ok, i want to make a bass solo kinda like pulling teeth but am having trouble with ideas. All my solos are massive bends , very fast hammer on pulloffs or downward or upward scales and frankly im gettin p***ed. I want to make something melodic but then have parts that are somewhat like a metallica guitar solo(fast furious detailed!)but all of it sounds bad when i try it! What should i do? Im confused!

Sounds like you're making life very difficult for yourself by trying to work on too many things at once.

I would suggest working on the theory side of what you're trying to do, as the technique will form itself if you start slowly and work up to it. Don't try zipping up and down scales/arppeggios/whatever, until you are completely comfortable with the ideas as slower speeds. Take the chords that you're trying to play over in small chunks - two chords at a time - and work on different ideas, things based on scales ideas, pentatonic lines, arpeggios and just mad stuff and see what works. Take it slow, don't set yourself unobtainable goals. If the songs you're working on are riff based, try and work out what the underlying harmony is - whether the riff implies a particular progression, or if it is just over one chord, or in one key. A lot of metal soloing is largely pentatonic, or 'blues scale' based (though the whole idea of having a 'blues scale' is somewhat odd to me, but still.)

If you can get hold of transcriptions of any of the solos of the people you're trying to sound like, don't worry about trying to play them (Kirk Hammett lines on a bass is going to be pretty advanced stuff) but do have a look at the kind of phrases that are using, and how those notes relate to the chords/riffs.

And as always, have fun!

cheers

Steve
www.steve-lawson.co.uk

OK, I've just realised that you're talking about the bass solo on the first Metallica album - most of that is argeggio based - a lot of root, third, fifth stuff in one key. If that's the sound that you're going for, try working on your chord arpeggios - start by playing the root third and fifth of all 7 chords in the key of C, and take it from there... :o)

Steve

thanks alot man! cool that u help so many people every day!

k, im a newbie on theory and wanna write solos too. I can play solos, like naked in the rain, between angels and insects, coffee shop and some others. so can i have some advise on writing solos in english plz???

Hi Fishbrain,

I'm not sure what context you're talking about soloing in - completely solo tunes, or solos within songs (like Naked In The Rain)? For solos within songs, take the chords for the section that you are playing over, and work out what the root, third, fifth and seventh are for each chord in the section, as a start point. Try coming up with some kind of little melody or riff that uses the chord notes over each chord. Once you've done that you can start to bring in other things - if the song is in one key, then the rest of the notes are fairly easy to find - they'll be the other notes in the key. If it's less clear what the key is, try using pentatonic patterns - the major pentatonic is root, second, third, fifth and sixth (C, D, E, G, A in C Major) and the minor pentatonic is root, min3rd, fourth, fifth and min7th - (C, Eb, F, G, Bb in C minor)... rhythm-wise, try finding little syncopated patterns that work against the drums (if there are drums) - use off-beats and accents... the whole idea of taking a theme and developing it is a very long subject to get into, so try some of the stuff above, and if that makes sense, then come back and ask more questions when it feels right.

I hope that in some way helped...

Steve
www.steve-lawson.co.uk

Originally posted by Fishbrain
so can i have some advise on writing solos in english plz???

Isn't this the whole point - that is, you don't write solos in English, but in music!! ;)

Once you can speak the language of music as well as you can speak your "first" language, that's when you can really play solos!

Sorry - couldn't resist the analogy!

Okay, Umm.. I just started playing Bass Guitar last year, because i saw my big brother playing it and it kinda Amazed me. So i asked my dad to buy me one.... And now a year little i can play basically anything, so i started a band. But i am having trouble making solos. i don't know what i am supposed to do to make the solos sound good instead of random stuff.

I asked the older bassists at my school, but most of them laugh at me and don't really pay much attention to what i am saying since im a newbie and plus im a girl... Please Please help me. :crying: