Hi Emerson. I'm the guitar player in a Chicago tribute band in Mpls/St Paul. We didn't ask her to, but my classical-music-nut/music-major mom bought the first CTA album when I was a kid and of course us 3 kids wore the thing out in a year. So every release this band did kinda stuck out to me. I already have the staff of this solo but in my 3 decades of rock band performances I never learned to read staff to tempo, so I just play it as close as I can in my own style but make the obvious parts stick out. I can read the staff but that doesn't explain the techniques/tricks/TK style. This vid is very valuable to me as my band mates are extremely accomplished musicians, and they know about my short comings but put up with me anyway for some reason. You provide me here with a short cut to nail the MMS solo and impress my band mates and audiences :D I want you to know that I appreciate all the time you spent learning the solo by using the slow down techniques, looking up TK performances to get it right, and creating a video which takes an extreme amount of time and resources in itself. You totally didn't have to but you shared your knowledge with us and are a better than others human for it! This is exactly what I've been searching so long for. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thanks for sharing your amazing talent and teaching such wonderful lead playing.I came straight to this one from 25 or 6 to 4! I have only seen one other lesson on the latter and it was incomplete.Thanks Emerson, Beautiful lesson!
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I just retired and have lots of time on my hands and thanks to you I am going to take this lesson as far as I can. Huge TK fan - he's my number 1 just based off the first 2 Chicago albums.
Great job. Thanks for posting. 25 or 6 to 4 seems to be the well-known Kath solo, but Make Me Smile is just as impressive. You did an incredible analysis of breaking it down. Thanks for sharing. A great guitar player can play anything on any guitar! You are an example of that.
Nice breakdown. Try flat wound strings, T.I.'s, heavy. That is one the finest lead solos of all time. Give me 9 weeks and I will be ripping it out. Thanks.
I found you today on the 25 or 6 to 4 solo, which you nailed dead on, I could not tell it was not Terry. I was going to ask you on the comments to that video if you ever tried the Make me smile solo, then I found this, yep you did!. I think the world of your playing, but I will say that on this solo I can tell its not Terry. I mean no offence. This is one solo that only Terry could do, its personal, it belongs to him his own miracle of speed and taste. Its blinding fast even for Terry. Speed is overrated and often used unmusically to bludgeon the listener into submission or show off, but Terry is one of the few who make speed really musical he had something to say. Terry was a fan of one of my favorite guitarists, Kenny Burrell, and to me this solo has some bebop in it after the first phrase. There is plenty of jazz in Terry Kath, plenty of Burrell. Then it turns to rock. Kath was a genius, no one ever played rock or jazz-rock guitar better.
Thanks brother I appreciate your comments. Yeah Terry was a genius for sure and a fully agree w your assessment of Terry’s speed, taste and phrasing. Thanks to time spent learning this solo I’ve managed to get a bit more of his aggression but like you said this was just him and who he was.
Hi Emerson. I'm the guitar player in a Chicago tribute band in Mpls/St Paul. We didn't ask her to, but my classical-music-nut/music-major mom bought the first CTA album when I was a kid and of course us 3 kids wore the thing out in a year. So every release this band did kinda stuck out to me. I already have the staff of this solo but in my 3 decades of rock band performances I never learned to read staff to tempo, so I just play it as close as I can in my own style but make the obvious parts stick out. I can read the staff but that doesn't explain the techniques/tricks/TK style. This vid is very valuable to me as my band mates are extremely accomplished musicians, and they know about my short comings but put up with me anyway for some reason. You provide me here with a short cut to nail the MMS solo and impress my band mates and audiences :D
I want you to know that I appreciate all the time you spent learning the solo by using the slow down techniques, looking up TK performances to get it right, and creating a video which takes an extreme amount of time and resources in itself. You totally didn't have to but you shared your knowledge with us and are a better than others human for it! This is exactly what I've been searching so long for. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thank you! Great message. So glad if it helped you!
Thanks for sharing your amazing talent and teaching such wonderful lead playing.I came straight to this one from 25 or 6 to 4! I have only seen one other lesson on the latter and it was incomplete.Thanks Emerson, Beautiful lesson!
Thank you for the great comment!
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I just retired and have lots of time on my hands and thanks to you I am going to take this lesson as far as I can. Huge TK fan - he's my number 1 just based off the first 2 Chicago albums.
You’re quite welcome, enjoy!
Great job. Thanks for posting. 25 or 6 to 4 seems to be the well-known Kath solo, but Make Me Smile is just as impressive. You did an incredible analysis of breaking it down. Thanks for sharing. A great guitar player can play anything on any guitar! You are an example of that.
Phil M. Thanks. I’ve always thought this was a unique and brilliant solo. TK was an amazing talent for sure!
Gracias, este es un gran video. like + Sus.
Nice One Emerson and See You in November at Manchester.
After 25 or 6 to 4, my favorite Terry Kath solo.
Emerson - this is perfect. Great job! David
David Judson thank you
Nobody tries to learn Chicago? And if they do, they find, they can't pull it off? You must really love Terry Kath!
Oh yeah big TK fan. The notes are one thing but his conviction and ferocity is what I still strive for now.
Oh my God, I wish I had a found you before I spent an entire month trying to learn how to play this thing
Doc Greene SR hope it helped anyway 👍
Doc Greene SR You learned it in only a month? That is very impressive and shows dedication.
Thorn Guitars and Triumph Motorcycles! Very cool.
... Well done.
Dudes, spend a couple of bucks and get the tabs. They are spot on.
Donald Hobro thank you!! I definitely worked hard to make it accurate. Cheers!
Jimmy Jam said as teenagers Prince knew this solo like the back of his hand.
That’s really cool!
Another great lesson, says your Bro who cant play a note!
yay! another chicago lesson...Terry was so original!!!
yrulooknatme thank you and enjoy!
Nice breakdown. Try flat wound strings,
T.I.'s, heavy.
That is one the finest lead solos of all time.
Give me 9 weeks and I will be ripping it out.
Thanks.
Thanks. It’s an awesome solo. His timing and ferocity are second to none!
I found you today on the 25 or 6 to 4 solo, which you nailed dead on, I could not tell it was not Terry. I was going to ask you on the comments to that video if you ever tried the Make me smile solo, then I found this, yep you did!. I think the world of your playing, but I will say that on this solo I can tell its not Terry. I mean no offence. This is one solo that only Terry could do, its personal, it belongs to him his own miracle of speed and taste. Its blinding fast even for Terry. Speed is overrated and often used unmusically to bludgeon the listener into submission or show off, but Terry is one of the few who make speed really musical he had something to say. Terry was a fan of one of my favorite guitarists, Kenny Burrell, and to me this solo has some bebop in it after the first phrase. There is plenty of jazz in Terry Kath, plenty of Burrell. Then it turns to rock. Kath was a genius, no one ever played rock or jazz-rock guitar better.
Thanks brother I appreciate your comments. Yeah Terry was a genius for sure and a fully agree w your assessment of Terry’s speed, taste and phrasing. Thanks to time spent learning this solo I’ve managed to get a bit more of his aggression but like you said this was just him and who he was.
Dig it**