PLAYING TIPS

[Bars 41-56] This is where the solo kicks off. Notice how the general frame of reference is the Minor Pentatonic and the Natural Minor scale. The main two added colours are the maj7th (B# or C), which – as the 3rd of the dominant chord (G#7) obviously is a strong note to use – as well as the D (b2 again), which functions as the b3rd of the second chord of the progression (Bm9). Wes also likes to mix in the Blues scale, which has such a strong character that it doesn’t need to be theoretically ‘correct ’ to sound great, and he is the kind of player who can make phrases sound amazing, even if they aren’t theoretically per fect in the context of the chords. Notice how time and time again, he uses riffs and motifs to great effect, of ten developing them in a call-and-response sor t of way. Take, for example, the motif star ting on the last beat of bar 48. Based around repeatedly hitting the top C# octave on the 9th and 12th frets (third and first string); this motif repeats in the following four bars, each time with a slight change, adding colour and excitement, while maintaining essential flow and sense of development. Notice how this culminates in a huge Minor Pentatonic run, before moving straight to D Minor in bar 56, using the D Harmonic Minor scale (D E F G A Bb C) and its maj7th again (C#) to travel towards the resolution on the high D octave.