive me and enjoy the results nonetheless !

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...mp;#entry669450

As always, here's some feedback for y'all !

Nava - This was a great effort from you. It was an honour to host your first collab take I don't really have any criticisms to share here so just keep up the good work and keep writing your own solos !

Alisson Da Silva - Great solo. The phrasing is superb. The bending and vibrato very tasteful and mature. It's a shame about the tone here but maybe next time you'll manage to get the re-amping thing done. Good work !

Bleez - I like your tone here, man. Very thick - Iommi would be proud Your scale use is unusual.. you've chosen to go with the minor pentatonic which sounds strange to my ears as it is a major progression. For me, that's my only criticism, the playing itself is dandy !

Coffeeman - I'm highly impressed with you compositional skills. We're used to seeing you play REC's so it's a nice surprise to hear you playing your own phrases. Your tone is good here too !

H4H - Another strong turn from 'The Swede that isn't Kris or Yngwie' ! I like your intricate lines here.. they tumble and flow over the backing track like icicles melting under the winter sun.....

De Groot - A classic offering from D to the G ! I've got no complaints about this at all.. it's a bummer that last note died out too quickly but the rest of it was top notch !

Doug - It was great to welcome another new face to this collab. I like your tone when you go the higher notes in the middle. It really brought to mind those double tracked melodic solos of the 80's - very nice. The audio track itself that you sent was very inconsistent in terms of volume. I had to reduce the middle section so it didn't have a huge volume boost.. so try to avoid up and down volume in your takes if you can. Other than that, sa-weet

Caelumamittendum - This was a brilliant display of melody and tone. This really flowed like a knife through butter. Only thing I'd suggest to improve it is it would sound even more pleasing if you matched up those faster licks at the end so they were harmonised note for note. Excellent, well done

Jstcrsn - It's great to hear you've bagged yourself a much improved tone. This sounds like silk compared to the harsh distortions of your old takes. Note choice is good here too. Watch out for flat bends, try to get those bad boys on pitch. Nice work !

Gregc1 - The melody man is in da house again ! Very soulful take. I noticed your guitar was tuned a fraction above the backing track so I brought it down a few microtones in pitch to make it sit better. Nothing to add here, take the praise and go, haha !

Insiduous - Another welcome to a new face. It's great to have you guys in this ! You've chosen a good, powerful sound.. did you double track it ? It sounds like you did. That first pinch harmonic is perfect. Only criticism is that it feels too 'scalar', like you're going through patterns from A to B. My only suggestion would be to spend some time on phrasing and write more solos Brilliant ending as well.

Miguel - Very clever opening phrase. Waiting a beat before beginning a solo is a good trick that conveys experience to the listener.Watch out for bending too sharply, that can ruin a solo that was great until that point. Those double stops at 6:09 are simply excellent !

Sensible Jones - Another bewitching solo full of unusual harmonies. It's cool to hear harmonies that aren't 3rds. This is like Wishbone Ash meets Cacophony meets Boston. The open string licks were a nice touch too !

Slavenko - The only man who can push the boundaries of taste further with each collab ! I'm not sure if you're insane.. or a genius ? A couple of notes in the harmony sounded a bit disturbing but apart from those I think you can get away with everything in a chaotic 'Kerry King does Whitesnake' type of way ! Did you notice I kept your whammy madness at the end too ?

The Hef - The ladies man returns with his most epic video yet ! I like the theme you set with the solo. Using octaves for harmonies is always a strong move. Wait a minute... strong, catchy melodies, ballads, cheesy videos.... German.. Scorpions... damn it ! It just runs in the blood with you lot doesn't it ???

Tony K - This is a contrasting but welcome break from all our distorted solos. It works really well too. If you tighten up things like your ending run then it will be even more effective - good work !

Stacey D - I think we all love this take, the tinsel just rounds things off nciely ! Again, nice use of harmonies.. there's been some real inventive use of harmonies in this collab. You mix up the pacing of your phrasing very effectively.. from bends to ascending runs to slides. This is what a solo is all about. That whammy ending is perfect as well.

Zeus - It's an honour for us to welcome the supreme Greek God of the Sky on this collab. That tone is really sexy.. you've actually achieved a 1987, John Sykes with the 'Snake type of tone. The phrasing is top notch as well. Your vibrato is also very effective. I like !

Todd Simpson - T-Sim, this is my fave collab take from you ever. The tapping fest is brutally melodic (if there's such a thing) and the tone is just apple pie and ice cream ! The guitars layered underneath the tapping just add that extra dimension

Warrior of the Light - You definitely have to hold the champion's trophy alongside the Hef for the coolest collab video ! For some reason, the video was glitchy when I dropped it into my project so sorry about that I like the theme you've chosen.. like many in the collab you've gone for a slow, harmonised journey into stadium ballad glory. It is effective, there's no denying it. I love the bend you climb up to at the end as well. But dude, how did you get it to sound exactly like a bagpipe on that last note ? Can you hear what I mean ?

WeePee - A nice, measured take from Scando Bastardo ! This was actually very restrained for you.. I was expecting some kind of craziness in there somewhere but you fooled me I like it, everything fits well, nothing to complain about. The last harmonised note is great.. if anything I could have had more of that

Cosmin - Love your melodies here man ! Benginning a solo on the last bar before it actually 'starts' is another great technique to sound more experienced. It avoids making a player sound like they're beginning and ending with exercises from point A to B etc.. along with Miguel's approach of delaying the solo a beat, beginning it a beat early is also a technique to consider. Thanks C-Maestro for this demonstration ! Btw, for some reason I got the synch wrong with your video, sorry about that. It wouldn't stream properly in the project so I didn't know until it was too late. But it's Christmas - just have a few drinks and watch it with hazy vision.. you'll never notice !

Thanks to everyone for participating in this collab.. this has been the biggest & busiest collab I've been involved in. I think it's very fitting for the end of the year. May you all have a fantastic Christmas !!

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

[VilleFIN]

WeePee - A nice, measured take from Scando Bastardo ! This was actually very restrained for you.. I was expecting some kind of craziness in there somewhere but you fooled me I like it, everything fits well, nothing to complain about. The last harmonised note is great.. if anything I could have had more of that

Well, bears don't always roar - sometimes they eat berries
Thanks for the feedback as always...

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

This post has been edited by WeePee: Dec 27 2013, 09:13 AM

[Cosmin Lupu]

Well, bears don't always roar - sometimes they eat berries

Great thought and also - I enjoyed the note choice you had - Ben used it really beautifully to link the take with mine

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!