How to play the solo of sweet child o mine
Sweet Child O Mine Guitar Solos
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25 Oct
Sweet Child O Mine Guitar Solos
View Sweet Child O Mine Guitar Solo Tabs on YouTube
Sweet Child O Mine Solo Lesson
In this free online guitar lesson I demonstrate how I play the guitar solos in “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses featuring lead guitarist Slash. These examples are suitable for intermediate and advanced level players who have learned pentatonic, major and harmonic minor scale patterns. You can follow along using the free tools below including guitar tab, a play along guitar backing jam track, and an audio mp3 of the performance.
Tablature
You can view and download my free Sweet Child O Mine Guitar Solo Tabs PDF file here. This file is just an interpretation of some select song parts.
Backing Track
You can stream and download my free Sweet Child O Mine Solos Backing Track Standard Tuning. It includes the accompaniment for all the guitar solo sections strung back to back.
Audio-only Performance
In addition to the video demonstration, I also have an audio performance of the solos I play. This is a separate take from the video, so the performance may be slightly different.
Guitar Tuning
The original recording was played by Slash with all stringed instruments tuned down a half-step to Eb. My version is played in standard tuning, low to high E A D G B E.
Sweet Child O Mine Chords, Progressions, and Scales
The first and second guitar solos are played over the chord progression D-C-G-D.
These are the three major chords from the G major scale.
G major scale
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
G Am Bm C D Em F#mb5
While the D-C-G-D progression is drawn from the G major scale, it’s actually the 5th degree, D, that is used as the tonic. In other words, D is the primary chord and where the music begins and ends. When the 5th degree of the major scale is used as the tonic, it’s called Mixolydian mode. See Fretboard Theory Chapter 8. For this reason, you use G major scale patterns over the progression for melodies and solos. And because D is the primary chord, you can also use D major pentatonic over the whole thing. I play the first two solos in the position of D major pentatonic pattern one, and add in the notes G and C, which are a 4th and b7th if you count D as 1. The D major pentatonic with an added 4th and b7th becomes D Mixolydian mode, which is also called the D dominant scale. D Mixolydian mode is simply the notes of G major but with the notes centering on D instead of G.
Pentatonic and major scale patterns, including modal scales, are all covered in Fretboard Theory.
The third solo switches keys to E minor. The chord progression is now Em-C-B7-Am. Em-C-Am fit into the G major scale, but with the music centering on G’s 6th degree, E. This makes E Aeolian mode, better known as the E natural minor scale. You use a combination of E minor pentatonic and G major scale patterns. When the B7 is played, raise the 7th degree in the E minor scale from D to D#. The raised 7th makes the E harmonic minor scale. The harmonic minor scale and its use in taught in Fretboard Theory Volume II.
The fourth solo begins with a climb in the E harmonic minor scale and the use of a wah-wah pedal. Once you get to the 12th position, it’s straight E minor pentatonic from there.
Gear Setup
I used a PRS P22 with 57/08 pickups. The first three solos were played on the neck (bass) pickup and the last solo on the bridge (treble) pickup.
I plugged into a PRS Custom 50 amp head and used the lead channel with the following settings (12 represents 12 O’clock). Volume: 3 Treble: 12 Middle: 12 Bass: 10 Master: 8 Presence: 12. I used a plate reverb on my Alesis MultiMix8 mixer. I used a Morley mini Wah/Volume for solo four. The amp head was plugged into a Rivera Silent Sister isolation cabinet with a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker and then miked with a couple of Shure SM57s. I use Dava Jazz Grips Delrin guitar picks.
How Hard Is It To Play Sweet Child O' Mine On a Guitar?
Sweet Child O’ Mine is one of the biggest hits by Guns ‘n’ Roses. You can recognize it instantly. The main, opening riff by Slash is one of the most known guitar riffs in rock ‘n’ roll music.
If you still don’t know how to play it, you may ask the following question. Is it hard to play? How hard is it really? On what playing level do I have to be to learn it?
Overall, Sweet Child O’ Mine is not that hard to learn & play.
Some parts of the song are harder than other parts. In short, you have to be at least intermediate guitar player to learn it and play it properly. Guitar solo is the hardest part to learn in the song.
We can divide the song in few parts. Different parts demand different level of guitar competence. In this article, we’re going to analyze each part of the song; what do you need to know before, and how to exercise it.
Let’s go!
Opening Riff
Opening guitar riff, composed and played by Slash, is one of the most known guitar riffs. Basically, it is a D major triad chord picked up one note at the time.
How hard is it to learn it?
It’s really not that hard. If you’re an intermediate guitar player, you’ll learn how to play it almost instantly. However, if you’re a beginner, it may take a little time to nail it properly.
What Do You Need To Know Before?
1. Alternate Picking
Since the riff is played with alternate picking style, you need to know how to pick that way.
Alternate picking means picking with downstrokes and upstrokes. The trickiest part of playing with alternate picking is the transition between strings. Especially between non-adjacent strings.
Fortunately, there are tons of exercises that help you with mastering alternate picking. If you’re not familiar with alternate picking, you must exercise in order to play the riff.
Here’s one exercise that helped me a lot.
The exercise may look scary at the first, but trust me, it is one of the best. Especially when it comes to transition from one string to another, non adjacent string. That’s particularly helpful with the opening riff of Sweet Child O’ Mine.
Just take your time and watch the video when you’re ready.
It will help you not only with this riff in particular, but your playing will improve, in general.
2. Muting and Ringing Strings
In the opening riff, strings do not ring out. They are not muted either. You need to know how to play it properly. In particular, the tones from the opening riff are muted by the fingers of your playing hand. You mute the string just by relaxing the finger on the fret after the tone is being played.
3. Basic Finger Dexterity
Main, opening riff requires that your fingers quickly change position from one string to another. That requires a basic level of finger dexterity. Without finger dexterity, you won’t be able to press your finger onto the fret properly and at the right moment.
Also, you have to be sure to position your fingers in a way they don’t mute the adjacent string. Spider exercise is the best and quickest way to attain finger dexterity. You can watch the exercise in the video below.
Opening Riff – Recap
That’s it. If you have every requirement listed above checked, you’re ready to learn the riff. There are lots of tutorials on YouTube showing riff in a slowed down manner. This one I like:
Anyway, the general advice when it comes to learning is always the same. Take it slow and use the metronome!
Rhythm Part
After the opening riff, Axl Rose starts to sing. Beneath his singing there’s the rhythm guitar playing basic chord progression.
D major, Cadd9 and G major are the chords. In the chorus the progression goes from A, to G, to D.
It’s played in clean tone. This really shouldn’t be hard to play.
What Do You Need To Know Before?
There’s only one thing you should know before. It’s the basic rhythmic strumming pattern. As it is in the song itself. Nothing else.
I assume you know how to transition the chords in time, so I won’t mention it further.
Bridge Solo and Main Solo
After the chorus, there’s a solo melody that keeps repeating throughout the song.
What Do You Need To Know Before?
Here’s what you need to know before attempting to learning it.
1. Vibrato
This goes for the main solo, too. Doing vibrato on a string is needed skill, not only for this song. Vibrating a string with a finger on fretboard is essential.
Without it, the sound is lifeless and dull. Vibrato is the main way to express the feeling through the guitar. Make sure you know how to do vibrato on a string in a decent manner.
2. String Bending
Another technique essential for playing the solo of Sweet Child O’ Mine is string bending. In general, most of guitar solos consists of much of string bending.
String bending is, with the vibrato, one of the main way of expressing feeling and liveliness of the tone.
Make sure you know how to bend a string in a proper manner.
Here’s the related article from this site you may want to read.
- How To Make Guitar Strings Bend Easier?
3. Playing Around With Pentatonic Scales
Slash is the guitar player that uses pentatonic scales in his playing. Almost exclusively. To approach this particular solo, it is the good idea for you to take a look at major pentatonic scale. With knowing how pentatonic works on a guitar, you’ll be able to connect pieces of this solo together much quicker.
4. Hammer On’s and Pull Of’s
Hammer on’s and pull off’s (or flick off’s) are used in most of rock songs. Needless to say, knowing them is one of the main precondition for playing Sweet Child O’ Mine solo.
It contains a lot of hammer on’s and pull off’s.
5. Sliding
Last, but not the least, is the sliding. Sliding notes are not hard. Just play with it and you’ll quickly nail it down. The solo contains lot of slides from one fret to another.
How To Set Up For The EXACT Sound?
Let’s suppose you know all the techniques mentioned above. You may wonder; OK, but how do I get the EXACT sound on my guitar? We all know Slash has his Les Paul, but what about amp settings?
Well, here’s one practical solution. You can use a multi-effect guitar processor, like Line6HX Stomp with which you can tweak the settings and set up the exactly same tone as it’s recorded. If you don’t believe me, take a look at the video below.
For more details about the Line6 HX Stomp, check it out on Amazon.
If you’re more for the traditional way of setting up the sound, here’s the few tips:
- medium reverb
- bring up the chorus effect for clean parts
- use wah for the solo, of course; Jim Dunlop’s Cry Baby (Amazon link) is pretty good here, IMO
General Tips
OK, so we analyzed what do you need to know before. In other words, preconditions. Now let’s get through some general tips which will help you to nail the song in shortest time possible.
Use a Metronome
Use a metronome. In other words, slow down the tempo to the speed you feel comfortable on. Soon you’ll be able to tell when is the moment to increase the tempo.
Watch How It’s Played
Take your time and watch some live shows of Slash playing the song. Or any other person playing. That way you’ll visually adopt the information needed in case you don’t know how something is played.
Watch The Mistakes You Make
You’ll be making a lot of mistakes.
That’s normal, it happens to everyone who tries learning new stuff. What particular mistake can you make?
It’s the sloppiness. The opening riff does not forgive any sloppiness, no matter how small it is. You’ll probably mute some strings you don’t wanna mute, and let ring other strings you don’t wanna hear ringing. Just an example.
Whenever you make a mistake, focus your attention on that detail. Try it again and again. Slow.
Take a Rest
There’s a limited amount of information your body can take at a time. The same goes for this song. You cannot expect yourself to play it perfectly after only one session of learning and playing.
Take a rest. Sometimes a 10 minute rest is enough. Sometimes a day is needed. That’s OK, just take your time, and soon you’ll notice how your playing becomes improved.
Conclusion
I hope this article gave you an important insight and information about how to play and how hard is to play Sweet Child O’ Mine.
As it’s being said, it’s not the super hard song to play.
However, even when you learn it completely, you still may not sound good enough.
That’s because the Slash has it’s own way of playing that’s not easy to match. But don’t worry about that. You can develop your style of playing. It just have to sound good enough.
Anyway, thanks for reading about this. You can check some other interesting posts if you wish.
- Playing Tips
Cheers, and rock on!
11 quotes from solo mom-of-two Mindy Kaling
Mindy is famous for her secretiveness - before Spencer was born in early October 2020, no one even knew that the star was expecting a baby in the midst of a pandemic, and the name of the children's father still nobody knows - Kaling raises kids alone. Over the course of her Hollywood career, Mindy has become a true inspirational example of a self-made woman who has made her own career in Hollywood and has children in her 30s (now 41).
In October 2020, Kaling released an entire book about her solo motherhood experience Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes).
We have collected for you a few star mom quotes about parenthood.
“I wasn't ready. I don't think anyone can ever be ready for this. I knew for sure that I wanted children, but the decision itself was not that very planned.
“I am very impatient, and having a baby requires a certain amount of patience, and that bothered me. But no one warns that the child will be so much like you, and will do things so cute and charming, that you simply cannot have the same impatience for him as for a stranger or a person who works for you " .
“When I was filming and working on The Mindy Project all day, I said to myself, 'Well, you know, I'm not going to do this when my daughter is born. And then it will seem to me that every day I spend all my time with her. But this is not true. It seems to me that in none of the worlds will I feel that I spend enough time with her and do not deprive her of my attention.
“At first I tried to buy her only these hipster wooden toys that are pleasing to the eye and don't give the impression that your house is taken over by children. They hated them and I had to give them away. She only likes basic colors and loud squeaky toys that can't be turned off."
“Come to think of it, I would strengthen my core, back, and arms because of the amount of bending I have to do. My daughter is now at the stage where she can't walk but really wants to, so I'm constantly bending over to help her walk around the house. And because I've never strengthened my core or back in my life, I'm in a world of pain. So if I could, I would have strengthened those muscles much better beforehand.”
“Before Christmas, she really liked avocados. We tried giving it to her a couple of days later and it looked like we were trying to feed her dead spiders. She looked at it like it was the most disgusting thing in the world.
All in all, riding these waves of childhood food whims is quite fun and was a great test of my patience.”
“I just invited about 12 mothers - some I knew, some not so much. It seems to me that relationships with other mothers are very valuable, so I plan to forcefully force these friendships. Since I am a single mother, I think it is very useful to have people with whom you can discuss various issues, and who also help my daughter to socialize.
“I think that women who are lucky enough to have free money are embarrassed to show nannies or babysitters or people who help them with children – especially on Instagram. Please note that almost none of the celebrities show their nannies. I don't show my child's face on Instagram, so I don't show people helping me either. But I think it's a stigma that needs to be removed - the fact that women are embarrassed to admit that they have a) means b) the need to hire people to help them with children.
“With the advent of our son, we turned into a small clan. It consists of him, my daughter and me. And we just stare at each other all day.”
“I am an Indian and my parents and other relatives are very traditional. But I said, “I want a place in my life for my own happiness. I want to be part of the community of mothers and parents, and I don't need a man to do it." And from the moment I gave myself permission to do this and thought: “I don’t care what other people think,” I decided: “I will just become part of this community.” It was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders.”
"My daughter sees that I can work and be an employer for two hundred people on two of my own TV shows, and also spend time with her, play with her and read books to her."
Nogu Svelo - Lilliputian love, chords for guitar
Intro: Dm G Am | Dm C G Am Am G Am I want to have children, I'm only from you Am G Em Am Letting you lilipu-u-ut, and I'm humpbacked Am G Am Forget that everyone is in a circle, pushing and spitting Am G Em Am Take my warmth and affection and comfort Am Dm G Am Do you hear the ding, ding, ding, Am Dm C You know ladies, ladies, ladies G Am I won't let you hurt me dear.Am Dm G Am Do you hear ladies, ladies, yes-a-m, Am Dm C You know ding, ding, ding G Am Now you will be my dear. Am G Am But once in the morning, I fell out of the window Am G Em Am I was happy with you, goodbye my wife Am G Am And the night will come again, but you won't sleep Am G Em Am And you will sit in a corner and you will remember Am Dm G Am You sang ding, ding, ding Am Dm C Whispered ladies, ladies, ladies, G Am I won't let you hurt me dear. Am Dm G Am You sang ladies, ladies, yes-a-m Am Dm C Whispered ding, ding, ding G Am I feel good with you... Am Dm G Am The son grew up as a basketball player, I-ha-ha-ha Am Dm C Hairy muscular, I-ha-ha-ha G Am He quickly grabs the ball and throws it into the distance.
