Composing guitar solos
i_am_a_wishlist
Posts: 628
Ok so I've playing guitar for just over 2 years (all self taught so far) and I've recently been learning pentatonic scales (don't know all of them yet). I was just wondering if there is any trick to composing guitar solos. I learnt to solo from Let It Be by the Beatles which is C major pentatonic and the song is also in the key of C. I'm writting a song at the moment in key of A. So I though I'd give composing a solo a crack. Now I'm wondering does it have to be a A pentatonic scale since it's in the Key of A?
Here's how it goes (timing is not quite right yet)
e
7h9-/12--12/14-12-14-17-
B
7h10
G
6/9
D
7h9-9b10-7-9-7
A--7-7h9
E
e-14-12
B
14-12
G
14-11
D
14-11-9/7
A
9-7-4~---2~---0
E
I know it looks a little sloppy and boring to all the real good muso's but gimme a break it's my first attempt and composing a solo.
Here's how it goes (timing is not quite right yet)
e
7h9-/12--12/14-12-14-17-
B
7h10
G
6/9
D
7h9-9b10-7-9-7
A--7-7h9
E
e-14-12
B
14-12
G
14-11
D
14-11-9/7
A
9-7-4~---2~---0
E
I know it looks a little sloppy and boring to all the real good muso's but gimme a break it's my first attempt and composing a solo.
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
http://www.wishlistfoundation.org
Oh my, they dropped the leash.
Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!
"Make our day"
True, but there are some rules and conventions that you should at least know before you can play on pure passion.
Whenever you see something that looks like a trick, you are usually seeing the end product of many, many hours, weeks, months or years of dedicated training and practice.
Magicians don't do tricks, they just demonstrate their dexterity gained through practice, so do musicians.
Great solos are born from knowledge, then inspiration with a dash of magic !!
if the song is in a minor key, you play a solo off the minor pentatonic scale in that key.
if the song is in a major key, you have to convert it to a minor key to be able to make it work with the minor pentatonic. the way this is done is taking 3 steps backward from the song's key in the chromatic scale. for example, if the song is in the key of E, you take 3 steps backward in the chromatic scale and that puts the solo in the key of C# minor pentatonic.
in case you were wondering, the chromatic scale is:
C-C#-D-D#-E-F-F#-G-G#-A-A#-B-C
so you can see by looking at the chromatic scale above, if the song is in the key E, you take 3 steps backward which puts the solo in the key of C#.
once you know that, you just pick the notes and riffs out of that scale that sound good for your solo.
now let's say you're working with the Major scale AND the minor pentatonic scale.
with the major scale......if the song is in a major scale, you could use the major scale in that key for the solo, or you could go backward 3 steps in the chromatic scale and use that key's pentatonic minor scale. if the song is in a minor key, you can use that key's pentatonic minor scale OR you could go FORWARD 3 steps in the chromatic scale and use that key's MAJOR scale.
it's really pretty simple when you think about it, but it took me along time to grasp that because I'm stupid.
btw, the going forward and backward in the chromatic scale is known as the Rule of Relative Majors and Minors.
http://www.wishlistfoundation.org
Oh my, they dropped the leash.
Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!
"Make our day"
keep working on it. it's a simple scale to learn, but it takes years to master. the potential for a player's improvement with this scale is pretty much limitless.
you'll also want to familiarize yourself with all the different types of major and minor scales, as well as their relationship to one another (both in theory and on the fretboard). this will improve your soloing ability as well as your riff writing.
when i write solos, i try to keep the process as informal and unstructured as possible. your creative process may differ from mine, but my solo will ultimately suffer if i create an environment for myself that is too structured. therefore, i like to think of the early part of the process as "jamming" rather than "composing." i'll start by using my scalar knowledge to jam over the riff that i am working with. once i begin to find musical phrases that i like, i try to repeat them and remember them, maybe even record them. then i'll gather these thoughts together into a larger cohesive solo.
remember that writing a solo is basically like writing a story with notes instead of words. you know, beginning, middle, and end... that sort of thing. throw in some plot twists, a climax, a conclusion, etc... this will all add to the depth and complexity of your solo. i think slash understood this better than anyone.
I've played guitar for a long while, and the one thing I have learned is there are no rules. And if there are, they are meant to be broken.
Wait ok, so I think I got most of that but--
do you mean if the song is in a major scale, do you use the MAJOR scale or the major pentatonic scale. For example, in the key of C major, the major scale starts from the third fret on the A string (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C) with no sharps or flats. Or the C major pentatonic scale would start at the third fret E string with G, again with no sharps or flats, but going (G-A-C-D-E)?
7/9/06 LA 1
7/10/06 LA 2
10/21/06 Bridge 1
But this is how I do it...
Just close your eyes and play... If it sounds crap, well don´t play that note again...
Do this for a long time. After a while you get into it and can´t stop.
It´s just pure pleasure and after a while it feels like you can express anything thrue your fingers.
A train tip is. Practise all the technics. Learn the scales for the keys and stuff. learn the arpeggios.
Know everything you have to know to play like a god.
But when you play: Don´t care about what you know. Only what you feel. And then express it. Don´t care about technics and scales when you play.
you're asking if you should use major or major pentatonic for a song that's in major? that's easy: you should use whichever scale sounds better... or any other that sounds good. it's completely up to you. try alternating between major and pentatonic over the course of your solo... sometimes that sounds good. for example, you could start your solo in major, then move up an octave and go into pentatonic.
also... C major pentatonic goes C-D-E-G-A. if you want to transition that to A minor pentatonic, you can play A-C-D-E-G. the pattern is the same but you'll be starting with A instead of with C.
if i've made any mistakes here, please correct me. i am not a music theory expert.
keep playing.
yes, they are the same scale with different starting notes. that's probably the best way to put it.
it doesn't make any difference in terms of the fretboard, since the patterns are still the same. if you have the major pentatonic patterns memorized, then you already know minor pentatonic as well. it's exactly the same as the relationship between the major and natural minor scales.
in terms of sound, even though the notes are the same, the scale degrees all change places. therefore, the distance between each scale degree is different in major vs. minor (pentatonic or otherwise). the result is that the minor scale creates an entirely different "mood," for lack of a better term.