solo tricks

can some one help me with my solos.


i like to play solos by scales and stuff but i dont know cool tricks for speeding it up


please help!!!

Sometimes i will just make finger excersies or take something i've heard in a song and i use that to pratice speeding up my playing. Like this:

|-7--------7--------9------------9-------------|
|--8------8-8------8-10--------10-10--------10-|
|---7----7---7----7----9------9-----9------9---|
|----9--9-----9--9------11--11-------11--11----|
|-----10-------10---------12-----------12------|
|----------------------------------------------|

^ that lick looks familiar to me now, i have no idea what its from though.
So i'll practice that above for like 5 mintues at different speeds.
You could also listen to some of your favorite guitar solo's that involve a decent amount of speed. And figure out what finger action they are using ,ie: slides, hammer-ons, pull off's , bends, etc.

Arpeggios make for good practice as well for spicing upo a solo. It may lead you into combinations you might havent thought of before


You said you use alot of scales, one thing you could do you make the solo richer, or fancier is change the key acorrding to the song, then you could change scales easily, and you wont be so limited. Also practice your scales in various intervals (thirds, fourths, etc) in every scales degree.

Also remember to use alternate picking. I see alot of players only down picking, you can only go so fast doing that.


Once you start doing things to get your speed up, it will grow in spurts, and then maybe plateo for a little while.

I'm sure some of the big guys here will have better advice for you :)

okay there are millions of tricks to help speed you up. easiest to get speed up is legato (just hammer ons an pull offs) one solo that helped me massively was the first real solo i ever learnt! (this discounts the cough"solo"cough from teen spirit by nirvana)any way this solo is from Heartbreaker by Led Zepplin. it only really uses pentatonics but it taught me about finding the hammer ons and pull off tricks that are easy to pick up but can be very quick, its stuff like.
e--
b--
g--5 p 2 p 0 repeat (if wanted)
d--
after the first pick you just hammer on an pull off without picking at all. very easy to get speed with. (the key for that is A by the way)
or another legato trick again from heartbreaker
e--------------
b--5-h-8-p-5--- repeat (if wanted)
g---------------7-
d--------------
if you get your little finger movin quick enough these things are very easy an very quick pentatonic licks that can be used in all rock situations. an as it really isnt technical you should be able to remeber it an play it quite easily. can be played quite a few times over or used once as a quick flurry in an otherwise slower solo. but remember theres nothin quite like legato for gettin some very easy very fast solos!

[Edited by jimmi431 on 02-08-2004 at 10:41 AM]

Hmmmm, tricks eh? How about some legatto string-skipping?

Legatto string-skipping is a really cool exercise to warm-up your fretting hand, and more importantly, provides a great technique to implement in your tunes. If executed properly, string-skipping creates a very intervalic sound and is great for pentatonic stuff (And if you're feeling really ambitious, try alternate-picking string-skipping. That's a challenge at high speeds).

Here's a string-skipping lick in E:

E |---------------------------------p-7-h-10-h-12----------
B |--------------------------------------------------------
G |-----------------p-7-h-9-h-12---------------------------
D |--------------------------------------------------------
A |-p-7-h-10 h-12------------------------------------------
E |--------------------------------------------------------

Try descending as well. If you really want a challenge, try a diminished (ie. using wide-fretted intervals ;)) string-skipping riff with alternate picking.

That'll keep your fingers busy. Use a metronome.

I agree with him try learning the legato.. it would improve your speed in playing

Yes legato is a good idea....

But remember to start slow!!!
Why you ask?
When you practice a lick or scale over and over your brain memorizes it....
But if you start off trying to play it wicked fast, you most likely make mistakes and then your brain memorizes those flaws.....
Eventually you don't even notice that your playing is sloppy because your brain thinks that its supposed to be like that....

If you start off slow and clean, you probably will notice mistakes (and not make as many)
If you keep repeating it slow then it will be locked in your brain the right way.... then you can start speeding it up.... gradually increase the speed... so then it doesn't seem to hard... but before you know it your playing very fast.... and almost perfect too!
I reccomend a metronome to help with this....
ggod luck