jeyjey
tips
# 1
Don’t substitute speed for feeling or relevance!
My instructors page and www.studiotrax.net for all things recording.
my toons Brought to you by Dr BadGAS
my toons Brought to you by Dr BadGAS
# 2
Take your chords and on the strong beats (1 and 3 in most rock songs) accent a chord tone... play around with the pentatonic in the scale you're in... play some arpeggios outlining the chord of the moment... such a vague question...
"You must stab him in the heart with the Bone Saber of Zumacalis... well, you could stab him in the head or the lungs, too... and the saber, it probably doesn't have to be bone, just anything sharp lying around the house... you could poke him with a pillow and kill him."
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Universal Re-Monster
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Universal Re-Monster
# 3
# 4
# 5
hey man,
you don't have to play fast to be good. in some Metallica solos they play some really slow, kind of epic, passages that are sometimes my favorite part of the solo.
at first though, i recommend getting the right beat that goes with the songs, the basic rhythm. then don't try to go crazy but do something that sounds like it belongs there and then stay on that train of thought. it can be slow, but if it sounds like part of the song then it will sound fairly good. then get something down that sounds good, it can be a rough skeleton of notes or something. THEN work on speed. my teacher recommended this to me and it has worked better than most of my other techniques. just try it at least.
so remember, make it work first, then crank it up a notch.
you don't have to play fast to be good. in some Metallica solos they play some really slow, kind of epic, passages that are sometimes my favorite part of the solo.
at first though, i recommend getting the right beat that goes with the songs, the basic rhythm. then don't try to go crazy but do something that sounds like it belongs there and then stay on that train of thought. it can be slow, but if it sounds like part of the song then it will sound fairly good. then get something down that sounds good, it can be a rough skeleton of notes or something. THEN work on speed. my teacher recommended this to me and it has worked better than most of my other techniques. just try it at least.
so remember, make it work first, then crank it up a notch.
Thanks for listening to this small piece of me.
# 6
Combine it (fast/slow) and don´t have it too long (solo). ca 45 sec. is enough. And don´t be afraid to hit a note and hold it for like 2-3 sec. Just make sure to do somthing with it (heavy vibrato, bend, use the whammy bar etc) and than pull of some of your fastest licks (they should be fast but easy for you) and have a section of a little bit more complicated licks so you´ll have to practice it do feel 100%
Some wah here and there is alwas cool too.
And when improvising a solo live for example, follow this structrure:
1 Mega slow (some kind of chord progression fits too)
2 Slow (like a nice melody with some modifications)
3 Medium (kind of 70´s rock solos)
4 Fast (somthing Rhoads/Hammett fast)
5 Mega fast (shred)
Petrucci usualy do it this way and it´s way more fun to listen than Yngwies solos wich are Mega Fast-Mega Faster.
Some wah here and there is alwas cool too.
And when improvising a solo live for example, follow this structrure:
1 Mega slow (some kind of chord progression fits too)
2 Slow (like a nice melody with some modifications)
3 Medium (kind of 70´s rock solos)
4 Fast (somthing Rhoads/Hammett fast)
5 Mega fast (shred)
Petrucci usualy do it this way and it´s way more fun to listen than Yngwies solos wich are Mega Fast-Mega Faster.
Dejan S. No speed limit
# 7
ive been playng for about half a year now and im starting to write solos. Basicly just pick a key and a scale from that key and just rearange the notes and vary the speed throughout. Maybe even hold a note for a couple seconds but if you do add affect such as vibrato or bend.
# 8
People tend to think the faster you are, the bet guitarist you are. If you can put a nice solo that could possibly sound better into a song, thats all that matters.
I've been playing for about 5 years, and I'm one of the best guitarists around, and only half the time I play for speed with a band. All that matters is making it sound good.
When I write solo's, I get the basic guitar riff recorded on the computer and I just try different things.
Take this song of mine for example:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/panterasdmf/Tyler_Kingston_and_Grendelus_Inc_-_Forgotten02.mp3
(Right click, save target as)...(The vocals and bass were made by a guy I met through a Zakk Wylde message board)
I didnt use any speed there, I just improvised, first take. And I think I did pretty well on it.
I've been playing for about 5 years, and I'm one of the best guitarists around, and only half the time I play for speed with a band. All that matters is making it sound good.
When I write solo's, I get the basic guitar riff recorded on the computer and I just try different things.
Take this song of mine for example:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/panterasdmf/Tyler_Kingston_and_Grendelus_Inc_-_Forgotten02.mp3
(Right click, save target as)...(The vocals and bass were made by a guy I met through a Zakk Wylde message board)
I didnt use any speed there, I just improvised, first take. And I think I did pretty well on it.
All that has been
All that's to be
No tomorrow
No Demise Of Sanity
All that's to be
No tomorrow
No Demise Of Sanity
# 9
Hey,
What i have to say is strictly my opinions and what I like to do, and I hope it can help you out... Soloing mainly comes down to what you feel and what you like to hear. I started out by gather a collection of licks from my favorite players that i liked and nailing them and learning to find the "box" to play these licks in so they fit in any key. When i say "box", I am reffering to the pentatonic scale they are found in which is like the power chord of scales. Obviously not all licks are found in pentatonic scales, but it's true that a large amount of lick you hear are. Part of nailing these licks was not at all about playing them really fast, but rather being able to play the lick with the correct timing and phrasing. Getting the bends right and learning how to make a solid vibrato sound, also other techniques like hammer on's and pull off's and harmonics and slides and the list goes on and on. Anyways, I use a lot of licks found in blues rock to hard rock (ie: Angus Young, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page to name a few) which are licks mainly found in major and minor pentatonic scales. The beautiful thing about these licks is that they will sound awesome whether you play them fast or slow as long as you have the phrasing correct. Obviously you don't want to play slow drawn out licks in a faster song, nor would I like to hear someone shredding in a slow song, it's a matter of what you feel fits and what likes you like to hear. I've seen people say you should start of slow, and then get faster, and fatser and I don't think that's such a great idea. Mixing the fast and slow adds a great effect and is what i tend to do, but like i said before, it all depends on the pace of the song. All in all, Soloing should be like telling a story, it's gotta have an intro, a solid body, and a conclusion and should be enjoyable to hear. How you would like to tell the story is strictly up to you. Another good piece of advice i've been told is never put all your eggs in one basket, meaning don't lay out all your best licks and all you've got in your first solo, you want to keep the "wow-factor" strong from song to song. You want to show your soloing ability in all of your songs..
That's some of my thoughts on soloing. Developing all this is another story and is a never ending process of learning. All you have to do is just keep working at it and it will come. Just practice you left and right hand techniques and speed and remember that you play guitar by ear, not by sight. You need to develope an ear for sound and recognize sounds. If any of this helps anyone reading and would like to hear anything more i have to say, e-mail me and I would be happy to keep talking. I don't play nearly as good as a lot of these people on here and I have tons of stuff i'm still trying to learn...but I would love to give any knowledge I have thus far in my experience if it helps someone else. Most my knowledge is basic but essential i think.
Keep on'a Rockin'
-Matt
[Edited by Cedarkill on 02-13-2003 at 01:41 PM]
What i have to say is strictly my opinions and what I like to do, and I hope it can help you out... Soloing mainly comes down to what you feel and what you like to hear. I started out by gather a collection of licks from my favorite players that i liked and nailing them and learning to find the "box" to play these licks in so they fit in any key. When i say "box", I am reffering to the pentatonic scale they are found in which is like the power chord of scales. Obviously not all licks are found in pentatonic scales, but it's true that a large amount of lick you hear are. Part of nailing these licks was not at all about playing them really fast, but rather being able to play the lick with the correct timing and phrasing. Getting the bends right and learning how to make a solid vibrato sound, also other techniques like hammer on's and pull off's and harmonics and slides and the list goes on and on. Anyways, I use a lot of licks found in blues rock to hard rock (ie: Angus Young, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page to name a few) which are licks mainly found in major and minor pentatonic scales. The beautiful thing about these licks is that they will sound awesome whether you play them fast or slow as long as you have the phrasing correct. Obviously you don't want to play slow drawn out licks in a faster song, nor would I like to hear someone shredding in a slow song, it's a matter of what you feel fits and what likes you like to hear. I've seen people say you should start of slow, and then get faster, and fatser and I don't think that's such a great idea. Mixing the fast and slow adds a great effect and is what i tend to do, but like i said before, it all depends on the pace of the song. All in all, Soloing should be like telling a story, it's gotta have an intro, a solid body, and a conclusion and should be enjoyable to hear. How you would like to tell the story is strictly up to you. Another good piece of advice i've been told is never put all your eggs in one basket, meaning don't lay out all your best licks and all you've got in your first solo, you want to keep the "wow-factor" strong from song to song. You want to show your soloing ability in all of your songs..
That's some of my thoughts on soloing. Developing all this is another story and is a never ending process of learning. All you have to do is just keep working at it and it will come. Just practice you left and right hand techniques and speed and remember that you play guitar by ear, not by sight. You need to develope an ear for sound and recognize sounds. If any of this helps anyone reading and would like to hear anything more i have to say, e-mail me and I would be happy to keep talking. I don't play nearly as good as a lot of these people on here and I have tons of stuff i'm still trying to learn...but I would love to give any knowledge I have thus far in my experience if it helps someone else. Most my knowledge is basic but essential i think.
Keep on'a Rockin'
-Matt
[Edited by Cedarkill on 02-13-2003 at 01:41 PM]
# 10