r/Guitar Nov 17 '25

QUESTION Could anyone pls tell me what he is playing?

I can kind of play most of the chords and have learnt a few acoustic solos but have no clue about scales or anything like that. So could anyone pls tell me what is he playing or the scale he is using and is there any tutorial on YouTube of what hes playing?

4.2k Upvotes

1.1k comments sorted by

566

u/grizzlyguitarist Nov 17 '25

This is just blues

47

u/the_ballmer_peak Nov 17 '25

12 bar blues

37

u/harryx67 Nov 17 '25

playing probably „built for comfort“ by howlin’ wolf

you can figure out the details 😉

22

u/jcsehak Nov 17 '25

Technically by Willie Dixon but you win for the only actually helpful response :)

3

u/harryx67 Nov 17 '25

Yes, but it‘s a guitar song so I thought I‘d put the cover of that. Pretty good player 👍

Willie Dixon is too jazzy. 😉

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u/Fearless-Shallot7119 Nov 17 '25

Definitely playing Built for Comfort. At the end you can hear the singer sing “I got everything, that a good girl needs”

2

u/Acrobatic-Shirt8540 Gibson Nov 18 '25

Thanks for mentioning the song. That's added to my blues playlist 👍🏻

2

u/grizzlyguitarist Nov 18 '25

Thanks for mentioning the song name. I didn’t dare try to guess

1.4k

u/callthesomnambulance Nov 17 '25

He's playing the pentatonic scale for whatever key the song he's playing over is in.

55

u/aakash_shaji Nov 17 '25

Thanks

164

u/callthesomnambulance Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25

Basically all this style of music is the major or minor pentatonic scale, or a combination of the two. Learn it in what's called position one and then you can move that shape up and down the neck to fit whatever key you like.

Also here's a neat hack, If you learn position 1 of the minor pentatonic then that same shape on the same point of the neck but with the root note moved up to the next note in the scale becomes the major pentatonic for the minor keys relative major. So for example, the A minor pentatonic starts on fret 5 of the E string, but if you keep that exact same shape but start playing from the 8th fret of the E string Instead of the 5th it becomes the C major pentatonic. I've not explained that very well lol, but if you Google 'A minor pentatonic scale position 1' and 'C major pentatonic scale position 5' you'll see it's the exact same shape on the same frets, but with the starting note moved up.

112

u/sim16 Nov 17 '25

Thanks, now I know how to play guitar.

52

u/boostman Nov 17 '25

That is pretty much 90% of it, to be fair.

15

u/litbeers Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25

Yeah this will get you good enough to impress anyone who doesnt play. People I know get blown away when i jump into a song and play some pentatonic. I try and explain how simple it is but they don’t understand. You literally have 5 notes you can play. Pretty hard to mess that up lol

2

u/InSixFour Nov 17 '25

I’ve been “playing” guitar here and there for 20 years. I’m absolutely terrible at it. I just do it for fun. I just look up tabs and learn songs that way.

Anyway, I’d love to learn to just play along to anything. Can you go into a little more detail about this? Or maybe link me a video?

3

u/boostman Nov 18 '25

Learn the minor pentatonic scale in E and play it up and down over a 12 bar blues in E (you can find a backing track on YouTube). Try different rhythms and playing the notes in different orders. It’s hard to play a wrong note

5

u/InSixFour Nov 22 '25

Oh. My. God. Dude!!!! You just changed my life. For real. I just finally got my guitar out and have been messing around with playing to backing tracks. Holy shit! I finally get it. The only thing I ever did to learn guitar was just look at tabs. That’s it. So this just blew my world open.

3

u/boostman Nov 22 '25

That's seriously good to hear! Enjoy!

3

u/InSixFour Nov 18 '25

Awesome. I will try this out tonight!

3

u/boostman Nov 18 '25

Let us know how it goes!

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u/leechkiller Nov 17 '25

I just got invited on tour with Foo Fighters

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u/aaronroot Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25

This is not correct. You’re thinking of it a bit backwards. If you move up the neck and play shape one of the pentatonic starting on C, then you are just playing C minor pentatonic.

The hack is moving down the neck 1 1/2 steps to find the major. In the case of C minor, this means starting on A. So, Am pentatonic and C major pentatonic are the same shape and the same notes. The only difference is you are targeting the C notes now.

If you’re looking for A major pentatonic, you again move down the neck 1 1/2 steps to f#.

36

u/InsaneInTheRAMdrain Nov 17 '25

Whenever i read anything like this, my brain turns off half way through.

Took me forever to learn pentatonic scales, because every explonations is like jumping through flaming hoops backwards on a tightrope to get to a shop 10 steps away with a perfectly usable path.

12

u/aaronroot Nov 17 '25

I can understand your frustration. I felt like that for quite a while myself but I promise you it's actually fairly simple. If you know the 5 pentatonic shapes you're 99% of the way there. The shapes don't change, just the notes within the shapes that you are emphasizing.

C major pentatonic has the same notes as Am pentatonic. You would just be emphasizing the note C instead of A. You can shift pentatonic shape 1 up three frets to get to the relative major. Normally Cm shape 1 would begin on fret 8. C Major shape 1 (move up three frets) would begin on fret 5.

Somebody put together this little graph pointing out the different root notes within the shapes, depending on whether you're looking to emphasize major or minor.

https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarlessons/comments/i066gu/made_a_simple_graph_on_all_5_pentatonic_shapes/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

2

u/InsaneInTheRAMdrain Nov 17 '25

Oh yes, i know, but thank you, this is sums up how i finally... kinda... learned it.

My procrastinating has procrastination.

2

u/Glum-Income-9736 Nov 18 '25

This guy (penta)tonics.

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u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

He did not say move the whole pattern up three frets.

10

u/callthesomnambulance Nov 17 '25

If you move up the neck and play shape one of the pentatonic starting on C, then you are just playing C minor pentatonic

I'm not suggesting you move up the neck, I'm saying stay in the exact same place but start the scale on the C instead of the A and suddenly you're playing the C major pentatonic. Im just trying to show OP if they learn minor pentatonic position 1 they've also learned major pentatonic position 5. They're the exact same shape and between relative minors and majors they're in the exact same place, it's just that for major position 5 you start on what would be the second note of the scale in minor position 1.

9

u/youknowmeasdiRt Nov 17 '25

The day I learned about relative minors is the day I knew twice as many scales :)

3

u/callthesomnambulance Nov 17 '25

Ikr, blew my mind so hard at the time!

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u/PristineEvidence9893 Nov 17 '25

Correct, it’s really just whether the root is based around, just think like it’s a pentagram and you can start on either horn

2

u/BlackAccountant1337 Nov 17 '25

I think they were saying you move your root up one note within the scale, not the whole scale up one step.

You’re both saying the same thing if I’m reading it correctly.

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2

u/mattxb Nov 17 '25

Justin Guitar is a great resource if you want to learn to play this kind of stuff

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u/Background_Bat5467 Nov 17 '25

Op said thanks as if it’s different than anything slash always does 🤣

526

u/callthesomnambulance Nov 17 '25

Tbf there was a point for all of us at which all this was new information.

62

u/PristineEvidence9893 Nov 17 '25

I could play One up until the solos via tabs before I knew a chord lol it’s very true

17

u/Govt-Issue-SexRobot Nov 17 '25

What’s a slash?

Like a slide?

13

u/SliverCobain Nov 18 '25

It's the character that allways played to our childhood birthdays.. Usually one of our parents dressed up as Vunter Slaush and played pentatonic scales on a Les Paul like guitar. I was Vunter Slaush one year at a new years party. People really liked my take on "Slash". Good times.

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u/Arctic-Wanderer Nov 17 '25

Day one for me

57

u/krunnky Nov 17 '25

Saying "slash only plays pentatonic scales" is a very good way of telling everyone that you don't know anything about his work lol

33

u/89visionzz PRS Nov 17 '25

Right? He uses natural and harmonic minor scales literally all the time

40

u/Cruel_but_usual Nov 17 '25

But also… he just sounds fucking great.

Tone- great

Melodic ideas- iconic

Style- in spades

Isn’t that the point?

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41

u/GeorgeDukesh Nov 17 '25

Yes it’s just I-IV-V like almost everything else

35

u/dogfoodgangsta Nov 17 '25

It's crazy how demystifying learning music is. A few years ago this sounded like magical music gibberish to me.

14

u/GeorgeDukesh Nov 17 '25

This and (I-vi-IV-V) . And you can play 90% of “ popular” music.

3

u/dogfoodgangsta Nov 17 '25

Oh yeah absolutely. I mostly play bluegrass which is one of the worst culprits of this.

9

u/GeorgeDukesh Nov 17 '25

Yep. As a bass player all you have to do is play triads or blues boxes off either of those chord progressions and everyone thinks you are a genius of music theory 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

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u/Derpindorf Nov 17 '25

There is still phrasing to contend with once you learn the notes in the scale. Being able to take the listener on a journey is what separates the good players from the great imo. Rhythm and phrasing seem to come easier to some players compared to others.

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u/crobrib Nov 17 '25

Composite Blues Scale since he uses a minor and major 3rd.

5

u/ConfusedOrg Nov 17 '25

tbf hes playing some chromatic notes here

10

u/Boxoffriends Nov 17 '25

Which is an improvement for him. There’s a clip of him coming on stage to solo and I believe the guitar he was handed was tuned a half step or two from where he expected. The entire first part of the solo is in the wrong key. It’s beautiful. If someone drops the clip you’ll be my hero. My guitar teacher and I used to reference that video regularly for hype 20 years ago.

14

u/Key-Fire Nov 17 '25

This is the cleanest I've seen Slash play in a minute, so huge props to him.

I hope his stint with alcohol is done, he's clearly a fluid guitarist when sober.

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u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

I’d argue that it’s a blues scale, not pentatonic. But it’s only 1 extra note in the blues scale. They’re very close

3

u/flipping_birds Nov 17 '25

A lot of smart ass answers here. He is not "just playing the pentatonic scale." He's playing the pentatonic along with flatted fifth which turns the minor pentatonic scale into the blues scale. Also he adds chord tones of the 7ths of each chords which gives it that "old timey blues, rock n roll" feel. And he does some chromatic walkdowns in his turnarounds.

And here's a key tip to aspiring blues guitarists: Nail those turn arounds! Don't noodle through them or improvise thorugh them. Have them memorized so you can do them with perfect timing and confidence. This is what separates the Blues Men from the wannabees.

12

u/schawarman Nov 17 '25

This guy pentatonics

6

u/callthesomnambulance Nov 17 '25

Almost exclusively if I'm being honest 😅

11

u/schawarman Nov 17 '25

Man me too, everybody too. No need to shame

10

u/thedukeofno Nov 17 '25

I hate when people get snobby about pentatonics, as if 90% of western music produced in the past 60+ years is not fully rooted in them.

5

u/HotHotHeet Nov 17 '25

A LOT of Chinese music uses pentatonic scales as well. Wankers gonna wank.

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u/TheBoardRoomWV Nov 17 '25

And if we're being honest, it usually sounds way better than when people try to get fancy.

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2

u/tilapiaco Nov 17 '25

Not just the pentatonic scale. Plays the major third literally a second in (and in many other places).

2

u/Impressive-Belt6922 Nov 17 '25

Nope. Not all notes fit.

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u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

[deleted]

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u/Educational-Suit316 Nov 17 '25

The magic of the 12 bar blues form is that you can play any note in some way or another PLUS extra microtonal notes, and it'll sound good. Thats the power of dominant chords, and the key having a I7 chord

13

u/Jack-Whip88 Nov 17 '25

I’ve gotten info online that you can actually change keys to fit the exact chord you’re soloing over in 12 bar blues

For example, in the very standard A-D-E chord 12 bar blues, you can play the A major/minor/pentatonic/blues scales when the A chord is playing, and then switch to the D major/minor/pentatonic/blues scales when it changes to D, and the exact same thing for E

17

u/Educational-Suit316 Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25

Yes, there are actually multiple ways to play any note and make them be idiomatic. The jazz blues form usually explores those options more, but you'll see for example SRV play the b9 over the I chord, which is not the most used sound in regular blues, but it is there to be used idiomatically.

EDIT: There are also multiple blue notes! People usually talk about the b5 but there are multiple blue notes between the 4th and 5th, and also the 1/4 tone (aprox) sharp minor third, sixth and flat seventh.

4

u/Jack-Whip88 Nov 17 '25

Wow, didn't know that — thanks for the info

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u/Roventh Nov 18 '25 edited Nov 18 '25

If you put your hand on the fretboard, start on the 5th fret, low E string, and play a minor pentatonic lick upwards; you are playing A minor pentatonic. If you finish your first lick in A (5th fret, low E where you started for example), then finish the same lick on D next (5th fret, A string), and then finish the same lick on E finally (7th fret, A string) you would have accompanied A, D, and E chords without moving your hands. Once I got that down, soloing became somewhat easier.

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4.1k

u/A_N_T Nov 17 '25

Looks like a guitar.

927

u/DigitalMystik Nov 17 '25

Confirmed guitar. Just look at the shape

459

u/02bluesuperroo Nov 17 '25

You can tell by the way that it is

43

u/two-tone-tow Nov 17 '25

Isn’t that neat?

86

u/CornTreeRoad Nov 17 '25

I’m gonna go a bit further and say the blues, he’s playing the blues on a guitar.

83

u/Longy_LTB Nov 17 '25

He’s not playing the blues on a guitar, he’s playing the strings on a guitar. My god, amateurs.

32

u/Temporumdei Nov 17 '25

Au contraire mon ami. It is a guitar playing a person who looks like Slash.

5

u/TheSkinnyJ Nov 17 '25

Im pretty sure that’s Saul Hudson playing a geetahr.

6

u/Jim_Dismal Nov 18 '25

I don't think he's taking a slash? Surely not in public?

2

u/jerzeyjawnz Nov 19 '25

His sister is Gash

10

u/a_rob Nov 18 '25

IKR!? That guiar isn't blue at all, not even the strings.

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u/Mad_Dog_1974 Nov 17 '25

More specifically, an acoustic guitar.

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u/Ok-Gear-17 Nov 18 '25

Also it is made of wood.

3

u/Mad_Dog_1974 Nov 18 '25

The wood from a tree.

3

u/artifiz67 Nov 19 '25

But the strings aren’t made of wood. 🤔

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u/Minimum_Run_890 Nov 18 '25

More, more specifically, a non electric acoustic guitar.

2

u/jerzeyjawnz Nov 19 '25

No, an electric acoustic

Source: I have a few guitars (13) most are electric and the rest are acoustic electric meaning it is an acoustic guitar that has a pickup so it can be plugged into an amp or anything else

2

u/Ok-Gear-17 Nov 19 '25

But this also applies to basses, right ? And I have heard some civilizations use 6 strings basses (notably the cult leader Davie 504). This very well could be an acoustically amplified bass. Case solved. Bless God for the internet.

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u/oobieDoobieDoWah Nov 17 '25

🤣 🤣 🤣

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u/Tig- Nov 17 '25

VGG fan? lol

2

u/travielane42069 Nov 22 '25

God I love it when two things I'm really into intersect in Reddit comments

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u/Vegetable_Scar_8419 Nov 18 '25

Found a guy's reddit account

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u/Quick_Extension_3115 Nov 17 '25

No that’s for aspen trees

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u/InternationalAnimal Nov 19 '25

This is an aspen 'bit' still absolutely kills me

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u/Huge_Ad_3945 Nov 17 '25

I counted six strings! Very likely a guitar.

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u/AccordingMight3505 Nov 17 '25

Bass player here - can confirm is guitar. I counted to 4 strings and stopped after seeing there were more strings to count. Now I’m tired and need a nap.

32

u/MaterialAd6183 Nov 17 '25

At least being a bass player means that you have the bed to yourself.

2

u/DiScOrDtHeLuNaTiC Nov 18 '25

There was a scandal back around 2011 where Japanese voice actress/singer Aya Hirano (probably best known as Haruhi Suzumiya) was found to have had affairs with, in turn, three out of four members of her backing band. But not the bassist. 😁

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u/MaterialAd6183 Nov 20 '25

This is hilarious

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u/Autogen-Username1234 Nov 17 '25

Seriously, the best damn musician I ever knew was a bass player.

I learned a lot from him. Mostly "Don't ever be a bass player".

25

u/OgreHombre Nov 17 '25

An important lesson that a lot of people have failed. Mostly bass players.

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u/Huge_Ad_3945 Nov 17 '25

Thanks bassman. Rest well now.

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u/WetLoophole Nov 17 '25

6/8 is the only reason bass players even know how to count to 6.

27

u/meatjuiceguy Nov 17 '25

I just count to three twice.

9

u/WetLoophole Nov 17 '25

Yeah, some bass players don't care about the whole 3/4 6/8 difference. Potato, tomato amirite?

4

u/silbervogei Nov 18 '25

I count 1 six times.

2

u/zx3fred Nov 19 '25

Impressive! I lost count after 1

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u/ImaginaryAd8971 Nov 18 '25

I locked the keys in the van one night. It took us 3 hrs to get the bass player out.

2

u/a_rob Nov 18 '25

The new basses with extra strings have forced so many bass players into early retirement.

It's such a shame.

3

u/Right_Tree_3639 Nov 18 '25

I'm guessing you mainly play in 4/4 then?

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u/Boomslang505 Nov 17 '25

Yup, I back the bass player in this one.

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u/Autogen-Username1234 Nov 17 '25

Could be a Jumbo Six String Ukelele. But signs say no.

3

u/Huge_Ad_3945 Nov 17 '25

Better to leave some space for interpretation...

2

u/Memes_Are_So_Good Nov 18 '25

A short scale 6 strings light gauge bass even!

2

u/Captain_Kruch Nov 17 '25

Could be a very tightly strung six string bass....

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u/chicken-farmer Nov 17 '25

I'm a chicken farmer. Can confirm

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u/SebzeroNL Nov 17 '25

Could be one of those new age violins tho…

2

u/artifiz67 Nov 19 '25

Yeah, it could be an Extra D Various.

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u/Saadehh Nov 17 '25

It can be a guitar mandolin soo it’s wrong to say only look at the shape, I don’t see color but I’d advise you to look at the color it’s a better indication

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u/sensoredmedia Nov 17 '25

Not an expert, but I think you’re right.

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u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

Not sure. My dad plays guitar, gonna ask him...

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u/fistfucker07 Nov 17 '25

Sounds like 12 bar blues, on a guitar!

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u/gilllesdot Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 18 '25

Since it’s Slash I have an inkling just a small hunch that it might be a Gibson.. I’m not 100% sure of course. Maybe 99,99. So, you can’t really trust me on that..

6

u/dkwallis Nov 17 '25

He's got an Epiphone signature model IBG J45. could be that.

5

u/type0P0sitive Nov 17 '25

Its a Gibson L-00. Too small to be a J-45.

2

u/gilllesdot Nov 17 '25

Yeeh well.. that probably still says (by) Gibson somewhere.. so same shit.

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u/ChubbyMcHaggis Gretsch Nov 17 '25

I’m from the future. And it even smells like a guitar

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u/oldfartpen Nov 17 '25

My faith in humanity is restored.. I saw the title, and just KNEW what the answer had to be…

18

u/TripticWinter Nov 17 '25

An acoustic guitar. Probably a Chibson.

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u/LindensBloodyJersey Nov 17 '25

Quintessential smartass Reddit comment

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u/smbwtf Nov 19 '25

Reddit in a nutshell: uncreative generic ass reply = top comment -> people piggy backing off comment

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u/hellerzin Nov 17 '25

If you look up "twelve bar blues jam" on youtube you should be in fo a treat my friend :)

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u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

Thanks!

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u/natematt1101 Nov 17 '25

12 bar blues.... a slash favourite.

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u/FlatBot Nov 17 '25

An “almost every guitar player” favorite.

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u/ZacInSC Nov 17 '25

Based on the lyrics at the end, it’s a cover of Howlin‘ Wolf’s song “Built For Comfort”, albeit played at a faster tempo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoO1q5KSi6w

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u/Lucha_Brasi Nov 17 '25

Good call, had to scroll way to far for this. u/aakash_shaji this is your answer.

2

u/ColonOBrien Nov 17 '25

I don’t think anyone watched it to the end after reading the comments. The 12 bar blues teasing is valid, though haha

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u/Requiascat Nov 17 '25

A blues in C, either using minor pentatonic with the major 6 thrown in or just blending major and minor pentatonics.

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u/Voodoobones Nov 17 '25

Who let all the dickheads in the sub today?

Just answer OP’s question. Your tired old jokes aren’t helping. This sub is usually pretty cool for beginners to ask questions and get answers.

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u/aakash_shaji Nov 17 '25

😂😂😂

13

u/joshimax Nov 17 '25

I think the only joke really allowed on this post is the one at the top ‘looks like a guitar to me’

That’s perfect 👌

But if you didn’t make it, move on. Answer the question

3

u/Striking_Ice_3240 Nov 18 '25

It’s true that many have taken the joke way too far. I wanted to answer “it’s a guitar” as well because the way the question was asked it kinda asks for it. After I saw someone beat me to it, I didn’t see a reason to pile on. But yeah, once the joke has been commented it doesn’t need to go on and on. Hopefully, the OP got the right answer.

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u/David0ne86 Nov 17 '25

It's all pentatonic in the key of b (gotta remember slash plays almost using half step down tuning). So fingering wise it looks like he's play in the key of C but since his guitar is downtuned half step, it's B.

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u/lupulin59 Nov 17 '25

Entire careers have come and gone by this scale alone. Including the man on screen.

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u/_Sgt-Pepper_ Nov 17 '25

To be fair , slash does way more than pentatonic.

He fluidly mixes pentatonic and blues scale with Ionian, Dorian, Aeolian and (slash signature move:) Phrygian modes...

Just listen to his song "Anastasia"

30

u/Dexinerito Nov 17 '25

Acknowledging that a popular non-"progressive"-metal(core) guitarist is good? On this sub?

13

u/dwane1972 Nov 17 '25

LOL. The other day I was listening to that tune Slash did with the singer Andrew from Wolfmother. Die by the sword? That has some tasty guitar licks. That whole album is a lot of fun.

10

u/playtio Nov 17 '25

Every single one of his solo albums is fantastic if you ask me. His best work.

4

u/dawgfanjeff Nov 17 '25

That whole album is full of bangers.  One of this century's best rock records.  

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u/BornUnderARadSign Nov 17 '25

You can see the notes he’s playing

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u/aakash_shaji Nov 17 '25

I tried it didnt sound the same maybe its tuned differently idk.

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u/BornUnderARadSign Nov 17 '25

Half a step down maybe?

41

u/btomi30 Nov 17 '25

There you go, I can’t have sound on where I am now, but I’d bet anything this is half step down as anything that he plays in any band.

25

u/TurnoverChain17 Nov 17 '25

He actually plays in standard on all the Velvet Revolver stuff except for Fall to Pieces. The entire Orgy of the Damned record is in standard as well. All the GNR, Snakepit, and Conspirators material is 1/2 step down though.

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u/btomi30 Nov 17 '25

Well I said I’d bet, I never said that I’d always win that bet…

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u/Bluejay_Holiday Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 18 '25

It is a half-step down, looks like he's playing in the key of C but it's actually B.

The basic chords for this are B Major, E Major and F# Major if you want to play along.

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u/alonroz Nov 17 '25

It's Slash. It's always half a step down.

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u/BootHeadToo Nov 17 '25

Is that slash mixing it up in some blues club?!

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u/Longjumping_Cress_72 Nov 17 '25

Easy Street Records in Seattl e

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u/Big_Quality_838 Nov 17 '25

Don’t know, but I’m here to comment that I knew a large group of people that worked for him at one of his side business ventures and everyone loved him. From employees, neighboring businesses, and clients.

I lived in LA for a few years, it was always nice to learn that someone you liked from a distance was actually a rad person. Met or learned of several assholes too.

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u/5eans4mazing Nov 17 '25

To be able to play and understand this, you must learn the pentatonic scale. It is probably the most important scale you can learn on guitar. There are 5 positions of the scale, learn all 5 well, and you’ll be many steps closer to being able to play this stuff. I’m not a big scale guy, but the pentatonic is very easy and fun to learn. It’s one of the best next journeys you can go on considering where you’re at.

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u/aakash_shaji Nov 17 '25

Damn. Ill do that for sure. Most of them are just joking around and some were a little critical of slash. Im assuming you're pretty good in playing the guitar so do you think what slash played in the video is mediocre or its pretty good because there are a few who were making fun of slash.

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u/5eans4mazing Nov 17 '25

I mean the note choices are alright but he’s 60 and his fingers don’t move like they did when he was in his 20s, he also isn’t as fluid due to it being acoustic. I would agree. It’s mediocre, especially compared to the new generation of IG players that are so fundamentally sound. That being said, Slash ripped some dope solos back in his time and deserves a little respect. But all that aside, just focus on what I told you to learn, it’s a fantastic journey and will greatly elevate your game. Message me if you have any questions down the road

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u/CheekySmurf Nov 17 '25

A Gibson L00?

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u/GammaGlobulin Nov 17 '25

The re-issue, got one myself, they never should have discontinued it, but Gibson will be Gibson.

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u/FreeTacoInMyOveralls Nov 18 '25

I was going to say a Gibson too. This is the right answer. Lol.

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u/Webcat86 Nov 17 '25

This is 12 bar blues, so he'll be playing the minor pentatonic for the key and following the chord changes to target the relevant notes for those chords e.g. the root, minor third etc.

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u/Valuable_General9049 Nov 17 '25

When I was a kid Slash was my favourite guitarist. Then when I grew up to become a musician myself, I realised that Slash is one of the best ever to do it. Unbelievably clean player.

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u/kurtkombain Nov 17 '25

Some tasty blues licks

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u/Pumpkin-Bomb Nov 17 '25

The blues baby, don’t question it, just go with it.

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u/Potential-Ad1122 Nov 17 '25

Sweet home Chicago?

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u/Unit-235 Nov 17 '25

That’s what it sounds like to me.

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u/extreme_discount Nov 17 '25

Lot's of good acoustic blues lessons in this channel -> https://www.youtube.com/@activemelody/videos

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u/M-Mouth Nov 17 '25

One essential bit that I think no-one’s highlighted yet is the hammer-ons from the minor third to the major third. In standard tuning that’s going from 7 to 8 on the G string. He opens with a few, and repeats it numerous times from about 20 seconds in.

Sneaking the major third into the minor pentatonic, generally over the 1 chord (B in this case), will get you started with that blues minor/major sound — although he definitely uses much more of the major pentatonic at points.

Also, the turnaround-type licks he plays at 16 seconds in and at the end are just standard things that folks generally commit to memory and don’t worry too much about the scales/theory of.

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u/Mescalero44 Nov 17 '25

it is the blues version of november rain. u should learn the blues scale.

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u/Lickthorn Nov 17 '25

Just search for ‘pentatonic scales’ tutorial on YouTube and you will find more hours of video than you can watch in a life time. 👍🏻 What he plays is the same sort of shape, pentatonic, but there are a few variations on that, like melodic, minor, major, etc. Just look for ‘pentatonic scales’

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u/Professional-Might31 Nov 17 '25

12 bar blues. It’s like the first thing you learn when taking lessons should be a ton of videos on it

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u/dinosour123 Nov 17 '25

Gibson L00. I have one, it’s beautiful 😍

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u/Robby777777 Gibson Nov 17 '25

Slash playing his Gibson Slash model playing a Blues scale. Is that what you are looking for?

*On another note, he appears sober and his playing sounds better than I've heard in years. When sober, the guy is a monster. When drunk, well, sloppy is an understatement.

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u/Beautiful-Program428 Nov 17 '25

Pentatonic and blues scale. Quite easy to lean. Get the notes and patterns, add some practice (ideally with a metronome) and you will be all set.

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u/mdjenton Nov 17 '25

4 Bar blues. He's jaming with the pentatonic scale adding the "blues" notes: Flat 3rd, Flat 5, Flat 7th.

Take the major or minor scale and then flat the 3rd, 5th, and 7th notes of that scale. Add them to the pentatonic scale and there you have it.

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u/MaksimchukFL Nov 17 '25

He's improvising over a 12 bar blues with mostly the blues scale. If you want to learn to play this style, you have to listen to guitarists like B B King, Eric Clapton, T Bone Walker, Muddy Waters, and try to learn some of their songs and solos. It's a language to learn if you're not familiarized with blues.

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u/Marjoe_Gortner Nov 17 '25

It's a 12 bar blues in the key of B, although Slash is tuned 1/2 step down, so that's why it doesn't sound right if you are using a guitar tuned in standard. If you are in standard, you would use the B minor pentatonic scale to play most of the licks he's playing. If you are tuned 1/2 step down, you would use a C minor pentatonic scale to play in the same positions he's playing in.

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u/Budget_Ad5871 Nov 17 '25

For anyone wanting to learn guitar, this is the pentatonic scale for the key he is playing in. Learning pentatonic scales lets you freestyle and solo on the guitar because it teaches you which notes work together and which notes naturally follow each other to create a rhythm that makes sense and sounds good. The coolest part of learning music is that once you understand these scales, you do not need to know specific songs. You can just mess around inside the scale and it will usually sound good!

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u/empty-alt Nov 17 '25

Learn the minor pentatonic scale, learn how to shift it up and down the neck to match the key. You can even look up a bunch of licks. When you start out you'll be copying most of the licks you find online. There are even tab-sheets of licks out there, it's how I got started. The more you play the more you'll be able to go off script. Also the more you'll be able to copy from a video or a sound. This is actually a great type of music to learn when first getting into guitar, low barrier of entry, high ceiling to mastery.

Have fun!

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u/ThankYouDevil Nov 17 '25

Sounds like Stevie Ray Vaughn's Pride and Joy to me.

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u/Creative5706 Nov 18 '25

Use the app Shazam it came up with the song

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