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well, i know the major, minor, pentatonic, minor pentatonic, and blues scales, but i come into trouble when i actually try to make a solo

so, any tips?

i don't wanna ask for like a step-by-step guide for making a basic solo cuz it sounds kinda lame, but it'd help a lot, haha

What my guitar teacher always told me was to pick 3 notes and branch from there....

FWIW, works for me

In almost any solo that I play (with the exception of old country tunes--pre 1982), I go for a big intro, kind of an aural quot;gut-punchquot;, whether it be bending a note up to an interval, or a double bend on the lower registers. Then I have to figure out where I want to end up and think backwards quickly. If I'm playing old country, I play the melody line for at least 4 bars, then branch out into a little more adventurous territory. Doesn't work for everyone, but it works for me.

interesting ideas, this has been a problem i've had in the past. the only way round it i could figure out was repeat a solo time and time again improvised until i found something i liked, but that would be no use in a live situation where you're not playing something you've written

I just whistle. I whistle more creatively than I improv on my guitar, probably because I've been whistling a lot longer. Then I just change what I whistled into guitar lines.

I found this article very good as generic guide to soloing philosophy:

from : localhost/www.jazzguitar.com/features/onsoloing.htmlMarin

Ok first you should listen to the style of music and learn and become influenced by the guitarists of that certain style. Learn a couple of solos and take a couple of licks that you like and put them in your solos. That is one way of making your solos more interesting. Another is studying and learning the chords that you will solo on. Find the 1,3,5 of every chord, and play those notes on the scale of the chord. I'm not sure what you call it in English but 1 is the tonic (the root of the chord that is played. Once you get to the chord that is the key of the progression you should usually play the 1 of the chord because it goes along perfectly with the chord. 3 is the sub-tension of the chord, where the note fits but you feel some tension. The 5 is the tension which is the note that gives you the most tension when played over a chord.
It is popular to play the 1, then a tension, and finally come back for the 1.An example of the 1,3,5 of the chord C: C, E, G. C is the1 that matches the chord, E is the subtension and G is the tension. Watch out for the 2,4,6 of the chord because they will blatantly not match the chord and it will sound off tune. A little bit too much theory in one post lol. Another way to make your solos exciting is to (like you already know) is to play different scales on the chord progression, such as minor, major, blues. First of all play pentatonic because it suits almost all styles of music, and then depending on the style of music you are playing add the minor/major scale. Then you could study all of the modes and use them in your solos. And last but still an important method is to sing your solo first before you play it. You should have an ideaof what notes or sound you want to achieve before you play it. Let your mind control and not your fingers, so sing the licks, and then play them. I hope that you understood my post, and I'm sorry if I used terms that aren't used in English because I learned theory and improvisation in Hebrew so I tried posting this in the best English-guitar language I know lol.

thanks guys, lots of good info here

try to record youurself playing a few chords then play back and solo over it....you'll get a feel for it.

One thing I learned that helped alot to, and as a guitar player, was something I struggled with. Try to not fall into the quot;only listening to guitar solo'squot; mentality. Because you can learn ATON about melody from Horns.

The big thing that got me going was listening. Listening to tons of my fav players, getting their melodies and idea's in me, then when I would go and play, ive heard melody, tension, all those elements of a great solo before, so I had an idea on how to recreate that.

So thats my advice, just listen and play, listen and play. After a few weeks, i'll bet you'll hear huge improvements in solo's *no excuse me while I go take my own advice and put it into practice*

Funny how answering bro's questions make's us remember of things we all gotta do more of lol

Ty

ide recomend just doing double picked chromatic scales, or pentas. Simple and easy and can be very beneficial

yeah, I'm pretty good at chord soloing, i had a teacher who had mastered that, so it kinda rubbed off on me

but for rock, eh, it can only take you so far