Rule #4: Signature Licks
If a Michael Angelo solo is like a chocolate chip cookie, then sixes would be the dough. But what about the chips? Mike and his helpful team of elves periodically mix in healthy helpings of short, pattern-based motifs to add flavor and color. Lightning Fast features four of these "signature" licks, without which no Angelo solo would be complete.

Descending Fours
The first signature lick occurs at the very beginning. Measure 1 features the dreaded descending fours lick:
Descending Fours from Measure 1   -   (132.54KB MP3) 
m.1
-------------------------------------------------|--------
----------12-14-15-14-12----14-12-------12-------|--------
-12-14-15----------------15-------15-14----15-14-|---etc.-
-------------------------------------------------|--------
-------------------------------------------------|--------
-------------------------------------------------|--------
 d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u
A lot of famous people have played descending fours -- everyone from Yngwie to Shawn Lane. But there's a big difference in the way each of them has executed the lick. Yngwie does it on a single string, fully picked. Lane did it across the strings, with legato. Michael Angelo is one of only a few guys I can think of who play it across the strings, fully picked.

As with his ascending and descending sixes, Mike is extremely consistent in the picking he uses to play descending fours. He almost always begins each four-note sequence on an upstroke:
Descending Fours Starting on Upstrokes   -   (43.15KB MP3) 

 

  

   

    
----------------------------------------------------------
-15-14-12----14-12-------12-------------------------------
----------15-------15-14----15-14-12----------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
 u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d
   


  


 






By starting on an upstroke, most of the string crosses in the lick work out to be outside string crosses, which many guitarists consider easier than inside crosses.  This is not exactly true, and Cracking the Code will explain why in great detail.  But it's clear from analyzing Mike's playing that he does have a strong preference for the "outside" variant of this particular lick.



Notice also from the example above that when you play descending fours against three-note-per-string fingerings, both the fingering and picking repeat after three iterations of the sequence.  This makes sense, since you've got one group of four notes for each note on a given string.  By the time you reach the fourth repetition, you've moved to the next lower string.  This is good news.  It means that if you can learn to play the sequence on one string, you can play it across all of them.  Here's what that looks like:



 

Descending Fours Extended   -    (132.54KB MP3)
 




 

  

   

    
-15-14-12----14-12-------12----------|--------------------
----------15-------15-14----15-14-12-|--15-14-12----14-12-
-------------------------------------|-----------15-------
-------------------------------------|--------------------
-------------------------------------|--------------------
-------------------------------------|--------------------
 u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d     u  d  u  d  u  d
   


  


 




 

  

   

    
-------------------|-------------------------------------|
-------12----------|-------------------------------------|
-15-14----15-14-12-|-15-14-12----14-12-------12----------|
-------------------|----------15-------15-14----15-14-12-|
-------------------|-------------------------------------|
-------------------|-------------------------------------|
 u  d  u  d  u  d    u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d
   


  


 




 

  

   

    
-------------------------------------|--------------------
-------------------------------------|--------------------
-------------------------------------|--------------------
-15-14-12----14-12-------12----------|--------------------
----------15-------15-14----15-14-12-|--15-14-12----14-12-
-------------------------------------|-----------15-------
 u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d     u  d  u  d  u  d
   


  


 




 

  

   

    
----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
-------12-------------------------------------------------
-15-14----15-14-12----------------------------------------
 u  d  u  d  u  d
   


  


 






Because of the strict picking rules Mike follows for ascending and descending sixes, upstrokes only occur at certain pre-defined points in his scale playing.  One of those points is in the middle of a descending six, which makes it a good attachment point for the descending fours lick.  An example of this occurs in measure 13:



 

Descending Fours in Action   -    (63.35KB MP3)
 



m.13                m.14

 

  

   

    
-----------------|---------------------------------|------
-----------------|---------------------------------|------
-12-11-9---------|---------------------------------|------
---------12-11-9-|----11-9-------9-----------------|------
-----------------|-12------12-10---12-10-9-12-10-9-|------
-----------------|---------------------------------|------
 d  u  d u  d  u   d  u  d u  d  u d  u  d u  d  u
   


  


 






Mike almost always starts descending sixes on a downstroke, which means that he hits the second string with an upstroke.  Halfway through measure 13, he uses this upstroke to launch the descending fours lick (12th fret of the D string).  This is another one of those examples where placing the measure marker accurately was impossible because the patterns overlap.  In reality, it pays to see it both ways.  The last three notes of measure 13 are the end of measure 13 and the beginning of measure 14.  In Mike's free-form improvisation, you'll almost always find the descending four connected to the midway point of a descending six via an upstroke.




Sweep Arpeggios

The next little nugget of goodness occurs at measure 15.  It's a sweep picking example where Mike uses a combination of sweeps and alternate picking to outline three arpeggios.  The lick starts on a downstroke, so we interrupt the preceding descending fours lick right after an upstroke to attach it:



 

Sweep Picking Arpeggios   -    (85.39KB MP3)
 



m.14			          m.15

 

  

   

    
---------------------------------|-----------------|------
---------------------------------|-----------------|------
---------------------------------|-----------------|------
----11-9-------9-----------------|-------9-12-10-9-|------
-12------12-10---12-10-9-12-10-9-|----10/----------|------
---------------------------------|-12/-------------|------
 d  u  d u  d  u d  u  d u  d  u   d  d  d u  d  u
   


  


 



m.16	          m.17

 

  

   

    
-----------------|--------------------|-------------------
-----------------|--------------------|-------------------
-------9-12-11-9-|-------11-14--shake-|-------------------
----11/----------|----12/-------------|-------------------
-12/-------------|-14/----------------|-------------------
-----------------|--------------------|-------------------
 d  d  d u  d  u   d  d  d  u
   


  


 






For the musically inclined, the arpeggios in question are Emin7 (m.15), A7 (m.16), and Bmin7 (m.17).  These aren't the most face-melting, heavy-metallest of arpeggios.  In fact, they're rather jazzy, which may reflect Mike's early studies in that genre.  Otherwise, given that they don't relate to any chord progression outlined in the surrounding scale lines, we can assume that their appearance here has more to do with the convenience of the sweeping pattern and a general desire to mix it up a little.




Odd Turnarounds

The next signature lick appears in measure 18.  It's a cool little turnaround that appears often in Mike's playing.  The trick of the turnaround is that there's a note missing.  See if you can spot which one:



 

Downstroke to Upstroke Turnaround   -    (56.62KB MP3)
 



m.18

 

  

   

    
----------------------------------------------|-----------
----------------------------------------------|-----------
----------11-14-12-11----------------11-12-14-|-----------
-11-12-14-------------14-12-11-12-14----------|-----------
----------------------------------------------|-----------
----------------------------------------------|-----------
 d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d
   


  


 






If you blink, you'll miss it.  Notice that the first six notes are essentially an ascending six, but with the 12th fret of the G string missing on the way up.  What this does is reverse the direction of the picking.  The lick starts on a downstroke and would normally finish on an upstroke.  By leaving out that note, we can cause the lick to have an odd number of notes, and finish on the same pickstroke we started with.  This is necessary because the following measure is another ascending six, and you know by now that Mike likes to start those on an upstroke.  Here's the whole sequence:



 

Turnaround + Ascending Six   -    (82.94KB MP3)
 



m.18                                           m.19

 

  

   

    
----------------------------------------------|-----------
----------------------------------------------|-----------
----------11-14-12-11----------------11-12-14-|-12-14-15--
-11-12-14-------------14-12-11-12-14----------|-----------
----------------------------------------------|-----------
----------------------------------------------|-----------
 d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d    u  d  u
   


  


 




 

  

   

    
----------------------------------------------------------
-12-14-15-14-12----------------12-14-15------------------
----------------15-14-12-14-15----------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
 d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d
   


  


 






This turnaround appears in many other incarnations in Mike's playing, where he frequently uses it as a device during ascending scale runs.  For example, you can stack the turnaround to create interesting patterns.  Like so:



 

Stacked Turnarounds   -    (125.19KB MP3)
 




 

  

   

    
-------------------------------------|--------------------
-------------------------------------|--------------------
-------------------------------------|--------------------
-------------------------------------|----------11-14-12--
----------10-14-12-10----------------|-10-12-14-----------
-10-12-14-------------14-12-10-12-14-|--------------------
 d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u    d  u  d  u  d  u
   


  


 




 

  

   

    
------------------|-------------------------------------|-
------------------|-------------------------------------|-
------------------|----------11-14-12-11----------------|-
11----------------|-11-12-14-------------14-12-11-12-14-|-
---14-12-10-12-14-|-------------------------------------|-
------------------|-------------------------------------|-
d  u  d  u  d  u    d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u
   


  


 




 

  

   

    
-------------------------------------|--------------------
----------12-15-14-12----------------|-12-14-15-(17)------
-11-12-14-------------14-12-11-12-14-|--------------------
-------------------------------------|--------------------
-------------------------------------|--------------------
-------------------------------------|--------------------
 d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u    d  u  d  u
   


  


 






Mike plays a lick almost exactly like this one in his recent instructional release Speed Lives, the follow-up to the original Speed Kills video.  It's the ascending scale run that ends in a tremolo on the 24th fret.  You can hear another nearly identical lick in the solo to Mike's song I Do For You, an excerpt of which you can download from the audio section of Mike's web site.  It's obviously something he's been playing for a while.





Pedal Tones

The last of the signature licks appears in measure 20.  It's a pedal-tone lick, which is a lick that repeatedly juxtaposes one note against a range of other notes.  Yngwie is undoubtedly the best-known purveyor of pedal tone licks, and his creativity in that area was one of the great motivating forces behind the neoclassical movement of the '80s.



Pedal tones do not play nearly as significant role in Mike's playing as they do in Yngwie's, so we can classify this lick as a cute little one-off.  It's more jazzy than neoclassical, and very cool nonetheless.  Before I sat down to transcribe it, I assumed it would be trickier to play than it is.  Ultimately, it's just a clever extension of the sixes we've been studying:



 

Pedal Tone Lick   -    (69.47KB MP3)
 



m.20                      m.21

 

  

   

    
----------12-14-12-15-12-|-17-15-14----------------------
-12-14-15----------------|----------17-15-14-------------
-------------------------|-------------------------------
-------------------------|-------------------------------
-------------------------|-------------------------------
-------------------------|-------------------------------
 d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u    d  u  d  u  d  u
   


  


 






The lick really has three parts:  the pickup (the three notes on the B string), the pedal sequence (the five notes on the E string), and the final descending six.  The pedal sequence holds 12th fret of the E string against the 14th, 15th, and 17th fret, and sets up the final descending six.  As we've seen before, the first note of the descending six is also the last note of the pedal sequence.



Like the turnaround lick, you can stack the pedal sequences for extra flavor.  In "Example 3" from Mike's 1986 Star Licks instructional video, he does exactly that:



 

Stacked Pedal Tone Lick   -    (89.06KB MP3)
 




 

  

   

    
-------------------------|-------------------------|-----
-------------------------|-------------------------|-----
----------14-16-14-17-14-|-19-17-16----------------|-----
-14-16-17----------------|----------19-17-16-17-19-|-----
-------------------------|-------------------------|-----
-------------------------|-------------------------|-----
 d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u    d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u
   


  


 




 

  

   

    
-------------------------|-------------------------|-----
----------17-19-17-20-17-|-22-20-19----------19-20-|-22--
-16-17-19----------------|----------21-19-21-------|-----
-------------------------|-------------------------|-----
-------------------------|-------------------------|-----
-------------------------|-------------------------|-----
 d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u    d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u    d