OOT's Guitar Players

[surfinillini]

Quest for OOT's guitar players..

I've been playing for about 3-4 years and am seriously stuck in at the intermediate levels...

I really want to take solo-ing to the next level, is there anyway to do this without taking lessons or is this possible to self-teach like I have been the whole way so far.

[Mitch Evans]

If you don't want to take lessons (and even if you do), the best thing you can do is transcribe solos. Learn all of your basic scales in every key and transcribe solos from your favorite players. In addition to helping improve your vocabulary, it will improve your ears and help with your improvising skills down the road.

[surfinillini]

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If you don't want to take lessons (and even if you do), the best thing you can do is transcribe solos. Learn all of your basic scales in every key and transcribe solos from your favorite players. In addition to helping improve your vocabulary, it will improve your ears and help with your improvising skill down the road.

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and what about finger speed...does this just come with time...

[namknils]

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If you don't want to take lessons (and even if you do), the best thing you can do is transcribe solos. Learn all of your basic scales in every key and transcribe solos from your favorite players. In addition to helping improve your vocabulary, it will improve your ears and help with your improvising skill down the road.

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and what about finger speed...does this just come with time...

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Mitch has got some great advice right there.

As for finger speed, just practice your sacles. Keep going up and down the scales, there are also ways to go three notes up back one, three up back one, etc. It's really hard to explain in words.

P.S. I am by no means a great (or even good anymore) guitar player. I just used to play in a band back in the day.

[acoustix]

Finger speed will come with time for the most part. There are excercises you can do to help it along though.

Pick a fret on your high E string (we'll say the fifth fret)
Hold your index finger on that note
Strike the string once and hammer one half step up (the 6th fret) over and over as fast as you can with your middle finger until the sound dies out.
Then strike string again and hammer a whole step up (7th fret) with your ring finger over and over again until the sound dies.
Do it again on the the 8th fret with your pinky
Then repeat the same process on the B string, then your G, D....

Note that all the while you are holding the note on the 5th fret on each string.

This will improve speed, strength, and overall dexterity.

[kidcolin]

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and what about finger speed...does this just come with time...

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No, once you listen to some sweet solos your fingers just get really fast!

Sorry, but this should be obvious. Get a scale book, play them a million times. Try to speed it up as you improve.

[Mi_T_Sharp]

Buy a loop station. Play a riff or chord structure. Solo over top of it when no one else is around.

The only way to learn how to solo is to just do it. This is true for all instruments. I learned this in HS Jazz band. No one had any clue how to solo, so our teacher just made people do it on command. First, only try to play basic things like whole notes/half notes. Then, add more as you get comfortable.

Most of the greatest soloists have absolutely no idea what they are doing (or at least aren't thinking about what the are technically doing while soloing). Some know all of their scales. Others don't know any scales. IMO, the best soloists are the people who can "feel" their way through it, without thinking about what they are doing. The best way to get there is to just DO IT! Knowing the scales and all of the technicalities is very helpful, but I know plenty of people who know all that stuff in and out and can't solo for @#%&!

[buriedbeds]

You can practice, all the time. Carry the guitar around with you.

Lesson-phobia is dumb, though. I usually take a few lessons every couple of years when I feel stilted. I've played for 18 years and would be considered by many to be good. I'm certainly pretty fast. I recognize that guitar (and music) is not a solo practice and getting insights from people you respect in person is far more useful than, say, asking strangers on a poker board who have no idea what your specific problems are.

The most basic finger exercise I'll do is to go down 4321 then shift up one fret and go 1234 and then go up one fret and go down 4321. (pinky=4, pointer=1). I generally go up to about the 15th fret. Then I come back down (4321 down 1234 down 4321). I do this as fast as I can *cleanly*. CLEANLY is very important. I then do it on the next string, and then the next, etc, all the way through. I pick it using all up strokes going through once, then alternating up and down strokes, then all down strokes. This will improve your speed.

Also, pick up some odd chords you can't hit now. Stretching your hands will help your overall speed.

This is the best I can illustrate that finger exercise in this forum.

fret
finger

4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 5 4 3 4 5 6 7 8 7 6 5
4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1

etc.

-bb.

[buriedbeds]

Oh, and the best way to get to be a good (not just fast) soloist is to be a music fan, and listen to music all the time. I made my biggest leaps and bounds by being a teenage loser and sitting in front of the computer in middle school with music playing and playing along/on top of it for literally hours at a time. Led Zeppelin is excellent for this purpose, as it's blues-based, stays in 1 key and, well, it's zeppelin.

It's the one upside of being a teenage loser...while other people were being popular and having fun, I was getting good at guitar, reading books and the like. Stuff that pays off in the end because you end up being well-versed in a lot of topics and pick up a skill that a lot of people envy, but at the time you just do it to get by. It is AMAZING how being good at an instrument (particularly guitar) will get you interest from people (girls in particular, but also the "popular kids") who would NEVER, EVER talk to you otherwise. It kind of rules, actually.

-bb.

[turnipmonster]

there's an excellent analogy metheny made about practicing scales and finger exercises. basically, practicing scales to improve your soloing is like polishing your water faucet and thinking it will make the water taste better.

when you're soloing, you're creating melodies as you go along. the way to learn to make stronger melodies is to learn to play strong melodies (hopefully by ear) and start to identify (in your own way) what makes them strong.