Guitar solo performance

[XLR]

No body has mentioned it yet, but how about Classical Gas? Eric Claptons version doesn't have backing instuments, and It is a tiny bit more exiting than the original. I you wanna know, the original was done by Mason Williams.

Good idea if the OP wants to play it on a nylon string. Don't know why but I got the impression he was going to do an electric solo.

Tim

 

[c7sus]

Mason Williams' Classical Gas.

 

[DogFood]

+1 for the Metallica suggestion. Lots of guitar athletics involved. If you tame the sound you may be able to pass it off as pseudo classical. Fade to Black is my suggestion.

 

[metalhead28]

Jason Becker?

 

[TelePaul]

Well, the one I mentioned is for a solo instrument. A duo or trio might do a Brandenburg Concerto, and they've been done that way by classical guitarists before... not sure a reduction for soloist would work too well.

Cool I havnt heard that, its cool you're into classical.

 

[Henry Mars]

Guitar Boogie Shuffle or somthing by Al Ciola or Duane Eddy
I know Link Wray ....... Rumble

 

[Valley Arts Kid]

How about a 12 bar blues in G, with lots of chord substitutions and embellishments. Use a bunch of nines, raised nines, flat 5/raised 9's, 13's, a bunch of half steps into and out of chord changes, etc. Can be easy to execute but really impressive.

 

[Treeline]

Are you limited to any one genre or instrument?

If you're looking for solo stuff, I'd echo Martin Taylor for jazz chordal soloing. Joe Pass made a series of solo albums called the Virtuoso series. That stuff is incredible.

Another artist to look for is Kenny Burrell. He generally played with backing artists, but he had one solo album as I remember; nylon stringed jazz; it was wonderful stuff.

If you can do steel string fingerstyle or avant garde playing styles, check out some of Laurence Juber's stuff. For tapping and percussion techniques, look for Preston Reed. That'll keep you busy...

 

[legionserial]

I always find Metallicas "Four Horsemen" to be fun to play and good for a bit of showing off...

 

[killthepixelnow]

This one is kinda easy if you practice, and it's pretty itnereting to perform.

"Always with me, always with you" from Joe Satriani

Wanna something more chellenging? Try any Necrophagist song ("Stabwound" kick ass)

 

[Henry Mars]

You might want to smoke 'em with Giant Steps.
How about somthing from "Kinda Blue". Like Four or mabey So What. Easy to play classics that sound cool.

 

[Druw]

Comfortably Numb or Shine on You crazy Diamond

 

[32-20-Blues]

Solo electric?

Albatross, Fleetwood Mac, written by Peter Green. It has everything - subtle chord voicings, pedal notes, and a full sound for a solo instrument. Seriously, this never fails to impress. Just substitute the bass guitar notes for a 'dead thumb' approach on the open A string.

Or, go down the Davey Graham/Bert Jansch route and arrange a traditional tune for fingerstyle or flat-picked steel string.

Essentially, just find a tune you are comfortable with, no matter how simple, and play it to the best of your ability. With a bit of thought, a 3 chord progression sounds great.

Best of luck, and keep us informed.