When it comes to lists of the greatest guitar players of all time, one player you can guarantee will always get a mention will be Led Zeppelin’s very own Jimmy Page.
An icon in the world of guitar, Page was one of the first major guitar heroes, playing a huge part in the invention of heavy rock, and developing recording techniques that we all still use to this very day. While he himself once claimed “There’s so much that can be done on the guitar. I’ve only done a few bits and pieces", it’s pretty safe to say that all guitarists can learn something from him.
In this lesson we’re going to be looking at five Jimmy Page-style concepts you can take away and add to your own guitar playing right away to give it that Page flavour.
1. Over-bending
From Page's behind-the-nut bends in Heartbreaker to his more expressive soloing in Since I've Been Loving You, wide-interval bends (aka over-bends) are a major feature in Led Zeppelin's discography. In our lick you’ll be taking the 15th fret D on the second string and bending it to meet the pitch of the 18th fret F – a bII interval and a note from outside the key of E minor and sure to create musical tension. Alternatively, if you treat the 12th fret B as your root note, playing in B minor instead of E minor, you'll be bending to a bV interval – another tense sound.
2. Triplet pull-off licks
This lick is made up of a simple three-note phrase that you can throw into any guitar solo for a Page-style burst of speed. You’ll be playing a triplet on each beat of the bar – that's three notes for every beat. The pattern is a pull-off on the first string from the 15th to the 12th fret, before playing the 12th fret on the second string, which is repeated until the final string bend. Although this lick is simple, it can be easily moved to any pentatonic shape and any string pairing to add some fast passages to your solos.
3. Simple repetition
Jimmy Page was a great lover of improvisation and would often stretch out live solos to great lengths. One of his best-used approaches is the use of repeating licks inside a solo. Our example is a simple four-note idea that you can loop for as long as you want to. One thing to note here is how the phrase locks in rhythmically. It is not played as a straight lick. There is some movement to the rhythm. The phrase lasts one and a half beats, causing each repeat to land on different points in the bar. Do it long enough and you'll start on beat 1 again. Regardless, this rhythmic displacement keeps a simple lick sounding interesting.
4. Six-note groupings
This lick is something we’ve seen in a bunch of Page solos, most notably the opening lick from Stairway to Heaven’s guitar solo. Though based on straight 16th notes (that's four notes per beat), unusually, the lick is arranged in groups of six notes at a time. Just like the previous lick then, this means the rhythm is displaced with each repeat. Spend time understanding this six-note pattern and focus on alternate picking every single note. Once you’ve got the rhythm locked in and you’re playing cleanly you can start to increase the speed.
5. Fast legato bursts
The final idea we’re going to check out is Jimmy's approach to short, fast bursts of legato combined into a longer lick with repeated phrasing ideas and an over-bend. This lick will give you some great Page habits across a few techniques at once. This lick is a great lick to throw into the middle of a guitar solo to buy you some time to think about where you’re going to move next.. The repeated phrase can also be moved around different shapes of the Minor Pentatonic scale inside of the same key.
