Zakk Wylde Soloing

[Child Of Norther]

I've been an BLS fan for a while, as well as ozzy but i am starting to appreciate Zakks solo style a lot more (I many listen to Melodic Death which is mass Neo Clasical InfluencesI.E Children of Bodom) But am wanting to move my solo style to a more.. Balls To THe Wall style like Zakks to add a bit more flavour to my songs.

Can some people write out a few of his main Licks and scales (Besides pentatonic) that he uses?


Thanks a lot guys.

[SeventhSon]

Re: Zakk Wylde Soloing

Give me the name of a song and, unless it's just the intro that you want, the location of the lick (in terms of minutes/seconds relative to start of song or start of 1st solo or 2nd solo).

I'm practicing transcribing stuff...

[Child Of Norther]

Re: Zakk Wylde Soloing

Not any specific riffs or anything. Just.. you know


Little patterns of notes he uses at different parts of the fretboard to add his Heavy metal aspect to his solos.

[The Chase]

Re: Zakk Wylde Soloing

Monor, major pentatonic scales+ the blues scale mostly. Don'r forget the minor scales. It's more about the feel than abou melody for Zakk, I guess.

[shredmonster]

Re: Zakk Wylde Soloing

He uses basic pentatonic patterns and runs - he practices where to put the accents - he gets that from his chicken picken and carried those techniques over to rock.
He is much better at chicken picken than rock - I have a song off an obscure guitar CD that is quite impressive.
Its not so much the notes or patterns that people play - because many of them play the same patterns and notes - its how they play them - accents, legato, taps, harmonics, speed, etc... This creates style and takes many years.
View playing the guitar like weightlifting - learn the patterns and scales and all that but also you have to work on mechanics over and over and over and over until you can play the same notes and patterns and get many different sounds out of them. That is why no two good guitar players sound the same.

[JacksonConcept]

Re: Zakk Wylde Soloing

I agree that accents on certain root notes are the key. I can shred but I suck at accenting the key notes. I'm working on improving that. I switched to Jazz III Stubby picks and its helped my technique and pinch harmonics too. I'm a major pentatonic player and I flub notes if a chord switches to minor. Practice, Practice.

[shredmonster]

Re: Zakk Wylde Soloing

Jazz III definitely the way to go. You'll never play as fast if you keep using a regular pick. Plus you will be able to control your accuracy better with the smaller picks even though it may seem harder at first.
A thicker pick is one of the secrets to playing fast.

[Outlander]

Re: Zakk Wylde Soloing

It's not the thickness of the pick but the stiffness that helps or rigidity. That's what makes metal picks nice... thin and stiff.

[fuel0707]

Re: Zakk Wylde Soloing

[ QUOTE ]
Jazz III definitely the way to go. You'll never play as fast if you keep using a regular pick. Plus you will be able to control your accuracy better with the smaller picks even though it may seem harder at first.
A thicker pick is one of the secrets to playing fast.

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree with you on the pick size. Yngwie, Joe Stump, Steve Morse, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Steve Lukather and George Lynch are just a few of the fast-picking players who use picks larger than the Jazz III. I have a few of Joe Stump's picks that he sent to me and they are 1.5 mm Delrin 500 picks made by Dunlop. From what I've read, Yngwie uses the same picks, too, though with a different logo. And given that this thread is about Zakk Wylde, here's a link to an eBay auction for some of his picks: Zakk's picks

I know that some players like Eric Johnson (probably the parton saint of the Jazz III) and John Petrucci use smaller picks, but I don't think a generalization can be made that "smaller pick = more speed".

I think that the key to speed isn't necessarily the pick but rather practice.

[sworn_enemy]

Re: Zakk Wylde Soloing

[ QUOTE ]
1.5 mm Delrin 500 picks made by Dunlop

[/ QUOTE ]

I use those! I prefer the 2mm but those are getting hard to find around here.

[Dirtyworks]

Re: Zakk Wylde Soloing

You've got to be more specific. Zakk is all over the place style wise. He's got blues runs, chromatic stuff, country licks, southern rock, and harmonics from hell.

[Jim Shine]

Re: Zakk Wylde Soloing

Pick shapes are a personal preferance. For the past 10 years I haven't been able to use anything but Jazz III's. Standard pics are too bulky.