Blues Soloing?

[Johnny the Kid]

I'm new to the forum, and was wondering if anyone could help me with a problem that I'm having. I was searching for some places to ask in, and saw the amount of helpful advice you guys give.

I play in jazz band at my high school. We are doing a blues piece in the key of F. There's a spot open for a guitar solo (the other instruments have something there), but I'm not sure how to go about playing one. I know my blues scales, but I don't know many blues rhythms.

I'm well immersed in metal rhythm guitar (Metallica and Trivium are where I really got my start), but I don't know how to play a solo in any form to save my life. Seeing as how the other guitarist in my band can play a pretty awesome solo, I'm not worried about the metal, but I would really like to be able to play blues. I love players like BB King, Clapton, Joe Bonnamassa, and George Thorogood.

 

[CTN]

Re: Blues Soloing?

listen to the guys you dig, try to learn/copy licks by ear.

But more than that, really really listen to the phrasing on the chord progression. Blues has a very particular sound. Jazz has some stuff in common with it, but you gotta really listen to tons of blues and know that "sound" inside out to be able to reproduce it with any degree of competency, IMO.

There are lots of licks that are used by every blues guitarist under the sun in some way shape or form, and being able to recognize those licks and how they're used and where in the chord progression they are used will help you understand the structure of blues soloing a bit better.

Also, this should be in the Tips N Clips room.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Blues Soloing?

Welcome aboard!

Listen to some blues online, pick some solos you like, and go to a tab site, print them off and learn them. I'd check out early Clapton, from his Cream and Bluesbreakers days.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Blues Soloing?

I'd also check out some Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac and his time with John Mayall.

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: Blues Soloing?

"The blues ain't nothin' but a good man feelin' bad."



Welcome Johnny.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Blues Soloing?

As far as solo structure goes, if I were a real player I'd write a long post about "targeting chord tones", what CTN was getting at.
My music theory is pretty lacking but there are some decent explanations of the concept out there and even 10 minutes on the subject can take a beginner's blues to another level. As you get a big library of blues licks, riffs, and turnarounds, you start to hear naturally that certain notes just go so well over a certain chord and some licks will be off. Learning about targeting tones can save a lot of the trial and error that comes with trying to "feel your way through" the solo. I learned by feeling my way through but I could have saved myself a lot of time with better studying :/

other than that yes you really should start with trying to emulate your favorites. In particular I'd say to pay attention to when they DON'T play (or at least don't play very fast). silence is golden, and pauses, long neck-wringing vibrato, and slow smooth bends can really add dimension and most importantly emotion.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Blues Soloing?

Play along with recordings you like. This will help you get the basic feel. Not only emulate the solo on the recording but play variations of it, and play the rythim parts so you know the chord changes. This is the way 99% of guitar players do it. Sing or scat solos over backing tracks while practicing and then try to reproduce what you created on guitar. Don't limit your self to listening to guitar solos only, but listen to solos by other instruments, and if your playing jazz; sax solos and Miles Davis trumpet solos are essential. These improvised solos are real jazz. No blues or jazz solo should ever sound exactly the same- twice. You won't find Clapton, or Hendrix playing solos exactly the same every time. The Rolling Stones never play live a song the same way twice. This the way it should be. It's in the moment that matters. It is not the reproducing a recording that is true lead guitar.

 

[Kramer Guy]

Re: Blues Soloing?

Go to www.backingtracks.com and download some tracks from guys like B.B. King, SRV, Albert King, Albert Collins, etc. Don't try to be flashy but play from the heart. Blues is all about emotion and not about technique. With that genre of music, less is more, okay ? The main thing is to have fun and to enjoy what you're doing, so go and knock them dead.

 

[richard parker]

Re: Blues Soloing?

Have a look here - some great free blues lessons.

http://www.justinguitar.com/index.php

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Blues Soloing?

So basically what you guys are saying is to just listen to a bunch of records and get some licks from the solos I like best? Seems easy enough. I just got a Black Country Communion album, so I'll definitely hit up Joe Bonnamassa.

 

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: Blues Soloing?

Yep. Playing the blues is about feel and form. Listen to (and play along with) the greats, and then bore yourself to tears soloing over a I - IV - V chord progression until you are "blue" in the face.

I'm actually gonna suggest you listen to some of Neil Young's electric guitar work, too, even though he's not really a traditional blues master. Very simple composition, entirely about the proper feel, and it will show you how a single note can be used to create an entire solo. And best of all, you will easily sound like SRV by comparison to Ol' Neil.

It also doesn't hurt to think of it like primal scream therapy. You gotta pay your dues if you wanna play the blues!

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Blues Soloing?

Go to www.backingtracks.com and download some tracks from guys like B.B. King, SRV, Albert King, Albert Collins, etc. Don't try to be flashy but play from the heart. Blues is all about emotion and not about technique. With that genre of music, less is more, okay ? The main thing is to have fun and to enjoy what you're doing, so go and knock them dead.

Does that site still work for anyone else? I'm getting taken to a holding page that suggests the domain is up for grabs.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Blues Soloing?

Does that site still work for anyone else? I'm getting taken to a holding page that suggests the domain is up for grabs.

same thing

 

[DeathALT.]

Re: Blues Soloing?

In addition to everything above, less is more when playing the blues. Try holding on to one note and squeeze all the emotion you can out of it, but don't just play a solo of whole notes either!

 

[voggin]

Re: Blues Soloing?

A couple of years ago I got a book, "Progressive Blues Guitar Solos" by Peter Gelling. It's got tabs and proper notation, and comes with a CD to listen and play along to. Lots of good stuff, including some very nice easy whole solos. A good place to start, and, if you're in a crunch to get your solo down for the performance, a good place to steal and modify a complete solo.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Blues Soloing?

One tip that will help is if you play a lick or phrase play it again but up past the 12th fret like a call and response. And like everybody else here said LESS is More in blues. Note quality over note quantity. Oh and about trying to target certain notes over certain chords deals with playing in different modes mostly major and minor. Ill try to give an easy example of what im talking about. If you are playing a standard I-IV-V blues progression in say C Maj you can use the C maj pentatonic scale or the A minor pentatonic or blues scale. The three chords in the progression would be C Maj F Maj and G Maj when on the C Maj you can use the C Maj pentatonic and when the F Maj Chord or 4 chord is playing you can use the F Maj pentatonic and when on the G Maj or 5 chord you can use the G Maj pentatonic scale.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Blues Soloing?

Another thing about blues playing is: Tone matters. What will get you into trouble is excess compression. Blues needs picking dynamics to get that emotion. So instead of a high output Hber, use a PAF, instead of a HBer use a P90, or a Fender SC. Turn the gain down, but you don't want to go into plink plink land either.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Blues Soloing?

In addition to everything above, less is more when playing the blues. Try holding on to one note and squeeze all the emotion you can out of it, but don't just play a solo of whole notes either!

That's what I've been doing. I'm not very coordinated when it comes to playing some runs of notes, but I can bend one for 4 weeks, and still have a little bit of emotion left in it. I've been listening to some Joe Bonnamassa (probably my all time favorite blues player), and I love his style, so I'm gonna really work on it. I've also decided that his use of a wah pedal is genius, and will be using that as well in my solo.

I've also been listening to some of my favorite metal bands, and I think so of it, especially James Hetfield's solo in "Nothing Else Matters", has a really bluesy quality to it. I'm really excited now for this.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Blues Soloing?

Another thing about blues playing is: Tone matters. What will get you into trouble is excess compression. Blues needs picking dynamics to get that emotion. So instead of a high output Hber, use a PAF, instead of a HBer use a P90, or a Fender SC. Turn the gain down, but you don't want to go into plink plink land either.

I have a Epiphone Casino with some kind of hot P-90 that my brother put into it. It's got a really good edge for blues, but still cleans up well. My other guitars are a hamer 335 copy that I got from my uncle who had put a Seymour Duncan Distortion in the bridge position and a Seymour Duncan 59 in the neck position. I then got an Epiphone G-400 Faded that I put the same pickup combination in last year.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Blues Soloing?

That's what I've been doing. I'm not very coordinated when it comes to playing some runs of notes, but I can bend one for 4 weeks, and still have a little bit of emotion left in it. I've been listening to some Joe Bonnamassa (probably my all time favorite blues player), and I love his style, so I'm gonna really work on it. I've also decided that his use of a wah pedal is genius, and will be using that as well in my solo.

I've also been listening to some of my favorite metal bands, and I think so of it, especially James Hetfield's solo in "Nothing Else Matters", has a really bluesy quality to it. I'm really excited now for this.

Just make sure you don't pull a Kirk Hammet an go crazy with the wah wah.