Originally Posted by: JeffWilliams413Yeah, definitely listening closely to vocalist. If you get the chance figure out the vocal melody to a song on guitar from ear. It will help your soloing a ton.

Also, listen to the over all structure of Slash's solos. Most of them are like a story: intro, development, climax, conclusion (w/ a signature lick to end). That's how you take a bunch a great licks turn them into phrases and turn them into a great and memorable solo that really grabs people. It actually has a lot to do with psychology. Having a good underlying solo structure gets into the mind of the listener.

+1 to all of that! Training your ear is critical to developing good solos.

In addition to Jeff's advice, I'd suggest spending at least 5-10 min everyday you practice working on ear training. www.goodear.com has some great exercises from beginner to advanced on training your ear.

Also, try transcribing/tabbing simple melodies like "Yankee Doodle" or "Old MacDonald" by hand, without using your guitar. Then check to see how close you came and revise. That will greatly improve your ability to hear the notes in your head and see them on the guitar.

Slash rules!!