In this edition of Rock Lick Legends we take a look at the Dorian playing style of Alex Lifeson, prog-rock guitarist for Rush. Lifeson’s style has gone through some changes over the years, but it is his early years with Rush we will focus on in this column. So, Lets delve into the world of prog-rock and see how Lifeson’s unique style contributed to the small combo that made up the mighty Rush.

Throughout most of the 1970s Lifeson used a variety of Gibson guitars such as the ES-355 and EDS-1275, and from 1980-86 he used a hot rodded strat with high output humbucker configuration, later switching to PRS. For amplification, Lifeson mainly uses Marshall.

Suggested Album: Rush

Playing Rating: Intermediate