As you read this, you can probably imagine the exact aura of guitar players when stepping up for a solo: confident, transcendent, and often with some combination of smirks, snarls, and grimaces on their faces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When thinking about how to write a guitar solo, a binary exists between discipline and playing from the heart. A modern solo by St. Vincent might have more planned structure than one by Sister Rosetta Tharpe did, and Masayoshi Takanaka may stick to the album version while Tosin Abasi adapts them to how he feels at each show. Each guitarist finds their method to the madness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Writing a guitar solo is a compositional skill, and a teachable one\u2014though it’ll fall flat without heart behind it. In this guide, we dive into the foundational skills of song structure<\/a> and songwriting<\/a> to break down the holy, and at times intimidating, guitar solo. We\u2019ll explore the genres that emphasize improvisational solos as well as those that are more tight-to-the-plan, with polished, planned solos that sound the same on the record as they do in concert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Feel free to use the table of contents below to navigate to a specific section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s get started!<\/p>\n\n\n\n New subscribers can try all of Splice\u2014including 200 monthly sample download credits, full access to all premium INSTRUMENT presets, and more\u2014for $4.99\/mo.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n A guitar solo that blindly climbs up and down the basic scale of a song\u2019s key can often feel, while musically coherent, disconnected and unoriginal. Therefore, before writing a single note, start by considering what’s happening harmonically<\/a> underneath you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What key are we in, but in addition to that, how are the chords moving? Do you notice any unique coloration, such as something suspended<\/a> or diminished,<\/a> that you can interact with through the solo? Is anything sitting outside of the key, such as borrowed chords or secondary dominants?<\/p>\n\n\n\n You already know these answers if you composed the idea from scratch, but if you’re writing over a stack of samples you put together,<\/a> you might not know every intimate detail. Study the foundation to avoid missing opportunities to be playful, clever, and unforgettable.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat you’ll learn:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nHow to write a guitar solo over chords<\/h2>\n\n\n\n