SOLO of the Month #5 - Chat

Antique_Guitars

This is the 5th SOLO of the Month (SotM) Challenge, being run by @Antique_Guitars and @TTony.

The idea is that we give you a new backing track to solo over every month, the backing track will be a maximum of 1.5mins long and you will have to download the track from soundcloud and record your solo over the top of it and then submit it to us.

The challenge is now open, and remains open for submissions until 24th July.

All you have to do is ...

• Download the backing track and record you solo over the top of it.
  
• Challenge opens on the 1st of every month, and closes on the 24th of the month.
• Voting opens on the 25th of the month, and closes on the last day of the month, when the winner will be announced.

Here is this months backing track (you can download it from soundcloud)

Specs: Motown Soul E

Let us know if you would like your entry to be anonymous.

Send your tracks to solos@theFB.co.uk

The tracks will be uploaded to our SoundCloud account and saved in a playlist that will be linked below

PLEASE GIVE CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK ON PEOPLES SOLOS AND RECORDING TECHNIQUES IF YOU HAVE TIME

SquireJapan

I'm really struggling to figure out what the chords are doing under this.

'

Is it E something, Gm Something and Am7b5 or something ...? What? I don't know what I'm talking 'bout, clearly.

bingefeller

Here is a very rough outline for the chords.  This is from Audio Chord Wizard, which analysed the chords in the backing track.  

bingefeller

Email'd.

TTony

SquireJapan said:

I'm really struggling to figure out what the chords are doing under this.

I don't know now, and I'll still not know after I've submitted my entry.

Am I doing something wrong?

I just work out what sounds good over the top of the chords (whatever they may be) through a bit of listening to the backing track, a bit of imagining what would sound good, and then noodling around until I find it.  It's a slightly unscientific approach.

You're right, I have no basis in theory at all.

Antique_Guitars

TTony;691602" said:

SquireJapan said:

I'm really struggling to figure out what the chords are doing under this.





I don't know now, and I'll still not know after I've submitted my entry.

Am I doing something wrong?

I just work out what sounds good over the top of the chords (whatever they may be) through a bit of listening to the backing track, a bit of imagining what would sound good, and then noodling around until I find it.  It's a slightly unscientific approach.

You're right, I have no basis in theory at all.

That is exactly what I would do

bingefeller

SquireJapan said:

I'm really struggling to figure out what the chords are doing under this.

'

Is it E something, Gm Something and Am7b5 or something ...? What? I don't know what I'm talking 'bout, clearly.

Squire, for the first part I thought about C# minor and F# minor pentatonic and based my melodies on those two scales.

For the second part, when it goes to C and the mood of the track shifts, I thought about A Dorian.   

EDIT:  Here are the scales I was thinking about and the time frames of the track:

0:00 - 0:20 - C# minor pent and F# minor pentatonics.

0:20 - 0:34 A Dorian (A minor pentatonic, B minor pentatonic and E minor pentatonic).

0:35 - C# minor pentatonic.

Follow this framework the next time around and you're good to go.

JudasVigilante

Jesus, This is very technical stuff this soloing business! This is why I keep my efforts to raw rotm and rotm.

I could maybe solo in one of the above scales for a solo. But to change scales in mid solo (several times) is unbelievable! Way beyond me.

Good luck to all those who enter. I can't wait to hear them. Best of luck.

bingefeller

JudasVigilante said:

Jesus, This is very technical stuff this soloing business! This is why I keep my efforts to raw rotm and rotm.

I could maybe solo in one of the above scales for a solo. But to change scales in mid solo (several times) is unbelievable! Way beyond me.

Good luck to all those who enter. I can't wait to hear them. Best of luck.

You could use C# minor and E minor and get away with it.  

SquireJapan

Thanks for the pointers ... Normally I'd just wing it. But there's a chord in there that breaks me Will have a go again in the morning :P

axisus

JudasVigilante said:

Jesus, This is very technical stuff this soloing business! This is why I keep my efforts to raw rotm and rotm.

I could maybe solo in one of the above scales for a solo. But to change scales in mid solo (several times) is unbelievable! Way beyond me.

Good luck to all those who enter. I can't wait to hear them. Best of luck.

Normally I would agree, but the fact that someone has pointed out where the changes occur makes it doable.

JudasVigilante

@axisus I'm sure it's very doable for a lot of players. I spent my teen years when I started playing listening to bands like Nirvana and Mudhoney and the Melvins (grunge basically) so learning big solo's passed me by. I can solo a little over my own rhythm guitar, but then that's just usually 'normal' major minor, sevenths, power chords etc. I take my hat off to players who can memorise scales, recall them, and jam over tricky chord progresions. I'm 40 now and it's still way beyond me. All the best everyone.

hobbio

I've recorded something, but I'm not 100% happy with it. I might just enter it anyway and use the feedback to improve for next month.

axisus

JudasVigilante said:

@axisus I'm sure it's very doable for a lot of players. I spent my teen years when I started playing listening to bands like Nirvana and Mudhoney and the Melvins (grunge basically) so learning big solo's passed me by. I can solo a little over my own rhythm guitar, but then that's just usually 'normal' major minor, sevenths, power chords etc. I take my hat off to players who can memorise scales, recall them, and jam over tricky chord progresions. I'm 40 now and it's still way beyond me. All the best everyone.

Well, I'm over 50, know no theory and only know the blues scale. I can do bad noodling endlessly with that scale. It's all I got, but I still like to go for it

TTony

axisus said:

Well, I'm over 50, know no theory and only know the blues scale. I can do bad noodling endlessly with that scale. It's all I got, but I still like to go for it

Ah-hah.

You are me!

hobbio

Welp, entry sent. My technique definitely let me down in places, and there were things I could hear in my head but couldn't get out through my fingers.

I'm looking forward to the feedback to be honest. 

markv

Mercy mercy me, this sounds tricky.

bingefeller

If you want inspiration for this track then check this out:

kin

 First solo of the month effort e mailed in

Played through this half a dozen times with a clean tone and then at the last minute decided to try and channel my inner Ernie Isley unfortunately it's closer to the Ernie who had the fastest milk cart in the west.

Sambostar

What happened to just playing what sounds good?  I keep thinking Marvin Gay What's going on lyric melody on the guitar.

Thinking being the word.

Antique_Guitars

we have uploads