The lick starts off at the 14^th fret of the High E and moves around C Lydian. Notice the small amounts of whammy bar vibrato and the little dip into the note B at the 4^th fret of the G string towards the end of the descending section. After finishing at the 2^nd fret of the A string we execute a dive bomb with the bar and a slide up and down the neck to lead into the second ascending phrase that is faster and has an accelerating quality leading all the way up to the Gmaj7 arpeggio at the end. Go for the rhythmic vibe in this section rather than trying to nail the rhythm and note groupings exactly as I played them. Satriani will execute these kind of licks differently every time he plays them and you can too.

Lick 5:

Joe is also known for his extensive use of ‘box shape’ style pentatonic Blues phrases that offer a great juxtaposition to his three note per string scalar lines such as those in Lick 4. By playing these types of phrase against one another their impact is enhanced for the listener. Check out Joe’s self-titled album for a ton of this kind of playing. For this lick I’m using an A minor pentatonic scale that works great with our Bb Lydian tonality giving us the 7^th, 9^th, 3^rd, #11^th and 13^th of the chord, in other words – all the juicy notes. This lick works its way up to the 20^th fret with a slide from the 17^th into a whole step bend before coming back down the neck with a classic Satch pick tapping phrase. It’s important to stay as relaxed as possible while tapping with the edge of the pick at the 22^nd fret or this phrase will sound forced and awkward. I also mute the lower strings with my first and second fingers of my left hand on my way down the neck as my right hand is tapping.

Lick 6: 

Now we’re into classic Satch harmonics territory, using the natural harmonics on the G string to outline a G major arpeggio against our C Lydian tonality. I recommend that you pick near to bridge and bounce your left hand finger off the string after executing the harmonic for the maximum sustain. The last three harmonics occur in-between frets and are much harder to perform, varying slightly in placement from guitar to guitar, so take a bit of time to find out where exactly they are best located for your instrument. The last harmonic is followed by a slow dive bomb before releasing the bar back up and with a well-executed open string pinched harmonic on the G String. This is a big part of Joe’s sound and is a really cool, vocal sound but requires quite a lot of distortion to achieve the desired amount of sustain so don’t be afraid to crank up that gain control on your amp or pedal.

Lick 7: 

Here we are back into our melodic territory to finish the solo with more raked melody notes and very vocal phrasing. Watch out for the position shift into the bend at the 10^th fret of the high E string. You have to think ahead a bit in order to not miss the bend at this important point in the solo.

Lick 8: 

The solo finishes over a static C Lydian vamp with an ascending two string pull off motif that recalls a phrase from earlier in the solo. The phrase is built from an E minor pentatonic scale, outlining the 3^rd, 5^th, 6^th, 7^th and 9^th of the Lydian scale. You want to slide into the first note of each phrase, so a bit of target practice is required to execute this well. Once you reach the 22^nd fret you’re going to do a whole step bend and release, again trying to go for a pinch harmonic on the release if possible. We finish the whole solo with more whammy bar dips at the 22^nd and 20^th frets of the B string with a cool rhythm that I recommend you use your ears to get down.

So there we have it folks! I really hope you enjoy this solo and that it gives you an insight into some of Joe Satriani’s techniques and approaches. His style is both unique and innovative and many of today’s greats owe a big debt to his sound. Good luck with the solo guys and I’ll see you all soon.