VELVET REVOLVER FALL TO PIECES
Slash is back with a new band and a new album. We take a look at the smash power ballad which is sure to become a modern classic...
YOUR GT TUTOR
Slash is one of the most powerful and influential guitarists of the last 20 years. As the lead guitarists of Guns N' Roses, Slash penned some of the most important rock songs of the last two decades, including Sweet Child O' Mine, Paradise City, and Welcome To The Jungle. His album sales amount to what many artists only dream of. The man with the top hat and Les Paul has also enjoyed a rather high-profile session career, working with such artists as Lenny Kravitz, Michael Jackson, and the great Bob Dylan to name a few.
For a while Slash took a back seat as a session guitarist, but now the man is back in the driving seat with his new band Velvet Revolver, and their massive debut album Contraband. The band includes fellow ex-Gunners Duff McKagan on bass and Matt Sorum on drums. Vocal duties are handled by ex-Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. The band also includes Dave Kushner on guitar, who has worked with Wasted Youth and also with Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro.
As with most things that Slash puts his fabled Les Paul and Marshall tone to, the album is laced with hits, and some of the tastiest playing that Slash has recorded since Appetite For Destruction. The band's debut album has already produced two hit singles, Set Me Free (from the Hulk soundtrack) and Slither. It also includes their new, lighters-in-the-air, power balled Fall To Pieces, which is set to be their next single, and which we have transcribed for you this month.
This album is a real return to form for Slash and his crew, and by the sound of things this could be the second phase in Slash's very long and successful career. It also proof that rock really is back in a very big way. Although Fall To Pieces was originally recorded by two guitarists, many of the parts are fairly similar.
So with that in mind I have taken the main elements of both parts and combined them into one workable piece, so you can either jam along with the backing track or play it in your own band. If you play with a second guitarist, just get him or her to follow the chord names over the top of the solo sections, and double up on the choruses. The original was also recorded with the guitars drop-tuned by a semi-tone, but for the sake of case, I have kept everything at concert pitch on the GTCD version.
The track kicks off with the intro progression, which is also used in the verse. This progression
includes the chords of D, G and C major performed as arpeggios. The chords are also embellished with sus2 extensions. This section is performed with a clean tone, with plenty of reverb of ambience. The verse kicks up a great at bar 13 when the original verse riff is transposed to a 5th to A, and the crunch setting on the Marshalls is also stamped on.
Our pre-verse riff enters at bar 17, which is based around the verse progression of D, C and G major, but this time performed as power chords with our crunch sound. Slash outlines the progression with a melodic arpeggio line, with a rich, warm Les Paul drive. This section is also repeated at the end of the track.
Following another verse the chorus progression enters at bar 32. Once again this simply follows the verse progression but exchanges regular major chords for power chords, and continues with the thick crunch tone. Both guitars play pretty much the same part in this section, with only the occasional difference here and there.
The middle eight enters at bar 40, and we are back to our clean tone, although the second guitar keeps things nice and chunky with the accompanying power chords. The main guitar performs more chord arpeggos, and continues a similar theme as the verse. The main solo enters at bar 48, and has to be one of the most soulful and exciting things that I have heard from Slash in a long time. The solo is full of wailing bends, aided by Slash's to-die-for tone.
Some of the knot groupings may seem a little scary, but this is due to the lazy, laidback feel that Slash delivers with ease. Don't pay too much attention to them, just check the original or our version and then just go for it... and make sure your guitar is slung nice and low! The solo is based around the D major scale, and its diatonic modes:
D E F# G A B C# D
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1
but it also makes use of both the D major and E minor pentatonic scales that are also found in D major.
D E F# A B D
1 2 3 5 6 1
E G A B D E
1 b3 4 5 b7 1
The solo is not technically demanding, but the feel is vital, and you can definitely learn a lot about
constructing melodic lines that follow a rock progression by tackling this piece. The track concludes with another chorus, plus the pre-verse section we saw earlier with Slash outlining the progression with melodic arpeggios. GT
SOUND ADVICE
TRADMARK Slash TONE
Slash obviously recorded this track with one of his many Gibson Les Paul guitars, possible one of his signature models. This would have been plugged into a Marshall amp, either an old JCM 800, or again an old Slash Signature head. To reproduce his tone you will need a warm, smooth overdriven tone, with not too much distortion; think classic rock. You will need a humbucker-equipped guitar, something with a bit of weight to it, preferably with a fixed briged for a singing tone. I recorded this track with a mixture of Music Man Axis Supersport, and a Line 6 Variax guitar. This was plugged into a Cornford Harlequin six-watt valve combo.
PRO TIP
During this song Slash makes great use of major arpeggios to outline the chords. Sometimes guitarists overlook using arpeggios, as they all too often associate them with the fast sweep picking flurries of Yngwie, or Paul Gilbert. But you don't have to play arpeggios at break-neck speed, and when used correctly they can help you break out of the pentatonic and regular major/minor scale rut. They will add some maturity to your soloing sound. Check out the likes of Dave Gilmour and Gary Moore to hear more melodic arpeggio ideas in use.
