BPM for the opening lick in ''Hot Rod Lincoln''

[MC5C]

I spent a few minutes with it just now, what fun lick! I do it slightly differently than he does in the you-tube lesson. On the B chord run I play the fifth fret D with my pinky and slide up to the Eb, picking each note separately so it's not like a hammer on. I can play that up to tempo easier than doing the stretch, at least on a 25.5" scale. I need to work on the turn-around a bit more, I am losing a note in there somewhere, I think.

Playing fast can be fun. I remember, years ago, the only and only time I was playing Ornithology, (Parker) at around 300bpm, I blew the head and one or two chorus' at full tempo without tripping or losing my place, and then it was "put the guitar down and walk away, it ain't going to get better than that..." I can't even remember (or play) the head now.

[lowrider]

I do that same slide on the B but with my ring finger. I never even tried Kirchen's way.

I'm not trying to get faster than 90 right now. Started trying to put the song together this morning.

It's going to take a lot of practice!

[Gitfiddlemann]

I’ve been having a lot of fun playing this lick every morning ever since I saw your post. Thanks a lot for posting this thread.
Two things I’ve come to realize after working on getting the speed up:
The Kirchen fingering, both hands, is the best one imo to play the lick clean at a good clip. (I guess that makes sense!)
The lick is a lot easier to play and duplicate on an electric, so kudos to you if you’re getting this to work tone and tempo wise on an acoustic.

I got a good laugh from his video with he said this:
....You’ll either be correct, or have made an even number of mistakes.

[MC5C]

it takes around 7 seconds for the lick, it's in 4/4 time, it's eighth notes, it's 8 bars long. That means that there are 32 beats in the 7 seconds, that's .219 seconds per beat, and that's 4.57 beats per second and 274 beats per minute. which is right around where I thought it was. If I am playing with a metronome that is way too fast, so I put it on half speed- 137 - and listen for it on beats 2 and 4, like the snare in the original song. Yep, that is a quick tempo. I can play each two bar phrase OK, but I stumble changing from the E chord to the A chord to the B chord. It has to drive right along or the monotony of the chanted lyric gets lost. My take on it anyway! He plays it different on the video to how it's written out, or his lesson, he seems to put a quarter note at the end of the A chord section and the B chord section, just a tiny pause while he changes.

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by MC5C

...He plays it different on the video to how it's written out, or his lesson....

Agree.
Don’t know how he wrote it out, but I can say with certainty that the way to learn this lick the correct way, or at least the way he plays it on the recording and in the video, is to phrase it the way he does when playing the lick fast, or at tempo.
When he slows it down, in the video, he plays the correct notes, but leaves out the tasty connecting bits that make them flow.
I’m sure it wasn’t intentional. Slowing way down I’m sure is harder for him than playing it at tempo.

[lowrider]

OK, so I'm pretty steady at 90 bpm and I'm going to learn the song at 90. Actually I'll be learning it slower than that and then speeding it up once I know the song.

So I need your help again. What are they doing, it's probably John Titchy on the other Telecaster, on that little 4 or 5 note break between the verses? It's even there before Kirchen goes into his lick between the verses. Like 5 quick strums of something.

So, help me out here. What is that?

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by lowrider

OK, so I'm pretty steady at 90 bpm and I'm going to learn the song at 90. Actually I'll be learning it slower than that and then speeding it up once I know the song.

So I need your help again. What are they doing, it's probably John Titchy on the other Telecaster, on that little 4 or 5 note break between the verses? It's even there before Kirchen goes into his lick between the verses. Like 5 quick strums of something.

So, help me out here. What is that?

What I hear there are variations on an E7 chord, played at various places on the neck. Down low in first position, but also at the 12th fret: (12-14-12-13-12-12). That is a nice "tweener" chord to strum in between the verses, and sets up the lick really nicely. The high E in that chord really chimes, but leave out the D note on the 2nd string. (E-B-D-G#-B-E)

[soao]

Now is the time for me to tell my biggest spectator thrill. It was in Campbell, California some time in the 70’s. CC&TLPA were playing at a place called the Prunyard. The house was packed like sardines. I was so squeezed in, the only place for me was sitting on the very piano bench with the Commander himself. I sat there through the entire set.