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Released in 1986, “The Final Countdown” became an enormous international hit for the band Europe, reaching number one in 25 countries around the world.
In this The Final Countdown guitar lesson series, I will show you how to play all of guitarist John Norum’s guitar parts note-for-note, including that killer guitar solo.
Obviously, most of “The Final Countdown” is dominated by that infectious keyboard melody with the guitar relegated to a backing role. There are some cool little riffs going on there though so make sure you check them out. All of the chords and riffs will be taught in the first video lesson.
In the second video lesson I will take you through John Norum’s guitar solo note-for-note. There are some really great licks in this solo that can be turned into some nice technique exercises if you wish.
The fast arpeggios that open the solo requires smooth legato and sweep picking. Those two techniques combine to create a very fluid sound. I will show you exactly how to pick this section and the great thing is, once you get the first arpeggio down, the entire sequence is played the same way.
The rest of the solo includes fast alternate picking, whammy bar dips, unison and oblique bends and more. It really is a great 80’s era guitar solo in that it contains lots of flashy guitar licks, but the entire solo can still pretty much be hummed throughout. Creating musically yet technically demanding solos was the challenge of many great guitarists back in the 80’s shred era, the solo for “The Final Countdown” certainly doesn’t disappoint!
Hope you guys enjoy this one! It is really fun to play once you get it all together.
Carl…
