Slow enough to hear every note

A fast lick blurs into a smear of notes, and you cannot copy what you cannot hear. Set the Speed row to about 70 % and the same lick comes apart into single notes, at the same pitch as your strings. If it still blurs, go to 60 %; the speed goes down to 50 %.

Loop one phrase, not the whole solo

Press Set A just before the lick and Set B just after it, and the phrase repeats on its own, which frees both hands for the guitar. Choose a phrase of one or two bars to start with. A loop of the whole solo only teaches you the easy parts again and again.

Climb back up in small steps

When you can play the phrase cleanly at 70 %, press + once to reach 75 %, then play it again. Each 5 % step is small enough that the lick still feels like the same lick. When you can play it three times in a row without a slip, step up again. The slow-practice method describes this routine.

Mind your tuning

The pitch does not change as you slow down, so you can tune to the recording once and stay there. If the recording turns out to be tuned a half step below standard, your open strings will not match it, and the page on half-step-down songs shows the fix.

A short practice routine

  1. Loop the lick and set Speed to 70 %.
  2. Play it slowly with the recording, then once without it.
  3. Raise the speed by one step and repeat.
  4. Finish by playing the whole solo once at a comfortable speed.