You know when you hear something and you can’t quite pin down where you’ve heard it before?
Furthermore, the song that you’re listening to in this moment was released like… yesterday?
So it logically follows that someone is copying someone else! AARGH!
How could this happen?
We’ll get to that but let me give you a little back story on how I found two guitar solos that are suspiciously similar...
This happened to me back in 2008 when I heard John Petrucci’s ‘Tunnel Vision’ for the first time; a song taken from his incredible first solo album, Suspended Animation (which if you play lead guitar and haven’t heard it, listen as soon as you’ve finished reading this!).
It’s got this semi-electronic backing track behind it with an awesome Mixolydian based idea that pedals the open B string. And that’s the bit where my brain went AARGH! I KNOW THIS!
Let’s give this awesome bit of lead guitar playing a listen… in the original song it kicks in at 0:44.
Cool right?
So what other song does it sound like then?
Well... IF my memory serves me correctly it wasn’t until I was blasting a certain ‘Anthology’ compilation album in the car a few weeks later by a certain guitar player famed for his bald head and glasses that this certain track came on again and I screamed ‘OH YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH! THIS IS THE ONE! (maybe my ‘yeah’ wasn’t that long…).
So… what song was it then? Cmon Aaron, get to the point!
Well…
It’s got this semi-electronic backing track behind it with an awesome Mixolydian based idea that pedals the open B string…. hold on, have I said this before?!
If you hadn’t already guessed it, guitar player I was referring to was none other than the legato monster, alien surfer himself, Joe Satriani.
And the song was ‘Raspberry Jam Delta-V’ – released on album Crystal Planet in 1998.
Let’s give this a whirl and decide whether they’re similar to each other.
OK, they’re definitely similar, so how did it happen?
Here’ are my best two guesses.
Knowing that Joe Satriani and John Petrucci have toured together in the past (the G3 tour for example) and are no doubt friends, it could be either:
John asked Joe if he could expand on his idea and Joe said ‘doooo it!’
OR
John and Joe have a good working relationship, a mutual respect for each other and they understand that a certain amount of inspiration is fine, necessary even (I mean, wouldn’t it be cool if a guitarist you really respected took your idea to new heights? Think SRV’s version of ‘Little Wing’, for example).
And what did I do with them?
Well, I took each of the intros, channelled one left, one right and then, lined them up in my DAW (Cubase 12) and they sort of just… mesh into one song.
Here’s the result...
Maybe you can take these songs and make some kind of mashup now you know how similar they are, if you do, let me know the result.
About The Author
Aaron Carrington is the owner of Carrington Guitar Academy in Bath, UK. Since graduating from The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London Aaron has played in high profile locations such as Buckingham Palace, The Savoy and The London Eye.
He’s been a regular part of the UK wedding and corporate gig scene and has travelled internationally to the Middle East to play in top quality residency bands 6 nights per week. The finesse gained from this level of playing experience is passed on to his guitar students.
Now permanently in Bath, Aaron strives to deliver the highest standards of guitar teaching at Carrington Guitar Academy by offering a personalized lesson plan tailored to each student’s goals. You may also catch Aaron busking regularly on the streets of Bath. If you're interested in guitar lessons get in touch to book a FREE trial lesson!
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