Added: 6 years ago
From: elpolifemo
Views: 58,854
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  • Damn Right!!! Shawn was the baddest of the baddest dudes on guitar. No other guitarist that I heard approaches Shawn's level of effortless playing and instant inspiration. A true virtuoso.

  • I was about to say I wish he would play some inbetween speed stuff instead of just slow then warp speed, ate my words at 2.30,

  • Videos like this show why Shawn was and is Guthrie Govans top influence.

  • Good to see others uploading this stuff because WillJay/MyShawnLaneVideos will remove all of his longer clips because of Shawn's family....

  • God

    

  • I just burst out laughing at 4:15... I mean, HOW???? 20 years of listening to this guy and I'm just as clueless as I was back in 1991.

  • @megaladon73 I notice two things - he attacks the guitar like he's going to dig into an Ace Frehly thing but it sounds like souped up McLaughlin/DiMeola flat picking, super, super precise. His efficiency of motion is scary sick.

  • @megaladon73 Agreed. The problem with the line at 4:15 is he's really digging in. If you dig in on a light gauge set it doesn't work for me - you need a certain amount of string tension to be able to do that. If I were to try that on a set of .009s it wouldn't work the same way. On a set of .010s the tension is there but that impedes speed. I don't really know how he did it but he definetely had the chops of doom.

  • @aliensporebomb

    he used 8 gauge strings lol. it shouldn't be a problem if you use some lighter picks. jazz picks are also an excellent option. they are extremely easy to play fast with and no matter how fast you play the notes don't die out.

  • @aliensporebomb its all PRECISION,....................­his fingers hit EVERY SINGLE NOTE .....perfectly at the same time that pick hit it at that same moment as well,...........and his right hand was every bit as fast as his left which is sick in itself...............FREAK!!!

  • Shawn taught God how to play the axe

  • @odnkill1

    lol seriously though imagine how crazy God will be at guitar... in heaven.

  • out of this world. truly an inspiration. 13:14 to 13:16 how, what the, sounds like tapping but he aint tapping?

  • @dualactionriffdevice He's using a high B as a pedal tone and using other notes in the B major/Ab minor scale by string skipping.

  • Man, that last tune was breathtakingly good.

  • For all the new viewers, I dont know if you've seen my site (leviclay.com) but i did some Shawn transcriptions that are up there, some of this bootleg actually!

    feel free to subscribe!

  • @MissMisstreater

    That site is broken

  • @ExtremeBogom

    most definitely isnt, make sure you put w w w in first ;)

  • @MissMisstreater

    Umm...yeaah

  • the more i watch this guy, the more i realize he was truly unique. As if his total and broad comprehension of music wasn't enough, his speed got him to sounds/places where it just sounded perfect and unreachable by ordinary player. I mean, I have nothing but the greatest respect, joy and inspiration from the GREAT guitarists of today [guthrie govan, paul gilbert, greg howe, etc] but shawn lane was something more than just long hours of practice/studying...RIP to the GREAT Shawn Lane!!

  • Only 53k views? I hope its a really bad joke. 

  • 4:15 is so awesome.

  • "He is one of the baddest, baddest dudes!" Great quote. Great play. Doesn't get any better than THE MEMPHIS MONSTER!

  • Any got a tab of his take on Chameleon here?? I can't figure it out at all.....:(

  • Words are not good enough to describe the Genius of Shawn Lane. The greatest guitarist of all time and a musical Genius. Only 52000 + views and Cheryl Cole has millions of views? People are dumb as fucking shit.

  • @RoadWarrior2006 my 5 thumbs up for that my friend

  • leviclay.com/shawn-lane.html

  • @MissMisstreater Looks good, man! Thanks for the tab.

  • FULL transcription of "Something About You" now on my website

    please share the news

  • @MissMisstreater

    leviclay.com/shawn-lane.html

  • A Grand Master. . .and my hero.

  • when i show my non guitarist friends this clip they think im nuts, us guitairists know better, frightening stuff................lol

  • I just realized he is doing something I recommend to people that I give guitar lessons to. Pick up by the neck more. Sounds so much better.

  • @Whyrendog thats like saying the neck pickup sounds so much better than bridge pickup. theyre just different, necks warmer.

  • @BelieveIntheBucket Yeah but everyone knows that, not everyone picks over the neck I have taught a lot of people that are looking for things to try and one guy I taught pretty much took all my ideas and went from hardly being able to do leads to playing like me only with out all the flubs hehe.

  • @Whyrendog yeah. i kno what you mean.

  • The note choices were perfect, and especially near the end they were so divine I felt like going nuts.

  • Nobody will ever play like this ever. What a beast.

  • holy shit shawn lane listened to chameleon by herbie that is fuckin awesome i play this in my band all the time for a jam this makes me feel like im on a good path even though i cant play like shawn lol

  • 13:14 is divine

  • yeah it is :D

  • Fusion King!

  • 11:43 = ' Word up ' 'by Cameo

    14:47 = Something About You from Level 42

    The chords he plays for Word Up couldn't be better chosen

  • 04.15. seems impossible

  • Not to be a douche but hey, it's Shawn Lane, we are dealing with a lot that seems impossible haha

  • Well, i know it may sounds cliche, but tone comes from the fingers : Lane used 9's, Van Halen used them too (even going to 8's sometimes), even Malmsteen use an 8's (but only on high E string) in E flat ! So you don't necessarly need heavy gauge to have a good tone . It's all about what you're about to achieve .

  • excuse my ignorance...but what do you mean 8's?

  • @ballsout09 The gauge of strings.

  • I love Shawn Lane's tone so much And the 9's "light gauge" of string gives and extra mid range frequency that sounds so smooth but 11's so so much better than 9's on my guitar but 11's are harder to play on but i will sacrifice anything for tone like Shawn's.

    Shawn a true inspiration of technique, tone you name it i get it from shawn.

  • funk

  • hahaha... chameleon

  • Shawn had something I have never seen in any other guitar player

    He is so insanley good, a true inspiration.

  • What are the other songs other than the first one (Chameleon)?

  • scarter180 : Word Up by Cameo and Something About You by Level 42.

  • amazing the first time i see this guitar performance blow my mind and change my life forever!

  • What is the name of the first song? That has the funkiest riff ever!

  • Chameleon by Herbie Hancock

  • i personally cant stand alot of shred and even vai and satch sometimes but shawn had it all great phrasing and the speed just like a great jazz sax player. vai is the kenny g of the guitar world, where as shawns more like coltrane. its just the difference between it actually sounding soulfull and like a robot, vai to me just doesnt sound soulfull it sounds put on, rehearsed and affected but shawn has a modesty about him.

  • I couldn't agree with you more.

  • Now wait just a minuete....and get it straight joe satriani is kenny G and steve vai is the JOHN TESH of guitarists, they cant help it their the coporate robots of the guitar world..........Lane did it for the love baby. nice comment

  • he's a musician which is what these other guys dont have in common with shawn

  • Fucking scary!

  • wow

  • 3: 40 and 8: 30 and 10: 20 and 11: 10 He broke the sound barrier!

  • This is the BEST performance I have ever seen!

  • I feel blessed to have seen Shawn live a few times... RIP.

  • cool man..

    i live in chile =(

  • Just plain scary....

  • shawn lane is 10x faster than mab and malmsteen do you guys agree??and he creates the best melody in the world

  • He's definetly faster yeah. Malmsteen used to be very good melodically, nowadays he's repeating himself over and over and there's not enough melody in his playing anymore IMO.

  • He was 8th fastest last time I checked the official list while Malmsteen was 5th and MAB was 2nd. The list is accurate as far as my observations tell me, but I know that Shawn Lane is, by quite a lot, the most skilled guitar player I've ever heard.

  • yes that is pretty accurate but im sure as you mentioned skill really out was speed and i think his phrasing is such more creative and outside rather than staight accends or decends such as a MAB lick.

    I think some in solos Shawn sounds faster than anyone i have ever heard but it is definatelly difficult to play shawn's phrasing fast. i have tried many times but the speed is diabolically quick.

    nice to know someone else out there appreciates my favourite of all time.

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  • what guitar is he playing here?

  • jackson soloist archtop limited edition in 91' only 200 were made

  • I remember a few years ago, before YouTube started up, when Guthrie Govan posted on the Shawn Lane forum for a brief time..... he watched this Sneaky Pete's video (hosted on the Lane forum), and Guthrie said that "Shawn's playing was Hilariously Good" in it.

    Guthrie's exact words.

  • links?

  • Very cool, Willjay! Govan is right.

  • I truly believe Guthrie is a fan. He would not have done GET YOU BACK (excellent)and that lesson on Lanes licks if he wasn't ;) They are still my two FAVES!!!Cheers!

  • listening to this again kinda sounds like theres a nod to eddie hazel

  • I remember back in '02-'03, this was one of the very few Lane videos available. I hadn't seen the instructional videos back then, so this was a rarity at that time.

    Then Willjay appeared...

    And then YouTube happened! Thanks to this website, a lot more people know about Lane and his playing.

  • All hail Willjay!!

  • People often say music music isnt about competition they are right. when shawn lane played there wasnt any

  • @DaveEnsor Damn right!!

  • OK...about 30 views later this is probably the best guitar clip on YouTube. Little bits of this pop up at inopportune times in my brain. God, I need help...:D but it just solidifies how great this stuff is. He combines abstract thought, boundary melting technique, musical flow, insane ideas, beautiful and deep passion, it's all there. Shawn at his best.

  • Aye. Also the tone and guitar sound is epic.

  • Who is that banal idiot saying stupid shit to the audience at the beginning? Shut the fuck up and let the genius play, you douche.

  • as a guitar player...I must say that hurt...fast fucking fingers and soulful as hell too...nice

  • i can't believe after all of that INCREDIBLE guitar playing, there was hardly any applause. people can be so stupid.

  • i like to think they were just shocked into a respectful silence, overcome with awe

  • thanks. its a great song and even better when shawn lane gets a hold of it.

    oooh i love a bit of jazz.

    thanks for the video upload!

  • what is the first song called?

    it would really help.

    thanks

  • Chameleon by Herbie Hancock..

  • shawn lane and malmsteen are the only two people that have ever made me stop everything and pick up the guitar and rock out!!!!!! this happens 90% of the time when lane is on ,who wouldn't want to jam along?????

  • I always find myself grabbing my electric guitar [unplugged] and just jamming to clips - picking up bits and pieces.

    I play so much better after listening to some inspiring tunes from my favorite artists.

  • yep exactly jamming with the best of the best is great and its impossible to not to.

    shawn lane really does inspire a lot of my favourite licks.

  • what's the song after the jam? Before the Level 42 song?

  • Word Up by Cameo

  • Che dire Armonia,fraseggio! tocco, stile e tecnica..questo GRANDE UOMO!!!aveva tutto!

    ..manchi alla stessa musica!..

    by rio palmieri

  • lane is insane.. faster than everyone else and wonderful phrasing.. out of this world

  • love the cliffs of dover esque lick at 13:14

  • 5:27 nice view

  • Na, i think i'd pretty much have the same reaction. Playing 2 much in superfast mode gets a little old for me, but that's just my preference. I think Shawn's best stuff was in the stuff he wrote and performed, such as Esperanto, Rules of the Game and Get you back. Those three right there are easily his best works in my opinion.

  • Just an o.k. performance for me. The constant superfast licks get old after a while. Sounds much better when he plays mostly slower licks then throws in the occasional blazer. I've seen much better from this prodigy :)

  • Would you have thought differently if these licks were done on another instrument like the sax or piano?

  • Use youtube downloader!!!

  • ...I'm also so addicted to this video I've put it on my IPod. Shawn nailing ridiculous jazz licks over pop classics has just gone portable :D

  • Haha! Great great stuff. he reason I learnt the Somethign about you solo was cause it is so great, and so is the Word Up solo...and the Chameleon solo...and, well, everything he ever did.

  • Yeah, I'm guilty of the same thing. I try to explain Shawn to people sometimes, and just about the point where I know I'm starting to lose them (somewhere around the "uses rhythmic displacement like Parker and Tatum to add dimension to his phrasing" part), I then just whip out the ipod and watch heads explode:)

  • 15:21 - WOOOOOW

  • That whole solo is my favourite part too, I tried to do a cover of it... :D

  • You didn't do too bad a job at all! MASSIVE props to you for attempting such a ballsy endeavor.

  • Thanks for watching it, I probably could do it better now and with better sound. I only recently worked out how to synch video + sound. Anyway, the Sneaky Pete vid just rules so much...in every way. :)

  • I thumbs up that 'phlawless phrasing' comment every time I see it ;)

  • Yup, the guy speaks the truth!

  • I've seen it at least a dozen times now...DAMN. Watch Shawn explode during that middle part in Chameleon! 'He is one of the BADDEST...BADDEST dudes!' haha :D

  • I ALWAYS smile at the end of the vid. Even the guitar player in the band is clapping Lane, hard to see though on this version. The guy is so right. You're at a little party with a band playing covers and then this monster, the MEMPHIS Monster, just let's loose. Personally, I'd be standing dumbstruck, rather than dancing. Actually, that happened at a few Shawn gigs according to Souvik Dutta. People "standing like statues, crying" etc. Not suprised. Lane = best evarr!!

  • Phlawless phrasing in this phootage.

  • I know Shawn is playing Chameleon, but does anyone know the names of the other songs he plays?

    Thanks!

  • "Something About You" (by Level 42), and "Word Up" (by Cameo).

  • Thanks!

  • stratus by billy cobham also

  • Did anyone ever find out if he was the guy with the screen name "Big Ben" on Guitar Battle (website)?

    I talked to him and he said he could only play a certain way because the record company did not allow him to do any outside work. His profile pic was someone who was Shawn's size taken from behind the stage so you could only see the back of him. He posted bluesy stuff like BOA but they were new recordings.

  • That's interesting.... do you have any recordings or clips at all from that guy? Even if he wasn't playing in his usual style i could probably tell if it was Shawn by his phrasing (and probably tone). :-D

    Also, do you know when this was? ... because he was only under his Warner Bros. contract for a few years in the early 90's, so other than that i don't see how he couldn't do any outside work. Shawn has played on a load of albums by other people.

  • Well, it was probably 5 or 6 years ago I think. But I had wondered the internet and had like tons of Shawn Lane sites favorite placed and they all ended up with messages about content removed being out of Shawn's control. His sister emailed back one time about it and how upset he was and forgive me I don't recall the exact words but they could not mention who. Someone had control over what he did and it was strange and disturbing. I wish someone could reveal more.

  • Is Sneaky Pete related to the prospector Stinky Pete from Toy Story 2?

  • hahahaha...i think of that everytime i hear this song.

  • The GOD. His playing wasn't just the fastest and his phrasing and tone weren't just the best. People need to listen to his compositions to understand the genius of Shawn Lane.

  • what sneaky petes is this..what area??

  • Memphis, TN.

  • The Real God

  • its a shame a guitar player of his calibre had

    to play in such stupid places!!

    he deserved a lot more!!

  • damn right!

  • he did it for fun. Its no shame,

    he could've easily turned down the gig.

  • Yep, he did it for fun, for maybe some money and for footage for his Instructional Video... :D

  • I'll never look at Chameleon the same way again! Haha!

  • Shawn Lane is not just a fast guitarist, he has a great technique and is a good musician, liking to swing between abstraction sometimes, and melodic lines too.

  • And he has a great sense of rhythm, melody and phrasing too! :D

  • That sounds like a Video game of an alien landing...of a swarm of ships :)

  • Shawn, you are a monster player.

  • i remember playing chameleon back in our middle school jazz program. (trumpet)

    was my favorite song for the lognest time...and shawn lane's version doesn't dissapoint.

    What guitar is that? it's fucking gorgeous

  • im 99% sure thats a jackson that was custom made for him. you can see it in alot of his bootlegs as the backup guitar for his yellow charvel. at the powers of ten release party he broke the high e during "tri 7/5" and had to switch to this guitar.

  • charvel

  • Yeah i think it's a charvel or ESP, not sure

  • That would be a Charvel 750XL. Which would later go on to be succeeded by the jackson soloist sl-1. Shawns 750XL seems to be an early to mid make model as it still has small bevels at the horns and the pickup covers, but is missing the cutout for the tremolo.

  • Hmm...the thing about the guitar he uses here is that the sharkfin inlays are the wrong way round for a 750XL! Also, the tuners look chrome, not black (of course they could be changed...) but I am inclined to think that Mr. tritonefascination is right here, a custom Jackson.

  • Charvel 750 XL. Shawn was endorsed but he could have had anyone endorse him, this was his guitar of choice. I seen him when he was in Black Oak at 16. he was playing a 50's-60's (probably 57 or so) LesPaul junior.

    He absolutely killed even back then. Mind blowing technique and phrasing, its almost numbing.

  • Are you sure that's a 750XL? The sharkfins are the wrong way round for a 750XL.

  • Shawn did play 750XL's, this one is likely not in stock form or maybe a custom altogether. Look at the 12 fret (closeup at about 7:45) and you'll see it appears to have a different inlay - a custom block by the looks of it. I do not see a logo on the headstock & hardware actually looks to be gold also. It appears to be patterned after a 750XL or a Soloist archtop. I wonder if this was in Minnesota, we have a Sneaky Petes in Mankato, Mn. They are jamming on Word Up & Level 42 Covers at the end.

  • widdly widdly..so many notes! my god, you have to REALLY like guitarmusic to appreciate that.. well... I do! nice quotation of cliffs of Dover at 13.14?

  • Chameleon. Shawn lane is nasty.

  • 16:30 - wow O_O

  • 15:30 is easily a much smoother lick

  • We all know about Shawn Lane's skill, and pharasing and abiltiy, but on this vid especially, the TONE! What a sound he has goin' on. Great stuff all round.

  • lol bucky

  • They are fast, but they'd be even faster with well setup electrics. Strats are good for their sound, not playability. What makes the strat video impressive too, is that Lane obviously isn't used to the strat. It takes time to adjust to a different style guitar, but he manages to sound amazing any way.

  • If you say a Fender Strat is hard to play you don't know your stuff. You can adjust the action very low on a Fender as well. Gypsy Jazz players play fast on acoustic guitars, how about that? But those can also be adjusted to have low action. Every decent guitar can be adjusted.

  • beautifully clean and fast...like Holdsworth....R.I.P.

  • What's scary is that if you gave him a Les Paul he'd rip the same.

  • There's a vid with him playing a strat(hard to play) and he keeps stoppng as he gets used to the different feel of it. Then he ends up ripping mind boggling licks any way, even on a strat!

  • nope he's stopping in between licks because it's called PHRASING.

  • wow, the granddaddy of all guitarist and a godzilla sized clip....shawn was one in a billion and this just cements those feelings for me.....incomparable

  • anyone know what gauge strings shawn used?

  • He used .008's made by DR.