This lovely melody is played on just one guitar. We're dividing into 2 parts, this being Part 1.

Here we get a bit of an insight into Steve Lukather's lead technique. He's a very talented guitarist, and in this example we can see how he adds 'sweet touches' to an otherwise simple melody. This is one of those songs that is quite easy to learn, but mastering it takes practice. That's because of all the little sweet touches he uses.

We're going to point out the techniques he uses to spruce up the melody. These are worth learning and adapting into your own style. They can help you put more expression and depth into your own guitar work!

Notice throughout the melody that he uses plenty of vibrato. At times he uses the whammy bar too, but not a lot, so don't worry if you don't have one. Vibrato is one of the most expressive lead guitar techniques, and he's not shy of it. How each guitarist 'wiggles the string' is different, and you can sometimes name a guitarist just by hearing their vibrato. This gives you the scope to develop your own vibrato style, and put your feeling into the technique. Do it right and it will sound fantastic, and loaded with emotion.

He often slides into notes very quickly. You could just play the note normally without doing a slide. But notice that it adds a little 'something extra' to the beginning of the note. Play it a few times and you will hear the slide. It's fast and takes a little practice, but it's not a hard technique to learn and apply (once you get the hang of it).

By the way, there is a related technique often used by Steve Lukather. Sometimes he will slide between notes without picking the string. Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and many others use this trick a lot too. One of the advantages of distorted (amplified) guitar sounds is that each note sustains for longer. This means you don't have to pick every note to make sure it sounds out. And, done right, can give a really smooth feel as you pass between notes.

Another thing he does a lot is Hammer into his main melody notes. This serves to punch out the note and give it a little something extra (a bit like the fast slide described earlier). It has to be done very fast to work. You don't really want the first note to sound out for more than a fraction of a second - It's just there to briefly launch into the hammer (which is the note you want to emphasize). Listen to it a few times and you can hear the hammer adds a little definition to the note. It's different to just playing the note in a standard way by picking it. It's subtle, but remember we are talking about little 'sweet touches'. These are some of the things that you can also do to make your own lead guitar more expressive!