Composing solos... Improvise or not to improvise.

[khabibissell]

Just out of curiosity, how do you guys compose solos when writing originals? Would you go up on stage and just wing it or try to have something prepared in advance? I like to be prepared and work things out ahead of time. The guys in my band and always telling me to "just play what you feel". I think you can get yourself into trouble that way 'cause sometimes the mojo is flowing and other times it's not. Fills are a different story.

Let's hear your methods. [img]/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif[/img]

[Boxcar Willie 84]

Re: Composing solos... Improvise or not to improvise.

I like having a basic idea of what I'm doing, but I'm way not smart enough to remember everything that I do each time. But having a basic framework is good. I guess doing what fits the song the best is really the best way.

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: Composing solos... Improvise or not to improvise.

I just improvise over the underlying chords where the solo is supposed to be, if it is limited in what I can do i change the chord construction. I have no problem improvising at all live if I already have heard the backing track and did a few dry runs. Ideally live and creating are 2 different things, I'd much rather have 70% constructed solos and feel the rest. An audience should't hear you noodling and hitting some wrong notes or out of time...that belongs in the creative process...once you know what you going to do you can take it to the stage.

[Lauri]

Re: Composing solos... Improvise or not to improvise.

Ill try allways if possible to visualize couple scales what i use for that solo in this song "x". You can allways try new positions and notes ofcource. And what allways sounds good.

But THE BEST feeling comes when you havent prepared the solo and it comes through the heart [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[shredmonster]

Re: Composing solos... Improvise or not to improvise.

I do both. Reason is because if you wing it all the time you always sound pretty much the same. Listen to Yngwie for example - he improvises a few solos over each song and pics the best. But it always sounds the same.

Compare that to the variety of Michael Schenker of Steve Vai - not that they are better guitarists than Yngwie. But they prepare their solos and scratch down ideas to use later. That way their solos don't always sound the same.

I just think different situations call for different approaches especially if you want variety in your sound.

[David Dineen]

Re: Composing solos... Improvise or not to improvise.

being spontaneus is great; however, i notice if i don't prepare something before i play, i have a tendency to fall back on my 3 or 4 "signature" riffs...which makes me feel like my playing is stagnant.

[Outlander]

Re: Composing solos... Improvise or not to improvise.

I like to record the rhythum track,and play with it, go with the attitude of the song improvising and building musically. The parts I like I keep.Once I'm fairly happy with it I'll try it again in a different style just to see where else it might go.Sometimes I'll use the different ideas and styles and try to mix them together.It keeps things more interesting, to me anyhow.Then I'll record it with the rhythum and play along with it more.
Then when you play it live you still have all these (root) ideas to improvise with as well as the concrete structure of the tune to rely on as well and you play it the way you feel.
However I have found that once I decided what worked best for the song I always play it the same....usually...sometimes we all have to go off on a tangent though....keeps things interesting.

[jazzman]

Re: Composing solos... Improvise or not to improvise.

I would play off of (not copy) some of the melody. Build up and try to make it different, but keep the feel of the tune. If I didn't know what to try, I would just shredd and try to be faster and cleaner than anyone else. lol

[Twisteramps]

Re: Composing solos... Improvise or not to improvise.

Heck, I even improv solos on the covers my band does unless it's a signature part or someone that I really like... I'll get decently close to Randy Rhoads stuff, and Night Ranger, and Van Halen... but a lot of stuff I'll just go for it. When I was in an original band, I'd improv the solos and if something really sounded good I'd remember it, and add to it... the solos generally got better as the song aged, but every now and then I'd either get one that was a lot better or a lot worse. It's more fun than writing out a part and doing the exact same thing all the time, in my opinion. Part of playing live should involve at least some jamming/improv, at least to keep the songs from getting too boring.

Pete

[taxistationary]

Re: Composing solos... Improvise or not to improvise.

I think that even if your writing an original piece, throw a few unwritten bars in, just to save for improvising. This is something that I came up with recently, because I find that playing the same lead parts over and over can become very boring. Thats why when I was in a gigging cover band, and I would always improvise leads or solos, just to spice things up on stage. That's the best thing in the world to feel the raw energy and just blast a solo or lead out that comes right from all the energy and stamina you feel at the time, not some pre-practiced lick or run.