Every guitarist has an idol, usually a brilliant soloist such as Slash, Marty Friedman, Joe Satriani or others. In this guitar solo lesson, we’ll go over what makes those guitarists so great at what they do, and a few simple ways to enhance your soloing technique. Be clear though, that practice is the key.
The Virtuosos – Speed and Melody
There are a countless number of highly talented guitarists out there, but there are very few (relatively) who really stand apart. These elite guitarists are what we call virtuosos. Most of them have made such a name for themselves mainly due to there unbelievable soloing skills. Some of them, like Yngwie Malmsteen and John Petrucci, are known for their insanely fast chops, while others, like Warren Haynes and Eric Clapton, are known for their heart melting melodies. Some of them, like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, combine speed, melody and technique to create their solos. So what is it that has made these guitarists so great? Are they naturally born with it? Some of them are, but for most of them, it’s down to hardcore practice.
Genre
If you want to become a soloist, the main thing you have to consider is the genre you want to play. Almost all rock/metal soloing has its roots in the 12 bar blues, but they’ve branched out to form their own unique styles. If you want to become a rock soloist, it is a key to understand the blues pentatonic scale, which acts as the basis for most rock solo styles. For metal solos, diatonic scales and grouping is all important. There are also other styles of soloing such as country, delta blues, jazz, jazz fusion etc.
Rock Soloing and the Pentatonic Scale
A normal (diatonic) major scale contains 7 notes. The pentatonic scale is the major scale with the 4th and 7th notes removed. So the C major pentatonic contains the notes C, D, E, G and A. This may sound simple, but the main thing is the way you use these 5 notes in your solos. David Gilmour, Slash and Mark Knopfler all mainly use the pentatonic scale, but each of them has their own unique style. You can create your own style using this scale. The best way to learn how to use it is to listen to solos by great guitarists, like the ones I’ve mentioned. You can learn a lot of things from this, including licks, dynamics and interpreting chord changes. You can also try soloing along with songs. To do this guitar solo lesson, you need to figure out the scale and the chords of the song. But this won’t come easy, especially for beginner guitar solos. It takes a lot of listening and practice. Some good rock guitarists to check out are Slash, Andy Timmons, David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Gary Moore.
Metal Soloing
Most metal solos are fast, so if you want to play them, you’ll need to have good technique in both your picking and fretting hand. There are various exercises to improve your speed and technique. Also, metal solos usually contain different groupings of scales and arpeggios. For example, a four note grouping of the C major scale would be CDEF, DEFG, EFGA and so on. There are various ways of grouping major and minor scales and arpeggios. You should try and pick up some basic groupings and practice them until you can play them without faltering at high speeds. Some good metal guitarists to check out are Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman and John Petrucci.
Overall, guitar soloing is a huge area of music by itself, and there’s a lot to learn in this field. Hopefully, this guitar solo lesson article gave you an idea of what are the important points to consider when you want to become a guitar soloist. Good luck!
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Comment by Paulita Going — November 30, 2010 @ 3:26 am