Tension building pattern?

I have been trying to find tabs on building tension in a solo. If you listen to the dead, allmans or blues you hear them work up to a cresendo(sp) and then go back to the chords of the song. Is ther some type of pattern that is able to be applied to all keys?

BH

A lot of crescendos of this type are made using the dominant chord ( E in the key of A for example ) maybe followed by the dominant 7th ( E7 ) over a number of bars (4 or 8 bars maybe ) then after the build revert to the tonic or root ( A ).
e.g.

| E / / / | E / / / | E 7 / / / | E 7 / / / | A

Thanks for the tip. I will give it a try at practice tonight.

Originally Posted by: bartonhallI have been trying to find tabs on building tension in a solo.

Nick gave you the best possible advice on how to build tension via chord changes: Use the V chord! :)

I not familiar with "the dead, allmans", but I know in a typical Blues you will hear the same I-IV-V over and again. So, the trick is to gradually build tension over the course of a few minutes of a solo using dynamics and phrasing.

Start with relatively slow (whole notes, half notes) and quiet licks. Space them out, don't run them together, hold bends for a whole measure. Gradually increase the relative speed (1/4 & 1/8 note licks) in the middle, gradually raise the volume. Eventually toward the end, raise the volume to maximum and play faster licks (1/8 triplets & 1/16 notes).

Best of success with it!

Chris,

I think you had a lesson on building speed. You would clim up a few notes then back a few notes. Do you have any tabs on doing this up and down a scale until you hit the octave?

Originally Posted by: bartonhall
I think you had a lesson on building speed. You would clim up a few notes then back a few notes. Do you have any tabs on doing this up and down a scale until you hit the octave?

Absolutely!

This tutorial shows how to climb diatonic major & minor in 3s & 4s; also in pedal point which can be useful:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=451

These shows how to climb in pentatonic major & minor in 3s:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=722
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=185

Also, Ben has a great couple of lessons aimed at this idea:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=661

This one shows how to build speed:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=287

This one shows what to do with speed once you've got it:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=213

(I've recently re-filmed these last two in HD. But like many of my lessons, I haven't gotten it edited and rendered yet! Stay tuned!)

Best of success with it!