My playing has been in a massive rut for ages now with me slipping into the same licks, riffs etc all the time. Looking for some inspiration for some new stuff to play but I've never got on with trying to learn theory, I'd rather learn some fun songs and incorporate what I've learnt into my own playing. Suggestions for rock based stuff?
My level of playing at the minute is alright but very much stuck in the "pentatonic noodling" phase. The "best" solos I can play are probably Slither by Velvet Revolver, Beat It (kind of), Welcome to the Jungle and My Sharona (full version!) to give you a rough idea of my level. Should say that these aren't completely note for note though haha
Comments
Not tricky, but a good exercise in phrasing and making the notes really "sing" with a vocal quality.
Solo at 2:30 but there is a nice little build up to it before that.
Same goes fro UFO, Strangers in the Night, packed with fun solos.
As much as I love Lizzy (I'm in a Thin Lizzy tribute band) most of their solo's are pure pentonic based and prob won't teach you much about harmony or breaking out the box's .... Still in love with you isn't bad but it's the underlying chords that give it the movement rather than the lead ............. Parisian walkways is a better bet as the lead is always voiced over the chord and it's a great exercise in controlled bend vibrato
First learn where all the notes are ..... start by being able to spot all the A's, then the C's. then the E's .... the rest of the notes are inbetween these landmarks so will come quickly
Then learn the 2 basic scales, major and minor.
Just the above can have you confidently solo'in perfectly in key over a song without having to stick to "shapes" You know your in Am for example, you know where all the notes all over the neck in the key of Am are so your not restricted to box's. I honestly think it's quick fix's like tab \ caged etc that moves people from nothing to something quickly but then hit a brickwall cos there's no real underlying understanding of whats going on. The only way to gain complete freedom is to understand the formulas that make the sounds you want to hear.
So if you watch a vid on youtube to do with music theory try and avoid guitar specific ones
There's obviously a lot more to learn, you never stop learning. That's what makes it such a great hobby. Also knowing the rules of scales \ construction of modes etc doesn't mean you can't break em ... you just use them to your advantage
Reeling In The Years, Pretzel Logic, Peg, Kid Charlemagne
The solos to Sweet Child O' Mine might be good good ones to try, as they use the major scale at first then the harmonic minor scale at the end. Steve Lukather's solo on Rosanna is another good one. Parisienne Walkways as mentioned earlier.
It's good good to have some sort of system, so you can reuse and adapt what you learn and use it in other situations. Perhaps experiment with approaches that work for you by trying to relate new things you learn to old things you already know. For example, some of the melodies you learn might be thought of as being like the pentatonic shape you already know, but with an added note or a slight modification to the shape. And at the same time 'hear' how the added notes or modifications sound.
My playing largely evolved from early copying of such things as Hendrix and Kossoff solos by a mixture of ear plus trial and error from the CAGED major and minor pentatonics. As I learned new stuff in other areas, I kept the CAGED major and minor pentatonics as my skeleton reference. Now I happen think in terms of the major and minor pentatonics of CAGED system to underpin my thinking, but then add notes or modify things to create other scales/sounds. But that's just my weird method and I'm sure it won't work for others. The landmarks approach described by @Danny1969 sounds like a good approach.
Clapton - Hideaway (from the Beano album) - Mixes major and minor pentatonics
David Gilmour - Comfortably Numb (first solo) Effective use of chord tones.
Clapton - Holy Mother - The 'one note' solo. Then mostly G major pentatonic, but with the C note added quite a bit.
Metallica - Fade To Black.. epic
is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?
try the solo to The One And Only by Chesney Hawkes
Some of my Faves.
Allanah Myles - Black Velvet
Pink Floyd - Another Brick
Scissor Sisters - Take Your Mama, great Pop Song Solo.
Bob Marley - Waiting in Vain
Tears for Fears - EWTRTW, the entire song is worth learning
Divine Comedy - Alfie/ National Express
Bowie - China Girl (SRV)
Def Leppard - Armageddon It.
I would recommend trying to learn some of the stuff from Backstreet Symphony Album by Thunder, Luke Morley is a great player and the guitar stuff on that album is very good for making you really listen at how to transcribe it. Try "Higher Ground" on that album.
Don't Cry by GnR as well