“Life’s Been Good” by Joe Walsh

Difficulty: Easy – Intermediate

Intro

It seems like Joe Walsh has always come up with some great
guitar parts. In both his solo career and while serving as a member
of The Eagles, Joe Walsh has proved that he is a true guitar giant.
Here is one his most famous riffs of all.

Intro Part 2

The part below is from the section immediately following that intro.
It contains two guitar parts one of which is played with using a slide.
Before we get on to the slide guitar part let’s take a look at the other
guitar part which is a straight ahead rhythm part:

Now on to the slide part. It basically compliments the rhythm part
established above. If you don’t have a slide you can substitute a real
one for a small, hard object that is even on one side. For example you
could use a cigarette lighter, or a small piece of pipe. It won’t sound
as good as a real slide, but it will serve for our purpose here until
you can make a trip to the music store to get one.

Take your slide (or slide substitute) and let it rest against the strings
of the guitar. Don’t press down so that the strings sink closer to the
fretboard. Just apply enough pressure so that you don’t hear any buzzing.
To played the desired note hold the slide directly above the
fret. To get a vibrato move the slide back and forth horizontally above
the fret.

If you’ve never played with a slide before it may be hard to get it
to sound good. Just remember to keep the slide lined up evenly with
the frets and don’t press too hard. Also avoid “sitting still”
for too long, which means always keep the slide in motion. If you’re
not sliding somewhere and are holding a note or notes be sure to use
at least a slight vibrato. If you stop moving the slide the notes will
sound dead.

Interlude

Guitar 1

Solo Part 1 (backing instruments)

Here we’ll learn 3 backing instrument parts. It includes two guitar
parts and a bass guitar part. The two guitar parts are actually synth
parts tabbed for guitar. All three parts are quite different than the
other. Here’s what they all sound like together:

Guitar 1