Luke Solo Section Help

[Kevan]

Hey folks.
I'm having a tough time with a section of a Luke solo, and who better to ask than Luke fans.

I'm working on learning the song "I Love L.A." by Randy Newman. For those that don't know, Toto was pretty much Randy's band back then (must be nice! LOL). Mr. Lukather wasn't playing his EB/MM in those days, but did have a nice LP in the video.

I have most of the guitar parts down, but I'm missing the last section of the guitar solo by Luke. I'm still training my ears, so that's why I'm asking for assistance with this.

On the original album track, the solo section is from 2:38 to 3:08 (Steve probably timed it out to be *exactly* 30 seconds. LOL).
I'm not sure if it's the mix, or I don't have the stereo up loud enough, but I can't seem to get the notes from 2:51 to the 3:08 correct. I keep missing something in there.

It's not a Holdsworth-type technical display; it's a very straight-forward solo. For some reason I just can't get it down. I checked the sheet music for the song, and it only shows the chords; not any of the solo sections.

If TAB is against forum rules, I totally understand, but any assistance would be appreciated. I've liked this song since it came out, and finally sat down and learned it. Well, most of it.

Oh, and if anyone is feeling saucy, I'd love to get the...ahem..."specific notes"....for the keyboard parts as well (intro, tango break, etc.).

Thanks in advance!


(MODS & ADMIN- I couldn't find anything in the rules regarding TAB and such on this forum, so if this inappropriate, please feel free to delete it.)

 

[SteveB]

Kev,

We've got a member here named Lucious who might be able to help you, but he hasn't logged in for a while.

Maybe Big Poppa can find him?

 

[pauldogx]

Lucious is on tour in europe and Japan with TOTO currently supporting their new album--I'm sure this is why he hasn't checked in lately. They will be doing some dates in the US in the summer. I'm sure he'll check in then.

 

[Kevan]

Ummm....holy crap. I just did a member search on "Lucious".
I think I'm in trouble.

Since I'm in deeper than I thought, I might as well go for broke and ask for the solo section from "She's A Beauty" as well.

 

[Dcareaga]

Hey!

Great solo.. one of Lukes best in the 80's.

I made a quick clip of the solo played slowly... you can get it here:

http://www.dancareaga.com/LA.html

Please forgive the crappy tone and Really crappy playing... Its 1 AM and I put this together in about 5 minutes.

Basically the solo starts on C on the A String 3rd fret.

The Middle section is all in the A Minor pentatonic Box at the 5th fret.
Note the C Octave lick with the D pedal tone thrown in... Thats played
at the 5th fret with the Octave C's on the G String and High E String
Frets 5 and 8 respectively.

The quick descending lick right before the high part starts is a
G Major Triad starting on the Major 3rd (the B on the 4th fret G string) which is bent up a Half step to C and then Descends down the Triad from
B to G on the D String 5th Fret to
D on the A String 5th Fret to
B (Second Fret A String) and ending on C a half step higher.

Just play a G Major Barre Chord at the 3rd fret and the notes on the A, D and G strings are the Triad you need.

The last part of the solo is played at the 13th Fret you could look at it as either the F Lydian position or the E Phrygian position (the solo is in C Major with hints of C minor)

The first note is the D on the B string 15th fret bent up a Whole Step to E
And the in Luke like fashion the second bend is the same D only bent up a Half step to E Flat the last few notes are simply ascending the scale in a repetitive way up to the A on the High E string at the 17th Fret and ending on G on the 15th Fret.

This section could also be played at the 17th Fret in A Minor with the first note D on the G String 19th Fret.


Hope this helps!!!


DC

 

[Kevan]

DC- Thanks!

When this gnarly storm passes over, I'll fire up the amp (and my JPM...heh heh) and give it another shot.

Your version sounds a *little* different than the original, but I think that's because you're doing it at a speed my untrained ears can work with.
Thanks again, DC. I really appreciate it!

BTW- Is it bad karma to play a Luke solo on a JPM?

 

[SteveB]

Kev,

There's a thread over in the guitar forum.. the long & short of it is this:

Lucious will be fielding questions from us tomorrow (Saturday) night at 7pm pacific.
I believe that Casey Ball will start a thread at that time for us to post our queries into, and then Casey will post back Luke's responses (or at least, forum-safe versions of them ).

 

[Big Poppa]

Plese post your questions now and then we will start answering them in order of reciept.
its the lukather and poppa thread in the guitar section

Luke is here in the Desert now will be until Sunday then off to New York for regis and then back to Japan and Europe

 

[kbaim]

So is anyone plannnig to represent in Vegas sept 1 for the TOTO show?

 

[pauldogx]

I dont know if this qualifies as "representin" but I will be at TOTO's Penn's Peak show in July in the Poconos in PA. Its not a real big venue---not really the level of venue a band like TOTO should be playing(its a fine venue just small). On the plus side I will be able to see Luke in a club size setting and will be able to watch his hands more closely to determine the orgins of his MOJO(yeah right). The last time I saw Luke was 1984 on the TOTO 4 tour in NJ. He was playing an all-red Dimarzio guitar(remember them--all red finish, even the finger boards!!! Earl Slick had one too).

 

[Dcareaga]

So is anyone plannnig to represent in Vegas sept 1 for the TOTO show?

Oh Yeah!

I will be there!! It's the week of my 34th birthday.
I get to kick it off with a Great Toto Show!!
Can't wait..


DC

 

[Dcareaga]

DC- Thanks!

When this gnarly storm passes over, I'll fire up the amp (and my JPM...heh heh) and give it another shot.

Your version sounds a *little* different than the original, but I think that's because you're doing it at a speed my untrained ears can work with.
Thanks again, DC. I really appreciate it!

BTW- Is it bad karma to play a Luke solo on a JPM?

Hey man,

No Sweat!
Happy to help.
If you need any more help let me know.


DC

 

[Dcareaga]

Hey I re-recorded the clip... The tone is a bit clearer and it is alot more in tune!
Ha ha ha

I also added a clip of the solo played Up to the correct speed.

http://www.dancareaga.com/LA.html

DC

 

[Kevan]

Dan- Thanks again man! Those two MP3's really helped.

Here's what I've got so far:
http://www.tremol-no.com/images/woodblock/ilovelasolotab.asp

Let me know if I'm even reasonably close.

 

[Dcareaga]

Hey,
That Tab was Really close... I modified it.

In a couple of places you will see two numbers with ^ between them
Like 19^19 or 7^7 I meant that as a Bend Release
i.e. 19the Fret bent up a whole (or half) step released down to the natural 19th fret note or
19(Bent note) Down To 19

In one case I did this: 4^5 that is to indicate that the 4th fret note is Bent up to the 5th Fret and released quickly as you hit the next note, its kind of a momentary bend so to speak.



DC

 

[Ali]

Kev,

We've got a member here named Lucious who might be able to help you, but he hasn't logged in for a while.

Maybe Big Poppa can find him?

I believe Lucious can't remember his password these days (age and memory are inversely proportional after all ).

 

[Kevan]

Hey,
That Tab was Really close... I modified it.

In a couple of places you will see two numbers with ^ between them
Like 19^19 or 7^7 I meant that as a Bend Release
i.e. 19the Fret bent up a whole (or half) step released down to the natural 19th fret note or
19(Bent note) Down To 19

In one case I did this: 4^5 that is to indicate that the 4th fret note is Bent up to the 5th Fret and released quickly as you hit the next note, its kind of a momentary bend so to speak.
DC

Thanks a bunch, Dan!
I'll await the attachment approval then get crackin' on it.

I think I know the bends that you're referring to, esp. relating to the first section of the solo. I can kind of hear those.

The Lukather trademarked "first time- bend up a full step; second time- bend up a half step" part was one of the hardest things for my untrained ears to pick up on. I kept wanting to move down a half step and bend there. With about 5 or 6 thousand more hours of dissecting Luke solos, I should be pretty good with this stuff. LOL

Sorry about my TAB'ing skills. I'm certainly no pro, as you can easily tell. LOL

 

[Dcareaga]

Hey,
You can get the TAB here:

http://www.dancareaga.com/pictures/images/Tab.jpg

It should be Extremely Close.....


DC

 

[Kevan]

THANKS A TON, DAN!

For an amateur with almost no theory and untrained ears, I did get pretty close! LOL
Now all we need is Luke to give you an A+ and me a C-.
Thanks again. I appreciate it.

(You wouldn't happen to have the intro and keyboard parts do you? LOL)

 

[Kevan]

Well, I took a break from the shop tonight and tried to clear my brain by working on this song a little (I know that sounds contradictory, but playing really does help).

I think I've got a couple of parts, but wanted to double-check with the members here (namely Dan and Lucious).
I don't have the chords for the intro yet, but I did work on a couple of the licks during that section.

Sax lick after the lyric, "..dress like monkeys":

E--------------------------------------
B---------5^v5-p4-h5-p4~~~----
G--------------------------------------
D--------------------------------------
A--------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------

Sax lick after the lyric, "..to the eskimos":

E-(muted rake/slide up)-12-11-10----
B------------------------------------------------
G------------------------------------------------
D------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------

After the little 'jazz club' intro is the actual begining of the song. I'm sure it's off in some parts, but that's why I'm here! Critique away!

E-----------------------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------
A---------------------2-3-5-3-2--------------------
E----5-3-5-------5---------------5~--3-5--------

Hopefully this means that my ears are *slightly* improving.
Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks everyone!