I don't know what this is, maybe it's a mixture of a rant and a request for advice.
I've been playing now for about 2.5 years. I got my first electric a year ago so I've been trying to learn lead guitar for a year now. I'm mainly into blues and blues rock music. I spend most of my practice time improvising with backing tracks. I've always thought my improvising was boring and repetitive but I always thought this was because of reasons other than technical ability. I thought it was because of the lack of other things such as experience, creativity, knowledge of others' solos, knowledge of scales, etc. I was under the impression that these lagged behind my technical ability... until yesterday. I decided to try out learning the solo to stairway to heaven. The first lick looked something like this:
|----5---------------------|
|------8-5-----------------|
|-7b-------7-5---7-5-------|
|--------------7-----7-5---|
|------------------------8-|
|--------------------------|
I couldn't play it to save my life. Even though when I do my own improvisation I can play licks this fast if not faster.
That's when I realized that 99% of my improv consisted of pull offs and hammer ons (pull offs in particular). If I improvise a lick using pull offs I can't play the same notes anywhere near the speed without using pull offs. Apart from that I realized that without pull offs my alternate picking was incredibly sloppy.
So it looks like my alternate picking and moving between strings is a fraction of what I thought it was and I think I need to remedy this now. I think one reason for this revelation now is the fact that I HATE learning solos and memorizing them and this was one of the few times I attempted to do that. I think I've learnt something like two or three solos ever. I just can't sit down and concentrate on learning a solo. Is this something that maybe I should focus on now (even though I despise it)? Should I try to improvise without using hammer ons or pull offs?
Does anyone have any suggestions? I feel like I've become a complete beginner again overnight.
"Hey Hey My My ... Rock and Roll can never die" Neil Young
I would just practice alternate picking without doing hammer ons pull offs.
Once you get it to a speed you like, try integrating it into your improv.
hammer ons/pull offs = great for blues rock though. Although I will say, some of the "runs" I play that I do with hammer ons/pull offs, sound a lot more...exciting, when done with just picking. It's a lot harder though.
Musus
It is the same for me, I practiced Blues style for many years, I am just used to hammer-ons and pull-offs. And I can play very fast this way. If I try to pick each note it is a different story. So for the last couple of years I have been practicing playing each note. I try to practice with a metronome and slowly speed up. It does work, in a few months you will realize that you have picked up maybe 10 BPM or more. So this is what I would recommend.
As far as learning solos, I would say that it is good to learn licks you like from solos. If you hear a certain lick you like, learn that. A person's individual style is really just the sum of all your influences. When I play I can hear licks from Hendrix, Page, Clapton, Nugent, Howell and many others. I spent time listening to many great players and trying to learn solos. I would recommend listening to many players, if you focus on one you will sound just like them. Listen to other instruments too, like horns or saxophone. You can pick up some great licks that way.
But spend some time making up your own licks as well. Go slow and listen carefully. Listen to what you hear in your head and then figure out how to play it. Don't worry if your music sounds different than everybody else's. :D
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
