Melodic practice

[Alpine86]

Hi All,

Here is something I have been sort of struggling with lately. I am trying to figure out a way to work into my practices more.. melodic.. practice.

What I mean is, lately I have been working alot of technique and scales and thigns of that nature, and I really think I have lost some of the.. melody.. for lack of a better way to put it. Lately everything is sounding too mechanical and predictable, and I think most would agree, a memorable solo is one with more of a lyrical melodic quality..s omething you could sing..

Anyone ever run into this? Any tips? Help me get my mojo back!!

Alpine

[Los7]

i'm not sure i can help you, but i know what you mean. I often turn into a guitar when i'm driving along in my car, especially when i'm listening to blues. I sort of lose myself and sort of hum a solo of my own over the top. And its somthing i dont think about when i'm doing it. Its coming from within, that i'm not conscious about, which is what i also think is important when it comes to soloing. I love it when i play a solo on a song and i'm not thinking about what i'm doing or where my fingers are going......they just go there, and it sounds so cool.....to me anyway (my mum hates it, lol) i call it "the zone" where you do things subconsciously, in anything you do.
seems to me, these days, when i have my electric guitar on, i dont really play melodic stuff, mainly single notes with a few chords here and there. When i have my acoustic, i play mainly chords with little fills.

[The Nazz Are Blue]

I've run into this. I go in and out of that type of thing, where I don't like what I play and then I do and then I don't. Since the mechanical, predictable playing is exactly the opposite of what I like to hear and play, it gets pretty frustrating. I'm not so sure how I get out of it. I suppose I'd stop practicing scales for a bit and just listen to a bunch of songs by people who you find inspiring. Just listening helps a lot, I find.
I find it also helps to make up solos in your head when there's no guitar around. Just see if you can come up with something you like, and if you do it a bit you'll be able to do the same when you're playing and hopefully play those cool things you think of at the time instead of the predictable phrases your fingers have memorised.

I hope some of that might help. Its just what I think works for me.

[Tele-Bob]

One very important thing to remember is that playing a melodic solo is as much your responsibility as it is the band's.

One of my big gripes is that the band usually treats a guitar solo spot like it's a big volume spot for everyone! And nothing will send you running for the "power riffs" faster that!

The band needs to realize that a solo spot requires the same dynamics as a volcal spot to allow the soloist some creative headroom. When they don't, as is usually the case, they leave you struggling just to cut through and take all your creative headroom from you. This forces you to come out of the gate on "10" and of course that leaves you nowhere to go but down as you desperately try to assert your position in that section. Then of course, the solo is coming from the wrong place entirely.

Seriously. Ask your bandmates to drop the volume for your solo sections and I think you will be amazed at the stuff you start playing without any additional practice or adjustments in the fundimentals of your playing.

I could be dead wrong about this, but that's what happens to me all the time.

[Offshore Angler]

Sing it and play along.

[JAM]

One very important thing to remember is that playing a melodic solo is as much your responsibility as it is the band's.

One of my big gripes is that the band usually treats a guitar solo spot like it's a big volume spot for everyone! And nothing will send you running for the "power riffs" faster that!

The band needs to realize that a solo spot requires the same dynamics as a volcal spot to allow the soloist some creative headroom. When they don't, as is usually the case, they leave you struggling just to cut through and take all your creative headroom from you. This forces you to come out of the gate on "10" and of course that leaves you nowhere to go but down as you desperately try to assert your position in that section. Then of course, the solo is coming from the wrong place entirely.

Seriously. Ask your bandmates to drop the volume for your solo sections and I think you will be amazed at the stuff you start playing without any additional practice or adjustments in the fundimentals of your playing.

I could be dead wrong about this, but that's what happens to me all the time.

Good point. Good bands do support the soloist. Some bands seem to think it's time for everybody to solo and then you feel like your fighting for your 'spot'. It's a great feeling when the band members really listen well to what the solist is doing and can build dynamics accordingly.

[cooltone]

I've heard advice on this matter before. One, is that a good guitar solo will compliment your vocal melody. If you are composing a solo for a tune that has a vocal melody in it already, this can be easy. If you are simply trying to create a melodic lead line over a chord progression, try singing your solo (as OSA mentioned above) first. Approach it as a sax or harp player might approach it.

Record the chord progressions that you are practicing with so that you have a backing track to play along to.

The best way for me to compose melodic lead lines is to come up with harmonies on guitar. It forces me to slow down and imagine what the harmony line will be for each lead line. (Listen to how the Allman Bros. harmonize with one another..very melodic.)

[Alpine86]

Thanks everyone for some great advice.. T-B.. I hear ya with the whole volume issue.. it seems I have been fightin that battle forever.. strange.. everyone usually accuses the lead player of being too loud.. but if it one thing I learned early on.. is practice at a reasonable volume..

and I have been tryin like heck to sing some decent solo lines.. i really thing the biggest problem is that I have spent a good month now just playing different scales and drills.. all mechanics and nothing.. from the heart.. for lack of a better term.. I thought I would take a bit to try to improve my technical ability to help facilitate the whole.. what I hear in my head and translate it to my fingers.. strangely enough though.. now my fingers just spit out scales and drill.. I think I am going to try to just sit down and learn some solos and licks.. focus on that and see what it gets me.. I kow everyone goes through ruts like this.. its just soooo frustrating..

[Tele-Bob]

Have you tried closing your eyes when you solo? It takes the familiarity of looking at what you're playing, out of the equation. It takes the solo out of the visual realm and puts it back in the sonic realm.

It seems that you need to work on tapping the part of you that is responsible for your soloing inspiration and getting that to come forward. "Summon up the mojo" so to speak. I am at a similar place as you describe above right now and I just can't "rehearse" my way out of it. Closing my eyes during a solo helps alot.

[Offshore Angler]

Another way to get out of the scales trap is to find some stuff you like, and learn it note for note. There are lots of free slow-down programs out there that allow you to play at half speed with the pitch unaltered.

I don't say this meaning you need to play every solo note for note ( well, on some songs you should, but that will start another argument so let's leave it alone for this thread) but what this will do is teach you how to listen and play by ear. Once you've mastered being able to play what you hear, you can start to play what's in your head.

This will move you from playing mechanical scales and licks that you've programmed into your fingers to playing melodies.

The problem that arises with only doing scales is that you don't explore intervals or rythym. This is the main issue, IMHO. When you play scales, you get into a mode that to get from C to A , you go via D,E,F,G - or whatever the scale is. And since the notes are all connected and played in order, the music is boring and uninteresting. Now if you, on the other hand, jump around in the intervals the music will be angular and interesting. Now, add rythym to the phrases and it's musical.

Using scales in composition is actually a trick to bring a phrase to a close. If you listen to country or carribean flavored music you'll often hear the 5 scale played at the end of a progression to resolve to the 1. It works great. But if you play it over the 1 chord it sounds like warmup excercises and not music.

Or, instead of playing connected notes, play arpeggios which leave out tones and only play the notes that describe the chord. Play the 1,3, and 5 tones, and then use the 7 to spice it. That's a real easy and intuitive way to play intervals instead of straight scales. Some great melodic songs have been recorded by working with the arpeggios, like Color My World.

Again, everyone will have a different opinion, but to me, really great composers use the 7th degree with skill, where weaker ones use it as a leading tone to the root. It's almost as annoying as the hackneyed flatted 3rd!

There is a common school of thought with guitar players that learning solos note for note is pedestrian and that it somehow implies a lack of skill(s). I maintain it is an important skill in itself. It develops your ear and teaches you phrasing and composition. It makes you do more than "slow blues in A" and use your head to know the fretboard. If you study music at a conseratory, they'll make you play lot's of solos note for note. And if you audition for Julliard, you'll be playing note for note, so apparently the pros think there is value in it too.

Then, there's our biggest problem as players - our egos. Unless you're some sort of prodigy, you need to learn the elements of composition. There are two ways to go. First is to just wank for years and inadvertantly stumble on what works, or much quicker but unfortuately much more work, is to learn the works of others and integrate the knowledge and then apply it.

Either is perfectly fine. If you're the sort of person who just plain enjoys picking up a guitar and playing it there is absolutely nothing wrong with this approach. As long as you enjoy it is all that matters. If you're a goal oriented player then you need a structured game plan so that the "Eurika!" moments come at fairly frequent intervals so that you don't lose interest.

But my humble suggestion is to learn some songs note for note. Not "close enoug" or "that sounds like it" but actually spend one week on a single song dissecting the fretboard positions, the rythym, ghost notes, etc. DO NOT USE TAB. Use your ears. That's the secret and the moral of this whole manifesto.

[Alpine86]

As Ive been trying to work through alot of this, I have started to come to the realization that I think I am "thinking" about it too much, and therefore losing the feel. Playing from the head instead of the heart. Sometimes I think I am my own worst enemy when it comes to this sort of thing. i was trained as a classical pianist so I have a solid theory background, and I think that alot of times is what translates over into the over thinking thing.

And closin my eyes isnt a bad idea. For the longest time I was really bad about always watching my fingers, not so much that I needed to, but because I just didnt have anyplace to look. Once I started gigging steadily, I broke myself of the habit, but lately I have fallen back into it again since I am not gigging as much these days. Ill have to try that as well.

[agalamba]

You can start a contest in your band to see who is able to improvise using the least notes possible!!! But seriously, when you are playing, try to play the least notes you can, but really mean every note you do eventually play. Use vibrato, long notes, slow bends, long silences, and playing will become a lot more fun!