Introduction
Sup Fools. Today I'm going to try to help you out a little bit with you soloing. So without futher delay here it is.
The Scale
All solos come from scales. The Minor pentatonic is one of the most popular, and probably the easiest scale to solo in. It goes like this:
|---------------------------------12-15---|
|---------------------------12-15---------|
|---------------------12-14---------------|
|---------------12-14---------------------|
|---------12-14---------------------------|
|---12-15---------------------------------|
And back down again. Note that this is in the key of E, but it can be moved anywhere on the fretboard. In solos, the lead guitarist will take the scale for the key that the song is in, and play the notes in the scale in different ways to make it more interesting. For Example:
|------------15-15-12------------|
|---15-12-------------15-12------|
|---------14----------------12---|
|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|
This is alot more interesting than the scale. Guitarists can also move scales that are from notes in the scale that they are soloing in. For Example in the Key of A, You could play in the A minor Pentatonic, or you can move to the next note in the A Minor Pentatonic scale which is C, and so on through the scale.
Guitarists also used different techniques to make them more Interesting. You may already know about some of these techniques, so if you do, then feel free to just skip that section and move on to the next one.
Hammer-ons/Pull-offs
The first techniques I am going to go over are hammer-ons and pull-offs. Playing these is often called playing legato. This technique is used often by Adrian Smith and Dave Murray of Iron Maiden. Basically to play a hammer on you pick a note that you are fretting with you first finger, and then you take another finger and quickly fret the next note without picking. For Example:
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-----------5h6---|
|-------5h6-------|
|---5h6-----------|
Note that in Tab hammer ons are usually designated with an "h" between the two notes that you are changing between. A pull-off is the opposite. You pick the note at the higher fret, and then quickly release it to play the second note. For Example:
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-----------6p5---|
|-------6p5-------|
|---6p5-----------|
Pull-offfs are usually indicated by a "p" in tab.
Trills
A trill is a series of hammer-ons and pull-offs. For Example:
|---15tr12-----------------|
|----------15tr12----------|
|-----------------15tr12---|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
Trills are usually indicated by a "tr" in tab.
Tapping
Tapping is similar to hammer-ons and pull-offfs, except that you use your right hand to hammer on to one of the notes. Most people use their first finger to tap, but some also use their second finger. In tab a tapped note is indicated by a "t" right before the tapped note. For Example:
|---t12p8p5t12p8p5---|
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
A bend is pretty self-explanatory, you simply bend the string with the finger that you are fretting. However, you should be careful and try to limit you use of bends, until you know how to make them sound really good. A tip for that is to try to not to bend it too far. It sounds really bad if your note suddenly goes really sharp. Ex:
|--------------------|
|---15b-12br-15brb---|
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
This example sounds really weird, even if you play it perfectly, but it will help you make your bends sound as good as humanly possible. The Bend is marked by a "b" right after the note. If there is an "r" then that means to release the note. So "brb" would mean that you are supposed to bend the note, release it and bend it again. alot of people also use "/" to represent a bend in tab.
Solo
Okay so you learned all that crap, now it is time to put it to use. And not just by playing some stupid little exercises to help you learn it. Thats right Its solo time. Here is an example of a solo that I made up, that uses all of these techniques. You should use your newly gained knowledge to make up your own solo.
|---t12p8p5t12p8p5t12p8p5t12b---15tr12----------------------|
|--------------------------------------15tr12---------------|
|---------------------------------------------14tr12--------|
|----------------------------------------------------12br---|
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------15b---|
|------------12h14h15-------|
|---12h14h15----------------|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|
/ my profile 
epic 
