Summary: Don't Stop Me Now Solo

The build up to the guitar solo in this track always gives us chills! The fact that for the whole track there isn't a single guitar part, then suddenly Brian May cranks up the volume and hits that first screaming bend... It's awesome! Ollie will take you through every note and talk about the scales and shapes being used.

The solo: F major Scale

Let's start by taking a look at the actual key and scales Brian May is using for the solo. We are using just one shape for every single lick - The F major shape 1 (as well as the F major pentatonic scale). Here is the shape:

The licks: Lick 1-4

The first of the licks (when Freddie is singing again) is based on the 3rd pentatonic shape in F major. You just loop the lower notes of the scale shape basically. The second lick is identical to the first, just played up an octave. We, therefore, use the G and the B string in shape 4 of the F major pentatonic. For the 3rd lick we just grab the D note and perform the vibrato. For the final lick, we're back in shape 4 up the octave. Here are the shapes:

Keep Learning: lead Guitar

If you love this solo but struggle to keep up with the licks and the shapes, you may want to really speed up your learning by taking our intermediate lead guitar course. we cover everything you need to fly around the fretboard improvising! It's a full course, and totally free (As is everything on the site). You can find it here: Intermediate Lead Guitar Course.