Creating solos...

HI all, i will like to know how i can create my own solo...Is there any rules in making solo??Pls share..thx

no rules. sounds good can alr.

use scales to make solos

learn common licks, rock licks are good for starters like me then mix them around with ur creativity.

yep... scales...

try learning major, minor and pentatonic scales... the basis for all solos!

learn the solos that you like a lot (also a good way to train your hearing). then get a backing track (can be any song minus the lead guitar, not necessarily backing track per se) and phrase over the right key. as long as it sounds nice, it can be called a solo.

ps: i still have probs finding the right key. anyone can help on this? my hearing's also v weak, but i think no one can help me on this..

If you want to find the right key, you need to have a basic understanding of key signatures. Here's a crash course:

We'll start with C major, because there are no sharps or flats in that key. The notes are (C D E F G A B). That gives us 7 notes to play around with. Let's see what chords we can construct from these notes;

C E G B - C Major 7 (I)
D F A C - D minor 7 (ii)
E G B D - E minor 7 (iii)
F A C E - F Major 7 (IV)
G B D F - G dominant 7 (V)
A C E G - A minor 7 (vii)
B D F A - B minor 7 b5 (viib5)

Thus, we see that in the key of C major we have 3 major chords (CM7, FM7, G7), 3 minor chords (Dm7, Em7, Am7) and one half diminished chord. This is important because it helps you identify common chord progressions. For example, if you had a ii V I progression in the key of C Major, it would be Dm, G, C. You could also have, as is common in blues, a I IV V I progression. In the key of C that would be C, F, G, C. Usually, the song will resolve back to the I chord. This may not always be major, it might be minor, if it was in a minor key. For simplicity, it's sensible to relate the minor key back to the major. So, if we had Bm7b5 E7 Am, we can relate that back to Am/C major. Note that the Em7 from the key of C is made into a dominant chord to create a better resolution to Am. You could just as easily apply this concept without the 7th interval. in which case you'd have major, minor, and diminished chords to play around with.

In terms of keys, the sharp keys move up in cycles of 5ths. This we have
C major - no sharps no flats
G major - F#
D major - F# C#
A major - F# C# G#
E major - F# C# G# D#
B major - F# C# G# D# A#
F# major - F# C# G# D# A# E#
C# major - F# C# G# D# A# E# B#

We've already got 7 sharps, so lets work with the flat keys now. These move in a cycle of 4ths
C major - no sharps no flats
F major - Bb
Bb major - Bb Eb
Eb major - Bb Eb Ab
Ab major - Bb Eb Ab Db
Db major - Bb Eb Ab Db Gb
Gb major - Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb
Cb majore - Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb

Once again, we've run into 7 flats so we can stop. Right now you're probably thinking "There are 12 tones in the chromatic scale, why do we have 14 scales?!". That's because some of these are what we call "enharmonic". The following scales are enharmonic

B major - Cb major
F# major - Gb major

Thus we are left with 12 "unique" scales.

Now you might ask, how is this of any use? If you take any given song, and you identify the chords in the song (even if they are power chords!), you'll be able to identify what sharps/flats are being used. This will allow you to deduce what key you're in.

As for crafting solos, that's a very personal exercise. You can go down the path of pure technique and flash, basically performing fingerboard gymastics and downplaying the melodic aspect. Or you could go the opposite route, and craft melodic motifs that tell a story, or do some tasty pentatonic licks. It's really up to what you feel the song calls for and what your personal preference is. The best way to get a feel for this is to listen to lots of different music. Identify what sorts of sounds you like and what you don't like, learn a few solos and expand your bag of tricks. After that, the skys the limit.

Gee thx adam the info is very useful

Anytime!

Also rmbr bout diff genres and the scales they use...
Example if ur into classic rock or sth,best to use e pentatonic minor/blues...
Eg,Jet,Bon Jovi,Old skl Metallica,uses e Pentatonic/Blues...
Think Rock as in ROCK!!! Not those modern stuff lyk Fall Out Boy,Green Day,Good Charlotte and stuff...
You can add lots of simple improvisations/techniques for ur solos,like hammer on's/pull off's,artificial/pinch harmonics,tapping,sliding...
Cheers! =)

Is there any rules in making solo??Pls share..thx

Rule #1: No rules. Don't limit yourself to anything - Unless your sessioning for another artist

Learn a lot of licks/riffs from your preferrred style of music - It is defintiely better if you have an open mind and can listen to all kinds of music, as they invariably find their way into your style of soloing/playing

Learn some good music theory - An introduction to reading music can be found here:
http://ilearnmusic.com/guitar/music theory/music theory for the guitar.pdf

Watch and Observe other guitar players, and if you hear something interesting - try to implement that in your style. That way you will never sound boring, you will be an exciting mix of your favorite guitarists + your unique style

Good luck

adamqlw

adam,

thanks, but how do u id the chords? by tabs/ ear? it'd be very easy if u see tabs right, but then u dont get to train ur ears. and again by 'learning a few solos' do u mean by tabs/ ears?

bin4christ said:

adam,

thanks, but how do u id the chords? by tabs/ ear? it'd be very easy if u see tabs right, but then u dont get to train ur ears. and again by 'learning a few solos' do u mean by tabs/ ears?

Click to expand...

The more you practice, the better your ear will become. However, when you're first starting out it can be really hard to identify the chords. The first thing you need to do is identify the bass note, or the lowest note in the chord. Listening to the bass line is a good start The useful thing about the bass line is if you work out what the bass notes are, you'll have some insight into what key a song is in fairly quickly.

For example, if the bass line goes B E A, then one might deduce that this might potentially be Bm7b5 E7 Am7, or Bm7 E7 AM7. This immediately narrows down your search to two possible keys, A minor or A major. Of course, sometimes you'll enconter inverted chords (i.e. chords with the 3rd or the 5th or the 7th in the bass) or substituted chords. That's where theory comes in handy!

Once you've identified the lowest note, try and pick apart the chord note by note. Eventually you'll be able to hear a chord and identify whether it's minor or major pretty quickly. To take it one step further, after you've done this enough you'll be able to identify common chord progressions at the drop of a hat as well.

As for tabs vs. ear, I personally try and use my ear whenever possible. I don't really like tabs for two reasons. One is that if I rely too much on tab then I neglect to train my ear. Having a good ear is not only important for figuring stuff out but for improvising as well, because you'll "hear" things in your head better as you go along. You might like to use software that slows down the song as well if the stuff is going by too fast for you to identify it. The second reason I don't like tab is there's so much of it around but so little quality control. All too often I've wanted to learn something, found som tab for it, played through once and just went "damn that sounds wrong...". Now I don't bother looking for tab anymore unless I'm well and truly stuck.

ok adam, but is there a software that allows you to slow down songs?

btw, i read ur blog. excellent english! u went to UNSW eh? i'm currently taking their foundation program in commerce.

Hey man,

Yeah I'm still at UNSW I'm one assignment away from graduating and I'll be finishing that later tonight so I guess you could say I'll be alumni real soon The commerce faculty at UNSW is pretty strong. And it's also got a really strong asian presence.. sometimes I don't even feel like I'm in Sydney when I'm in school.

There's lots of software available for slowing down music, but if you want something tailored specifically towards transcribing you can try this http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/overview.html

..

solos ... my own opinion
when u talk about just playing in the key and not being specific in terms of chords, then that's a generalisation method of playing. if skillful, fine, if not playing can be quite muddy

i think a good solo can be chord specific
lay out the chords to be solo-ed over and emphasize on some of the chord tone/tones wherever tasteful

cheers

Hmmm, good Q. I'm assuming that you already know some scales/modes - stuff like that. Without those, you'll never get anywhere. But with only those, you'll also get to a point, known as NO WHERE.

They get you going. That's all. And you don't really need all of them or as many as you think you need.

There are three very important things once you've got some scales/modes down and these are -
1) FEEL
2) Tell a Story (the only reasons you want a solo is to tell a story or to give a vibe that isn't there in the song. And this feel/vibe thingy is awesome/cool/whoopie/wow/YIKES/cool/HMmmmm/hmmmm/DANG/dangIT etc.
3) DON"T PLAY OTHER PEOPLE"S LICKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you have a story to tell, and you should, because otherwise, why do a solo??? And your story is your story and your story is told using your notes, aka your licks. Be good (that means practice, play and listen to yourself). Being yourself is better (that means more practice, more playing and more listening) . But being better than yourself is always best! (and that means just be yourself and put your heart into it. If your heart isn't into doing a solo then don't do it. Having said that, a good guitarist should, more often than not, be able to find a good solo. There are exceptions and once you're good enough you'll know when to let go, meaning, not to have a solo. Again, a solo is there only to lend a hand to the song. The song rules. All the time. Your solo is only there to enhance the song, nothing less and nothing more, just there trying to communicate with your listeners, to tell your story. Be it as it may be that you're a guitarist, a drummer, a keyboardist etc etc etc.

A song is written to communicate something(s). Anything less isn't a song and anything more becomes, well ..., a BIG song. "-)

I should have just come out from Rehab. BUT they wouldn't let me in~!~! DUH! So take all that i say with a couple of inches of RoRK salt.

Anyways, have a listen to my non-rehab stuff here. I think I speaketh the truth.

http://www.broadcastgems.com/rork_music/

Peace and God Bless. And your tone. Urgh, your tone is in your FINGERS! If you can't sound decent with an acoustic, while soloing: URGH!!! Then you should practice more.

K. Nuff said. Time for me to go watch some football.

soft.com.sg once you're in, you'll never get out.... :mrgreen:

We are all just prisoners here, of our own device

Thx u guys for all the tips... I am using all ur tips to create my solo(creating) and if i managed to finish my solo, i will let u all hear it and comment on it.Cheers!

PS:Adam, i know u take the phrase from the lyrics of 'Hotel California'..hehe

Ok, this is how I solo, basics first, scales is a must know. And, to make the solo sound "matching" with the chord progression, take down the chords. Lets say our chord progression is, Am F G C.
Notes in chords:
Am - A, C, E
F - F, A, C
G - G, B, D
C, C, E, G

So, when that chord is being played, in your solo, you hit any of those notes in the chord. E.g The chord being played is Am, so you can hit notes A, C or E, or chord F is being played, you can hit notes, F, A, or C it will sound "nice". Then the rest just play around the scales first. But for this to work, around a basic minor pentatonic scale, make sure the progression is theorically correct, or else it may be a little bit harder.

I use this method for blues jam or maybe some slower metal. There are many other ways of soloing, myself being a beginner, I find this method easy and may also be used in like freestyle soloing/improvisation.

Cheers!