[The Dude]

Hey Dudes, Probably A Very Easy Thing To Do, And I Know Loads Of Guitarists Who Can Do It, But How Comes I Cant Solo!!!!!!!!!!???? My Guitaring Has Improved Alot Over The Last Year (i'm Now Onto Songs Like Parisienne Walkways, Whereas Before I Was Proud Of Wonderwall) And I'm Not Far Off I Just Cant Go The Whole Way And Do A Decent Guitar Solo. Anybody Else Suffer From This Problem??

[Matty22]

Yes, lol....

Other than that i cant be of much help to you

[OldG]

The minor pentatonic scale will get you soloing sooner than you think, It's a great starting point for rock/blues
solos .Here is a diagram to show the basic notes to get you
started...



The 'thick' E sting is shown at the bottom of the diagram, all you have to do is move the shape along it to suit the key you need.For instance if you want to solo over an A 12 bar blues - start at the 5th fret,D at the 10th and E sounds sexy at the 12th but can be played open also. I'm gonna post some easy but effective licks later,but in the meantime play along with some tunes (Hey Joe by Jimi soloing at the 12th is a great start) and see how ya get on

[Keidon]

Ahh! The ultimate art of soloing! Like OldG said the pentatonic scales will get you there, (Oh yuk Did he say SCALES). There are actually five movable scales that cover the fretboard from one end to the other, & I once asked the same question. The answer I got was - Learn to play all 5 scales & then forget they are scales, opting for playing notes as runs or singularly. The use of various finger techniques like bends and in particular the various types of vibrato. IE. Clapton or BB King, Satriani, Hendrix, Steve Morse Etc. = LISTEN - Copy - Play. One of the best methods of making a solo sound better is to practice singing the notes you hear in your head & Then play same. There are no SHORTCUTS, Just play. Tommy Emmanual from Down-Under in Aust says "The only Shortcuts are at the Butcher Shops!" You are young enough to learn quickly so Play, Play, Play!!!

[Tekker]

Learn to play other band's solos note for note. This will help you build up a good collection of techniques that you can put together to form your own solos eventually. Honestly, I think that's why I'm not good at lead guitar is because I haven't done that. I know scales, I know positions, but that doesn't help make "music". Learning from examples and knowing what kind of patterns sound good will help you tremendously.

Definitely learn scales, but don't just focus on scales. Learn some solos exactly, then change them up a bit to put your own spin on it. Do this enough and you'll have a lot of stuff to pull from when it comes time to improvise a wicked solo.

Now if only I can take my own advice.

-tkr

[allthumbs]

If you have the basics down, buy Kirks Plane Talk material. Teaches you how to improv. among other things.

[WernHalen]

I'll second that AT... I think that is the stringest part of the PT material... The freedom to improvise on the fly... Shredd guitar less likely but still possible but for strong melody and soul full solos get Kirk's PT.

[Keidon]

Excellent advice "TEKKER" Learn other bands solo's note for note. I used to hate that. But my then teacher at the Conservatorium said; even if you can only learn five notes at a time, you can nail almost any decent melodic solo in 10 weeks. Then you have it for life. Well basically, if you play it! I have forgotten some real fine solo's 'cause I don't get to use them live. Like "Still got the Blues" - Gary Moore. a gorgeous melodic solo.
I say - Go for it to "The Dude", and most of all, HAVE FUN!!!

[The Dude]

wow, cheers dudes.

[Random Robot]

I have the same problem, I can't solo. I'm trying to learn as many scales as I can so I can go to a teacher and say "this is what I know, show me how to use it". But I like the idea of actually learning different solos. I would think that I should learning the song first and reconizing what key it is in before I learn the solo. Then how hard is it to transpose those licks to different songs I learn in different keys?

[Tekker]

Originally Posted by Random Robot

But I like the idea of actually learning different solos. I would think that I should learning the song first and reconizing what key it is in before I learn the solo. Then how hard is it to transpose those licks to different songs I learn in different keys?

To transpose it all you will have to do is move the same "lick" up or down the fretboad to change keys. Like instead of starting the lick on the 5th fret, to change keys you'd just move it up or down and start on a different fret but play the same lick.

The idea is to get your fingers used to playing different patterns. Kind of like when you're first trying to learn chords and you just have to hammer the same chord(s) over and over again so your fingers just automatically know them. Then once you know the basic chord shapes you can expand on them and change the chord voicings, or add extra notes to the chords like 7ths, 9ths, etc. In the same way, learning other solos is like learning the "basic" solo shapes that sound good to you. Then you can expand on these once your fingers know the patterns. If you learn scales at the same time you are working on this then you will be able to look at how the solo pattern fits within the scale and you can see what other notes you can add in to "tweak" the solo and add your own stuff into it. This will also make learning scales more fun because it won't just be a boring pattern, but you'll be studying a musical pattern within the scale.

I know many guitarists who have been playing about the same length as me (some even a lot less) and they know lots of solos from various songs and can solo circles around me. lol Theory alone won't cut it, you have to learn music. It's definitely good to know theory, but learning musical patterns and studying those will get you a lot farther than simply learning scales. If you do both simultaneously and learn how the music fits within the scales, then you get the best of both worlds.

-tkr

[bmurnahan]

I'm trying to learn as many scales as I can so I can go to a teacher and say "this is what I know, show me how to use it".

This is potentially one of the ways scales get a bad rap. As has been stated, learning a bunch of scales won't neccessarily help you learn to solo.

Take one position of one scale and explore it, learn how to use it, find out where the chord tones are, break it up by playing it in intervals. Just practicing a scale up and down will teach you how to play a scale up and down, that's it.

Use what you are learning to make music right away. Don't think you have to wait until you know a bunch of stuff. Keep it fun. Try to find simple melodies in the scale you are working ( like happy birthday in the major scale). This will help train your ear. And remember it takes time. Enjoy the process.

[Random Robot]

What are some good "starter" solos for rock, I would love to play like Plant and Jimi (wouldn't we all). Any idea's of where to start. I realize by copying their solo's but what are some of the easier solo's to start with that would build me towards reaching that goal. Preferably somthing out of the Natural scale or Minor Pentatonic since I know those to very well. I can play them forward, backwards, increments of 2,3, 3 up 1 down.... and so on forever. Next, Major Scales in every key. wah-whoo.

[doug russell]

Hey Dude, Just get to know the infrastructure of soloing ie, your scales,bending,hammer ons and pull offs,harmonics, ect and of course the feel of the song.
some songs are easy to solo to, but practice practice practice, is the main thing, especially with arpeggios and sweep picking. Then you will find that all these skills start to fit in when you need them. Try your favourite songs, you have already got a feel for them, and then try soloing to a jam track. Thats how I started. Good luck and enjoy.

[allthumbs]

Originally Posted by bmurnahan

This is potentially one of the ways scales get a bad rap. As has been stated, learning a bunch of scales won't neccessarily help you learn to solo.

Take one position of one scale and explore it, learn how to use it, find out where the chord tones are, break it up by playing it in intervals. Just practicing a scale up and down will teach you how to play a scale up and down, that's it.

Use what you are learning to make music right away. Don't think you have to wait until you know a bunch of stuff. Keep it fun. Try to find simple melodies in the scale you are working ( like happy birthday in the major scale). This will help train your ear. And remember it takes time. Enjoy the process.

That is great advice bob. If your going to focus on scales, the notes around them are crucial to know if you want to make interesting melodies. Tunnel vision is not a good thing no matter how you approach solos. Explore everything.