The Big Picture, Part 2

How to build a guitar solo to a powerful climax

- HARDWIRED BY JAMES JARED NICHOLS

LAST MONTH, I demonstrated my approach to soloing over the song "Hard Wired," originally released on my 2023 self-titled album. We began with the breakdown section, over which I play simple lines over the D - F - G chord progression before moving into the heavy D minor pentatonic-based (D, F, G, A, C) "theme riff," over which the main solo is played. Once that riff is established, I begin the proper solo with some Jimi Hendrix-inspired dominant 7 triads that are tremolo-picked and slid up and down the neck, à la "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)." In this lesson, I'd like to discuss what I play next and why.

After that, I love to utilize unison bends, which are inspired by players like Ted Nugent, Pat Travers and Johnny Winter. As shown in