help me solo


LeftSide
Member
Joined: 05/28/02
Posts: 47
LeftSide
Member
Joined: 05/28/02
Posts: 47
05/31/2002 11:47 pm
i cant solo!!!!!!!!!!!!! i play all the time, i know pentatonic scale and the major scale. i try to execrise my fingers and play my sclaes constantly, but my solos suck. i cant seem to write solos upward of the 15th fret because its hard for me to play those notes quickly and fluidly, actually, i cant even write solos. anyone have tips on writing solos that actually go along with the song you are playing? im tired of writing solo-less songs, my songs dont feel complete to me because i cant write in a decent solo.
# 1
Kevin Taylor
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 03/05/00
Posts: 4,722
Kevin Taylor
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 03/05/00
Posts: 4,722
06/01/2002 3:39 am
Forget the scales and just try humming out a lead solo to the background music & recording it. Listen back & learn what ya hummed.
The scales you've learned should be used to help you navigate around the fretboard instead of using them as a basis for a solo.
# 2
kristian
New Member
Joined: 01/11/02
Posts: 21
kristian
New Member
Joined: 01/11/02
Posts: 21
06/03/2002 6:47 am
always listen to your favorite artists and try to get tabs of their works. read and understand how they manipulate different scales to create certain melodies. research on different licks and practice playing them on different keys. im sure you write great melodies for the vocal lines of your songs, so maybe next time try putting those melodies on your solos and just do variations of those themes. happy playing. hope i helped
# 3
keepingitbrutal
New Member
Joined: 06/10/02
Posts: 16
keepingitbrutal
New Member
Joined: 06/10/02
Posts: 16
06/12/2002 7:50 pm
If you're having trouble soloing you could try taping some riff you made up (be sure you know what key you're in) and try to solo over it. Being able to solo doesn't come easily, it takes a lot of time and practice. Another suggestion for your trouble with playing past the 15th fret is something that my guitar teacher does. When he gets down there he plays with only his first three fingers because he says its less crowded. Also get a metronome thats where you'll get your speed and accuracy. Try learning some licks, after a while you'll start to make up your own and your solos will sound great.
# 4
TheElectricSnep
Registered User
Joined: 03/06/02
Posts: 316
TheElectricSnep
Registered User
Joined: 03/06/02
Posts: 316
06/12/2002 8:43 pm
Leftside, I can sympathise with that feeling. It took me a lot of time and patience to become proficiant in soloing, and the higher frets of the guitar were frustrating at first. The way I learned is a combination of whats already been said, use the melody to form the solo if it feels right, then extemporise on it. Remember, many musicians spend hours improvinsing before they come up with a solo they're happy with.

Don't be afraid to copy things from the people you like. Great musicians borrow from each other's music all the time. I was always told 'Imitate now, understand later.' If you copy a solo you know what the original artist knows....finding out how to do your own thing with that knowledge will take time.

Also consider how the chords behind the solo will affect the sound. If you want an example, download 'Dirty Women' by Black Sabbath - get the studio version, then the live version from the Reunion album......notice how the live version doesnt have rhythm behind the solo.....the result is a much more bare sound. Work out major and minor solos over chords....this is a good way to begin building a nice variety to your playing.

Okay, I'm carrying on. If you want any more inspiration just yell :)

^Chacron^
'There's no such thing as bad weather, there's only the wrong clothes...'
# 5
blackrose
Senior Member
Joined: 01/25/01
Posts: 191
blackrose
Senior Member
Joined: 01/25/01
Posts: 191
06/15/2002 6:50 pm
What I do when I really need a solo is to think of what key the song is in and start playing by ear starting with that note. I find it pretty effective, but I don't know how that would work for everyone else.
# 6
lalimacefolle
Moderator
Joined: 09/25/01
Posts: 1,887
lalimacefolle
Moderator
Joined: 09/25/01
Posts: 1,887
06/16/2002 7:40 pm
Don't solo...
# 7
nechako
Senior Member
Joined: 12/31/01
Posts: 190
nechako
Senior Member
Joined: 12/31/01
Posts: 190
06/25/2002 4:15 pm
ya maybe you have hidden talents in other areas like rythm or chords, I can solo like a b#####d but rythm section takes a little extra care for me ,so when I jam with people with rythm talent I appreciate them very much.
# 8
Lordathestrings
Gear Guru
Joined: 01/18/01
Posts: 6,242
Lordathestrings
Gear Guru
Joined: 01/18/01
Posts: 6,242
06/27/2002 5:52 am
Put down the axe for a while and listen to what you want to solo over. Hum, whistle or sing Lalalalalala along with it. The thing is to get used to thinking the tune you want to play. Jazz musicians talk of learning as much stuff as they can, and then forgetting all about it when its time to play. Practicing scales'n'such will develop some good technical skills, but to apply them, you need to develop your 'ear' as well. If you can 'hear' the solo you want to play, then you can teach yourself how to play it.
Lordathestrings
Guitar Tricks Moderator

www.GuitarTricks.com - Home of Online Guitar Lessons
# 9
nechako
Senior Member
Joined: 12/31/01
Posts: 190
nechako
Senior Member
Joined: 12/31/01
Posts: 190
06/27/2002 4:22 pm
For me solos are like snow boarding...I get the same rush...and sometimes I wipeout...but each time I go it gets more interesting and crazy, smoother etc,...
# 10
MikeP.
Registered User
Joined: 04/08/01
Posts: 302
MikeP.
Registered User
Joined: 04/08/01
Posts: 302
07/13/2002 6:18 pm
in the guitartricks.com section. and solo over those rhythms using the scales you know. Don't worry about playing them fast...play them at your own speed and don't worry if all they do is sound like a scale...just jam over them over and over and over.

Take a pentatonic scale and play over them. Some notes in the scale you should try to bend or some notes just vibrato, Use your wammy bar to make noise with some of the notes in the pentatonic scale, use pinch harmonics, or natural harmonics, slide into some of the notes, use hammer-ons and pulloffs.

I guarentee if you use any of those tecniques in any of your scales you'll eventually stop sounding like your playing a scale. If you get a certan pattern happening, play that same pattern up or down a fret or two
I started learning guitar because of Randy Rhoads..but Yngwie J. Malmsteen is my biggest influence.
# 11
nechako
Senior Member
Joined: 12/31/01
Posts: 190
nechako
Senior Member
Joined: 12/31/01
Posts: 190
07/15/2002 3:45 pm
Try reading Bruce Lee's Toa of kung-fu; his philosophies on art and improvisatioin/ training the nervous system to react spontaneuosly etc.
# 12
MikeP.
Registered User
Joined: 04/08/01
Posts: 302
MikeP.
Registered User
Joined: 04/08/01
Posts: 302
07/16/2002 5:26 pm
actually that's a brilliant ideanechako. I guess learning the guitar is training our nervouse system anyways.

For those of you wanting to know if you can play fast, short answer is Yes!!!! Your nervouse system already knows how to play fast...it's just a matter of training it by doing repetitive exercises slowly. The speed will come in time without you knowing it untill one day you realize...WOW! I'm actually playing fast or WOW! I can play these difficult chord changes without even thinking about it. Or Wow! I can play these difficult rythhms effortlessly. Etc.

It's just a matter of training your nervouse system to react.

I started learning guitar because of Randy Rhoads..but Yngwie J. Malmsteen is my biggest influence.
# 13
shredisnotdead
New Member
Joined: 07/15/02
Posts: 6
shredisnotdead
New Member
Joined: 07/15/02
Posts: 6
07/16/2002 10:12 pm
i see so many people on guitar sites ask questions like these , and while questions is a good way to learn you can't skip ahead, you have to known progressions you have to known what you're doing with your songs you write the solo, and maybe you're not ready to solo , having licks and not knowning what to do with them is pointless, lead guitarist or not you still must understand rhythm.
# 14
nechako
Senior Member
Joined: 12/31/01
Posts: 190
nechako
Senior Member
Joined: 12/31/01
Posts: 190
07/16/2002 10:32 pm
I agree "if it ain't got dat swing it don't mean a thing".

movement eternal
# 15
Justinlalor
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 06/14/02
Posts: 4
Justinlalor
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 06/14/02
Posts: 4
07/27/2002 7:02 am
A good solo takes a lot of good practice, know the fretboard before you even think about playing a solo
# 16
Incidents Happen
Registered User
Joined: 12/23/01
Posts: 1,625
Incidents Happen
Registered User
Joined: 12/23/01
Posts: 1,625
07/28/2002 2:48 am
yeah, improvisation helps the most.
# 17
Josh Redstone
Registered User
Joined: 07/16/02
Posts: 838
Josh Redstone
Registered User
Joined: 07/16/02
Posts: 838
08/07/2002 12:45 pm
I remember when I couldn't solo. Then my music teacher made me. Now I can solo. I think we should all find someone to make us solo, and we'd all get better.
I still think if you can play lead and rhythm your a better guitarist.
And God said, 'Let there be rock!'
-And it was good
# 18
nechako
Senior Member
Joined: 12/31/01
Posts: 190
nechako
Senior Member
Joined: 12/31/01
Posts: 190
08/07/2002 8:25 pm
Its good to find people to play guitar with, just as it is good to talk to people. The musical mind likes conversations made up of notes, sentences of phrases, and so on. Finding the appropriate "music friends" to sit down and have conversations using the guitar as voice increases vocabulary and fluancy. A "bar or measure" then becomes a paragraph and a song, a short story. Jazz is very democratic and it seems to me to be similar to small talk, gossip, or good company.
# 19
Josh Redstone
Registered User
Joined: 07/16/02
Posts: 838
Josh Redstone
Registered User
Joined: 07/16/02
Posts: 838
08/07/2002 8:52 pm
That reminds me. Just the other day me and a drummer did something like that, solo back and fourth. It sure is a great warmup, but the drummer always gets tired first.
And God said, 'Let there be rock!'
-And it was good
# 20

Please register with a free account to post on the forum.