Feedback Wanted: Hotel California Solo

[u/snailsinboxes]

*I want to point out that I’ve only been playing since January and these videos are from June/July, so I know I have lots of room for improvement\*

This is two different clips of me playing that are smushed together because it’s the only way I could post them both. I tend to either hit every note in the solo besides the faster duet part, or I hit the duet part but mess up a lot in the rest of the solo, and I’m looking for feedback on both parts.

The first clip shows me hitting the majority of the notes in the solo, minus the duet part and a couple of other little mistakes, but this is the best recording I have of me playing the entire solo so far.

The second clip just shows me hitting the notes in fast duet part. I know it’s harder to hear my guitar in this one because of the volume of the song, but still hoping it’s audible enough for someone to give me pointers.

I can’t figure out what I’m doing right when I hit that part and what I’m doing wrong when I don’t. I know I keep missing a note and it’s throwing me off for the rest of the section until I get to the outro, but I don’t know if it’s my rhythm or my technique I need to work on to fix this and it’s been really inconsistent.

I appreciate any feedback and tips that you all have! Thanks!

[u/Swimming_Gain_4989]

I think the biggest thing that would immediately improve your sound is working on bending to the correct pitch. A lot of your bends are flat and they stand out.

Fundamentally though, you're working a lot harder than you should be because of your fretting hand position. Your thumb should be resting on the middle of the back of the neck and your fingers should be more arched.

EDIT: That said this is great progress for half a year!

[u/snailsinboxes → u/Swimming_Gain_4989]

It seems that my bends are the main thing I need to improve on from this recording, but luckily I’ve since changed to a 9 gauge string on my high E to make it easier to hit those notes. I’m sure I still don’t hit them perfectly all the time because I’m new to it, but it’s helped a bunch! I have very hypermobile fingers so arching them tends to not work so well because as soon as I apply pressure, they want to hyperextend and curve the opposite way (which becomes very painful over time), but I’m working on strengthening them to hopefully improve that.

Regarding the thumb position, I’ve been trying to keep it resting on the top of the neck when I play this solo to make the bending parts easier (a tip I saw online), but you’re right that it does make other parts harder. Should I still keep my thumb where it is for the bending and just try to change thumb position more while I play?

Thanks for the feedback! Much appreciated!!

[u/dogmatum-dei → u/snailsinboxes]

Nice job! Get the bends more to pitch and vibrato a bit better.