This song needs no introduction. This is the entire song as played by Slash (Guitar I). A few gaps in play have been taken out to avoid pointless gaps in the ActionTab, and there is one place where Slash sneakily plays 2 guitar layers on the original track - just a few notes overlap between 2 solos. But here we've separated them out by a fraction so you can learn either (see below for links).
It's in Eb tuning, so tune down each string by 1 note to:
Low Eb:Ab:Db:Gb:Bb:Eb
In the original song there are other rhythm guitar parts (Guitar II and Guitar III), but this is the wonderful intro and all the rest of the fancy stuff for those wanting to get this song down from start to finish just like Slash does. Be warned, to play certain solo segments will take dedicated practice. A lot of the solo parts are not for brand new beginners, but work through what you can and always push to get better.
You'll need to spend quite a lot of time on tricky parts, but, they will teach you a lot about quality lead phrasing and licks! Slash is a master of intricate bluesy-metal type playing. You can learn a lot about solo tricks, phrasing and techniques from this one song.
Play out the normal speed version and then work out the slowed parts in the ActionTab. Use your ear and familiarity with the song to help your fingers get the right timing during play.
Intro - The intro riff is one of the most famous rock riffs, and is quite difficult at first. Notice how fingers are placed, but not played until needed. It's all about positioning. It's based around the D major chord shape. It's highly repetitive, so here's a quick link the end of the intro.
Chorus Fill - This is a similar format to the intro and is played during the choruses.
Solo 1 - Easiest of the solos. Comes just after the first Chorus Fill.
Solo 2 - Trickier in a few places. Comes in after the second chorus.
Chorus - Gotta love it.
Main solo part 1 - As stated above, this isn't really 1 big solo, but 2 solos that overlap a little bit. As this 1st part plays vibrato on the last note, the other guitar kicks in with part 2 of the solo. We've separated them both out a bit in the name of obsessive perfectionism.
Main solo part 2 - This is the kickass part. Expect to work hard to get it - especially the first part. Divide it into manageable chunks. Go slow, get it right, build speed, move to the next chunk. That's the best way.
Outro - Slash uses a wah pedal here. In fact, Slash uses wah-wah at various points during the song solos. However, to keep the effects down and avoid confusion with notes, we only use it here where it has a prominent rhythmic role - during the part where axl sings 'where do we go....where do we go now....ay ayy aieyyyey' etc.
Once you can play this song, you'll be well on your way to officially rocking. Celebrate by buying a top hat.
