new band, guitar solo's

[Mr Grady]

hi guys

im in a band for the first time, its a five piece, good friends who are work mates too.
we are covering classic rock/punk songs from wild thing to pretty vacant.
my question is this.........
do we really need mega guitar solos in the songs? for example, 7 nation army and smells like teen spirit are about our standard, but paranoid? forget it!
if there is anyone else in the same position, what do you do at live gigs?
our first one is planned in about 6 - 8 months time, keep your fingers crossed for us!
take care all.

[peter6725]

you could do what my old bands guitarist did
pull a solo out of his ass on the night and hope nobody notices:P
the majority of the time nobody did...and if they did he just said "its our interpritation of the song"
id recomend playing
sweet dreams (are made of these)- manson
Blitztreig Bop- Ramones
these two songs went down a treat with the crowd and were a piece of piss to play/learn

[Lucas G]

so your guitar players can't play leads? nice. perhaps they might consider practicing?

[Jazz Hands]

Yes people will notice. IMO - do it right or don't do it at all. Minor alterations are acceptable, leaving out an entire solo is not.

[Valerus]

Originally Posted by Jazz Hands

Yes people will notice. IMO - do it right or don't do it at all. Minor alterations are acceptable, leaving out an entire solo is not.

They'll be expecting it, and if you can't/don't deliver it, then they'll tear you apart.

[CapnSev]

Have you seen what happens to your band when you blow a solo in Guitar Hero?

Wait until real life where you might get paid...

[punkbassistfc]

yep, learn the song as it is. If it has a solo, then you must do it. Otherwise, see above

[bkbirge]

put a bass solo in instead

[jollygiantchris]

Go watch the Fallout Boy video on youtube where they cover Pantera's Walk and don't play the solo then read the comments, that could be you :P

You don't have to do THE solo but you should do A solo.

[mike.b]

if the song has a solo in it you do it or you'll get a 'you suck' reputation. my band's old guitarist missed out his solo to 'jump' by van halen and EVERYBODY noticed.weird thing is he could play it but he lacked confidence.never forgot his red face that night.

[El-Bob]

i don't think you should do the original solo note for note though, just keep it in the same key, and use the same scales and whatnot, but make it unique to your version of the song (i guess this should be directed at your guitarist)

[Rocketpriest]

Yep, the solo must stay - have you heard Cake's cover of Warp Pigs? Ouch. Bad scene.

Also, Sweet Dreams is a great tune, Manson's version or the original Eurythmics version, not that there's all that much difference (kind of like his cover of Personal Jesus, pretty true to the original). Depends on the audience whether or not you want it heavier/faster. Part of that one's appeal is in its weird tranciness though.

good luck and have fun, in any case.

[Rattman]

Have the guitarist do their homework. They will be better players if they develope some self-discipline. As others have said several times: Learn the guitar solos or lose the song(s) that they can't handle (yet).

[Bass Aficionado]

If you look around, you will find that a lot of more modern songs don't have solos. Don't amputate part of a classic. There are plenty of straight forward three and four chord rockers that don't require your guitarist to noodle up and down the neck right off the bat.

[bassaficionado6]

^^^^ Hey, nice name.

[marcox]

Make imaginative cover choices and give them your own spin. No one will question the missing solo if you're doing a trad country version of an '80s hair metal song, or vice versa.