Slither sheet music in G1

GUITAR ONE >> AUGUST 2004

What?s Between the Lines
?Slither? Velvet Revolver
By Lorne Behrman

Supergroups suck. Usually they start with an ego battle, and by recording time the band has surrendered to compromised compositions, with the band members settling for the lowest common denominator so as to not shatter any precious pride. Velvet Revolver, the GN?R/STP hybrid, is a rare case in which heritages are respected and fully integrated; the resulting music has traces of its members? pedigree while projecting a unique band sound. The dream team?s first single, ?Slither,? from its highly drooled-over debut, Contraband, blends STP?s signature rich chord voicings with GN?R?s penchant for chromatically spiked riffage. The outcome is a feral roar over-flowing with punk attitude and heavy-metal guitar aptitude.

THE INTRO
The classic two-guitar team is a semi-exclusive division of labor in which one man handles rhythm while the other handles lead. The Rolling Stones set the standard; their high-point was pairing Keith Richards? boogie grooves with Mick Taylor?s sparkling blues explorations. In Velvet Revolver, Slash plays Mick Taylor to Dave Kushner?s Keith Richards. And right from the get-go, territories are staked, as the intro pits Slash?s elemental octave lead against Kushner?s precise rhythm pattern. Slash?s octave melody is best executed using your 1st finger for the 5th-string notes and your 3rd finger for the 3rd-string notes; the fleshy underside of your 1st finger to mute the 4th string. It?s essential to the power and clarity of this riff that no unwanted strings right out, so practice this line slowly, making sure your octave movements are clean and smooth.

Though the octave line seems to hold the aural glory in this section, check out Kushner?s accompaniment. Guitar players spend hours working scale and arpeggio patterns ? so pull out that metronome and work to get Kushner?s downpicked straight-eighth notes gnat?s-ass tight. Notice that every other bar begins with a big, ringing half-note chord; make sure these really breathe before you hunker down into the palm-muted open 6th string (D, as we?re in drop-D tuning).

VERSE
The verse riff is a pungent two-bar statement with a sinister street metal vibe. Notice that before the vocals come in, Slash and Kushner play this pattern as a series of one-finger power chords (Thanks again, drop D), but when Weiland enters, they keep things uncluttered, with everyone converging on the riff?s root pattern. This emptiness of harmony lets Weiland get in deep with his vocal melody. The riff is based on the the D blues scale with the addition of a major 3rd (D-F-F#-G-Ab-A-C); this scale appears in Fig. 1 AS IT LIES ON THE 6TH STRING. Working scales over single strings is a clever way to get out of the habitual ?box? mentality of vertical scale pattern playing. Also, by confining scales to one string, you can easily visualize intervallic distances.

SOLO
The solo portion uses a chord structure similar to that of the chorus but with a more driving groove, goading Slash to greasy flashes of rock?n?roll brilliance. He blazes primarily through the D minor pentatonic scale (D-F-G-A-C), touching on the D Mixolydian mode (D-E-F#-G-A-B-C) in bars 6 and 7; check out how Slash uses repeated motifs to build excitement. The key to nailing this solo is attitude ? and sleazy does it. But again, don?t neglect Kushner?s hip rhythm accompaniment, the deep groove of which inspires Slash throughout this workout. In addition to sneaking in spicy suspended 4ths, notice how Kushner mixes open chords into his accompaniment, adding color without detracting from the power and concise harmonic structure of the passage. G1

TONE ZONE
GUITARS 1 & 2: Solidbody
PICKUP/POSITION: Humbucker/Neck
GAIN: 8
EQ: Bass/Mid/Treble: 6/4/6
FX: Wah

Fig. 1 Drop D tuning:
(low to high) D-A-D-G-B-E

SLITHER
As Recorded by Velvet Revolver
From the RCA Recording CONTRABAND)
Transcribed by Jordan Baker By Velvet Revolver