Guitar Soloing Tricks

Tips & Tricks:
After searching for tips to learn how to blues solo better. I wanted to pass on a few tips for those of you struggling to get your improvisation to make sense.

#1 Practice (smiles...I know everyone says this, but it is true.) More importantly don't be afraid. Just start playing, try different things, listen to the way the notes and chords sound. Soon you'll begin to get a feeling for what works and what doesn't.

#2 Get a copy of Guitar Grid. This is a fabulous technique for learning scales & modes. You can seriously learn them all in one afternoon. Serously go check it out...Guitargrid.com

#3 Use the lower register of the scale mainly to start & end lines. Use the middle register for most of your soloing. Use the higher end of the scale to build tension.

#4 Switch in and out of the major & minor scale modes (especially when over the 1 & 5 chords).

#5 Focus on hitting the root notes at the beginning and the end of riffs (for starters) and then later you can start playing around with other notes form the chord you are over, etc. Focusing on these notes with help you create the sound of actually moving with the chords. What they call "Playing for the song".

#6 A great way to emphasize these target notes is to use hammer ons, pull offs and slides. Also try hitting the root note on the 1 beat 2 times to emphasize.

#7 Just start simple. Anchor yourself to the root notes. If you are playing in E. Just hit the Root note for all 4 beats (or 8 depending on the progression) keeping in time (1 & 2 & 3 & 4) then switch to the root of the 4 chord & do the same, then to the 5, and back to the 1, etc. Just move with the chord changes. Then start adding the notes around the root... next higher note or the next lower. Keeping in time & hitting the root note of the chord you are playing over on at least the 1 beat. Example: E E E E & A A A A & B B B B, then you can move to E G A G & A G A G & B G A G... and so on an so forth. Just start slow and work your way up to a fancy improv.

Keeping in time & focusing on chordal tones (roots, 3rds, 5ths, etc.) will make a huge improvement.

Finally, RECORD YOURSELF over a backing track. I struggled for months and thought that my playing was total crap (and yes I've still got work to do). But once I sat down and recorded myself I almost fell over. You get so used to hearing yourself and you start to feel like you are stuck in a rut and you feel like your riffs aren't like you want or your fingers aren't moving as fast as you want. Just record yourself, you may be surprised at how good you actually are.

If you have any ??, just post them here. I would be glad to help any way I can on your road to improv mastery...

From one guitar player to another.
Tom

Category:

Music

Tags:

• guitar
• fender
• soloing
• techniques
• grid
• scales
• modes
• chords
• tips
• tricks
• solution
• lead

[Schneify101]

How can i record myself?

[teburg10]

Hello. thanks for the comment... I use the voice recorder on my MP3 player and just jam & record. If you don't have one of those, you can use a voice recorder (like the ones you take notes with from office depot, best buy, etc) or your computer with a mic & the voice recording program under the"Start tab/Accessories". Or you can buy a cheap "cassette" recorder (yes they still sale those, ha). If you can't find one local, try ebay.

[JoshiRHCP]

good tips, i think thats the right way.

begin with basics and add later more notes and more difficult rhythms.

thats how i learned it, too, and i just play for 3 years and think i can improve in every key.... im not the best and have to learn much more but to play what you want is more important than to play songs you hear in the radio

mfg from germany^^

[teburg10]

Thanks for the comment. I wanted to pass along the things I've learned thru watching hours of videos, reading tons of books, and learning, learning, learning. I've found that you pick up a little piece here and a little bit there. So I am trying to compile a focused list of the things that will make the biggest (and quickest) improvement in your playing.

[JoshiRHCP]

true^^

i think books dont help much because there are too much unnecesary things

you as guitar player just want to have fun and just need one or two scales and the rest you achieve by trying and hearing