Do you know your solos?

**Blackbird** · #1 03-31-2002, 01:23 AM

When you have a solo in a tune you play regularly, do you play a pre-arranged solo or do you improvise it every time?

*ToNeS* · #2 03-31-2002, 01:42 AM

pre-meditating a solo is an ordeal which requires way too much thought for me

i'll take some ideas with me, but never an entire solo.

jazzbo · #3 03-31-2002, 02:43 AM

I just play what I play. I've never actually thought about what I might play in a solo. I just basically play what I feel that particular night. Sometimes a passage might be repeated from a previous time, but it's never done purposely.

JimK · #4 03-31-2002, 09:46 AM

I don't solo...
That said, as a listener, nothing is more LAME than hearing a pre-arranged solo.

Though there are exceptions-
I recall reading about Wah-Wah Watson doing the exact same solo while he was touring with Hancock, Buster Williams, etc(the VSOP Quintet album). Someone in the band mentioned 'it was unbelievable how Watson could make that rehearesed solo sound totally fresh each & every night'!

Nothing's finite...

Brian456or10 · #5 03-31-2002, 01:00 PM

I assume you're talking about jazz, so selectively ignore this post if you want.

I have little solo snippets in a few songs, and I usually play the same thing every time to match the way I played it on the CD. I tried to raise the bar in rehearsal one time and do something a little more complex, and my bandmates were disappointed because they'd fallen in love with what I did on the record. Guaging that as a typical reaction for our target audience, my natural bass player "laid-backness" kicked in and I opted to just do the original all the time. They don't hear all the other tricky improv I do while they're playing.

In the studio I find it really helps to have a set "official version" of everything, so I know it's my favorite way that gets on tape. It's also easier to do multiple takes that way.

Eric Cioe · #6 03-31-2002, 04:43 PM

if i were playing my stuff live, id probably take a few ideas with me.... the real recognizable stuff.... and make upi in between.

7 is awsome for solos.....

JimK · #7 03-31-2002, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Brian456or10
I assume you're talking about jazz, so selectively ignore this post if you want.

I have little solo snippets in a few songs...

Maybe I was talking about Jazz; then again, maybe not!

Believe it or not, there was a time when Rock & Funk was about experimentation & pushing boundries.

BTW, I see/hear nothing wrong with using snippets(that's only being human) or quotes(usually gives the audience a thrill) whilst in solo-ville.
For me, though, when the entire solo is regurgitated verbatim...I dunno.
Then again, there are exceptions. I would imagine everyone under the Sun would expect to hear Eddie Van Halen's solo on "Beat It" done note-for-note.
I recall reading how Jennifer Batten learned & played that solo so well that musicians(like Will Lee)would ask her post-show whether what they had heard was a tape!

BlackGeezer · #8 03-31-2002, 06:58 PM

when i solo so ta speak i just pull things out of my ass. but thats only on stage just to impress people when they really dont know is im only mixing up triads and other scales. (not that hard to do) but when it comes to a prewritten song i would play the guitar riff a couple times. then ill hear something in my head in the same key but is not regularly played. so out pops a bass fill. i have made so many that most of my bands songs i never play the guitar part for very long, but it doesnt sound like a completly different songs. so i do both, i improvise and i write. oh and tones, i play in a metal band and everybody hears me play. Gezzer butler played in a metal band and theres no way you cant hear him. Cliff Burton played with ****in metallica and you can hear him. you just have to know what a bass sounds like to hear it.

rhythmrod · #9 04-01-2002, 11:38 AM

Good Thread!
I feel that there are two kinds of solo's. The first being an improvised solo and the second being a somewhat structured solo. My band has songs that have a bass solo as an important part of the song, in this regard I play the solo to be consistant with the song, with minor improv. However, on other songs where we each solo, then, that's when it's all improv, and lot's of it!!! I don't do slap & pop solo's, although I do slap & pop intermittantly for effect to keep the groove fresh. Someone stated earlier that having a planned solo is lame. I have to disagree with that statement. I feel that planning your solo is very important, especially if you're laying tracks for demo's or performing songs live that have specific bass solo's.

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #10 04-01-2002, 02:33 PM

The only time I play a part of a solo the same way more than once is if I have been listening to a recording that I made of the same tune, in which case some of the same sounds are still in my ears. When this happens, I usually try to go in a different direction once I figure out what's going on.

BTW, this "monkey hear, monkey play" phenomenon also happens with ANY recording - if I like what the player is playing, the sound can get stuck in my head, and sometimes pieces of it come out in my own playing. Depending on who I've been listening to, this can be a good thing.

brianrost · #11 04-01-2002, 02:57 PM

I don't solo much, it's usually when the guitarist busts a string or some other disaster occurs...

I have nothing worked out, because I have no way of knowing what song(s) I might be asked to solo on.

This keeps life interesting

JoeRules00 · #12 04-01-2002, 03:54 PM

I just got back from a practice where we set up a medley of songs, using bass solos in between a few, and IMO, it works best to have a general idea in mind (how long, last few notes to tip off band we're about to set back in), but besides that, just let it all go. Roll with what you think will sound good.

gweimer · #13 04-01-2002, 04:14 PM

I'm not real big on soloing, but ages ago, my band seemed to think that I needed a solo, so I put one together. I usually came out of the song, working variations on the main theme, then futzed around on the neck, came up with some recurring neat phrases, then let it fall apart as I came back the main theme, where the band rejoined.

Sort of a planned solo, with open spots for brilliance and/or brain lapse to occur.

Bassin' · #14 04-01-2002, 06:40 PM

Depends on the song.

We do one song where I have a pre-planned solo where I mimic the melody a lot. I won't stray from that too much as I feel the melody carries the song. I soloed over a ballad that we used to do. Same idea -- pre-planned to mimic the melody.

Most other songs I do off the cuff. If we've done the song a few times before I will usually have a 'bag of tricks' I know I can refer to at any time but I mostly make it up as I go along. Our band is very "jam" oriented to begin with so, even if I wanted to set things in stone, they would probably through me a curve and extend the solo for another eight measures just to screw with me, It's better that I stay on my toes.

Freaky Fender · #15 04-01-2002, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Big Wheel
When you have a solo in a tune you play regularly, do you play a pre-arranged solo or do you improvise it every time?

both! hehe

*ToNeS* · #16 04-01-2002, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BlackGeezer
oh and tones, i play in a metal band and everybody hears me play. Gezzer butler played in a metal band and theres no way you cant hear him. Cliff Burton played with ****in metallica and you can hear him. you just have to know what a bass sounds like to hear it.

i don't know why i bother sticking my tongue in my cheek anymore - other people just seem to want to bite it for me.

Lipis Roman · #17 04-01-2002, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JimK

Maybe I was talking about Jazz; then again, maybe not!
Believe it or not, there was a time when Rock & Funk was about experimentation & pushing boundries.

I can't say how refreshing it is to read a post like that. It irks me a bit how improvisation is so commonly related to Jazz only, in a lot of peoples minds. I'd never try to argue that it isn't a major part of what Jazz is but it absolutely exists in other styles of music as well. The funk group that I play in has alot of improvistaion going on, adding counter melodies, reharmonizing, quite a bit of vocal improv as well.

I'm not much on bass soloing either but my band plays a couple of songs that are structured to leave space for one. Sometimes if I'm just not feeling it I'll just lay back and enjoy hearing how the other instrumentalists in the band react and feed off of that. But when I do play a solo I always improvise the majority of it while dipping into a few bars that are played the same each time just for some sense of predictablility.

Brian456or10 · #18 04-02-2002, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JimK

Maybe I was talking about Jazz; then again, maybe not!
Believe it or not, there was a time when Rock & Funk was about experimentation & pushing boundries.

My bad... funk good... rock good...

They still push the boundries in rock. I've seen some pretty cool hairstyles out there.

red-hot-bassist · #19 04-03-2002, 06:29 AM

i have some ideas in my head of what might fit and sound groovy but i dont practice it to get it beofre i play, if you know what i mean

fat-bottom · #20 04-05-2002, 05:06 PM

I try to never play the same solo twice but sometimes I get into ruts. The most difficult solo I play is with the Brubeck tune Take Five. I find it so hard to play what I hear in my head while counting fives. My best solos are when I can forget about the "math" of the situation and just play what I feel. Also, my advise is not to be afraid to play a simple solo. I think the best solos involve a simple theme which is repeated and embelished. I try to involve the average listener without a flury of notes.