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[Henry Dietzel]

Hey GMC my name is Hammerin Hank

I currently live in Boston Massachusetts. I am 28 years old and have been writing music and playing guitar on and off for 10 years. I work as a mortgage lender during the day but I am a musician. I have played in bands across the country throughout the years and have enjoyed music since a young age.

There are so, so, many musicians and guitarists I enjoy. Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia, Eric Johnson, Johny Greenwood, Slash, Larry Carlton, Marty Friedman, and especially all of you at GMC…..so many exceptional players here.

I am currently recovering from tendonitis and I am trying to get back in the swing of things slowly so this site has already proven to be very valuable for me. The catalog of players and knowledge here is like no other I have come across on the web ever.
(Thanks Kris “the GMC genius”)

Other than music, which takes up a good part of my day, I enjoy spending time with my lady having fun and trying to stay busy. I am working on getting the proper setup for video lessons so this is just an audio lesson today. I have received so much help from all of you already I feel it is time to give back a little with this lesson.

There are many things I am still unfamiliar with regarding music, drum programming for instance so please bear with me on the quality of this. I recorded the backing track using my keyboard for bass and drums so excuse the sound....I'm working on learning how to program.


I hope my choice of riffs and playing style will inspire you.

This lesson will be focusing mainly on the solo section from a song that was written a few years back. The title of the track is Rooftops. In this lesson I will be breaking the solo into *4 parts*. I have found practicing long riffs in parts allows you to get the riffs perfected easier. During this lesson I will be incorporating hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, vibrato, along with bending and some legato.

Are you…ready?.....Let’s get into it.....

The backing track is mainly focused on a variation of B maj and A maj
Give a listen to the complete track to get the strumming pattern down.
Here it is

e|---0--0-0----0---------|---0--0-0----0---------|
b|---0--0-0----0---------|---0--0-0----0---------|
g|---8--8-8----6---------|---8--8-8----6---------|
d|---9--9-9----7---------|---9--9-9----7--—-7/9--|
a|---9--9-9----7--—-7/9--|---9--9-9----7----—----|
e|---7--7-7----5---------|---7--7-7----5---------|

The solo section focuses on the B dorian with a little improvising on my part.
I add a few notes that are not part of the mode as you will notice



These are all the notes I use to play the entire solo



Here is the complete track and how it should sound. Listen to it a few times to get familiar with it.

 rooftops_solo_WBT_90bpm.mp3 ( 393.09K ) Number of downloads: 952




Ok now that you've listen to it let's move forward breaking this into the 4 parts I discussed earlier.
I will briefly explain each part followed by audio of each riff. First I will play the riff slow and then
at regular speed.

*Part 1*

This first example incorporates the hammer-on, pull-off, and slide technique. The x's represent a mute.
Using your left hand you will want to mute the strings and pick down stroke, upstroke. I have posted
backing tracks at the bottom please utilize these for practicing all 4 sections individually.
 part_1.mp3 ( 251.47K ) Number of downloads: 514

e|-----------------|–----------------------------|
b|-----------------|-----------------------------|
g|-------x-x-------|–7h9p7\6-----6h7p6-----------|
d|-------x-x---7h9-|–---------9---------9-7-9----|
a|-7h9---x-x-------|–-------------------------9\-|
e|-----------------|–----------------------------|


Got it down? Great, let's continue....

*Part 2*

This next section I continue using the same techniques as before now playing some notes legato.
At the end the ~ symbol represents vibrato.
 part_2.mp3 ( 240.84K ) Number of downloads: 394

e|-----------------7h9h10p9p7------7---------|
b|----------7h9h10-------------10-----10/12--|
g|--7h9h10-----------------------------------|
d|-------------------------------------------|
a|-------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------|

e|----------10-14p10-12p10-9-10-9h10p9-------|
b|-10-12-14----------------------------12/14~|
g|-------------------------------------------|
d|-------------------------------------------|
a|-------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------|


Well done!! Let's continue....

*Part 3*

We continue using the same techniques except this time we will be adding some bending notes. The parentheses indicate the note you should be bending to.
Example: 9b(11)br9 would mean you are bending the E note on the 9th fret up a whole note to sound like a Gb or the 11th fret. The br is a bend release that means after bending up to the Gb you are releasing the bend back to the 9th fret the E.
Remember take your time and feel free to message me if any of this is confusing.
 part_3.mp3 ( 269K ) Number of downloads: 383

e|--14-13-12-11-10h11p10----------------------------|
b|-----------------------12-10----------------------|
g|------------------------------11-10-9-7h8p7-------|
d|---------------------------------------------9-7--|
a|--------------------------------------------------|
e|--------------------------------------------------|

e|-----------------------------|
b|-----------------------------|
g|--------7-9b(11)br9-6b(7)br6-|
d|-9-7-------------------------|
a|-----9-----------------------|
e|-----------------------------|

The final stretch!!!!

*Part 4*

This last section is using techniques which were covered above. Listen to the audio to get the feel.
 part_4.mp3 ( 255.13K ) Number of downloads: 359

e|------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
b|------------------------------|-----------------------------9b(10)---|
g|-9-7-9-7\6----7----6-7p6----6-|-------7-9-9b(11)br9p7---7-7----------|
d|------------9----9--------9---|-9p7-9-----------------9--------------|
a|------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
e|------------------------------|--------------------------------------|

GREAT JOB!!!

Here are the backing tracks from slowest to regular speed.
 rooftops_BT_70bpm.mp3 ( 499.63K ) Number of downloads: 402

 rooftops_BT_75bpm.mp3 ( 467.39K ) Number of downloads: 380

 rooftops_BT_80bpm.mp3 ( 440.45K ) Number of downloads: 350

 rooftops_BT_90bpm.mp3 ( 396.78K ) Number of downloads: 416


I hope you enjoyed my lesson. Remember to always start slow and make sure you are playing clean. Speed up only when completely confident with your riff. Speed will develop as long as you remember to always use a metronome when practicing.

Feel free to ask me if there is something I haven’t clearly covered or you need any help.

Till next time-good luck and keep rocking!!

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