Open String Pedal Point Solos From ACDC to Randy Rhoads

Fun Open String Pedal Point Solos You Want to Know From ACDC to Randy Rhoads

Open string pedal point riffs are fun picking exercises.

You can also play all of these lines legato (series of hammer-ons and pull-offs), which are great exercises to build strength and endurance.

Thunderstruck (AC/DC)

It sounds like Angus does indeed pick all the notes in this well-known guitar part.

The last line is the hardest one to memorize.
Trick: Break it up into smaller units. First, think frets 12 10 9 10, then when you have that memorized, think 9 7 9 5.

Randy Rhoads’ “Suicide Solution” Solo on the Tribute Ozzy Album

Towards the end of this blazing solo on the Ozzie “Tribute” album, Randy plays this really cool line.
He picks the first note in the triplets followed by 2 pull-offs. You can of course also pick all the notes: a great picking exercise.

Wasted Years (Iron Maiden)

This is an E pedal point.
Notice how the first 4 melody notes are followed by 5 open E’s, and the last 2 melody notes by 3 open E’s
This pattern repeats in bars 3 and 4.

Rush YYZ Solo

“YYZ” is on my favorite Rush album: “Moving Pictures”.
The whole album is a masterpiece. Strongly recommended.

Pedal point open string lines are almost always rhythmically very even: constant 16th notes, constant 8th notes, etc.
Not this one.

Of all the examples here, the YYZ pedal point part at the end of the solo is rhythmically the most complex one.

If you have a hard time figuring out the rhythmic placement of the notes, listen to the YYZ solo and slow it down if you need to.
You can also just play all notes evenly, and add the rhythmic placement later.

Crossroads movie Steve Vai

Every note is alternate picked. This is a fun picking challenge.
It’s really quite challenging to pick and to move so quickly all across the guitar neck without missing a beat.

The finger pattern itself is easy.
It’s a repetitive 4 note pattern: pinky, pointy finger, middle finger (on the B string), open E string.

Conclusion

Hit me up anytime at vreny@zotzinmusic.com if you have any questions, or if you would like to book a lesson.

The free lessons I offer on my blog are cool, but you will never experience the progress, joy, and results that my students experience in lessons when you’re learning by yourself from blogs and videos.

That is why people take lessons: way better results and progress, much more complete information, exposed to way more creative ideas than you can get from a blog or YouTube video.
There is only so much that self-study can accomplish.

If you want to see amazing results and progress in your guitar playing, buy your first lesson here and get started ASAP.