Guitar Lesson - Stairway to Heaven (solo) by Led Zep with tabs

Thank you for making this my most popular video! This solo is relatively straightforward (at least compared to other solos I have done on YouTube), so there is not a lot for me to explain in the video, other than sharing the notes being played and a few tips. However, if you have questions, please let me know and I will try to answer them as time allows. Rock on!

Here are the sections of the solo, and where they start.
Section #1 - 1:00
Section #2 - 1:48
Section #3 - 2:20
Section #4 - 2:52
Section #5 - 3:13
Section #6 - 3:35
Section #7 - 4:18
Section #8 - 5:01
Section #9 - 6:03
Section #10 - 6:42
Section #11 - 7:26
Section #12 - 8:19

I have been asked multiple times now about my amplifier settings, so I thought I would share the following. It's been a while since I posted this video, but here is a general idea of the settings. Please keep in mind that there are a lot of factors that go into tone, not just the amplifier. For example, the type of guitar, pickups, strings, pick used, and even your fingers and how you attack the strings. In other words, just because the settings work for me, doesn't mean they will sound the same for you.
Treble: 6 or 7
Middle: 5 or 6.. I also used a separate rack-mount EQ to boost the mids probably 8-10k at 1khz. However, you can simply turn your mids up to 7 or 8.
Bass: 5
Presence: 5 or 6
Gain: 6 or 7, however, it also depends on what type of amplifier and channel you may be using. For example, I am using the "Crunch" channel on my Peavey JSX, which is not as high-gain (that is, does not produce as much distortion) as my amp's "Ultra" channel.
Resonance: 5 or 6. You may not have this type on your amp - it basically impacts the low end resonance.

As for guitar effects, I used some reverb and a little bit of delay and chorus (just a tiny bit).

If you are interested to learn more about my tone and recording process, please see the FAQ on my main page.

Thanks for watching and subscribing! :)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Stairway
• to
• Heaven
• lesson
• solo
• PDX
• guitar
• freak
• PDXguitarfreak
• legend
• hero
• Jimmy
• Page
• Led
• Zeppelin
• Peavey
• JSX
• Paul
• Reed
• Smith
• PRS
• tablatures
• tabs

[mattp1821]

How do you pick in section 9? I'm trying to pluck every string but can't do it even close to speed.

[PDXguitarfreak]

@mattp1821 ... my only advice is to practice it at a slower speed, and then slowly work your way up to the right speed. One way to do this is to take the original song and slow it down using Windows Media Player, while you practice against it. Go to Now Playing --> Enhancements --> Play Speed Settings. In addition, it might be easier to do pull-offs from the 5th note to the 6th note, and then also from the 8th note to the 9th note in this section.

[TonyMontana1079]

Hey in section 1 what means the note before the. 8 ? I talking about the pull of (7-5) with the rotated arc ?

[PDXguitarfreak]

@TonyMontana1079 ... the rotated arc is just another pull off. The tablature software that I used turned it upside down, for reasons I do not know.

[vajeksa1]

what do does barely seen numbers mean?

like at 6:20 when the 20th fret is supposed to be played on the second string twice and the second one is barely seen.

PLEASE ANSWER

[PDXguitarfreak]

@vajeksa1 ... those are just "ghost notes".. I would not pay much attention to them. That is how the tabs that I copied showed it. In most cases, it simply means that the notes are still being played or sounding out without vibrato - I know that can be confusing, but again I would not recommend paying much attention to those.

[PDXguitarfreak]

@Mr99Jake ... I was playing this solo within 2 years of learning to play lead guitar (I played rhythm guitar for 3 years before I attempted to do leads). I have now been playing for 28 years. However, the number of years is not important... what matters is how much time you spend practicing. I have seen people that have played for only 5 years that can out play me, because they are very committed. Well, they might not play as sexy as me, but they can play more technically. ;)

[PDXguitarfreak]

@cjames679 ... lots of it ;)

[MisterMartucci]

I'm practicing this with my acoustic guitar... Yeah !

[MrMattnethan]

i like your carlos santana guitar. great tutorial and playing!

[bluesmaestro19]

I have finally mastered this solo after nearly 20 yrs! Love the way you broke it down into micro sections! Keep it up! I will be watching many more of your breakdowns!

[ThePaz61]

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to produce this. I first started to play the guitar as a teenager back in the 70s and this was one of my favourite pieces to play. I spent ages trying to work out all the twiddly bits that Page puts into the live version, working only from my vinyl copy of TSRTS but never cracked even the studio solo. After many years away from the guitar (and a midlife crisis later!) I have finally got myself a new guitar and at last can try 2 master the solo. Thx.

[minilamy]

PRS Santana :)

[bluesmaestro19]

great lesson. I've seen it done much worse, and less accurately. I really appreciate this style of lesson. Been trying to play this for 20 yrs w tabs alone...you break it down very well....and play it accurately!

[Lallen785]

Really helpful lesson :) would be great if you could have a click track for the slow bits and then fast bits. It'd be easier to know when to play along with the full speed bits.