FOR MANY guitar fans, Paul Gilbert is the ultimate rock guitarist. He’s got bucketloads of technique and speed, has great vibrato, plays with a rich overdriven tone and is full of creative curiosity. We’ve seen that over several decades from his work with the US rock band, Mr Big and with his own solo career. It’s that curiosity that has also had him involved with tribute albums and tours focused on Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, and performing a staggering variety of songs spanning the music of Abba and Stevie Wonder, to Genesis and The Spice Girls. And he continues paying tribute to others: his new album sees him tackling a range of Dio songs with his guitar ‘singing’ Ronnie’s vocals. Quite a feat, and very impressive. There’s even more to him than all this though, as he’s a passionate educator too, from his revered Intense Rock 1 and 2 videos through to his work with TrueFire and his Patreon student memberships. Added up, he’s like the super-friendly ‘guy next door’ that just so happens to be one of the best guitarists in the world. In short, nice guy, ninja guitarist. Over the last few years, GT has featured Paul in two performance and analysis features, where he played a solo over a track then discussed it at length. These exclusive tutorials were a chance to see not only him blazing, but also how he thinks and creates. This issue, he’s focused on showing you how to solo with expression. Dynamic and vocal-like soloing are topics that relate to everyone, including those in the audience. It’s this essence that Paul covers here, passing on what he’s learnt over his 35-plus year career to get you sounding more melodic. And you will; his 37-minute lesson is an engaging masterclass in vibrato, sliding, using a slide, string bending, playing on just one string and many, many more topics. It’s a heady brew of information and it’s a joy to watch him play, laugh, smile and get emotional as he gives you the keys to a world of impactful expression. As always, we’ll be giving you lots of other great content but I won’t dwell on that here. Instead, allow me to repeat myself; a world-class guitar hero is giving you an exclusive video masterclass on the tools needed to be an expressive soloist.