With seven years and two degrees from Berklee (not to mention another 7 years of studying music before that), I would say I have a pretty damn good idea of how to master many things.
It doesn't change a damn thing. I know enough about harmony and melodic theory to understand that what it all comes down to is you can play any damn note you want at any time, and if you have played them all enough, you will know what it is going to say before you even play it, and you don't even need to think in terms of "scales" or "modes" or any of the other constructs we invent to make it easier to make music.
I'll tell you what, show me one chops guy who can write a riff as solid as Dave Grohl (Everlong, anybody, or My Hero?) or Kurt Cobain (Even if he had never written anything but Smells like Teen Spirit, he would have changed popular music for the better), not to mention Eric Bazilian (check out Joan Osborne's Relish, which is not only one of the best vocal records ever made, but also probably the best single guitar record of the nineties).
On the whole, solos in rock and roll suck, because that is not what rock and roll is about. Sometimes they can fit, but as often as not they just suck. Most rock players can't express themselves over anything more complicated than a blues change, which is fine, but it cuts off a whole range of expression. If you want great solos, listen to the great jazz guys, like Pat Metheny or John McLaughlin, or get away from the guitar and listen to Miles, `Train, Jaco, or Monk. Those guys can say something, and some times they use a lot of notes, other times they just play a couple (Miles had better chops than just about any trumpet player ever, but you would almost never hear him use them).
Now THAT'S comedy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh yeah, and I don't think that Mark Knopfler has played a bad note in his life. Damn he is good.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
