Guide to Soloing with a Guitar

Soloing with a guitar may not be as difficult as you think. As the matter of fact, most solos are prepared and are not just blurted out on the spur of the moment. Understand a few techniques will teach you to be successful at soloing with the guitar.

Most guitar soloists create and plan their solo. They usually know how many measures are in a song and what chord changes will take place throughout the song. Therefore, most create their guitar solo with a well formulated beginning, middle and end. They also construct good points of dynamic tension and release. The experienced soloist takes a lot of time and effort to construct the solo. Most guitarists can improvise well, but most cannot play a guitar solo on the spur of the moment. Anyone can learn to play a guitar solo well with practice and some knowledge of guitar music theory.

Most lead guitarist play one of the following categories:

1. the rhythm guitar
2. the melodic guitar
3. the slashing guitar
4. the effect guitar

The melodic guitar is the best category for the beginning soloist. This is because the melodic guitar follows a series of chord changes, which are easily remembered or memorized. A melodic solo can be learned and played on the acoustic, the electric or the classical guitar and it will sound good. Many guitar soloists try to learn to play solos by copying other soloist; however, this does not necessarily make them good. Copying other guitar soloist is good practice, but it will not make you a good solo guitarist.

One of the hardest things about playing solos on the guitar is knowing which notes to play and when to play them. This is not as hard as it sounds. The secret to knowing which notes to play is knowing which key the song is written in. It is good to know how many sharps and flats are in a song. Most songs are grouped into pattern progressions or chord progressions. Knowing the key the song is written in and the chord progressions will help you memorize and remember the song. Also, you should realize that most songs start and end on the same chord of the main key of the song.

In addition to chord progression, you also should know about the primary and secondary chords. For example, if a song has G, A, D, F#m, chances are that the key is Dm, Bm or A. If you listen to the song played, you should be able to identify the primary and secondary chords. Knowing the key is not always an indicator to what notes to play. However, understanding some theory and how chords work within a song will help you become a great soloist. Knowing the key is important and it is just as important to examine and know the chords of a song to be able to figure out which notes to play.

Here is a sample of a guitar solo that you can try:



In conclusion, soloing is not copying other soloist; it is a skill of learning what notes to play and what key changes are taking place. Planning a guitar solo is the key to being a successful soloist. With a well constructed beginning, middle, and end, a little knowledge of theory and how chords function and relate to one another, and a lot of practice, anyone can play an amazing guitar solo.