myhatbroke
Cocktacular Member
I play guitar but sometimes it's hard for me to come up with a solo. Anyone have a technique. The thing is that I can play pretty fast but I suck horribly at improvising. Is there a way to improve this?
bigwillz24
New member
Uhmmm.... play?
myhatbroke
Cocktacular Member
damn! i didnt mean to post it here. gee thx dude 
bigwillz24
New member
myhatbroke said:damn! i didnt mean to post it here. gee thx dude
You're welcome glad to be of some assistance.
grn
Well-known member
learn scales and arpeggios, then find out what key your song is in, then have fun
fraserhutch
Flypaper for freaks
And Listen, learn, emulate, experiment.grn said:
demensia
www.lukemacneil.com
Play with others, often. Especially ones that are better than you.
Start learning a few patterns, pentatonic scales and what not, and then when that tires you, hit up some theory. Learn why some notes sound good and some don't, that way you'll never run out of patterns.
- Luke.
Start learning a few patterns, pentatonic scales and what not, and then when that tires you, hit up some theory. Learn why some notes sound good and some don't, that way you'll never run out of patterns.
- Luke.
M
mikeh
New member
All of the above is good advice. Cetainly knowing scales (at least a few of the common ones (major, minor, " blues", pentatonic) will help you understand what notes will work. Playing a lot will alow you to move more freely around the fretboard. Playing with a lot of other people will expose you to different techniques, styles and musical genres - and allow you to ask questions, learn and when appropriate - steal licks.
I'll share something I learned early on. When I learned keys and later guitar (I'm mainly a drummer) I sepnt a lot of time playing solos around basic three chord (I-IV-V) songs until I could create some fundamental solos in the major keys (the nice about guitar is that many "block form" solos are easy to move from key to key). I then worked on 4 chords (I-vi-IV-V) in those same keys. Then I worked on minor key solos (Im-IVm-Vm).
Candidly, if you can solo behind a basic 3 chosrd structure - you can come up with a solo (maybe with a few adaptations) for almost any song as long as you know the key. Even more complicated songs are often built around a basic core of the I-IV-V structure (often with the ii and vi in there somewhere)
I learned how to solo over 3 and 4 chords long before I fully understood scales and modes - but later as I studied more theory - suddenly I understood why the solos worked.
I'll share something I learned early on. When I learned keys and later guitar (I'm mainly a drummer) I sepnt a lot of time playing solos around basic three chord (I-IV-V) songs until I could create some fundamental solos in the major keys (the nice about guitar is that many "block form" solos are easy to move from key to key). I then worked on 4 chords (I-vi-IV-V) in those same keys. Then I worked on minor key solos (Im-IVm-Vm).
Candidly, if you can solo behind a basic 3 chosrd structure - you can come up with a solo (maybe with a few adaptations) for almost any song as long as you know the key. Even more complicated songs are often built around a basic core of the I-IV-V structure (often with the ii and vi in there somewhere)
I learned how to solo over 3 and 4 chords long before I fully understood scales and modes - but later as I studied more theory - suddenly I understood why the solos worked.
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dementedchord
Psychotic State alumni ch
$.02
taking things imperically... it's been proven time and again... that first one requires an operable and well maintained fedora... back in the school daze i was a theory comp major so one would expect me to agree with all the scales and chordal aproaches normally flung about and i do ... but i suspect our precocious fellow might (or should) be looking for something alttle more....
the argument against theory is you "construct" instead of playing from the heart/by ear... not without merit but really an excuse not to do your homework... try speaking french without studying some vocabulary...
how many guitar players does it take to play a solo??? everyone knows 10
and the reason the other 9 can feel so confident is they already have many times over... in their mind... and thats the key... and everyone here can sing things that they hear in there head (no quibbleing about quality) why? because they're not limited by their own technique we just sing... (within reason) so how do we remove that block between head and hands??? simple Dementedchords Technique... i'll take credit for it only because i can't remember where i got it and it probably predates Bach anyway...
sing the line as you play... not that bigga deal eh?? i dont think so either..
but not as easy as it sounds on the face of it... go ahead and try... you'll only get better ... moneyback garronnteeed
taking things imperically... it's been proven time and again... that first one requires an operable and well maintained fedora... back in the school daze i was a theory comp major so one would expect me to agree with all the scales and chordal aproaches normally flung about and i do ... but i suspect our precocious fellow might (or should) be looking for something alttle more....
the argument against theory is you "construct" instead of playing from the heart/by ear... not without merit but really an excuse not to do your homework... try speaking french without studying some vocabulary...
how many guitar players does it take to play a solo??? everyone knows 10
and the reason the other 9 can feel so confident is they already have many times over... in their mind... and thats the key... and everyone here can sing things that they hear in there head (no quibbleing about quality) why? because they're not limited by their own technique we just sing... (within reason) so how do we remove that block between head and hands??? simple Dementedchords Technique... i'll take credit for it only because i can't remember where i got it and it probably predates Bach anyway...
sing the line as you play... not that bigga deal eh?? i dont think so either..
but not as easy as it sounds on the face of it... go ahead and try... you'll only get better ... moneyback garronnteeed
demensia
www.lukemacneil.com
dementedchord said:
No arguing with that... If one actually did that, it would improve playing, ear training, and singing. One could take it a step further and sing a scale in intervals.. 2nds, 3rds, 4ths... etc.
Free vocal excercise while you practice guitar.
B
Bluester
New member
Listen until you know and can play the melody of the tune. From there, branch out, support, emulate and enhance the melody. That way your solo will have meaning with regard to the tune. Hope this helps....
S
sweetpeee
New member
dementedchord said:
an excuse for not doing your homework? Hmmm...I guess it depends on what one considers "homework"....Segovia and DiMeola did, but SRV and Django did not.
D
dementedchord
Psychotic State alumni ch
sweetpeee said:an excuse for not doing your homework? Hmmm...I guess it depends on what one considers "homework"....Segovia and DiMeola did, but SRV and Django did not.
my my my ... if by homework you mean "go to school" then perhaps it's true for srv/django... but if you think for one moment that django could keep up with the likes of grappelli without doing his homework who's kiddin who here... and why is it that people have to rack their brains trying to find the "exception"??? because they need yet another excuse to not do their homework....
now i've been doing this a long time... first payed gig was in the 7th grade 40 yrs ago... and it aint been all pretty but i can say unequivically that the best of the bunch were those that did their homework... and given my druthers i'ld choose to play "covers" of say larry carlton than another hack version of gimme three steps... YMMV
K
KaveKong
Banned
Hum a merry tune.
I can't believe nobody said this before.
Sing or hum your solo.
Think about it. All great solos can usually be hummed. Hotel California is a perfect example. Right now, if you think about it, you can hum the guitar solos to Hotel California.
Am I right?
That's what I do. I'm the world's worst guitar player in a technical sense. So slow and sloppy. Rarely creative. Most my creativity comes out of my head, so I grab a mic and hum a solo. Then, I learn it on my guitar and I'm stoked. I fix it up here and there, throw a few effects on and I'm good to go.
The best guitar solos (and riffs, like Seek and Destroy from Metallica or Crazy On You by Heart) are ones that you can sing or hum.
Speed doesn't mean squat, because 99% of the listeners don't know good guitar playing.
They just know good songs.
I can't believe nobody said this before.
Sing or hum your solo.
Think about it. All great solos can usually be hummed. Hotel California is a perfect example. Right now, if you think about it, you can hum the guitar solos to Hotel California.
Am I right?
That's what I do. I'm the world's worst guitar player in a technical sense. So slow and sloppy. Rarely creative. Most my creativity comes out of my head, so I grab a mic and hum a solo. Then, I learn it on my guitar and I'm stoked. I fix it up here and there, throw a few effects on and I'm good to go.
The best guitar solos (and riffs, like Seek and Destroy from Metallica or Crazy On You by Heart) are ones that you can sing or hum.
Speed doesn't mean squat, because 99% of the listeners don't know good guitar playing.
They just know good songs.
S
sweetpeee
New member
by homework I mean exactly what I wrote Django and SRV both could not read music and didn't know theory beyond the basics (chords). If your into burrying your nose in a book learning neapolitan minor scales, hungarian scales and disecting the harmonic series to try to explain what you're hearing in your ears, that's one form of homework, getting a command of your instrument by constanly playing until you can play at the speed of thought (or feeling) is another form of homework. I don't think one is any better than another and I too, have been doing this for a number of years. I, and I am asuming you have also, use both to some degree. I don't know how many people here constantly read chord charts for studio work, but I'm betting it's probably not a high number.
It took me two seconds to name two great guitarists that don't know theory, and I could add to that list easily.Do you have to rack your braind to come up with guitarists that didn't study theory???? Hate to burst your bubble here, but if we are talking specifically about guitar...the history of guitar, guitarists that know theory are the "exception" not the rule and they usually end up playing classical or jazz, which in the vast genre of guitar based music, hold only a small fraction.
jmo...ymmv
M
MrStitch
New member
Wow... I think we all need to step back and answer the original question here.
He wanted to know how to improvise a solo of his own. The first answer was correct... find the key. This is an obvious area that I need work on. In fact, while I'm here... what the hell is a key anyways? I can feel/hear it... but I don't know how to type it here.
Next, our young aspiring student wants to play better. After all, he's going to hear a really cool solo in his head, and needs the skill to lay it to the board. This will take some time, but the best approach that I found - Find a song that you really like, and would also love to play. Make sure it's a tough one. Then get the music, and start learning to play with the CD. Of course... you're going to suck ass at first, but I gaurantee that, slowly over time, you'll notice massive improvement.
What kind of music do you play? Maybe I could help dig something up for ya?
He wanted to know how to improvise a solo of his own. The first answer was correct... find the key. This is an obvious area that I need work on. In fact, while I'm here... what the hell is a key anyways? I can feel/hear it... but I don't know how to type it here.
Next, our young aspiring student wants to play better. After all, he's going to hear a really cool solo in his head, and needs the skill to lay it to the board. This will take some time, but the best approach that I found - Find a song that you really like, and would also love to play. Make sure it's a tough one. Then get the music, and start learning to play with the CD. Of course... you're going to suck ass at first, but I gaurantee that, slowly over time, you'll notice massive improvement.
What kind of music do you play? Maybe I could help dig something up for ya?
myhatbroke
Cocktacular Member
I play metalMrStitch said:
easlern
Boredom artist
FWIW, here's my two cents. Do what Mr. Stitch said and learn existing solos. In my own experience, learning All Along the Watchtower and Hey Joe gave me enough licks to rip off that I could start doing my own stuff. Of course, in time you should vary them and come up with enough of your own material to sound original. To offer a technical answer to your question, though, I'd say learn at least the pentatonic, and play around on that with some occasional bends and hammers until some licks jump out at you; that scale is very versatile in rock. You could learn your own scales through experimentation like somebody previously said, but with all due respect to the poster, I think that would be a waste of time. I would also say the solo's "melody?" and the rhythm's accompaniment to the solo is more important than speed. That's why I prefer a rediculously simple but expressive Nirvana "solo" to the mindless arpeggiated double-taps of a Van Halen tune. YMMV. And now I'm going to hide in my BBS bomb shelter!
Of course, in time you should vary them and come up with enough of your own material to sound original. To offer a technical answer to your question, though, I'd say learn at least the pentatonic, and play around on that with some occasional bends and hammers until some licks jump out at you; that scale is very versatile in rock. You could learn your own scales through experimentation like somebody previously said, but with all due respect to the poster, I think that would be a waste of time. I would also say the solo's "melody?" and the rhythm's accompaniment to the solo is more important than speed. That's why I prefer a rediculously simple but expressive Nirvana "solo" to the mindless arpeggiated double-taps of a Van Halen tune. YMMV. And now I'm going to hide in my BBS bomb shelter!
TelePaul
J to the R O C
myhatbroke said:
Get an MP3/Discman and put it through the CD in of your amp (if your amp doesnt have one, play next to a stereo). Chances are you'll be able to play along to alot of the stuff anyways, coz theyre songs you like. But try and identify the key the songs in...I do this by running through a few pentatonics, and now i can just tell. After a cuple of days youll be able to run through phrases.
The most important thing about a solo is what is goes over...you can really complement a song by phrasing tastefully.
B
BitchyKitty
**** you
myhatbroke said:
I didnt know they had solos in metal music.....