Originally Posted by: FireAndIce24E lydian over a Ab minor progression.... ;)


for solos, remeber that the space between changing notes is just as important as the notes them selves. you can do create tension by holding a note that works well ove one chord and the doesnt over the next chord in the progression. Becker did this the opposite way where he played a note that sounded werid over the chord but sounds perfect over the next chord that followed.

also try to arpegiate major and minor triads that show up in every scale, you can contrast these to give a dark and light feel.

good advice and all, but i think we are getting too distracted by emotion: what you just described was a technique, not emotion. you cant describe emotion, you cant give ways to help a musician create emotion, but after that, its just creativity. understand that the more experienced you are as a musician to your instrument, the easier it is to create emotion, (there isnt much you can do on a guitar at first but make people cringe!) but you just have to grab your guitar, have an idea of the feeling you wish to provoke, and do it. some days i will play scales, scales scales, lead licks, solo stuff, bla bla bla. some days just doing blazing fast lead runs make me happy. but today, for example, i didnt warmup or anything. i picked up my guitar, dug through a few boxes to find different fx pedals that might modivate me. it took me over 4 hours of just sitting there, but i made a really melodicly moving song wiht just a chorus and wah pedal. maybe on a better day all i would have needed was a clean channel, but today i needed those. to make an incredibly drawn-out story short, use what you have at your disposal, and dont force it if it doesnt come. emotion should be raw on an instrument, and only planned out if it involves alot of technique.