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What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

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  • What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

    I'm kinda stuck on this in a song I'm working on . . . typically I try to follow the changes in a solo and use lots of arpeggios and chord tones, but when there are no changes how do you kinda tell a story and keep the listener's interest without just sounding like boring wanking away in a single key?
    Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

    Originally posted by Douglas Adams
    This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

  • #2
    Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

    I mean this in all seriousness, listen to how Neil Young does it. Preferably the old stuff. He takes it to an extreme, sure, but nevertheless can make one note seem interesting.
    Also, B.B. King.

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    • #3
      Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

      Originally posted by Demanic View Post
      I mean this in all seriousness, listen to how Neil Young does it. Preferably the old stuff. He takes it to an extreme, sure, but nevertheless can make one note seem interesting.
      Also, B.B. King.

      Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk
      ha.... yep -Neil Young is like a chicken pecking and hunting around the fretboard....
      “For me, when everything goes wrong – that’s when adventure starts.” Yvonne Chouinard

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      • #4
        Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

        Listen to Miles Davis 'Kind of Blue'. Much of that album is soloing over one chord for a whole lot of time. I think over a static chord, you have a lot more choices than you would if there was a constantly moving harmony. The key is listening how others do it first. Try this: loop a chord, then don't use the first 3 scales you think that will work. You are then forced to learn something new, and understand the relationship of that chord to the new scales you are using.
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        • #5
          Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

          Make sequences. Make up a melody, then a variation, back to the 1st melody, resolution, for example. Or use different voicings or inversions of the 1 chord in between your melody ideas or as melody ideas.
          Last edited by Clint 55; 11-27-2019, 09:40 PM.
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          • #6
            Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

            I suppose soloing over one chord could be a bit different than soloing over one chordal progression. But Miles Davis, yeah, he knows what he's doing. But then, I think of David Gilmour. He doesn't solo over one chord, or does he?
            Maybe I'm not quite comprehending the question.
            But I'll leave this here.

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            • #7
              Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

              Originally posted by GuitarStv View Post
              I'm kinda stuck on this in a song I'm working on . . . typically I try to follow the changes in a solo and use lots of arpeggios and chord tones, but when there are no changes how do you kinda tell a story and keep the listener's interest without just sounding like boring wanking away in a single key?
              Play around with the relative minor/major, chromatic movement can also open a lot of things up.

              Originally posted by Mincer View Post
              Listen to Miles Davis 'Kind of Blue'. Much of that album is soloing over one chord for a whole lot of time.
              That is a master class on the Dorian mode

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              • #8
                Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

                Another?
                Well, I just can't help myself.

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                • #9
                  Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

                  More on the rock side is pretty much the entire first Mahavishnu Orchestra album. John McLaughlin absolutely rips non-cliche solos over one key center.
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                  • #10
                    Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

                    Originally posted by NegativeEase View Post
                    ha.... yep -Neil Young is like a chicken pecking and hunting around the fretboard....
                    Seems to come up with a few grains.

                    Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

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                    • #11
                      Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

                      One thing that helps with tension/resolution is to avoid those chord tones. Starting on the 4th, 6th or 7th can derail that tendency to do the S.O.S. and may lead you in an interesting direction.

                      Alternative modes are fun too. Minor chord - use Phrygian instead of Dorian. Major key - try Lydian.

                      Again, it breaks the mold and often can inspire.
                      .
                      "You should know better by now than to introduce science into a discussion of voodoo."
                      .

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                      • #12
                        Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

                        Thanks guys, I'll try out a few of these approaches and see what sticks.
                        Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

                        Originally posted by Douglas Adams
                        This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

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                        • #13
                          Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

                          One thing you can do, is cheat!

                          Instead of playing one chord, you can allude to it or play a suspension. One trick that works quite well is to play the 'home note' (eg, C) and the fifth (G); then you have the freedom to play around with modal interchange and dramatically change the feel whilst still playing 'in key'. Joe Satriani calls this Pitch Axis, there are a bunch of other names as well.

                          The 3rd is what gives the chord its power (arguably; at least it's a big "I'm and X chord" sign), and is also the hardest to veer off of once it's in the chord. Playing just the root and 5th allows you to go from a major third to a minor third without changing the underlying chord. It also allows you to shift the root note and make it a different scale degree entirely as long as you remember to play the same 5th note that's in the chord (unless you're intentionally going for the rub).

                          Edit: This is is a variation on what eclecticsynergy stated above; also good advice, though it will sound more like a key change than just a subtle shifting of emotion...
                          Last edited by TwilightOdyssey; 11-28-2019, 10:18 AM.
                          Why don't you take your little Cobra Kais and get outta here?!
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                          • #14
                            Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

                            Originally posted by TwilightOdyssey View Post
                            One thing you can do, is cheat!

                            Instead of playing one chord, you can allude to it or play a suspension. One trick that works quite well is to play the 'home note' (eg, C) and the fifth (G); then you have the freedom to play around with modal interchange and dramatically change the feel whilst still playing 'in key'. Joe Satriani calls this Pitch Axis, there are a bunch of other names as well.

                            The 3rd is what gives the chord its power (arguably; at least it's a big "I'm and X chord" sign), and is also the hardest to veer off of once it's in the chord. Playing just the root and 5th allows you to go from a major third to a minor third without changing the underlying chord. It also allows you to shift the root note and make it a different scale degree entirely as long as you remember to play the same 5th note that's in the chord (unless you're intentionally going for the rub).

                            Edit: This is is a variation on what eclecticsynergy stated above; also good advice, though it will sound more like a key change than just a subtle shifting of emotion...
                            The section of the song is in E, and the bass is playing lots of root and 5th with some 2nd, 4th, and b7th sprinkled in . . . so no third to be concerned about.
                            Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

                            Originally posted by Douglas Adams
                            This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

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                            • #15
                              Re: What's your approach for soloing over a single chord for several bars?

                              The bass is still adding chordal harmonies, though. In this instance I would just play E in the bass. Once you have the solo figured out you can change the bass line to accommodate.
                              Why don't you take your little Cobra Kais and get outta here?!
                              My collaborative PROGRESSIVE ROCK PROJECT, As Follows.

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