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Sunny
free-ballin



Registered: 10/07/06
Posts: 12,350
Loc: on the magic bus
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Soloing Strategies
#7501290 - 10/09/07 11:22 AM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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I'm just curious to know how all the other guitarist here come up with solos. Are you a shredder, Jimmy Page style? Do you tear it up in an orgasm like Clapton or Jeff Beck? Do you get psychedelic like Gilmour, or Robby Krieger?
I'm kinda partial to Jack White solos, and I find myself trying to replicate his style of solo, single string or 2 string solos, sometimes I toss in some low notes, but I try and keep them simple. I'm also still developing my solo style.
I also prefer to play in 1 or 2 positions, sometimes, if I go off on a tangent, I'll hit up a multi-position scale (multi-position Blues G, or C), but I generally avoid it. I like position 12 scales too, but because I'm not very good with staying in proper time(practice, practice, practice), the transition from a regular riff, to a position 12 solo sounds off to me.
-------------------- WAFFLEZZ!!!11!!!1!!!1!!!!
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TheCow
Stranger

Registered: 10/28/02
Posts: 4,790
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
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Re: Soloing Strategies [Re: Sunny]
#7501304 - 10/09/07 11:27 AM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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I try to pattern myself almost exactly after Joe Pass. I play classical guitar so finger picking is pretty natural to me at this point. Im not even close to being nearly as good as Joe Pass, but I can solo and have a running bass line sometimes, stuff like that.
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marvoman

Registered: 04/26/05
Posts: 207
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Re: Soloing Strategies [Re: TheCow]
#7502201 - 10/09/07 05:01 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Sometimes I'll shred, sometimes I'll do a hendrix/SRV blues, sometimes some country melodic stuff, sometimes some psychedelic stuff and every now and then a bit of jazz, all depending on what is needed of me at the time (although in my private time I'm usually found busting some funky Hendrix!).
Basically over the years I have learned where every note is on the fretboard, all the pentatonics, majors and minors as well as arpeggios for the jazzier stuff. A good bit of music theory too and you can pretty much play any style you feel. It takes a while and is a bit of a pain to get around but is well worth it in the long run. It's how proffesional and session musicians can play amazing shit in most genres, because they've spent years of patient practice mastering the fret board.
But saying that, the scale I mostly use is what I call the 'super scale'! I teach it to my students as you can pretty much play any rock style by using it, as its essentially based around the pentatonic scale without any of the Unnecessary complicated positions you find in guitar books. If anyone can tell me where I can download editable fretboard diagrams I'll post it up!
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Sunny
free-ballin



Registered: 10/07/06
Posts: 12,350
Loc: on the magic bus
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Re: Soloing Strategies [Re: marvoman]
#7502243 - 10/09/07 05:16 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Nice! Please do! I dunno where to get the diagrams from though.
-------------------- WAFFLEZZ!!!11!!!1!!!1!!!!
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jewunit
Brutal!

Registered: 01/11/07
Posts: 34,264
Loc: Ohio
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Re: Soloing Strategies [Re: Sunny]
#7502357 - 10/09/07 05:40 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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If I played guitar, I would emulate a combination of Pat Metheny and John Scofield.
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Middleman

Registered: 07/11/99
Posts: 8,399
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Re: Soloing Strategies [Re: Sunny]
#7502389 - 10/09/07 05:49 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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One of the greatest Solos of all time, Gilmore's "Time" solo, was pieced together from the best bits of a two-hour jam.
That's kind of how I put a solo together...
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marvoman

Registered: 04/26/05
Posts: 207
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Re: Soloing Strategies [Re: jewunit]
#7502431 - 10/09/07 06:02 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Right, now this is in no way perfect, but I have written it out using power tab. really it needs to be done on a fretboard diagram, but hey this does the job, just a little trickier to follow.
At the top is the A minor pentatonic scale. Below in turn is the blues scale, the natural minor scale, the dorian mode and the harmonic minor, all in A. What you will notice is that they are all based around the A minor pentatonic scale, but with extra notes added in, slightly different notes added to each one.
I have annotated the different scales by putting a '*' above the passing scale notes and an 'X' above the notes which make the scale what it is , i.e the note with an 'X' above it in the dorian mode is the note that makes it dorian.
Basically just play around with the different scales. I find that the dorian one is handy for pyschedelic and bluesy stuff, the blues scale speaks for itself, and the natural minor makes for good melodic stuff, say for example the solo to Bo-Rhapsody. The A harmonic minor is a fun one to play around with too.
Also bear in mind that if a tune is in C major, A minor is it's Relative minor meaning it's basically the C major scale starting on a different note. So A minor pent, A blues and A natural minor can be played over a C major tune (A dorian and A harmonic minor are a different ball game though) to great effect. And this applies to any Major key: it's relative minor can be found by going 3 semitones or 3 frets down, for example G major's relative minor is E (3 frets down).
Anyways, there you have it. All hail to the SUPER SCALE!
Oh, and if it comes out all gobble-de-gook, my apologies but power tab can be a bit unpredictable sometimes!
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marvoman

Registered: 04/26/05
Posts: 207
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Re: Soloing Strategies [Re: marvoman]
#7502433 - 10/09/07 06:03 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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NOOOOO!! WTF!!
It won't let me upload a power tab file
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Sunny
free-ballin



Registered: 10/07/06
Posts: 12,350
Loc: on the magic bus
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Re: Soloing Strategies [Re: marvoman]
#7502825 - 10/09/07 07:42 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Damn. That sucks. but your written explanation was pretty good. 
Music Theory and Mechanics are really interesting. Actually, I think I have a copy of the Superscale in one of my scale books.
-------------------- WAFFLEZZ!!!11!!!1!!!1!!!!
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BoneMan
Shrimpin ain't easy


Registered: 02/09/05
Posts: 2,032
Loc: new new england
Last seen: 12 years, 2 months
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Re: Soloing Strategies [Re: Sunny]
#7502901 - 10/09/07 08:06 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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I don't normally have a planned out strategy in mind as I'm taking a solo. But when I'm not feeling inspired enough to just pull a solo out of thin air, what I'll do is play something similar to the vocal melody for the first few measures, build off that and I'll come up with some ideas on what to play. That usually leads to a pretty effective solo.
My other soloing strategy is to be high while I'm playing. Then playing guitar becomes completely natural and new and interesting phrases come flying out effortlessly.
I would recommend practicing your scales and modes in all positions. From my experience, playing solos is something you'll dread until you're able to move around the neck easily and not be limited to one or two positions. You gotta know where your fingers are and where they're going.
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