SotM #44 - The winner is...

stratman3142

Great to have so many entries and it was very close at the top. Below are the top half of the entries:

The winner of Solo of the Month #44 is:

1st : @Modellista : 20 points    Congratulations

2nd : @markv : 19 points

3rd : @Bellycaster : 18 points

4th : @poopot : 14 points

5th/6th jointly : @stratman3142 and @flying_pie

Winning entry below:

https://soundcloud.com/thefretboard/09-sotm44-2019-01-modellista-souk-on-this

Bellycaster

Well played @Modellista great solo.

Modellista

Thanks to @stratman3142 for running the competition.  Really enjoyed the challenge.

Also thanks for the votes - I know it was a bit of a left-field entry so I appreciate the appreciation and kind comments from people like @Bellycaster.

[the rest is just for posterity so I can remember what I did!]

So, phrygian dominant, eh?! 1 b2 3 4 5 b6 b7.  I didn't actually know what this scale was when I started playing it, but I knew there was something a bit more exotic out there that would go with the backing track than a straightforward minor pentatonic so I just fiddled around with notes until a scale presented itself.

The scale gives a lot of tension on its own, with a major third but minor seventh.  Played against a minor chord progression even more so - the thirds should clash horribly but to me it actually works quite well as long as the listener can become accustomed to it.  We're used to hearing minor thirds over a major progression in blues, so this is the opposite way around.  The triplet-y thing near the end was inspired by working on the fast fingerpicked bit at the end of the Sultans Of Swing solo.

Played on a PRS Vela, neck pickup, into a clean amp sim on a Line 6 Amplifi TT.

markv

Congrats @Modellista - very close!

Modellista

markv said:

Congrats @Modellista - very close!

Totally!  Was exciting waiting for the votes to come in - it was almost a draw save for the last final point!  Well played Mark!

stratman3142

@Modellista Thanks for posting about how you approached your solo. I would never have thought about that approach. This is what makes the monthly challenges more interesting for me.