improving solos

[zepp_rules]

right now i'm an ok soloist, ican't do anything really spectacular, i was wondering if there were any ways to help me improve my soloing

[frogman]

The guys (and girls ) I teach often feel this way and it often comes down to getting bogged down with 1 particular favourite scale shape.
What i do with them is get them to record a backing track wit just a few chords, but with a key change or two,then play over it in the new position,before sticking to 1 position and altering the shape of what you play to fit the new key.

It takes practice but its worth it-good music is more abstract than a box shape at the 12th fret!

Also,they like to try and put in as many tricks as possible,which is ok,but remember,melody first.It has to seem like its going somewhere.Check out any steve vai solo-whether you like him or not,it can't be denied,no one touches him for tricks and cool noises,but there is always a well constructed direction to what he does and it always resolves in time for the next part.

Enough talk,the rest is up to you.
Good luck,Frogman

[James]

I think one definate turning point in my soloing ability was when I stopped locking myself into just using scales and opened my mind to doing more interesting things in my solos such as adding some arppegios, laddering and sequencing scales, emphasising chord tones, and using passing tones from other scales or switching scales altogether.

This type of stuff takes time and practice, but it's the natural evolution of just running up and down scales.