Technique on making solos?

  • Thread starter Thread starter myhatbroke
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Ohh, I like that. One of my more recent solos that I'm quite proud of uses that kind of thing. I start by adding a few pinch harmonics and other stereotype teenage guitarist things into the song's main riff, then break into a few bars of nice bluesy stuff, before taking the main melody in a tapping riff, then after the solo the whole band goes into a great riff so everybody just thinks 'oh, a solo with some tapping' then forgets about it - I'm not really a fan of solo's, especially shred (or attempts at it), but I felt that particular song needed it.
 
myhatbroke said:
Is there a technique anyone has to come up with a solo? I can play pretty fast but I'm horrible at improvising. Anyway to improve this? I assume its an "ear" thing. So how??? is the question...
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Yep, follow the chords.
 
myhatbroke said:
I have no clue about scales and notes and all that. :(
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You just answered your own question.

Oh and starting from this post you lost all of that shred of credibility you kind of had when you posted 'your recordings'. Your wits continue to amaze me.
 
Anomaly Design said:
You just answered your own question.

Oh and starting from this post you lost all of that shred of credibility you kind of had when you posted 'your recordings'. Your wits continue to amaze me.
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Agreed.

While a few of players can get by on feel alone (no knowledge of theory), it's usually a wise idea to know some. Get a book on music theory and study it from cover to cover. Trust me, it will take you into brand new territory.
 
Dont think ...

Unless Im playing a solo that is in a cover , which can be easy or difficult depending on the song , I dont think ...It is easeir for me to not think , if I think , I'll f**k it up ...just me .But then you have to have learned all the stuff then forget it ... makes no sense , but there is no "sense in nonsense" (art of noise)... :eek:
 
Quite a few of the solos I record aren't actually improvised. Once I have recorded the rhythm guitars, bass and drum and whatnot, I play it back and improv over it quite a few times until I find some phrases that work well with it. It all subjective though. I will generally improvise if the music has a kind of bluesy feel to it, because of my style of playing. I guess my my improv leads sound more hendrixy than kirk hammet or whatever, and that doesn't always work too well if I'm playing metal. I also like to give them a very melodic feel, so this way I know I will be 100% happy with the end product.

This way the solo becomes like a tune within a tune. I find with a lot of the wankery that goes on these days, some of the solos aren't particularly memorable. I like to make solos that will stick in the listeners mind.

At the end of the day, to me its all about bringing the parts to together to make something that is the sum of the parts. The solo is just another part of the tune that adds to the overall feel of the tune. I'm no virtuoso so its all about sitting down and finding out what works well.

I'm not sure if that how people would normally do things, or if most solos are just improvised on the spot, but this way works for me...
 
I have played ONE solo in my life. Posted the rally on mp3mixing while ago just for laughs, well the song contains four solos... ANYway.. I too like to make a "gadget" of some sort in the solos, playing basslines somehow thaught me to make my own melodies within, or behind the guitar-riffing. Guitarsolos are just not within or behind but in front of riffing. But a slower solo is much like a bassline...imho. :confused:

I actually sit at home, and play same kind of melodies with bass or guitar on top of radiosongs. High pitch of the git just allows more shit in lesser time. :D

If I was to learn soloing, I'd learn the pentatonic and minor scales, (some major) and sit in front of radio or a cd-player.

Then just learn to find the key the particular song is played in by EAR, and start to develop melodies on top of songs. Radio gives more variety..

Then, when that comes naturally I'd increase speed and start applying licks and arpeggios and shreds or whatever... This is where I dropped training, so became a bassplayer. :rolleyes:
 
solo's

learn everything you can....... a few years ago i was in your position i could play some cool licks and could even play a few solos that i learned from the cd's.. but when it came time to improvise i was lost..... so i took lessons i learned every thing my mind could hold .. major scales minor scales modes chord structure invertions etc... but what helped me the most was the pentatonic scales minor/major once you learn those when it comes time to improvise you can close your eyes tilt your head back and solo for hours...practice you can get a dvd or a book or lessons.... either will improve you.... especialy if you have a good feel for your guitar...
 
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