Guitar solos quiz for non-guitar players
I just scored 100% on Mental Floss’s Guitar Solos Quiz. Surprising, because there were 4 solos that I had to guess. The others were easy because I’d heard the songs on the radio a gazillion times.
Many guitarists would probably think that some of these solos are pretty dire. But I’ll bet my favorite wah pedal that the average non-musician listener doesn’t notice or care (unless they have a good ear and the solo is out of tune).
If you are lucky enough to play a guitar solo on a huge hit song, your solo becomes part of the collective cultural consciousness, worthy of being included in a quiz like this one no matter what other guitarists might think of it. That is eminently cool. And it’s yet one more reason to play what makes you happy rather than trying to impress other guitarists (and give up because you can’t).
Try the quiz, it’s fun!
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That last bit of advice is some of THE BEST that anyone could ever give or take. I see so many people trying to be THE FASTEST guitarist out there and I wonder why? Not that playing fast isn’t cool, but that shouldn’t be the only goal of learning guitar. Eventually someone will be able to play so fast all you’ll hear is one note anyway.
Always Hot and Fresh!
–=MR.JOE=–
What were the four you had to guess? I had to do a process of elimination for the Neil Young solo and the Jane’s Addiction solo.
Always Hot and Fresh!
–=MR.JOE=–
Apparently I don’t know my Dire Straits from my Grateful Dead from my Neil Young. Ah, well. It was entertaining, at least.
You’re so on the money, girl! And it’s amazing how “easy” it is to recognize most of these styles … and they included Jennifer Batten - how cool is that!
Of course, it’s pretty lame that they left in the artist information in soundbite 9 and soundbite 15 …
Anyway, I confused Jane’s Addiction with Led Zeppelin, The grateful Dead with Neil Young.
Hi Lori and everyone,
I scored 100% too.Easy for me since i played a few of those songs in cover bands and i’m relatively old.
The only one that gave me a bit of trouble was Jane’s Addiction(hard for me ’cause i never played that and i’m relatively old… : P).
Jennifer Batten ?!
Kristof… go and stand in the corner !! - Go on… “Beat It !!”
lol ! - (Only kidding !) - honest !
Yeah… Grateful Dead - Jane’s Addiction - Neil Young ?!
I found the “production” on these, a very helpful clue !
That was fun to do though !
d’oh. Eddie van Halen, of course. Can I come out of my corner now?
Kristof,i knew you were kidding initially…
Mr Joe:The 4 I really wasn’t sure about were The Police, Neil Young, Jane’s addiction, and The Grateful Dead. Prince also took me a couple of listens.
Kristof: No worries, you were thinking it was a LIVE version, right?
My memory is fuzzy, but I’ve heard a story about Ms. Batten that goes something along these lines: Eddie VH was supposed to play Beat It with MJ at some event, long after he’d recorded the original solo in the studio. Eddie couldn’t remember how to play it. Luckily, Jennifer Batten was there too and was able to show him how to play it.
That is COOL.
I was waiting for the guitar solos…they all seemed too short to me ;o)
I am so far behind so many people in so many aspects of my guitar playing. As good as I think I get, I always seem to happen upon these punks at GC shredding through some crazy lick on a friggin’ Squier and sounding 10x as good as I could ever sound, and they are like 14 years old.
BUT, I guess age has its privileges. I nailed every one of those solos in the first few notes (except Jane’s Addiction, which I got through the process of elimination). It just felt they were talking to me in my native tongue. Guess some of us were born to hear well instead of play well. Thanks for the fun link and great post!
Hah! I have that too - a lot of times. I have really bad hearing and have trouble recreating solo’s or even basic guitar parts that I’ve played. I have no troubles listening and recreating guitar parts that I recorded which have only the guitar parts. If I fool around long enough, I’ll figure out all the chords.
But when I’ve got one of my songs that I’ve put keyboards and bass in, then I get confused a lot. Often because I “stack” chords or even play half chords and have the bass and/or keyboards complete those chords. It gets even worse when I play inverted chords or piano-like chords (Like C by playing only E0 and A3 - that’s E and C instead of the usual power chord C/G). I could do with my very own Jennifer Batten
Thanks for the rescue
Jomaheux - Lori…
…”NO COMMENT !” (Other than “silly me !” - (I don’t think !) - lol !
I botched Andy Summers and Dave Navarro. It is amazing how many guitarists are recognizable in just a couple of notes.
I would have missed the Police too if it weren’t for the distinct sound of Sting’s bass.
guitarBlog: I see the same exact thing whenever I go to GC but I’ve come to learn one thing: IT DOESN’T MATTER!
Playing with feeling is much more important that playing with speed. Look at guys like Clapton, Page, Beck, Gilmour, and especially BB King. They probably couldn’t “shred” if their lives depended on it. More importantly though is they don’t need to.
Always Hot and Fresh!
–=MR.JOE=–
Well,we can ‘’see” that the ”Beat it” solo has been associated with Jennifer Batten to some extend…
Link to video
I am SO biting my tongue… it hurts !
I got a 100% as well. I only had trouble with three: Prince, Jane’s Addiction, and Neil Young. Though I’d never heard the Jane’s Addiction song but I didn’t realize there was much of a solo in “When Doves Cry”. Oops.
I only had some trouble with The Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia and Neil young…very nice quiz!
I made it!! hehe
Guitar Solos Quiz
Score: 100% (16 out of 16)
Funny. I confounded Neil Young with Jane’s Addiction - how weird is that?
Tell me about it. I had to play a gig for the first time in a year and a half or so, and I felt like I was behind an alien drumkit…(and it was my own kit!) I’d gotten so used to behind behind the kit in our rehearsalroom that I’d totally forgotten the feel of my own kit…. sad, really! (tells ya to practice more at home!)