Infinite Guitar Lessons: 'Andromeda' Solo

Hey everyone! My name is Rick Graham. I'm a guitar instructor at InfiniteGuitar.com, and I'm happy to provide you with a very special installment here at UG. So grab your guitar, roll up your sleeves, and let's rock! In this lesson, we are going to be studying a solo by one of the finest emerging guitarists of our generation, Marco Sfogli. Marco is the guitarist for Dream Theater's vocalist, James Labrie. He played on Labrie's "Elements of Persuasion" album and also just released his own solo album called, "There's Hope". Marco was kind enough to endorse this lesson, and even gave me the solo's backing track directly from his album! We are going to be taking a look at his solo in a track entitled "Andromeda". Before we dive into it, click here to watch Marco's performance of the solo on Youtube. I'm going to be dividing the solo into sections for this lesson. Take the solo one note at a time, and be very patient as you learn it. You aren't in a rush, so take your time and keep in mind how you can incorporate these ideas into your own playing. Section 1 The first 3 bars shouldn't present too many technical challenges. However, when we get to bar 4, things start to heat up! With the first arpeggio pattern, I find it best to focus on the repeating shapes occuring on the 4th and 3rd strings and the 2nd and 1st strings. In the 5th bar, be sure to be as accurate as possible with the position shift and keep your practice tempo nice and slow. Bar 6 requires some awkward stretches with the left hand, and I find it good to practice this part on its own, concentrating on accurate positioning of the index finger. Tread carefully in bar 8 as you'll find that the opening note of the bar is not the root of the arpeggio as before. For bars 10 and 11, you'll have to draw upon your alternate picking skills to make the best of this passage. Be mindful of the triplets that occur. Section 2 You'll need to spend most of your time on bars 14 to 15 here. Remember that throughou...