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Solos at Jam Sessions

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 J123
(@j123)
Eminent Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 18
Topic starter  

I'd like to have a couple solos ready to use in an acoustic jam session (variety of styles). Can anyone provide some tab for a sorta all purpose solo?

Also, can you please explain how I would take that tab and understand it so that it could be applied to any key? Is it simply a matter of understanding the intervals and knowing my positions on the neck?

Thanks!


   
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 Taso
(@taso)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 2811
 

Sorry dude, unless its the blues I don't really see one solo fitting into every style, in any key.

Blues solos...many of them anyways, will easily be moved to any key, because they are based mostly on the pentatonic, and most blues follow the I/IV/I/I/IV/IV/I/I/V/IV/I/V pattern.

Other styles the progressions aren't the same, so you can't really just take a solo and lay it on top somewhere.

What you can do in these jams is focus on the root note of each chord, connecting the notes. In fact, Noteboat made a great post on this subject a few days ago, under the thread title (something like this) "playing solos over progressions" in either the Guitar forum or the Beginners forum.

Have you worked at all on improvising.

http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?t=32512

^ there is the thread.

http://taso.dmusic.com/music/


   
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(@frank2121)
Reputable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 268
 

Sorry dude, unless its the blues I don't really see one solo fitting into every style, in any key.

Blues solos...many of them anyways, will easily be moved to any key, because they are based mostly on the pentatonic, and most blues follow the I/IV/I/I/IV/IV/I/I/V/IV/I/V pattern.

.

taso can you explan a little more trying to get into blues soloing


   
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(@causnorign)
Honorable Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 554
 

This may not be the best or even a very good answer but if you know what key the song is in, just move up the neck a bit and play around in the pentatonic. Then ask the jammers how it went and how it could go better.


   
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 Taso
(@taso)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 2811
 

This may not be the best or even a very good answer but if you know what key the song is in, just move up the neck a bit and play around in the pentatonic. Then ask the jammers how it went and how it could go better.

Yeah, that's the best idea I think. Also, just download some jam tracks off the web and practice on those. Record your self, listen to how it sounds, see what you can do better. Even record it and post it onto the "Hear here" and you'll get a lot of advice I'm sure.

Frank- What I meant was the same licks that are used in a blues in the key of D (pentatonic at the 10th fret) will work on a blues in the key of A, as long as you move them down proportionatly to the 5th fret.

For example, you're in the key of D and you play this lick (the slash is a slide, I havn't looked at tab in a while, but I think that's how its done? and 12b means bend the 12th fret) So you have this lick, which is extremly common in blues music

------------10------------------------
--------10-------13/15-------------
--12b---------------------------------
-------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
------------------------------------

Now lets say you're in the key of A instead, you can play the exact same lick, only in a different posistion. The finger movements are still the same, it'd look like this:

------------5------------------------
--------5-------8/10-------------
--7b---------------------------------
-------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
------------------------------------

Another example of this is a popular speedy sorta riff. In the key of D, I'd usually start this riff the first time the V chord is played (V chord = A in this case, or A7) It looks like this:

--------------------------
----10h13p10------------
-----------------h12-------
------------------------------
--------------------------------
---------------------------------

^Just like that except you do it like 10 times really quickly. Generally, I go from the V chord until the end of the progression with this.

Now in the key of A, its again, the same finger movements, just different frets, at the 5th posistion. We are still starting on the V chord of that key, which is E, or E7. It'd look like this

--------------------------
----5h8p5------------
--------------h7------
------------------------------
--------------------------------
---------------------------------

Err, I hope I explained that well enough. If not, please tell me and I'll try to clear up any confusion.

http://taso.dmusic.com/music/


   
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(@causnorign)
Honorable Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 554
 

Another option would be to use the corresponding minor pentatonic, which starts on the 6th step of the major scale, it has the same notes just in a differant starting point.


   
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(@jkf_alone)
Active Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 13
 

what style of music is it? usually no matter what the style incorporating part of the melody into a solo is the best way to make your solo memorable and enjoyable for the listener. i recommend after doing what taso and others suggested (using pentatonics) to do two more things learn the major scales in C,G,D,A and E and try to figure out melodies you can hum (twinkle twinkle, mary had a little lamb, the sung melodies from your favorite songs) and move them through the different scales. the cool thing is after learning 10 to 20 melodies in the style you are interested in, you will be able to pick up melodies from jams VERY quickly, and insert them into solos rather than lick after lick. by all means learn and make up licks you like, but use them as spice, not as the main course.

I spent years soloing in pentatonic boxes before really exploring the major scales, and while it was a lot of fun, when i recorded them and listened back, it was usually boring.

the best tip of all, the melody is the main course, dont make T Bone taste like overseasoned hamburger.

360.yahoo.com/jkf_alone


   
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