The Art of Guitar Solos... ahhh yes... the elusive, slippery guitar solo! I'm working hard on Dream Secret's [songs] guitar parts. There are times where I find myself in a quandry about my guitar solos. Solos need to flow naturally without force or too much thought prior. Occasionally however solos need to be 'worked out.' These become mini-compositions within the composition. I also often approach my bass-lines in this same manner. I've always been of the school that strives for unity in music. By 'unity' I mean where the sum is greater than it's parts. When a musician reaches a certain technical-level-it's very easy to abuse this power. Being able to play fast solos can actually be counter-productive at times. Quite honestly it's boring to hear a guitarist paly the same tired & fast licks & scale-based lead guitar. [I'd much rather hear B.B. King or Dave Gilmour play sparse solos that make you cry] So it is crucial for me to create solos that 'speak' to the listener. Often times 3 or 4 note clusters can be much more effective & emotive than a 'plethora' of random tones. In other words I try to play for the song. Why all this stuff about guitar solos? I'm all happy 'cause I totally nailed some good solos on our new song! We will be releasing our new song 'I Don't Need No Holy Man' this week on IAC. This is from our upcoming album 'Ghetto of Eden' which is a conceptual piece of music. I wouldn't call it a rock opera. More like a 'thematic' album with central themes, reprises & a message. We're very ambitious to do this. If all goes as planned we will have a CD, a new 'live' band & a bunch of gigs to look forward to. We're working on an 'outline' of Ghetto of Eden's theme & message. I'll be posting that soon also.
We've also got a MySpace page which we'll be revamping. There are also several other options -that we are considering. Internet-based music platforms are the future so we are looking into additional resources besides IAC & MySpace. This is an exciting time- as well as a very uncertain time- musically speaking. We're up for the challenges up ahead...
We've also got a MySpace page which we'll be revamping. There are also several other options -that we are considering. Internet-based music platforms are the future so we are looking into additional resources besides IAC & MySpace. This is an exciting time- as well as a very uncertain time- musically speaking. We're up for the challenges up ahead...
posted by Bonfire Jones at 8:22 PM
3 Comments:
Hi,
I like guitar solos, but they have to be done at the right time. Having too many can make the audience yawn. Here's an example: Kirk Hammett did a lot of guitar solos in Metallica's "...And Justice For All". They sounded great on the album, but at concerts it was a different story, Kirk looked out at the audience and noticed that they all had long faces and were yawning, so from then on he had to cut down on the solos.
Guitar solos are good if they are placed in the right spots in the song, like at the end. It's a perfect way to end a song. For example: The guitar solos at the end of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" and The Eagle's "Hotel California."
There you have it, that's my two cents on guitar solos.
Metalchick,
You're right on the money with your comments. When I first started out playing guitar a wise-man told me "solos are optional" in a song.
And this is so true! Good call on the solo from 'Comfortably Numb'
That's one of those solos where the song builds up into a dramatic ending.
Hi Ed
Just got back from hols to find all your new posts..you've been busy!
I agree with everything you say about solos..and it seems a lot of other people do too. In a recent poll here in the Netherlands. DG's solo on Comfortably numb was voted the best guitar solo ever...says something about less is more, hey?
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