There’s way more to it than simply mastering chords and scales.
Intermediate
Beginner
- Understand the importance of structure and space within guitar leads.
- Learn the power and importance of articulation and motivic development.
- Construct leads that take the listener on a journey.
Structure
When it comes to creating an iconic guitar solo from scratch, structure is everything. Though the three classic solos named above are wildly different in tone, style, and nearly everything else, one thing they all have in common is a clear, concise structure. Structure can be dictated by a number of factors. For instance, the structure of your solo could be dictated by the form of the song itself. If the form in the accompaniment changes as your solo progresses, as it does in countless songs (including one of my all-time favorite solos, George Harrison’s lead on “Something”), the structure is pretty much laid out for you. It’s just a matter of letting the song take its course and following along.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you are simply playing over a loop of a single riff or chord progression, the structure of your lead then falls entirely on your shoulders. How do you create a sense of structure where there is none?
Motivic Development
The cornerstone of melodic writing is the motif, which is defined as a brief melodic or rhythmic idea used as the basis for a larger musical composition. When soloing, having a motif to develop over the course of your solo—or even just having one to fall back on after you melodically deviate from it—can come in very handy. By using a motif (or even several motifs), you immediately ground your lead and give the listener something familiar to recognize and latch onto. To be an effective and melodic soloist, it’s important to know how to skillfully develop a motif. Ex. 1 shows a solo over a 12-bar blues in the key of A, starting with a simple motif. Over the rest of the solo this motif is developed in several variations that get progressively complex.
You can also leave motifs as musical breadcrumbs—little ideas that pop in and out, with or without variations, to provide a sense of unity to a solo that is otherwise through-composed, or played without depending on motivic development. A great example of this approach is David Gilmour’s iconic “Comfortably Numb” solo, which features several pentatonic motifs with slight variations in the course of awe-inspiring through-composed blues phrasing. Ex. 2 is based around the chord progression from “Comfortably Numb” in the key of B minor. A simple pentatonic motif is introduced in the first measure, then is reintroduced and built upon in measure four. The rest of the solo between this motif and its variations is through-composed, à la Gilmour’s breathtaking lead.
Articulation
When we think of melody, we typically think of the human voice as the instrument of choice. So naturally, a great place to start when learning to solo more melodically is to understand how vocalists interpret melody. Vocalists practically never hit a note straight on with no inflection. Good vocalists know how to embellish a melody through articulation. Great vocalists know how to control every aspect of every note to get the most out of it. To be a better, more melodic soloist, you need that kind of control.
The way you play a note is as important as the note itself. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to practice articulating your phrases in as many ways as your hands can conjure. For guitarists, this means incorporating techniques like string bends, slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and vibrato. Ex. 3 shows a simple A major pentatonic (A–B–C#–E–F#) melodic phrase, first played without any articulation, then reinterpreted several times using a variety of articulations. Because the way these notes are played is completely different in every case, each lick has a slightly different flavor. Try this with any lick in your arsenal. Use these articulations in as many ways as you can dream up. Be creative.
The Final Frontier
Space is often the unsung hero of great leads. Brief stretches of musical silence not only emphasize the phrases that immediately precede them—thus giving listeners a chance to process what they’ve just heard—but they create anticipation for what is to come next. Many guitarists (myself included, until I came to the above realization) try to fill their solos with as many ideas as they can, leaving absolutely no room to breathe. This everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach often leaves listeners cold because they’re never given a chance to process what they’re hearing. I liken it to listening to someone speak who doesn’t know how to end a sentence or stop to take a breath. You’re quickly going to lose the thread of what they are saying, and eventually you’re going to stop caring about what they had to say in the first place.
Guitarists are notoriously afraid of silence. When I was struggling with this problem in my musical adolescence, I was afraid that listeners would think I was running out of ideas if I wasn’t playing something at any given moment. But on the contrary, incorporating space into your leads shows that you have supreme confidence in your playing and musical choices.
The Arc of Your Lead
Think of your solo as a story you want to tell. Every good story needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. A great solo is bound by the same rules. You need a starting point, some rising action, a climax, and ultimately a conclusion. This boils down to movement. If your lead languishes in the same place for too long, you risk losing the listener’s interest, so you have to build momentum in your solo.
There are a number of ways to do this, including speeding up the rhythm of your phrasing and guiding your phrases up or down the neck. A common arc in great solos finds the player gradually working up from a low point to a high point, either in terms of pitch, complexity, or rhythm, or some mix of the three. Jimmy Page’s “Stairway to Heaven” solo is a perfect example of this. He starts the solo in 5th position, briefly moves up the fretboard, then back down, then a little further up, back down, and so on in that fashion, inching his way up the neck a little further each time until he makes the triumphant leap up to the 17th position for that iconic 16th-note-triplet pull-off lick to finish it out. I’m pumped up just thinking about it!
If you were to transcribe Page’s solo and draw one continuous line through each and every notehead, the line would move up and down in a wave-like fashion, showing lots of melodic interest when you zoom in on any given measure. But if you zoom out and look at the lead as a whole, you would see the arc of the entire lead starts low, works its way up and up, fakes you out for a second by dipping down right before its climax, and then jumps to its ultimate peak. I honestly can’t think of a more impeccable command of compositional structure in all guitardom than Jimmy Page’s solo on “Stairway to Heaven.”
If you keep all these things in mind, you’ll be cooking up stellar leads worthy of your guitar heroes in no time!
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The Cure return after 16 years with Songs of a Lost World, out November 1. Listen to "Alone" now.
Songs from the record were previewed during The Cure's 90-date, 33-country Shows Of A Lost World tour, for more than 1.3 million people to overwhelming fan and critical acclaim.
"Alone," the first song released from the album, opened every show on the tour and is available to stream now. The band will reveal the rest of the tracklisting for the record over the coming weeks at http://www.songsofalost.world/ and on their social channels.
Speaking about "Alone," the opening track on Songs Of A Lost World , Robert Smith says, "It's the track that unlocked the record; as soon as we had that piece of music recorded I knew it was the opening song, and I felt the whole album come into focus. I had been struggling to find the right opening line for the right opening song for a while, working with the simple idea of ‘being alone’, always in the back of my mind this nagging feeling that I already knew what the opening line should be… as soon as we finished recording I remembered the poem ‘Dregs' by the English poet Ernest Dowson… and that was the moment when I knew the song - and the album - were real."
Initially formed in 1978, The Cure has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, headlined the Glastonbury festival four times and been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. They are considered to be one of the most influential bands to ever come out of the UK.
Songs Of A Lost World will be released as a 1LP, a Miles Showell Abbey Road half-speed master 2LP, marble-coloured 1LP, double Cassette, CD, a deluxe CD package with a Blu-ray featuring an instrumental version of the record and a Dolby Atmos mix of the album, and digital formats.
Walrus Audio's MAKO MkII Series offers premium all-in-one, multi-algorithm pedals with improved tonality, new UI, and added controls for versatility. Featuring new amplifier models, OLED navigation screens, and updated programs based on user feedback, these pedals are designed for inspiring studio-grade tones.
Walrus Audio is excited to announce the release of their highly ambitious and highly anticipated MAKO MkII series. With the original MAKO line, players were offered premium all-in-one, multi-algorithm models for with the D1 Delay, R1 Reverb, and M1 Modulation, as well as top-of-the-line amp and cabinet simulation with the ACS1. After four years of real-world use and experience with the first generation, the team went to work applying everything they learned and heard from players to make the next generation of MAKO pedals even better.
Each pedal in the MAKO Series has been redesigned and rebuilt for vast improvements in tonality, new UI with the addition of an OLED navigation menu screen, and added secondary controls for even greater versatility. Dialing in these inspiring studio grade tones has never been easier and has never sounded better.
The ACS1 MkII features three new amplifier models to go with the three existing models, all inspired by high-gain amps for heavy-style players to get people moving:
- The distinctively raw and punchy Peavey® 5150.
- The warm, rich, and harmonically complex Orange® Rockerverb.
- The world-famous, in-your-face Mesa Boogie® Dual Rectifier.
Additional updates on the series are as follows:
- OLED navigation screen menu for improved UI.
- Increased headroom and lowered noise floor for tonal improvement.
- Rebuilt and fine tuned programs based on user feedback.
- All six R1 programs completely rebuilt from the ground up.
- All new Grain Delay algorithm on the D1.
- Six additional cabinet models for the ACS1, designed by Justin York at York Audio.
- Total BPM Control and BPM Readout on screen for time-based effects.
- Now 128 on-board presets.
- Many new program controls (ex. size control on R1, noise gate on ACS1).
- Flanger sound added to the Chorus algorithm on M1.
MAKO MkII Series pedals are packaged in custom anodized aluminum enclosures. Exact sizes for all four pedals is 4.9” x2.52” x 2.64”. Power requirement for all four pedals is 9VDC (300mA minimum).
Walrus Audio is offering the R1 MkII, D1 MkII, and M1 MkII for $399.99. The ACS1 MkII is offered at $449.99. All are available for preorder now at walrusaudio.com and through authorized dealers with expected shipment starting in mid-October.
For more information, please visit walrusaudio.com.
Warm Audio Introduces the WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato & Pedal76 Compressor Pedal
Introducing the WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato and Pedal76 from Warm Audio, faithful recreations of legendary studio gear in pedal form. The WA-C1 offers lush chorus and vibrato tones with modern upgrades, while the Pedal76 delivers professional studio compression for guitar and bass players. Available now at authorized retailers worldwide.
Warm Audio, the leading manufacturer of faithful recreations of legendary recording gear and guitar pedals, today announces the release of two new pedals. Introducing the WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato, a faithful recreation of the most celebrated chorus in guitar pedal history with a 100% analog preamp and additional no-compromise features for exploring legendary modulated tones. Additionally, Warm Audio is releasing the Pedal76, an all-analog, transformer-balanced FET compressor pedal that accurately reproduces one of the fastest and most powerful studio compressors of all time known for ultra-responsive dynamic control with rich analog tone. The WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato (MSRP $189 | 219 € inc.VAT | £189 inc. VAT) and Pedal76 (MSRP $269 | 299 € inc. VAT | £259 inc. VAT) are available at launch at authorized retailers worldwide.
“This launch is exciting and unique for us. We’ve applied the Warm Formula to deliver the OG ofbold chorus sounds and we’re thrilled to authentically bring that tone back to pedalboards. Additionally, we’re leveraging our 10-year expertise in 76-style studio compression to create a compressor pedal that not only delivers premium studio performance but is loaded with additional features & controls to make it a heavy-hitter in its own right,” said Bryce Young, founder & president of Warm Audio. “The WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato not only brings back that iconic, lush chorus sound and rich, three-dimensional vibrato, but the high-quality preamp inside delivers pure, all-analog tone that just can’t be replicated by digital emulations.”
Young continues, “With Pedal76, we’re excited to bring the high-quality circuit and premium components of our WA76 studio compressor to pedalboards for controlling dynamics on stage without squashing character. With the added features and stage-friendly circuit, we’ve ensured that Pedal76 plays nice with both your rig and a live sound mixing board, while providing additional boost as needed. We’ve intentionally designed Pedal76 to be the ultimate all-analog compressor pedal for guitarists and bass players.”
WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato
The WA-C1 is built upon a true-to-original circuit design and a premium, 100% analog preamp that lives up to the demand for ultra-responsiveness on stage. Matched to the renowned original, the all-analog preamp features level control that adds bite, depth, and even some natural compression to guitar tones, even in bypass mode. The chorus setting features separate depth and rate controls to expand beyond the limitations of vintage units while preserving the legendary tone. These separate controls (vs. the vintage “intensity” control) allow for adjusting depth and rate independently to dial in more depth and slower rates for even richer chorus tones. Just like the vintage units, the WA-C1 delivers lush midrange depth and detail associated with proper Bucket Brigade Device analog chorus pedals and has a stereo output. When it’s time to add true wobble, the vibrato section of the WA-C1 is authentic to the original pedal delivering added speed and bounce to the tone. Leveraging a modern BBD chip recreation with other premium components and boutique build quality, the WA-C1 is carefully clocked to match the depth and rate of the original pedal to reproduce the detail expected from the most sought-after vintage pieces.
While maintaining true-to-original tones, the WA-C1 delivers some modern upgrades to the experience. The WA-C1 features a selectable impedance on the back panel to select between the vintage input impedance of 50k ohm and a 1.1M Hi-Z setting that allows players to compensate for higher impedance of guitars vs. keyboards and to add clarity to the high-end on guitars, if desired. This switch also works in bypass mode to maintain clarity. To deliver the appropriate voltage associated with the original, the WA-C1 is supported internally with a dualDC-DC voltage converter to deliver robust power when using a standard external 9V power supply. The WA-C1 adds a flashing LED for effect monitoring, showing which setting is engaged along with the rate of the modulation.
Introducing WA-C1 | Stereo Chorus & Vibrato Pedal With Depth & Rate Controls - YouTube
Pedal76
For over 10 years, Warm Audio has been building a premium, award-winning 76-style studio compressor, the WA76. With expertise in building this circuit and knowing what drives the sought-after tone of the most coveted dynamic control, Warm Audio now delivers truly professional, full-feature compression for the pedalboard. Pedal76 features a custom CineMagtransformer that is spec’d to duplicate the performance and tone of the studio units in a pedalboard-friendly format. Premium capacitors, resistors, and transistors round out a circuit that cuts no corners in delivering an authentic studio experience on stage. The added harmonic depth from the FET circuit and rich tone preservation from the custom transformer blend perfectly to recreate the ultimate compressor for guitar and bass players. Pedal76 features Attack & Release, Ratio, and Input controls, critical for taming unwanted changes in volume on stage. Pedal76 also has added features optimized for live performances including an external switch for true and buffered bypass operation, ensuring the compressor plays nice in your rig. Switches for input sensitivity, ground/lift, pad engagement and high/low gain modes (both for DI operation) provide added utility at gigs or in the studio. The separate balanced (DI) out also sends proper signal to the mixer or live recording rig, with the high gain mode adding grit and rich transformer tone.
For more information, please visit warmaudio.com.
Pedal76 Deep Dive With Founder Bryce Young | All-Analog Transformer-Balance FET Compressor Pedal - YouTube
Universal Audio Introduces the Enigmatic '82 Overdrive Special Amp Pedal
Experience the legendary tones of the Enigmatic '82 Overdrive Special Amp emulator from Universal Audio Inc. Featuring dual-engine processing and world-class UAD modeling, this pedal captures the iconic "D-style" tube tones of guitar greats like John Mayer and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Explore customizable options and classic mic/speaker combinations for authentic ODS tones.
Universal Audio Inc. (UA), a worldwide leader in audio production tools, including the popular Apollo and Volt audio interfaces, UAD plug-ins, and UA microphones, is proud to welcome the Enigmatic '82 Overdrive Special Amp emulator to the award-winning UAFX guitar pedal lineup.
Built on powerful dual-engine processing and world-class UAD modeling, Enigmatic ‘82 Overdrive Special Amp gives guitarists the mythical "D-style" tube tones made famous by John Mayer, StevieRay Vaughan, Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Joe Bonamassa, and Carlos Santana.*
With exclusive access to numerous original Overdrive Special amplifiers, UA perfectly captured the sound and feel of custom Overdrive Special amps spanning 30 years — from the first 1970’s SantaCruz models to later iterations built in Los Angeles in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
By emulating the Overdrive Special's colorful FET preamp and HRM overdrive voicings and mysterious tone stack mods — including the late-’80s Skyliner option — Enigmatic '82 gives guitarists the crystalline clean tones and touch-sensitive, blooming grind that made the OverdriveSpecial the most lusted after amplifier ever built.
"With original Overdrive Specials, there was constant innovation in every amp," says UniversalAudio Sr. Product Designer James Santiago. "Each circuit tweak revolved around the player’s touch, and the desire for tones that made their personal style musically speak. With Enigmatic '82, we're giving players of all genres the evolving magic that made these amps so legendary with more customization than we've ever put in a UAFX pedal."
Enigmatic '82 Overdrive Special Amp Pedal - $399
For more information, please visit uaudio.com.
Key Features:
- A complete emulation of the mythical Overdrive Special amps made famous by Stevie RayVaughan, Robben Ford, John Mayer, Joe Bonamassa, and Carlos Santana*
- Jazz, Rock, and Custom modes offer cloud-like cleans, creamy overdrive, and bloomingstring-to-string definition heard on countless records
- 9 classic mic/speaker combinations, plus '70s Santa Cruz, late-‘80s Skyliner, and ‘90s HotRubber Monkey (HRM) preamp mods for authentic ODS tones
- Groundbreaking physical room modeling derived from award-winning OX Amp Top Box
- UAFX mobile app lets users fine tune tones using hidden amp tweaks, EQs, and mods foundin original ODS amplifiers from the '70s-'90s
- Timeless UA design, feel, and craftsmanship, built to last decades