Licks transcribed by Amir Shmueli.

Where do you begin breaking down Shawn Lanes technique? At first listen you just dont
understand how someone can play that way. The funny thing is that even after you get to know
the concepts hes using you realize that most of it is in his hands as opposed to the notes. Lane
also knows this - many times he doesnt bother fingering the correct scale, preferring
something symmetrical. Never the less, Lane employs a few trademark techniques which are
well worth getting to know.
Since the majority of lessons and transcriptions out there relates to the Powers Of Ten album
Ive decided to focus on The Tritone Fascination. Aside from being as brilliant as Powers
compositionally, its more guitar heavy, making it the perfect vehicle to explore Lanes
technique.
One more thing before we begin. Since well be looking at excerpts, this wont be a methodically
structured lesson. This may make it a bit harder to isolate the techniques at work but on the
upside you get to see how Lane connects them all together.
One concept Lane uses a lot is rhythmic displacement. Since most popular music is in 4/4 time,
playing odd groupings of notes creates rhythmic displacement. This creates an interesting effect
since the accents fall on unusual places. The unusual accents confuse the ear and create an
illusion of increased speed. This is a great remedy for those plagued by the mundane tuplet
fever. Its important to stress that its only effective over a steady backing relatively to which the
displacement will occur. Heres an excerpt from Nine=101. The first part is classic rhythmic
displacement. Shawn uses slides to create groupings of 4,4,7,5,7,5 and 4. Lane probably didnt
plan on those specific groupings but the fingerings and slides he employs make for the odd
groupings. The line ends with a two note per string arpeggio idea (Fig.2) that Lane tops off with
an ascending one note per string (ONPS) idea. Well get to that later.
Fig.1 Nine: CD 1:01

Fig.2 Nine: CD 2:10

The next line is from Trois Cept Cinq. This is a good example of some descending ONPS.
These lines have a very fresh sound compared to the tuplet runs. After taking linear speed
playing as far as is could go, Lane developed an original technique that allows for more

interesting intervals. It involves triad patterns played one note per string, mostly descending.
Basically, the first note is picked with an upstroke and the next are just hammered from
nowhere. To ascend, he down picks the first two and plucks the third with his middle finger (right
hand). In this line you get it all mixed up with some slides as well. For this, Shawn has his action
set as low as it goes and favors a totally flat radius to accommodate this. The 0.08 string gauge
doesnt hurt either.

Fig.3 Trois Sept Cinq: CD 2:44

The next two examples are from One Note At A Time and Hardcase. Both are a nice
combination of odd groupings and some ONPS action.

Fig.4 Hardcase: CD 4:43

Fig.5 One note at a time: CD 1:46

The last excerpt is from The Way It Has To Be. This is a great line which shows some of
Shawns original approach to pentatonic playing. Shawn uses the pentatonic scale to great
effect sounding nothing like the clichs associated with the scale. Again, Shawn makes use of
odd rhythmic groupings but this time in a 2 note per string context. Notice the unique fingering
and pick strokes. When playing the 11 th fret on the D and G strings he uses the 3 rd and 4th
finger respectively. A lot of position shifts as well.

Fig.6 The way it has to be: CD 2:17

Cant do a Shawn Lane lesson without mentioning the wide stretch licks. Surprisingly for one
with medium hands, one of Shawns trademarks is his use of wide stretch diminished lines,
especially in his live solos. Those who have heard it usually refer to it as the spaceships. He
achieves that sound mostly by the way he plays as opposed to the actual notes involved. By
way Im referring to his use of legato, slides, pick attack and flow but thats still pretty vague.
Shawn himself described this type of playing as transcendental technique things that cant
be practiced slowly and gradually brought up to speed but could only be played at mach 5.
Watch some videos of him and thatll probably explain a whole lot better. Here s the basic shape
hes using.

Fig.7 Diminished Idea

I hope youve enjoyed this lesson. I think these lines present a good outline of Lanes signature
sound but of course theres much more. If youre interested in a more in depth look be sure to
check out Shawns instructional videos Power Licks and Power Solos. But after all is said
and done...its still all in those hands.
Click here to download a powertab file of the above licks

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