Riffs & Solos

east county guitar

Riffs & Solos

On this page you’ll find links to transcribed guitar solos and parts from familiar songs. These are not official copyright transcriptions, but guitar parts that I have “figured out” by ear on my own and then copied to PDFs using music notation software. Depending on the difficulty of each passage and how audible it is in recorded form, these may vary in accuracy or may differ from the way other guitarists hear and play them. Also included are .wav file versions of the transcripted parts that have been synthesized by the notation software. Click on the appropriate icon.

Josie • Steely Dan

(Guitar Introduction)

Donald Fagen and Walter Becker

In the late Seventies, this intro was as far away as you could get from a Chuck Berry opening riff and still be considered “rock”. Like the greatest of the Steely Dan guitar introductions and solos (remember “Don’t Take Me Alive”?), this one seems to careen off course like a spinning top that’s losing momentum before somehow regaining its balance. Is it played on one or two guitars? Is it Becker? Larry Carlton? Dean Parks? All are listed on the track.

= pdf

= .wav file

Mr. Tambourine Man • The Byrds

(Guitar Introduction)

Bob Dylan • Jim (Roger) McGuinn, 12-string guitar

The birth of the jangle. McGuinn was the only Byrd to play on this, their first released recording and hit. L.A.’s famed Wrecking Crew accompanied him on the track, including Larry Knechtel’s minimalist bass underpinning of the 12-string intro (transcribed here). Note: The synthesized recorded sample here does not include a setting for 12-string guitar. So I simulated the effect by adding a second guitar played an octave higher.