Melodic Guitarists : Uli Roth : Michael Schenker : Gary Moore

Melodic guitarists - Michael Schenker

Jump directly to the Mp3s.

Michael Schenker is the guitarist who inspired me to play electric guitar. I'd been half-heartedly goofing around with my mom's crappy acoustic, learning the basics, when one day a friend played me Into the Arena (from Michael's first solo album). I thought: "I want to be able to play like THAT!" It wasn't the faster, more technical parts of the playing that impressed me, but the slow melodic theme at the end. Other sites (see links below) have the basic information about Michael — discographies, biographies, etc — so I won't re-hash all that here. What I've done is collect some of my favorite Michael Schenker guitar moments, converted them to Mp3 format, and added supplementary notes.

Michael never disappoints in the melody/feeling department. In fact, he's the most consistently and stunningly melodic player that I know of. And his vibrato is absolutely stellar. For me, NOBODY has a more distinctive vibrato than Michael — it's instantly recognizable, yet subtle and never overdone. His tone tends to vary from album to album, but (with few exceptions) is nearly always extremely vocal with a penetrating midrange. If you are able to shred, but still need to work on melody, phrasing and vibrato, listening to Michael will undoubtedly do you some good. By the way, here you can listen to Michael's advice for aspiring guitar players.

Mp3s of selected solos

The UFO Days

Song title: Born to Lose LQ (562k)
Album: Obsession
Year: 1978

Comments: Feel, melody, vibrato, and some "old school" shred. This solo builds on itself and keeps taking the listener by surprise — you think the solo is over and then the key changes, over and over again, building the tension until the final resolution. One of my all-time favorites.

Song title: Try Me LQ (504k)
Album: Lights Out
Year: 1977

Comments: Again, beautiful melody, fantastic vibrato.

The Michael Schenker Group

Song title: Tales of Mystery LQ (420k)
Album: The Michael Schenker Group
Year: 1980

Comments: Some of the most beautiful vibrato I've ever heard, very melodic with gorgeous phrasing. Picking out the notes and playing them wouldn't be so difficult, but it's the execution here that is stunning. Whenever I think, "Hey, my vibrato's getting pretty good" I listen to this and realize that I totally suck.

Melodic guitarists - Michael Schenker

Mp3s of selected solos

The UFO Days

The Michael Schenker Group

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