LEARN TO PLAY
VELVET REVOLVER
SUCKER TRAIN BLUES

THIS MONTH'S COVER STAR PROVES HE CAN PRODUCE BRILLIANT ROCK MUSIC WITHOUT HIS TRUSTY LES PAUL! HERE'S THE STRAT-BASED OPENER FROM THE CONTRABAND LP

Back in 2002, ex GN'R members Slash, Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan joined forces to play a benefit concert. Amazed by the chemistry they felt performing together again it proved the inspiration for a new musical project. After recruiting additional guitarist Dave Kushner, the search was on for a frontman. Having endured months of unsuccessful auditions, ex-Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland proved himself to be the man for the job and Velvet Revolver were born. This month, we take a look at Sucker Train Blues the opening track from Contraband the band's brilliant debut album.

After an ethereal intro, the main riff kicks in with both guitarists playing a similar figure. Apart from this riff, we've concentrated on Slash's parts in the left speaker, leaving Mr. Kushner's exemplary rhythm work on the backing track.

Tension builds through the verse, using the distictive 'flat 5' interval (Bb in this case) for added 'grit'. Next, Slash's demonstrates a punk vibe, with major barre chords leading to the chorus, which uses power chords while retaining a major key feel.

Moving on to the solo, Slash demonstrates a slightly different style than normal due to his use of a whammy bar. He doesn't always play a Les Paul...you know...the verse guitar here is a fifties Telecaster, while for the solo Slash used a 1965 Stratocaster. Live, he uses a BC Rich rather than a Strat as he finds them more reliable. However, everything else common to Slash is in check especially the super-charged blues style - cast your eye (ear) over bars 9 and 10 for classic Slash-isms.

This solo sounds very spontaneous and as always with these things, happy little accidents, harmonics, feedback etc will occur that is not always easy to reproduce even for the person who originally played it! So instead of getting disheartened if you don't feel you're duplicating every nuance exactly, remember Slash would probably wave his finger at your efforts and tell you to "loosen up, dude" - or something like that! So bottom line is, the overall 'vibe' is king once you've got the notes sorted. Though capable of reeling off flashy runds with the best of them, Slash always plays with melodic conviction - always a guarantee to impress the listener.

The outro follows the same line as the intro, with the clean guitar figure repeating into the fade. Again, slight variations are apparent, but spontaneous rather than slavishly composed. Rock on!