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White Lion

2 guitar songs · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide Glam Metal

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Band Overview

History and Guitar Legacy

White Lion emerged from the New York City Hard Rock scene in 1983, founded by vocalist Mike Tramp and guitarist Vito Bratta. The band became one of the most guitar-driven acts of the late-'80s Glam Metal era. Unlike peers relying on pentatonic shredding, Bratta brought melodic intelligence and technical depth that distinguished White Lion's guitar work as some of the genre's most rewarding and sophisticated offerings.

Playing Style and Techniques

Bratta fused neoclassical influences with blues-based hard rock phrasing to create singing lead lines. His expressive vibrato, smooth legato runs, and confident two-hand tapping transcended typical '80s flash. He excelled at memorable clean-tone passages like the intro to 'Wait' and acoustic work on 'When the Children Cry,' proving restraint equals sophistication. His rhythm playing featured tight palm-muted chugging and sophisticated chord voicings beyond standard power chords.

Why Guitarists Study White Lion

Vito Bratta's musicality keeps guitarists returning to White Lion. His solos showcase how melody and phrasing matter as much as speed. The band's catalog demonstrates that clean tones, acoustic textures, and expressive bending create impact comparable to shredding. Learning Bratta's parts serves as a masterclass in melodic lead guitar, developing overall playing sophistication and musical awareness that extends far beyond genre boundaries.

Difficulty and Learning Path

White Lion songs present moderate-to-advanced difficulty. Rhythm parts suit intermediate players, especially open-chord acoustic sections. Bratta's leads demand strong legato, accurate bending, confident tapping, and developed phrasing sense. 'Wait' offers an ideal gateway with manageable main riffs and challenging solos. 'When the Children Cry' develops fingerpicking, clean-tone dynamics, and expressive bending across acoustic and electric playing.

What Makes White Lion Essential for Guitar Players

  • Vito Bratta's legato technique is central to White Lion's sound. His hammer-on and pull-off runs are fluid and precise, often spanning multiple positions on the neck with minimal picking, study his solos to build left-hand strength and smooth phrasing.
  • Bratta's use of tapped harmonics and two-hand tapping goes beyond simple Van Halen-style licks. He incorporates tapping into melodic passages rather than using it purely for flash, making his tap sequences feel like natural extensions of the melody.
  • Clean-tone guitar work is a huge part of White Lion's identity. The arpeggiated intro to 'When the Children Cry' and the shimmering clean sections of 'Wait' require precise fingerpicking, careful dynamic control, and a chorus-rich tone that demands attention to your signal chain.
  • Bratta's vibrato is one of the most distinctive in '80s rock, wide, controlled, and full of emotion. It's not a nervous wobble; it's a deliberate, vocal-quality vibrato generated from the wrist. Mastering this technique will elevate every note you bend.
  • The rhythm guitar parts often blend palm-muted power chord riffs with more open, ringing chord voicings. Bratta frequently uses add9 and sus4 chords mixed into hard rock progressions, giving the rhythm parts a harmonic richness that rewards careful listening and accurate fretting.

Did You Know?

Vito Bratta was largely self-taught and developed his tapping and legato technique independently before ever hearing Van Halen, his approach has a distinctly melodic, almost classical quality that sets it apart from the typical EVH-inspired tapping of the era.

The guitar solo in 'Wait' was reportedly composed and refined meticulously rather than improvised. Bratta was known for crafting solos as carefully as vocal melodies, treating each note as essential rather than filling space with speed runs.

'When the Children Cry' was written on acoustic guitar, and the recorded version features a nylon-string classical guitar in the intro, an unusual choice for a glam metal band that helped the song cross over to mainstream radio.

Bratta was known for using extremely light string gauges (.008s) which contributed to his ability to execute wide bends and fast legato passages with seemingly effortless fluidity, though it required exceptionally precise touch to avoid going sharp.

After White Lion disbanded, Vito Bratta essentially retired from public performance and recording. Despite being considered one of the most talented guitarists of the '80s hard rock era, he has rarely played publicly since the early '90s, making his recorded work even more valuable to study.

Bratta's tone on the 'Pride' album was achieved with relatively modest gain settings compared to many of his contemporaries, he relied on the amp's natural breakup and his picking dynamics rather than stacking multiple distortion pedals.

White Lion's demo recordings circulated for years before they landed a record deal, and Bratta's playing on those early tapes already showcased the advanced tapping and legato work that would define the band's sound, he arrived fully formed as a player.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Pride album cover
Pride 1987

This is the essential White Lion album for guitarists. It contains both 'Wait' and 'When the Children Cry,' giving you a perfect range of techniques to work on, from palm-muted hard rock riffs and soaring tapped solos to delicate clean arpeggios and expressive acoustic playing. Tracks like 'Lonely Nights' and 'Lady of the Valley' offer additional challenges in legato phrasing and melodic soloing that will stretch your abilities.

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Big Game album cover
Big Game 1989

The follow-up to 'Pride' features even more ambitious guitar work from Bratta. Songs like 'Little Fighter' and 'Cry for Freedom' showcase his evolving approach to composition, with more complex chord progressions and intricate solo sections. The production is slicker, so it's also a great reference for dialing in polished late-'80s hard rock tones with a balance of gain and clarity.

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Mane Attraction album cover
Mane Attraction 1991

Often overlooked, this album features some of Bratta's most technically demanding and musically mature guitar work. The riffing is heavier and more rhythmically complex, and the solos push further into progressive territory. 'Lights and Thunder' and 'Broken Heart' are standout tracks for guitarists wanting to tackle advanced bending, rapid position shifts, and sophisticated harmonic choices within a hard rock framework.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Vito Bratta's signature instrument was a custom ESP with a Strat-style body, a Floyd Rose tremolo system, and a distinctive finish. He also played various superstrat-style guitars throughout White Lion's career, favoring thin, fast necks with 24-fret access for his legato and tapping work. His guitars typically featured a humbucker in the bridge position and single-coils in the middle and neck for versatility between heavy rhythm tones and glassy cleans.

Amp

Bratta primarily used Marshall amplifiers, favoring JCM800 and Plexi-style heads for their natural midrange punch and dynamic response. He didn't crank the gain excessively, his tone sat in a sweet spot where pick attack and volume knob adjustments could shift between clean sparkle and singing overdrive. This moderate gain approach is key to replicating his clarity during fast legato passages and his note separation in rhythm parts.

Pickups

Bratta used a humbucker/single-coil/single-coil (HSS) configuration in most of his guitars. The bridge humbucker provided the heat for distorted rhythm and lead work, while the single-coils in the neck and middle positions delivered the crystalline clean tones heard on intros like 'When the Children Cry' and 'Wait.' The humbucker was typically a medium-output PAF-style pickup that preserved dynamics and pick nuance rather than a high-output ceramic model.

Effects & Chain

Bratta's effects rig was relatively streamlined for the era. He used a chorus pedal (likely a Boss CE-series or rack chorus unit) for shimmering clean tones, a delay unit set to moderate repeats for solo sustain and depth, and a wah pedal for expressive lead passages. He also made extensive use of his Floyd Rose tremolo bar for dive bombs and subtle vibrato effects. Overall, his tone was amp-driven with effects used as seasoning rather than the foundation, replicating his sound starts with the right amp settings, not a pedalboard full of stompboxes.

Recommended Gear

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

Vito Bratta's JCM800 delivered the midrange punch and dynamic response crucial to White Lion's sound, letting him shift from crystalline cleans to singing overdrive without excessive gain. This moderate-gain approach preserved note separation in fast legato passages and rhythm work, making it the sonic foundation of classics like 'When the Children Cry.'

How to Practice White Lion on GuitarZone

Every White Lion song page on GuitarZone includes a built-in Practice Toolbar. No app to download, no account needed. Open any song, then use the toolbar to slow the video to 0.5× speed, set an A/B loop around the exact riff you're working on, and jump between song sections instantly.

The toolbar appears automatically on every guitar tab, lesson, and cover page. Pick a song below, hit play, and start practicing at your own pace.

Practice Wait - Guitar LessonPractice When the Children Cry - Guitar Lesson