I thought it could perhaps be interesting for some to hear how I go about learning some new material quickly.
So last Thursday at band rehearsals it was suggested we pick up Gary Moore’s Walking By Myself for next time… which is Monday!
Being a huge Gary Moore fan I know the song very well in my head… but have never played it before. It was therefore also immediately clear to me that I would not be able to learn it 100% exact as Gary plays it. So what to do…
Well, my normal approach is to first focus on the hardest part - in this case the main solo. Then I identify the signature parts that I feel I need to get very close, and also the tricky parts where I know I will have to approximate it.
It is always 100 times better to come to band rehearsals with something you can play with confidence and execute well than trying to be exact, but falling short.
In the case of this solo I feel the first half is so signature that it needs to be pretty close - but in the second round Gary fires off two of his signature “fast pentatonic flurry” licks, which is about impossible to copy. You can also hear this is where I approximate the solo the most.
The main body of the song is easy to learn, but there are a few signature “walk ups” on the low e string that needs to be there.
So this is day two of trying to learn it for me. Yesterday I learned all the parts, today I set up a loop over the solo section and practiced that. Thought I would simply put up my iPhone and see what happens…
So this video/audio is RAW… contains mistakes and so on… but it represents where I’ve gotten the song to on day two. From here on it will improve as we keep it in the set
Super cool Kasper, I always wondered how is your learning process looking like as usually we are getting a ready baked end product which one can’t get enough of.
Always impressed by your play, only two days in and you are already playing this solo fairly confidently and well enough to put it out in front of people. More videos like this please! out of curiosity what strings gauge you have on this guitar?
Thanks for checking out the video and for the nice words!
I use 9.5 gauge strings (yes, those exist) on most of my guitars, and 10s on a few. Normally I would have put 10s on this model (so it can more easily be down-tuned to Eb, drop-D etc)… but I wanted to use this one with the band so I decided to stick to the 9.5 I normally play live.
Turned out to be a good idea… fingers hurt enough from practicing those 1.5 step bends in this solo, even with the “light” gauge, ha ha
Wow didn’t realize those exist! I was thinking this middle finger bend around 19th fret was really painful to watch haha! I imagined those being 10s like on mine so even thinking about doing this sort of bend was painful haha! Great stuff Kasper don’t hesitate to post more vids like there very useful!
That was terrific Kasper. It will be fascinating to watch how you build on this. I laughed when I read the bit about the tricky parts where you have to approximate! I look forward to the next episode.
Good eyes (and ears) Adrian!
For that particular bend my first instinct was to support it with two fingers behind the fretted note - that’s my “default” for bending 1.5 steps. But in this lick, immediately after the bend there is a hammer-on/pull-off flurry that goes 19-21 on the high e, but 19-22 on the b-string. And I could not hit that 22 on b with that fingering… so I had to force myself to bend the e string with only the first finger supporting it…
Yes makes perfect sense, in just two days wow you managed to quickly overcome seemingly more challenging obstacle! Always impressed with folks being able to learn that quick, I am learning some faster solos now and I am at 75% speed sometimes hitting 80% point but to get to a 100… well probably for months to come! In the meantime I will just enjoy your uploads
@Rossco01 thanks for that, I will defo check it out once my current stock runs out of D’addarios 10s
Excellent Kasper, it’s more or less the same way I would learn a solo. The harder parts are always the ones that take the longest, I also look at various live performances of the track to assess the variations usually played and try to stick within those parameters. I also have the same thing with the ’guitar faces’ along with so many other guitarists
Wow,…i’m a big fan of Gary Moore, and my wife just said…from a distance (she’s sitting at home sitting out the storm) …nice haven’t heard Gary in a while,
I look forward to the whole song from you,
… and everybody was so enthralled with the fingers flashing on the fretboard, they forgot to drool over the looks and sound of your new guitar
Nice post, Kaspar
Excellent video, Kaspar. Brian beat me to it so I will say: beautiful guitar and the sound is amazing!
You inspire me. It takes me a week to learn the simplest bits.
As soon as you nailed that first bend going into the solo I got a big smile on my face and knew it was going to be good. Great playing: relaxed, smooth, and precise. I just want more…and louder!
That was awesome! The playing, the tone, the feel, everything. And made me really want to go pick up guitar and practice, so I guess that’s enough forum browsing for today.
Thanks for the share and the breakdown of your approach to learning something new.
Interesting you have 9.5 as I puts some 9.5 - 44s on my 2 Washburn HBs, DAddario EXl120 and found them quite comfortable for bends, even my ham fisted ones.
Good to see the MusicMan getting a work out and and very impressive with the cover, as others have said very recognisable, especially with the Elmore James style lick. Tone sounded good as well even with a “raw” recording. Would love to hear the finished track.
Only two days ? Impressive but not surprised.
out of curiosity what strings gauge you have on this guitar?
The playing, the tone, the feel, everything. And made me really want to go pick up guitar and practice, so I guess that’s enough forum browsing for today. 
