Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
UK EditionUK US EditionUS AU EditionAustralia SG EditionSingapore
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Black Friday
  • Artist news
  • Music Gear Reviews
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Controllers
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Guitar Amps
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About us
Don't miss these
Greg Mackintosh of Paradise Lost plays his custom 7-string V live onstage with red and white stagelights behind him.
Artists Greg Mackintosh on the secrets behind the Paradise Lost sound and why he is still trying to learn Trouble’s tone tricks
Jeff Porcaro
Artists Exploring the genius of Jeff Porcaro's Rosanna Shuffle
Jeff Beck
Artists “The first heavy metal riff ever written – and I wrote it!”: How Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page created a groundbreaking song
Side profile of a person playing a drum kit
Drum Lessons & Tutorials 13 easy drum songs every beginner should learn
Andy Fraser in 1971
Artists “The notes he didn’t play were more important than the notes he did play”: A salute from one great bassist to another
Bass
Music Production Tutorials 37 heavyweight bass production tips
Paul Gilbert
Recording Four big-name guitarists spill their recording secrets
Ableton Live MIDI tools tutorial
Music Production Tutorials Stuck for ideas? Here's how to create fresh basslines and melodies with Ableton Live 12’s MIDI tools
David Gilmour plays a Black Stratocaster onstage in New York, on a moody stage lit in dark blue.
Artists David Gilmour shares an essential tone tip for guitarists using a whammy bar with a delay pedal
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Artists “We said, ‘We’re calling the band Leonard Skinner!’ Everybody laughed. So we kept it”: The early days of Lynyrd Skynyrd
Drummers Listen to 11 isolated drum tracks from rock's drumming legends
Semtek aka DJ Persuasion
Artists 7 great house and techno tips from Don’t Be Afraid label boss Semtek (aka DJ Persuasion)
Wolfgang Van Halen
Artists “Some riffs have that swing. You hear it in the first Van Halen album”: Wolfgang Van Halen's new song echoes classic VH
Dave Davis pictured on the left in black-and-white, circa 1964, playing a Guild semi-hollow and singing into the mic; Dave Davies pictured from behind, slashing a speaker to show us how he got the distorted tone on You Really Got Me.
Artists “So, Dave, how do I slash the amp?”: Dave Davies picks up a razor and slashes a speaker on camera to demonstrate how he got the Kinks’ iconic proto-fuzz guitar tone
Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk Wylde tear it up onstage in 1989. Ozzy is shirtless. Wylde his shirtless, too – and he plays his bullseye graphic Les Paul.
Keyboards & Pianos “That actually came from me and Oz jamming on the piano in my apartment in North Hollywood”: From Ozzy Osbourne to Papa Roach, Fleetwood Mac to George Harrison, here's 5 career-defining songs you didn’t know were written on the piano
More
  • Charlie XCX + John Cale
  • Lily Allen's songwriting camp
  • Fleetwood Mac for Glasto?
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Simon Phillips
  1. Tutorials
  2. Guitar Lessons & Tutorials

Quick licks: intermediate #19

News
By Guitar Techniques ( Guitar Techniques ) published 6 April 2013

Take inspiration from '70s Lou Reed and proto prog outfit Patto

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Intermediate lick one: Dick Wagner lead

Intermediate lick one: Dick Wagner lead

Wear a black top hat and get your Les Paul and Plexi hot for this one! It’s a tribute to Wagner’s onstage work with Lou Reed in the 1970s. Make sure the bends are in tune and concentrate on making the vibrato sing as vocal-like as possible. Check out Dick’s work with the Alice Cooper Band as well!

Page 1 of 2
Page 1 of 2
Intermediate lick two: Ollie Halsall lead

Intermediate lick two: Ollie Halsall lead

This example uses legato phrasing with a very gritty tone, similar to Ollie Halsall’s sound - Ollie was the hugely influential guitarist in proto-prog band Patto. The run is entirely in D Dorian (D E F G A B C) except for the last beat, which uses the D blues scale (D F G G# A C). Get your hand strength built up slowly to nail 125bpm and faster!

Page 2 of 2
Page 2 of 2
Guitar Techniques
The worlds best high-quality guitar tuition from the UKs foremost teachers and players image
The worlds best high-quality guitar tuition from the UKs foremost teachers and players
Subscribe and save today!
More Info
Read more
Greg Mackintosh of Paradise Lost plays his custom 7-string V live onstage with red and white stagelights behind him.
Greg Mackintosh on the secrets behind the Paradise Lost sound and why he is still trying to learn Trouble’s tone tricks
 
 
Jeff Porcaro
Exploring the genius of Jeff Porcaro's Rosanna Shuffle
 
 
Jeff Beck
“The first heavy metal riff ever written – and I wrote it!”: How Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page created a groundbreaking song
 
 
Side profile of a person playing a drum kit
13 easy drum songs every beginner should learn
 
 
Andy Fraser in 1971
“The notes he didn’t play were more important than the notes he did play”: A salute from one great bassist to another
 
 
Bass
37 heavyweight bass production tips
 
 
Latest in Guitar Lessons & Tutorials
Close up of a person holding an acoustic guitar bathed sunlight
Ignite your inner guitar god for just 27 cents a day with TrueFire’s July 4th sale - save 60% on online lessons
 
 
MusicNomad fret tuition
Can you fix your guitar's frets yourself? We try three innovative approaches from MusicNomad to investigate how they might conquer a major cause of fret buzz
 
 
George Harrison
How to play like George Harrison on The Beatles' Abbey Road
 
 
MusicNomad guitar fret cleaning
"You owe your guitar the chance to be its best": How to clean and polish your guitar frets a better way
 
 
Jimmy Page
Play like Jimmy Page! Exclusive video lesson
 
 
Music Theory
How learning and understanding chord symbols can prove a major benefit for sharing your musical ideas
 
 
Latest in News
Alex Skolnick of Testament shows off his signature ESP singlecut as he performs at Belgium's Alcatraz Festival in 2024. On the right, Kiko Loureiro and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth photographed in the corridors backstage at Wembley Arena in 2015.
Alex Skolnick on the time he was on standby for Megadeth – and what to do when you can’t match a player lick for lick
 
 
An Alesis Strata Core electronic drum set on a yellow background
I’ve seen a lot of Black Friday sales, but this one’s next level - Sweetwater just dropped thousands of discounts of up to 80% off guitars, drums, keys, and more
 
 
David Bowie and Damon Albarn sing together
“I nearly made a record with Ray Davies and David Bowie”: Damon Albarn on the dream collab that never happened
 
 
Coldplay Music of the Spheres tour
Coldplay’s live engineers reveal the lengths they go to to record every show on the band’s Music of the Spheres tour
 
 
Electro-Harmonix Pico Atomic Cluster: the new glitch/synth mini-pedal from the storied NYC pedal brand
EHX expands its Pico series with the Atomic Cluster Spectral Decomposer – a mini-pedal that sounds so wrong its right
 
 
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 28: Charli XCX attends the Los Angeles Red Carpet Premiere of HBO Original Comedy Series "I Love LA" at Paramount Theatre on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for HBO)
"I sort of felt like I was squeezing blood from a stone”: Charli XCX reveals her post-Brat creative comedown
 
 

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...