Wasted Years Guitar Lesson - Iron Maiden

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In this Wasted Years guitar lesson video, I will show you how to play this Iron Maiden classic off of their 1986 album Somewhere In Time note-for-note.

The tuning is standard tuning.

Written by guitarist Adrian Smith, "Wasted Years" starts with a signature guitar lick that is instantly recognizable. The lick uses rapid alternate picking on the open high E string while also adding a melody within it. Those melody notes require you to have good synchronization between the fret-hand and the picking hand.

There are some sparse power chords underneath this riff before the band launches into the verse.

The verse section, although not overly challenging to play, is sort of confusing to memorize. The chord progression is pretty ambitious using mostly power chord chords but with a couple of different chord voicings thrown in there as well. It is a long progression to, so it will work best if you know the sound of the song well.

The chorus uses the "Iron Maiden G power chord" as I like to call it. I will demonstrate what that is. It has a big sound, but isn't very easy to play. The rest of the chorus is pretty simple.

We will also take an in-depth look at Adrian Smith's amazing guitar solo.

This solo starts with a very challenging legato lick that I usually see played incorrectly by people doing covers on YouTube or wherever. It isn't a simple legato lick on the B string. It is a repeated 6 note lick that starts with a note of the high E string, played with an upstroke followed by downstroke on the B string and legato stuff on the B string from there. It is pretty awkward at first. He plays the exact same pattern later in the solo albeit in a higher position of the scale which makes it even more difficult to play.

The fast descending lick is also very challenging and I will give you a couple different options of picking it.

All-in-all, "Wasted Years" is a great workout for any guitarist. I hope you have fun with it! #wastedyearsguitarlesson #ironmaiden #guitarcovers

Carl...

[robsoncandidosilva]

Standard Tuning (E)

Lesson timing:
2:17 - Intro
6:01 - Verse
11:11- Chorus
14:35 - Interlude
16:09 - Riff over Solo
17:07 - Transition to Solo
18:25 - Guitar Solo
31:48 - Outro Section

[mafjigo]

The guitar intro from wasted years is one of the best I’ve ever heard.

[obitonamizake]

I was waiting for this...since my childhood😍😍😍
Love u Carl

[johnkeith]

Great tutorial. What I love about your videos and style of teaching is there's little to no fluff, you break a song down to parts that are easy to digest and you don't spend your entire video demonstrating as if your viewers have never seen a guitar before, or are all virtuoso guitarists. 👍

[RCSmiths]

Awesome lesson to see! Iron Maiden is definitely up there with the most requested bands I'd say! Thank ye so much!

[finaljesus]

Hi Carl I just watched the video for wasted years your lesson is so dead on you nailed the solo you are the absolute best teacher and have the best lessons on YouTube God bless you what an amazing human being thank you

[metaloutlawguts]

One of the best Iron Maiden songs ever. Thank you for doing this one.

[krimzo]

Conquer or Die by Megadeth pls make it happen Carl!
Ps: I just cant thank you enough, actually no one can thank you enough for all the amazing work and lessons you do.. wish u all the best!

[gabekellerhouse]

I just want to thank you for the years that I haven't wasted by your lessons.

[BobGnarley.]

You teach really well. Have learnt multiple solos from you now and on top of being accurate - the most important thing is you show each lick in its evolution (it starts with this phrase and adds this). This is important for me to learn like breaking down a word to spell it.

[davielo]

So good to have you back here! I was learning this song when your whole channel was down

[gdr]

I've watched a few videos on this solo but this one has really helped cement some key moments in my mind 👍👍👍

[nicolasbolas]

Just discovered your channel. I'm a pretty new guitarist and this is one of my favorite maiden songs.

That first riff is such good practice for alternative picking and timing

[tastywaves]

Awesome Lesson! Rime of the Ancient Mariner would be a great song to do!

[navnithgrewal]

This is the only lesson on the internet that gets the G chord in the chorus right. Thank you!

[edwardglyons]

Yes, yes. Sounds awesome! Another great lesson. Is there not anything you can’t play? Mean Street - Van Halen! The world needs you to teach this song,

[kadencook]

Hey Carl I have been a huge fan of your videos and I would like to recommend sudden death by megadeth

[thevirus]

One of the best songs ever written. Makes me proud of English bands

[luisrrd]

Thanks for verything man, you are the best teacher.

[youron]

Thank you! I'm going to tackle this soon....It is tied with first place along with Hallowed be thy Name, favorite songs from my favorite band!! I haven't found a better instructor on You tube!!