Guitar Cool: Licks and Ideas for Solos

Last issue I talked about playing the F minor pentatonic scale off each string. I hope you know them well and are ready to move on.

Many people think that when playing solos the more notes you play the better it will be. This stems from the common insecurity of wanting to fill up space. Most professional players however tend to do the opposite. They use a 'less is more' approach - and here are a few licks and ideas to get you used to the technique and the pentatonic scale.

In Example 1 there are three licks of one bar length. All use the F minor pentatonic scale beginning at the first position. They are all reasonably easy to play as I have written them, but you can change the rhythm or use any picking style you like.

Once you have these licks memorised it is time for you to put them into a professional sounding longer line or lick - the kind you can hear on many recordings today.

Example 2 uses the first lick played off the 6th string, then the same lick off the 4th string, then repeated again off the 2nd string. This type of idea is called repetition. Whenever you hear a repetitious sounding lick good players tend to finish it with a great conclusion, and the long F note concludes this example. When you hear the lick it sounds repetitive at first, but the conclusion makes it sound as if it wasn't repeating. What I call an aural illusion.

Now once you have got used to playing the first lick across the six strings it is time to play the other two licks in the same fashion. Take your time, especially with the last one, as it is a bit tricky.

Once you have those three licks going great it is time to put them into your solos. The ideas here will work in most rock or blues songs in the key of F. Of course you will need to be able to play them in all keys so work on that as well.

One thing you will notice straight away is the sense of space within the line as there is a rest in every bar and a good close, which is that 'less is more' approach. These licks will sound good over any style of modern music, but if for some reason they don't, then simply change them to suit your style.

Now it is time to put all your ideas into use by playing across the strings using the same technique. By using this approach you won't get bored playing in the same position, just running up and down scales like so many players do. You will be at least one step, melodically, ahead of the pack.

To hear what the music sounds like for this lesson, enter them into any music-writing program, or go to www.guitar.co.nz/free_lesson.php3

Have a great Christmas and New Year, practice hard and next year I will be back with some more great ideas to improve your abilities.

Kevin Downing is a professional guitarist, teacher, and author. He can be contacted through his website at www.guitar.co.nz or PO Box 4586, Palmerston North.