Guitar Solos (I still take 'em)

[TrickyBoy]

That's funny because in 1977 Journey was a hard rocking fusion band, and they were considered a very heavy group with a huge musician following. Check out their first two records if you haven't.

 

 

 

True. And On Through the Night and High and Dry were pretty cool rock albums. Even Pyromania was really good. But by the time Def Leppard got huge, they were doing Hysteria, which is both a caricature of their earlier albums AND what every remembers them by.

[Lee Knight]

Why'd you learn how to play anyhow?

 

Why? Solely to keep patrons of bars and functions smiling, dancing, drinking and not being offended. It's what I've always dreamed of... and I'm pretty sure if I did take a solo it would piss them off or bore them and then I wouldn't be able to play at Bob's Rib Shack and Dance Floor and... well...that would suck. Then again, maybe I'm just not a good soloist? Wait...

[Vito Corleone]

 

Even back in the 70's and 80's playing in top 40 bands, be it the doobies or the knack, or an R&B ballad, I took the solos, and would have been pretty upset if they had been cut. Why'd you learn how to play anyhow?

 

Well yeah, that's the point kinda. It's not the 70s and 80s anymore and very few people listening to live bands under the age of 35 are upset if the solos are cut. Which is why cutting them often makes sense when putting together a set list. I think we're beyond the point where most people expect to hear "just like the record" versions of anything anymore and are personally offended if a bridge or a solo isn't performed by a cover band. If anything, I find more and more that audiences enjoy hearing stuff performed outside of the box.

 

Why'd I learn to play? Well, that was a long time ago, but the main reason I keep doing it is because I like performing live and entertaining audiences with my music. There's a lot of ways to do that. Some might involve soloing; some might not.

[mike6lee6]

This song works for my band, which makes me happy because I get to solo, but that's not always the case. We try to choose songs that aren't a stretch for the talent we have. We always try to play to our strengths, particularly with lead vocals.

[MartinC]

Yeah but radio, as well as many live cover bands, have always cut some of the solos. It isn't a new thing. At some point, some radio guy cut a solo to cram in another ad, and I guess not enough people complained, so it stuck. I think it's a leap from there to declare people don't care. How many? No one can know. I can see how a cover band may want to do a medley of say, AC/DC and wants to get the main parts of three tunes into it instead of playing all of the tunes. I get it, it's about pacing the set. But as Tricky wrote, playing the solo is fun. I think if people like the song, it's likely they like the solo. As a guy who can't sing, I guess I'm more focused on it than more rounded performers, but if you take the "fun" out of it for whatever reason, then well, it's less fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well yeah, that's the point kinda. It's not the 70s and 80s anymore and very few people listening to live bands under the age of 35 are upset if the solos are cut. Which is why cutting them often makes sense when putting together a set list. I think we're beyond the point where most people expect to hear "just like the record" versions of anything anymore and are personally offended if a bridge or a solo isn't performed by a cover band. If anything, I find more and more that audiences enjoy hearing stuff performed outside of the box.

 

Why'd I learn to play? Well, that was a long time ago, but the main reason I keep doing it is because I like performing live and entertaining audiences with my music. There's a lot of ways to do that. Some might involve soloing; some might not.

 

[jcpatte2]

I play Top-40 Country and thankfully, the solos (at least to me) usually seem very relevant. From iconic classics like Friends In Low Places to newer hitmakers like Jason Aldean, the solo usually suits the song and as a guitar player, me like-y! But this discussion got me listening differently and I have noticed that the arrangement work you guys are discussing is generally already done on the recorded version. The "Pop-i-er", tends to either have a subdued musical breakdown or no solo at all. Luke Bryan's 'That's My Kinda Night' comes to mind as a rockin' tune but full-on Pop production without a Solo at all. Anyway, my $0.02 buys a penny for your thoughts.

[Vito Corleone]

, but if you take the "fun" out of it for whatever reason, then well, it's less fun.

 

 

 

 

 

I get that. And fun is good. And as long as you can convey that sense of fun to audience, then it's all good for everyone. I think where things got out of hand was too many guitarists/bands became so self-involved in their soloing that they weren't bothering to notice that they weren't bringing the audience along for the ride and then they stand around wondering why all the patrons are across the street dancing to the DJ. So now maybe bands are starting to go too far the other way? I dunno. But like Jason said, there hasn't been an iconic solo on a hit single in probably 2 decades, has there?

 

But iconic solos? Yeah, if you're playing those songs, you gotta do the solos. AC/DC? Yeah, you not only gotta play those solos, but you gotta do 'em note for note (IMO.) Every Guitar Hero in the world knows those solos. Heck, the solo to "You Shook Me" was the bit of the song I kept for our demo montage because it's so iconic (and because the guitarist nails it.) Pink Floyd? Yeah, the solo is one of the bits we keep from that song. We shorten it in other places. Why repeat the verse? Unless you've brought along a chorus of children, I suppose. Purple Rain? Yeah, you gotta play that solo too. 2 minutes of extra jamming at the end of a song just to stretch it out though? Nah, that's not gonna work as much these days. (Unless it does.) Just pay attention to whether it actually is working or not, is the only point I want to get across to people.

[Iamthesky]

Yeah but radio, as well as many live cover bands, have always cut some of the solos. It isn't a new thing. At some point, some radio guy cut a solo to cram in another ad, and I guess not enough people complained, so it stuck.

Which means, of course, that if they've only heard the song on the radio, they may not even know there was a solo in the first place.

 

An example: If you'd have been in England in 1972, you would have thought American Pie was a 4-minute song. If you'd have seen someone in a pub cover the whole thing, you'd think they made up the rest of the verses (from "Helter skelter..." onwards) themselves. I was lucky. I caught the one time the BBC played the whole song, or maybe it was one of the few days I could pick up Radio Luxembourg clearly.

 

[wheresgrant3]

Given that we play a lot of synth driven pop music there isn't a lot of opportunity for soloing. In the previous band we played a few rock songs that allowed for a solo here and there and we covered some GnR and Bon Jovi and kept the solos in even during medleys but in the new band we have more of a pop slant and are broader covering country, some rock, RnB so we are getting creative placing solos or taking them in songs.

 

If you ever heard Suit & Tie from Justin Timberlake you'd know there's no solo in the song, but the arrangement during the interlude was too weird to pull off so we Floyded it up and I think it came out cool. A nice contrast... between the RnB side with a little rock in between. And most of the country we play we take the solos if they are in the song.