Cat Scratch Fever- Ted Nugent

TED NUGENT M/

great tab Wes..

ROCK ON! GReat tab Wes. Thanks.

I'm amazed how easy this song looks to play. I though Nugent was doing some insane stuff but looks like even "easy" songs can really rock. How did you learn this one?

Dennis

I was a big Ted Nugent fan. I simply learned this by listening to the record (those big flat circular vinyl discs we used to play on a record player for the young people). You may have heard of "needle dropping". You get so good at it, you could drop the needle exactly at the beginning or any part of a solo. Not to brag, but I was a Master at needle dropping.

It was not till years later that I learned what an ego-manic he is. I thought he sang all his own songs. Later, I found that the real singer was kept off to the side of the stage without a spotlight.

I still like Ted Nugent though. He's never used alcohol or drugs which is pretty rare for a rocker. And he's absolutely confident and up-beat.

And Ted is a great guitar player. He has one of the smoothest styles of lead guitar. He is very creative and plays very colorful solos. He is a Master at mixing the Major and Minor Pentatonic in a solo. Even better than Clapton IMHO. The solo for Stranglehold is a rock masterpiece.

Whenever you learn a song off a recording, the biggest problem is deciding which guitar to play. Most songs have multiple guitars. So I try to find the guitar part that gives the basic feel to the song.

And believe it or not, really just about all guitar is pretty simple when you see it on paper. It really is simple. That does not mean it's easy to play. But if you can master the techniques (which I haven't), it all becomes very simple. Even the most complicated song is really made of little simple parts. Just learn one little part at a time, string them together, and Viola! You've got it.

Woohoo! This is coming long well. Two pluses for me. I can sing this, and I'm better looking than Ted. :shock: :D

Wes,
Is it just me or do Stormtrooper and Stranglehold sound kind of similar?

Wes,
Is it just me or do Stormtrooper and Stranglehold sound kind of similar?

It's not just you, they do sound similar. That is a great album - Snakeskin Cowboys, Queen Of The Forest (which gave a hint of his love of the outdoors), Motor City Madhouse (gotta love that as a Detroit native). Oh, it takes me back to my youth. 8)

Ted is what he is. I can't knock anyone who refuses to compromise. I even heard Michael Moore (Roger and Me, Bowling For Columbine) say as much. Talk about polar opposites. The only thing they have in common is that they are Michiganders.

Slydog

Motor City Madhouse is awesome! I love the solo that comes in after that long sustained chord..... then you hear the drums and tamborine!

e--5--5-----------------------------
b--5--5-----------------------------
g------------5h 7p 5 --5--5-------- X 3
d--------------------------------7---
a-------------------------------------
e-------------------------------------

e---8-7--5----8-7--5---
b---8-7--5----8-7--5---
g-------------------------
d-------------------------
a-------------------------
e-------------------------

Repeat everything above as written one more time,

Then

e--8^-----r----------------
b-------8^r---5------------
g-------------------7---5---
d---------------------------- X 3
a----------------------------
e----------------------------

e--8-7--5-----8-7--5---
b--8-7--5-----8-7--5---
g-------------------------
d-------------------------
a-------------------------
e-------------------------

This is a lick that if anybody else is doing, they're copying Ted. This is
his lick. You bend the high E string up a whole pitch. While letting that
note ring, you let your ring or pinky finger (whichever you are using
for this bend), to grab the B string and bend it up a half step.
Then you let the "release" or sound of both strings coming down sound
at once. This is Ted's bend. It belongs to him. This lick takes some practice!

Repeat those last two phrases again.

e--------5--------5--------------
b---8^------8^-------8^r--5---
g--------------------------------- X 3
d---------------------------------
a---------------------------------
e---------------------------------

e---8-7--5-----8-7--5--
b---8-7--5-----8-7--5--
g-------------------------
d-------------------------
a-------------------------
e-------------------------

Repeat the 2nd phrase from above.

This is what I was talking about. When you hear a solo, break it down
into small simple phrases. That's how he's doing it. They are easy.

Learn each one and string them together. GREAT SOLO!!

That's how to play lead guitar.

8)

Wes

Good work Wes. Yea, Ted has always seemed more arrogant than any human should be but I love his music. Stranglehold is a fabulous song. I used to listen to that tape for hours on end when I was a kid.

Another song I like and have only heard a person play it once at GC: Great White Buffalo. It's fast, but it is so recognizeable in the first two seconds.

maybe I missed it in the tab for CSF, but the first two times he plays the intro he does a slid chord before the lick, could anybody tab that, I can't figure it out with my puny girly distortion

Dennis- I don't know that song (I think). I have probably heard it.

Snoogans- On just about any recording there are multiple guitars. I have read of a song having 25 or more different tracks. So what do you do? You try to play the basic track that gives you the feel of the song. This is one of the toughest things about being in a cover band. You can never really duplicate what people hear on the recordings.

I am showing this from memory, haven't actually listened to this song in many years, but that is a bend you are talking about. It is a release. What Ted does is bend the string first before plucking it. Then he stikes the string and lets it return to normal pitch. This is very common in lead guitar and should be practiced. I will try to show it in tab.

e-----------------
b-----------------
g----4^r---2-----
d------------------
a------------------
e------------------

That's it. Bend the G string at the 4th fret raising the tone a whole step. THEN pluck the the string and let it return to the normal pitch. If you do this slowly it will sound very much like slide guitar. This is one of Ted Nugent's favorite techniques. But almost everybody does it.

This is from the A Major Pentatonic scale. But later on when Ted plays the solo he plays with the A Minor Pentatonic scale. This is an old Blues players technique. Ted Nugent is a master at going from the Major to Minor Pentatonic. It is more difficult than it seems. It has to sound good.
Ted is one of the very best at this.

ho wes thanks for the nice post! it's a great song which has been covered by Pantera and Motorhead among the others!I'd love to play it with my band! i have no problem with the main riff since it is easy to play by ear and also with the bridge part (the "i feel no dangerous part") which is a classic uptempo rhythm. Having said so i'm not so sure about the verse: would it be possible for you to write it down with rhythm slashes?

also in guitar solo it seems that the rhythm guitar plays the main riff except for a couple of measures?

Thanks a lot in advance

Matteo

Nice job Wes!

As a twist, I play this with a slide, really sounds good at high volumes. And adds a bit of nastiness too. :twisted: :twisted:

Thanks guys, glad you like the tab. It got a little messed up when the format changed a year or so ago, I just went back and fixed it, should be a little easier to read now.

Matteo, yes, during the solo there is a change I didn't show, I'll listen to the song and include that section. I will also try to tab out the riff played during the verses, I should have it posted in a few hours.

Thanks again,

Wes

Matteo, here is the riff played during the verses. It is pretty straight-forward eighth and quarter notes really. For the partial C chord I simply move my index finger up super fast and back down again. I have played the partial C chord with my pinky, but prefer to move the index. Do what is easiest for you.

A C A C A C A
e----------------------------------------------------------
b----------------------------------------------------------
g-----------2--2--5-----2--2--5-----2--2--5--2-------------
d-----------2--2--5-----2--2--5-----2--2--5--2-----------0-
a--------0-----------------------------------------0--3----
e--0--3----------------------------------------------------
& 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
m i i i
i i i

And the chord progression during the solo goes like this:



Have fun, great song, get some thick distortion with a little delay going. :twisted: