[oki270]

Hi all!

Are there any basic points to follow when making an arrangement of some simple solo? I took very simple one "Lean on me" and would like to use it as an example to learn how to make it more complex and more "rich". Any help would be appreciated.

Oki.

[oki270]

So, I tabbed it from memory so it could be a bit wrong (it's my first tab ever ;-) ) but anyway....what do I do next?


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------2-3--3--3--2-----------------2--2--------------------2--3--3--3--2-----------------2--------
-3--3--3-5---------------5--3--3--3--5--------5--5--3--3--3--5-----------------5--3--3--3--5----2--3--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Doug]

I tend to be more of a harmony type person over melody, so what I would do is to try to find the chord changes for that piece, then find the notes in the chords that make up the melody. There may be melody notes outside of the chords but they generally fit in well. Then, you can add doubling of the melody notes with other notes from the chord - or play the chord and let some notes ring while you play the melody over the ringing notes.

There's so many ways to play a piece, so maybe this is not what you had in mind.

[oki270]

Originally Posted by Doug

There's so many ways to play a piece, so maybe this is not what you had in mind.

I'm open for all suggestions. I'll try to make a chord "backtrack" for this.

[jdpaz]

Here's a good place to start:

[allthumbs]

I am with Doug. A good solo follows the chord changes. It's called playing in the pocket.

[scotty_b]

I have always understood 'playing in the pocket' to mean sitting in the groove of the piece very well, which is a little different to 'playing the changes'.

[allthumbs]

To me they are synonymous Scotty.

[Kirk Lorange]

Hi oki270.

Yes, there are so many ways to go that it's not easy to suggest any one of them. I think once you get a backing track down it will be much easier to explore the possibilities.

Notice that the solo you have tabbed out is an excursion between chord tones, another classic case thereof. There's really just that one point of tension (the E note played over the G chord, momentarily making it an E6), other than that, all launch/resolve notes are chord tones. If you keep that in mind, you'll be making it easier on yourself when looking for other possibilities, other variations.

[Doug]

Also, I think in this case, what you have tabbed out is the very strong melody line for that piece - the hook. I would think that you'd want that melody line to stay pretty pure. Maybe there would be more room for improvising around some of the other parts of the song - the bridge maybe. Either that or you can play the song one run through straight up and then jazz it up on the second and third runs and then come back straight to finish. (I'm talking through my hat a bit, though )