Soloing on my record

Hello folks

i want to ask you. Im making a record with my band with great ambitions with it. Im not a bad guitarist at all! Iv become very good. I just don't know how i will tackle the task of making memorable solo's for the songs we are doing (we play hard rock and hard rock ballads, and it's aspecially the slow ballad solos im worried about)...Im a big fan of Slash and really think that he makes some of the most memorable solos on the songs (and his playing really is not that complicated). How shall i approach this?

Shall i just jam the chords i want to solo over again and again with my band?
Or shall i first make a solo when i go in the studio by improvisation? (iv done this before)
Or shall i target the chord tones everytime a chord comes up or something?

we are in the process of making the songs for the album now, so it's a long process but would love some advices
And advice would be very helpful thanks

Hi!

Originally Posted by: caponi14Shall i just jam the chords i want to solo over again and again with my band?
Or shall i first make a solo when i go in the studio by improvisation? (iv done this before)
Or shall i target the chord tones everytime a chord comes up or something?

This all depends on what kind of player you are. Are you really good at improvising?

From personal experience, my solos turn out the best when I have lots of time to work on them. I record the progression and practice soloing over and over until I hear ideas that I like, and I keep them.

It's good to practice with your band, but you might need more time than they can give you, so if you can, record the chords and practice by yourself too.

A lot of really memorable solos took a long time to write! Someone once told me that the Eagles spent two weeks in the studio just on the solo for Hotel California.

Another good tip is to sing your solo first. Don't even touch a guitar. Just listen to the chord progression you're gonna play over, and sing! That will often be the most true representation of your feelings. Then you try to figure it out on the guitar.

Don't worry about playing complicated stuff, or playing fast, or anything like that. Just go with what you hear is good!

now in my 140 conserts i have played, i have improvised almost every solo, and yes im pretty good at improvising. I just don't have the complete patience it takes to actually write a solo like that you mention, or maybe i have, i have never tried :/ I will see how it goes, but im defently gonna try out the part you said about singing what i hear in my head.

Most of Jimmy Page's work with Zep was improvised, I heard he played many different takes for a particular solo and then go with the one he liked the most.
In conclusion, whatever works is fine in the end...

Im just afraid that i will end up only accepting it if it's perfect. I have such a need for my solos to be perfect. I get this wonderful feeling everytime i execute a very good solo.
But i also wonna be able to actually write a solo. So that i remember it and people will notice it the next time they hear it. You know what i mean. Like sweet child o mine, or money by pink floyd...
I have a hard time figuring out new and variated stuff to play for a solo, instead of all the stuff i use to improvise and play. Does this make sense to you?
And i also have the famous problem of playing to much in the boxes. I love the pentatonic... That being said wonna be able to go outside of the box, and make nice bends/melodies and nice runs and those kinda things.
It's the emotional solos that i fear the most.

Hey caponi14...
When are you going to post something we can hear...

As soon as we go in the studio and record, ill get something up.

There is a track i did with a friend, what is the best way to put it on the net?

We live in a time where posting your music is as easy as ever!! There are honestly too many sites for such a thing.

I would recommend Soundcloud as it is easy to use, and you can share it with people just as easy. Here is a link to the page. Set up an account, and than you can promote away!

SoundCloud