Does the audience really like to hear guitar solos?

[Jazzguru]

After playing is a jazz group for 4 years, (jazzers never plays the improv section the same way - hence the title of improv) and starting a new group with three of the old group. I have found out how boring it is to play the same thing over and over and over. So when it is "time" for the guitar solo - I may play it somewhat like the original but never note for note and yes i try to put surprises in the solo - quote other peices of music jazz, classical. blues, pop or other rock tune just for fun. Any thing is fair game. After all the whole idea to have fun and entertain. I never play it the same way twice - either by design or lack of ability. And yes we arraign the tunes to be a bit different than the original but still close. Change intos and outros mostly as well as the solo.

[DevilRaysFan]

There are more creative ways to stretch a song than just adding or extending solos.

 

 

+1 agreed, but it is definitely the easiest thing to do if a band doesnt use a set list (like mine)and calls audibles all night, especially when trying to think of what to segueway into to keep the floor hoppin..........

[Lee Knight]

If were talking something to just stretch the tune out, and it's a dance band situation, why not try something different. Say 64 bars to the bass and drums with the stipulation that any "soloing" must be dance-able. That's fun to watch, listen to, and dance to. On another, try keys and kick drum with the same dance-able guidelines. Or the bassist steps behind the kit and plays straight 4's on the kick while the drummer plays jungle craziness while walking around the kit. All dance-able.

What? Another guitar solo? How about the keyboardist trading 8's with the drummer only playing kick and hat with the hat in the solo role? You've got instruments. Use them.It doesn't have to be in an improv solo context all the time. Make it fun. Make it different.

[Lee Knight]

Also... stretch the intros. Rewrite the arrangement to your needs. Stagger the introduction of each instrument, or trade improvs off of a motif of the tune... before the tune, all with a kick and hat going to please the booty.

[corbind]

Does the bass player come over often? Cool you have a system set up.

[aloha]

Check out reggae dub for ideas about how to stretch normal songs...

[bloolight]

I think I'd like your set... Solos aren't a nasty word. It doesn't require a virtuoso to play great solos. It takes a musician . Not a guitar player but a musician. I like anti-solo music a lot. Like your avatar above. But I also love instrumental music not based on strung together cliches. Blackmore, Page, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Marc Ribot, Jon Brion... they are solo with grace and intent. Solos aren't a sin. Wasting peoples time is though.

Within most songs, I only like solos that are sort of vocal-like. David Gilmour is a good example of this style, and a person I admire and try to learn from as much as I can. He plays like he's singing. I think that helps keep people interested, because there is a strong melodic core to the soloing that fits within the song.

I've tried to learn songwriting from Elvis Costello and soloing from Gilmour.

[NewWorldMan]

Whether or not the audience gets bored by solos depends on the audience. My band is a classic metal band with some modern influences tossed in. We're very akin to bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, older Metallica, etc. We play guitar solos, guitar harmonies, etc...and most of the crowds that come to our shows almost expect to hear them because of the genre we play in.

[wagdog]

Short answer: Yes.

 

Long answer: it depends. People like music and if the person soloing is musical and the solo adds to the music, they like it. People generally do not like long screaming guitar solos as it all just sort of runs together into a big mush. I'm not saying that long solos are always terrible, they are fantastic if done tastefully and musically.

[Scafeets]

Our cover band features two guitarists, a sax player and a very good keyboard guy. As a rule of thumb, we generally add a verse to the original recording and an extra solo so that the tunes average about 5 minutes each instead of 2:30 - 3:30 like many of the original recordings we cover. This is particularly helpful when people are dancing and 3 minutes isn't enough time to get their mojo workin'.

 

I find that the crowd likes solos (sax, guitar, keys) as long as we keep them short. Usually, that's "once around the block" and back to the singing. By that I mean over the verse changes with the vocals coming back in on the chorus. On the few occassions where I go longer, I try to keep elements of the original melody in the solo as much as possible -- that seems to maintain the crowd's interest and sounds less wankish.

 

There are also certain songs where the solo is kind of a signature thing: The sax solo in "Brown Sugar" the slide part in "Something to Talk About" the intro to "American Girl" etc. where I think the crowd is looking for the solo part.

And having a keyboard guy do the piano solo to "Three Steps" takes the mind-numbing monotony out of the damn tune.

 

There are always a few guys in the audience that are checking out the guitar solos, so I like to get in a few licks that will take the "I coulda played that" look off their faces. They're the ones that always come up on the break to check out the equipment -- Hey: They paid their $5 to get in; the least I can do is show 'em the secret sauce.

[wagdog]

And having a keyboard guy do the piano solo to "Three Steps" takes the mind-numbing monotony out of the damn tune.

 

 

FWIW, that is a kick ass keyboard solo in the original and if you're playin' with a keyboard player who comes close, more power to ya.

[Burgess]

I dunno, my guitar solos usually go over fairly well. I get applause anyway.

There are rarely any musicians in our audience. Sometimes a few guys from HCGJ may stop in but mostly our audience are just regular folks. Oh, and I never play the original solos. I just never qute saw the point in that.