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List of Soloing Techniques
Article Tags: solo technique
i've been working on a 'book' about soloing. When learning scales, a common use is the solo with them. But, many times players don't know what to 'say' musically with the scales. I compiled this list of techniques to help. The idea is to rely on what you can do with a guitar and pick/fingers. No external effects or whammy bars. I'm sure this list is not complete but it gives a very good picture.


  • Accent: Accent is adding volume or emphasis to a note.

  • Arpeggio: An arpeggio is a series of notes that skips some scale notes.

  • Bend: Play a note and bend the string. You can bend and hold, bend and release, bend repeatedly, etc.

  • Cadence: Three notes that ascend or descend and end on the middle note, like 1-2-3-2.

  • Double Stop: Play two notes on two strings next to each other like the E and B.

  • Hammer-On (slur): Pick a note and hammer-on a higher note.

  • Melody: This can be a variation on the melody of the song or something new. Creating a melody and moving it around and adding flair (ornaments, in musical terms).

  • Mordent: A quick pull-off then hammer-on, like a single trill. Inverted mordent are hammer-on then pull-off.

  • Pull-Off (slur): Similar to hammer-ons, pull-offs can be rhythmic or accent.

  • Run: A run is a series of scale notes.

  • Slide: Slide from one note to another. Depending on the speed of the slide, you can achieve a portamento effect.

  • Tapping: Related to trills, tapping uses the pick hand to fret notes.

  • Tremolo: Tremolo is picking the same note rapidly.

  • Trill: Trills are often performed by a quick slur (hammer-on and pull-off). In a guitar solo a trill is a good transition to tapping.

  • Vibrato: Vibrato is fluctuating the pitch of a note.



In the 'book' I working on explanations and examples for each ending with solo analysis and how to use the techniques together. The project is in the editing phase so I hope to have it finished soon.



Added on: 2009 10 18
 
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