Needs Tips on playing " Departure " by Brad Paisely

[I own a Tele]

Im having trouble nailing this little part near the beginning of the first solo in Departure.

I believe he does a sweeping motion on the arpeggio. yet the whole solo sounds clean and articulate like he picked the notes. can anyone help with the picking?




E|---------9-------------9-12p9-----------------------------------------|
B|--12b----------------9---------9h12--9p0-------9---------------------
G|------------------9--------------------------9--- 11-9p0-----9--------l
D|---------------11-------------------------11--------------11----9p0---l
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------l
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------l


E|-------------------------------------l
B|-------------------------------------l
G|-----------------------------9~-------l
D|-----------------------------9~-------l
A|--11--9/7--------------7/9----------l
E|------------11--7---0---------------l

1:15 around is where the part of the solo i tabbed out. thanks!

[Asphalt Cowboy]

This is something I learned by figuring out how to play Brad Paisley stuff; He is THAT good. There are no tricks or gimmicks or special epiphanies that'll make you or me or anyone understand just how he plays. He is an amazingly clean sweeper and a dangerously fast picker, he could do that lick either way at full speed and then some, I bet.

If it were me I'd pick a way and get good at it. Sweeping it would probably be easier for me, but maybe you're better at alternate picking than I am. Just make sure you're rolling your finger across the G B and E's 9th fret with deadly precision and accuracy or it won't sound that great at full speed with overdrive. Oh, and practice it completely clean on the neck pickup to get the dynamics right, then flip to the bridge and crank the distortion/fuzz up beyond what you normally would and practice it to make sure you don't have any extraneous notes ringing.

[I own a Tele]

what do you mean by rolling your finger? not familiar with the term.

oh, and i was afraid he might be really good lol

thanks for the tips good stuff.

[Asphalt Cowboy]

When you do the thing where it's 3 notes on the 9th fret in a row, use your pointer finger (or whatever one is comfortable at that point in the phrase) and use the tip of the finger to fret the first note (on the G string), then "roll" your finger so you can fret the next note (on the B string) while lifting the tip of the finger enough to mute the G string. Then repeat for the 9th fret E string note. Think of the end of your finger (above the last knuckle) as a tire rolling across the fretboard. You'll be fretting the E string note almost at the knuckle of your finger, and it'll be awkward at first, but it can make those little arpeggio runs easier to sweep in the future.

[Rob Moody]

Mark Knopfler type lick out of Lady Writer that one.

[charliebrown]

Originally Posted by Asphalt Cowboy

This is something I learned by figuring out how to play Brad Paisley stuff; He is THAT good.

Indeed he is. A guy I know who plays in a local country band asked if I'd seen Brad Paisley...I said, "yeah, I caught him on a country awards show hosting or something." He told me to go to Youtube and check him out..."Paisley is a FREAK!" is how he put it.

Brad scares me.
Seriously, I love his playing. My buddy still gives me the "I told you so" look.

[I own a Tele]

Originally Posted by Asphalt Cowboy

When you do the thing where it's 3 notes on the 9th fret in a row, use your pointer finger (or whatever one is comfortable at that point in the phrase) and use the tip of the finger to fret the first note (on the G string), then "roll" your finger so you can fret the next note (on the B string) while lifting the tip of the finger enough to mute the G string. Then repeat for the 9th fret E string note. Think of the end of your finger (above the last knuckle) as a tire rolling across the fretboard. You'll be fretting the E string note almost at the knuckle of your finger, and it'll be awkward at first, but it can make those little arpeggio runs easier to sweep in the future.

good tip

[sir humphrey]

Originally Posted by Rob Moody

Mark Knopfler type lick out of Lady Writer that one.

There are many Knopfler licks in BPs arsenal - he's clearly a big influence

[I own a Tele]

Ok wow after hours of practice and trying out Asphalt Cowboy's advice.

I finally got the hang of rolling the fingers as suggested. Also I was using too much pressure on the strings and backed off. You really need to get down the pick attack to make it sound complete!!

thanks everyone and especially Asphalt Cowboy!! i now have a chance of actually being a decent player!

[I own a Tele]

also you gotta learn to pick between the strings (eric johnson economy picking )

[Asphalt Cowboy]

Hey, no prob. I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I've messed around with a lot of Brad Paisley songs and picked up some tricks along the way.

[I own a Tele]

i also found if u can't pick the G string on the 11 fret fast enough before you pull off on the 9th fret. You can hammer on the 11th and just pick and pull of on the 9th.

Does anyone know what guitar and amp he used on this song?

I was guessing an esquire? and Dr Z wreck?

[joel_ostrom]

Originally Posted by I own a Tele

i also found if u can't pick the G string on the 11 fret fast enough before you pull off on the 9th fret. You can hammer on the 11th and just pick and pull of on the 9th.

Does anyone know what guitar and amp he used on this song?

I was guessing an esquire? and Dr Z wreck?

Not sure about the guitar, but he said in an article that on Departure it was his tele plugged straight in (no effects) to his Trainwreck Head.

[I own a Tele]

Originally Posted by joel_ostrom

Not sure about the guitar, but he said in an article that on Departure it was his tele plugged straight in (no effects) to his Trainwreck Head.

i once saw a trainwreck amp used for 5,000 dollars at guitar center...so i guess thats out of the question lol

[Asphalt Cowboy]

A Vox AC30 will get you close. A Dr. Z amp with EL84's or 34's will get you closer. But in my opnion a delay pedal is the easiest way to get yourself instantly closer to Paisley's tone. And playing technique is a big part of it. You have to be pretty dynamic. Free flowing on some parts and snapping the strings with rage in others. Brad has an immensely strong left hand, too, and it shows in his playing. He'll do above-the-nut bends on the A and D strings without any problems whatsoever and all of his fretboard bends and slides are incredibly clean. So exercising your left hand with bending drills and squeezing tennis balls will get you closer, also.

If you can play his riffs and solos, then you're only a little bit away from having a pretty good replica of his tone, almost regardless of what amps and effects you have. You just have to dig a little deeper into each riff and figure out the subtleties of what Brad is REALLY doing to get that sound (how he attacks each note).

I've found it pretty hard to get his tone with non-tele pickups, though. Gretsch pickups can come close, but every other style doesn't have enough snap on the low strings to get the job done, and if you don't have the treble coming out of the guitar, you're not going to make it magically appear with amps and effects without heavily compromising your tone, from my experience.

[I own a Tele]

HEY EVERYONE

so ive been practicing this little neat riff for a year now...takin a long time

but i finally got it to sound more like the recording using all pick...tooks lots of time!...accidently figured out circular picking this way or something like that..works nicely !

I suspect Brad is using hybrid picking in this.

anyone have any tip or the fingering pattern to play this riff with finger and pick? what note should i play pick or finger on ?

heres the tab again (made correction since last time i posted it 3rd to last note)

E|---------9-------------9-12p9-----------------------------------------|
B|--12b----------------9---------9h12--9p0-------9---------------------
G|------------------9--------------------------9--- 11-9p0-----9--------l
D|---------------11-------------------------11--------------11----9p0---l
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------l
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------l


E|-------------------------------------l
B|-------------------------------------l
G|-----------------------------9~-------l
D|-----------------------------9~-------l
A|--11--9/7--------------7/9----------l
E|------------11-----0---------------l

thanks!

also anyone what pickups he used on this song and pickup selection for this part ? i know he uses Ron Ellis, Voodoo and Fralins to name a few..thanks!