I remember notable music related moments with the clarity of a recent memory. Joe Satriani's CD Flying In A Blue Dream was much awaited as it was his first CD since his iconic Surfing With The Alien. The first track of Flying In A Blue Dream (titled Flying In A Blue Dream) catches your attention within about 3 seconds and does not let go. It is the sort of song that can only come from inspiration. And having read an interview with Satriani about the song, it was fascinating to learn that the voices in the intro were the result of radio signals accidentally being picked up by the studio recording equipment. You just can't plan that. And those opening voices really do set the mood of the song with their dreamy quality.

In the first part to the guitar lesson we saw a lot of legato phrasing from Satriani. In the second part of the lesson we looked at the middle of the solo which featured a variety of slow, melodic phrasing. In this last part of the solo, Satriani continues his wide variety of phrasing approaches and also returns to his use of legato passages.

Above is the tab for the next 16 measures of the solo. The tab is identical to tab I found online at this site. As with any guitar solo, do not worry about playing this note for note. It is the essence you want to capture. As you listen to my recording and compare to Satriani, it should sound fairly similar but is by no means note-for-note.

Note: The audio for this portion of the lesson starts at about 54 seconds into the audio clip.

The first two measures of this section of the solo feature an ascending Ab Lydian scale passage. In measures 76-78, very typical of Satriani, there is a descending legato run. This legato run is essentially based on G Major. So don't worry about playing it note for note - just start at the 14th fret and descend while staying in the key of G. In measures 82-91 Satriani switches to Rock Pentatonic lines using C Minor Pentatonic. To end the solo, Satriani once again plays a descending legato passage. This time the legato run is based on F Major. So again - don't worry about playing it note for note. Just play a descending run in the key of F.

Note: I used the backing tracks from this site for my recording.

I suggest you listen to Satriani's recording. You can find it on Rhapsody. Listening to Satriani will not only help you get a feel for the solo, but it will help you get a feel for timing. This isn't one of those solos where every accented note is falling predictably on down beats. Satriani gives himself as lot of breathing room in the solo and that makes for a very personal feel. In fact, trying to match Satriani's timing was the most difficult aspect of the piece for me.

I hope you have enjoyed learning this great solo!

Enjoy!

Brian