Steve Lukather

Solos, licks and style analysis

By Magnus Carls son
Version: 1.0
Steve Lukather
Solos, licks and style analysis
Big hugs to our beloved dog Sixten who kept me company during
late night hours in the man cave while working on this project.
Style analysis 5
Introduction 7
Picking and vibrato 7
Bends 8
Slides 10
Passing notes and chromatics 10
Scale runs 11
Pedal notes 12
Blues licks 12
Whammy bar 13
Solos 15
A Clue 17
Rockmaker (End solo) 18
Hold The Line 19
All Us Boys 21
All Us Boys (End solo) 22
Mama 23
White Sister 24
White Sister (End solo) 25
Breakdown Dead Ahead 27
Angel You 28
You Got Some Imagination 29
Survival 30
Back On The Road 31
Back On The Road (End solo) 32
Talk To Ya Later 33
Without You 34
Goodbye Elenore 35
Physical 36
Rosanna 37
Rosanna (End solo) 38
I Won’t Hold You back 39
Good For You 40
 Lovers In The Night 41
Lovers In The Night (End solo) 42
She’s Still Mine 43
Wrong Side Of The Tracks 44
Never Gonna Let You Go 45
All Right 46
Running With The Night 47
Running With The Night (End solo) 48
Hasty Heart 50
Civilized Man 51
Carmen 52
Angel Don’t Cry 53
How Does It Feel 54
Isolation 55
Queen Of The Publication 56
Starlicks (Intro) 57
I’ll Be Over You 59
I’ll Be Over You (End solo) 60
Pamela 61
These Chains 62
These Chains (End solo) 63
It’s Only My Heart 65
It’s Only My Heart (End solo) 66
Forever Eyes 67
Animal 68
Look Before You Leap 69
Georgy Porgy (Live) 70
I’ll Be Over You (End solo, Live) 71
Licks 73
Appendix: Notation guide
Style analysis

5
6
Introduction
Steve Lukather can not merely be described as a product of different techniques, playing
ideas and licks. His playing and musicianship goes much deeper than that. Nor are there
any ”learn to play like Steve Lukather in 5 minutes” tricks.

There are however key elements that makes him easily identifiable and in this chapter
we’re gonna have a look at them, at least the ones I like and try to incorporate into my own
playing. Once you’ve become familiar with these you’ll start to recognize them instantly in
his playing.

In addition to these key elements it’s also important to realize that his whole approach to
playing the guitar is equally as important as the notes he plays. Steve Lukather plays with
attitude. Period. It doesn’t matter if he’s playing a short melodic solo in a ballad or tearing
it up at The Baked Potato, when he takes a solo he really steps out and plays like there’s no
tomorrow.

Picking and vibrato

The way a player picks and the vibrato that is applied is fundamental and unique, like a
finger print, and can really make or break the sound. A couple of players all playing the
same simple phrase and through the same gear will be easy identifiable based on the way
they pick and how they apply the vibrato.

Steve Lukather picks hard and really digs in, and sometimes even one or two of the lower
strings (relative to the string he’s primarily gonna strike) are struck as well, but being
muted by his right hand. As a general rule of thumb he also picks every note, mostly using
alternate picking.

Each guitarists vibrato is individual and cannot really be described in words, you have to
listen to it. However, if I were to describe Steve Lukather's vibrato I’d say it’s wide and slow
with lots of soul to it.

Sometimes it really helps to actually see up close what’s going on. Back in the mid 80’s I
bought the Starlicks audio tape which I studied a lot. A few years later I also got hold of a
copy of the video version. To see up close how much vibrato he really was applying to the
notes and how he attacked the strings was a real eye opener.

7
Bends
Hold bend
”Hold bend” means that a bend is performed, and while holding that bend, another note is
fretted on the same and/or another string.

Listen to the last phrase in the solo from Rosanna (bar 5) for a good example of this.

Wide bends
A wide bend is at least a minor third bend and they contribute to the aggressiveness in
Steve Lukather's playing.

You can hear a good example of it in the end solo from Rosanna (bar 4).

Slow bend and slow release

This is a way of creating tension by bending or releasing a bend at a slower pace than
usual, creating a tension begging to be resolved which happens when the target pitch is
reached.

You can hear this type of bend in the end solo from These Chains (bar 12).

When doing a slow release the note is often picked repeatedly while the bend is released.

This can also be heard in the end solo from These Chains (bar 2).

8
Syncopated bends
Steve Lukather if very ”on” in his playing and as a consequence of this he often syncopates
a bend a sixteen note ahead of the beat instead of playing it straight on the beat.

The start of the solo from She’s Still Mine is a good example of this.

Bends inside a phrase

When Steve Lukather plays scale runs based on the minor pentatonic scale he often
incorporates bends which give them a more bluesy feel.

Listen for instance to the intro solo from Starlicks (bar 12-13).

One technique that really is a trademark of his is to suddenly stop in the middle of a
phrase, bend a note without picking it, and then immediately pick the note and release the
bend.

It’s a relative simple technique but it lends a very nice crying vocal quality to a phrase. A
good example of this can be heard in the solo from It’s Only My Heart (bar 5-6).

The ”Hendrix string grab” bend

This one is performed by bending a note on the E or B string and at the same time pushing
the lower adjacent string, using the same finger. Then you grab, still using the same finger,
the note on the same fret but on the lower adjacent string, picks it and releases the bend.

You can hear this in the solo from Civilized Man (bar 8).
9
Slides
Position shifting
Steve Lukather is definitely not a box type player that stays in one position on the neck. He
moves around the neck a lot and often uses slides to shift position. A consequence of the
slides are that they also functions as a ”breath” between phrases and contributes to a vocal
quality of the solos.

Combined bend, slide and pull off

This is a really neat technique where a bend, a slide and a pull off is combined resulting in
a short chromatic lick. It takes some practice to get this right but it’s rewarding. It’s also a
nice way to shift position on the neck.

For a good example of this, listen to the live solo from George Porgy (bar 3-4)

Passing notes and chromatics

One of the things that really sets Steve Lukather apart from other rock guitarists is how he
stretches out and plays a bit ”outside”, which makes for interesting and flowing lines. A lot
of the times, at least in the solos that are more in the pop and rock genre, this sound is
achieved by the use of passing notes.

These are notes that do not belong to the actual scale, pentatonic, natural minor, dorian or
whatever scale is used, and if you stay on these notes for too long they will sound quite
awful. But if they are used just as passing notes they create a chromatic movement that
sounds really nice and also creates a bit of tension.

10
One of the best examples of this is the classic chromatic lick from the end solo of Rosanna
(bar 5-7).

Sometimes a chromatic line is created more from a shape that is moved in half steps as
opposed to using passing notes in a scale.

A good example of this can be heard in the solo from Breakdown Dead Ahead (bar 7).

Scale runs
Descending triplets
This is a nice type of run that to me sounds like a waterfall of notes. Notice how the first
and/or last triplet are often played twice.

A run similar to the example above can be heard in the solo from How Does It Feel (bar 6)

Ascending triplets
This type of run is basically the pentatonic scale played in groups of three where every
group starts with a slide into it. Besides the fact that it sounds good it’s also an effective
and easy way to move a large distance on the neck

Other scale sequences

This is basically taking a major scale and play it in groups of notes. A simple example of
this would be like the one below.

11
By changing how many notes there are in a group and where you come back to start the
new group of notes in the scale will make a significant difference and the two following
examples would be more in the style of Steve Lukather.

Pedal notes
This is a technique where a note in a phrase is kept constant and you keep bouncing back
to that note. This technique is also really handy in that you can stay in one position and
still make something happen while you’re waiting to hit a specific note on a specific beat.

Listen to the solo from These Chains (bar 10) for a good example of this.

Blues licks
Steve Lukather has a strong blues feel in his playing and he also frequently uses one of the
oldest and most common blues licks known to man. His way though is to play it repeatedly
at high speed creating an almost furious burst of notes. The rhythm within the lick can vary
and be all sixteen notes, combined sixteen notes and sixteen notes triplets or even a
quintuplet.

These are a lot of solos where this phrase can heard, for instance in the solo from Lovers In
The Night (bar 6).

12
Whammy bar
Changing the attack
This is a bit more subtle use where the whammy bar is used to change the attack of a note.
It’s also not uncommon that it’s combined with a slide and sometimes also a hammer on
and/or a pull off.

Listen to start of the solo from It’s Only My Heart for a good of example of this.

Sometimes it’s also used in a more scale type pattern.

The ending of the solo from Pamela (bar 4) is a good example of this.

Effects
Steve Lukather uses the whammy bar as an effect in three ways essentially. The first one is
in conjunction with a double stop that includes a bend and the whammy bar is used to
enhance the ”ugliness” that is created when playing a double stop with a distorted sound.

The second one is to hit a natural harmonic, for instance the G string on the fifth fret, and
then either do a dive on the whammy bar or repeatedly push it down and then release it,
creating a sound almost like a police siren.

13
The third one is to do a trill using hammer ons and pull offs while the whammy bar is
slowly pressed down.

14
Solos

15
16
A Clue

17
Rockmaker (End solo)

18
Hold The Line

19
20
All Us Boys

21
All Us Boys (End solo)

22
Mama

23
White Sister

24
White Sister (End solo)

25
26
Breakdown Dead Ahead

27
Angel You

28
You Got Some Imagination

29
Survival

30
Back On The Road

31
Back On The Road (End solo)

32
Talk To Ya Later

33
Without You

34
Goodbye Elenore

35
Physical

36
Rosanna

37
Rosanna (End solo)

38
I Won’t Hold You back

39
Good For You

40
Lovers In The Night

41
Lovers In The Night (End solo)

42
She’s Still Mine

43
Wrong Side Of The Tracks

44
Never Gonna Let You Go

45
All Right

46
Running With The Night

47
Running With The Night (End solo)

48
49
Hasty Heart

50
Civilized Man

51
Carmen

52
Angel Don’t Cry

53
How Does It Feel

54
Isolation

55
Queen Of The Publication

56
Starlicks (Intro)

57
58
I’ll Be Over You

59
I’ll Be Over You (End solo)

60
Pamela

61
These Chains

62
These Chains (End solo)

63
64
It’s Only My Heart

65
It’s Only My Heart (End solo)

66
Forever Eyes

67
Animal

68
Look Before You Leap

69
Georgy Porgy (Live)

70
I’ll Be Over You (End solo, Live)

71
72
Licks

73
74
This last chapter provides you with a selection of licks in the style of Steve Lukather and
they serve two purposes.

The first one is just to provide you with a couple of licks that can be used to spice up a solo
and give it a Steve Lukather touch.

The second one is to serve as a base for you to make up your own licks based on the
techniques and musical ideas presented here.

For the sake of uniformity all of the licks are in C major/A minor, even though in some
cases it might not be an ideal key due to specific fingerings needed. A lot of the licks will
work for more than one chord so use your ears and experiment. Licks that are based
around the A minor pentatonic may also very well work over a blues progression in A
major, once again use your ears.

My advice is to record a couple of chord progressions in the key of C major/A minor,

preferably in different tempos and grooves, and just fool around with the licks. Use
whatever techniques and fingerings that work best for you, split or combine the licks, get
them under your fingers and make them a natural part of your playing. Also work on ways
to connect them since what’s happening in between the licks are equally as important. You
don’t wanna sound like a guitarist that only spits out a series of well practiced licks out of
context.

Last but not least, don’t forget to work on your tone, feel, timing, pick attack, vibrato,
slides, bends etc. This is primarily what makes great guitarists sound great, more so then
what notes they play.

75
76
77
78
79
80
Appendix: Notation guide
Bends and slides
Legato, whammy bar and vibrato
Miscellaneous
Steve Lukather, legendary guitarist in Toto and one of the most in demand session
musicians of all time. The artists he has recorded with reads like an encyclopedia of pop
and rock and includes Boz Scaggs, Earth, Wind & Fire, Al Jarreau, Chicago, Elton John,
Aretha Franklin, Don Henley, Joni Mitchell, Cher, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney
just to name a few.

His ability to combine the most soulful melodic playing with blazing runs up and down
the neck, all with an attitude like there’s no tomorrow, makes him my number one
favorite guitarist. Ever since the mid 80’s his playing has had a huge influence on me and
this is my take on putting it all into words and sheet music.

This book focuses on the years 1977 to 1990 and contains the following:

Style analysis: A walkthrough of the various key elements in Steve Lukather’s

playing that makes him sound like, well… Steve Lukather.

Solos: Note for note transcriptions of 50 of his best, and in some cases most
famous, solos.

Licks: A tasty selection of licks that will spice up your solos and give them an
instant Steve Lukather touch.

I reserve the rights to all of the material presented here, except for the photos (Glen La
Ferman [front page, p. 5], unknown [p. 15, p. 73, rear page]). However, I’d be more than
happy if you use and share this material as long as I’m credited, and as long it’s not for
commercial/profitable use.

[Steve Lukather Transcriptions]

Download the current version (version number can be found on the back of the
front page).

Like

Follow

Share

Comment

Donate if you want to support my work.

Contact me if you find any inaccuracies that needs to be corrected or if you

wanna get in touch with me for other reasons.

Magnus Carlsson