Members Mike LX-R Posted December 3, 2012 Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 That's more what I was getting at. Of course most guitarists like guitar solos. but is it still an essential part of what is "rock music" on a larger scale? Like in the 60's - 80's you wouldn't have a hit rock song without a guitar solo and good soloists were held in high regard not only by guitar players but by rock audiences in general.... I think audiences feel like they've heard it already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yarbicus Posted December 3, 2012 Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 {censored} melody; play solos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elder Things Posted December 3, 2012 Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 I'm in the "ok when adding to the music" group. I tend to think about this topic a lot when I'm listening to jazz or writing. On one hand it is entertaining to see someone slashing live. On the other hand the soloing can be egotistic, detrimental to song development/flow, or flat out bad. I think a lot of jazz becomes draining to me because rather than hearing new directions in a song, the arrangements tend to follow artists taking turns showing off over a set of changes. IMO the best solos in any genre are the solos that have a message and flow seamlessly in a song because they are a part of the song. I think focusing on maintaining a lot of reference to the song's melodic line rather than attempting Steve Vai can help keep things relevant. tl;dr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Krank'N Posted December 3, 2012 Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 The best musicians follow their hearts and not trends. Pop music (trends) is generally shallow and by its nature always sounds dated in retrospect. Its like a line of dogs sniffing each others a-holes. Not playing a solo cuz its the fashion is as stoopid as having to play "freebird" repeatedly. Play sincerely and others will get it. BTW Billy its"relevant" heeheh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundgardener75 Posted December 3, 2012 Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 Originally Posted by Yarbicus {censored} rhythm; play lead! FIXED Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike LX-R Posted December 3, 2012 Members Share Posted December 3, 2012 Originally Posted by Yarbicus {censored} melody; play solos! {censored} rhythm; play drums! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JerEvil Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 {censored}, guitar solos will ALWAYS be cool!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newholland Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by guitarbilly74 I didn't think I had to define what guitar solo is to a forum full of guitar players.... a solo is a solo, you all should know what it is... its the part of the song where the guitar takes over the voice as the lead melody. Whether there are 10 or 10,000 notes on that part is irrelevant, it's still a solo. So is there a limit to what you should play? How many notes separate soloing from wanking? That's highly subjective IMHO. For example, is the first half of the Hotel California solo wanking? It's all pentatonic playing until the harmonized guitar parts... What about.. say "Cowboys From hell"? Highly technical, yet very memorable. Actually, for the most part people will call wanking something they don't like - or can't play (not you necessarily just in general). i know what a solo IS-- but a neil young guitar solo isn't an yngwie malmsteen epic. i mean, {censored}.. one note 'shake it' solos and noodlies are qualitatively different. what matters is that they fit the song. if you threw some bombastic wankery into a placid tune-- 'course it's gonna sound stupid. far as i'm concerned 'well played' ONLY fits context. but- what about when you start a song with some simple guitar riff. it's basically a guitar playing without the band. is it a solo, or is it an intro? technically-- it's a solo. but it doesn't have the nerve to call it that. sounds to me, you're practically making the case for every solo to be a cadenza, which i wouldn't stand up for.. {censored} that. there's nothing WRONG with solos-- but there is something most decidedly r-tar-dee about a friggin cadenza everyplace.. that's pure ego stroking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mesa/Kramer Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 They became much less fasionable in the early 90's when grunge emerged. And became pretty much non-existent from the mid-90s to the early 2000's. They have been very much back in fashion since then. Bands that never played solos started to and a whole new "shred revival" has Taken place since. Even the whole "guitar hero" games helped to make them cool again. You might want to let your friend know about these things called DVD's to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Neilrocks25 Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 I think the big 20 minute wanking solo's are dead yes. But small 10 second solo's are ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ovid9 Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by Sixtonoize I'd say that if you're more interested in being fashionable than making music, then the quote is dead on. OTOH, I can respect a mother{censored}er who can play his ass off, but chooses not to. But in my experience, that's a rare find. Originally Posted by LoopQuantum I don't think a song needs a solo, but I think some solos are the best part of the song. These things. I'm not a fan of lots of solos, like, most of the 80s stuff does nothing for me. But really good solos that fit a song, those sound awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Slaymoar Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Meh.. solos will be obsolete so it'll be cool to do them again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Anomaly Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by guitarbilly74 That's more what I was getting at. Of course most guitarists like guitar solos. but is it still an essential part of what is "rock music" on a larger scale? Like in the 60's - 80's you wouldn't have a hit rock song without a guitar solo and good soloists were held in high regard not only by guitar players but by rock audiences in general.... Damn straight. And I miss that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members codecontra Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Imagine Comfortably Numb or Stairway to Heaven without the solos. {censored}, there are a ton of songs that come immediately to mind that would not be half as memorable without the solos.I think they people got burned out due to the 80's wankery and the guitar solo never fully recovered. Love to see it make a comeback though as long as it was tastefully done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members buddhapaugh Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 It seems like "rock music" featuring guitar is on the outs right now as far as popular music goes (where everything from Taylor Swift to Hip-Hop and EDM are the rage). Can you imagine that time when AC/DC's Black album and Metallica's Black album both were huge pop hits and topped the charts? Seems like a lifetime ago in some ways. In the meantime, we keep practicing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johnny Two Tone Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Dude, we already tried making solos a "aged" thing. It was called Nu-Metal. Everyone came to hate it and we all agreed we were wrong about solos. Now we have them again.The end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members buddhapaugh Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Guitar solos sound like crap on iPods. Coincidence??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members buddhapaugh Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Does anyone else get the question, "Do you play rhythm or lead?" when someone discovers you play guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundgardener75 Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by buddhapaugh Does anyone else get the question, "Do you play rhythm or lead?" when someone discovers you play guitar? More like: Oh you play guitar? You play acoustic, or lead? I wonder if it's because I look Mexican Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RaceU4her Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by Mesa/Kramer They became much less fasionable in the early 90's when grunge emerged.And became pretty much non-existent from the mid-90s to the early 2000's.They have been very much back in fashion since then.Bands that never played solos started to and a whole new "shred revival" has Taken place since.Even the whole "guitar hero" games helped to make them cool again.You might want to let your friend know about these things called DVD's to. most of my favorite solos come from the early 90s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeadNight Warrior Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 If the solo serves the song, go for it. If you're soloing just for the sake of getting in some wank, but it doesn't add anything much to the song, then yeah, it's pointless. I think that's the only "out of fasion" part of it; people made a bit of a deal about getting away from the "obligatory" wank solo like every 80s rock song had regardless of whether or not it was appropriate. But automatically going to the other extreme of just never having solos isn't necessarily the way either. Sometimes a song needs a little something in there to build it up or bring it down or whatever, and sometimes that is best achieved with a tasty guitar solo. It shouldn't have anything to do with being in fashion. It should be about what the song needs. It'd be like going, "Chords are so overdone. They're in every {censored}ing song. I'm only gonna play single note stuff now." WTF mate? Do whatever the {censored} you want, but sometimes {censored} just needs chords. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members primeholy Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 I used to feel this way when I wanted to play leads but couldnt. Now I feel this way when I cant get in the groove of a song for a solo. I can see where he is coming from though. Pear Jam Vitalogy didnt have many leads in it, and I liked it for that. But as said before, some songs dont need them, and some songs do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miter Gauge Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by guitarbilly74 ...actually they went out of fashion around the same time" A friend of mine just told me that. Agree or disagree? I'm in between "disagree" and "agree but don't care" To me it depends on the song. I guess I'm getting old but these days I'm more interested in the song as a whole than I am using a song as vehicle to show off guitar playing. If the song needs a solo put a solo in there, if it doesn't then don't. Not a very good answer was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RUExp? Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by soundgardener75 Some of the grunge wannabes and nu metal bands were doing that. Solos have their place, and just like everything else, overuse brings disastrous results, hence the "wankfest" terminology. Depends on the band I suppose. Hell, even Kurt Cobain played guitar solos. Although his were more anti-solo guitar solos but a lot of Nirvana songs just wouldn't be quite the same without them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miter Gauge Posted December 4, 2012 Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 Originally Posted by buddhapaugh Does anyone else get the question, "Do you play rhythm or lead?" when someone discovers you play guitar? I've honestly never had anyone ask me that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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