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The man behind that amazing guitar playing style

When we think of natural talent and talent in the guitar playing world, Slash definitely comes to mind. Slash had many years under the spotlight as lead guitarist in Guns N' Roses, but with many musical disagreements he left the band in 1996 to pursue his solo career.

Luckily for us, two other of the Guns N' Roses band members left with him (Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum) and formed the very successful band, Velvet Revolver.

Slash was born in London, England, in 1965, and was exposed to the music industry at a young age as both his parents careers revolved around it. His father designed album covers for some of the most famous musicians and his mother was a clothing designer for the such names as David Bowie.

At the age of eleven, slash and his mother moved to Los Angeles to live. Believe it or not, Slash found it hard fitting in with the other kids. With his unique style of laid back attitude and long hair, the other kids didn't really know how to take him.

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After Slash's parents had broken up he went to live with his Grandmother. His life was the same as yours and I at this stage, but as we know that soon changed.

As you can imagine, not really fitting in and coming from a broken marriage this caused a little frustration for Slash. He got into BMX riding as a release which proved to be a good match, until his grandmother gave him his first guitar.

The guitar she gave him wasn't exactly glamorous. It had one string remaining (low E) but he used that guitar as the foundation to his future success. After a new set of strings, Slash's priorities started to change. By year eleven Slash had dropped put of school, as is love of playing and practicing the guitar took up every minute of the day, no time for school that's for sure.

Like many guitarists out there, Slash came across his fair share of hurdles in his music career. After joining up with his friend Steven Adler, he created the band called Road Crew. The band was made of the right building blocks, but was missing a lead singer to complete the picture and seal their success. That's when Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin rolled into the picture . They merged forces and created Guns N' Roses.

The new band made airplay with the infamous song "Sweet Child O Mine." While the band was on the top of their game, Slash fell deeper into drugs and alcohol. While the entire band was using, Slash seemed to be trapped by drugs and unable to escape. It would take almost dying beside an elevator before he began to smarten up.

After years of massive success on the world stage, the band took a little break from touring. Meanwhile, Slash wanted to get back to his roots and created Snake Pit. The new band was well received and hit the road. Instead of the usual stadiums which Slash was accustomed to playing in, he preferred to stick to the local club scene where he could be more interactive with his audiences.

When Axl and the rest of the band returned to the recording studio, tension rose between Axl and the other members of the band. Axl wasn't involved with creating the record, so Slash filled the gap and produced the album himself.

Eventually, Slash left Guns N' Roses to pursue his own solo career. He did work with Alice Cooper and performed on tour with him. This wasn't enough for Slash. While he enjoyed playing with these world famous guitarists, he had the itch for another band.

The wounds were still fresh from Guns N' Roses, so Slash had the idea of creating a compilation album consisting of musicians from around the world. When he began to play with some old buddies from Guns N' Roses who also left the band, Velvet Revolver was created.

Ironically, they went through more problems with their lead singer but ended up with Scott Weiland from The Stone Temple Pilots. The band has topped the charts with hits like "Slither." You can't keep Slash down, and the creation of Velvet Revolver was living proof of that.

The technique...

If you want to play like Slash, you need to know some of his techniques. Slash was completely self taught and practiced along to his favorite bands to become a better musician. The first step you can take to become a better player is listen to a variety of music and try to play along with it.

Slash hated to replicate any guitarist, rather, he let their style influence his. That's why he wrote so many fresh licks, because he wasn't trying to be anybody but himself.

As far as scales are concerned, he relied many on the minor/major pentatonic scales in addition to some mixolydian and Dorian scales for his solos. This may come as a surprise to some, considering how overused these scales have become. The trick to keeping your sound and solos original is to use a variety of techniques coupled with your own ideas.

Slash favored vibrato and using hammer on/ pull off's to create speed. His right picking hand isn't used for speed. Instead, he uses his picking hand to add a percussive feel to his solos.

The more you change the rhythms in your solo, the more unique and intricate it will become. The solo will take on a life of its own. The bottom line is this: put your heart into the solo, add in some ordinary techniques and cool effects and you have yourself a world class solo.

The key ingredient here is practice. Regardless of what techniques you use, you have to know how to apply them in such a way as to move your audience.

The gear...

It's no secret that Slash has had a love affair with the Gibson Les Paul for quite a while (check out some Les Paul Guitars here). He was playing on a Jackson for a while until his manager found him a '59 Les Paul. However, it was actually a handmade copy made by luthier Chris Derrig. Slash used it for most of his gigs but retired it after too much tour abuse.

To honor Slash for playing their guitars, Gibson has released two limited-edition custom Slash Les Pauls. This is in addition to the approximate 100 guitars already in his collection!

In the studio, Slash likes to experiment with the B.C Rich Mockingbird. His live sound is always with a Les Paul.

As far as Slash's effects pedals are concerned, he takes a different approach. He uses a Dunlop Crybaby, Boss graphic EQ GE-7 and a Boss DD5 digital delay ...a very modest rig.

Now here's the surprise: He uses up to eight wah-wah pedals! Why so many? On stage, Slash likes to move around. By using so many wah-wah pedals, he can easily move around and be near one when he needs it for a solo. That way he didn't have to stand in front of a pedal waiting for the solo to come around. He only used one at a time.

As far as amps are concerned, he prefers the tone of a Marshall. Like Gibson, Marshall also has limited-edition amps in Slash's honor.

The songs...

The song that launched Slash into stardom was "Sweet Child O' Mine." This riff has become a right of passage for many guitarists. Unlike most standard guitar riffs, Sweet Child O' Mine uses some melodic arpeggiated chords found higher up on the neck.

This rhythm is the backbone to the song and has been the signature riff of the song since its creation. Without it, Guns N' Roses may have never been successful. It was the first single from the band to hit the airwaves. This rock ballad has earned the reputation as one of rock's best riffs ever, and I would have to agree.

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