Beginning Rock And Blues Soloing

I'll cut to the chase here and keep it simple. Now lets say your listening to a basic consistant rock chord pattern, such as A-C-G-E. We can choose pretty much any chord in this, but lets just go with A. Now look down and your guitar and find this note.

E|-------------------------|
B|-------------------------|
G|-------------------------|
D|-------------------------|
A|-------------------------|
E|--5---5---5---5---5---5--|

That note right there is your base note in A. The name of this note? A of course. When I first started soloing, I took the root note of a chord progression (in this case A, C, G or E) and I mapped out where I could go on this particular scale. From your root note of A, you can hit any of these notes:

E|--------------------------------------5--8--|
B|-------------------------------5--8---------|
G|------------------------5--7----------------|
D|-----------------5--7-----------------------|
A|------3--5--7-------------------------------|
E|--5-----------------------------------------|

The beauty of a solo is that you can start improvising from any note on this scale. You can listen to your A-C-G-E chord pattern and play any of these notes to it and make it fit. But my advice is to stay consistant and take a path with your notes like this:

E|---------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------------|
G|--7b9--7--5------------------5------5--7--7b9--5---------|
D|----------------7-------5h-7-----7--------------------7--|
A|---------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------|

(in case you are a beginner to tabbing "/" is a slide "h" is a hammer on, and "p" is a pull off. "b" means bend so if I put 7b9, it means you bend the 7th fret note up till it sounds like the 9th fret note). Notice how every note tabbed there fits in the scale I mentioned above. from here you can just play around until you get that scale in your head. the coolest part? the scale is the same for every basic note! Heres a few examples:

C pattern: 
E|----------------------------------------------8--11--|
B|-------------------------------------8--11-----------|
G|---------------------------8--10---------------------|
D|------------------8--10------------------------------|
B|------6--8--10---------------------------------------|
E|--8--------------------------------------------------|

G pattern: 
E|----------------------------------------------3---6--|
B|-------------------------------------3---6-----------|
G|----------------------------3---5--------------------|
D|-------------------3---5-----------------------------|
B|------1---3---5--------------------------------------|
E|--3--------------------------------------------------|

E pattern: 
E|--------------------------------------------------------12--15--|
B|----------------------------------------------12--15------------|
G|------------------------------------12--14----------------------|
D|-------------------------12--14---------------------------------|
B|--------10---12--14---------------------------------------------|
E|--12------------------------------------------------------------|

D pattern: 
E|----------------------------------------------------10--13--|
B|------------------------------------------10--13------------|
G|-------------------------------10--12-----------------------|
D|---------------------10--12---------------------------------|
B|-------8--10--12--------------------------------------------|
E|--10--------------------------------------------------------|

Theres a pattern each time, so once you get the pattern down, the only trouble you may have is finding the root note on the E string.. which only takes about a week of practice to get over. Remember, you can hit any note on the pattern, just make sure you're playing the A scale to an A song. For now keep it simple, and let me refer you some songs to practice with:

Green Day - Time Of Your Life (in G)
Lynard Skynard - Sweet Home Alabama (in G)
Stevie Ray Vaughn - Pride And Joy (in E)

Don't be afraid to play around with some bends, vibratos, slides, hammer-ons, and pull offs. And secondly, play it with heart, no matter if it sounds bad or not. they dont call it the blues for nothing. I'll be back with another blues soloing lesson when I'm not so lazy.

Comments

[Spanner]

Play what ever comes into your head!!
I do and you would not believe how many times I have been in a mental home he he.

[mmm]

in my solos, i like using the blues scale. i don't think enough people talk about it, or just not many people like the name or something...i dunno. but yeah nice lesson man thanks

[ArvinBadass]

Wut! alota people tlak about blues solos, thats wut most of hendrix stuff is on

[dan123]

nice that was 1 i could understand and i should actually be able to use that 1 gr8 job

[battleofla]

Good article, thought i'd check it out, a good one for beginning soloing.

This is just the minor pentatonic scale, nothing that special. I have no clue what he's talking about with the A C G E chords - those chords aren't even in the same key.

Considering the notes of each chord:
A - A C# E
C - C E G
G - G B D
E - E G# B
Your notes are A B C C# D E G#. His A minor pentatonic pattern played over this has notes A C D E G. Major clashing with the C# and G#.

Bad lesson, bad explanation. 1 star.

This lesson is nonesense, i shall PM zappp to get it deleted.

[Sawn]

why the hell do you want to get it deleted? Its easy to understand and gives begginer guitarists the gist of scales, unlike most the article here which start off too big to begin with and make begginers lose there head and stop reading

[bernskiastig]

I think its good...

[angryvandal]

i only read it, i didnt havent even tried it yet, but hey, loooks good

[laxslinger]

Great article. Silentdeftone, who do you think this article is aimed at? Beginners right, so quit showing off with your "major clashing of notes". Beginners don't need to grasp that yet to have a place to start. Most articles on this site are way too advanced for beginners. You people that think you are teachers need to understand the level of the beginning guitarist on this site. Great lesson that everyone will be able to comprehend.

[kt200261@kit]

hey, guys!! im just a biggener guitarist and im wondreing f sumbody could help me wat knd of scales do rock band use...s it pentatonic or sumtin...ill b much glad f sumbody could help me....strumming pattern 2.....much thanks!!!.....the nephilim...

[Iboseth]

Hahahahahahahahaha

[evo2k_3]

This is a gd lesson, others jus confuse you and you stop reading. Good Lesson.

[mr_johnny_lee]

Is there a way of actually way to remembering these or do you have to just remember them?

[Tumut]

mmm grouse lesson

[high voltage]

This lesson doesn't make sense. Personally, I don't think it should have been accepted!

[peteyjones]

i think this lesson is good, i made a few solos off of these scales and added them into some of my songs, i think this is a great lesson

[afirocker00]

Thank you for this lesson. Very nice intro for someone who wants to get involved with soloing ala:me.

^And of course it shouldve been accepted i found this very helpful.

[dkmfan4189]

what was the scale you were playing in C?

[dkmfan4189]

you shouldve said what scale it was

[chrisman606]

helped me alot, thanks

[matt mcallister]

this is a fkin awesome lesson i have devoloped some killer solos just for blues tunes like "born under a bad sign" albert king so yeah thanks alot

[putters]

Really useful lesson. Cheers

[koolwelshdude]

what scale is that?

[JnPtsmkn420]

Ok alot of controvery here, it's a decent lesson that shows the basics of the blues scales. THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT, for beginners. He is trying to state for the beginners to relaize that all scales have the same pattern, throughout the neck. You can improvise any scale if you stay in that format (that of the scale)

As for a question above (remembering the scales) Think of steps, half steps and whole steps. half step being one fret and a whole step being 2. Once you get those steps down pat you can apply it anywhere on the neck.

[JnPtsmkn420]

That is just a minor penatonic scale, well a variation anyways. Honestly the scale should go
---..5---..
---..5--7---..
---..4--6---..
-
--..4--7---..
---..4--7---..
---5--7---..

All
he did was play the second note on the A string instead of the E string, no big deal really still sounds good, that's whats so great about music

[judgedug]

i've been playing rythm for 8 years, and just wanted to start soloing, and i have to say this is the first lesson i've seen that actually makes sense. cheers

[jamie_rocks in]

nice lesson if ur doin another sum time cant wait

[Phreakdawg]

Def is right, this lesson is pretty bad, it's just penatonic scales, which are covered in many lessons here that are better than this. And your example sequence isn't in key either. You can certainly have a chord sequence like that, but you should've have picked an example with accidentals for a lesson like this that's supposed to be basic.

[Rone4611]

pentonic's pentoninc's pentonic's...

[ChurchPunk]

Awesome! I am a beginner and wanted to know how to solo, and this is awesome! I read it two days ago, and yesterday me and the other guitar player in the band I'm in solod for ten minuts! Five stars!

[tpfrock]

yeh this is good but i personally think as a beginner you should be learning all of the basics just the normal chords it gets your fingers used to playing guitar- then once you can get into shape easily start thinking about soloing but not so soon- but yeh nice one

[whitestripes666]

wow that rok it made soloing realy easy thanx

[Teddy b]

Excellent lesson for beginners like me looking to learn how to solo. This may seem not useful to all the users on here that already how to solo well and stuff, but it is a good starting point for us new comers. We were all once beginners remember. Obviously the better we (as in the beginners looking to learn solo) get at soloing, the more we will understand more detailed and complicated lessons on soloing.


Cheers :>)

[Sun King]

that helped me a bit... but just so you know you spelt lynyrd skynyrd wrong

[Haukaasen]

[slash_is_gr8st]

this guy has no idea what he is doing, the chords aren't even in the same key, and all these great solos are, are minor pentatonic scales. this sucks

[socalnucca69]

even when you see people soloing off the top of there heads like jimi hendrix it always starts with learning the scales...anyone out there...dont expect to be able to know what every fret sounds like when ur playing and automatically be able to solo off the top of ur head...my suggestion is get a book or an instructor and learn the theory of scales and learn as many scales as u can that way u know what sounds good when ur playing certain chords

[guitarmanstu]

cheers to whoever did this lesson, i really am a complete beginner and all the pentatonic stuff goes straight over my head (never done theory), but i got this and it helped me do solo that sounded good with rest of song.Cheers. All nay sayers a wrong, they should read title.Sez "beginning".

[J_Say169]

Good lesson not bad at all m8

[jamz0770]

BRILLIANT LESSON
understood this sort of stuff before but made easy to digest im now going to compose a solo

[The ginger one]

not that I'm instigating an argument but what the guy has written isn't totally wrong. He did say it was for beginners so he's got that part right! The best advice I could give anyone learning or beginning is learn scales and modes! Most people tend to cringe at the thought of understanding modes but they are really helpful! Buy a book on it they are usually really cheap and are a lot easier to understand, you will only find basics on the internet so buy the book and learn it! If you are a beginner and are struggling send me a message and I'll help you out!

[The ginger one]

not that I'm instigating an argument but what the guy has written isn't totally wrong. He did say it was for beginners so he's got that part right! The best advice I could give anyone learning or beginning is learn scales and modes! Most people tend to cringe at the thought of understanding modes but they are really helpful!

[thesmartguy50]

you know, it probably would have been better to show noobs the pentatonic scale, and all the boxes, or something, rather than the scale on there. I know, it WAS a pentatonic scale, but you sort of mixed up a few notes... that'll make it hard for the noobs who have already learned the scale you've shown them to learn the pentatonic scales, because they'll think,"this is basically the same thing... why waste my time?" Then boxes would be considered obsolete after a while, which would result in incorrect practice... whether that'll turn out to be a good thing or a bad has yet to be seen.

[omgitscj]

This helped me ut alot I just need to write this shit down so I can remember it and incorporate it when I make solos (I'm a beginner but it's only a matter of time before I get the rest of the solo lessons on this site.) You get 5 stars because it was a good artical.

[MATTTHEMOP]

u dont have to write much down. just look at the spaces between each note on those digrams. they are the same for each diagram, just moved up or down accordingly to the root note. watch the latest 'steal this video' on this site and itll give u the jist of it.

[chris5150]

that first scale is a pentatonic 1 with root note a isnt it? and great lesson!

[liam177lewis]

seriously brilliant, this is genuinelly really helpful... do they give knighthoods for these things?


liam xxx

[Keefer]

He should've mentioned that it's a minor pentatonic scale instead of calling it a Blues scale! It's NOT a Blues Scale. I've heard lot of people call the pentatonic a Blues Scale, and it drives me nuts! It's also a major pentatonic in the key of the second note played (ie, the Aminor pent is the same as CMaj pent)

You almost had me confused as to what keys to play in for a second.

[Gothic_ed]

I have no clue what he's talking about with the A C G E chords - those chords aren't even in the same key.

You're an idiot. Play the A minor scale to yourself, check what notes are in it. Then say that again

[Gothic_ed]

Or E minor

[Gothic_ed]

Or C major

[Gothic_ed]

and so on...

[ThePartyBoy]

E|---..5--8--|
B|---..5--8---..|
G|---..5--7---.
.|
D|---..5--7---..|
A|---..5--7---..|
E|--5--8
---..|

Wouldn't that have been easier, hitting the C on the 6th string rather than the 5th? Then you would also be showing the Pentatonic scale as well.

[Monchi]

let me add a legend....the symbol ( / ) is for slide up and the symbol ( \ ) is slide down.....

[guitarplayer70]

It was an okay lesson that is easy to understand for beginners. Maybe could have gone a little more in depth with it though.:-/

[JaMeZtEr]

err dude that was good part from the fact that AGDE aren't in the same pentatonic scale

[JaMeZtEr]

woops i meant AGCE

[gabe switzer]

informative.

[gabe switzer]

it helped me out alot

[Surf3r]

Very nice, keep them coming.

[IronHeart]

Oh cmon, you heard what the writer said "play it with heart, no matter if it sounds bad or not." And I find it sounds rather good to me, and it's rather easy to learn that scale.

[clocah]

Hi, I've been playing guitar for almos four months now and I've just started to get intrested in soloing. Right now I'm soloing over a basic 12 bar blues A,D,E. with a pentatonic escale. I have a question and I was wondering if someone could help me: do I need to change the root of the scale evrey time the chords on the second guitar change? I mean if the other guitar is playng an A and then changes to D, Do I have to change from the pentatonic scale in A to the pentatonic scale in D?

[IronHeart]

Do I have to change from the pentatonic scale in A to the pentatonic scale in D?

I would like an answer to that too, please

[superjonti]

thanks i still learnin ! keep em coming

[Reaver]

Hi, I've been playing guitar for almos four months now and I've just started to get intrested in soloing. Right now I'm soloing over a basic 12 bar blues A,D,E. with a pentatonic escale. I have a question and I was wondering if someone could help me: do I need to change the root of the scale evrey time the chords on the second guitar change? I mean if the other guitar is playng an A and then changes to D, Do I have to change from the pentatonic scale in A to the pentatonic scale in D?

I would really like to know that as well, and I'd also like to say this is the most helpful guide to soloing I've read yet =P

[noobistic]

thx man u really helped me out there

[ThePartyBoy]

I agree with SD. If you are using the key of A, a C chord would sound terrible. But it doesn't matter, because he actually showed you A minor penatonic, which is in the key of C. But the E major chord would not fit with this scale anyway.

It was an alright lesson for beginners, but you don't want to start beginners of just thinking they can throw random chords together and solo over it. I mean, you can, but it's gonna sound like shit.

[ThePartyBoy]

And to socalnucca69, Jimi Hendrix had no knowledge of scales, bro.

[flyingsheep223]

I like it. By the look of all these comments not many people do! But Its good and its helped with my soloing.
Cheers.

[dragon933]

good work like it says for beginners so no technical terms just straight to the nitty gritty keep them coming could someone also explain how to make the guitar sing like zakk wylde
thanks again

[SARJIT SINGH]

just always keep in mind practice dont makes perfect,its how practice makes difference.....rock on...

[Those Beneath]

the blues scale is what i started off with. its simple, just play what comes in to your head (I tend to repeat a section) just before you move on to a new bit, complete the intergoing bit of the scale

[emo_kid1471]

cheers man ive been playing guitar rythm about a year now and ur lesson really helped

[ibanez87]

cool

[ibanez87]

or you could do this:
E|-----5--8--|
B|
-----5--8-----|
G|-----5
--7-----|
D|-----5--7---
--|
A|-----5--7-----|
E
|--5---8-----|

[rock zeppelin]

this is a cool chord
E|-----
B|--8----
-
G|--8-----
D|--7-----

A|--x-----
E|--7-----

[Joseph213]

That lesson was on fire!

[ChildOfBodom666]

It's a mediocore lesson, but I agree, it shouldn't have been accepted yet, you need to cover more, I read this hoping to learn something (I know nothing about soloing, and play lead guitar in my band) and I didn't, add more scales, and explain bending a little more than just "Bend 7 until it sounds like 9", bending is a little trickier than that when you first pick up a guitar... I'm not gonna rate this lesson, it would be unfair.

[go away]

holly crap man what are you smoking that was a great lesson your'e just STUPID!!! I give it a 9

[kurtdonald]

it is very useful for the begginers....

[(Les) Paul]

I am a begginer and Im a little bit confused with the modulation of the scale... or something to that effect... Everyone is talking about the chord progression not matching in key but don't you switch root notes which would fix the problem? Or, if all the chords/scales you're soloing over are in the modes of C then there wouldn't be any accidentals? I don't know... im terribly confused, any help would be great.
P.S. like some other people said before, this scale is much easier if played (for A) 5 and 8 on the 6th string then 5 and 7 on the 5th string.

[michael10473]

very good, i enjoyed it, i've been playing for about a year, and that's a good way to start someone off, just a bitch to explain, i know

[GuitarGuy633]

to everyone that is saying that this isnt right because the chords arnt in the same key are wrong. its correct that they are not in the same key but blues is all about adding in notes that arent in the same key

[Jake Norton]

Hey Im a begginner and this lesson helped me out a lot so all you fags who want to get it deletde need to shut the f%$# up.:wtf:

[coolluke0505]

that was a really good lesson... damn i am happy.

[guitartarot]

use close scales that might help somebody

[zx7r]

is this the blues scale or pentatonic or what i get the lesson and yeh its pretty good i just want to know what scale I'm playing

[hillbilly13496]

great, people shouldn't be complaining about it at all, cuz I dont think Ive seen a lesson any easier than that!

[fingersofflame]

that was actually a pretty useful lesson...while the notes themselves where nothing fancy, it explained one of many soloing methods for me to test and screw around with...if nothing else, it opened doors for me...

[fingersofflame]

This is just the minor pentatonic scale, nothing that special. I have no clue what he's talking about with the A C G E chords - those chords aren't even in the same key.

Considering the notes of each chord:
A - A C# E
C - C E G
G - G B D
E - E G# B

these chords are taken from the circle of fifths...what the **** are you confused about?

[fingersofflame]

btw that was posted by SilentDeftone

[fingersofflame]

the thing that i was complaining about anyway, not the actual post above...

[Sk8rFreak]

I like its all clear n not cnfusing. I didnt try to play it yet but i read it n i think ill play it tomorrow. THNX

[wangmaster]

silentdeftone has a real bad attitude... im not bril and I thought that was easier than a lot of lessons on soloing.

[noobtoguitar]

someone just showed me the A blues scale last night... and i was amazed at how much i could play with those few simple note and sound like i knew what i was doing... he mentioned in passing that you could do this in other keys but didn't show me where to start... this lesson was useful, simple, and pitched at a person who has only been playing guitar for two weeks... it really helped thank you... oh by the way

mr_johnny_lee :
Is there a way of actually way to remembering these or do you have to just remember them?

my friend... if you can't remember 5 numbers (3,5,8,10,12) you have bigger problems than where to put your fingers

[Sir-Shoelace]

this... is retarded.

[Zero_Berserker]

well, im a beginner.
i'll try this lesson, its seems pretty good, i let you know the results later, thanks brother.

[nariek]

how do u know what key a piece is in?

[Silenzo666]

I'm not usually into play blues, but I thought I'd give it a shot. I think this was a great lesson, especialy for a blues beginner like me, I usually play other genres like Rock, Alternative, Metal, and Hardcore, but now I can add Blues to the list. Great job! Keep it up!

[GNR Rules!]

what scale does Slash use?

[justin_fraser]

I have to say that this really helped me!! Thanks!!

[rrb6699]

helped me too. i understand all those 'advanced' players commenting here saying you can't play certain scales over other stuff because it will sound bad. i understood this and that is what counts. i can learn the theory later as I get better and better and finally i'll kick everyones ass on guitar. i'm going to rip and shred off scales and chords until my bones come through my fingers and then start wearing the bones down. I love this shit... then when i need a break i'll just beat on me drums (24" dbl bass kit from hell) untill i can touch a guitar string again and do it until i can do it and do it better and better in blood... hmmm. maybe I need a sedative now...

[metallicman]

This really put things in perspective for me- i had trouble learning the scale but this makes it look really simple...well i need to practice the scale but should be no problem to do over the summer, the only thing id like to know is how would i know what scale to play to a song? but other than that i liked it, thanks man!

[Schecter_tabber]

hey man here is another another great scale in C maj.
-----5-8--
-----5-8-----
-----5-7-----
-----5-7-----
-----5-7-----
-5-8-----

[iggy pop]

decent lesson bitches!

[Farkwaa]

GNR Rules! wrote:

what scale does Slash use?

Slash uses the blues scale most of all.Its probably the most common in hard rock music. Almost every single song slash does will use the blues scale or it will feature somewhere in it at least. The welcome to the jungle solo uses the C# blues scale. Another scale you might want to look into is the Minor relative scale, which he mainly uses for dramatic parts in the solo. Hope this helps a bit. If you want more info then just ask me.

[The_Raven]

Thanks man.

[PET]

nice, it really helps by improvisation solo's! Thanx

[Nuzza]

this really helps, thanks

[zep_hed449]

Scales are tools for soloing, you really dont want to play straight scales along with music. a little bit of improv, a basic knowledge of scales and how to play in key, and a little rythm will go a long way.

[Will_Gum]

Makes alot of fundemental mistakes that will not be good for people once they progress past a beginning stage. I'll write a decent blues solo lesson tommorow

[accoustic_laine]

this is great!

[yorkmann]

why does this crap lesson get posted up but my smoke on the water tab dont!!! it was a really good frickin tab too!!!

[wonderwoman21]

its gd and for me a beginer it helpd alot. i bet most of u ppl who dont like this article, have been playing for ages. well im new at this and im sure im not the only one who found it helpful!!!

[guitar1freak]

awesome for BEGINNERS people. if you (like silentdeftone) are so good at this already, then don't don't read the beginners article! Five stars!

[guitar1freak]

10 stars, sorry

[paramaribo]

kt200261@kit wrote:

hey, guys!! im just a biggener guitarist and im wondreing f sumbody could help me wat knd of scales do rock band use...s it pentatonic or sumtin...ill b much glad f sumbody could help me....strumming pattern 2.....much thanks!!!.....the nephilim...

I see noone answered u so... i will.Rock bands use Pentatonic,blues,major,mi
nor and dominant.

[jakebury]

that the frik kinda chord is this
e-2 slid up anywhere on the guitar like to any fret
b-2 barred
g-0
d-0
a-0
e-0

[mother rocker]

great lesson !! helped a lot as i just started 2 learn 2 solo

[hntngpain09]

when rythm guitarist changes chords do i need to change scales

[x9jake9x]

vvv so much easier.. use it all the time vvv

E|-----5--8--|
B|-----5--8-----|
G|-----5--7-----|
D|-----5--7-----|
A|-----5--7-----|
E|--5--8-----|

[mufgatar]

this actually made sense

[farewelldimebag]

thanx for the lesson man it actually helped me out

[clennonuk]

I have only been playing since christmas and found this very helpfull
Thankyou

[psychodude]

very helpful tnx man

[floydfanben]

nice, thanks for your time and effort

[Brooks3]

Cool=]

[rapsucks24]

i play metal and acoustic, and i was listening to some blues the other day and i thought it sounded awesome. all you other guys who said this sucked and started getting all hard to understand need to just let it go. it helped me get the hang of it and start making my own little riffs.

[shivermietimber]

i think i must be stupid im so frusterated( i hate spelling cant u tell) uhh i just dont understand how u make up a solo from the scales u no what i mean uhhh i would like it if someone could email me and explain it plz thanks a bunch my email is [e-mail]

[cgreene1311]

dude
i cant get my solo to sound
any good
help!!!!

[jamoboy]

Thanks this was really helpful as im just a beginner in sololin and again this was very helpful

[squiz95]

one word brilliant

[Metallica333]

Which is the blues one???

[DNRDustin]

ok all that is is a pentatonic scale.youve provided no prerequisite to killer screaming solos that everyone thinks of. however crucial pentatonics are, you have failed to bring any substance to them or even mention that you are using one!

[avatar ang]

THis is the first lesson on soloing that i actually liked....It was easy to read and helped me alot....thanx.....

[hiewie]

This lessen is really good for me because it's hard for me to bend the string when i play a solo and this helps! thanks for the lesson 5 stars.

[Andy_Laroque]

Great beginner scales guide

[warshburnz]

nice lesson dude. i provised my own redneck porch solo nice dude

[stef123]

can someone recomend me some more songs to play 4 this lesson?

[Broskar]

Thank You!

Allready Started My Own Solo!

Post More!

[Broskar]

Thank You!

Post More!

[flyinRiffs]

Good try mate... looks like this lesson is for ppl who are starting out solos prob you could start of by teaching scales and proceeding to solos... And theres no need to get down scales of different keys jus teach em the shape of the major pentatonic and the root note.. hmmmm well peace out... overall not a good lesson but i'm sure you can do betta!

[synystergabriel]

fantastic first scales lesson i've been able to understand

[minichibi]

Pretty good.

[d_lord1]

the thing i find hardest when soloing is improvising, im pretty much a begginner, even though I've been playing for well over a year now (I'm waiting for a decent guitar teacher). But does anyone have any tips on improvising, i just play the same 3 or 4 notes over and over when i try and i play the same patterns and it sounds shit. please help

[Godbe]

Pentatonic and Blue notes FTW!!!!!11

[prototype_r]

ki gogot!! mari difficile sa!!

[dudeman6(sic)6]

one of the most useful scales when soloing is the A pentatonic scale, the same one angus young used

[jani_sorry]

nice practice

[blacksabbath7]

nice lesson. Im not really a beginner but i made a couple solos out of it. Its good for warming up before u play too

[ipso.facto]

Thanks, helps a lot

[XxXshadowboyXxX]

I'm completely new to soloing, just to be sure (because I have no idea what I'm doing) basically one way to solo is to take the notes from a certain scale and mess around with them and use certain techniques (vibrato, bends, etc.) to make it sound how you want?

[XxXshadowboyXxX]

Or you can take the notes from the chords you use and solo with those?

[shrederofmetal]

nice I think Im going to write a lesson with all the scales

[DiaryOfJane]

uhhhh, ok.... i just played all the scales, but how do you get from the scale to the solo.....if someone could send me a message or something explaining how a solo and s scale relate to each other that would be greatly apreciated...thanks

[Paul P. Webb II]

Hi, I've been playing guitar for almos four months now and I've just started to get intrested in soloing. Right now I'm soloing over a basic 12 bar blues A,D,E. with a pentatonic escale. I have a question and I was wondering if someone could help me: do I need to change the root of the scale evrey time the chords on the second guitar change? I mean if the other guitar is playng an A and then changes to D, Do I have to change from the pentatonic scale in A to the pentatonic scale in D?

Hey pal, that's a good question. The answer is yes and no. Really good guitarists should be able to reflect backing chord changes in their soloing. And yes, you will find that if you do completely change your position from the G-form pentatonic box at 5th position while playing over the A chord to the 10th position over the D chord, it will deliver a great sound that really compliments your chord changes. Doing it with style is somewhat more advanced, so you may want to try it out little bits at a time and it probably will sound choppy, but in actuality you will be training not only your fingers to switch on command and you will be training your ears to hear changes and then determine what sounds good. But for simplicity's sake, you know that all the notes in your A minor pentatonic box are going to sound pretty good, and if you'd like you can be like everybody else and stick with that.

[webbster87]

high voltage wrote:

This lesson doesn't make sense. Personally, I don't think it should have been accepted!

he dosen't get it it shows how to use the blue's chord scale's to solo using them! dumb ass NOob!

[webbster87]

d_lord1 wrote:

the thing i find hardest when soloing is improvising, im pretty much a begginner, even though I've been playing for well over a year now (I'm waiting for a decent guitar teacher). But does anyone have any tips on improvising, i just play the same 3 or 4 notes over and over when i try and i play the same patterns and it sounds shit. please help

practics daily and use your pinky, this help's me to not play the same 3 to 4 notes over and over! "PRACTICS MAKE PERFECT"!!

[engage212]

this was a great lesson

[hotguitarchik1]

i thought it was a pretty good lesson. ive been trying to solo for a while now and this helped.

[XxPunkMafiaxX]

songs to practice with: GD-Time Of Your Life. Ye thats arpeggiated chords. Not a blues scale. Same with Lynrd Skynrd. Not sure about Stevie, but i know hes Southern Rock not Blues

[.CoB.]

this is just box one of pentatonics...

[BennyStruggle]

effort gets an A, but I mean associating Green Day - Time of your life with Vaughn and LS is just ridiculous and a poor example. green day is a classic example of the decline of western civilization lol

[diabolis]

I think you should have told people the name of the scale. good job otherwise. nice and simple.

[Apocalypse4162]

It's good but it just wasn't approached the right way. As said already it's just a blues scale, probably the most popular one, but instead of playing the 3rd fret on the 5th string it's supposed to be the 8th fret on the 6th string, it's good to solo in though, but it doesn't sound all that great unless it IS a blues song to solo with.

[Slaytanic1993]

Play whatever the **** pops up man. I mean, I'll sit at home doing blues shreds then classical arpeggios then melodic pentatonic and then some Jazz fusion and normally come up with a solo or two that rule. It's all in invention and style.

[Guitar Guy#1]

Hendrix Rulz man he solos of the bluz scale all the time, i liked the lesson good to get back to basics

[<Turtle>]

im a noob and have been trying to figure out soloing basics for ever and now I get it

[Metalx666xFreak]

dfgb

[Metalx666xFreak]

everyone that says this lesson is bad just forgot how it was to get a guitar in your hands, you where the most ridiculous guitarist in de world ^^
let the n00bs have this lesson, becuz the more 0wn4g3 lessons are 2 difficult !!! If you don't respect that, ....welL...than your granny-crazy (just invented the word..)^^
XD

[wkravick]

Yes nice, it helped me alot,
ive writen songs but i want to start writing solos, think ill go with a blues pattern

[furyman]

Thanks, now i can kinda-sorta-not-really solo for one of my songs i wrote

[yukman666]

Nice.....

[Sl1pknotMagg0t]

big help, thanks

[chefmusicmoto]

the thing is that if it is for beginners which this is and if the more advanced guitarsts can have a second part when requested. but if you read it and its for beginers then leave it alone. if it is more detailed go from easy and work your self up to what ever point people want. just say'n people should chill..... peace

[Impakt]

I'm a beginner, but I like to use the blues and Am pentatonic scales in my(crappy) soloing.

Great article.

[Leadhead3225]

Good but I think some of these are just called scales but w/e keep it coming

[gdavid]

the E pattern is usefull in rock'nroll songs .. how about A pattern ?

[xboofoox]

uuummmmm i just kinda been hitting random notes as fast as possible.....so this defently helps cuz my bandmates might have noticed my sloppy solo hehehhe

[Wonalosa]

This isn't a masters guide, true, but hell, I think it's great for a starter guitarist.

Skip the rest if you hate long posts.

The fact that you should just play what you feel when playing blues is something that the more 'senior' guitarists amongst us tend to forget. Whining about the correct methods and such..

This lesson explains how you can get your notes in key with the song that's being played. Beginner, remember? He's brief, he's (mostly) correct, plus it's kinda fun to play.

I like it. 9.

[1985bfs1]

that sucked, the scale is much easyer like this...
(in c)
|-5--8-|
|-5--8-|
|-5--7-|
|-5--7-|
|-5--7-|
|-5--8 -|

and pluss thats only the "A miner penatonic scalescale" it sounds good over miner chords, the "A magor scale" sounds good over major chords.

here is the "A major penatonic scale" in A
|--6-8-|
|--6-8-|
|-5-7--|
|-5--8-|
|-5--8-|
|--6-8- |

so there u go, oh and he was rite on one thing, u can just hit wat ever notes u wand, and aslong as your in the right key, it all sounds good.

ohh, and he never explaind on how to know what key is were... for scales u start on lth note on the low e string thad is the scale... so if a song is in the key of C you start on the C note on the e string or iff its the key of e , it starts on the e note on the low e string,...
here is a maped out version of the notes on the low E string----=
e|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|
B|--|-- |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|
G|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|- -|--|--|--|
D|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|
A|--|-- |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|
E|f-|f#|G-|G#|a-|a#|b-|c-|c #|d-|d#|e-|
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
/
fret #

oh and he said the way he put the scale was in e, it was in A... well there u go, all the corections to this bull**** article.

i would give the corections on his cord progression but some1 allredy did in another comment.

any other questiand?
email me at: [e-mail]

[JD Close]

OK. You people just think you can walk all over this lesson AND begginer guitarists. Just cause you have solod before. I have only done 4 solos in my life, 3 were from songs, this helped me with another pentonic scale. So kudos to all the peeople who said they are begginers, you got guts and people that aren't, why did you read an article about "begginer blues soloing", try something harder i know that there harder stuff on the site so dont step all over people that are just starting!!!

[JD Close]

play it backwards too, it sounds better

[Ardolino_Cool]

meh, blues soloing you just gotta make sure you use the 'blues notes' and double stops more often not too much of it will sound funky...and rock solos...just use the pentatonic scale which is more or less blues scale but without the 'blues notes' but instead use lots of big bends simple really

[guitarjunky1234]

big help

i found this very helpful
great lesson

[ChopSuey19]

Nice lesson, I read this same lesson by other people a lot, and for some reason my fingers just didn't like the idea, yet when I read yours, they're ver agreeable. So I guess, my best regards from my fingers!

[Black Vista]

Sawn wrote:

why the hell do you want to get it deleted? Its easy to understand and gives begginer guitarists the gist of scales, unlike most the article here which start off too big to begin with and make begginers lose there head and stop reading

[Mr.Punker]

i think the blues scale that uses kirk hammet in most of his solos is:
|-5--8--
|-5--8--
|-5--7--8
|-5--7--
|-5--6--7
|-5--8--

i don´t know the name of the scale cause i don´t nothing about notes, but its very useful. i´ve done the lesson with this scale and it went pretty well
you can also play this scale on the 12 fret.

[dR. Shivacko]

nice lesson i liked how you just kept it simple and didnt talk about a bunch of stupid crap that wouldnt help anyone.
thanx

[Freshnoise]

Yes, the scale at the beginning was mapped out rather poorly, it has the correct notes, but it is much easier to play the pentatonic or blues scale, which is derived from the Dorian, a Major scale.

[hydrofir]

If you don't know shit about shit and are just starting out, this is a decent lesson. That's not an insult or anything because this is a very basic lesson and that is a good thing. I wish someone would have written down an idiot-proof lesson like this when I was first learning how to solo. So all you wannabe guitar-hero snobs out there who say this lesson sucks, write a better one. It's not bad, just very rudimentary.

[JD Close]

If you don't know shit about shit and are just starting out, this is a decent lesson. That's not an insult or anything because this is a very basic lesson and that is a good thing. I wish someone would have written down an idiot-proof lesson like this when I was first learning how to solo. So all you wannabe guitar-hero snobs out there who say this lesson sucks, write a better one. It's not bad, just very rudimentary.

I hate guitar hero snobs too, try beating slash on a real guitar, instead of pushing 5 plastic bottuns

[JD Close]

buttons, sorry