GT Solo Assignment - May 2008

From what I can tell you are playing in the C# pentatonic minor shape but you're not using any other scales. May be you could explore the E Major scale a little more, and other modes of the E Major key. Also.. try to make use of the underlying chords.. when the backing track goes down in pitch, may be you could follow it down.. or go against it and go up.

Another thing to remember is that you can skip notes in a scale.. that is how the pentatonic minor shape is formed. It takes the C#minor scale and misses two of the notes along the way making it only 5 notes (or tones).. hence penta meaning 5 and tonic meaning (loosely) tone. 5-tone scale.

One of my signature licks, in related to this key, goes like this:


|-------------------|
|--------12--10--9--|
|-----9-------------|
|--9----------------|
|-------------------|
|-------------------|


It's something I came up with once in another piece of music that has stuck with me and has become part of my signature style. So you just have to fiddle around and find little things like that.

thanks Light, always good advice from you. I tried to conciously use notes from the Phrygian scale, but in the end I said screw it and just played what came to me .....
Maybe thats where im going wrong..staying with a scale in the same key as the song..how do you know to use an Emajor with a song in the key of C#m? I think i'll probably regret asking the question.. :eek:

Originally Posted by: mpaqOK, here's mine. Not exactly what i envisioned, but i think the main idea comes across. Im open to any suggestions as to how I could better break this up to avoid the predictable run on.....

Mpaq May 08 attempt

Still trying to get mine finished up so I will be able to listen to others. I am hoping with my work schedule to have it done in about a week. I think that on some of these longer backing tracks there is going to be a little bit of redundancy in the solo just because its so long. This exercise is always called a Solo assignment but really I think it is more of a Lead Guitar Assignment because its hard to play a solo for over 2 minutes straight. So what we are really doing is taking on the role of Lead Guitar which would give us the job of doing the solos in the song. But I do not think its out of place to have some kind of a chorus in there that you go back to between your solo sections. Heck maybe I am making to much of it. But if you think of it that way you might have any easier time with it.

C# minor is the relative minor key of E Major. Just as E Major is the relative Major key of C# minor. If you looked at the musical staff of this backing track it would actually have the key signature of E Major but because I start on C# minor and all the rest of the chords are centred around the C# minor, it is more correct to say C# minor.

Originally Posted by: FingerSpasmStill trying to get mine finished up so I will be able to listen to others. I am hoping with my work schedule to have it done in about a week. I think that on some of these longer backing tracks there is going to be a little bit of redundancy in the solo just because its so long. This exercise is always called a Solo assignment but really I think it is more of a Lead Guitar Assignment because its hard to play a solo for over 2 minutes straight. So what we are really doing is taking on the role of Lead Guitar which would give us the job of doing the solos in the song. But I do not think its out of place to have some kind of a chorus in there that you go back to between your solo sections. Heck maybe I am making to much of it. But if you think of it that way you might have any easier time with it.

Yeh basically.. having a 2.5 minute track means you can do exactly that.. come up with something a little more than a quick 30 second solo. Having 2 to 3 minutes means that you can actually include a motif or two, rather than a couple of scale runs. A motif can be used to set the rest of the solo apart.. it's something you keep coming back to. Also a 2 to 3 minute track means you can fiddle around with different effects within the same solo.. may be start off with a clean sound and end up with a wild distorted sound etc

Originally Posted by: light487Yeh basically.. having a 2.5 minute track means you can do exactly that.. come up with something a little more than a quick 30 second solo. Having 2 to 3 minutes means that you can actually include a motif or two, rather than a couple of scale runs. A motif can be used to set the rest of the solo apart.. it's something you keep coming back to. Also a 2 to 3 minute track means you can fiddle around with different effects within the same solo.. may be start off with a clean sound and end up with a wild distorted sound etc

I am in favor of the longer tracks. Since we have roughly 3 to 4 weeks to put it together its nice to have something you can really work with. I am having lots of fun with this track. :)

I am also having a lot of fun with this one.. I just came up with another thing to do while playing it.. That's why I am not satisfied with a single play through.. My mind and imagination needs time to get used to the style and bring out the best in myself. I definitely have the same theme as before, it just feels more complete with the extra "tricks" in it now.. Now it's time for me to start formalising the solo so that it's not just a collection of scale runs and "tricks".

Here is my entry. There are a few flaws but overall I am pretty happy with it. Its a different sound for me. I think I will be using this kind of sound a little more in the future.
GT Solo May

Great sound there Finger.. though it did get a repetitious at times.. May be throw something else in to spice it up a bit? I dunno.. if you're happy with it, that's all that matters.. I was just hoping to here you go off in another direction when I heard that bend just past the halfway mark.

I've started to work on the next month's backing track.. this time it is heavy metal theme.. so I'm sure that most of you will be grateful for that.. it's really heavy sounding.. I love it.. It's not my usual style but I used to fiddle around with this little track years ago.. It's a great one for playing Lydian mode so it has a sexy Egyptian feel to it.. :)

Still working on my own submission for this month of course.. Just thought I'd give a hint as to what is coming next month.

Originally Posted by: light487Great sound there Finger.. though it did get a repetitious at times.. May be throw something else in to spice it up a bit? I dunno.. if you're happy with it, that's all that matters.. I was just hoping to here you go off in another direction when I heard that bend just past the halfway mark.

I've started to work on the next month's backing track.. this time it is heavy metal theme.. so I'm sure that most of you will be grateful for that.. it's really heavy sounding.. I love it.. It's not my usual style but I used to fiddle around with this little track years ago.. It's a great one for playing Lydian mode so it has a sexy Egyptian feel to it.. :)

Still working on my own submission for this month of course.. Just thought I'd give a hint as to what is coming next month.

Thanks for the feedback Light. I made myself stay with that same tone throughout on purpose and I think the repetition might be from my going back to one particular melody line and then bouncing off of that... Probably not a very good way to explaining it. I have had a habit of using lots of distortion etc in some of my past entries so I wanted to totally change it up. For some reason I kept thinking Al Caiola. He played back in the 50s (I think it was the 50s) Songs like Bonanza, The Magnificent Seven and the Guns of Navarone and I think he did a version of Ghost Riders in the Sky also. Anyway go figure.
Looking forward to next months track. It sounds interesting. This is the 2nd month in a row where I feel like I have moved forward in my playing as far as how I see the fretboard and the scale positions and being able to connect them all together. My playing has benefited greatly from doing this every month. Some months have not been as good as others but its always pushed me into new directions. Blah Blah Blah. Sorry its early morning and I am full of caffeine.
Looking forward to the other entries. :)

Hi Finger - great take! I really like your change in tone...stick with that, i think it really suits your playing style. You have some really interesting bits in there and some nice runs with a nice jazzy feel with that tone. The only thing I would suggest is to incorporate more hammer ons/pull offs rather than picking every single note. There were many places where that sounded good, but also many spots where the runs would have blended better and maybe a combo of these two syles would make the repetition less noticeable. It would also sound a lot less mechanical and give you more opportunity to showcase your style. Good call in changing it up though, particularly on this track which wouldnt really suit a heavy distorted tone. The double string slides were a nice touch!

Nice job Fingerspasm!

I really like some of your melodic runs. The only thing I could suggest for improvement would be your rhythms. With such a syncopated backing track, it gives a lot of freedom to stray out side the 8th note runs.

But great job, keep up the good work. =D

Originally Posted by: mpaqHi Finger - great take! I really like your change in tone...stick with that, i think it really suits your playing style. You have some really interesting bits in there and some nice runs with a nice jazzy feel with that tone. The only thing I would suggest is to incorporate more hammer ons/pull offs rather than picking every single note. There were many places where that sounded good, but also many spots where the runs would have blended better and maybe a combo of these two syles would make the repetition less noticeable. It would also sound a lot less mechanical and give you more opportunity to showcase your style. Good call in changing it up though, particularly on this track which wouldnt really suit a heavy distorted tone. The double string slides were a nice touch!

Hey Mpaq thanks for the input. I did have a couple of small hammer on pull off runs in there but not many. I was not real happy with the sound I was getting in the cleaner setting that I was using when I tried that approach. Probably my technique needs a little work. I have really been working on my speed and I have been using Paul Gilbert videos and he tends to pick everything. I plan on doing more legato drills here in the future.

Originally Posted by: ZakJenkinsNice job Fingerspasm!

I really like some of your melodic runs. The only thing I could suggest for improvement would be your rhythms. With such a syncopated backing track, it gives a lot of freedom to stray out side the 8th note runs.

But great job, keep up the good work. =D

Thanks for the input Zak. I am still working on the speed. I did have a few faster runs in there but I think there probably should have been more. Thanks again for taking the time to comment.

Originally Posted by: mpaqOK, here's mine. Not exactly what i envisioned, but i think the main idea comes across. Im open to any suggestions as to how I could better break this up to avoid the predictable run on.....

Mpaq May 08 attempt

I think you have a good foundation with what you have recorded. To me a good fast Staccato type run in there would help to break it up. Maybe make up 3 different little runs and then add them in there. I like your tone so I would not change that. Also maybe explore that same note pattern down by the bridge or higher up on the neck. Hope that makes sense. :)

Ok.. getting to the end of the month.. take 2 time.. Still need to fill in a couple of gaps and get over the record-button-nerves.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6572537

Sounds really good. I liked your use of hammer ons and pull offs in this one. I guess that would be Legato.... Nice use of Tremolo picking also. I really like your sound on this one also. But at times it seems like the Reverb may be a little strong because some of the notes seem to get lost but that may also be the low quality mp3 that we have to listen to on soundclick. What type of Reverb are you using? Sounds like a strong Hall type setting. Hopefully I am not way off the mark on this one. But overall I think in my opinion this is one of your best solo assignments to date. :)

Originally Posted by: light487Ok.. getting to the end of the month.. take 2 time.. Still need to fill in a couple of gaps and get over the record-button-nerves.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6572537

Sounds really good. I liked your use of hammer ons and pull offs in this one. I guess that would be Legato.... Nice use of Tremolo picking also. I really like your sound on this one also. But at times it seems like the Reverb may be a little strong because some of the notes seem to get lost but that may also be the low quality mp3 that we have to listen to on soundclick. What type of Reverb are you using? Sounds like a strong Hall type setting. Hopefully I am not way off the mark on thinking that its Reverb that you are using to get that effect. But overall I think in my opinion this is one of your best solo assignments to date. :)

I've using a Stereo Reverb on this one. It's a default setting from the Amplitube Jimi Hendrix plugin.. I really like the large amount of reverb in most of the track but would like to somehow automate the reverb so it's a little less on some of the Legato sections so that the notes don't, as you said, get lost in the rest of the notes.

OK, so finally I got a Sunday afternoon free... I put the May track (nice one Light :) ) into Logic and came up with a theme, which I repeated throughout and then I worked on a couple of solos. For whatever reason, the second solo instalment got really tacky with an unreasonable panning effect and at the end there's this bizarre loop thing I just threw in there and have no idea why - I bumped the dial on the old Digitech 2101 and this effect came up so on it went.

There are some bum notes in this (somewhat rushed) take and it won't be for everyone, but I reckon there will be parts that people might like and the stupid theme sticks in my head after playing it for a only a few hours. The thing I most liked about this BT was that it was different (thanks again Light) and it has a real nice bouncy lollypop sweet feel to it. Not what I'm used to playing into but I rather enjoyed exploring some new territory with this one. Look forward to hearing all and comment next week. So here's mine:

GT May 2008