|
|
| About Concepts |
"One of the most important parts of a solo is the way it starts. That sets the mood. The solo should reach high points and low points, and catch you in an instant kind of way. The solo is a piece of music in itself. It should have some sweet spots and some dirty spots."
Kirk Hammet"The best solos are something that you can sing as well as the melody line. The kind of solos I enjoy are where there's a line that reflects the melody but subtly changes it. It opens up another little window in the song. There should also be some spontaneity, It shouldn't be totally planned out."
Brian May"I know what key I'm in, but it's more the note I'm looking for. You automatically adhere to certain patterns because the notes are there. The most important thing is to be able to hear it in your head and apply it through your fingers to your neck in a split second. That's what people miss out on. Instead of playing patterns, hear the melody you're going for. You need enough experience to know where it is on the neck. I'm still learning this, it's something that very few guitar players of my generation even paid attention to. You have a better chance of reaching your goal if you hear the solo before it happens, rather than just flipping around."
Slash"I sometimes develop a solo by taking a story I have in my head and reciting it. And as you say the story, sing it. No one will hear you singing, because the amps are too loud. then play what you're singing. If you do it that way and listen to what you play, you'll be shocked. It's a totally different approach."
Steve Vai"There are certain patterns, scales, and positions that become engraved in your brain from common usage. If you have a melodic idea in mind, you find the place on the fingerboard where it's going to happen, and start to fool around in the licks, phrases and scales that you know in that position. That's how you build a solo. When I listen to a solo after the fact I can analyze what i was doing. But at the point of doing it, I'm searching. I tend to rely a lot on arpeggios, but I didn't know that until I listened back to solos and transcribed them."
Rik Emmett"You can learn so much applying rules of speech to your playing. Notes are letters, words are chords, riffs are sentences, choruses and verses are the paragraphs. Basically, you're telling a story. It's very simple but we all tend to go, "Gee, here's a guitar. I'd better think a lot." The more you think, the more frozen you get. Just let it flow. It really works that way."
Marc Bonilla
| About Theory |
"Ab5 means you've got a 4, and maybe don't have a 5-you've got a b5 instead. A#4 [Lydian Mode] means that you've got a whole-step between 3 and 4, but there's still that 5 to retrieve it and move it and smooth is out. It's a whole different emotion. The b5 is a real nasty thing. It's like pulling a rug out from under someone, throwing a pie in his face, and unscrewing the hubs of his wheels. With Lydian mode, you don't know there's a trouble unless you play that particular note."
Joe Satriani"When I approach a solo, first I learn the melody and then I learn the chords from sheet music or from a record. Then I try to use substitution chords here and there that will make the tune a little more interesting. For instance in place of an Fm I would use an Ab6/9, or in place of a C7 I sometimes use a Gdim going to F.
Chet AtkinsNo musicians can say,"Hey man, I've finally got it all happening." There's so much more to develop: make the lines hipper, change the chords voicings, expand the harmonic vocabulary. How you develop and resolve a line determines the intellect of the improvisation. I have enough musical theory to know what scales fit what chords - I've been studying that since the age of eight. Yet any musicians knoows once you've learned and digested music theory you have to throw it away at some points.
Al Di Meola
| About Technique |
For me, playing slowly and interestingly is harder than going fast. A lot of guitarists can play fast, so when I achieved that ability I was determined not to sound like everybody else and just run up and down the scales or do simple major and minor arpeggios. Sweep picking enables me to go beyond that and execute arpeggios based on minor 9th, 11th, and 13th chords or whatever.
Frank GambaleSometimes I use the side of my pick to get harmonics. I also get harmonics by hitting a note with my left hand finger while I tap my right index finger on the fingerboard exactly one octave up. When it's an exact octave, you bring out the harmonics plus the lower note. Like in "Spanish Fly" I start out by tapping harmonics and then do hammer-ons and pull-offs with my left hand and reach behind my left with my right and use my right index finger below my left hand, so that it acts as a sixth finger. In other words, my right-hand finger changes the lowest note. See, the way I play is in my fingers. I have a style of playing where no matter what amp or guitar I use, it sounds like me.
Eddie Van HalenEarly on I was lucky enough to have someone point out the usefulness of my left-hand little finger. As a result it is one of my strongest fingers, and I prefer to use it even more than my ring finger. That's always what made me different from most rock-guitarists I know - even the really good ones. I think in Rock N Roll a lot of guitar players favors something that lets them use the ring finger for greater articulation and vibrato effects. For me, I've got to be able to do it with every finger. I find it ridiculous to have close all my ideas on my ring finger so I can get a vibrato. That eliminates a lot of possibilities automatically.
Jerry Garcia
Written by Fajar Siswandaru, compiled
from many sources.
If you have your own articles, comments, critics
please address them to
[email protected]
Want more tips ? Try out this great guitar resource :
1001 Guitar Tips and Tricks
Written by Andy Jones