What makes a good guitar solo?

[Toneseeker]

Spin off from the Rate Yourself Thread. Some good advice there on soloing. Maybe we can all benefit from some more ideas/opinions.

[elicross]

In addition to the obvious melodic considerations, there's also p...a...c...ing!

[Gravity Jim]

IMO, three qualities that seem to run through all my faves:

"Musicality," a singing, melodic quality that makes the solo easy to recall. A solo that builds on its own ideas, growing from a definite starting point to a musical conclusion. Larry C's "Kid Charlemange," as dazzling as it technically, can just about be sung... and I know you can hear it note for note in your head right now. That's what I'm talking about.

A balance between the expected and the surprising. A solo that is completely expected is boring, one that's completely surprising can be hard to listen to. The way Larry Carlton and Oscar Peterson blend expected blues licks with surprising outside concepts (while making it look effortless) is what I'm driving at.

Phrasing; the highly-personal way a guitarist slurs into notes (or doesn't), bends into a vibrato, whatever he uses to make notes come alive. Clapton is the master of this... he plays the simplest stuff in the world and just makes it roar using nothing but exquisite timing. (His singing is exactly like his playing in this regard.)

Thing is, there's no one best way to achieve any of this. When I think of the solos that radically affected my playing, they're all kind of quirky... it just sounds like nobody but that player could have done it. "Black Magic Woman." "Reelin' In The Years." "Doctor My Eyes." All kind of weird, I guess, but all them musical, balanced, expertly phrased.

[elicross]

... and I know you can hear it note for note in your head right now. That's what I'm talking about.

That's true. I didn't even have to try to recall it. As soon as I saw "solo" and "Kid Charlemagne," I heard the opening notes.

You might call these qualities "narrative." A definite beginning, some surprises along the way, and a conclusion that grows from those things...in that sense, a great solo is like a great story.

(Note well: In discussing what makes a great solo, I in no way imply that I've ever played a great solo. Maybe I have, maybe not. I'm the worst possible judge of that. But I've heard a lot of great solos, and I know what I like. )

[Toneseeker]

What a wonderful description Jim.

[elicross]

+1. Good to have him back.

[clayville]

I think "shapeliness" or the "arc" of the solo from beginning to end -- Jim's Musicality -- is the key. It's what I always listen for, what impresses me most... and what I wish I could do better. All his points are important elements of creating the whole, but for me the ones that always stand out aren't necessarily the most technically dazzling or wildly inventive (though many of the truly "great" ones are), they're the ones that transport you somewhere... the ones that have a beginning, a middle and an end, a story no matter how long or short they are... whether they use only a 5 note scale or all 12.

edit: I see that elicross says similar things now...

[Gravity Jim]

Yeah, that's exactly the quality I'm fumbling for the light switch on... the "story" of the solo. I mean, the "Doctor My Eyes" solo has haunted me since I heard it through a mono dashboard speaker in my Mom's car, and it's nothing but a major pentatonic box scale. But the crazy phrasing, the surprises, the gritty texture of it... it's just about sublime.

And you know, something about how many pop songs leave room for solos brings up another point. If the guitar is telling a story in the main solo, the one that gets played between verses two and three... then when it comes back for the fade, the great solos, like "Kid Charlemange" and "Doctor My Eyes," seem to be coming back with an expansion of the same musical ideas but with a great sense of urgency, as if the guitar is saying, "Oh, wait a minute, there's just one more thing..."

[hudpucker]

Ain't no formula, IMO.


It's all subjective. I like melodic, I like mellow, I like frenzied, I like atonal, I like sparse, I like dense...etc.

[clayville]

Hijack Alert:

.. the "Doctor My Eyes" solo has haunted me since I heard it through a mono dashboard speaker in my Mom's car...

Sheesh... how is that I have I never heard of Jesse Ed Davis (who apparently played that solo) until just now?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Ed_Davis

[Gravity Jim]

What I want to know is how I never knew that Jesse Ed and I were of the same tribe??!?

I knew he was Native American, but didn't know until today that he was largely Kiowa, the tribe that begat my maternal great- great-great-grandmother. It's true, that only leaves me with about 1/32 of Kiowa in my veins: if I get a nosebleed, I'm out of the tribe.

Hudpucker, I agree... but I think there are qualities that make a great solo that transcend stylistic things like whether it's loud or quiet, mellow or frenzied, sparse or dense.

[hudpucker]

I can dig that, Jim.

[thegeezer]

The day I can constantly play a great melodic solo in every one I do, I will be reaching for more cash or quit.

[Toneseeker]

Jim..Doctor my eyes?? Is that the Jackson Browne song or Jackson 5???

[NeoFauve]

I think "shapeliness" or the "arc" of the solo from beginning to end -- Jim's Musicality -- is the key. It's what I always listen for, what impresses me most... and what I wish I could do better.

All good descriptions above.
I'll add that I really don't listen for it, it comes and gets me. There was a phase when all that counted for me was really guitarcentric rock music. I liked being bashed over the head with it.
I grew out of that. But still, that sense of being seized is out there in all genres, and when I hear it it excites me.

Like Jim, I still remember the first solos that made me go, "What IS that?" well before I'd touched a guitar.
I can play both of them now. The relative ease hasn't lestened them at all. And hearing them still tickles me to no end. Especially when heard by chance on the radio. That's some kind of magic feeling.

Jim Hall is said to keep a note card with the reminder to "Make musical sense," in his case. There's all kinds of ways to learn existing solos, but it's a neat trick to come up with your own.
Listening is the main requirement.

[NeoFauve]

Jim..Doctor my eyes?? Is that the Jackson Browne song or Jackson 5???

He's talking about Jackson Browne's original version.

I had no idea the J5 covered it. I may have to hear that.

[Gravity Jim]

Toneseeker, the Jackson Browne record.

thegeezer... "even Cathy Berberian knows there's one roulade she can't sing." I mean, nobody is so good they play a "great" improvised solo every time.

[Gravity Jim]

Jim Hall is said to keep a note card with the reminder to "Make musical sense," in his case.
Listening is the main requirement.

Jim Hall is my hero for that very reason.

[grandturk]

I prefer solos that either "rip your face off" or have some other "face melting" quality to it.


lol


Melody is important, dynamics - take the song along its natural progression - I prefer up, not continuing at an even keel.

[Kap'n]

I had no idea the J5 covered it. I may have to hear that.

That would be awesome, wouldn't it?

The solo is great, but the thing I always think of in that sound is the playing in the chorus. The bass part - even though it's just a straight by the book walking line, just grooves so well with the drums.

[NeoFauve]

As a public service, not that you guys are merely the public, I submit what one one Youtube commenter referred to as "the brown jacksons" rendition of Jackson Browne's, "Doctor My Eyes."
It's very similar to JB's.
Young Michael is excellent on it. Some of the other touches, eh.

[Toneseeker]

What does it for me is Tony Peluso's fantastic solo in The Carpenters Goodbye to Love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nooeM...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtIFareoUog

[Gravity Jim]

The solo is great, but the thing I always think of in that sound is the playing in the chorus. The bass part - even though it's just a straight by the book walking line, just grooves so well with the drums.

That whole record... I tell ya, the moment that gives me chills every time I hear it is when the whole band hits that low "E" after the second chorus. Damn! The band turns into one big instrument, a mellotron from Mars, the piper at the gates of dawn.

Neo, that Jackson Five version was so alien, i had to stop listening after one chorus.

[clayville]

so alien, i had to stop listening after one chorus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhjOfp42uEA


AHHH!!! MY EYES!! (AND EARS!)

[NeoFauve]

Neo, that Jackson Five version was so alien, i had to stop listening after one chorus.

I hear ya'.
Aesthetically, MJ was a great little singer, but I have trouble believing one word he sings. Especially on this song, which I'm just too well acquanted with to buy it coming from an 11 or 12 year old, pitched as 3 years younger for enhanced wow factor.
And I don't buy that "old soul" bunk either.

[cwilliamrose]

What does it for me is Tony Peluso's fantastic solo in The Carpenters Goodbye to Love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtIFareoUog

And the lava lamp is a nice touch........

[refin]

A good solo?To me,you become a slave to the song,and don't hijack it for your own show.
That's why the "Doctor My Eyes" part was mixed so hot.It was perfect.
Another example---"Diamond Girl" (Seals and Croft)---Louis Shelton's parts are great.
My favorite----"Something". Harrison wove a masterpiece there.

[elicross]

Jim..Doctor my eyes?? Is that the Jackson Browne song or Jackson 5???

You're thinking of the Michael Jackson song, "Doctor My Nose." Understandable mistake.

[NeoFauve]

You're thinking of the Michael Jackson song, "Doctor My Nose." Understandable mistake.

You have to careful using a pick on that tune.

[jeru]

You're thinking of the Michael Jackson song, "Doctor My Nose." Understandable mistake.

You have to careful using a pick on that tune.

I think somebody used a pickaxe on MJ somewhere along the line.

(Sorry poster for furthering the hijack)

[Franklin]

All solos are different. Most should serve the song, but that doesn't mean playing the melody. Be melodic, always think of the phrasing of your notes (pick attack, tension, release, spacing, vibrato, dynamics, etc) and be original/unique or have your style.

The ones I like best are built like sex. They start off mellow, build in intensity and then a bar or so is the end of the climax back to the tune, then you smoke a cigarette... :)