Music
Guitar Lesson 8: Scarified
Before the dawning of the age of the Internet, I didn’t know anything about Paul Gilbert. Well, that’s not true… I knew two things:
- He was in a band called Mr. Big and they had a real popular song called “To Be With You”, which was played on MTV and VH1 all the time.
- He had/has a signature Ibanez guitar with f-holes painted on it, a reverse headstock, and no tone knob.
Now that we have the Internet, all sorts of information is available about him. First of all, he puts web designers like me to shame and secondly, he had the coolest lawnmower ever when he was a teenager. As I learned more about Mr. Gilbert, I stumbled across a video for a song called “Scarified”. You should watch it, too, because this guitar lesson is about this particular version of the song. By the way, for the sake of simplicity, this video will hereinafter be called “the video.”
As I learned a little more about this song, I stumbled across this video, which explains how to approach the string-skipping section that appears near the end of the song:
At this point, I learned a few more things about Paul Gilbert:
- Paul Gilbert has huge hands.
- Paul Gilbert has really fast fingers.
- Paul Gilbert has a very distinct, methodical, and intelligent way of playing guitar.
- Holy crap, Paul Gilbert is an incredible guitar player.
- “Scarified” is almost 20 years old, was written for two guitars, and was recorded with a band called Racer X, a scary band with scary chops. Since then, Mr. Gilbert has changed the arrangement so it’s “playable” by one guitarist.
After watching these two videos, I knew I had to learn this song. Further, learning this song would give me content for a new guitar lesson… so here we are!
Before we begin, I want to apologize to Paul Gilbert if he ever comes across this lesson. Firstly because I didn’t get his permission to post these unauthorized video clips of his on my website. Secondly because I’m probably going to butcher his song and play it wrong for the whole world to see. With that being said, let’s begin.
Section A
If one could say “Scarified” has a “verse,” I guess this chunk of the song would be it. One thing I noticed while watching “the video” is that there’s a lot more going on than meets the eye/ear.
If you’ve ever read any of my previous guitar lessons, you’ll know what I’m about to say: in order to play this song properly, you’ll need to use alternate picking (down-up-down-up) and start slowly, always playing with a metronome.
LHF = Left-Hand Fingering
PCK = Picking direction
LHF: 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 1 1
PCK: D U D U D U D U D D U D U D
|---------------------------------|
|-------------------------------r-|
4 |-------------------------------e-|
4 |-------------------------------s-|
|---------------------------4---t-|
|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2s4-4-5-7---2---|
|-3-|
1 1 1 2 4 1 2 4 1 2 4 1
D U D U D U D U D U
|----------------------------|
|-r--------------------------|
|-e-----------------------6~-|
|-s-----------------6-7-9----|
|-t-----------5-7-9----------|
|---2s4s5-7-9----------------|
|-3-|
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 1 1
D U D U D U D U D D U D U D
|---------------------------------|
|-------------------------------r-|
|-------------------------------e-|
|-------------------------------s-|
|---------------------------4---t-|
|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2s4-4-5-7---2---|
|-3-|
1 4 3 1 4 3 1 4 2 1 4 2 1
D D U D U D U D U D U D U
|-----------------------------|
|-r---------------------------|
|-e---7-6-4-------------------|
|-s---------7-6-4-------------|
|-t---------------7-5-4-------|
|---2/------------------7-5-4-|
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 1 1
D U D U D U D U D D U D U D
|---------------------------------|
|-------------------------------r-|
|-------------------------------e-|
|-------------------------------s-|
|---------------------------4---t-|
|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2s4-4-5-7---2---|
|-3-|
1 1 1 2 4 1 2 4 1 2 4 1
D U D U D U D U D U
|----------------------------|
|-r--------------------------|
|-e-----------------------6~-|
|-s-----------------6-7-9----|
|-t-----------5-7-9----------|
|---2s4s5-7-9----------------|
|-3-|
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 1 1
D U D U D U D U D D U D U D
|---------------------------------|
|-------------------------------r-|
|-------------------------------e-|
|-------------------------------s-|
|---------------------------4---t-|
|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2s4-4-5-7---2---|
|-3-|
1 4 1 3 4 1 3 4 1
D D U D U D U D U
|--------------------------|
|-r------------------------|
|-e----------------------9-|
|-s--------------9-11-12-9-|
|-t------9-11-12-----------|
|---2s12-------------------|
|--3--|
Okay, now just play that over and over and over until you get the gist of it. It’s harder than it looks and there’s more technique involved than you might think. The sliding notes are a lot harder to execute on time than you’d think, too. It’s actually a gradual slide, which, in the video, could be a result of the fact that this is a live recording and there are bound to be mistakes. It’s hard for me to tell if the notes are intentionally not being picked, if the audio codec sucks (the low bitrate of the movie doesn’t help), if it’s a mistake, or if it’s just my ear hearing the wrong thing. Nevertheless, when I play along with the song, it sounds right. Here are some videos of me playing it:
Section B
Here we get into some sweeping action and finger acrobatics. Fun! This part was really hard to hear properly, but I think I got it mostly right. This part ended up being totally different from the original recording, so if you can play the original Racer X version, you’ll still need to work on this part. It’s like when you call a 1-800 number and they say, “Pay close attention to our menu as the options have recently changed.”
4 1 1 2 3 2 1 1 4 2 1 2 4 2 1 2
D U U D D D D D D D D U U U
|-14p10----------------10----------11-14p11-------|
|-------10----------10----------10----------10----|
|----------11----11----------11----------------11-|
|-------------12----------13----------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
4 1 1 2 3 2 1 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 3 1
D U U D D D D D D D D U U U
|-16p12----------------12----------13-16p13-------|
|-------12----------12----------15----------15----|
|----------13----13----------13----------------13-|
|-------------14----------15----------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
3
D
|-------|
|-17b19-|
|-------| Slooowwww
|-------| Bennnnnnd
|-------|
|-------|
UPDATE
I’ve received e-mails from a couple of people about this section and a couple others that I’ve updated. Here’s what Vincent Sze had to say:
Sweeping bit e--14-10----------------10------------11-14-11----11-- b----------------------------------12----------12----- g--------14-11----11-14---------11-------------------- d--------------12------------13----------------------- a----------------------------------------------------- e----------------------------------------------------- etc...
Video:
2 2 1 4 1 4 1 1 3 1 2 1 4 1 1
D U D D D D D D U
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-14----------------19p14-------14h15p14-19p14----|
|----14-13s14-18p14-------14h16----------------14-|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
1 2 1 4 1 4 1 2 4 1 2 1 4 1 2
D U D D D D D D U
|-14----------------19p14-------14h15p14-19p14----|
|----15-14s15-19p15-------15h17----------------15-|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
2 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 4 1 1 4 1 2
D U D D D D D U D U
|-------------------------16p14-16p12-------------|
|-12----------------17p12-------------12-17p12----|
|----13-11s13-16p13----------------------------13-|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
2 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 4 1 1 4 1 2
D U D D D D D U D U
|-------------------------21p19-21p17-------------|
|-17----------------22p17-------------17-22p17----|
|----18-16s18-21p18----------------------------18-|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
2 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 4 1 1 4 1 2
D U D D D D D U D U
|------------------------14p12-14p10-------------|
|-10---------------15p10-------------10-15p10----|
|----11-9s11-14p11----------------------------11-|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
2 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 4 1 2 4 1 2
D U D D D D D U D U
|-------------------------19p17-19p14-------------|
|-15----------------19p16-------------15-19p15----|
|----16-13s16-19p16----------------------------16-|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
2 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 4 1 1 4 1 2
D U D D D D D U D U
|----------------------13p11-13p9-----------|
|-9---------------13p9------------8-13p9----|
|---10-8s10-13p10------------------------10-|
|-------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------|
2 2 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 1 4 2 1 3 1
D U D D D D U D U D U D U
|-------------------------18-17-15----------------|
|-15----------------19p15----------18-16-15-------|
|----15-14s15-18p15-------------------------17-15-|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
2 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 4 1 1 4 1 2
D U D D D D D U D U
|----------------------13p11-13p9-----------|
|-9---------------13p9------------8-13p9----|
|---10-8s10-13p10------------------------10-|
|-------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------|
2 2 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 1 4 1 4
D U D D D
|-------------------------18-17-15-------18-|
|-15----------------19p15----------18p15-----|
|----15-14s15-18p15--------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------|
|--3--|
T 1 3 T 3 1 T 1 3 T 3 1
|-------------------------------------
|-------------------------------------
|-------------------19-17h19-20p19p17-
|-19-17h19-20p19p17-------------------
|-------------------------------------
|-------------------------------------
|--3--| |--3--| |--3--| |--3--|
T 1 3 T 3 1 T 1 3 T 3 1
-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|
-------------------17-15h17-19p17p15-|
-17-15h17-19p17p15-------------------|
-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|
|--3--| |--3--| |--3--| |--3--|
T 1 3 T 3 1 T 1 2 T 1 3
|-------------------------------------
|-------------------------------------
|-------------------14-13h14-16-14h16-
|-14-12h14-16p14p12-------------------
|-------------------------------------
|-------------------------------------
|--3--| |--3--| |--3--| |--3--|
T 1 3 T 1 3 T 1 3 3
--------------------------------|
--------------------------------|
-18-14h16-16-14h16-18-14h16-/18-|
--------------------------------|
--------------------------------|
--------------------------------|
|--3--| |--3--| |--3--| |--3--|
Don’t quote me on that last measure because I’m not exactly sure what’s going on. I know it’s something along those lines.
If you’re technically capable of playing this song, you should be technically capable of figuring out where to go to next in the song. Here’s the next bit of relevant tablature.
2 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 4 1 1 4 1 2
D U D D D D D U D U
|-------------------------15p13-15p11-------------|
|-11----------------16p11-------------11-15p11----|
|----12-10s12-15p12----------------------------12-|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
2 2 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 1 4 2 1 3 1
D U D D D D U D U D U D U
|-------------------------20-19-17----------------|
|-17----------------21p17----------20-18-17-------|
|----17-16s17-20p17-------------------------19-17-|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------S-------------------|
|----------17~~---------H---------S-------|
|-16-17-19----------------R---------O-----|
|---------------------------E---------L---|
|-----------------------------D---------O-|
|---------------0-0-0-----------!---------|
UPDATE
More amendments from Vincent Sze:
Scarified Mozart like bit e------------------14-9-------9-10-9-14-9----- b-14-10-9-10-14-10------10-12-------------10-- g--------------------------------------------- d--------------------------------------------- a--------------------------------------------- e--------------------------------------------- e-------------------19-14-------14-15-14-19-14----- b-19-15-14-15-19-15-------15-17----------------15-- g-------------------------------------------------- d-------------------------------------------------- a-------------------------------------------------- e-------------------------------------------------- e-------------------16-14-16-12--------------- b-------------17-12-------------12-17-12------ g-16-13-11-13----------------------------13--- d--------------------------------------------- a--------------------------------------------- e--------------------------------------------- e-------------------21-19-21-17--------------- b-------------22-17-------------17-22-17------ g-21-18-16-18----------------------------18--- d--------------------------------------------- a--------------------------------------------- e--------------------------------------------- e------------------14-12-14-10--------------- b------------15-10-------------10-15-10------ g-14-11-9-11----------------------------11--- d-------------------------------------------- a-------------------------------------------- e-------------------------------------------- e-------------------19-17-19-14--------------- b-------------19-15-------------15-19-15------ g-19-16-14-16----------------------------16--- d--------------------------------------------- a--------------------------------------------- e--------------------------------------------- e-----------------13-11-13-9------------- b------------14-9------------9-14-9------ g-13-10-8-10------------------------10--- d---------------------------------------- a---------------------------------------- e---------------------------------------- e------------------14-9--17-16-14----------------- b-14-10-9-10-14-10----------------17-15-14-------- g------------------------------------------16-14-- d------------------------------------------------- a------------------------------------------------- e------------------------------------------------- e-----------------13-11-13-9------------- b------------14-9------------9-14-9------ g-13-10-8-10------------------------10--- d---------------------------------------- a---------------------------------------- e---------------------------------------- e------------------14-9--17-16-14----------17--- b-14-10-9-10-14-10----------------17-15-14------ g----------------------------------------------- d----------------------------------------------- a----------------------------------------------- e-----------------------------------------------
Also, this from Sascha in Germany:
2 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 4 1 2 4 1 2
D U D D D D D U D U
|-------------------------19p17-19p14-------------|
|-15----------------19p15-------------15-19p15----|
|----16-14s16-19p16----------------------------16-|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------13p11-13p9-----------|
|-9---------------14p9------------9-14p9----|
|---10-8s10-13p10------------------------10-|
|-------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------|
2 2 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 1 4 2 1 3 1
D U D D D D U D U D U D U
|-------------------------17-16-14----------------|
|-14----------------19p14----------17-15-14-------|
|----14-13s14-18p14-------------------------16-14-|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
2 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 4 1 1 4 1 2
D U D D D D D U D U
|----------------------13p11-13p9-----------|
|-9---------------14p9------------9-14p9----|
|---10-8s10-13p10------------------------10-|
|-------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------|
2 2 1 4 1 4 1 4 3 1 4 1 4
D U D D D
|-------------------------17-16-14----------17|
|-14----------------19p14----------17-15-14---|
|----14-13s14-18p14---------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|---3---|---3---|
The following bit of music is an improvised solo. Because I’m lazy, I will not tab out the solo included in the video. Make up your own, figure it out yourself, or just follow my fingers.
At the end of the solo, there’s this crazy bit of finger acrobatics. Be careful with your picking. The fingering isn’t too tricky, but it’s fast. If you’ve gotten this far, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting through this next chunk with enough practice. Remember: ALWAYS USE A METRONOME.
1 3 4 1 4 3 1 2 4 1 4 2
|---------------------------
|---------------------------
|-------4------------8------
|-6-8-9---9-8-8-9-11---11-9-
|---------------------------
|---------------------------
|-3-| |-3-| |-3--| |-3--|
1 3 4 1 4 3 1 2 4 1 4 2
-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|
----------11----------------13-------|
-11-13-14----14-13-13-14-16----16-14-|
-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|
|--3--| |--3--| |--3--| |--3--|
1 2 4 1 4 2 1 2 4 1 2 4
|-------------------------------------
|-------------------------------------
|----------15----------------15-------
|-14-16-18----18-16-14-16-18----16-18-
|-------------------------------------
|-------------------------------------
|--3--| |--3--| |--3--| |--3--|
1 4 2 1 2 4 1 2 4 1 4 2
-------------------------------------| Repeat Measure
-------------------------------------| 3 times
-15----------------15-------15*------| On third time
----18-16-14-16-18----16-18----18-16-| stop at note
-------------------------------------| marked by
-------------------------------------| *
|--3--| |--3--| |--3--| |--3--|
Video:
Section C: String Skipping of Death
The next part is the HARD part. If you thought what we’ve done so far has been hard, you’re kidding yourself (well, not totally). The next part is where Paul’s personal guitar lesson video comes into play:
Umm…yeah, thanks Paul. I’m glad you could put it in such… simple… and slow … terms. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go weep for a few minutes.
Okay, I’m back. Are you ready for frustration? Supposedly, there is a way to fit all these notes into one measure. I can’t quite hear what the rhythmic/polyrhythmic breakdown might be, but when you start playing it, it makes sense. I’m thinking that all the notes are 16th notes or triplet 16ths as notated
1 4 2 1 3 1 2 4 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4
|-9--------------------9-12-9h12p9----9-14-9h14p9----|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|---14p11p9----9h11h14-------------14-------------14-| 2x
|----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------12---------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|--3--| |--3--|
1 4 2 1 3 1 2 4 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4
|-9--------------------9-12-9h12p9----9-15-9h15p9----|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|---15p12p9----9h12h15-------------15-------------15-|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------13---------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|-3--| |-3--|
1 4 2 1 3 1 2 4 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4
|-12----------------------12-15-12h15p12----12-15-12h18p12----|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|----18p15p12----12h15h18----------------18----------------18-|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------16----------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|--3--| |--3--|
1 4 2 1 3 1 2 4 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4
|-11----------------------11-14-11h14p11----11-16-11h16p11----|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|----16p13p11----11h13h16----------------16----------------16-| 2x
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------14----------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|--3--| |--3--|
1 4 2 1 4 1 2 4 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 3 1 4 1 4
|-11--------------------11-14-11h14p11----11-16-11h16p11----|
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|----16p12p9----9h12h16----------------16----------------16-|
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|------------14---------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|--3--| |--3--|
1 4 2 1 3 1 2 4 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4
|-13----------------------13-16-13h16p13----13-19-13h19p13----|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|----19p16p13----13h16h19----------------19----------------19-|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------14----------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|--3--| |--3--|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
Video (failure):
The great thing about songs like this—at least for me—is that it pushes the limits of my finger speed and dexterity. Even though I can’t really PLAY the song, the process of learning it has taught me a lot. It also trains my ear to pick songs like this apart. It also helps me to understand how real guitarists come up with patterns and fingerings. It also makes for easy content for a monthly guitar lesson. When I set out to learn something new, it’d better be something that’s going to challenge me and force me to step up my playing a notch. This is exactly that kind of song. Paul Gilbert is infinitely more talented and creative than I am, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have fun emulating great players.
Hopefully, you enjoyed this month’s lesson. I know it’s not entirely complete, but it’s a bit more thorough than anything else you’ll find out there on the web (as of the time of this writing; your mileage may vary; limited liability; not to be taken entirely seriously; not to be combined with any other offers; on approved credit only). If you’ve got a comment, leave one using the comment form.