Learning To Solo: Resources, Songs to Learn?

DriftingByTheStorm

Hey you crazy guitarists,

I've been playing long enough now to have conquered my FEAR OF SOLOs ...

By this i mean that for years i had simply skipped the parts of songs that involved lead work, or otherwise ran through it sloppily and dismissed it in short order.

Finally, i have decided that i should no longer be scarred. My fingers are well calloused, and even my pinky is strong enough now to bend. My hand speed and accuracy are good enough to attempt some runs, although my scale memorization is piss poor.

I've been working in GuitarPro by pulling up the basic scales (the majors, minors, and their associated pentatonics) and then recording them on to tracks in various patterns that involve both route memorization and tonal identification.

For example i made one exercise where i go down the fretboard hitting only the 5ths and Roots and then back up hitting only the 3rd and roots ... and then 7ths and 4ths ... just to monkey around.

Its all helping me put it togeather,
and i can even pull off solos (while READING the tab of courses, not by plain memorization yet, though i'm getting there) for songs like
You Shook Me -- which i can get all the way through for the most part
Sweet Home Alabama -- up to the crazy pull offs on d string 12 17 12 16 12 17 shit... after that i'm lost ...

i can do
Wind Cries Mary
LedBetter
and Alive (defintaely while staring at the tab, however)

but can someone point me in the direction of some more resources on the net or otherwise that will BUILD MY SKILL, VOCABULARY, and TECHNICAL PROFICIENCY with scales and also GOOD SONGS WITH SOLOS to learn?

I find that the most helpfull thing in all of this isn't the scale memorization so much as learning the techniques contained in some songs ... the slides and pull offs and how they keep it interesting and on rythm.

Also, i'm looking for some good resources on country\folk style lead work involivng DOUBLE STOPS, SLIDE\BENDS and all that 7th chord jangley stuff you hear in old straight forward RnR albums... think the sound of GnRs Appetite ... that kind of stuff ... any ideeaS?

YA'LL RAWK

Pacomc79

look up some classical music, Beethoven, Bach, Faust, Chopin, Holst.

That will up your chops a lot.

Then, when you want an uber challenge.....

Buy an Yngwie Malmsteen songbook and let the 32nd notes fly.


for slides double taps and the like get all the Stones/Kieth Richards stuff you can. Then maybe Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) and others you can think of.

For slide, there was none better than Duane Allman.

who's_pearljam?

A guitar solo is like a story. A beginning , a middle and an end.
Your tone, your vibrato , your timing, etc, are your voice that you're speaking with. There're a couple of approaches.
You can play to the notes on a page, like tab, which gives you the ability to know the "words". Knowing the scales can help as a base.
Hendrix and Clapton and Duane Allman (Thanks Paco,,,,, what an unbelievable slide player!) and all learned by playing to their favorite blues and 50's rock records by ear,,, and then took things a step farther.

Try to sit back and listen to your favorite music and just play, and suck, and play and suck, and play,,, suddenly you'll acquire an ear. I think that's what a lot of guitar students lack. Try closing your eyes and playing along with music. That's where you'll begin to be able to play what comes into your head and to know your instrument.
That also helps for when you're playing on stage and you get lost in a memorized part. If you can play your way out of a jam,,, you'll be much more confident anywhere you play!

Stinkfoot

who's_pearljam? wrote:

Try closing your eyes and playing along with music. That's where you'll begin to be able to play what comes into your head and to know your instrument.
That also helps for when you're playing on stage and you get lost in a memorized part. If you can play your way out of a jam,,, you'll be much more confident anywhere you play!

that's a really good point....I went through a stage of attempting to replicate the same solo's from gig-to-gig and not only is it less interesting for an audience but you also run the risk of fucking yourself up if you lose concentration for a second and you spend the whole time trying to get your shit straight!! It's a lot more fun to root yourself in the..........what's the word............groove, of a song and have a structure in your head but the confidence to change and adapt the runs etc that you do..............man, that's what I love about McCready, his ability to take you on a DIFFERENT journey every time you hear him!!

zircona1

I hear ya man, learning to solo is my big thing now too. I'm pretty good on bending and moving, I've written a couple of solos for songs I've written (nothing fancy, sometimes just playing a series of notes and then playing that series a couple of times, then going elsewhere). I'm trying to memorize the notes in the scales now as well.

casper leblanc

who's_pearljam? wrote:

A guitar solo is like a story. A beginning , a middle and an end.
Your tone, your vibrato , your timing, etc, are your voice that you're speaking with. There're a couple of approaches.
You can play to the notes on a page, like tab, which gives you the ability to know the "words". Knowing the scales can help as a base.
Hendrix and Clapton and Duane Allman (Thanks Paco,,,,, what an unbelievable slide player!) and all learned by playing to their favorite blues and 50's rock records by ear,,, and then took things a step farther.

Try to sit back and listen to your favorite music and just play, and suck, and play and suck, and play,,, suddenly you'll acquire an ear. I think that's what a lot of guitar students lack. Try closing your eyes and playing along with music. That's where you'll begin to be able to play what comes into your head and to know your instrument.
That also helps for when you're playing on stage and you get lost in a memorized part. If you can play your way out of a jam,,, you'll be much more confident anywhere you play!

Goddamn'... these must be the most beautiful and meaningful words of guitarwisdom I've ever read in my life.... *snif* shucks