Andy Timmons - How To Play “One Last Time,” Part 2
Andy Timmons previously demonstrated how to play the primary theme to “One Last Time,” from his latest release, Electric Truth. In this column, he takes a look at the bridge of the song, which serves as the solo section. It’s basically just a repeating two-chord progression which Andy breaks down and describes his thought process on how he put this solo together.
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MusicTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Hey, everybody.
00:18 Andy Timmons here.
00:19 Welcome back to Melodic Muse for Guitar World Magazine.
00:22 We're going to continue to examine my tune one last time
00:25 from the Electric Truth Record.
00:27 And today, we're looking at the bridge, which
00:29 is basically the solo section of the tune,
00:31 a little two-chord progression.
00:33 So we're going to break down how I played it, what
00:35 the thought process was behind it.
00:38 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:41 [GUITAR SOLO]
00:45 [GUITAR SOLO]
00:49 [GUITAR SOLO]
00:52 [GUITAR SOLO]
00:56 [GUITAR SOLO]
00:59 [GUITAR SOLO]
01:03 [GUITAR SOLO]
01:06 [GUITAR SOLO]
01:10 [GUITAR SOLO]
01:13 [GUITAR SOLO]
01:17 [GUITAR SOLO]
01:20 So let's break down the solo section now
01:22 to one last time.
01:23 And it's still in B-flat minor, but luckily, we're
01:26 going to just have two chords to navigate.
01:29 And it's a basic--
01:31 I always kind of think of it as Pink Floyd-esque,
01:33 because it's B-flat minor.
01:35 [GUITAR SOLO]
01:38 I guess we can consider it like an A-flat over E-flat
01:42 into E-flat major.
01:45 [GUITAR SOLO]
01:48 [GUITAR SOLO]
01:49 OK.
01:49 So that's essentially what I'm going to be playing over.
01:53 And it's all B-flat minor pentatonic.
01:54 [GUITAR SOLO]
01:57 Maybe some of the--
01:58 [GUITAR SOLO]
02:00 But I'm certainly going to address-- when I get to that E-flat
02:03 major, I'm going to want to address that note G to really
02:06 give the flavor--
02:07 [GUITAR SOLO]
02:09 --the flavor of that going to that major--
02:12 whatever you want to call it--
02:13 five chord in the key, if we're thinking A-flat major.
02:16 [GUITAR SOLO]
02:19 All right?
02:20 [GUITAR SOLO]
02:22 Really nice to hear that flavor as we go by.
02:25 So we're coming out of a big bend--
02:27 [GUITAR SOLO]
02:30 --kind of big Albert King bend.
02:33 I guess I'd be on the D-flat.
02:35 [GUITAR SOLO]
02:38 I'm bending up all the way to the F.
02:39 [GUITAR SOLO]
02:41 And then releasing it.
02:42 [GUITAR SOLO]
02:46 And a slight bluesy, cracky kind of bend at the end.
02:50 [GUITAR SOLO]
02:51 Not quite up to the D, but--
02:53 [GUITAR SOLO]
02:57 And then I just play it.
02:58 [GUITAR SOLO]
03:02 Because right then, we're on that E-flat.
03:03 [GUITAR SOLO]
03:11 And then the next little move--
03:12 [GUITAR SOLO]
03:17 It's probably my favorite part of the solo,
03:18 because I'm playing down here.
03:21 I've got the F note on the D string on the third fret.
03:23 [GUITAR SOLO]
03:24 So I'm playing just the fifth and third of that--
03:26 [GUITAR SOLO]
03:28 --with the B-flat minor.
03:29 [GUITAR SOLO]
03:32 But then I'd bend from the B-flat,
03:34 that third fret of the G string.
03:36 [GUITAR SOLO]
03:41 And if I get just the right finger--
03:43 [GUITAR SOLO]
03:45 --get a little bit of a fleshy overtone.
03:49 [GUITAR SOLO]
03:51 Right there.
03:51 [GUITAR SOLO]
03:53 Slapping it a bit.
03:54 [GUITAR SOLO]
03:57 Releasing it.
03:58 That's a whole step bend up to the C.
03:59 [GUITAR SOLO]
04:01 Which is a nice tension note.
04:02 That's the 9.
04:03 [GUITAR SOLO]
04:04 Really wants to go somewhere.
04:05 That wants to resolve either to the B-flat or up to that third.
04:10 So it's a real pleasant resolution,
04:12 because I'm bending up to the D-flat, the third.
04:17 [GUITAR SOLO]
04:20 Releasing it a half step to that C, then down to the B-flat.
04:24 So it's a melody happening in the bend.
04:26 [GUITAR SOLO]
04:34 And there, since I'm down in this position,
04:39 I've got that A-flat to G to give the third of that E-flat chord
04:44 that we're going to.
04:45 [GUITAR SOLO]
04:49 And I might have given the--
04:50 you can use some finger vibrato.
04:51 I might have used the tremolo bar a little bit.
04:53 [GUITAR SOLO]
04:56 And then--
04:57 [GUITAR SOLO]
04:59 So I'm dipping the tremolo bar just slightly
05:02 as I pull off from that A-flat.
05:03 [GUITAR SOLO]
05:08 Yeah, we're not often in the key of B-flat minor going to E-flat.
05:11 So it's kind of nice to have that open G be the third of a chord.
05:14 [GUITAR SOLO]
05:18 So I pull off.
05:21 But while I pull off, I'm dipping into the open G string.
05:26 [GUITAR SOLO]
05:28 Then I play the root.
05:29 [GUITAR SOLO]
05:31 Play the E-flat, B-flat, D-flat.
05:34 So of the E-flat, it's the third, root, fifth, and flat seven.
05:40 I'm just arpeggiating.
05:41 [GUITAR SOLO]
05:44 The simplest notes you could play, but sometimes the most effective.
05:47 So--
05:48 [GUITAR SOLO]
05:54 Another--
05:55 [GUITAR SOLO]
05:57 Got a little whammy happy on this one, it sounds like.
05:59 [GUITAR SOLO]
06:01 But again, it's just a way of, again, making more out of it.
06:05 Because I kind of--
06:05 [GUITAR SOLO]
06:08 I could have just played the notes, but it just needed the energy.
06:11 [GUITAR SOLO]
06:16 So I finish that phrase.
06:17 [GUITAR SOLO]
06:19 And then I'm just climbing up the B-flat minor pentatonic.
06:22 [GUITAR SOLO]
06:28 Now again, I'm going to make use of that tension of the C natural
06:32 over that B-flat minor chord.
06:34 [GUITAR SOLO]
06:35 Just a real pretty sound.
06:36 I've always liked that sound on a minor.
06:38 [GUITAR SOLO]
06:44 But here, I'm bending from that B-flat to the C, down to F to A-flat.
06:49 [GUITAR SOLO]
06:57 So you can kind of hear there's points of tension,
07:01 and going places, but finally--
07:03 [GUITAR SOLO]
07:05 Just kind of getting back to home, the home tone, that B-flat.
07:08 [GUITAR SOLO]
07:14 Right?
07:14 Could have been--
07:15 [GUITAR SOLO]
07:19 Here, I'm bending from that D-flat up to an E-flat.
07:22 So it's the fourth.
07:23 [GUITAR SOLO]
07:24 But I'm just going scalerly back to that root.
07:27 [GUITAR SOLO]
07:29 And then--
07:29 [GUITAR SOLO]
07:32 I think I bent from the-- probably from the F, yeah.
07:34 So as I get out of this B-flat minor--
07:37 [GUITAR SOLO]
07:40 Now we're going to E-flat, so guess where I'm headed.
07:43 I'm going to bend from that F to A-flat.
07:46 [GUITAR SOLO]
07:48 Now I'm just-- again, just surrounding that--
07:51 [GUITAR SOLO]
07:53 --the fourth of the third.
07:54 So bending F, I have a minor third.
07:58 Releasing it, and then bending back up to just the G.
08:02 So it's a minor third bend, releasing, then
08:04 up to a whole step bend.
08:05 [GUITAR SOLO]
08:09 Then I go back down.
08:10 [GUITAR SOLO]
08:12 So again, now I'm thinking back into this position here,
08:14 but playing the E-flat to F.
08:15 [GUITAR SOLO]
08:18 And I'm bending from that F up to the A-flat.
08:20 So it's the minor seventh again.
08:22 So it goes-- [GUITAR SOLO]
08:26 And to get a little emphasis, you'll
08:28 notice a little-- [GUITAR SOLO]
08:32 --a little pick rake.
08:33 We're muting everything leading up to that E-flat.
08:36 [GUITAR SOLO]
08:41 Just to give a little energy, again, just to kind of set
08:44 that note apart in a particular way.
08:45 [GUITAR SOLO]
08:47 And the muting that's happening, it's
08:49 kind of happening in two places.
08:51 It's happening a little bit in the right hand,
08:53 the picking hand mute.
08:55 So I might have the palm of my hand on the strings
08:59 I'm wanting to just get the rake.
09:01 But also, it's also happening in the left hand,
09:04 where my thumb is kind of wrapped around
09:06 and muting the low string.
09:08 And even the underside of my fingers,
09:11 I'm not using for that note.
09:12 [GUITAR SOLO]
09:17 Anyway, all these little things add up.
09:20 And this is part of the delivery of these notes.
09:22 [GUITAR SOLO]
09:29 And I'm basically doing an ascending bend.
09:33 It's the whole step bend on the G string,
09:37 and then re-articulating the note that I've
09:39 arrived to on the B string.
09:40 [GUITAR SOLO]
09:44 Originally, I would have gotten this type of thing
09:46 from Hinder to the--
09:47 [GUITAR SOLO]
09:50 --where he would have bent that note,
09:52 and then held the fret of note that's
09:53 being bent to in unison.
09:55 [GUITAR SOLO]
10:01 So I'm going from that F. But this time,
10:05 I'm only bending the note on the G string a whole step,
10:10 and then fretting that note on the B.
10:12 [GUITAR SOLO]
10:15 That's right off the B flat minor pentatonic.
10:18 Those are the target notes.
10:19 And then you go down to the G string two frets above.
10:21 [GUITAR SOLO]
10:32 And that's kind of the big peak of the solo
10:33 as it goes into the little bridge channel.
10:35 [GUITAR SOLO]
10:38 If you notice, there's a lot of times where it might make sense
10:44 to alternate pick something.
10:45 But sometimes, the energy requires it.
10:47 [GUITAR SOLO]
10:51 And on that big top note, that's pretty common for me
10:54 on the treble strings, meaning the E and the B string.
10:57 [GUITAR SOLO]
10:59 Instead of down picking to get the tone, I'll pick underneath.
11:03 [GUITAR SOLO]
11:05 Let's get a little bit more meat of the pick.
11:07 [GUITAR SOLO]
11:13 And a lot of times, some additional harmonic.
11:15 [GUITAR SOLO]
11:16 Anyway, just pointing that out for you.
11:18 [GUITAR SOLO]
11:22 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:25 (upbeat music)
11:28 (upbeat music)