Solo Writing

Here is how to compose your own solos and to improvise.

Step One. Master The Scales.

I know what your thinking, every single lesson has this and I agree, it's monotonous. But the truth is that you have to persevere with this if you want to be able to compose solos like all great rock stars do. And again I can guarantee that you are thinking "None of my favourite bands use scales, why should I?" Well, sorry to put it bluntly but no, a lot of bands use scales, but throw in notes outside. Here is the pentatonic scale, run through it accending and deccending 5-6 times to get the hang of it.

e||----------------------5-8--|
G||------------------5-8------|
B||--------------5-7----------|
D||----------5-7--------------|
A||------5-7------------------|
E||--5-8----------------------|

Now try this with hammer-ons and pull-offs. This is just to get you used to the scale, moving up and down and being able to throw hammer-ons and pull offs into your solo.

Step two. Basic riffs.

Now we are beginning to turn this scale into tunes and licks ( A Lick is a tune repeated throughout a song or solo).

e||------------|
G||------------|
B||----5-5b----|
D||--7------7--|
A||------------|
E||------------|

I know this seems easy but I'm trying to show what you can do with this scale different tunes you make out of it. This is a pretty common jazz riff, that some may recognise. You can play around with this tune to create more by either moving up or down a string or re-arranging notes.

Step Three. The Final Step, Well Sort Of.

Here it is, the bit you have been waiting for... time to rock! You mastered the scale, you mastered some basic riffs and now it's time to make your own solo. Well, my time is over, I hope you have all learnt what you have been meaning too, and I will leave you with some example of a solo using the Pentatonic scale.

Led Zepellin-Stairway to Heaven

The start using the solo except for one note ( As I mentioned before you can add notes outside of the scale to fill in gaps etc.)

e||----------5---------------|------------------8--8---|
G||------------8-5-----------|-------------8b10--------|
B||---7b9----------7-5---7p5-|-------------------------|
D||--------------------7-----|-7p5---------------------|
A||--------------------------|----(8)------------------|
E||--------------------------|-------------------------|

Key
7b9: Means bend the note until it sounds like 9
(8): Note outside the scale

thanks for reading and happy soloing, Rock on!

Comments

[hippiemetalguy]

this is not helpful at all you gave a basic scale pattern that some beginners may not know but still this did not help at all at how to write a solo

[miguul911]

e||-----|
G||-----|
B||----5-5b----|
D||--7-----7--| instead u could have put
A||-----|
E||-----|


e||-----|
G||-----|
B||---- 5-7br-5----| sounds alot better
D||--7-----7--|
A||-----|
E||-----|

[miguul911]

damn it came out all messed up... how do i do tabs?

[diesiraex]

First of all, congrats on gettin ur lesson up

Now, a few gripes. You have included 2 basic concepts, but this does not a solo make. A deeper explanation, maybe a few more examples/techniques, stringing phrases together using legato, etc...

Don't get me wrong-soloing is a personal task and can't really be taught in 1 lesson, but a little more depth would be nice for beginners.

[Jimi arrj]

yeah man, i do it

[lmb.f.gd's lamb]

sucks.

[guitarhero325]

nice

[dawso]

i just couldnt be bothered with scales n stuff, if it sounds good im good with it

[gothic_saint]

this was too vague dude you havent written anything about which scale to use on what kinds of songs and how to stick to the key of teh song !! its just like a random copy paste from other scale lessons !!

[ultrasonic]

not really, i write it all up and i write this ages ago, its took like a year to come through, so im much better now anyway, check out my finger tapping lesson

[IRISH_PUNK13]

IT WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER IF YOU WOULD OF EXPLAINED A LITTLE ON HOW TO MOVE THE PENTATONIC AROUND AND THROW IN OTHER NOTES LIKE YOU SAID

[fender456]

wow, maybe i'm just not meant to play solos...

[jpob]

those notes outside of the scale are 99% of the time from modes and where did you actually explain how to create the solo

[urbanesatan]

seriously not helpful dude.. really wont helpin neone how to make a solo by knowin a pentatonic scale why dont u try puttin in how to make use off those notes

[shizahole]

ok you guys are all wrong. this is completely right. once i learned the pentatonic scale front and back, i was able to improvise a solo in no time. its not hard. it just takes some practice. maybe thats what you guys lack - commitment. throw some bends and vibratos and hammer-ons and pull-offs in there, and youre good to go.

[Sykness]

You need to make sure you know the topic you are discussing very thoroughly. I got that impression that you didn't entirely know what you were talking about. That, or you were trying to make it simpler for a beginner to comprehend. If the latter, you did not succeed; if anything, you made it more difficult. Sorry, but this is just what I honestly think.
To try to point you off in more of a right direction, I think you should have tried to explain how to write a pentatonic scale. And, which pentatonic scale were you using in your example? I am looking at it now, and it looks to me to be an A Minor pentatonic scale. But the fact is, beginners need to get a good feel for what they're working with. If you are not comfortable with what you're using, you will never be able to utilize it best, nor have as strong of a desire to.

[Jlambertguitar]

what tunins that guy playin in? eadbge? wtf? LOL.. i love the pentatonic scale it was the first one i learn and i can sweep pick every hammeron all the way to the top and pull off all the way to the back in just a down stroke then up stroke =] lol its fun jazzin around with that scale spesh when u throw in some kirk hammett licks =] ta for lessons dude x

[ultrasonic]

lmfao i just realised that i completely coced that up

[timo1]

You need to say why/how it works to use certain notes outside of a scale.

[acidhendrix]

Um shouldnt it be ebgdae instead of egbdae good lesson

[dirtydeeds123]

way to suck ultrasonic

[bluzed]

how to add mode in pentatonik scale..?

[CRAMguitar13]

UR SUPPOSED TO WRITE UR OWN SOLO THEY GAVE U THE BASIC STEPS TO WAT U CAN PUT INTO A SOLO RETARD.

hippiemetalguy wrote:

this is not helpful at all you gave a basic scale pattern that some beginners may not know but still this did not help at all at how to write a solo