donegan_zealot

Ok so I was jamming with a friend and he said he wasn't very good at soloing. He said he liked how I did and asked for some help with a song he was working on. He is in a metal band and all I heard was

--2----1------
0---1---4-2-3

on his 7 string
(not exactly accurate but you get the point)

and where he wanted to solo was just some "Djent" breakdown
00-000-00-0000-0-

I didn't know what to do. No chords to follow, no real lead melody, and no vocal melody to go off of? what do you do? Just up for grabs?

__________________
7 STRING LEGION

Watch Breaking Bad? Come share your crazy ass theories


Tribal Purple Agile 727 Interceptor pro
Ibanez RG370DX
Fender Squier Strat

Tigas Jot

inb4 play locrian

__________________
@TiagoLageira -- Follow me on Twitter

a0kalittlema0n

whatever that 0 is (b on the 7th string or e on the 6th) I'd do some crazy runs with a couple of perfectly timed sweeps based off of that one note. Really, if there are no chords at all, and you can't seem to find the tonal center from listening, then it shouldn't matter too much what you solo with.

__________________
Awesome Guitar Faces

Cheesepuff

Whatever you hear in your head, whatever you think the solo should sound like, just play that.

Having just one chord to go off of (and a power chord at that) can give a lot of freedom if you know what you're doing.

__________________

Vicious_Turtle

well im pretty sure the key would be whatever obsurdly tuned (wrong spelling) string he was playing is. you could pretty much do slayer soling. ya know, wherer you play random shit with terrible tone and act like a god after

Myshadow46_2

If he is just chugging away on that one note then that is the tonic and you've basically got the chromatic scale to choose notes from! You can decide to make it major, or minor, or diminished etc.

__________________
Those Amongst Us Are Wolves - post rock from the Midlands, UK
Listen to our debut EP:Chaotic Love Stories and Irrational Behaviour

donegan_zealot

yeah this is what i was wondering, thanks alot!

__________________
7 STRING LEGION

Watch Breaking Bad? Come share your crazy ass theories


Tribal Purple Agile 727 Interceptor pro
Ibanez RG370DX
Fender Squier Strat

bondmorkret

Metal riffs tend to lend themselves to modal playing. This riff looks pretty chromatic, you could try to follow the notes as if they were tonal centres but that could be really tough at high tempos. Alternatively, take a symmetrical scale like the diminished or wholetone, and take a more abstract approach. The continuity comes from the scales symmetry. Hopefully that makes sense

__________________
Online guitar lessons - Fusion, rock, metal and jazz!

Hail

fuck off

__________________

AlanHB

It's probably in B minor.

__________________
And no, Guitar Hero will not help. Even on expert. Really.

food1010

Fixed.

1) Solo in B minor
2) Use accidentals, specifically a b2, b5, and others.

__________________
Only play what you hear. If you don’t hear anything, don’t play anything.
-Chick Corea

Angusman60

You do have a good point. Especially if there is only a "chug" on the tonic chord, modal improvisation is handy for creating different sounds, depend on the vibe you want.

__________________
2010 Gibson SG Honeyburst
I'm a musician, a composer, and a theory nut. Pleased to meet you! Check out my websites and drop me a line.

"The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude. " ~ Freidrich Nietzche


My Website

bondmorkret

Exactly! Chug rhythms on an open powerchord can be thought of as a static chord progression, so you'd improvise using a mode (probably dorian) and add tension by suggesting the V chord in strategic places.

__________________
Online guitar lessons - Fusion, rock, metal and jazz!

EmilGD

Dude it's all about the phrygian supersubdominant mode. **** dorian.

Angusman60

What scale is that from? Major, minor, diminished, or demolished?

__________________
2010 Gibson SG Honeyburst
I'm a musician, a composer, and a theory nut. Pleased to meet you! Check out my websites and drop me a line.

"The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude. " ~ Freidrich Nietzche


My Website

EmilGD

Demolished with a raised 8th iirc

AlanHB

But by suggesting a V you'll make it a major or minor song. Major and minor tend to be dirty words with metalheads so I'd recommend you chug on the lowest note available and nothing else.

__________________
And no, Guitar Hero will not help. Even on expert. Really.

AeolianWolf

B minor.



extreme overcomplication, and the first sentence alone shows me that there's a lot you don't know about something you profess to teach. i can see you know your scales but there's far more to music than that -- simple things that you're not even alluding to here.

__________________

| Facebook (personal) | Facebook (music) | SoundCloud | Instagram |

Angusman60

Bondmorkret did answer the question, though. The TS wanted to know different way to approach soloing over a harmony part that does not designate a key. Modes are a good way to create the sound you want in that situation.

__________________
2010 Gibson SG Honeyburst
I'm a musician, a composer, and a theory nut. Pleased to meet you! Check out my websites and drop me a line.

"The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude. " ~ Freidrich Nietzche


My Website