[CheshireCat]

Originally Posted by Jenacen

It's the Lydian scale. No wonder it sounds so nice.

Indeed. Ergo, Russell's chosen moniker for his new methodology, the Lydian Chromatic Concept.

Extra bonus points if you can explain the "chromatic" part.

[Rainer.]

What's the point? Experiment! Not everything has to fit into the key. Another example: surf music. They threw in chromatics every once in a while.

I'd call a lot of what Dick Dale did for surf rock was integrating elements of Eastern music, including Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Indian tonalities into his music. For chromatic tones, a great thing do to would be to listen to the bebop greats and what little passing tones they put into solos, and you could even look up a bebop scale and see how that incorporates into some jazz licks from that era.

[Jenacen]

Originally Posted by CheshireCat

Indeed. Ergo, Russell's chosen moniker for his new methodology, the Lydian Chromatic Concept.

Extra bonus points if you can explain the "chromatic" part.

Eh, the LCC seemed radical and new enough to me when you explained it, so I kinda doubt I'm gonna figure out the chormatic part without cheating lol

[CheshireCat]

Originally Posted by Jenacen

Eh, the LCC seemed radical and new enough to me when you explained it, so I kinda doubt I'm gonna figure out the chormatic part without cheating lol

Well, it works off of stacked fifths, so if you follow the Circle of Fifths all the way around, you get the full chromatic spectrum.

[mikeboyette]

Good stuff Jenacen. I would also say passing tones can be creative also. Like the b5 note or chromatic notes. Also, by altering the scale from the diatonic to better fit each chord (even though they may be diatonic) can sometimes be interesting. Personally, I like to improvise, and just play what I feel. Learn all the rules so good you dont have to think about them. If your thinking, your not playing your best. I would also add, it really is about the interval jumps. Over a 1 4 5 type progression I may play mixolydian or sus4m7 over the 1 and an Adim minor 7 scale over the 4. Over the 5 I might play an Amajor. In any event by recording a chord progression you can try all kinds of stuff over it to develope you on style.

[Guitarbite1985]

Also, try remembering your music theory. If you know that the first tone, third tone, and the fifth tone of a scale make up a chord, then you're already on the right track to make a solo. If you play a I - iv - IV - V7 (Cmaj - Amin - Fmaj - G7) then play a C, E, or G note to start your solo. Then for the second chord, use an A, C, or E note for the A min chord; and so on. When you start to understand how the notes work together, throw some other notes in between the "primary" notes. Remember, music is an art...have fun with it.

[Sam Yerardi]

I play rock and solo jazz & Chet Atkins fingerstyle. Before I start, let it be known I love Hendrix, Satriani, Clapton, Eric Johnson, etc. and this all just MHO . When I arrange a solo, aside from the theory (which I firmly believe in and use daily), I try to think of the solo as a speech. What am I going to say? Will it support the conversation and mood that's going on in the rest of the song? Does it take the music in a direction to where I can't find a way back? I think a lot of guitarists (begninning or otherwise) sometimes focus WAY too much on theory (a lot will disagree with me, I know). It tends to make things a bit sterile - the feeling and emotion tend to take a back seat to the demonstration of blazingly fast arpeggios or blinding scales. They all have there place, but more often than not I think the best solos are the simplest. The theory should give you the tools - not the feeling or the direction you playing takes you. I do woodworking and build furniture by hand. I do it for the sake of building the furniture but not for the sake of using a handsaw. I'm an old rocker (53) and Clapton was one of my heroes. Still is. If you go back and listen to the song Sunshine of Your Love, listen to his solo. It is tasteful, technically good and simple. It's also the theme to Blue Moon. He played it as a joke and it became a trademark solo. But it fits the song perfectly. I guess that's why I'm not a real big fan of shreader guitar or metal. They're great guitarists and wonderful technique but a lot of it is over the top. It's like there has been a speaker up in front of a crowd speaking eloquently about something. Then the shreader comes up and starts talking in hyper speed language about some topic completely unrelated to what's been going on. It's impressive, yes, but was it a good solo? Maybe. Maybe not. Think of the melody and how the solo supports it.

[metal4Christ]

I know this is a very late addition to a very elaborate thread with which nearly all of what I've read I'm very agreeing to so I won't repeat what many people have mentioned both theoretically and practically.


Rather I will add something from a general developing musician's point of view:

Know your instrument and your theory inside and out -know it to a point where there is NO GUESS WORK on the fretboard -once that is the case start discovering yourself in the instrument. When you hear Robbin Ford you know immediately who you're hearing -likewise with Vai Satch, Petrucci Gary Moore, Brett Garsed and many other musicans (of course as Christians though our focus is different).

Once you establish that connection you will be able to express whats going on in your heart at that moment towards God -that way there is a communication of worship which goes beyond (but certainly does not forego) theory and technique. It's kind of like talking to God with your guitar -I believe to some degree you can do that at any level of playing to your capacity. But if I was to put it down to one word it'd be EXPRESSION -and to express is convey something within -in other play from your heart not your head -at the end of the day that's where it comes from and that's where it goes (and other people's hearts).

Cheers.

[metal4Christ]

whoops -correction:

-in other WORDS play from your heart not your head -at the end of the day that's where it comes from and that's where it goes (and other people's hearts).

Cheers.

[guitarhero5150]

Start by learning the 5 Major Box Pentatonics scales and learn where to put the two missing notes (the 4th and the 7th). The Minor scales are indentical to these; the only difference is where people place the root note. Learn how to bend, slide, and vibrato. Then just play over your favorite song using the notes in the scales. Don't try to cram in as many notes into a space as humanly possible: unless you're really good at it, that rarely sounds even halfway listenable. Instead go for maximum expression. I think the number one problem with lead players is that they get way too technical. True, theory helps up to a point, but most great guitar solos were written by somebody who could probably have cared less what the name of the note was that he was playing. Only 1% of soloing is theory, the other 99% is pure feeling. Play on by what you hear and you'll be alot happier with the results.

[CheshireCat]

Originally Posted by guitarhero5150

Start by learning the 5 Major Box Pentatonics scales and learn where to put the two missing notes (the 4th and the 7th). The Minor scales are indentical to these; the only difference is where people place the root note. Learn how to bend, slide, and vibrato. Then just play over your favorite song using the notes in the scales. Don't try to cram in as many notes into a space as humanly possible: unless you're really good at it, that rarely sounds even halfway listenable. Instead go for maximum expression. I think the number one problem with lead players is that they get way too technical. True, theory helps up to a point, but most great guitar solos were written by somebody who could probably have cared less what the name of the note was that he was playing. Only 1% of soloing is theory, the other 99% is pure feeling. Play on by what you hear and you'll be alot happier with the results.

Various reiterations of the melody work well as well.

[mstahlmann]

I am really late on this thread. Here is my two cents. I take the 5 pentatonic box patterns and the seven modal scale patterns and drill them over and over until they are second nature. Once memorized I start to drill them in different keys. At that point a pretty good knowledge of the fretboard is unlocked. This allows you to be in key anywhere in any position. You can do acsending and descending runs lateral and horizontal passages create tension and resolve or just noodle around in blues box patterns. I don't suggest being a slave to theory but the more you know the easier it becomes to let loose and improvise.

[Timothew]

Well, I'm unsure of when to use the minor pentatonic and when to use the major.

Tim

[HairyScaryMark]

The thing I've discovered this year is with any amount of theory, guidelines, analogies, philosophies or descriptions - there is no approach to soloing that works every single time in every single piece of music (for me anyway).

The nearest to this is to play melody but there is a lot more happening than melody in a really good solo. It will contain contrasting textures be rhythmic interesting and some notes will inevitably be more distinctive than others.

Don't be too concerned with learning 'everything'. Not all at once anyway. You need time to integrate it into your playing and into you as a musician. Focus on one or two things at a time and build it up gradually. Also, make sure to re-visit things you've done a while a go or else you may find yourself losing things previously were able to do well.

[iAmAPeanut]

Dude, thanks to all you awesome people who know infinitely more about scales and stuff than I do! I know next to nothing about this stuff. I know the basic major scale and pentatonic....but I don't really know much about them.

So, about all these chromatic and lydian and dorian and blablabla scales...I understand what notes are in them, but how might one finger the scales on the fretboard? Like, the only scales I know, I know how to go through the notes from E string to E string in a span of 3 or 4 frets. That's all I know....I need help

Oh, and someone mentioned the fact that a good solo is one that you can whistle back, not necessarily an impressive one. I'm thinking "God of Wonders" by City on a Hill.