KVR Audio

maarkr · Post by **maarkr** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 1:03 pm

i put off reading music and have a large library of pop/rock songs in Songbook, similar to fake books, and play piano for rock songs with our group.
How do you come up with interesting solo parts for songs with just 2 or 3 recurring chords? We play one song that has 2 bars in Am then 2 bars in G (song is in key of D). Another uses C and F. Then other easy songs use ie 3 chords... D, C, G, D. I've collected these tips online:

-I usually improvise to include something like the melody, parts of the melody, harmony or an accompaniment.
-You can try different inversions of the chords straight and as an arpeggio.
-Try the blues or pentatonic scale in single notes and intervals.
-Play just the root of the chord with your left hand in the bass (octave if you're feeling fancy) and with the right hand play C and G (root and 5th). Play the bass note on every crotchet beat and with the right, try different patterns, quavers, semi quavers, ties, syncopation etc.
- Try a five-tone voicing that includes the root, 3rd, fifth, 7th and melody tone on top.

It's just difficult for me to mentally juggle the blues notes for one chord for 2 bars, then another chord for 2 bars. What is your mental process for playing a solo along changing chords?

Is this just something you learn from experience and practicing variations until you come across a somewhat consistent solo routine? Am I just hoping to play beyond my capabilities? Some of the routines that I come up with sound good, but I'm just hoping for other tips and ideas to build solo parts over simple chord progressions so I don't hit bad notes and sound like a hack.

robogone · Post by **robogone** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 1:09 pm

I think there are two things that help:

1. Learn a lot of set pieces, a bar, less than a bar, trills, triplets - anything that sounds interesting - just pick up interesting pieces of solos from anything you listen to

2. Figure out how you can link all the various pieces that you know, what works together, what doesn't work together, etc.

3. Practice. A LOT.

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Wed Jul 16, 2014 1:23 pm

not too interested in the bolted on, made-to-fit, 'box o' tricks' approach to soloing (sorry robojam). i would rather hear something melodic derived from the given chords. however, i often find myself boxed in by my own limits as soon as i touch a keyboard or a fretboard. for that reason, i tend to sing/hum melodies over the chords.

whack the backing track on an mp3 player, grab the dogs, and go for a walk. imagine that the section were to be sung, with lyrics (this helps with phrasing ideas also). it won't end up with words, but you can still end up with very lyrical passages

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Wed Jul 16, 2014 1:29 pm

that isn't to say that you shouldn't use various tried and tested performance techniques, afforded to you by your chosen instrument. however, for me, they should be used to embellish an already strong musical section. otherwise you can end up with soul-less displays of virtuoso

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 7:54 pm

maarkr wrote:It's just difficult for me to mentally juggle the blues notes for one chord for 2 bars, then another chord for 2 bars. What is your mental process for playing a solo along changing chords?

What is the function and relative weight of the chord to the overall climate?

Your chords are I, bVII, IV, I. I don't see anything just through that that would lead me outside of key. I like doing more with less, or economy of means. So you have a couple of things here, C and G with D as home. I think interest accrues with tension and release. So, what's tense over the C chord? F#? You could find significance sustaining that one and then releasing it. I think there is a lot to work with in key here without resort to being cute. It isn't a jazzer's kind of chord progression, I'm not seeing 'blues scale' on C, either.

My general advice is get away from reading and do the damn thing. Get ahold of the solos that wow you and transcribe them and make observations about what is working there.

maarkr · Post by **maarkr** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 1:52 am

FWIW, the songs are Feelin Alright (Am, G), You Can't Always Get What u Want (C,F), and the 3 chord song is Can't u See. These are simple examples but just trying to learn to solo over 2 or 3 chord songs.

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 3:32 am

With the exception of blues third vs the major third (of the tonic chord, Can't You See's F# in the melody for instance) I don't think there is much to be gained getting away from key such as 'blues scale on the next chord'.
What does the vocal melody consist of? Can you ornament or further decorate that? Lead guitar needs to be melodic. There are idiomatic things or cliches people do to make really simple conceptions seem happening.

I started out melodically with blues/rock guitar. I didn't have much theory on my mind, but I was aware of what notes are in a chord. I transcribed as much of Abbey Road, the leads, the second guitar, the bass parts, the keyboard parts etc as I could stand. My friend up the street knew the solo for Cream's Badge and I watched him and went home to get what I could without his help.

I don't think verbalizing it is as good as just doing it, find out what your heroes are specifically doing and copy the solos, make notes as to why you think that works like it does, and eventually get your own ways together. There didn't use to be a lot of internet tips and tricks getting in our way.

Need tips on soloing with 2-3 chord progressions