Jump to content
HAPPY NEW YEAR, TO ALL OUR HARMONY CENTRAL FORUMITES AND GUESTS!! ×

Solos have no mojo


Deek

Recommended Posts

  • Members
Posted

I have been playing for 4 years. I play jazz and blues. Right now, I am mainly playing jazz. I know all of my basic scales and modes. (major, minor, lydian, mixolydian, phrygian, etc...)

 

I am currently playing with a small quartet and we are generally doing stuff from the real book. I love doing solos cuz' i get my few minutes of fame in the spotlight. But the problem is... my solos sound boring. They sound like I am just running up and down the scales. They musically lacking. They just don't sounds right. Could this just be because I am only now beginning to play with other people? Help me out here! I need my solos to get better!

Posted

Well, one thing you might find to help your solos is phrasing. Phrasing is about where you start a line, what you do with the line, and most importantly how and where you end the line. Too many players just keep steamrolling through a piece and don't take breaks. It's like reading sentances without periods. The typical phrase is 4 bars long, but you can experiment with different numbers. Pick 4 bars of a tune, and within those, create a contour. Maybe play an ascending line, maybe a descending, or an arc, or an intverted arc.. whatever.

The other factor that will really give your solos a kick is rhythm. Nothing is more boring than lines of constant eighth notes. Throw in lots of synchopations, play hemiolas (patterns that imply a different meter/feel). Try double time licks (sixteenth notes instead of eights).

Lastly, try playing around with motifs. Play a short musical idea of just a couple notes. Repeat it but change it a little. Maybe add a note or two, or tweak the rhythm, or move everything up a scale degree or two. Try to keep expanding apon an idea and take it somewhere. Don't move onto a new idea until you really feel you've done all you can with the first one.

  • Members
Posted

A few years back I was in the same "rut" where everything I played sounded like scalar passages and was musically uninteresting. 2 things I did helped me out of that phase:

#1 Listen to other styles of music than you normally play (played by great musicians of course)

#2 Forget about what your fingers want to play and listen to what you hear in your head (and heart), then find it on the fretboard and play it

What Poparad said is also very helpful. I especially agree with the concept of not playing boring constant rhythms when soloing (unless it just happens to fit a particular tune or two).

  • Members
Posted

Originally posted by Robotechnology

#2 Forget about what your fingers want to play ...

 

 

this is very important: often we do some phrasing that is just comfortable to our fingering. try to stop and find any "unusual" path.

 

another thing, try picking the same note not just one time in scale progressions.. for instance: you can fill one interval with two same notes of 1/2 of the duration instead of one.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...