What is solo, really?

[Suckbird]

When i hear the word solo i think of something played alone with no other instruments, like stu hamm, but i wouldn't say check out the bass solo "country music" by stu hamm... i would say song?

but if solo is when something is played alone, the most guitar solos have bass/drums/guitar and maybe synth going on at the same time, so what is a solo really?

[conk97]

its something that deviates from the verse/chorus riff.

or a wankfest

[Bruce Lindfield]

It's a feature for that instrument - in Jazz, a "solo" is where a featured instrument plays an alternate melody - you can play a bass solo with a whole big band behind you, playing stabs or fills - it's still a solo!!

Of course solo literally means alone - but in music it has also come to mean a feature for an instrument.

[zombywoof5050]

I think you're confusing 'solo' with 'a solo'.
Playing 'solo' means without anybody else.
Playing 'a solo' is usually just playing a section of improv within the song, and it can be with or without the other band members still playing.

[Correlli]

For me, there are three types of "solo's"

- Unaccompanied solo
- Accompanied solo or melody
- Lead-break (term used from my guitar days)