Soloing

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A solo is a section of a song that focuses on a single instrument. It is the lead instrument in the arrangement; hence soloing is often called playing lead (as opposed to rhythm). An instrument may "solo" over other parts of the song, such as the chorus; or multiple instruments can "solo" at the same time - "soloing" is more about a style of play that is emphasized during solo sections. For guitar, this is usually playing single note melodies, scale iterations, or arpeggios, in higher registers than commonly found in rhythm playing. While rhythm-playing is more associated with repetitive riffs or chord progressions, soloing usually features non-repeating phrases.

A solo section is often designed to showcase the performer's ability and personal style. It often features distinctive speed, techniques, phrasing, accents, and tone that differentiate it from the rest of the song.

Pre-Reqs

• Position
• Music Theory Basics
• Music Theory - Minor Keys
• Music Theory - Diatonic Chord Progressions
• Scales for all Positions
• CAGED
• Modes

Goals

Your main goal in soloing should always be to enhance the song. Within those bounds, you can do anything you want; however, you have to be aware of the solo's context within the song to understand what is appropriate. For instance, if you are soloing on a slow, soft ballad, it's not appropriate to come in guns blazing shredding at warp speed. Similarly, if the song has a sad tone, it's inappropriate to make your solo sound festive or goofy.

Things to be aware of:

• The overall mood of the song
• The solo's context inside the song (during a soft part, or the climax)
• The mood of the song as it enters and exits the solo (should the solo build or reduce energy?)

Energy is correlated to speed and pitch - faster and higher are generally considered to add energy.

Improv vs. Writing

Solos can be written ahead of time or improvised on the spot. Neither approach is right or wrong.

Writing frees your creative thought-process from the constraints of real-time. It also allows you to practice the solo in advance, perfecting tricky phrases or techniques. It allows careful analysis of the rhythm harmony and arrangement, allowing phrases to be written that take advantage of accidentals or other non-obvious notes that only work well for brief time windows. The downside is that it can be overly meticulous or focus on ideas that look interesting on paper but don't really sound that good. Also, you may be unable to adapt if for instance you miss a beat or your bandmates or producer asks you to make a variation or the solo length is extended on-the-fly.

Improvisation can be much more difficult for a novice player; however, it has its own set of benefits. It allows the player to adapt, adding or extending phrases for instance when the band's energy seems higher than usual. It can also be considered more reflective of the current emotional state of the performer. And it guarantees each performance is unique, adding novelty value to each performance. Improvising regularly helps builds one's understanding of the instrument and music in general.

Often, the writing process takes advantage of improv, by trying a few improv runs to harvest ideas, which can then be refined and written down. Likewise, writing things down can give a better picture of how you can work around the fretboard and fuel ideas to try when improvising. Rather than trying to take pride in one method over the other, the master musician recognizes the value in each method and integrates them into his craft, being able to write intricate solos as well as improvising innovative and interesting ones at a moment's notice.

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Phrasing

Some players practice technique extensively and can fly through scales and arpeggios. However, without good phrasing, even incredible technique and speed can seem dull, wandering, or lost. Thus, phrasing is key to developing good solos.

Beyond a note, the most basic unit of a solo is a phrase. Just like in a sentence, a phrase is a fragment of a thought; musically a phrase can be complete or incomplete - it can create or relieve tension, or do both. Unlike a formal language, musical phrases aren't as clearly identifiable and cannot be dissected into unambiguous components with clear purposes. Phrases are generally recognizable based on some pattern they create, whether that be rhythmic or pitch-oriented or both.

  A                B             C
--2--4--5----------5--4--7-------7--5--0-----

Phrases A, B, and C are clearly distinguishable by their rhythms - they all consist of several short notes and one longer, sustained note. This is a classic way to develop identifiable phrasing.

  A                          B        C
--t12p4-h7-t12p4-h7-t12p4-h7-t12p5-h9-p5\4h5h7p5p4h5--

Here, phrases A, B, and C are more ambiguous, flowing directly into each other without strong rhythm changes. Phrases A and B can be considered distinguishable because they are tapping different arpeggios. Phrase C is distinguishable because it is not an arpeggio. Phrases could also be distinguished by modulating keys, alternating techniques (legato vs. staccato, distinct notes vs. bends/whammy/slide), changing guitar tone, playing faster or slower, changing volume...really anything that can be used to noticeably create contrast between different groups of notes. This is not an exact science, and it's not necessary to analyze all playing as distinct phrases. We might consider the above example to be a single phrase.

So what is "good" phrasing? Think of it the same way as writing or poetry. It should feel like each phrase is saying something, not spouting random words or rambling on and on. Each phrase from one to the next should feel connected, even though different and distinct. The listener should be able to appreciate what you are trying to express through your playing - phrasing is the best method to do so. It breaks a solo down into blocks that can be individually consumed and understood, with each block building into something greater than they could achieve independently. The same way verse, pre-chorus, and chorus melodies all fit together to make a great song, phrases should fit together to make a great solo.

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Question/Answer Phrasing

A simple method for developing phrasing is to apply a question/answer scheme. Your first phrase is the "question". It is an incomplete thought that builds tension, but clearly ends. The next phrase "answers" the "question" by resolving the tension.

  Question             Answer
--0--2--4--5--7--------7--5--4--2--0--

  Question             Answer
--0--7--4--4--5--------7--4--7--0-----

The question can even extend over multiple phrases, with a single phrase answer:

  Question     Question 2   Answer
--0--2--4------5--6--7------5--7--0---

Or vice versa:

  Question     Answer       Answer 2
--0--2--4------5--7--0------4--2--0---

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Guidelines for Good Phrasing

• Each phrase or consecutive group of phrases should create a complete musical thought (create and relieve tension).
• Each phrase should use altered sustained notes, accents, rests, or otherwise alter rhythmic/pitch patterns between phrases to create contrast. You could repeat the entire phrase exactly but altering just one note may be enough.
• Sometimes phrases or series of phrases can be repeated 100% exactly multiple times - this in itself is a method to create tension that will eventually need to be relieved by a contrasting phrase.
• Each phrase should be an independent musical expression, although it may be weak or unresolved by itself.
• Phrases should naturally connect into each other, even when they belong to separate ideas or use different keys/scales.
• Each phrase must be mindful of the harmonic context it occurs over, such as targeting accented notes from the harmony, or seeking to extend the harmony with "outside" notes.
• Try to make each phrase distinct from the others in the same solo.
• Try to make phrases different numbers of notes and durations of time.
• Question/Answer phrasing is simple and works well, but avoid multiple consecutive sequences of such, unless purposefully doing so to build tension. Otherwise, it can begin to sound mechanistic and simple, or forced.
• Avoid simply ascending or descending a key with a near-constant rhythm, unless you do so quickly in a run, or the timing aligns very well with the harmony. This often sounds meaningless and amateur. Think how even simple melodies, even children's nursery rhymes, use such sparingly. Jumps, doubled notes, accidentals, sustained notes, accents, rests, embellished notes, off-time playing, and advanced techniques sound far more interesting and engaging to the listener.

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Harmonic Context Awareness

For any solo to sound good and enhance the song, it must show some understanding of the song's current key and harmonic progression. It doesn't necessarily have to be the exact same key or follow the chords exactly, but it has to sound related to them. If you just start shredding in a random key, it will sound more like 2 random songs played at the same time - a musically incoherent mish mash of noise.

Current Key

The current key tells us what scales and modes we can play on lead to naturally fit in. If a piece is in the key of E Major, the E Major scale or its relative modes will be the best choice to fit in. The keys removed by one degree in the circle of fifths should also work well. So, a fifth above E is B and a fifth below is A. A and B Major should both work relatively well in the key of E Major, depending on how the notes uncommon to both scales are used and when they are used (over which chords).

For many songs, the chord progression strictly follows the key, using all diatonic chords. However, if the harmony uses a non-diatonic chord, we may need to take that into consideration and avoid certain notes (or flat/sharp them)...or change scales completely.

Even if the piece features numerous non-diatonic chords in the harmony, it's still a good idea to know what key the piece is in, and particularly if there is a strong tonic note. This is the basis of your phrasing - creating tension by moving away from the tonic and releasing it by ending a phrase on it.

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Current Chord

As the harmony progresses from chord to chord, we need to be aware of what chord is currently being played in the rhythm. Our phrasing should adjust with the harmony, enhancing its visibility. We can make use of arpeggios or simply target (accent/sustain) notes from the chord. This helps make the solo sound more like part of the song rather than simply dropped on top of it.

In the example below, we can see that all of the notes from the chords belong to C Major. However, rather than playing all of the notes from C Major over each chord, we can limit ourselves to or emphasize those that belong to the current chord.

Progression - I vi IV V7 I
Chord #	Chord	C	D	E	F	G	A	B	C
I	C major chord	C		E		G			C
vi	A minor chord	C		E			A		C
IV	F major chord	C			F		A		C
V7	G dominant 7th		D		F	G		B
I	C major chord	C		E		G			C

In particular, we want our tension and release to align with the harmony. A phrase that ends on the tonic note will be less effective over the vi and IV chords than the I. It will be confusing and conflicting to play that phrase over the V⁷. We can also emphasize the harmonic movement by moving from mutually exclusive notes between adjacent chords. For example, playing G on the last beat of the C major chord, then playing A on the downbeat of the A minor chord. Then E -> F for A minor -> F major, A -> B for F major -> G major 7, and B -> C for G major 7 -> C major.

The current chord is especially important for non-diatonic chords, whose notes will often clash with some of the diatonic notes from the key. Here we can adjust the scale, flatting and sharping the appropriate notes to make them match the notes of the chord, possibly creating a synthetic scale. For instance in the key of C Major, instead of playing E minor, the progression may borrow from the parallel C Minor key and use the non-diatonic E♭ major chord, which consists of (E♭ G B♭). Thus, instead of playing E and B notes, we play E♭ and B♭ in their place.

Eb major chord        Eb    G     Bb
C Major key     C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C
Adjusted scale  C  D  Eb F  G  A  Bb C

C Minor key     C  D  Eb F  G  Ab Bb C

By adjusting the C Major scale to include E♭ and B♭, we have actually made it a B♭ Major scale. We could have used the complete parallel minor, which includes the A♭, but then we are moving harmonically further away from C Major. This may or may not be desirable, depending on how much contrast you want to create between phrases on this chord vs. its neighbors.

Let's try a different example - here we're using a non-diatonic E major chord (mediant chord) in the key of C Major.

E major chord         E     G#    B
C Major key     C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C
Adjusted scale  C  D  E  F  G# A  B  C  = A Harmonic Minor
Adjust again    C# D# E  F# G# A  B  C# = E Major
Adjust again    C  D  E  F# G# A  B  C  = A Jazz Minor

When we adjust the scale to include the G♯, we actually get A Harmonic Minor. This has the unfortunate effect of tonicizing the A from the G♯ -> A movement, which is neither the tonic of the key or a member note of the current chord. It also creates the whole+half step jump from F to G♯, which further tonicizes the A and creates an exotic feel. We have numerous options to overcome this. The first is to simply use the E Major scale over this chord. The problem with this only 3 of the 7 notes are from the original key of C Major, and it contains C♯; this can seem disjointed with the rest of the solo, particularly if this phrase is part of a musical idea that has phrases in C Major over other chords. A better option may be to simply sharpen the F in A Harmonic Minor. This creates the jazz minor scale. This is more closely related to C Major and avoids the whole+half step from F to G♯. Since A is not part of the chord, if we avoid emphasizing it in our phrasing, it won't draw too much focus away from C, while incorporating the non-diatonic tone G♯ of the E major chord.

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Using Chromatics

Chromatics or accidentals are notes that are not diatonic to the current key. Above we covered altering our key or using other keys to fit the harmony of the current chord. Here we will discuss using chromatics not dictated by the current chord, but simply as an additional means of expression.

The most simple use of chromatics is to borrow from the chromatic scale. The chromatic scale is the ultimate symmetric scale, with any possible note being the tonic with the same relationship to all other notes in the scale. This means its tonicity is extremely weak, which can make it sound aimless. Its constant use of half-step movements can sound like there's a lot of action but at the same time the pitch is moving slowly. And it can sound kind of comic. Its usage is mostly for small snippets rather than shifting completely to a chromatic scale. Because any note can be the tonic in the chromatic scale, its usage does not "move" the tonic note and cause the phrase to become disjointed with the harmony.

       |---------|
E------------------------
B--------------------0-1-
G------0-----------0-----
D----2---4-3-2-1-0-------
A--3---------------------
E------------------------

Other popular scales to borrow from are the whole tone and octatonic scales. These scales are also highly symmetric and have weak tonicity. The whole tone scale can have its tonic as any note in the scale, with a note on every note in the chromatic scale. So there's really only two variations, and if you pick the one that includes the harmony's tonic note, there is no disruption to the overall tonality. Same with either of the octatonic scales - these use 8/12 notes in the chromatic scale and can have any of its notes act as the tonic, so its more than likely you'll use a variation that does not affect tonality.

         |-------------|
E-----------------------------
B--------------------------1--
G------0-----------------0----
D----2---4-2-0---------2------
A--3-----------3-1---3--------
E------------------4----------

       |-------------|
E-----------------------------
B--------------------------1--
G------0---------------0-2----
D----2---4-2-1-------2--------
A--3-----------4-3-1----------
E-----------------------------

Blues is popular for its use of blue notes - the flatted 3rd, 5th, and 7th. These can either be added to or replace the corresponding notes of the major scale.

       *     *     *
E-------------------------
B--------------------0-1--
G--------------0-2-3------
D----0-1-2-3-4------------
A--3----------------------
E-------------------------

       *   *   *
E-------------------
B----------------1--
G------------2-3----
D----0-1-3-4--------
A--3----------------
E-------------------

The key to getting the right feel from the blue notes is to only hint at the regular note. This works best by quickly sliding down from the regular note to the blue note, so the regular note is simply a grace note. Or you can play the blue note and quarter bend up towards the regular note.

       *              *    *
E--------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------1--
G------------------------2-3-(b3.5)----
D------1-(b1.5)-3---5\4----------------
A--3-----------------------------------
E--------------------------------------

Another common use of chromatics is to play the 3rd from the parallel major or minor over power chords. Since power chords contain only root and fifth, either the major or minor third will sound harmonious over it. Usually, one of these will be diatonic to the current key. Playing the other can sound "outside" and exotic but without sounding dissonant and confusing.

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Moving around the Fretboard

CAGED Scale Positions

Previously we looked at the CAGED system of identifying chord shapes all over the fretboard. This same pneumonic device can be used to memorize the possible positions associated with a scale.

	Chord	Major Scale	Half-Steps
C	|o|-|-|-|-| |-|x|-|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |-|-|o|-|-| |-|-|-|x|-| |o|-|-|o|-|	|o|o|-|o|-| |o|x|-|o|-| |o|-|o|-|-| |o|-|o|o|-| |o|-|o|x|-| |o|o|-|o|-|	|o|o|-|-|-| |o|x|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-|-| |-|-|o|o|-| |-|-|o|x|-| |o|o|-|-|-|
C/A		|o|-|o|-|o| |-|-|o|-|o| |-|o|-|o|x| |-|o|o|-|o| |-|o|x|-|o| |o|-|o|-|o|	|o|-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-|o| |-|-|-|o|x| |-|o|o|-|-| |-|o|x|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-|
A	|o|-|-|-|-| |-|-|o|-|-| |-|-|x|-|-| |-|-|o|-|-| |x|-|-|-|o| |o|-|-|-|-|	|o|-|o|-|o| |-|-|o|o|-| |-|o|x|-|o| |o|-|o|-|o| |x|-|o|-|o| |o|-|o|-|o|	|-|-|-|-|o| |-|-|o|o|-| |-|o|x|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |x|-|-|-|o| |-|-|-|-|o|
G	|-|-|-|x|-| |o|-|-|o|-| |x|-|-|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |-|-|o|-|-| |-|-|-|x|-|	|o|-|o|x|-| |o|o|-|o|-| |x|-|o|-|-| |o|-|o|-|o| |o|-|o|o|-| |o|-|o|x|-|	|-|-|o|x|-| |o|o|-|-|-| |x|-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-|o| |-|-|o|o|-| |-|-|o|x|-|
G/E		|o|x|-|o|-| |-|o|-|o|-| |o|-|o|o|-| |o|-|o|x|-| |o|o|-|o|-| |o|x|-|o|-|	|o|x|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-|-| |-|-|o|o|-| |-|-|o|x|-| |o|o|-|-|-| |o|x|-|-|-|
E	|x|-|-|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |-|o|-|-|-| |-|-|x|-|-| |-|-|o|-|-| |x|-|-|-|-|	|x|-|o|-|o| |-|o|-|o|o| |-|o|o|-|o| |-|o|x|-|o| |o|-|o|-|o| |x|-|o|-|o|	|x|-|-|-|o| |-|-|-|-|o| |-|o|o|-|-| |-|o|x|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |x|-|-|-|o|
D	|-|-|o|-|-| |-|-|-|x|-| |-|-|o|-|-| |x|-|-|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |-|-|o|-|-|	|o|-|o|o|-| |o|-|o|x|-| |o|-|o|-|-| |x|-|o|-|o| |o|-|o|-|o| |o|-|o|o|-|	|-|-|o|o|-| |-|-|o|x|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |x|-|-|-|o| |-|-|-|-|o| |-|-|o|o|-|

|----C----|             |----C----|
      |----A----|             |----A----| 
          |----G----|             |----G----|
E-|             |----E----|             |----E----|
--D---|             |----D----|             |----D-
|3|-|-|5|-|-|-|-|R|-|-|-|3|-|-|5|-|-|-|-|R|-|-|-|3|
|-|R|-|-|-|3|-|-|5|-|-|-|-|R|-|-|-|3|-|-|5|-|-|-|-|
|5|-|-|-|-|R|-|-|-|3|-|-|5|-|-|-|-|R|-|-|-|3|-|-|5|
|-|-|3|-|-|5|-|-|-|-|R|-|-|-|3|-|-|5|-|-|-|-|R|-|-|
|-|-|-|R|-|-|-|3|-|-|5|-|-|-|-|R|-|-|-|3|-|-|5|-|-|
|3|-|-|5|-|-|-|-|R|-|-|-|3|-|-|5|-|-|-|-|R|-|-|-|3|
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  12  14  16  18  20  22  24

|o|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|x|-|o|-|o|o|-|o|-|o|-|o|x|-|o|-|o|
|o|x|-|o|-|o|o|-|o|-|o|-|o|x|-|o|-|o|o|-|o|-|o|-|o|
|o|-|o|-|o|x|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|x|-|o|-|o|o|-|o|
|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|x|-|o|-|o|o|-|o|-|o|-|o|x|-|o|
|o|-|o|x|-|o|-|o|o|-|o|-|o|-|o|x|-|o|-|o|-|o|o|-|o|
|o|o|-|o|-|o|-|o|x|-|o|-|o|o|-|o|-|o|-|o|x|-|o|-|o|
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  12  14  16  18  20  22  24
|----C----|             |----C----|
      |----A----|             |----A----| 
          |----G----|             |----G----|
E-|             |----E----|             |----E----|
--D---|             |----D----|             |----D-

With this, we can quickly determine which fingering pattern aligns with the root note for the current position. All we need to know is where the root notes lie for that position.

You should practice moving between neighboring patterns, to innately understand their interrelation.

G	E/G	G + E/G
|A|-|B|C|-| |E|F|-|G|-| |C|-|D|-|-| |G|-|A|-|B| |D|-|E|F|-| |A|-|B|C|-| 5	|B|C|-|D|-| |-|G|-|A|-| |D|-|E|F|-| |A|-|B|C|-| |E|F|-|G|-| |B|C|-|D|-| 7	|A|-|B|C|-|D| |E|F|-|G|-|A| |C|-|D|-|E|F| |G|-|A|-|B|C| |D|-|E|F|-|G| |A|-|B|C|-|D| 5

Notice how the far-left notes in the G position are the far-right notes in the E/G position, just moved to a lower (thicker) string. All the other notes simply move to the left. The only tricky part is the G/B strings, as they aren't tuned to a perfect 4th. Always try to keep in mind the whole-half patterns involved. Knowing where the 2 half steps are is the key to understanding the major scale and moving it around the fretboard easily.

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Understanding the Patterns

In the 1st String Lesson, we looked at the fingering patterns possible for any group of 3 consecutive notes on the same string for the major (and natural minor) scale. This is another shortcut to help you quickly identify the fingering patterns for a position.

There are 3 patterns for a single string:

1. |o|-|o|o|
2. |o|o|-|o|
3. |o|-|o|-|o|

Let's look again at the scale maps for each position, this time using 3 notes per string, labelling each pattern per string.

1 |-|o|-|o|-|o| 1 |-|x|-|o|-|o| 1 |o|-|o|-|o| 3 |o|-|o|o|-| 3 |o|-|o|x|-| 2 |o|o|-|o|-|

1 |-|-|o|-|o|-|o| 3 |-|-|o|-|o|o| 3 |-|o|-|o|x| 2 |-|o|o|-|o| 2 |-|o|x|-|o| 1 |o|-|o|-|o|

3 |-|-|o|-|o|o| 2 |-|-|o|o|-|o| 2 |-|o|x|-|o| 1 |o|-|o|-|o| 1 |x|-|o|-|o| 1 |o|-|o|-|o|

2 |-|-|o|x|-|o| 1 |-|o|-|o|-|o| 1 |x|-|o|-|o| 1 |o|-|o|-|o| 3 |o|-|o|o|-| 3 |o|-|o|x|-|

1 |-|x|-|o|-|o| 1 |-|o|-|o|-|o| 3 |o|-|o|o|-| 3 |o|-|o|x|-| 2 |o|o|-|o|-| 2 |o|x|-|o|-|

3 |-|-|o|-|o|o| 3 |-|-|o|-|o|x| 2 |-|o|o|-|o| 2 |-|o|x|-|o| 1 |o|-|o|-|o| 1 |x|-|o|-|o|

2 |-|-|o|o|-|o| 2 |-|-|o|x|-|o| 1 |o|-|o|-|o| 1 |x|-|o|-|o| 1 |o|-|o|-|o| 3 |o|-|o|o|-|

We know from the prior 1st string lesson that for a given major/minor scale, there are 2 of each pattern that occur, plus one additional whole-whole (|o|-|o|-|o|) pattern. As we ascend from low (thick) string to high (thin), the patterns go in order - 1(x3), 2(x2), 3(x2), then repeat. As you go from the #1 pattern to #2, you shift up one fret; and as you go from the G to B string you shift up one fret. As you can see in the last scale map above, when these both occur on the same string transition, you end up shifting up 2 frets.

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Moving Diagonally between Octaves

You've probably already noticed that for any note, its octave occurs 2 strings up and 2-3 frets higher, depending on whether you cross the G/B string or not.

|-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-| |-|-|x|-| |-|-|-|-| |x|-|-|-|

|-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-| |-|-|x|-| |-|-|-|-| |x|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-|

|-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|x| |-|-|-|-| |x|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-|

|-|-|-|x| |-|-|-|-| |x|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-|

Since a scale repeats its notes every octave, we can play (virtually) the same fingering pattern in each octave, by changing positions to align fingers with the same notes in each octave:

|o|-|o|o|
|x|o|-|-|

|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|o|o|
|-|-|-|-|-|x|o|-|-|
|-|-|o|-|o|o|-|-|-|
|-|-|x|o|-|-|-|-|-|
|o|-|o|o|-|-|-|-|-|
|x|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
 1   2     3

Working around the fretboard this way not only makes things a bit simpler but greatly extends the range of any run. In the example above, we gain 3 extra notes than if we had used a fixed position.

In the example below, we use a slide to move positions and hit every note in the scale before reaching the next octave.

E------------------------------------------------------------------------12h13p12----12-13-15/17--
B---------------------------------------------------------------12-13-15----------15--------------
G-----------------------------------------9h10p9----9--10-12/14-----------------------------------
D--------------------------------9--10-12--------12-----------------------------------------------
A-----------7h8p7----7--8--10/12------------------------------------------------------------------
E--7--8--10-------10------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Targetting Notes between Positions

The same note can be found up to 6 times across the fretboard, moving diagonally from the top left (thinnest strings, lowest frets) to bottom right (thickest strings, highest frets). For a guitar tuned to standard tuning w/ all perfect 4ths between strings except a M3 between the G and B strings, the note can be found on the next thickest string 5 frets higher than the current fret (+4 frets for the G/B strings).

 |--- +5 --|-- +4 -|--- +5 --|--- +5 --|--- +5 --|
|x|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|-|-|-|x|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|x|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|x|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|x|-|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|x|
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  12  14  16  18  20  22  24

|x|-|-|-|-|-|      G |x|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|-|-|-|x|  or  B |-|-|-|-|x|

The octaves of the current note can be found most easily by moving diagonally from the bottom-left to the top-right of the fretboard. The octave will be 2 or 3 frets higher for the string that is 2 strings above the current string, or 7/8 frets higher for the next highest string. You can also move 3 strings higher than the current string by moving back 2/3 frets.

|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|5|
|-|-|-|-|-|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|4|-|-|-|
|-|-|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|3|-|-|-|-|-|
|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|3|
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  12  14  16  18  20  22  24

|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|      B |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|
|x|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|  or  G |x|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|

D/G |-|-|o|      B/E |-|-|-|o|      
A/D |-|-|-|  or  G/B |-|-|-|-|
E/A |x|-|-|      D/G |x|-|-|-|      

G |o|-|-|-|      B/E |o|-|-|
D |-|-|-|-|      G/B |-|-|-|
A |-|-|-|-|  or  D/G |-|-|-|
E |-|-|-|x|      A/D |-|-|x|

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Chord soloing

A popular soloing method in jazz is a chord solo. It is particularly effective when there is no rhythm guitar or piano to fill in the harmony, particularly extended "jazz" chords. It uses a combination of melody lines and chords to create the solo. Some notes of the chord may be sustained while others are moved as a melody. Alternate voicings of the chord may be used to follow the energy of the solo or allow easier manipulation of melody lines. Not all chords may be played - sometimes the melody may simply accent the chord's root or an important voice of the chord not being played by another instrument.

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Using Delay

Modern delays have the ability to sync their delay times to the song's tempo, either through beat detection or tap tempo. With the delay synced to the tempo, you can do some interesting things in playing off the delay trails, creating harmonies while playing fast melodies. Or you can use mutes and allow the delay trails to fall between the current notes, creating a seamingly super fast string of notes.

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Tone

Lead tones often differ from rhythm tones, especially for hard rock/metal genres. For jazz and blues, where the rhythm guitar tone is often dark and warm, the lead tone has more brightness and bite to stand out. For metal, rhythm guitars are often treble-boosted into distortion, getting a very tight and biting sound, which is harsh when applied to higher-register leads. A fatter, warmer tone is more desirable to sound sweet instead of harsh, achieved by disabling boosts and/or using the neck instead of bridge pickup. Also, lead tones tend to have greater emphasis on midrange than rhythm tones.

Effects-wise, leads are very often enhanced with delay and reverb to make them sound more natural, sweeter, and spacious. Chorus or other modulation can be used to help leads stand out where they don't otherwise do so (playing in the same register as the rhythm; using fewer notes than common for solo's).

Many amplifiers provide a solo boost accessible via footswitch. This typically provides +2 - +6 db of volume, which helps to have your leads stand out above the mix.

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Embellishing Your Playing

The key to sounding like a guitar master vs. a novice is how you are able to embellish your playing. This mainly involves using a variety of techniques:

• Touch, Dynamics, and Accents
• Legato/Slides
• Bending
• Vibrato
• Palm Muting
• Artificial Harmonics
• Whammy Bar
• Double and Triple Stops

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Shredding

Shredding is a term to describe jaw-dropping speed for lead playing. Ultimately, the best way to increase speed is to start slow and focus on fundamental technique, only increasing speed once technique is sound. Trying to jump straight into speed playing is grounds for developing bad habits and sloppy playing.

Shredding is often assisted by using special techniques that use economy of motion, consistent picking/fingering patterns between strings, open strings, etc. to allow the player to play faster than he would using traditional technique. Here are some that are commonly used:

• 3 Notes per String
• Legato
• Alternate Picking
• Sweep Picking
• Tapping
• String Skipping

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Homework

• Understand the idea of phrasing.
• Practice making some question-answer phrases - see how the tonic note is related to tension and release.
• Try making phrases with different methods to create contrast between them.
• Play a basic diatonic chord progression on a music player, either one off the internet or one you've recorded. Solo in the same key. Solo in alternate keys. Notice how the solo seems to fit best in the current key.
• Try to emphasize tones from the current chord in your solo. Try movement from tones that are mutually exclusive to the chords during transitions.
• Play a chord progression that involves one or more chromatic chords. Try different scales, including synthetic ones, over the non-diatonic chords.
• Try to incorporate various non-diatonic notes into a solo. Try chromatic, whole, octatonic, and blues runs, as well as sharped/flatted 3rds, and 6ths.
• Practice moving up and down the fretboard diagonally following the octaves.
• Randomly pick various keys to play in - use the CAGED method to find root notes and fingering patterns, and try to move between positions without playing any non-diatonic notes.
• Practice playing the same notes in multiple positions, gradually increasing the size of the position shifts.
• Repeat but try to ascend/descend octaves, using the 2, 3, and 4 string patterns for octaves.
• Come up with a chord progression. Improvise a solo over it.
• Come up with another chord progression. Write a solo for it.
• Improvise over the chord progression for which you wrote the solo, incorporating some of the written ideas.
• Write a solo for the first chord progression that you improvised over. See how your improvisation inspires ideas to write.

Related Lessons

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Voice Leading Modulation Non-Diatonic Chords Modes Exotic Scales Soloing Ext Chords Adv Rhythm Quartal Harmony Atonality Tuning Systems