George Benson's Guitar Solo in "Ain't That Peculiar"

Here is the second George Benson solo I've transcribed from one of my favourite records, It's Uptown (1965). The R&B infused tune, "Aint That Peculiar", sees George pulling out plenty of tasty triplet licks and chord tone ideas for playing over blues changes. Some of my favourite moments include the priceless pedal tone lick over E7 in bars 7 and 16, and the genius arpeggio sequence that leads him from the IV chord to the I chord in bars 13 through 15. Hope you enjoy the tab! Check out my performance of this solo at youtube.com/watch?v=EdNikaXUTyM on Twitter @halwit for more lessons and transcriptions!

Related links: George Benson's solo in Summertime

George Benson's Guitar Solo in "Summertime"

Here's my transcription of George Benson's solo in Summertime from his classic feel good record, It's Uptown (1965). Benson keeps it short but sweet over a static Bb7 chord and demonstrates many improvisational ideas worth studying. Take for example the cool string skipping in bar 7, the blazing blues lick in bars 9-10, the groovy double-stops in bar 15, and the classy way he ends with Wes Montgomery octaves. My favourite moment however, is his ultra-hip chord substitution lick in bar 11 played at breakneck speed that resolves back to Bb in bar 12. Hope you enjoy the tab! Check out my performance of this solo at youtube.com/watch?v=jc-UFzV3Hb0 and follow me on Twitter @halwit for more lessons and transcriptions!

Related links: Summertime Solo Video, Mike Stern Lick 1, John Scofield Lick 1, Kenny Burrell Chord Melody

Mike Stern Lick #2

Here's another head turning Mike Stern lick from "Ha Ha Hotel". You'll notice that most of the notes played fit the E mixolydian mode with the b3rd added for bluesy effect, but there are a couple of cool fusion moments here. Notice the chromatic move in the first bar that targets the 4th, which is soon followed by a short pedal tone lick that features the major 7th. Like Stern's use of the E harmonic minor scale in last month's lick, this major 7th creates a dramatic tension against the underlying E13 chord. It is quickly resolved however, when Mike finishes the lick by playing E dorian. This fits nicely with the underlying E13 chord as it contains the same notes as E mixolydian, except the 3rd is flattened. Follow me on Twitter @halwit and on youtube.com/halromusic for more lessons and transcriptions!

Related links: Mike Stern Lick#1