12056 Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 how do you go about writing metal guitar solos? i gotta tell ya, i cant write solos for ****. any help would be appreciated. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 (edited) Try playing the basic notes in the rhythm chords individually to get a base for the solo, then add more notes corresponding to the scale and key you're playing in. Think about what you want to say with the guitar at that certain point in the song, and play it. Edited July 7, 2006 by crafty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kith Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 (edited) try singing your idea for a solo into a tape recorder. then figure out how to play it. when you can play it well, then mess around with it until it is the way you want it. add things like bending up to a note instead of just playing it, vibratos, tapping, trills, etc. it is usually better to have a clean sounding simple solo than a messy sounding complicated one. Edited July 7, 2006 by Kith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrasher! Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 (edited) how do you go about writing metal guitar solos? i gotta tell ya, i cant write solos for ****. any help would be appreciated. thanks. I don't write my own stuff very often, but anytime I've come up with a decent solo it's always just been a case of improvising something in a jam session or to a backing track, rather than sit down with the intention of writing it. Unless of course it just pops into your head spontaneously..... Normally you'd already have an idea of the general style, fast/slow/soulful/aggressive and just play some notes. Remember the bits that sound good and build on them, improve or change the rubbish bits. If it's not working scrap the whole thing and start again. Let a band-member hear it, or just record it and listen to it - you'll notice things or get more ideas when you're not actively playing it. Generally I'm rubbish at writing songs/solos, but I come up with a few good ones every now and then Edited July 12, 2006 by thrasher! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwhiteandthemaple Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 metal solos eh... When you listen to the music.. can't you tell that much of it is just spontaneous? Not so much as improvised, but there is no certain rule or range of notes or rhythms to metal solos.. that's what makes.. metal solos.. Sometimes, it doesn't fit, it doesn't sound right, if you grew up with it, you might not be able to experience this, but sometimes.. metal just doesn't make any musical sense (the more modern stuff) .. but that in itself is part of the "beauty" of it. In the end, you just gotta go crazy and like thrasher! said much of it comes from just trying licks, improvising, and polishing them to the right tone. There are few bands like.. Metallica (ahem.. mainstream metal) who writes their solos.. and you can tell right away that somebody wrote those lines. Also.. techniques are needed.. such as.. fast alternate picking, tapping, double-tapping, sweep picking, bends, lots of times - crazy trem actions.. and attitude.. those metallists all have. Man.. if SteveVai had that attitude.. he'd be the craziest metal guitarists.. but he's too much of an artist, all about character.. not that it's a bad thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Man.. if SteveVai had that attitude.. he'd be the craziest metal guitarists.. but he's too much of an artist, all about character.. not that it's a bad thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 I don't play metal, but for what it's worth, I spent a lot of time (at least when I was beginning to play guitar) around really proficient jazz guitarists who played mostly improv. Once you learn to get a feel for what the rythm section's doing and where the song is heading and once you're fairly good at speaking your mind(musically, at least), it becomes pretty natural. I can't say what's a good route to do this though. It just sort of happened for me. It wasn't even something I was really aiming for. However, it applies to a spectrum of musical styles, not just jazz. I'm just saying that jazz is a great way to get your mentality and theory locked in, at least it was for me. R.I.P. Jean Pelas, best jazz musician I've ever met. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Hawk Posted July 20, 2006 Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 If you have a bit of change in your pocket, Invest in the Guitar Grimoire series of books by Carl Fischer. I have seen them in Guitar Centers. They contain fingerings for every scale and mode, so just pick a scale that fits your piece, (If you have Guitar Pro 4 or 5, you can tab your rhythm section and use the scale finder tool to tell you what scales your piece is in) Then its just a matter of experimentation, playing different notes from the scale in different order, start slow first, and once you have something that flows, apply rhythem and 'effects' to it, like bends and slides, harmonics, whammy bar tricks, etc. Also, find a tape recorder and a kitchen timer, start your recorder and timer (counting up) at the same time, and just sorta play around, trying different things. If you end up playing something cool, write down the time you played it so you can find it at a later time. If you are computer savey, you might be able to record on your computer. You could invest in a midi pickup for your guitar, they make them that just slide under the strings, no need to mod your guitar any. you could use this hooked up to your computer with Guitar Pro software and it will actually tab the music as you play, though it wont be perfectly acurate. Writing solos is an art, and unfortunately we are not all as gifted as we want to be. but like with anything, the more time you spend with it, the better you will become. Learn some music theory if you dont allready know some, taking a course at a local college might be a good way to expand your horizons, or find a guitar teacher who can guide you through music theory applied to the guitar. Or read the first few pages to the Guitar Grimoire. But a good foundation is important to any solo, and that is selecting the correct scale to build off of. Good luck, Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorecki Posted July 20, 2006 Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 I have to admit for the vast majority of Metal type tunes I've done I've rarely pre-defined the solo unless it was critical to changes. Usually Metal tunes are strongly based in a single scale allowing for huge amounts of room for brainless improve on the fly. Understanding diatonic scale and its modes and melodic minor and its modes throughout the fretboard will give you huge amounts of room to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwhiteandthemaple Posted July 21, 2006 Report Share Posted July 21, 2006 Understanding diatonic scale and its modes and melodic minor and its modes throughout the fretboard will give you huge amounts of room to play. Or if you got the ear, work with it.. On the other hand... I have a huge poster showing me all the modes in my brother's/my guitar chamber room. Very fun indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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