Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son Pt.5 - Outro Solos - Guitar Lesson

About Carry On Wayward Son Pt.5 - Outro Solos

The outro solos section of "Carry On Wayward Son" is where the song truly opens up, and for many guitarists it represents the most demanding stretch of the whole arrangement. Written by Kerry Livgren, the piece sits in G minor at 120 BPM in standard E tuning, and that tempo feels deceptively comfortable until you are actually trying to track the melodic phrasing cleanly across position shifts. The twin-guitar interplay between Livgren and Dave Hope's bass-driven foundation means your note choices and timing have to lock in tightly, or the solo lines lose their shape. Focus first on getting each phrase to speak clearly at reduced speed before building back to tempo. The Practice Toolbar is exactly the right tool here: loop a four-bar section slowed down until your fretting hand stops guessing and starts knowing. Kansas sat at the crossroads of Hard Rock and progressive rock, and these outro solos carry both identities at once, asking you to combine raw melodic aggression with structural precision.

• The outro solos unfold in G minor in standard E tuning, so no retuning is needed, but the key demands comfort across multiple minor pentatonic and natural minor positions.
• At 120 BPM the solo lines move quickly enough that left-hand position shifts between phrases are a real accuracy challenge worth isolating in practice.
• Using the Practice Toolbar to loop each solo phrase slowed down will help you lock in the pick-hand articulation before returning to full speed.