Huge questions about solos

[djmojo]

Well this should give all the experts with nothing to do, something fun to work on helping us beginners understand exactly why solos sound so good the way they are

 

here is where I would like someone to start helping me, and hopefully this thread can transform and mutate and encompass a vast array of interesting information

 

What exactly makes a solo "resolve" to a note?

 

Why do they sound like they fit?

 

I know that if Im improving a solo over some riff, lets say someone is playing a backing riff in D minor, I can just mess around in Dminor and it will sound good some of the time, and other times, I might just hold the wrong note at the wrong time, and it makes the WHOLE thing sound horible, like when you see a good movie but then you see a part that sucks so bad it ruins the whole thing for you.

 

I have read about leading to notes, and making the section of the solo resolve to the tonic of the key, or the root note or whatever... but all I can think of is start the next bar on that note and hold it... thats what resolving looks like to me...

 

could anyone give a good explanation here, or an example of where resolving is happening? with some mini tabs for help?

[thamiam]

General rule

Tension, release. Repeat as necessary.

For every chord, and for every chord progression, there are some notes that create tension, and others that release tension. "Resolving" means to move from a note that creates tension to one that releases tension.

Here's an exercise. Play a major scale very slowly, listen closely to each note. When you get to the seventh note, hold it and stop. Feel the tension?

Now play a major scale very slowly, listening closely to each note. When you get to the seventh note, hold it for alittle while, then play the eight note and stop. Feel the release?

This same concept applies throughout music.

Remember - tension is good! A solo based only on release notes would be boring, and wouldn't even feel like a release without tension preceding it.

In general, the 1st of a scale will always have the greatest level of release. So approaching it with a high tension note will make your solo resolve very well.

The major seventh resolves very well to the 1st (actually the 8th, one octave above the first, but the same note), which is why it sometimes called a "leading tone".
The same concept applies to chords. A dominant chord will always have a degree of tension, and want to resolve to a major chord a fourth below it. This is the basis of all western music since before Bach.

I'll let others fill in more info, but really you can do it all by ear. Just start very slow, and over each chord listen to the note and feel whether it has tension or release. Write it down on the spot, if it will help you remember. Then practice grouping two notes together, from tension to release. So on and so forth...

[sansunzeste]

5th below it . 4th ABOVE it.

right? maybe i'm wrong?
Wow i'm gonna look really dumb if I'm wrong...

[djmojo]

What about the construction of a solo? like from start to finish, when are good times to start tension and when are good times to resolve it... just based around a simple, one key rhythm backing...

Oh I have lots of questions

[335clone]

I'm in the same boat as you, but I heard some good info on another thread that is starting to work for me. Pick a song you want to solo over, or better yet either get a backing track (no guitar, but full band) or record a progression and loop it. Start by playing one or two notes per bar, maybe the root/5th but each time, add a note. See what works and what does not, then write it down. Keep doing this over the same progression until it is as complex as you want it. It takes time, but eventually you will have an idea of what notes resolve, and what notes add tension. I suggest doing this over a I-IV-V 12 bar progression at first, to keep it simple. No reason to add too many chord changes in the early stages, eh? Anyway, it seems to be helping me.

[thamiam]

Originally posted by sansunzeste 5th below it . 4th ABOVE it. right? maybe i'm wrong? Wow i'm gonna look really dumb if I'm wrong...

If you go down a perfect 4th from a 5th, you get the Root.

If you go up a perfect 5th from the root, you get a 5th.

So a dominant chord (built on the 5th) resolves down a perfect 4th to the root.

I promised to start a thread on this concept and its ramifications, but I've been busy at work. Look for it soon.

[sansunzeste]

wait... I'm confused...
Ok the dominant is built of the fifth. inorder to get to the root which is where it resolves to (we agree on this right?) you go down a fifth. Ur a fifth away therefore you must move a fifth to get there. if you were to go down a fourth from a V you'd come to the ii not the tonic. of play a Cdom barre chord. This resolves to the F. If you went a fourth down you'd come to Gm. At least that's my reasoning.

[WattsUrizen]

Originally posted by thamiam If you go down a perfect 4th from a 5th, you get the Root. If you go up a perfect 5th from the root, you get a 5th.

 

 

You've contradicted yourself.

[thamiam]

Ok...wait....gotta remember.....Post first....Then smoke crack....

Of course you both are right. Dominants resolve down a perfect 5th or up a perfect fourth.

If you go down a perfect fourth from the octave, you get the perfect fifth of the root.

Sorry about the confusion.

[WattsUrizen]

Originally posted by thamiam Ok...wait....gotta remember.....Post first.... Then smoke crack....

Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll.

[djmojo]

no confusion, I understood what you meant, Ive seen it before, I read something about the mathematics of music and all that stuff about going up and down

so anyways...

we need more posts I know the idea behind this stuff, but I dont know where the resolving notes go... trial and error always works but it would be nice to see some Ideas... and little licks, and be told where it resolves and which notes are causing tension... and on what beat certain things happen...

but good info so far.

thanks

[sansunzeste]

Ok my understanding is that generally,
A thing will sound resolved when you land on a note in the harmony.
So these notes would be usually 1, 3 and, 5 or whatever the chord describes. When you play something that's not in the harmony it will create tension.
So let's say were playing over a Bmin7 chord.
For this example we'll play a B dorian scale over this.
For tension we can play the 2 4(but generally you dont want to play the 4) 6 and 7. C#, E, G#, A.
Then notes that can be resolved to will be 1 3 5 (and maybe 7). 1 will sound most resolved then 5 then 3. Generally the 7 would be tension but if you are playing some even more out there note, the 7 would sound resolved in comparison, it's in the chord.
Now of course notes that aren't in the scale would sound even more bizarre and out there.

Can some one correct or confirm what I've said cause I just learned this concept recently so I could be wrong.

[thamiam]

Pretty dang close there!

Just a couple of things.

The 4 really only sounds dissonant over a major 7th chord, mostly feel free to use it anywhere else. It won't "resolve", but it will not be complete "tension" either.

Also, some notes in the chord have lots of tension, even more than those outside of the chord.

In a major scale, you may see the chord Cmaj7. But if you play the 7th (B) it will have a great deal of tension, and want to resolve up a half step to C.
Also the 5 in a major chord will want to resolve to the root, but not as much as the major 7th will want to.
Just because a note is in the chord, doesn't mean it is at rest.
It's kind of something you learn be listening and by experience. This is a great time to start thinking of notes as having a particular "color" or "temperature", which is what people with perfect pitch tend to do. (Reportedly. I don't have it (yet))

You've really got the concept to the point where it starts getting harder and hard to explain it words, and you have to go by feel.
For instance, a lot of people feel like the 6th (13th) is a very good "release" note, others feel it is a tension note. Context is key, as always.

[StratKat]

The easiest way to explain why a musical phrase fits to a song is :

1- The notes in the lead are based on a scale of notes from the chords played.

2- The flow of the rhythm parts is similar to the energy of the lead played.

3- The song is engineered so that either the solo itself or the rhythm itself is entertaining to listen too.

4- A melodic phrase that can be anticipated by a listener is repeated like a theme throughout the song.

[thamiam]

Here is a cool explanation of resolution and tension (mentioned above), courtesy of I Breathe Music

In this case they are using Solfege, so here is a translator.
Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every note within a scale has a certain function or tendency to either be a stable note or to resolve to a stable note. Learning to hear those tendency tones is one of the first big achievements that Solfege is helping us with.

Below is a line that includes all tendency tones and their resolutions. I didn't add any rhythm as our focus should be on listening to the resolutions marked with the arrows.