Members MetGuitar123 Posted February 5, 2004 Members Posted February 5, 2004 Ok So I know some solos, got a lead guitar book and doing those exercises, I have a decent amount of speed and accuracy, and I know some scales, but when soloing to rhythm what can I do to give me more options during solos? Learn more scales? Or should i go through each note (chord) in the rhythm and find a scale in that key? I havent got much into theory, not knowing exactly all that it holds, im guessing matching chords with soloing patterns and vise versa? I mean I know there are more than one way to solo to the same chord progression, right? Would getting into theory help me at all? Basically what I want to achieve would be to listen to a rhythm part, and have a good amount of options of where to go with the solo and not limit myself to one.What would help?
Members djmojo Posted February 5, 2004 Members Posted February 5, 2004 What do you mean by more options? you could make infinite solos just sticking to the pentatonic scales... but you can also do what you mentioned... for each chord you can change scales to fit it... or play all in one scale and then change scales to create some tension, some musical unease, and then resolve back using the original scale experiment with whole tone scale... and diminished scales... depending on what kind of music you are playing of course.
Members Joe Merlino Posted February 5, 2004 Members Posted February 5, 2004 I found that for me, thinking in terms of chords rather than scales really opened things up. So for example, if the chord is A7, think of it as an A13 chord, rather than the A Mixolydian scale. They're really the same thing, but thinking of it in terms of chord tones gives you a lot of options since you can raise or lower certain chord tones, or use substitute chords.
Members bdemon Posted February 5, 2004 Members Posted February 5, 2004 Jeez, there ain't one answer to that one, but some stuff I've thrown at my students:1. Study rhythms. Get a basic drum book (that MI Sightsinging book also has some great rhythm exercises) and practice simple quarter/eighth note patterns, moving on to 16th note patterns and so on. Some of them will seem cheesy and/or tedious, but five minutes a day will put some of those patterns into long term memory and bring some great rhythm to your playing.2. Learn one or two measures of a Guitar God's solo. Or the whole solo if ya want, but I find learning a random measure of, say, Satch's "Flying in a Blue Dream" gives me at least a couple new ideas to exploit.3. Get some jam tracks and start playing! Hey, you can get some at my website, www.keith-moore.net. Yeah, shameless plug.Keith
Members MetGuitar123 Posted February 5, 2004 Author Members Posted February 5, 2004 Hey thanks for the advice, I guess what I meant by options would be more ideas or what have you, because although on different positions on the neck I seem to be doing the same types of bends and patterns, would getting a scale book give me some more to work with? Which would you reccomend?Thanks
Members Little Dreamer Posted February 8, 2004 Members Posted February 8, 2004 It sounds like your problem might be that you're playing licks, and you're just moving around playing about the same thing. My advice would be to concentrate more on melodies. Forget bends and hammer ons etc., and just play some notes that really create a sort of theme over the rhythm. All you have to do is slow down a bit and really listen to the rhythm part, then come up with some sort of melody to accompany it. Once you've got that melodic thinking in place, you can add your licks to spice it up and make a guitar solo out of it. But without strong melodic ideas that are derived from the piece of music you're playing over, all your solos will sound pretty much the same.
Members copperhead Posted February 19, 2004 Members Posted February 19, 2004 You've asked a simple question to which there is no simple answer. Imagine taking painting lessons, and opening your paints and getting the canvas ready, and then aksing one of the great masters: Tell me how you create a masterpiece. I'm using the same paints, I see the same model, I know how to draw. I've read where people looked at Eddie Van Halen's equipment or Hendrix's equipment, thinking they would find some secret to their sound, only to find there wasn't any. Alot of it is innate talent and creativity. I remember finding out that Carlos Santana played Dorian a lot, the same scale I was very familar with. But there was no comparison to what he created and even my poor efforts to imitate it - much less try to create something even close to equal. Now - you need to know scales, theory (doesn't hurt), have a good ear for pitch. But it also helps to take a risk now and then. Most of all, I think you need to try to develop a taste for melody. Most of us can plink around and play alot of notes, but most of what I do doesn't qualify as a real solo. Here's some ideas from George Lynch, BB King, Santana etc. Tell a story. Have a beginning and and end. State an idea (musically) then expand on it, take it somewhere else, reinforce or echo or shadow the original idea, then maybe return to it and restate it. Go somewhere unexpected, play something that is "outside". I like some Dio songs and even some Edgar Winter/Rick Derringer stuff, because it's unpredictable. Some old Aerosmith solos do that too. But they had to know what they were doing, note-wise and theory-wise, to make it sound like that. For most of us mortals, we need the technique so if we get any musical ideas, we can play them. We need theory so at least we can play what is supposed to sound good. And I think you need to study the masters (to restate an idea from the beginning - see, just like in a solo), so pick some you like and try to find what it is that you can copy that nails part of their sound. You might pick a Robben Ford or John Petrucci or Neal Schon or Santana over the obvious blues/rock people. If you see anyone offering you the "secret" stay away, there isn't one.
Members Joe Merlino Posted February 19, 2004 Members Posted February 19, 2004 In fairness, copperhead, he didn't ask how can I play like a genius - he asked for some options to widen his choices. That said, the second half of your post is some good advice. It's always good to be able to have your solos mean something above and beyond the notes you use.
Members Mr.Hanky Posted February 19, 2004 Members Posted February 19, 2004 There really are a million options to this question. Sounds like you are in a rut to me, no biggie, we all have em. One option is to study, practice some different things, open up some new doors. Another option is to stop thinking so much and just play. Try to hit that evasive high where all thought stops and you simply get out of the way of the music. Also, learn to capitoloze on your mistakes, they are the best thing that will ever happen to you. Some of my most creative "licks" were born from mistakes. It is a true alternate point of view since you never intended to play it in the first place. Listen, pay attention, play em again, and add them to your bag. MH
Members RiseAndfall Posted February 26, 2004 Members Posted February 26, 2004 turn riffs/solos you hate into solos you like, and listen to radiohead's guitarist. Crazy guitarist.
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