Seventhson
I practise my scales every day and I have no problem soloing(although it sounds like jeff hannerman.)
My problem is learning solos that other people wrote. I have a very difficult time learning the likes of moore and kirk hammet. My problem is just remembering the notes. :-[
PeteM
I find that when doing covers of songs and their solos there are certain licks that are signatures to the song so I try to keep these, thereafter I express the song/solos in my way.
ZarK
Seventhson wrote:
I practise my scales every day and I have no problem soloing(although it sounds like jeff hannerman.)
My problem is learning solos that other people wrote. I have a very difficult time learning the likes of moore and kirk hammet. My problem is just remembering the notes. :-[
Break the solos down into the smallest parts and learn each part correctly note for note. Then start 'building' the whole solo by adding the parts together one at a time. It'll take some time to master the whole piece in its entirety, but this is the only way that works for me. I prefer covering other guitarist’s solos exactly the way they play it. It's sometimes necessary to cross reference 3 or 4 different tabs to get to the actual notes. Always use the CD as reference to make sure you’re not only playing the correct notes, but also using the correct techniques to create the correct tone(s). Getting the official tabs always makes things much easier. Remember to practice even the smallest part(s) to a metronome, and start slowly. If you can't repeat a section of a solo 5 or more times in a row at 25% - 50% of the true speeds, you definitely won't be able to play it correctly at full speed or higher...
Use it, don’t use it… …its free! ?
All of the best!
Seventhson
ZarK wrote:
Seventhson wrote:
I practise my scales every day and I have no problem soloing(although it sounds like jeff hannerman.)
My problem is learning solos that other people wrote. I have a very difficult time learning the likes of moore and kirk hammet. My problem is just remembering the notes. :-[
Break the solos down into the smallest parts and learn each part correctly note for note. Then start 'building' the whole solo by adding the parts together one at a time. It'll take some time to master the whole piece in its entirety, but this is the only way that works for me. I prefer covering other guitarist’s solos exactly the way they play it. It's sometimes necessary to cross reference 3 or 4 different tabs to get to the actual notes. Always use the CD as reference to make sure you’re not only playing the correct notes, but also using the correct techniques to create the correct tone(s). Getting the official tabs always makes things much easier. Remember to practice even the smallest part(s) to a metronome, and start slowly. If you can't repeat a section of a solo 5 or more times in a row at 25% - 50% of the true speeds, you definitely won't be able to play it correctly at full speed or higher...
Use it, don’t use it… …its free! ?
All of the best!
That is sound advice. I do try and learn little by little. But I lose my pactaince and just drop it :-[. But I am starting to learn patience when it comes to solos. I have stifled my soloing with bloody slayer(they have absolutely no technique).
Petem. I prefer to play solos as the dudes who wrote it. Then after that I find it easier to add your own flare to it.
PeteM
I'll think you'll find that many instrumentalists, including guitarists, play their solos differently each time they play them. What's on the CD is not necessarily what they play live. I'm sure it helps them to keep sane while they are on the road. ?
For me, copying solos exactly as they were recorded doesn't allow me any leeway to express myself. The purists might disagree with me, particularly the classical boffs, but then I take my lead from Arthur Rubinstein who was regarded as the best exponent of Chopin's work, but didn't always play the pieces exactly as written.
To quote Arthur Rubinstein, “On stage, I will take a chance. There has to be an element of daring in great music-making. These younger ones, they are too cautious. They take the music out of their pockets instead of their hearts.”
DonovanB
What I do is learn the solo note for note, then add my own embelishments.
Listen to Van Halen's solo in Beat it with Michael Jackson, then listen to John Mayer's solo in the cover by Fall Out Boy.
He kept some of the main elements and added his own touch. I'm sure he could play it note for note but he owned it.
I'm with Pete here.
ZarK
There are many ways of looking at this and this could end in a rather long debate to be honest… I prefer playing a solo as the artist intended it to be as per recording. This way I'm also picking up on different musician's personal styles instead of injecting my own style each time... I prefer to express myself through my own music... To each his/her own…
PeteM
ZarK wrote:
There are many ways of looking at this and this could end in a rather long debate to be honest… I prefer playing a solo as the artist intended it to be as per recording. This way I'm also picking up on different musician's personal styles instead of injecting my own style each time... I prefer to express myself through my own music... To each his/her own…
Yeah, I'm not saying any way is wrong, just expressing the way I approach the title of the thread,
"What's the best way to cover a solo in a song"
Seventhson
I was thinking about it. I do tend to play my own solo with a bit of there stuff mixed in it. I just thought that would be a lazy fools way(I am not very confidant with my playing)
Renesongs
Learning a solo note for note can be a long and tedious process if you don't know the artist you imitating well. If I really like a a guitarist what I do is try to learn about 5 or 6 of his songs at a time in a rough sort of way. Look for common riffs in all of the songs build these as a sort of signature riff library. Then take a song I like that this artist hasn't covered and try and play the solo in his style. Now go back to the particular song I want to solo to and just learn the opening licks and a few others that seem important to me and then improvise in the style of the artist for the rest of the solo.
This may seem like an enormous amount of work to do for 1 little solo but what you get out of this approach is one hell of an improvement in your soloing ability
ZarK
Seventhson wrote:
I was thinking about it. I do tend to play my own solo with a bit of there stuff mixed in it. I just thought that would be a lazy fools way(I am not very confidant with my playing)
Here’s some of the advice I wish I had 19 years ago…
Confidence comes from both repetition and relaxation imo. Learn to relax your mind and muscles when you practice/play. Breathe. The more you stress and tense up, the more difficult it gets and the more energy you waste. When you start tensing up too much, put your instrument down and take a coffee break. Restart fresh and focused. Always practice with a metronome or a beat. Rather practice 15 minutes each day than 3 hours on a Saturday. Practice at a slow tempo and only increase the tempo when you are comfortable repeating a pattern faultless at least 5 times (some would say 10 times) in succession. Confidence, speed and control will come in time. Be dedicated and focused and the rest will follow. Make every note count! Don’t doodle on the guitar without thinking and experiencing what you’re doing. That’s the easiest way to learn bad habits that usually takes much more time to unlearn than it took to learn in the first place. Laying a solid foundation in the beginning sets the stage for rapid growth in the years to come… …and don’t be too hard on yourself!
All of the best!
Bob-Dubery
One potential pitfall is trying to figure things out from tabs downloaded from the Internet. This is a risky game because there's no QC in most cases. I have gone looking for tabs from time to time and mostly (not always, but mostly) it's been a case of still not knowing what the artist did but realising (sometimes after a lot of slog) that the tab is wrong.
This is NOT a problem with tab.
The flip side of this is that when you do get tab that is accurate and well laid out this usually speaks of a person who has taken time to do things properly. Think nice thoughts about such people, maybe even drop them a brief line of thanks.
Keira-WitherKay
i have one question................... " do you play in a tribute band?" like the pink floyd tribute band ect ect
cos if the answer is NO then forget learning solo's note for note ........cos if you have not worked it out by now the great muso's all have their own styles even within the same style/genre ............ and YES all are influenced some quite noticably by other great players.....
so my advice is listen to everyone you admire ...listen closely then play your own solo's but draw on that feel.............. cos thats how we all learn and improve our styles
i listen to someone like segovia/martin taylor/ paco di lucia ect ect but never want to copy their style but definitely i draw from it and learn from it .............. see their technique , disect it but then adapt it to fit my own style.............and therefore make it my own
so if you already playing solo's well within your own style at a pro level ............ f%$k covering other artists note for note since you already at a place musically where you have your own voice....... and thats the ultimate goal unless you a tribute band artist
but remember keep listening cos muso's no matter how good/famous keep growing and developing their styles their entire lives....and never stop working on their own style/tone/composing /technique ect
Seventhson
Keira WitherKay wrote:
i have one question................... " do you play in a tribute band?" like the pink floyd tribute band ect ect
cos if the answer is NO then forget learning solo's note for note ........cos if you have not worked it out by now the great muso's all have their own styles even within the same style/genre ............ and YES all are influenced some quite noticably by other great players.....
so my advice is listen to everyone you admire ...listen closely then play your own solo's but draw on that feel.............. cos thats how we all learn and improve our styles
i listen to someone like segovia/martin taylor/ paco di lucia ect ect but never want to copy their style but definitely i draw from it and learn from it .............. see their technique , disect it but then adapt it to fit my own style.............and therefore make it my own
so if you already playing solo's well within your own style at a pro level ............ f%$k covering other artists note for note since you already at a place musically where you have your own voice....... and thats the ultimate goal unless you a tribute band artist
but remember keep listening cos muso's no matter how good/famous keep growing and developing their styles their entire lives....and never stop working on their own style/tone/composing /technique ect
I am in a cover band at the moment and my guitarist is a bit fussy when it comes to doing the solo note by note.
DonovanB
The first solo I learned was Metallica - Nothing Else Matters, from the Black album. Then they released it on S&M with a slightly different solo. When I saw them in Durban it was again, different.
I also reckon if someone is fussy about how you play something they should be playing it instead. I knew a drummer like that who moaned about it. Needless to say I don't associate much with him these days cos all he did was bring you down. No fun in that...
Seventhson
Donovan Banks wrote:
The first solo I learned was Metallica - Nothing Else Matters, from the Black album. Then they released it on S&M with a slightly different solo. When I saw them in Durban it was again, different.
I also reckon if someone is fussy about how you play something they should be playing it instead. I knew a drummer like that who moaned about it. Needless to say I don't associate much with him these days cos all he did was bring you down. No fun in that...
Well I am better at fast solos than he is. My first solo I learnt was Black Sabbath's Paranoid.
singemonkey
Re: Keira,
I agree in principle, but rock/blues players like me often use transcription to develop our techniques as well. I'll find that I don't really understand what the player's doing to get that feel until I've learned to pull off those licks in the same way. It's not that I'll use all of that in my own playing, but working on the tiny nuances of a player's style - and even the construction of an entire solo, can give you a strong insight into how someone who does stuff that turns you on built the solo - something that they may not even be able to explain in words.
That's the value for me. Their work becomes a lesson.
DonovanB
singemonkey wrote:
That's the value for me. Their work becomes a lesson.
It's like learning how they think and how the approach solo's. From there you can take different approaches in your own music.
Renesongs
@ Keira - IMO learning solo's in the rock genre is very valuable learning experience akin to learning to play a classical piece but by ear. I once learned a cello suite by Bach from a recording of Segovia playing it. Of course I did not want to play it exactly the way Segovia did but I wanted to play it the way Bach wrote it. (BTW I later found the score and between Andre and myself we made a few interesting "interpretations" but then a guitar is not a cello after all)
Warren
My suggestion:
It's important that you book-end your solos in such a way that the rest of your band can consistently recognise them. This is, IMO, one of the reasons that drummers, bassists or vocalists prefer you to play the solo "just like the recording", because they're accustomed to those particular licks or melodies in certain places, and it helps them feel where they are in the song. Especially during extended solos.
Of course, if your band is really tight you will simply feel each other out (har har) and you should be able to improvise quite easily, even during well-recognised melodic solos.
In the end, it's more important to capture the feel of the solo than create a note-for-note copy of it. This may involve pretty detailed scrutiny of a guitarist's style (as per Renesong's post) before you can pull it off on the fly, but at least it saves you the tedium of trying to copy every solo precisely, and still sounds authentic. And, of course, adds tremendously to your own playing.
