A question about solos

[Statler Waldorf]

Hey Guys, I am new to this forum but I had a musical questions for you guys. I have been playing guitar for about seven years but I have just started to work on my scales. Could you guys tell me what scales you like to use and what musical rules and stuff you pay attention to when writing a solo? Thanks

Statler Waldorf

 

[Luis]

Could you guys tell me what scales you like to use and what musical rules and stuff you pay attention to when writing a solo? Thanks

Statler Waldorf

Hi. I dont play guitar but dont make your life harder...I mean if you choose a scale and sounds good its good¡¡ As simple as that.

You have been playing guitar for about seven years and i guess you have a decent level so you can combine different techniques ( sweep picking, tapping etc) while you are playing a solo just like Romeo does.

 

[Valgeir]

I see people asking about what scales other players use and such all the time... my advice is, learn every scale you can. All seven diatonic modes, the pentatonic scale, harmonic and melodic minor, phrygian dominant, and even a few of those weird sounding "made up" scales. Then use whatever you want. A bit of theoretical knowledge will teach you what to use where for what sound.

 

[Trusse]

Don't focus so much on scales. Find a scale you like and learn to use it on every tone. focus more about Arpeggios (sweap picking), speed picking and taping that would be so much more usefull, Then you maybe could start to learn every fucking scale on this planet.

That is my advice.

 

[PRauhala]

You can't use every scale to every chord. And you know that probably. Soloing depends really much of the chords. Of course if you have some minor chord (7,9 etc) you can use minor, phrygian, harmoni minor, minor pentatonic, dorian etc.. (if you have chord from C. The soloing doesent have to go in C... Check to MODES from somewhere)

Of course you can use those scales to major chords as well, but it depends much of the chordturns..chords what played before and what chords comes next.

And its depends what style you want play. Many musicians use much alterned scales in jazz,fusion,blues. Or exam add some voice to some scales. exam. 11b to dorian scales. If you play scales up and down, it sounds shit. So.. Get some improvisation books and backing tracks from dc++ or somewhere. There you see good licks.

 

[ThornsOfSorrow]

Since we're on the subject, does anyone know of a website that has a bunch of scales? I'd like to start learning how to play them, but I don't know any...

 

[dargormudshark]

Hey Guys, I am new to this forum but I had a musical questions for you guys. I have been playing guitar for about seven years but I have just started to work on my scales. Could you guys tell me what scales you like to use and what musical rules and stuff you pay attention to when writing a solo? Thanks

Statler Waldorf

I like Lydian Musician's Corner in D flat Minor

 

[The Leper]

If you get Guitar Pro, theres a thing in it that tells you a LOT of scales, and you can play along with it, and it has a HUGE list of almost every chord, for those nights of boredom or if you lose internet connection and you want to learn something. Deffinately check out guitar pro for like 100+ scales and MANY chords.

 

[OfSinsAndShred]

Get some books on jazz theory. They'll have the scales and how they relate to the chords.

THAT'S what's important - pay attention to what chord changes you're playing through. Every guitarist who writes good solos will tell you that, and the more you read up on it, the more you'll see why.

 

[zakk_hate_me_666]

i learn my scales from GP4!!

but. still dotn understand it all

 

[Valgeir]

A teacher is always a very, very good idea, but for six bucks you could get The Ultimate Scale Book by Troy Stetina.

 

[turke]

Every guitar releated person should check this site out. It is awesome:

http://www.guitarshredshow.com

 

[ThornsOfSorrow]

If you get Guitar Pro, theres a thing in it that tells you a LOT of scales, and you can play along with it, and it has a HUGE list of almost every chord, for those nights of boredom or if you lose internet connection and you want to learn something. Deffinately check out guitar pro for like 100+ scales and MANY chords.

I've heard a lot of good things about Guitar Pro. Sucks that I have a Mac...

 

[OfSinsAndShred]

The thing about chords is that they can seem daunting. You have to know the order in which to learn them or you're never gonna remember them. A good teacher can help you get them down MUCH quicker.

 

[greenaxer]

Learning any scale you can will always be beneficial. It strengthens your dexterity as well as improves your ear as to what notes will work with a given chord when soloing.

One thing I've been doing recently that's really worked for me is playing along to some of my favorite movie soundtracks and classical pieces. This kind of music by nature just has more going on in terms of structure, melody, and chords, as opposed to standard "verse-chorus-verse-chorus" music. I love soloing over the song "Journey to the Line" by Hans Zimmer from The Thin Red Line because it's so atmospheric and just builds up from a whisper of strings to a soaring, full orchestra in the middle, and back down at the end. Excellent foundation from which to follow along and play. This of course has reinforced my love of Symphony X and music that harmoniously combines classical and rock.

 

[Meedleyx10]

there are a few books i would STRONGLY reccomend you buy :

The Guitar Grimoire:Scales and Modes (almost every scale you can think of and then some, plus it includes which scales work with which chords)

The Frank Gambale Technique Books 1&2 (keep in mind the books approach things from a Frank Gambale standpoint and he is a Jazz/Fusion guitar player, but the concepts he discusses are universal to any style and these books will help a lot. He also goes into minor conversions and arpeggios so believe me when i say these two books are like a bible to soloing).

The whole issue of scale choice/note choice comes down to two things 1. knowing your theory and 2. knowing what sound you are trying to acheive. Once you know this you are set. For example, im to the point now, where i can look at a transcription of a riff or solo section and write a solo for it out on paper before i even try to play it or evenhear the riff for that matter.

 

[proulxski]

Guitar Pro all the way man, you can pretty much recreate and Symphony X song on there if you're up to the challenge... Which most people arnt because its practically impossible for some songs lol

 

[ABQShredHead]

As others have pointed out and I feel compelled to echo to drive the point home, learning scale fingerings is absolutely worthless without learning to relate the scale to chords and progressions. We can all pick up the Guitar Grimoire and learn a Himalayan minor scale, but then what do we do with it?

Take, for instance, the Lydian Dominant scale. Very cool fingering pattern. What is it though? It has "dominant" in the title, so it must have a b7, and we all know Lydian means a raised 4th (#11th). Combine those two and you have a very hip scale. But it will only sound hip if it is used properly. Would it sound hip to play an A Lydian Dominant over an Am chord? Ugh, I don't think so. First, the lowered third of the chord would create too much tension against the natural third in the scale. But, if you instead played a D Lydian Dominant atop an Am chord, then you're making magic.

What other, very popular dominant scale are we familiar with? Mixolydian. What's the difference between the Mixolydian and the Lydian Dominant? The raised fourth. Can we substitute the two scales? Definitely, as long as the underlying chord does not have a chord tone clashing with the raised fourth in the scale. But, playing over a simple dominant chord will not provide any clashing tones and you'll sound pretty cool and outside at times.

If you want to get jazzy, where can you use the Lydian Dominant scale? Make use of its raised fourth (or flatted fifth - the tritone) in tritone substitions of the ii-V-I progressions and you can really go places. Take Bb as our tonic and the progression would read Cm-F7-Bb. Add some colorful tones and we can come up with something like Cm11-F7alt-Bbmaj7. The tritone substitution can be used for the V chord - the tritone of F is B; so, use a Cm11-B7#11-Bbmaj7 progression and use B Lydian Dominant in the second measure and you'll sound like a serious jazz hound.

I again echo - do not merely learn fingerings of scales. That is a worthless exercise. Learn how to apply those scales and what makes each scale distinct and unique in the world. Then learn when to whip them out in an improv session and you'll turn heads quickly.