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Excellent posts, I've learned a lot just lurking and reading. If I can add one thing that has really helped me in my solo work is to practice playing scales and arpeggios with a metronome Play clean so that the effects like distortion will not hide your mistakes. When I get it down, I ramp the BPM up and relearn. Muscle memory helps me tremendously and the metronome helps me to keep time, etc.





The above good advice bears repeating.


--Mac

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Lead can make you sick.

Can't put it in paint anymore. They took out all the lead pipes going into houses too.

If you play a lead guitar that's some heavy metal. Kinda dull though.




Hey John, just for the halibut put your lead guitar with the bass player from Phish and see what happens


I think my wife has started to show the first signs of dementia.
She said she can't remember what she ever saw in me!

64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Quote:

Quote:

Lead can make you sick.

Can't put it in paint anymore. They took out all the lead pipes going into houses too.

If you play a lead guitar that's some heavy metal. Kinda dull though.




Hey John, just for the halibut put your lead guitar with the bass player from Phish and see what happens




John & Mario,

You guys got me thinking, that is no doubt why the Strats are so heavy, it's the paint! No wonder I keep going back to the old Gibby ES365.

Later,

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what were we thinking?
All these years we should have been playing TITANIUM guitar instead of LEAD guitar!

it's METAL..

it's LIGHT...

it won't make your guitar strap shoulder look like a dromedary...

and titanium is one of the few metals that will burn, so rockers won't have to change their act...

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Mac, you always crack me up. I do the same thing. I was asked recently at a Christmas party gig what guitar I play. Mind you, I was playing the gig... I told her the bass just to keep her guessing.

But, for the one inquiring on how to play guitar solos. I am not sure if this was mentioned but what I usually do is listen to other instruments such as voice, violin, flute, and trumpet. Each contribute not only excellent patterns as you have read in previous posts in this thread. But, it goes one step further. It takes you into "attitude." Playing an "A" is an "A" note etc. But, how you play the note is what makes it distinctive.

So, not to throw more scales at you simply take the great ideas of techniques and scales already discussed and say to yourself as you are listening to the song, "What would a trumpet or a voice do there?" Chances are it may be within the framework of those scales. But, you will pick up to attitude by which those notes are communicating.

B.B. King has been playing the same 5 notes for over 70 years. Yet, each time he does, it has a uniqueness to it in most instances.

What I do when thinking how to solo is yes listen to the chords, the melodies AND the rhythms. But, after I have circulated the pattern in my head a few times, start to see myself playing those scale notes only with a pinch here, a strike there, a bend or two. And as you begin to experiment don't restrict yourself by trying to make something sound good immediately. Try it, try it and try it again. Before you know it you will find yourself making scales into solos.

Also, as one mentioned about Youtube. What I like to do is go out there and look for true men of the trade. And watch their playing to see how they cultivate their sounds. Hey, there is nothing new under the sun. No body owns the frequencies of the notes we play. So, it is open game to take a little from one and a little from another. We are all pygmies on the shoulders of giants when it comes to this stuff.

Best to you. And if you like, post a few solo runs along with some accompaniment here, and I would be happy to share my thoughts on how you can tweak them if need be.

Cheers,
RickeG

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