The Guilty Pleasure of
Sonic Bell-Bottoms
BY PAUL GILBERT
Paul Gilbert purposefully began playing guitar
at age 9, formed the guitar-driven bands Racer
X and Mr. Big, and then accidentally had a No.
1 hit with an acoustic song called “To Be with
You.” Paul began teaching at GIT at the age of
18, has released countless albums and guitar
instructional DVDs, and will be remembered as
“the guy who got the drill stuck in his hair.” For
more information, visit paulgilbert.com
CHOPS: Intermediate
THEORY: Intermediate
LESSON OVERVIEW:
• Create blazing pentatonic licks
that shun the disco era.
• Learn how to add the 9th to a
pentatonic scale.
• Outline the sound of a chord
without ever hitting the root.
Click here to hear
sound clips of
these examples
It was 1979. I was 12 years old, and Van
Halen II was my favorite album. This
amazing record did not contain any disco
music, but the photos on the inner sleeve
still showed the influence of disco fashion.
Let’s just say that a stripy pair of bell-bottoms is still a pair of bell-bottoms.
Musically, this record—and it’s legendary predecessor Van Halen I—set in
motion a trend of guitar playing that, even
several decades later, I am only just recovering from. Eddie Van Halen’s playing,
tone, and attitude changed the standards
and expectations of what a rock guitarist
should be and should sound like. Almost
overnight, the classic guitar phrases of the
’60s and early ’70s were deemed unhip.
This revolution of guitar style engulfed me.
I developed a sharp intuition for which
guitar phrases and sounds were passé and
which were cool and cutting-edge.
Decades passed, and at some point it
occurred to me to revisit some of those
lost licks of the ’70s. It was very much like
looking at a pair of bell-bottom pants and
thinking, “You know, those are actually
pretty cool.”
I want to begin our trip back in time
and fashion with the chunky, picked,
pentatonic lick in Fig. 1. I’ve heard some
version of this phrase in songs by Molly
Hatchet, Kiss, Scorpions, and Triumph.
I feel that it’s really a lost gem. So by all
means, let’s un-lose it. Now, I want to
add some more color by including the
9th, as in Fig. 2. This makes the fingering
and picking a little trickier, but including
some hammer-ons and pull-offs helps me
glide through.
Fig. 1 Fig. 1
4 4 & 6 6 oeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoe
oeoeoeoeoeoe
fioej oeoeoe ˙
3
6
6
6
12 10 12
10
12
10 12 10 12
9
12
912912
9
12
912912
10
12
10
1
12 10 12
10
12
10 17 12 15 17
˙
Fig. 2 Fig. 2
4 4 & 6 6 oeoeoe oe oeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoe oe oeoe
oe oe oeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoe fi oe #j oeoeoe oe oeoe oe
6
6
6
6
˙
6 1/2
12 10 12
9
12
9 10 9 10 12 10 12 14 12 14
12
14
12 14 12 14
11
14
11 12 11 12 14 12 14
12
14
12 15 12 15
14 12
15
