A really fun and great song for a first solo is Europe ‘72’s You Win Again.
Here is what you get:
1) A key of G song, nicely centered on the fingerboard that incorporates, basically speaking, G, C, and D. It also has a modulation where it goes up as G, A, D. But generally speaking, you’re well centered on the neck of the guitar, so it is a good first solo kind of song. Also, this is a Hank Williams song, so you get his mastery of verse and refrain, done short and sweet by Jerry.
2) A really tasty use of the open position D7 chord shape, but it would be used higher up, like at the 6th fret, making a G7; the whole shape descends rapidly as you pick the notes down through 3 frets to get that charismatic falling cascade. It repeats often in the song, so plenty of opportunity to incorporate it into memory over the long haul as you smooth out the song. With practice you can get this little turnaround to flow like butter, and you can mix it up in all sorts of ways in that you can pick all three strings, or just two, or whatever, even do it really sloppy if you want.
3) For the solo, it is very easy to hear, and therefore learn, and it has a tiny bit of chromaticism at the start, followed by a big jump up to some upper fret reaches of outstandingly sharp note-bravado. But the real attention getting kicker is that high E string, one note extended-triplet at the 19th or 20th fret. Heads will turn once you master that, and even you’ll be smiling when you can do it effortlessly.
This is a great first song to play when you sit down and need to warm up for your daily guitar session.
Here is what you get:
1) A key of G song, nicely centered on the fingerboard that incorporates, basically speaking, G, C, and D. It also has a modulation where it goes up as G, A, D. But generally speaking, you’re well centered on the neck of the guitar, so it is a good first solo kind of song. Also, this is a Hank Williams song, so you get his mastery of verse and refrain, done short and sweet by Jerry.
2) A really tasty use of the open position D7 chord shape, but it would be used higher up, like at the 6th fret, making a G7; the whole shape descends rapidly as you pick the notes down through 3 frets to get that charismatic falling cascade. It repeats often in the song, so plenty of opportunity to incorporate it into memory over the long haul as you smooth out the song. With practice you can get this little turnaround to flow like butter, and you can mix it up in all sorts of ways in that you can pick all three strings, or just two, or whatever, even do it really sloppy if you want.
3) For the solo, it is very easy to hear, and therefore learn, and it has a tiny bit of chromaticism at the start, followed by a big jump up to some upper fret reaches of outstandingly sharp note-bravado. But the real attention getting kicker is that high E string, one note extended-triplet at the 19th or 20th fret. Heads will turn once you master that, and even you’ll be smiling when you can do it effortlessly.
This is a great first song to play when you sit down and need to warm up for your daily guitar session.