solos

[zepp_rules]

are there any any good ways to help me get better at solos, i'm ok now, but i'd like to do more, i'm not looking for any particular style just solos in generals, so are there any exercises, or somtething to help

[zepo]

Do you know all of the Modes,natural,pent.minor, and major scales????

[zepp_rules]

not really, i taught myself off guitar tabs

[chrimsun]

Practice the modes and scales to get the foundation. Also, you can isolate the chords of the passage you want to solo to, then break the chords up note by note (an arpeggio) and find ways to get between the different notes of the chord or chords.
If you want to improvise solos rather than just write them and perform them note-for-note, you just have to start taking chances. If you have a cheap keyboard you can have it play some background beats with chords (however cheesy they may be) and just go crazy taking chances and finding out what works and doesn't work. Improvisors (soloists, dancers, free-style rappers, stand-up comics, politicians, etc.)have to be convincing more than anything else. So when you play a "sour" note, it's like falling in a hole. You have to find a way to get out so that no one notices you fell in the hole-- convince them that you intended to play the note by tieing it together with some more notes afterwards that complete a statement or emotion. It's like telling a lie and realizing your story has a hole in it, you've got to find a way to fix it and still be convincing. You'll never be able to rehearse everything, so you have to learn how to make it up as you go. Kick ass and have a blast!

[raudberg]

It is important to learn about the scales and modes and arpeggios, but it is very easy to get locked inside your own practice patterns. When you finally have got a technically challenging lick nailed it is very tempting to use this lick and slight variations of it over and over again, because you can make it sound great. One may become amazed by one's own technique and this is of great danger for the creative soloist.....

What you need to do besides rehearsing the scales etc. is to just play with one intent: To make it sound good! It sounds banal, but it is so important. Take a simple melody that pops into your head and try playing it. When this process becomes faster and more automatic as time passes you are very close to beeing a scilled improvisator.

And then you realize that you are playing scales and arpeggios, but you're playing them with creativety and with empasis on phrasing and melodic patterns.....things that make a good technical guitarist a great musician. Be aware of what you play, and, like someone on the list said, take chances and practice covering your mistakes.

Be creative!

[whale]

sometimes new soloists who have just learned scales and tried abunch of excercises end up having solos that are just a ton of notes crammed together. Although speed is great, phrasing is what makes a truely great solo. Santana solos have great phrasing if you need an example.