Soloing!!!

kynoch · #1 05-07-2008, 01:08 PM

I have been playing a while....I can play well....I think

But I have NO idea how to put a solo together...NO IDEA....I am useless at it.....But I really wanna be good at it....or at least be able to do it.

So please anyhelp would be GREATLY appeciated...the question is HOW????

Please!!!![/i]

RapierSix · #2 05-07-2008, 06:41 PM

I think soloing is the process of dicking around at home, coming up with cool riffs that don't fit into a song, then string them together by neato transitions and practice it till you have it by memory.

Brush up on some musical theory also, it can help you through rough spots.

rfclef · #3 05-07-2008, 08:40 PM

Take this with a grain of salt, cause I have always been content playing my part and leaving the solos to others (back when I played jazz trombone): I think a good place to start is with the melody, and then add some runs and passing and neighboring tones and modify it to fancy it up...

wdinc01 · #4 05-07-2008, 10:07 PM

+1 to both posts before me. Messing around with the main melody would be good start for a solo, and just play it over and over, maybe changing or adding some things, until it sounds like something else. And messing around at home and coming up with riffs that wouldn't really fit anywhere would also be helpful.

But first try a bar of the main melody, or something that you'll repeat, and then a bar of random stuff.

jsingles · #5 05-07-2008, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RapierSix

I think soloing is the process of dicking around at home, coming up with cool riffs that don't fit into a song, then string them together by neato transitions and practice it till you have it by memory.

Brush up on some musical theory also, it can help you through rough spots.

i could not have set that better

kynoch · #6 05-08-2008, 02:26 AM

Thanks for the help people...that´s really helpful,

Just to ask what sort of theory should I brush up on????....and how do I apply that to soloing....I am not too clued up on theory so keep it simple...ha ha ha

Scales???

Thanks again....its great to be able to ask stuff like this

madbassist666 · #7 05-08-2008, 07:40 AM

well when ever i decide to step out on a limb and take a solo in the jazz band i usually stay within the blues scale of whatever key we are playing in, i occasionally branch into another scale maybe a fifth in the key just to see what it sounds like but i don't do that often because of a bad mess up doing that but hey its jazz, the best thing would be to stay within a scale, at least in jazz that is.
theory wise, knowing your scales and knowing how to construct a chord would probably be the best thing to know.

good luck!

warnergt · #8 05-08-2008, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kynoch

...But I have NO idea how to put a solo together...NO IDEA..

Heh, I know the feeling. Then, I go to my teacher an he pulls them out of a hat. He makes it look effortless.

Let me tell you an exercise we did that seemed to help. Pick up one of these bass chord charts, pick a chord and just start playing around with various combinations of notes within the chord. Also, work on mixing up the timing and/or doubling up on notes. You'll be putting riffs together before you know it.

MarkTAW · #9 05-08-2008, 08:32 AM

The best guitar solo *ever* was Jimi Hendrix quoting "Strangers in the Night" at.. was it Monteray Pop?

Bass solos are tough because you've been playing a fundamentally supportive role until that point, and very often the rest of the band has disappeared for your solo.

Joke: A couple was exploring the wild, untamed African countryside. As soon as they got off the boat they heard distant drumming. Terror was struck into the hearts of the couple, but they forged on. They asked their guide, "What's with the drumming?" Their guide just said "Drums good." A bit relieved, they continued. The drumming never stopped. All day, all night they heard distant drumming. Again they asked their guide "What is the meaning of the drumming?" and again the guide just said "Drums good." Finally, on the third day, unable to stand it any longer they insisted that their guide tell them "What's so good about the drumming?" The tour guide looked at them and said "Drums stop, bass solo start."

The #1 piece of advice I have for bass solos is DON'T LOSE THE GROOVE! In fact, not only should you NOT LOSE THE GROOVE, but you should GROOVE HARDER THAN YOU HAVE FOR THE REST OF THE SET. The bass solo is YOUR CHANCE TO PROVE TO THE AUDIENCE THAT THE REST OF THE BAND IS HOLDING YOU BACK AND IT'S THANKS TO YOU THAT THOSE TWO-LEFT-FEET HAVING WANKERS CALLED GUITARISTS AND SINGERS SOUND GOOD AT ALL AND THAT THEY WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT THE GROOVING BASS PLAYER WHO GETS ALL THE CHICKS.

Study James Brown & some Latin rhythms and whip them out only during your solo.

pointbass · #10 05-08-2008, 09:49 AM

You need to become "musically conversational" with your axe, really learn your way around the fingerboard and be very comfortable with playing within chord structures. As someone said above, learning to play the melody of a song is a nice way to break out of the typical bass player role.

Some knowledge of theory and harmonies is almost a 100% requirement (although there are some players that have great soloing abilities and know nothing about theory). Listen to how other instruments construct their solo's, too .... many a great bass solo has been clipped from some other instrumentalists work.

We all become so buried in the time keeping, groove pounding role that soloing seems to be a completely foreign language to many of us. Try working on playing simple melodies first, after a while it will become much easier ....

Just J · #11 05-08-2008, 10:57 AM

Be comfortable with your scales and chord tones.

Willie Weeks's solo on Voices Inside (from Donny Hathaway Live) is referenced all the time as one of the greatest bass solos ever.

Quote:

People around the world associate you with your break in “Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything).” What’s it like to be known for one solo?
[Laughs.] It’s incredible. Everywhere I go somebody knows my name. It’s not like with Michael Jackson—I don’t get mobbed—but I am famous, and I like it. It’s as incredible as that night Donny said, “On bass, ladies and gentlemen, the baddest bass player in the country—Willie Weeks, y’all!” I’m like, Oh, my God! What did he say? What am I going to do? I thought, I’d better build slow!

Was that solo edited for the album?
The only thing they did was make it shorter. There were other nights that the solo was sort of choppy—it didn’t really tell a story. The solo on the record was very, very simple, but it had a story. It was a little song.

Bolded what's important. You probably will only have a few bars to rock out, but you should tell a story. The solo should feel like it goes somewhere.

kynoch · #12 05-08-2008, 01:38 PM

ha ha ha ...... Nice story MarkTAW.....I laughed...and I loved the last part of what you wrote.....I WANNA PROVE THAT!!!!....gotta solo!!!!

MarkTAW · #13 05-08-2008, 02:59 PM

Heh. I call it as I see it.

phektus · #14 05-09-2008, 12:55 AM

Sing a melody that sounds good to you, and play it out on bass. How you translate that from your head to the bass is another matter.

thumperbob 2002 · #15 05-09-2008, 01:34 AM

I would just go with a cool groove- add a few flourishes here and there- again I think feel and simplicity is better than trying to fit as many notes into an 8 bar break

cheers

Bob

Oratorio · #16 05-09-2008, 04:48 AM

+1 on the story thing.

I suck at soloing, I hate listening to myself, mostly because I just ignore every scale and just try to play something "spontanious". I like to think that one could split the solo in two; the "question", and the "answer". This way you can sort of communicate with yourself in your solo, making it slightly easier to develope a little "song" as you guys put it. That's my idea atleast, how I think about it. How I play it is usually very different from this idea. Unfortunatly.

paganjack · #17 05-09-2008, 10:19 AM

the way i learned to solo was super slow- i never read any theory while i played the DB in my jazz bands, but i could walk a line just fine. basically my solos started out as slightly modified walking lines, until i was able to keep the chords going in my head but make up more interesting melodic lines. for a long time i just played rhythms other than quarter notes over the changes and called it a solo. it worked OK, but once i finally read some books on theory, i got wayyyy better at it. theory is clutch.

CapnSev · #18 05-09-2008, 10:28 AM

To me, the best sounding bass solos are the ones that are just the rhythm fancied up a bit. Take your bass line and doctor it up, but don't lose the pocket. Apply some theory behind it.

rfclef · #19 05-09-2008, 10:30 AM

How is a bass solo like a sneeze?

You know it's coming, but nothing you can do will stop it.

sirpug · #20 05-09-2008, 08:33 PM

Learn the circle of fifths!! This will help you with your solos and it will help you come up with more personalized bass lines during melodies by teaching you the relashonship between notes and chords. It's amazing what happens to a song when you start complementing the rhythm guitar instead of just playing along.

This site helped (hell, still is) me learn alot. The best one I could find. It's done by a piano teacher but it's the same for all music. http://www.circle-of-fifths.net/