Learn lead guitar in the style of Carlos Santana

Name: Learn lead guitar in the style of Carlos Santana
Rating: 4.7 (8 reviews)

Learn blues rock lead guitar soloing devices, techniques, licks, and soloing strategies inspired by Carlos Santana

Created byDavid Taub

Last updated 5/2024

English

What you'll learn

Play lead guitar in the style of Carlos Santana
Have more lead guitar confidence and soloing avenues when soloing and jamming
Gain an overall increased knowldge of lead guitar, soloing, jamming, and improvisation.
Learn to solo using modes, arpeggios, and how to play over chord changes

Course content

1 section • 8 lectures • 1h 8m total length

Santana inspired Pentatonic and Blues licks and runs8:33
Lecture 1 - Santana inspired Pentatonic and Blues licks and runs - This is a killer scale mapping lesson that we will use as "home base" to jam over the included backing track. In this lesson you will learn about exploring soloing ideas and options drawing from Minor Pentatonic Scales and Blues Scales. The scales are also diagrammed out all over the neck in the coinciding eBook, so you can see them on paper. We take you through all the scale positions and how to connect them together. Then we start building licks and runs from these scale positions. Throughout the lesson are playing examples with all licks tabbed out with on-screen tablature. Learn how to build licks in each position and then apply them over the jam track. Improve your pentatonic and blues lick vocabulary with this killer lesson all while keeping in that Santana blues rock Latin fusion style.
Santana inspired devices and improv guitar lesson13:38
Lecture 2 - Santana inspired devices guitar lesson - In this lesson will learn how to draw on rhythmic elements to craft lead lines. You will learn all about the use of rhythm and phrasing in the Santana soloing style. You will also learn to create rhythmic figures based off the rhythm of the jam track. Learn how to think rhythmically and how to vary notes within the same rhythmic motif. Learn all kinds of devices to take simple rhythmic figures and improvise them into countless licks. You will also learn:

How to map out a scale and apply rhythmic devices to it.
How to utilize bent notes to climax solos.
Trademark 16th-note based runs while keeping the rhythm pattern the same.
Devices utilizing groups of notes and working around the scale rhythmically and musically.
Using low to high patterns and trademark three note pull-off licks.
How to create runs exploring similar lick ideas in different places over the entire guitar neck.
The trademark use of tremolo picking and two-note ideas and runs.
Adding big bends intro your lead lines and exploiting bends in the Santana style to make huge solo statements.
Picking techniques for killer sounds and dynamics.
The concept of unison bends and how to move them around the neck.
Plus you get tons of playing examples and rhythmic motifs that you can make your own.
Santana inspired ideas using the Dorian Mode and arpeggios8:49
Lecture 3 - Santana inspired ideas using the Dorian Mode and arpeggio ideas -
In this lesson you will learn to utilize the Dorian mode and take full advantage of nailing that Santana
sound. You will learn all kinds of soloing ideas and options using the Dorian mode. Learn why the Dorian mode works over the jam track and how to apply it. We then map out the Dorian mode over the entire fretboard so you can feel confident exploring it to create licks and riffs in this style. You will also learn how to take advantage of the half step intervals within the Dorian scale patterns. Learn string bending devices using the Dorian mode and moving them around all over the neck. Learn how to combine pentatonic and blues licks with the Dorian mode. You will also learn about playing arpeggios and how to craft them over the chord changes. Learn to move arpeggios around on the neck and how to phrase them together and into flowing lead lines. You will also learn to create lead lines pulling all the devices and concepts together taught so far throughout the lessons.
Santana inspired phrasing ideas and licks7:30
Lecture 4 - Santana inspired phrasing ideas and licks -
In this lesson you will learn all about phrasing strategies and options in the Santana style. Learn to play quarter notes, eighth notes, 16th notes, and triplets against the beat as well as how to craft these notes into lead lines. Learn how to shift gears between your lead lines to shift intensity and dynamics within your soloing.Learn how to tell a story within your soloing by moving between all the different note choices using these phrasing options and devices. This lesson contains lots of playing examples in the Santana style over the included jam track that you can play along with and put your own spin on playing.
Santana inspired chords and arpeggio ideas guitar lesson12:09
Lecture 5 - Santana inspired chords and arpeggio ideas guitar lesson -

This lesson will open a whole new world of soloing avenues you can play against the jam track. This lesson will increase your chord and arpeggio vocabularies and also teach you how to apply them in musical situations. Learn to play rhythmically using chords and arpeggios through a solo. Learn how to break up your lead playing with some rhythm. You will also learn how to move chord and arpeggio shapes all over the neck. Learn how to add color and texture to rhythms by sliding into chords. You will also learn how to connect chord shapes up the neck and how to mix them together with scales and single note lead lines. We then teach devices to outline the chord shapes producing arpeggiated sounds to add to your lead lines. This lesson teaches you all kinds of new chordal and arpeggio options that you can try within your soloing.
Santana inspired arpeggios ideas and licks6:54
Lecture 6 - Santana inspired arpeggios ideas and licks -

This lesson will help you tto produce all kinds of new sounds and lead line ideas that you can utilize throughout your lead playing. You’ll learn more chord and arpeggio shapes that will help you craft unique lead lines. Learn to create licks and riffs from arpeggio shapes. Learn how to infer chordal movement by outline arpeggio patterns. Learn creative ways to connect arpeggio ideas into motifs and longer lead lines. Learn to slide notes into position to attach arpeggio ideas together all over the neck. Learn high to low arpeggio movements. This lesson incorporates tons of playing examples creating lead lines using arpeggios and connecting them up and down the neck and blending them with our other scales, licks, and devices that you learned in previous lessons.
Santana inspired tone and gear setting ideas7:35
Lecture 7 - Santana inspired tone and gear setting ideas -

In this lesson we teach you how to get "in the ballpark" of the modern Santana style sound. We go over the gear that we use throughout the lesson series. We discuss picking styles and make suggestions on ways to
"attack" the strings. We discuss how picking technique is an element to the sound and how you can experiment with these to get different sounds. This lesson is chocked full of tips on how to dial in your tones. We go over the guitar utilized in the lesson series as well as the pickups used and sounds that the pickups produce. Tips on humbucking pickups as well as how to get in the ballpark of the tone using single coils. We discuss the importance of using tube amplifiers in getting this tone dialed in. We discuss the importance of tube saturation and overdriving the sound. We go over the amp settings, EQ settings, and gain levels to get the needed tones. We also discuss reverb and delay and how they can extend the life of the notes in efforts to nail this sound.
Bonus Jam Track application and practice3:06
Additional jam track for practice - see article for instructions

Requirements

Basic beginner lead guitar knowledge

Description

Learn to play lead guitar in the style of one of the most influential rock blues guitarists of all time. Santana’s brilliant playing has influenced countless guitarists all over the world. He is truly one of the greats, and we can all be inspired and empowered through his playing.

In these lessons you will learn all kinds of techniques, devices, scales, and approaches to soloing in the Santana style. His style of play focuses on passion and energy combined with blending rich harmonic textures with earthy scales.

Other key elements in his style include trademark trills, long sustained notes without vibrato, unision bends, repeated rhythmic motiffs, and melodically simple but rhythmically complex phrases. And we go over it all in these in depth lessons. Santana’s unique style blends blues, rock, jazz fusion, salsa, Afro- Cuban, and Latin music together.

Now you can learn to play all kinds of techniques, devices, scales, and approaches to soloing in the Santana style.
He has a certain touch and feel that is all his own and instantly recognizable. His playing is always in control, melodic, and very pure. And YOU will be doing this, too, after watching and practicing with these lessons.

This course is taught by Next Level Guitar instructor Ben Zinn and contains seven in-depth video lessons. These total over 65 minutes of pure step-by-step, move-by-move instruction you can pause and easily follow along with our on-screen tablature. You also get two killer jam tracks with one being in the Latin rock style of Santana. This is the exact same track that we utilize throughout the video lessons.

And you also get a detailed 25-page PDF eBook that coincides with the videos. This valuable eBook gives you crucial tips, scale diagrams, soloing strategies, and charts to speed your progress.

We break all the licks, devices, and techniques down into digestible pieces and demonstrate them at slow and regular speeds. Then we demonstrate and teach you how to practice and apply them over the included jam track. And all the lessons feature on-screen tablature and close-ups of the fret and pick hands with multiple camera angles to make it easy to follow along.

Throughout these lessons you will learn:

-How to dial in your gear and equipment so that you can get in the wheelhouse of the Santana sound.

-Tons and tons of licks in the Santana style

-How to add color and texture to rhythms by “sliding” into chords.

-Santana’s trademark trills, long sustained notes without vibrato, unision bends, repeated rhythmic motifs, and melodically simple but rhythmically complex phrases.

-How to play Santana-inspired phrasing ideas and licks - and learn all about phrasing strategies and options in the Santana style.

-How to think rhythmically like Santana and how to vary notes within the same rhythmic motif.

-Signature-sounding Santana inspired licks, but MAKE THEM YOUR OWN to blow away your listeners.

-To combine licks for tons of musical sounding ideas from just a few basic patterns.

-All about scale CHOICES and soloing OPTIONS, so you can easily see what’s behind what your playing.

-Learn everything in its proper musical context by APPLYING it in a musical context by jamming over custom made backing track that coincides with the lesson.

Who this course is for:

Anyone who wants to learn blues rock guitar in the style of Carlos Santana
Anyone who wants to learn more about lead guitar, soloing stratgedies, devices, licks & techniques
Anyone wanting to improve their overall soloing and jamming abilities as well as increase their lick vocabulary all over the neck