What is it?
It is a solo I wrote years ago, as a teaching tool for my Rock Guitar Master. I needed a piece in my repertoire where the usual main rock techniques could be applied: Tapping, String Skipping, Downstroke Picking, Alternate Picking, Fingers + picking and obviously Hammer-on, Pull-off, and Vibrato. Melodically, I needed a solo that could demonstrate in a simple way how scales and arpeggios can be “overlapped” within the rock language. So I choose this progression and I took off from there:
Why did you call it AFG?
Because the progression is made up of Am, F, and G chords. Geee, ain’t I creative!
Why is it called the "NASTRO ROSA" solo?
I didn’t choose this name, the audience did. This solo matches the song by Battisti perfectly. And what do you think I did? I stuck it in the song, note for note! From that moment on I got requests for “the NASTRO ROSA Solo”. I also play it during clinics and in seminars. It’s an excellent showcase for my playing. This piece is also one of the standards for my end-of-course examinations. Well, there you have it! I hope it will motivate you, and that someday you can play it live as a personal solo! It has a great impact on the audience, on friends, on parents and on your fellow musicians! One day I heard it executed live by a friend of mine, Lorenzo Carancini, and I was moved to tears! (it had affected even me… who had played it thousands of times!)! As soon as he got off stage Lorenzo was surrounded by guitar players, teachers and GIRLS, all showing their appreciation! I wonder why he only considered the girls… strange fellow!
- Visually:this solo is very fulfilling. I mean, it is also great fun just to watch it. There is a spot where you’re playing with your hands crossed (one of them does that for better string muting, Satriani-style); there’s another where the left hand plays upside-down on the fingerboard.
- Melodically: there are lots of superimposed pentatonic scales and diatonic arpeggios (all within the same key). For example, it uses the minor pentatonic on the fifth over a minor root (Em pentatonic over an Am chord). It also uses major arpeggios based on the fifth of the chord over which they are played (e.g. C6 arpeggio over an F maj 7) and other stacked licks according to the same principle: extension of the chord.
- Technically: see for yourself.
Tips
- If you exceed with overdrive this solo sounds bad. There are so many notes and they are so fast that if you use too much overdrive it will be incomprehensible, and not pleasant to listen to. That’s exactly what you DON’T want! The ideal sound for this solo is a rhythm guitar crunch with some boost before the amp input stage. You can get this boost with an overdrive between your guitar and your amp. Just set the level control to the max and the drive control to the minimum (or thereabouts).
- Be patient. If this is of any comfort to you, it took me MONTHS to learn it, even though I wrote it myself. When I have to play it live… I start brushing it up one week before!
- Practice slowly. Even though it has been in my repertoire for years and years, I do most of my practice between 80 and 120 BPM (the original tempo is 139). For example, if I have one hour to practice it, I spend at least 30 minutes between 80 and 100 BPM, 20 minutes between 100 and 120 and in the end 10 minutes between 130 and 139.
Thanks
I’d like to thank my friend Alberto Panza, who wrote this transcription.
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