Well, maybe they don't entirely suck, but the problem that I seem to have is that I play the same old things all the time, they just sound a bit different in different keys, at different tempos and with different song styles.
I marvel at albums, how the guitarists seem to come up with new things all the time, different and varied guitar solos. I'm majorly stuck in a rut. Considering the limited amount of notes to choose from, how are they so inventive???
OK, so my knowledge is very poor. I basically only use one scale, work out what key fits with a song/backing track etc and noodle around a bit, trying to keep a bit melodic rather than random. So what scale? er ..... as I said, poor theory knowledge, I think it's the mixolydian scale, but with the blue note from the blues scale added.
I'm an old dog so new tricks are a bit beyond me, but I'm sure there must be something I could do to get more inventive. I certainly can't analyse music to know what chords are being played, so all that mad modes stuff is a non-starter. Maybe I could post a short video of my usual sort of thing if anyone wants to tell me what I could try different? Not sure I want to expose my amateur playing to you lot mind you!
Any thoughts??
Comments
A great ear or a little bit of music theory goes a long way, if you know what notes are in a chord you are playing over you can target certain notes in your solo that will compliment that chord and thus play to the changes rather than just stay in key. I'm not a theory expert but I know enough to use certain little tricks to make my playing more melodic than it was before I learnt some theory.
This video I did explains one very simple trick
The rut that I'm in sounds like a similar one to the OP, in that I always noodle in a scale pattern that my fingers are particularly familiar with.
When I have time to 'compose' a solo I try to think of anything that isn't my usual scale pattern. I almost have a ticklist of things to try.
I usually go for double stops first - in 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, sometimes 7ths. Can I make licks based around any of these. What about double stops in which one note is bent against another unbent note - 'country style'.
Can I incorporate some arpeggios (difficult as my picking technique isn't that good for arps, but always worth a try).
What about incorporating chords in amongst single note stuff.
How about repetition..rather than rattling up and down the scale, what about repetition of a few choice notes. Or even one note. There are several ways that a single note can be articulated - simple fretted, picked note, slide up, slide down, bent up, pre-bend and release, hammered on etc. A single note or phrase can be repeated with changing rhythm.
I suppose what I'm trying to say is that its easy to get stuck in a scale pattern and the way out is try and think of any aspect of music generally other than the scale pattern.
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Old dog, new tricks is bollocks by the way.
helps with developing phrasing and melodic thinking
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You get good at soloing by making it your priority for a period of time- maybe a year or so.
It will not happen by accident, you need a plan that you will follow through with.
If you want I can design a 30 min practice routine that you can use.
You’ll need to follow, at a minimum, 6 days a week to see the results.
Old dog is nonsense, I am always learning new stuff.
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is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?
But the comment that got me from @Roland about old dog new tricks bollocks -> which is spot on. Embrace that you don't know stuff and it will help motivate you. In the last fews months I have probably had my biggest learning spurt for many year, which is both frustrating and enlightening in equal measure, before this I if there was something I couldn't play I would put it down to it "just not my style". Not anymore, now it is more practice until I get sounds that I am expecting / hoping for. Recording your playing a listening back also helps.
When you say you marvel at the inventiveness of some players, I've found that most players like that have one simple thing in common - they can find the notes in their head on the guitar. Once they can do that, it becomes a completely different process for them because through listening and studying they are feeding the music they can think, not the music they can play. They can find inspiration in a much broader range of places because it's not limited to guitaristic things - could be sax, could be Gregorian chanting...anything. They could listen to a frigging Celine Dion vocal and get something out of it!
I think it's the kind of thing you can start small with. Even if you just take a single pentatonic position in a single key and ear train the crap out of yourself on it, so the thought comes first and the hands-on comes second, you can start to get into that realm.
If you struggle to think of anything new, then try listening to a new musical style that might give inspiration.
@Danny1969
good video, but I fall flat on the fact that I have no clue of the notes on the fretboard. See above para, none if the info sticks in my head.
I'm sure it makes great sense but it's way over my head! As mentioned, I don't know the notes on the fretboard.
I think what would suit me would be sat in a room with someone showing me stuff. I've always learned well with that kind of interaction rather than reading or watching a video. Not learning via online meeting though! I don't get on with those at all!
There's stuff in the thread to ponder on ...
A good start would be to learn the notes on the fretboard. Start with the frets that have dots and build out from there. I don’t see how you can get anywhere without that. You’ve got to get very familiar with the chromatic scale.
I observed a David Greer masterclass one time and he went round the room asking people what they wanted to achieve and nearly all of them said they wanted to improve their improvisation. He said OK, and asked them each to play Happy Birthday in whatever key he called out. Nobody got through it without a mistake, and this was an intermediate/advanced class. It was a great way to bring home the importance of the ground work of ear training and being able to find the notes - people wanted to be able to improvise but couldn't find the most familiar melody of all time on their instrument.