Sammy J Posted November 21, 2020 Posted November 21, 2020 I'm trying to practice my soloing. How does one sound like their playing music when improvising? I feel like I'm just playing random notes of a pentatonic scale with the backing track even when I try to play the chord tones. I try to come up with licks on the spot, however they do not sound like music.
Dad3353 Posted November 21, 2020 Posted November 21, 2020 Persevere, in the reassuring conviction that it's only the first forty years that are the worst, after which things sometimes tend to get (slightly...) better.
Skinnyman Posted November 22, 2020 Posted November 22, 2020 I can’t say that I have a good answer to this as I’ve been trying to address the same issue myself. I’ve spent quite a while learning guitar solos that I like and trying to identify handy licks and riffs to, er, borrow. I also try and analyse the solo to see what’s being played over the underlying chord. And finally, I try and get a melody in my head and play that, then extemporise around it. At least, that’s what I try to do. Results are patchy at the moment but I do get the occasional “ooh that was nice” bit and not always by accident. 1
Dad3353 Posted November 22, 2020 Posted November 22, 2020 Some useful notions ... WikiHow : How To Write A Guitar Solo ... 2
NickD Posted November 23, 2020 Posted November 23, 2020 Repetition is the key for me. I've spent a long time looping solo sections of backing using common chord progressions, then indulging in focussed noodling.... like regular noodling, but concentrating on sounding good against the chords, phrasing in a meaningful way, and getting the whole section to feel complete, as if it's going somewhere, and making a statement within the chosen number of bars. I feel I'm just getting to the point where I can just go for my first choice and it sounds ok, then I can try and refine it. 2
