Sweet Home Soloing

monquixote

I'm doing Sweet Home Alabama at a gig at the weekend. 

Not a song I especially like, but we have a singer from the Southern States and we're doing some nice harmonies so hopefully people will like it. 

The problem is it's got three fricking guitar solos in it (a nice problem to have I'm sure some of you will say). The first one is easy I'll just follow the record, but I'm a bit stumped with the others. For some reason I just have zero inspiration and just end up noodling. 

That seems to be all you find on the record so maybe that's fine, but I'd like to do something a bit better. 

Any ideas?

not_the_dj

I just end up noodling, it's stood me fine for years playing that bloody song ;-)

Actually that's my usual approach to most solos. People still dance and clap, no point over thinking it  

monquixote

What key do you tend to focus on?

EricTheWeary

I have done a very noodley version of it in the past. I suspect you could do quite a country approach to a solo, using the major pentatonics you'd have access to some open string licks - bit bluegrass I guess. There have been country versions of it, although I forget who.

not_the_dj

monquixote said:

What key do you tend to focus on?

G mostly (and mostly using the good old E minor blues box to make it G major)....but D works as well. These days I'm just playing it in a four piece (single guitar/bass/drums)...I used to be in a band with second guitarist and keys...I'm actually preferring the stripped down way we play it now.

randomhandclaps

You could try breaking it up with a bit of scatting if all else fails.

People's view of Sweet Home Alabama always puzzles me as people seem to over complicate it - maybe because it starts on the 5th, which is incredible common in southern rock.  What is simply a V. IV. I progression makes it a really good example of how modal tonality is so related to player perspective.  People actually debate the key when it's clearly G, but from a solo this seems to trip a lot people up.

We used to play it years ago.  I personally always viewed the first solo as G major, the second and third as Em and D mixolydian.in order to give me a fresh take on each section.  Obviously they are all the same key so it purely is a modal player's perspective.   There are a lot of fundamentally mixolydian based licks in so many southern rock and country rock tunes.  This does also give you the opportunity to drop down to Dm pent (with the classic minor 3rd to major 3rd rock n' roll hammers on etc) at point, which works also works well with repeated motifs.

monquixote

Yeah it's definitely a D Mixolydian thing because of having a C major rather than an A major. 

I'm currently mostly just bashing away in D Myx with a bit of D Dorian for the whole ambiguous 3rds thing .

I probably need to think of a bit of a shape for it as it's so self similar it just naturally noodles about.

EricTheWeary

Well, looked at many clips now on YouTube and all I've learned is DONT DO IT LIKE ZAKK WYLDE. I need to go bleach my ears now... (

Lixarto

EricTheWeary said:

DONT DO IT LIKE ZAKK WYLDE

Words to live by.

(Do it like Neil)

EricTheWeary

Liking the irony (?) of a Young style solo on SHA.

mike_l

monquixote said:

Yeah it's definitely a D Mixolydian thing because of having a C major rather than an A major. 

I'm currently mostly just bashing away in D Myx with a bit of D Dorian for the whole ambiguous 3rds thing .

I probably need to think of a bit of a shape for it as it's so self similar it just naturally noodles about.

On the Classic Albums (I think) the prdocuder said do it in D.

I'd go with Gmajor/Eminor  myself. But I'm occasionally wrong.

stickyfiddle

I'm sitting here now trying to work out what key I play in and I have no idea; I just play the notes in my head. Does that help at all?

spacecadet

1st solo pretty straight. Maybe the odd jazz note for colour. After that just let rid. I usually stick around the blues box but go fairly aggressive as does the rest of the band before we bring it back down, get the audience singing then go hell for leather till the end. 

Col_Decker

I play all my solos in Em Pent regardless of the chords. That's how jazz was invented.

mike_l

Col_Decker said:

I play all my solos in Em Pent regardless of the chords. That's how jazz was invented.

I hope you use other key's for other songs.........

Roland

Covers band, right? So country cliches all the way. I play the first solo straight, and for the rest I play off the chords, working in as many country cliches as I can. @randomhandclaps suggested scatting it, and I like that idea. It's one of those Marmite songs, and you can usually tell whether a number of the audience are interested. If they aren't then cut it short. Most nights I work in the theme from Jessica for my own amusement, and to see where anyone is listening.

Lixarto

EricTheWeary said:

Liking the irony (?) of a Young style solo on SHA.

I'm glad somebody noticed

Evo

Plenty of room for fun in SHA! Try some sliding 6ths, open string pull offs, maybe some tasty chicken pickin'? Look towards somebody like Greg Koch for inspiration in this style, if you're already doing all that then I imagine your solo sounds great as is and don't worry

Col_Decker

mike_l said:

Col_Decker said:

I play all my solos in Em Pent regardless of the chords. That's how jazz was invented.

I hope you use other key's for other songs.........

No, that was the joke. Always using Em Pent regardless of the chords (or song). Pffft

mike_l

I didn't say the right key, just a different one....

thomasw88

just don't play it.

its an awful song.

the world does not need another version of SHA.