well I mainly play rhythm, and write my own riffs. I'm good at that but...I cant play solos worth a crap! When I do try my high strings sound like shit, like they are doubled or something, and when I say doubled I mean an annoing sound that makes me not want to even try, I think it's my pick ups even though on the lower strings they sound better than anything I've ever heard. The only solos that sound good, are my shredding. I can shred on the G string but the others sound like hell. I learned to shred from watching Eddie V-Halen but other than that I'm no good. I need advise on learning to play solos without taking lessons or trying to read tab. If anyone can help I would really apreciate it. Later, -RJAIII-
need help playing solos,help me.
- Thread starter madcheese9377
- Start date
Evil Ernie
Ungodly freak, defiler
You want to learn to play solos whitout taking lessons or using tabs? Well...your choice.
About your lead sound...have you just tried playing on your neck pickup? Might help.
About your lead sound...have you just tried playing on your neck pickup? Might help.
Well, I only have two double pickups, and they both sound almost the same. I'm about to buy an acustic guitar, it'll probably help some. It's not my fault, That I'm not going to take lessons, I'm poor man. I'm about to get a job, but, I have to save up for an apartment when I get back to Dallas And go to school. That's gonna make things harder for the band I just started, cause I'll be working, going to school, and Paying rent. Can any one send me anything here for me to learn and get me started? later-RJAIII-Evil Ernie said:
Just found a job and I start tomorrow on the third, so any body got any ideas on what books or web sites should get me started? I would be greatfull. Later, -RJAIII-
Day_Before_Dawn
Member
The best thing to do if you want to learn to solo man, is try to play along to solo's of your fave bands.
It will take time, but everything does on guitar. I first started off playing along to metallica/Slayer type solos' in my first year, then moved on to Vai/Satriani in my second and now play Bodom/Death/Sinergy type solos.
By trying to create them yourself. Your creativity will increase, your playing will and also your ear.
Just don't expect it to come quickly, if you want to become good at soloing you have to put a lot of time in and be patient.
Best of luck mate!.
It will take time, but everything does on guitar. I first started off playing along to metallica/Slayer type solos' in my first year, then moved on to Vai/Satriani in my second and now play Bodom/Death/Sinergy type solos.
By trying to create them yourself. Your creativity will increase, your playing will and also your ear.
Just don't expect it to come quickly, if you want to become good at soloing you have to put a lot of time in and be patient.
Best of luck mate!.
Personally, I dont like learning through books, I take private lessons... Alot of people do, Joe Satriani taught Steve Vai and Kirk Hammet... learning tab is going to be pretty helpfull though. I kinda had your problem too though, I could never find guitar solos easy enough that I could learn them. So I wrote my own. Just try it. By the way, your gonna need to know theory to do that, but thats OK because you really should know theory anyways... just pick a key and write something off a pentatonic.
Say in you wanna write in the key of G major, G has an F# in it, but all the other notes are natural notes. So the key of G looks like this:
G A B C D E F#
This means when writing your solo you should pretty much just stick to those notes. You can do chromatics a bit if you want, but for the most part stay in G.
(The Chromatic scale is one that includes every note: A, A#, B, B#, etc.)
So in a line you could play G, G#, A. G# is obviously not in the key of G, but because your not ending on that note and you wont play it alone, its ok.
The way to figure out a Major scale is this: Between the third and fourth notes there is a half step, and between the Seventh and Eighth notes there is a half step. All others are whole steps.
So it looks somewhat like this:
1 2 3 * 4 5 6 7 * 8
(The eighth note is the same as the first, only an octave higher.)
Now, there is a half step between B and C, and E and F
All other natural notes are a whole step.
To make notes fit, you often will have to raise them by making the note a sharp (#) or making the note a flat (b). Doing this changes the note by one half step. So a B # is really a C, because there is a half step between B and C. An E# is really an F, because there is also a half step between E and F. An A# is.... a Bb. However, you wont see those two in the same key, because you never mix sharps and flats.
So, Ill give a few examples, because this is probably confusing.
C major
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C D E F G A B C
Now, what happened here? None of the notes were sharps or flats. Why?
Because they all already fit. There is supposed to be a half step between 3 and 4. E to F is a half step, so it fits.
Now in most situations, it's not this easy. Say your in G again.
It might look like this:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
G A B C D E F# G
Once again, B and C fit, because of the halfstep between 3 and 4. However, 6 to 7 is supposed to be a whole step. E and F, unfortunately do not fit. E to F is a half step, but we need to make it fit. It should be a whole step. So we Make F an F#, to solve this. F to F# is a whole step. F# to G is a half step.
This is probably all really confusing, so ill give you something thats really helpfull: The Pentatonic scale.
A pentatonic scale is one where you cut out the un-naturaul notes. But really its also one of the most helpfull things you'll ever know for guitar solos.
E|-----------------------------------------15--18-----------|
B|----------------------------------15--18------------------|
G|--------------------------15--17--------------------------|
D|------------------15--17----------------------------------|
A|----------15--17------------------------------------------|
E|--15--18--------------------------------------------------|
There is your G major Pentatonic, writen out in tabalature. Trust me, you wanna know how to read Tabs, its really easy and helpfull. Ok. The notes in Bold are your root notes. In a G major scale, the root notes are going to be G. Root notes are helpfull because they allow you to move the same pattern all around and it still works.
E|-----------------------------------------12--15-----------|
B|----------------------------------12--15------------------|
G|--------------------------12--14--------------------------|
D|------------------12--14----------------------------------|
A|----------12--14------------------------------------------|
E|--12--15--------------------------------------------------|
This is still a Pentatonic, but Instead of a Gmaj pentatonic, it is now an E major pentatonic, because the root notes are E instead of G.
Now, you might be asking, how does this help with solos? Thats a scale, not a solo. True. But based on that same scale, you can write something like this:
E|-----------------------------------------12--15b-----------------------|
B|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|------------------12h14p--12--12b-------------------------------------|
A|----------12--14-------------------------------------------------------|
E|--12--15---------------------------------------------------------------|
E|---15--12--------12--------------------------------------------------|
B|-----------15--------15--12----12h14p--15b------12-14-12-15--------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--12-14-12-15-12-14-12-15-12-14-12-15-12-14-12-15-12-14-12-15b--|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
H = Hammer on
P = Pull off
B = Bend
(TIP: on the little lick 12-14-15, instead of carefully getting each note right, just alternate (down up) or Tremolo (sideways) pick really fast, and hit those frets with your second and third finger (14-15). If you do it somewhat sloppy, you'll end up doing a bucn of hammer ons and pulloffs, which will actually sound better than picking each individual note perfectly.
There you have your little guitar solo.
Not all of the notes fit, like the 12-14-15 part, but because we play that fast enough, and dont focus or stop on the 14, it doesnt really matter that thats not in the same key.
I hope this helped, though im sure I forgot to tell you alot, PM me or post here if you have more questions.
Say in you wanna write in the key of G major, G has an F# in it, but all the other notes are natural notes. So the key of G looks like this:
G A B C D E F#
This means when writing your solo you should pretty much just stick to those notes. You can do chromatics a bit if you want, but for the most part stay in G.
(The Chromatic scale is one that includes every note: A, A#, B, B#, etc.)
So in a line you could play G, G#, A. G# is obviously not in the key of G, but because your not ending on that note and you wont play it alone, its ok.
The way to figure out a Major scale is this: Between the third and fourth notes there is a half step, and between the Seventh and Eighth notes there is a half step. All others are whole steps.
So it looks somewhat like this:
1 2 3 * 4 5 6 7 * 8
(The eighth note is the same as the first, only an octave higher.)
Now, there is a half step between B and C, and E and F
All other natural notes are a whole step.
To make notes fit, you often will have to raise them by making the note a sharp (#) or making the note a flat (b). Doing this changes the note by one half step. So a B # is really a C, because there is a half step between B and C. An E# is really an F, because there is also a half step between E and F. An A# is.... a Bb. However, you wont see those two in the same key, because you never mix sharps and flats.
So, Ill give a few examples, because this is probably confusing.
C major
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C D E F G A B C
Now, what happened here? None of the notes were sharps or flats. Why?
Because they all already fit. There is supposed to be a half step between 3 and 4. E to F is a half step, so it fits.
Now in most situations, it's not this easy. Say your in G again.
It might look like this:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
G A B C D E F# G
Once again, B and C fit, because of the halfstep between 3 and 4. However, 6 to 7 is supposed to be a whole step. E and F, unfortunately do not fit. E to F is a half step, but we need to make it fit. It should be a whole step. So we Make F an F#, to solve this. F to F# is a whole step. F# to G is a half step.
This is probably all really confusing, so ill give you something thats really helpfull: The Pentatonic scale.
A pentatonic scale is one where you cut out the un-naturaul notes. But really its also one of the most helpfull things you'll ever know for guitar solos.
E|-----------------------------------------15--18-----------|
B|----------------------------------15--18------------------|
G|--------------------------15--17--------------------------|
D|------------------15--17----------------------------------|
A|----------15--17------------------------------------------|
E|--15--18--------------------------------------------------|
There is your G major Pentatonic, writen out in tabalature. Trust me, you wanna know how to read Tabs, its really easy and helpfull. Ok. The notes in Bold are your root notes. In a G major scale, the root notes are going to be G. Root notes are helpfull because they allow you to move the same pattern all around and it still works.
E|-----------------------------------------12--15-----------|
B|----------------------------------12--15------------------|
G|--------------------------12--14--------------------------|
D|------------------12--14----------------------------------|
A|----------12--14------------------------------------------|
E|--12--15--------------------------------------------------|
This is still a Pentatonic, but Instead of a Gmaj pentatonic, it is now an E major pentatonic, because the root notes are E instead of G.
Now, you might be asking, how does this help with solos? Thats a scale, not a solo. True. But based on that same scale, you can write something like this:
E|-----------------------------------------12--15b-----------------------|
B|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|------------------12h14p--12--12b-------------------------------------|
A|----------12--14-------------------------------------------------------|
E|--12--15---------------------------------------------------------------|
E|---15--12--------12--------------------------------------------------|
B|-----------15--------15--12----12h14p--15b------12-14-12-15--------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--12-14-12-15-12-14-12-15-12-14-12-15-12-14-12-15-12-14-12-15b--|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
H = Hammer on
P = Pull off
B = Bend
(TIP: on the little lick 12-14-15, instead of carefully getting each note right, just alternate (down up) or Tremolo (sideways) pick really fast, and hit those frets with your second and third finger (14-15). If you do it somewhat sloppy, you'll end up doing a bucn of hammer ons and pulloffs, which will actually sound better than picking each individual note perfectly.
There you have your little guitar solo.
Not all of the notes fit, like the 12-14-15 part, but because we play that fast enough, and dont focus or stop on the 14, it doesnt really matter that thats not in the same key.
I hope this helped, though im sure I forgot to tell you alot, PM me or post here if you have more questions.
Indiooo
Member
I didn't read thru all of the last post, so excuse me if I've mis-interpreted something, but those scales were not G and E major pentatonics, but G and E minor pentatonic scales.
Thanks Day before dawn, and Rude for vengance, I'll be trying hard to get started. Though I have a harder time learning than most, I'll still dedicate time to soloing. Thanks for all the help.Later-RJAIII-
Indiooo said:
I think he is right, it's minor. And I didn't read all the post too hehe, so maybe we are both wrong.
But one thing about the pentatonic. Too many guitarists use it too much. So you should learn all your scales....which I don't remembre the name and because I speak french, maybe the names are not the same in english. So you have the Mixolydien, Ionien.....anyway those things hehe.
You should also try to play scale on different starting string....If you know what I mean. You can do a C major scale starting on the 6th string (8th position) (low E) but you can also start on the 5th string (3rd position) (A string).
Also, it is good to know some basic arpagio to include in your solos. Even if they are basic one, an arpagio always sound like god stuff!! hehe.
Oh, and finally, try to learn some tapping.
But as somebody said, learing solos of guys like Satriani and Alexi Leihlo (Children of Bodom) might help....but the thing is that those guys are so good that sometime they do "unusual" stuff....and you might get mixed up...
So that's it, good luck with it!
Indiooo
Member
I think it's really important to know a fair bit of theory if you're trying to be a good soloist. It's not of much use to memorize patterns if you don't know the theory behind it, and consequently, where to properly use those patterns. To get you started, all you need to know is the basic major and minor scale intervals (major, natural minor, melodic minor, and harmonic minor). From there you can extract the modes of each scale. And as helpful as patterns can be, they start to limit your creativity after a while. Once you feel more confortable with soloing, try to see the notes of the key you're playing in, rather than the boxes.
I hope that helps.
I hope that helps.
sonofhendrix13
some loser
i think major pentatonic would go something like this:
G
--------------------------------15-17-
--------------------------14-17-------
--------------------14-17-------------
--------------14-16------------------
--------15-17-------------------------
--15-17-------------------------------
i think thats right but please excuse any mistakes
G
--------------------------------15-17-
--------------------------14-17-------
--------------------14-17-------------
--------------14-16------------------
--------15-17-------------------------
--15-17-------------------------------
i think thats right but please excuse any mistakes
sonofhendrix13
some loser
Indiooo
Member
G major pentatonic contains these notes: G, A, B, D, E (same as E minor pentatonic). So it would be something like this, starting on the 12th fret:
E|----------------------------------12-15--|
B|---------------------------12-15---------|
G|--------------------12-14----------------|
D|--------------12-14----------------------|
A|--------12-14----------------------------|
E|--12-15----------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------12-15--|
B|---------------------------12-15---------|
G|--------------------12-14----------------|
D|--------------12-14----------------------|
A|--------12-14----------------------------|
E|--12-15----------------------------------|
DONT try and play bodom solos. You'll fucking Kill yourself. Just start off with easier shit, and you'll someday be able to shred like that. But for now, trying to imitate Alexi or Dimebag Darell or Van Halen isnt gonna help you. Its good to be inspired by Guitar heros, but by trying really advanced stuff and getting frustrated, your moving backwards.
Also, check out this site:
ibreathmusic.com
Also, check out this site:
ibreathmusic.com
spellbound-by-the-bodom
Brighton - metal warrior
Ignore most of this :/ sit down with a metronome simply work through scales , slowly and accuratly . Make sure you dont start the scale on the same note everytime etc players who know nothing but more than 3 hand shapes are rather amusing 
and most importantly
USE YOUR EARS!!!!!
its all well and good playing at 200bpm demi semi quavers as long as its in a musical context and fits in the song , or else your simply a wanker ! Good luck and have fun.
and most importantlyUSE YOUR EARS!!!!!
its all well and good playing at 200bpm demi semi quavers as long as its in a musical context and fits in the song , or else your simply a wanker ! Good luck and have fun.
Hah hah hah Wanker, haven't heard that in a while. I usualy don't try to play anything fast or try to play like my guitar heroes, I just try to play what I can. I'm not any good at solos and get discuraged by my crappy pick ups that don't sound good for my high strings. I mainly focus on the low sounds but want to learn more just to nkow something besides my own writings, I want to learn scales and like I told a friend of mine a long time ago who would just try to rip it up and sound like a million cats in heat, gotta slow down to learn it, thats how I learnt me to play without lessons. Every thing I write is slow at first and if I want it faster I'll slowly speed it up by practicing untill I get it right or untill it hurts too much to keep going. Thanks for all the advice.-RJAIII-
Keann_Athos
Musician
maybe one day You could try some simple guitar tab lessons
if You do, check out this place:
http://www.wholenote.com/default.asp?src=l&l=6102
and
http://www.wholenote.com/default.asp?src=l&l=6102
and
http://www.wholenote.com/default.asp?src=l&l=6102
The guy who mentioned trying to play the solos of good guitarists, that was good advice. I don't know if You have the means to get any of the hardware, but there are machines out there now that are around $100 each, which take CD recordings and slow them down, without changing the pitch of the songs. If You could slow solos by other artists down, one thing You'd find is that almost every solo is just a "riff," like You're already good at, just sped up.
One way You could make Your own original solos is to just play the riffs You're used to playing, pick one main note from them, and play that new riff faster and faster and faster. Practice different picking techniques (I'm sure there are more guitarists here who could go on and on all day about how to do sweeps and other great solo picking techniques) with the same riff. Practicing what You already know and just speeding it up goes a long way to starting to solo. Practice all kinds of funky rhythms or suddenly ripping into a powerful set of notes then stopping and jumping somewhere else on the board and starting up the ripping again. Do this practicing slowly at first, imagining how it would sound if it was going really fast. Then just speed the same thing up more and more. One way to practice that is to record something, at slow speed and listen to it a lot, so You remember any cool riffs or runs You came up with. The more You practice speeding it up gradually, the more You'll develop the skill to play an actual riff or melody really fast.
As for sound, without knowing Your setup, I can only say, good equipment gives good sound. A master guitarist can slam a wrench onto a fretboard of the cheapest guitar and make it sound like a great solo, but, that's a master guitarist. The less skilled a guitarist is at playing, the more they're gonna need good equipment to get a good sound. Maybe You could list Your rig and instruments and we could figure out how to adjust things to get a better tone. Part of the sound, of course, is how well the guitarist is singling out just one string and how the guitarist's fingers press the strings/frets and how the strings are picked or muted. Still, if You know how to adjust the tone settings or equalization on Your amps and guitars, You can hide a lot of problems with playing until You get better. Also, there are a LOT of effects on the market these days that clean up and change a sound.
One thing You might try, for solo practice, is this example. Hang out around the fifth and eighth frets right across the board. Practice JUST using the open string, the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth frets to play with. Learn how if You play a fifth fret on some strings, it's the same as the open string on another and eventually You'll find some cool rhythms You can do very quickly by switching between the open strings playing while You run up and down the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th frets. What You learn while doing this can be transferred up and down the board pretty much, eventually switching so You just use the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th frets.
As You figure out what You like to play in solos, when You're jamming along, Your mind will sometimes automatically go back to the fret playing You'd been practicing. I mean, You might be soloing on the G string and suddenly, when Your fingers are near the 5th through 8th frets, You just rip into a run back and forth across the strings, jamming quickly over those frets. Then You go back to the G string or whatever.
Sounds like one of the first things You need to do is figure out why You're getting such bad sounds from those other strings, whether it's the equipment or Your fingerings.
if You do, check out this place:
http://www.wholenote.com/default.asp?src=l&l=6102
and
http://www.wholenote.com/default.asp?src=l&l=6102
and
http://www.wholenote.com/default.asp?src=l&l=6102
The guy who mentioned trying to play the solos of good guitarists, that was good advice. I don't know if You have the means to get any of the hardware, but there are machines out there now that are around $100 each, which take CD recordings and slow them down, without changing the pitch of the songs. If You could slow solos by other artists down, one thing You'd find is that almost every solo is just a "riff," like You're already good at, just sped up.
One way You could make Your own original solos is to just play the riffs You're used to playing, pick one main note from them, and play that new riff faster and faster and faster. Practice different picking techniques (I'm sure there are more guitarists here who could go on and on all day about how to do sweeps and other great solo picking techniques) with the same riff. Practicing what You already know and just speeding it up goes a long way to starting to solo. Practice all kinds of funky rhythms or suddenly ripping into a powerful set of notes then stopping and jumping somewhere else on the board and starting up the ripping again. Do this practicing slowly at first, imagining how it would sound if it was going really fast. Then just speed the same thing up more and more. One way to practice that is to record something, at slow speed and listen to it a lot, so You remember any cool riffs or runs You came up with. The more You practice speeding it up gradually, the more You'll develop the skill to play an actual riff or melody really fast.
As for sound, without knowing Your setup, I can only say, good equipment gives good sound. A master guitarist can slam a wrench onto a fretboard of the cheapest guitar and make it sound like a great solo, but, that's a master guitarist. The less skilled a guitarist is at playing, the more they're gonna need good equipment to get a good sound. Maybe You could list Your rig and instruments and we could figure out how to adjust things to get a better tone. Part of the sound, of course, is how well the guitarist is singling out just one string and how the guitarist's fingers press the strings/frets and how the strings are picked or muted. Still, if You know how to adjust the tone settings or equalization on Your amps and guitars, You can hide a lot of problems with playing until You get better. Also, there are a LOT of effects on the market these days that clean up and change a sound.
One thing You might try, for solo practice, is this example. Hang out around the fifth and eighth frets right across the board. Practice JUST using the open string, the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth frets to play with. Learn how if You play a fifth fret on some strings, it's the same as the open string on another and eventually You'll find some cool rhythms You can do very quickly by switching between the open strings playing while You run up and down the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th frets. What You learn while doing this can be transferred up and down the board pretty much, eventually switching so You just use the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th frets.
As You figure out what You like to play in solos, when You're jamming along, Your mind will sometimes automatically go back to the fret playing You'd been practicing. I mean, You might be soloing on the G string and suddenly, when Your fingers are near the 5th through 8th frets, You just rip into a run back and forth across the strings, jamming quickly over those frets. Then You go back to the G string or whatever.
Sounds like one of the first things You need to do is figure out why You're getting such bad sounds from those other strings, whether it's the equipment or Your fingerings.
Thanks Kean Athos, you've helped the most so far.
one thing is I can't read most tab, and almost all guitar lingo is jibberish.
I will get some lessons in the near future, I have more time now with this new job for more money. And playing acusti has taught me some more, and given the strenght back in my fingers that I lost last month. I got bitten By a dog on my right forearm, one of his tooth went into my arm and when I tried to play my whole arm would hurt so bad after 30 seconds,and He also ripped up my left pointing finger. But it's all healed up and my skin if ruff again.
To tell you the truth I have no idea what kind of guitar I own, it has no name and the rod cover says Arbor, but I think thats an acustic brand. I doubt Arbor made an electric, but then I don't know much about that. I have a Peavy 212 special, I think, it's at a friends house collecting dust at the moment, so I havent looked at it in a while, I have to pick it up as soon as I move to my new place. I'll let you know when I can look at it,later-RJAIII-
one thing is I can't read most tab, and almost all guitar lingo is jibberish.
I will get some lessons in the near future, I have more time now with this new job for more money. And playing acusti has taught me some more, and given the strenght back in my fingers that I lost last month. I got bitten By a dog on my right forearm, one of his tooth went into my arm and when I tried to play my whole arm would hurt so bad after 30 seconds,and He also ripped up my left pointing finger. But it's all healed up and my skin if ruff again.
To tell you the truth I have no idea what kind of guitar I own, it has no name and the rod cover says Arbor, but I think thats an acustic brand. I doubt Arbor made an electric, but then I don't know much about that. I have a Peavy 212 special, I think, it's at a friends house collecting dust at the moment, so I havent looked at it in a while, I have to pick it up as soon as I move to my new place. I'll let you know when I can look at it,later-RJAIII-
