LESSON: Guthrie Govan style legato shred lick

[Gitarmats]

Hello, everyone! I put together a little lesson for a fun lick I've taken (and expanded upon) from Guthrie Govan. I think it's a very useful legato lick that can be quite flexible and be blended into improv in many ways.

I hope you will get something out of it and enjoy it, and of course I'm open to feedback on the lesson format, content and anything really.

 

[PLX]

Very cool lick !

 

[Gitarmats]

Very cool lick !

Thanks!

 

[Eagle]

I don’t think there is anything Guthrie about it particularly. You will find things like this everywhere.

 

[Gitarmats]

I don’t think there is anything Guthrie about it particularly. You will find things like this everywhere.

Oh well, thanks for watching anyway. The original nugget of the lick is taken from a Guthrie solo, and at least I personally associate these types of long legato lines that use a lot of chromatics with Guthrie's style. But I guess it's up for debate.

 

[Funk Soul Brother]

I don’t think there is anything Guthrie about it particularly. You will find things like this everywhere.

 

[JCW308]

I don’t think there is anything Guthrie about it particularly. You will find things like this everywhere.

He said STYLE. Wow.

 

[Eagle]

He said STYLE. Wow.

It’s a very common thing.

 

[Eagle]

Oh well, thanks for watching anyway. The original nugget of the lick is taken from a Guthrie solo, and at least I personally associate these types of long legato lines that use a lot of chromatics with Guthrie's style. But I guess it's up for debate.

Nothing wrong with the video but I don’t think of it as anything Guthrie leans on particularly. It’s a common thing in legato lines period.

 

[Gitarmats]

Nothing wrong with the video but I don’t think of it as anything Guthrie leans on particularly. It’s a common thing in legato lines period.

He said STYLE. Wow.

View attachment 46735

For anyone interested, I got the concept from 1:04 in this solo:


So that lick is different to the one in my video, but what I did was to take one of the "devices" I found among all those notes and run with it. So what I took out is just a small fraction of an improvised lick, then I extended that into a discernible concept that can be practiced and used in various ways, like I talk about in the video. I find that identifying the "device" is often more valuable than just copying the licks if the goal is to make it useful for improvisation.

Whether or not it's in a Guthrie style... I personally would say it's close enough to label it as such, but people are free to disagree about that, of course. I could of course have just called it "fusion legato lick" or something, but considering the concept comes directly out of a solo by Guthrie and this legato style with lots of chromatics is something I associate with Guthrie, I thought it was appropriate. Naturally there will be some overlap with other players playing similar things, but I don't feel like that makes it invalid.

But as I said, feel free to disagree.

 

[Sleezy E]

I don’t think there is anything Guthrie about it particularly. You will find things like this everywhere.

Just like guitar techs!

 

[Eagle]

Just like guitar techs!

Not good ones, like guitar players mostly mediocre.

 

[Eagle]

For anyone interested, I got the concept from 1:04 in this solo:


So that lick is different to the one in my video, but what I did was to take one of the "devices" I found among all those notes and run with it. So what I took out is just a small fraction of an improvised lick, then I extended that into a discernible concept that can be practiced and used in various ways, like I talk about in the video. I find that identifying the "device" is often more valuable than just copying the licks if the goal is to make it useful for improvisation.

Whether or not it's in a Guthrie style... I personally would say it's close enough to label it as such, but people are free to disagree about that, of course. I could of course have just called it "fusion legato lick" or something, but considering the concept comes directly out of a solo by Guthrie and this legato style with lots of chromatics is something I associate with Guthrie, I thought it was appropriate. Naturally there will be some overlap with other players playing similar things, but I don't feel like that makes it invalid.

But as I said, feel free to disagree.

I didn’t say it’s not there. It’s also no more Guthrie’s than an E chord .

 

[2112]

Excellent vid and playing @Gitarmats . Love that Ibanez too.

 

[Sleezy E]

Not good ones, like guitar players mostly mediocre.

Yeah, that's true.

Just like people with low self-esteem that have to knock everyone down to feel good about themselves.

I get it.

 

[PLX]

Yeah, that's true.

Just like people with low self-esteem that have to knock everyone down to feel good about themselves.

I get it.

 

[Eagle]

Yeah, that's true.

Just like people with low self-esteem that have to knock everyone down to feel good about themselves.

I get it.

I don’t have low self esteem and the video is good I just don’t see the Guthrie connection any more than he and everyone else.

 

[Gitarmats]

I didn’t say it’s not there. It’s also no more Guthrie’s than an E chord .

Not saying you did. I just replied to clarify further and add more context to my opinion, the video and the lick itself for anyone who would be interested.

Excellent vid and playing @Gitarmats . Love that Ibanez too.

Thank you very much! Really appreciate it!

 

[JasonE]

It is okay to not comment on something that you can't find something nice to say about. We should support each other as guitar players and not be harsh or beat people down when they take the step of putting something on video and putting it out there. Don't be a douche bag. Skip the negative comment and scroll on.

 

[Mikael Dez]

Just like guitar techs!

I’ll pour salt in my eyes before I bring my guitar to a tech