Thread: Can anyone tell me some tips on guitar soloing?

I've started to get into soloing on the guitar, and I could really use some tips. When I try to make up my own stuff either making it up and remembering it or improvising I don't know what to do! I like to play all kinds of stuff, metal,blues,jazz, I don't know. I'm up for anything I just want to know some good tips on guitar soloing and how I can get better.

take blues lessions

practice moving your fingers in a really long pattern, start slowly and then gradually go faster until you can do it really fast flawlessly. and then make up variations of that pattern, and try the same thing with other patterns. and also, practice doing it with or without picks.

get to know some scales and practice them

Solos are essentially scales so start there maybe the major, minor pentatonic, blues and so on. it helps to do some streatching, warm up exercises so your fingers don't hurt as fast. Alternate picking is also good for speed. Basicly it's just what you feel sounds right.

The first thing you've got to do is learn something called the pentatonic scale. Actually, there are two - pentatonic major and pentatonic minor, but they are very closely related as you'll quickly learn. It's called "pentatonic" because it has only 5 notes in it, which is perfect for a beginner, but you'd be amazed at how versatile it is. Most rock guitarists use these two scales as the basis of their soloing (myself included). Once you've learned the finger patterns, you can play in any key because it's simply a matter of moving your hands up or down the neck to adjust.

The next thing you've got to do is pick a song that you want to practice soloing over. It could really be anything you like, but the simpler the better if you're just starting out. Practice over songs that have simple, repetitive vamps.

Finally, you've got to figure out what key the song is in. This can be tricky for some people, but you should get the hang of it. Basically, the key of a song is whichever chord it seems to "resolve" to. If you really get stuck, you might be able to search online for specific songs. Anyway, all you've got to do is use whichever pentatonic scale is appropriate for the key of the song. For example, if a song is in E minor, you'll use the E minor pentatonic scale. If a song is in C major, you'll use the C major pentatonic scale.

And from there, the only thing to do is just keep noodling around. Don't be afraid to just play anything to see how it sounds. Break away from the scales if you feel like it. Don't be afraid of playing something that you think sounds bad or stupid - it's all part of the learning process. Basically just have fun dude

For blues,jazz,and rock i would recommend getting used to the pentatonic minor scale's different fingerings...
e--------------------------------5--8
B--------------------------5--8------
G--------------------5--7-----------
D--------------5--7------------------
A--------5--7------------------------
E--5--8------------------------------
..this would be the A pentatonic minor scale's most common fingering.
A very common rock and roll/ blues lick.
e-------------5-----------5-------------5-----------5----8--5---------------
B---------5------------5-------------5------------5-------------8--5--------
G--5(bend)----5(bend)----5(bend)----5(bend)---------------7-5-7
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

you can keep the same fingerings and move to different parts of the fretboard.
I highly recommend going to expertvillage.com and searching for (whatever style you want to play) soloing lessons. you can learn alot from videos.

I hope this helped
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