“MY SHARONA”
The Knack
A POWER-POP masterpiece, this smash hit from 1979 features a super catchy drum beat and perfectly matching bass riff, playful vocals and an inspired, extended guitar solo that takes the song in a completely different and unexpectedly ambitious direction and builds it to an exciting climax.
Combining the distinctive timbres of their Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul, guitarists Doug Feiger and Berton Averre tightly double the song’s punchy single-note G octaves riff. Notice the black dots over the quarter-note rhythms in bars 9-11. These indicate that the G notes are played staccato, as if they were eighth notes, separated by rests. This is done by simply loosening your fretting finger’s grip on the string immediately after picking it.
The song’s first guitar solo (see section D) serves as more of an ensemble interlude, featuring chains of punchy, syncopated chord accents interspersed with reprises of the G octaves riff, over which Averre serves up sassy improvised two-bar licks based on the G minor pentatonic scale (G, B, C, D, F).
This brief musical detour is followed by a third and final verse and chorus, which could have very well wrapped up the song in a short, sweet package. But instead, the band then takes us on a “Free Bird”-like outro jam where Averre cuts loose and showcases his tasteful soloing chops and improvisational prowess.
Notice how the guitarist begins his solo (at section H) by initially acknowledging the underlying C - G - F - G chord progression, which he does by touching upon the triadic chord tones in bars 62-65. He then launches into a string of long, rhythmically dense phrases and tension-building repetition licks that are based on the C major pentatonic scale (C, D, E, G, A), liberally employing whole-step bends and pull-offs while gradually working his way up the fretboard to a climactic high C note in bar 92. Averre bends up to this note from a whole step
(Bb, below at the 18th fret) and adds shimmering vibrato to it by repeatedly releasing the bend slightly — by about a quarter step — and re-bending it back up to C.