Need help with soloing

[Joseph4325]

Can someone give me some tips on how to create melodic solos? For instance if I'm trying to solo over a piece in the key of C i realized that 90% of what I'm thinking is just whether or not the notes I'm playing are within the key of C. Are there specific things i should be thinking about like certain intervals, or target notes within the scale?

[brammerd]

This is maybe not what you want to hear
but don't forget to use the chromatic scale and think about building good phrases

[MalcolmAmos]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0iZ1j00wSU
Take notes of what is shown in the video.
A string of notes is just noise. Let the melody breath.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Hty...page&q&f=false
The first 30 pages. Two close notes then a leap of at least a 3rd. Important thing is what to do after the leap. Its all spelled out in the first 30 pages.

http://smu.edu/totw/melody.htm
The wave action is what I want you to see here.

I love pentatonic scales over the chords, three chord tones and two safe passing notes give me all the notes I need for a melody.

At least one melody note per lyric work. Some words will take two or three notes, depends on how many syllables in the word. Sing (recite) the lyrics and let the lyric words flow into melody. Good luck, its a journey.

[PlanetEarth]

You should be thinking about the changes - what are the chord changes you're trying to solo over? I'll offer up a possibility given the changes but ultimately defer to: put your bass down, sing what you want to play for your solo, then play it. Don't worry about what notes are diatonic to a particular key rather think about your phrasing and what notes you'll emphasize and which will be passing tones.

e.g. let's just take the I chord, Cmaj7 what's important to know is that this chord is CEGB, add the 9 11 and 13 (DFA). Start by using the basic 4 notes of the maj7 chord, then add the 9 11 13 into the mix for a little color. When that's comfortable, add anything you want in between keeping in mind CEGB are the building blocks of the I chord and pay attention to your phrasing. There's no wrong notes only bad phrasing, and you're always only a half step away from a diatonic note.

-PE

[colcifer]

1) Watch Modern Electric Bass if you haven't already 2) I've been told MM likes to think about nursery rhymes when he solos because they have such a great call-response quality 3) I've also been told (this has been by far the most helpful thing to me) that when asked what he was playing during a solo Trane pointed to the piano and said 'I play what he plays; I play the chords'

[PlanetEarth]

Originally Posted by colcifer

'I play what he plays; I play the chords'

+100

[devine]

Hey Joseph your on the right lines thinking about target notes and intervals etc. A great way to start soloing is to transcribe other peoples solos. By transcribing i don't mean writing it out in notation i just mean working it out on your instrument. Obviously don't start with insanely complex material, start with a few ballads then you'll be able to really hear what the guy is doing. Also if its a 'standard' type jazz tune make sure you get a lead sheet for it, then you'll be able to reference the chords as you workout the solo and really be able to 'see' what the soloist was thinking at that particular moment. Don't worry so much about what instrument is doing the solo, if it's not bass that's cool too. Just make sure you like it as your going to listen to it a lot!

Another thing... All solos are made up of scales and arpeggios, so make sure you learn them as well as you can, in fact it's really a life times worth of study so just make sure you take care of it within your daily practice routine.

Hope that helps. You can also check out my website http://www.scottsbasslessons.com as there's loads of info on there. In the next few days i'll be putting up some video tutorials about how to practice arpeggios. I think you'd really benefit by checking them out.

Take it easy.

Scott.

http://www.scottsbasslessons.com
http://www.scottdevinemusic.com

[basskababble]

Subbed. I want this info, and I want to make it faster. Really really fast soloing.

[powerbass]

One way to approach this is to use a loop or computer software program like Band In A Box, program a chord or series of chord changes and try soloing. As prevously stated you gotta know the notes of the key and the chord tones of the chords you are soloing over. Start slow and you will hear how soloing with chord tones works well since they fit so nicely within the chord, after this add the 2, 4, 9, 11th etc. These notes will add a whole new sound and feel, creating more or less tension.

[fryBASS]

Originally Posted by basskababble

Subbed. I want this info, and I want to make it faster. Really really fast soloing.

Do you mean you want to play notes faster, or you want to be able to make a coherent solo in a faster amount of time?

[HaVIC5]

http://adamneely.com/lessons/bass-solo-concepts/

Check out my bass solo concepts series. A lot of food for thought.

[JTE]

For me, the key concept in soloing is based on Charlie Parker's advice. Learn all your chords, arpeggios, etc. Then forget that crap and play music. The idea is that all the stuff you study is like building your vocabulary and understanding of grammar, but when you're actually speaking or writing, you don't want to think about subject verb agreement, etc. You just speak. That's what you want when you solo too.

So, in addition to the great stuff already mentioned, here's a critical (time consuming, yes) approach you NEED to use as well.

A. Record the progression you're going to be soloing over.
B. Lock you bass up in its case for while.
C. Play the recorded progression over and over again. Listen to the changes. If it's a specific song, hum the melody as you listen to the progression.
D. Play the recorded progression and sing what you think is a good solo. SING it, don't even think of trying to play it. Don't think of chord tones, modes, scales, etc. Just sing the music that's in you.
E. Record what you sang somehow. This is important for the next step...
F. Sit down with your bass now, and learn to play EXACTLY what you sang. Not just the notes, but the dynamics, the inflections, the phrasing. Don't change a thing, but make yourself find exactly what you sang.

The point is that you want to get to the point of being able to have your fingers find what your ear is hearing. And doing this process will force you to deal with that, not get bogged down in the building blocks that lead to it.

After you can play the solo you sang, analyze it (or do that as you learn it). See where you used chord tones, where you used the scale of the current key center, where you went chromatic. If you like those bits, then play with them using different timbres, dynamics, etc. If you don't like bits, then figure out what you don't like about them and work to both reconstruct them into something you like, and to find a way to use them as-is in a way you like.

Oh, and listen to great soloists (which eliminates most bassists and guitarists). Great soloists in my opinion include:

Jeff Beck
Duane Allman
Mike Stern (about the only guitar players I think are truly great soloists)
Abe Laboriel
Neils Henning-Orsted Pedersen
Miles Davis
Charlie Parker
Oscar Peterson
John Coltrane
Ella Fitzgerald
Louis Armstrong
Roy Haynes
Wayne Shorter
Cannonball Adderley
Ornette Coleman
Coleman Hawkins

John

[PlanetEarth]

Originally Posted by HaVIC5

http://adamneely.com/lessons/bass-solo-concepts/

Check out my bass solo concepts series. A lot of food for thought.

Adam, killer group of videos and a great way to break it down and expand on the important concepts... Very nice...!!!!

In 30+ years of playing and a billion solos that's one of the best explanations I've heard - Also, knowing (generally) the extent of your analytical, compositional, and theoretical knowledge you're to be commended for staying focused on the practical implementation during the sequence of videos.

You deserve a big thanks for sharing that, there's a lot of information there that would do any musician justice even if just a refresher that makes good mind candy.

-PE

[Joseph4325]

Thanks for the all great advice everyone. I really appreciate it.

JTE, that sounds like a good exercise because I think that's my biggest problem is playing what's in my head (especially on the fly).

Also, great video series Adam. That was very helpful.

[dalconthenovice]

don't forget to groove while soloing, never sacrifice a groove just to play some extra notes

[dalconthenovice]

JTE

you win todays "amazing advice" award

[Chris K]

Great stuff already here. like Adam's videos that I keep on watching, they are super.

To get ready for them, however, some level of by playing by ear is necessary. My advice is to play the melodies of simple tunes, just any tune, a new one each day. Listen, then play, nothing more. No transcribing, no theory, just from ear to bass in the quickest way possible. Only if that doesn't work for you right away, sing the tune before playing.

[HaVIC5]

Originally Posted by PlanetEarth

Adam, killer group of videos and a great way to break it down and expand on the important concepts... Very nice...!!!!

In 30+ years of playing and a billion solos that's one of the best explanations I've heard - Also, knowing (generally) the extent of your analytical, compositional, and theoretical knowledge you're to be commended for staying focused on the practical implementation during the sequence of videos.

You deserve a big thanks for sharing that, there's a lot of information there that would do any musician justice even if just a refresher that makes good mind candy.

-PE

Hey man, thanks a lot for the kind words . I really do appreciate it, I'm just getting started as my career as a teacher, and encouragement is totally welcome, haha. Here's the latest video that hadn't made it to that page yet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjCJrCH66iU

[puddin tame]

stop thinking about notes and play some notes

[Stick_Player]

Learn the tune and play it in the upper register.

Should work 100% of the time.