I'd like to learn to solo- if you were starting from scratch ,where would you start?

stratman3142

Tall_martin said:

Hence looking for something to work on

Shameless plug alert

If you've got a way of recording yourself, you could have a go at the Solo of the Month (SotM) challenges. The current one will end shortly, but there'll be another one next month.

https://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/257954/solo-of-the-month-sotm-101-challenge#latest

Everyone's very friendly and supportive. It's not about winning, although I might be saying that because I don't usually do very well in the voting

topdog91

Tall_martin said:

think you'd get a lot out of having some lessons. 

So do I.

also, to the OP, just spend time with the instrument. play and try things out, join a band. 

Neither are happening with a one month old new in the family. Not for a while anyway   

Hence looking for something to work on

Not happening because of lack of time or lack of wonga? Don't mean to pry, but if you don't have time for lessons, I think you should set your expectations accordingly. Anyway, have you decided what to work on next based on the thread? Another thing that comes to mind is that you should focus on a subset of "stuff" and work on that, then move on to other stuff. Especially if you're time poor. You (we all) need a clear practice routine with defined tasks and goals, however non-rock-and-roll it sounds. Again, forgive me if I've missed stuff but have you completed say Justin Guitar? He covers a lot including basic soloing.

Tall_martin

I've thought about the solo of the month. Maybe after I've tried leading how I'll give it a go. I'll set my self entering in march. 

Time poor. My expectations are if I don't have a goal I'll do naff all 

I've bought the book suggested

I'll try the pentatonic scales.

I've tried one of Justin guitars lessons. Fine, but I was aiming to lean to play songs at that point rather than theory.

guitarjack66

The way I learn things is a bit different to most,eg backwards or as described in school (many years ago!) as 'the method way.' I like to know the answer first and work backwards. This applies to me in general but even with my limited musical knowledge it seems to best for me. 
I have the Ultimate Guitar app and the likes of Songster and like to know the chords or notes in a song. Once I know this I tend to recognise progressions and notes in other songs along with knowing most popular music contains some form of 1-4-5 and often minor 6th progression. Also knowing the key is of course helpful as to what those progressions are in chordal form.
Its a bit backwards how I do it but it works better for me.

stickyfiddle

guitarjack66 said:

The way I learn things is a bit different to most,eg backwards or as described in school (many years ago!) as 'the method way.' I like to know the answer first and work backwards. This applies to me in general but even with my limited musical knowledge it seems to best for me. 

This is how kids learn, for the most part. They just try and do the thing, without fear of failure. Then learn how & why to do it that way later on. I'm a big fan, but you have to get over the fear of failure that most of us tend to get instilled into us through school and early adulthood. 

It's also why I'm a big fan of suggesting to learn a load of actual guitar solos before you worry about rehashing pentatonics and majors and minors. Just get the fingers making sounds you know are already good, and map that back to the "how" later.

Roland

Learning a piece in sections, starting at then end, can be a good tactic. Then when you’re playing through what you know you’re not worrying about where it goes after that. It also means that you’re playing towards a target, which guides how you play the section you’re learning.

stickyfiddle said:

… I'm a big fan of suggesting to learn a load of actual guitar solos before you worry about rehashing pentatonics and majors and minors. ...

Yes. Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.

viz

^ nice. 

Dominic

It's great to learn some scales but you do need to know what to apply them to and where to start playing them on the fretboard.
If you don't know this it's like setting off on a car journey in a foreign land where nobody has given you a map or compass or even told you where you are heading for . You'll spend a lot of time going nowhere.
STEP 1 ; Learn all the notes on the big fat E string and the next A string .
This will give you a compass (albeit a basic one ) but you will be able to orientate yourself.
Step 2 ; Take a simple lesson on simple music .....listening NOT playing . You need to be able to tell whether the key is major or minor ( happy or sad sound ).Then you need to 'hear' or find the key ( numerous vids on youtube for this )
DO NOT GO ANY FURTHER ON GUITAR TIL YOU CAN DO THIS 6 OUT OF 10 TIMES......it's pointless.
STEP 3 ; learn a root position minor pentatonic scale ...and learn to add in one extra note ...the flat5 which turns this into a Blues scale .

By now , you will able to play that scale up and down in one box position from start to finish over a huge number of rock songs and blues .......it will sound boring,amateur and tedious but just keep doing it until you know those notes without even thinking about it ...........THEN , 
Play them out of order ,mix them up,let your ear guide you.....play them in little 3 note sequences ......try bending a few etc etc
try and make phrases , be musical.......leave lots of gaps......be rythmic.......try little excercises like confining yourself to the 2 middle strings or two top strings .

When it sounds basic but pleasant learn a major pentatonic scale and play it over some Country or Southern Rock .
Go through the same process .

By now you might have stumbled by accident on the fact that missing the 3rd and being a fret below on the Flat 3rd and quickly correcting yourself doesn't sound so bad ........in fact ,the little shift from the flat 3 to the major 3 sounds quite cool . Well, it is because that's the essence of blues music .
Develop this idea and start mixing the Major and minor pentatonic together and you'll be a boring but competant blues soloist within a few months .
As time rolls by , you will have gained some intuitive knowledge and can start to learn all the positions of these scales on the fretboard .........once you can mix major and minor and run up and down the fretboard merging one scale shape into another you are going to start sounding interesting and exciting........you will learn favourite little shortcuts and highways to rip up and down......they will come automatically and don't need to be learned ,they will find you !
 By then you can start with CAGED shapes , 3 note per string patterns , simple arpeggios etc etc etc......they wont even make sense to learn until you have got to this stage.

Barney

I think the way to a good solo is through good phrasing ....I would start by just using pentatonics ...the Am that everyone uses on fret 5 ....put backing track on in A minor and limit yourself to just using 2 strings .. say B and E  and work with the backing using different timings/ attack using just 4 notes ....then sing what you play so you can hear the notes before you play them
 
After a while you while you will start coming up with music .  .repeat it on other strings and do the same ....then use 3 strings then 4,5and 6.. then you can move this to other positions and other scales

I think practising scales is good for building technique and seeing where notes are but I think you need to start making music with them as soon as possible 

topdog91

Tall_martin said:

I've thought about the solo of the month. Maybe after I've tried leading how I'll give it a go. I'll set my self entering in march. 

Time poor. My expectations are if I don't have a goal I'll do naff all 

I've bought the book suggested

I'll try the pentatonic scales.

I've tried one of Justin guitars lessons. Fine, but I was aiming to lean to play songs at that point rather than theory.

Firstly, if you're time-poor, don't expect too much. Just try to enjoy what you do.
Secondly, I don't get the last bit. a) Pentatonic scales are "theory" and b) Justin Guitar mostly teaches songs and you get theory on the way.