Guide To Soloing

There are many who are constantly searching for tips and tricks to create a solo piece on guitar. Everyone gives them a different opinion about soloing. Some say to learn the scales, modes and try to listen to the backing track. Some say know the chord progression of your backing track. Some say train your ears otherwise you will never make a great solo. Some say learn arpeggios, licks, riffs and much more. Some say it’s all about creativity.

Now the more you search, the more you are confused. The above things are obviously required. The question is what to apply where. And where to apply the theoretical knowledge and where comes the creativity?

Let us take a simple example of writing a poem. Before you write a poem, you tentatively decide that it will have four or five stanzas, each stanza will have four or six or eight lines or whatever. Also you choose the topic to write on. Now you decide to dedicate you starting stanza to introduce the topic or initialize the scene that you are going to describe in the upcoming stanzas. You start writing and you ensure that you end up the lines with rhyming words.

Now can you tell me who told you that a poem has stanzas whose lines end up with rhyming words and every poem always tells a story or describes a scene or thought? I guess no one. You noticed all these things while reading poems (So you should listen to guitar solos). Ok, now what next? You need words to write (So you must know your scales, chords, arpeggios etc). So if I give you a dictionary which contains each and every word, will you be able to create the most wonderful poem in this world? No, because you don’t know which words to use and where to use to make it the best (So know your theory well). But one thing is sure that you will be able to write a poem; it may be not so good. But if you are creative enough you can create the best too (So try to go out of the box while soloing). I hope, you now understand the role of planning (theme, topic, stanzas), tools (rhyming, similes, dictionary) and theory (the general structure of a poem) and creativity (your own manipulations) in a poem.

Now let us directly see how you can apply this procedure to create a guitar solo.

PLANNING

Your planning part is the easiest one. Your backing track will set the mood and feel of the solo. So you now know which kind of scales or modes to use to suit the mood of the solo the best. Also you will be able to think what you should be describing in the solo.

TOOLS

There are myriads of them. Slides, bends, double stops, scale runs, legato, arpeggios, vibrato, sweep picking, tremolo, chords, harmonics etc. etc. Know them, practice them and master them. More the number of tools you have, the more ways you will have to play notes.

THEORY

Theory will tell you what you can use and how you can use. If you are good at theory, you will know what the good notes to play are. Your note selection will improve. Some say, theory will ruin your creativity. But I say, to break the rules, you must know the rules first. Theory doesn’t restrict you. It will show you the options that you can use. If you are not happy with the options, create your own options i.e. break the rules. But I don’t think that theory have insufficient options for you.    

  

CREATIVITY

Every guitarist has the similar planning, he also possesses the same tools and everyone applies the same theory. So why is that Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Kirk Hammet are different? This is because each one has a different kind of creativity in them. So please don’t try to copy someone else. You also have some creativity. Try to find out that. In that way you will be different from others. Use your own manipulations and thoughts into your solos.

 FEW IMPORTANT THINGS

You must have noticed in solos that the starting part is a great part of music that you can always remember and sing easily. So always try to start with a part which you can sing and remember forever. So how to play something which you are singing? Train your ears for this. If you do so, it will help you everywhere in the solo, not in the starting only. Also you will be able to hear the chords and choose notes according to them.

When you listen to a solo, try to critically analyze it. See where phrasing is used. Also notice where scale runs and arpeggios are used. Try to figure out where modulations are occurring and where tempo of the solo changes. Notice the articulations and variations too. You can include many more in this category, but I think these are the most important things to notice while listening to a solo piece. Believe me when you will start analyzing solos in this way, your playing will greatly improve because now and then, your mind will show you those tricks to use.