Solo help

I have now been playing guitar for about 4years and I consider myself and am considered by others to be a fairly good player...but, whenever I do improv solos, although I work in modes and theoretically "useable" notes, I always seem to just take runs out of scales, like for instance I will just play three notes in order, straight outta a mixolidian scale, which sounds good, but if I repeat this thing in a different modal scale, It just starts to lack melody...pls help me out, I am trying to work it in arpeggios using those same scales/modes and it sounds ok, but it still is all speed and no real melody...HELP!

Come one...35 views and not one answer, please guys, this is really frustrating me.
Just give me some tips

I think a lot of people take this as "box syndrome". Which means your stuck in the scale position and just run up and down it.

Try to learn some new licks, and don't focus so much on which notes are the right notes. The right notes are the ones that sound good.

Just because you're playing in phrygian or natural minor, doesn't mean you can't throw in a different note (chromatics) here and there. Play around with some ideas.

try to stop thinking of scales and patterns on the guitar when improvising. just listen. i bet you have heard millions of melodies in your life that where great in your ears. so just try and produce such melodies on your own. it sounds harder than it actually is. have you ever sat infront of the radio and listened to a song, and in your mind there was some sort of melody going on that seems to fit perfectly over that song.
sometimes i find myself in that situation and i think to myself "why didnt they do it that way? it would sound much cooler" - that feeling is what i use when i improvise. i know it sounds pathetic and it has been said millions of times on this board, but you gotta develop your [musical] ear. when you improvise YOU are part of the song. your feelings are transported through the notes you play. you can imagine, that there i no use in thinking of scales and patterns in that situation.

Azreal i have a question...isnt that bear the Flippy the war veteran from Happy Tree Friends????

yepp :D

Stop thinking of music from a technical standpoint.And just figure out what sounds good.Meaning don't look at scales and modes as "how much o these can I add in to make big complex solos".Look at it as each scale is a tool pull out the tools ou need to make the sounds ou want to hear.
Use your ears to listen not a book.If your haveing a problem running out of key or what not then figure what notes you need to replace to make it sound right,ut at the same time figure out what scale these"new good notes"asociate with so you can recall them on a future similar sounding chord progression.
Eventually through trial and error you'll figure out exactly what scales fit over what chord progressions.Its all expieramentation unless you plan on learning theory top to bottom and examining every chord progression our going to play over,take for instance barre power chords(5ths)no minor or major,you can be playing these but depending on how arrange them can make the solo scale minor or major.
Soloing comes from the heart it isn't a bunch of book theory strung together.Listen for what you want to hear coming out of your amp.

Randomly detune some strings... the point is to not be familiar with the tuning. How about this, for example?

Eb, A, C, G, Bb, E

Now you can't use your little mode boxes, bwahahaha!

Seriously, though, this forces you to stop using boxes and to listen to what you're playing. Solo in some weird tuning over jam tracks for like a week. When you start to figure out finger patterns, switch tunings. You have to use your ears to judge what you play, and therefore your soloing will be melodic, rather than theoretical. You'll hit a lot of sour notes at first, but when you do this for a while and then tune back normally you'll be using your ears more.

Originally posted by TheDirt
Randomly detune some strings... the point is to not be familiar with the tuning. How about this, for example?

Eb, A, C, G, Bb, E

Now you can't use your little mode boxes, bwahahaha!

Seriously, though, this forces you to stop using boxes and to listen to what you're playing. Solo in some weird tuning over jam tracks for like a week. When you start to figure out finger patterns, switch tunings. You have to use your ears to judge what you play, and therefore your soloing will be melodic, rather than theoretical. You'll hit a lot of sour notes at first, but when you do this for a while and then tune back normally you'll be using your ears more.

Dude, you are truely brigt-minded!

That's exelent! Not that "my" box-syndrom is critical, but i have a little of it...

I wud definitely go with Azrael and Guitar Sam on this.
The Modes may be a place to create melodies, but just because u can fly up and down a "box" pattern, doesn't mean u have anything meaningful.
If u really come to a loss, play back ur chords some time, and don't even have ur guitar with u. Try to hum or sing melodies, fast or slow, that sound good over them. Because wen it comes down to it, following a scale isn't important.
Notes and melodies that sound good to ur ears r important. Next, try to transfer those notes u sang onto guitar. Then u will really c ur music come alive, because it will be music u hav created.
Another trick is to listen to the pros, then derive licks that r a little different from them. I'm not a big fan of this, since it is a way of just copying licks. But of cours, most people c copying as a form of flattering. Go figure.
Try to experiment with different, sounds, tones and chord tones.
Another trick is to use different exotic scales. I think The Falcon has a site that teaches this.
Also try using classical masters music in your playing, like Yngwie Malmsteem, or guitartricks' own Azrael.
It comes down to wat sounds good to you.



-hope this helps man, rock on!


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Randy lives in me

Thanks guys, that detuning thing is weird, but I can see it working over time.
Just a response though,"copying" other guitarists is nothing to be ashamed or afraid of. I believe it was B b King who said "you gotta borrow a little".
I think it is great to be influenced by your heros, so long as you make it your own and hide you influences.

But thanks for the tips guys, I already feel a bit of progress...Please keep the tips coming.

Andrew

O i kno its nothing to be ashamed of to take licks, but you'll realize that when you come up with your own it feels a lot better to you overall. But sometimes its better to analyze sombodys solo, and learn it. and sooner or later your makin a solo that sounds similar, but not the same, and you realize it sounds prtty sik like it is. If you still r havin problems with the solos, post wat u r having trouble with, or email me at
Xcalibur910@aol.com

Andrew Sa, I understand what you mean. When I first started learning scales, I didn't know what the hell to do with them. The best thing to do is to learn other peoples solos. You can steel bits and pieces of them and put them together, eventually adding some of your own notes. All it took for me was to learn a simple minor pentatonic SRV lick. Then suddenly I knew what to do with that scale. Another thing you can try to learn what to do is hum some notes that sound good over a chord progression and then translate those to notes to guitar. Often solos are based on the melody sung over the guitar. Also, note that whether borrowing from someone else or what you have sung, make note of which scale pattern you are using to solo. This will help you when improvising.

Yep, however, I think the problem is not that I dont know what to do with scales, or that I dont know my scales well enough.
I think I probably knwo them too well and therefore my improv passages become mechanic, but it is improving, thanks guys...you know when you have a session and afterwards you actually feel improvement, that happened, I love that feeling.

Ya me 2....... now that you have foundwhta your problem is, your improvement should be coming along alot better, just ask if you need nemore help....
keep rockin'......