solos from scratch

I did not no where to post this so here it is :)

Ive been playing for a couple of years and have learnt many metallica solos from tab form (mainly the slower solos). But now I want to start making my own, but whenever I do they are total rubbish, and I dont no where to start.

anyone got any tips, starting points, ideas that could help me please,

Thank you, :)

Hum it, work out how to play it and play it !!!

Works for me !

If you know scales and arpeggios, you should be able to write a decent solo. So learn those and rock us all! :cool:

I usually come up with solo ideas by just playing over a drum beat or a backing track and kinda zoning out. After a while sometimes I'll come up with a little riff or lick I like and then I'm stoked. The worse thing is when you do something cool on the guitar, then you can't remember what you played and it pisses you off really bad. :mad:

I did that earlier tonight, I was going to record it, but the darn phone range and I forgot what I was playing when I got back to it. :mad:

Tip: whatever you come up with, make sure it doesn't sound like an exercise

A good idea is to follow the tones in the chords. So when a chord change apear you might start at the main tone in the chord.

Cheers everyone for your tips and ideas, I was practicing last night and since I started this thread they have got slightly better, but they still sound like scales and exercises, I suppose it will just take practice and time.

:) Any other tips or ideas will be very welcome.

It just takes a load of practice like everything else. I know I have such original advice... you don't even have to thank me.

Just make it up and tab it down if it sounds cool, I'm only 13 and i have made a cool solo, or listen to eruption by van halen that should give you some thoughts about soloing...tapping sounds cool too. where you have both hands on the fretboard and what not...never mind. Sorry no help.

You'll need to practice a lot. Also, some theory could help you develop your style.

First and most important of all, remember that melodic content and feeling are the things you look for. Well, with that said, here's something for you to explore:

Try your hand at modal improvisation. For example, you have a progression that is diatonic to C Major, such as:

CMaj7 Am7 FMaj7 G7

You could solo using only the C major scale over it and it will sound good, but you can also try playing certain mode over each chord to make it sound more interesting.

For example:

CMaj7: you could switch between C major and C Lydian (C D E F# G A B)
Am7: Maybe A dorian (A B C D E F# G) or A phrygian (A Bb C D E F G)
FMaj7: F Ionian (F G A Bb C D E)
G7: G myxolydian to avoid the loss of the dominant feeling, but you could also use Lydian b7 (G A B C# D E F) or Myxolydian b6 (G A B C D Eb F) to give it a minor cadence feeling.

Both Lydian b7 and Myxolidian b6 are taken from the melodic minor scale. You could also use Myxolidian b2 b6 (G Ab B C D Eb F), but as it comes from the harmonic minor, it has a very characteristic sound (because of the 1 1/2 tone jump from Ab to B) that makes it somehow awkward to use. There are way more options for each chord, but I think with that it's enough to keep you entertained for a while.

I know it seems as a lot of clutter, but if you analyze it, there's just 1 note difference between the options listed and the C major scale. Experiment and find your own way to apply this (or ditch it and shred till not even you know what you're playing :P).

Also, if the sound of certain mode or anything doesn't convince you, you can always make up your own, and don't be afraid of playing notes that are not in certain scale, if you find a way of getting them in the right place, they can sound really cool.

thanks everyone, I've now learnt some scales and licks, my next problem is makng them come together to form one complete solo, it seems that the different licks wont go with each other,...........................

yeah just take a scale, learn which notes are in the scale then find all those nots and just play around till you find something sick, also playing at incredibly fast speeds sounds good no matter what notes you're using.

Originally Posted by: Akira^ Not true.

well I meant within reason, for example playing an open d string and then playing the 24th fret on the high e obviously won't sound good but like playing back and forth between the 12th and 14th fret sounds good on most strings and sounds good in a solo if you play it really fast.

also I forgot to mention then using hammer ons and pull offs are a good idea in solos cause they can make it sound like you have more speed than you actually do.

OR

ou can do it the really ghetto way... record the rythm and play it over and over on your computer. Then just freestyle with notes and small licks until you can puzzle it all together


It not the best way to compose a solo, but it sure is fun :cool: