Have you ever attended a live concert and had your mind mesmerized by the lead guitarist? The guitar solo is so captivating you find it difficult to turn away and will wait in awe.
I know that most guitar players would have felt like this at one time or another; wishing they were on stage and in those shoes for that brief moment in time.
Well, I actually did. After I watched Joe Satriani’s live concert, that’s the way I personally felt and led me to learn to play the guitar.
Guitar solos are commonly heard in numerous genres of music such as blues, rock, jazz as well as classical. Typically, guitar solos happen with a lot of improvisation, and how the solo will turn out largely depends upon the flair and creativity of the guitarist.
The good news is that anybody can learn to choose their own riffs or licks with proper guitar soloing lessons.
To understand guitar soloing, there are many essential music principles that must be learned. Even the best guitar players on the planet learn and employ various guitar scales (blues, pentatonic, major and etc…) to play during a guitar solo. Guitar scales are definitely the basic building blocks of soloing on the guitar.
A decent understanding of music harmony and theory might help a guitarist determine what notes to play and when.
On top of that, various guitar techniques such as string bending and vibrato can also be used to offer a guitar solo distinctive flavor. By applying different techniques to a similar part of music, the emotion and tone of the guitar solo can be varied and different moods can be conveyed.
Another tip that I would like to highlight for learning guitar solos is the fact that music is a listening art. It is possible to get ideas and improve by listening to other solos to learn different styles of music.
By hearing a broader genre of music and exposing yourself to different artists, you could inject creativity into your own playing.
Remember, it’s not that which you play but the way you play it. With regular practice and finding your own style, you can stand out as a great guitarist.
