Guitar solo

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The guitar is often used to provide rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment to a voice or other instrument, or is used as an integral part of an ensemble. However, solo parts for the guitar are commonly found in a number of different musical styles. These can take the form of a section in which the guitar is heard more prominently than other instruments and without vocal accompaniment, or in which the guitar may be played entirely unaccompanied.

Unaccompanied guitar music is found in folk and classical music dating as far back as the instrument has existed, and the use of a guitar as a solo voice within an ensemble dates back at least to the Baroque concerto. The guitar was also important in jazz (guitarist Charlie Christian was a key figure in the development of bebop) as well as being popular among blues musicians.

1 Guitar solos in rock music
- 1.1 Musical content of rock guitar solos
2 Bass Guitar Solos
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Guitar solos in rock music

Today the term guitar solo is commonly taken to refer specifically to the idiom of rock music. Although solo passages for guitar are found in many musical genres, the 'guitar solo' has an almost iconic place in rock.

Although in principle any kind of guitar can be used in a rock guitar solo, and counter-examples abound, the characteristic solo sound is created using an electric guitar with the timbral effect known as distortion -- traditionally this effect is obtained by driving an amplifier with a higher signal than usual, but an effects pedal is now commonly used to get similar effects. Rock bands sometimes have two guitarists, designated 'lead' and 'rhythm', the 'lead' player taking the solos while the 'rhythm' player accompanies. This arrangement is by no means universal, however.

Most examples of rock music are based around songs in very traditional forms. The main formal features are therefore verses, choruses, bridges and so on, all of which feature the voice as the only instrument. Generally speaking, the guitar solo constitutes the only significant instrumental (that is, non-vocal) section of a mainstream rock song. This use of an instrumental interlude to a song is of course very old, but probably the source in this case is performances by blues musicians like John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters, who were influential in the development of rhythm and blues (eg, Bo Diddley), rock and roll (eg Chuck Berry) and hence more modern forms of rock music.

In most cases, the rock guitar solo is a short instrumental section of the song. In the classic verse-chorus form it quite often falls between the second chorus and third verse, although of course there are many variations. There are, for example, well-known cases of extended guitar solos at the end of songs, such as Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird". In the progressive rock idiom, however, extended instrumental passages or even whole instrumental pieces became commonplace (for example, in the work of Yes and King Crimson). In live performances, an extended guitar solo may be a frequent feature even if in recordings solos are usually kept short; hard rock band AC/DC might be considered an example.

The accompaniment to the solo can vary. Probably the most common style is merely a continuation of verse and/or chorus instrumentation; in short, the solo is given the same backing as if it were a vocal passage. Other songs may feature rhythm parts written specifically for the solo, or occasionally no backing at all.

The use of the guitar solo in heavy metal music was especially notable during the 1980s, where a solo was a common feature for a guitar-based band and a lead guitarist who was highly-regarded might be as well-known as the singer. Later, guitarists who had developed considerable technical facility began to release albums which consisted only of guitar compositions; Joe Satriani and Steve Vai were among the most famous. Guitar solos in popular music, however, went out of fashion towards the end of the decade, and since then the guitar solo in pop and popular rock music declined in popularity; when present at all, solos tended to be more subdued and understated. Recently, rock band The Darkness included guitar solos in this style as part of their pastiches of 1980s heavy rock music. As the 2000s progressed, the guitar solo has faded out of mainstream pop-rock, pop-punk, and emo, but several guitar-based indie bands such as The Mars Volta have kept solos as critical parts of their songs.

[edit] Musical content of rock guitar solos

Many famous guitarists are known primarily for their solos; as with any instrumentalists, styles vary considerably and so what follows can only be a generalization.

Most rock guitarists compose their solos, perhaps based initially on improvisations, and are able to reproduce them exactly when a song is performed live. This is important in the case of famous solos which come to be seen as much a part of the song as the sung parts; this can contrast with jazz and blues guitarists who may not compose most of the content of their solos.

Since blues is the key source for rock music, the harmonic context of much traditional rock soloing is a single key-centre, without chromatic alterations. This also contrasts with jazz soloing in which 'running the changes' -- creating a melodic line that follows the underlying harmony -- is a key part of the style. Because of this, the melody of rock solos is generally based on scale choice rather than arpeggios of the underlying chords. However, several rock bands have approached guitar soloing in a manner that follows along with an often intricate underlying chord progression. This method of composing, when done correctly, can make for a very melodic--almost operatic--quality. Examples include "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Brian May (of Queen), and "Rest In Peace" by Nuno Bettencourt (of Extreme).

The minor pentatonic scale is a basic element of blues guitar solos. The idea is to contrast the flattened third and seventh scale degrees of the scale with the prevailing major tonality of the music underlying it. These so-called blue notes are often accentuated by 'bending' the pitch upwards towards the more consonant major third and root notes that lie above them. This gesture is characteristic of blues and jazz as well as rock. Some famous solos that are based on the minor pentatonic scale are "Comfortably Numb" by David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd), "Stairway to Heaven" by Jimmy Page (of Led Zeppelin), "Eruption" by Eddie Van Halen (of Van Halen), "Crazy Train" by Randy Rhoads (with Ozzy Osbourne)and "Floods" by Dimebag Darrell Abbott"Pantera"

Adding the second and (natural) sixth scale degrees to the minor pentatonic produces the Dorian mode. This is also widely-used in rock guitar solos, including those of Carlos Santana. Other major and minor modes are also characteristic of the rock style, as is the harmonic minor scale, which is particularly associated with neoclassical heavy metal.

Of course, in genres of music outside rock, and even on its margins, there are many variations.

[edit] Bass Guitar Solos

Although less common in popular music, some songs and bands also include bass guitar solos. Bass guitar solos are structured and performed in a similar fashion as a guitar solo, often with the musical accompaniment from the verse or chorus sections. While bass guitar solos appear on few studio albums from rock or pop bands, genres such as progressive rock, fusion-influenced rock, and some types of metal are more likely to include bass solos, both in studio albums and in live performances. Rock and pop bands are more likely to limit bass solos to live performances.

Bass solos are performed using a range of different techniques. Bass solos are often performed by using plucking or fingerpicking. In the 1960s, The Who's bassist, John Entwistle, performed a bass solo on the song "My Generation" using a pick; bass players from metal and punk rock styles often perform bass solos with a pick.

In the 1970s, funk bassists such as Larry Graham began using slapping and popping techniques for their bass solos, which coupled a percussive thumb-slapping technique of the lower strings with an aggressive finger-snap of the higher strings, often in rhythmic alternation. The slap and pop technique incorporates a large ratio of muted (or 'ghost' tones) to normal notes, to add to the rhythmic effect. Slapping and popping solos were prominent in the 1980s (e.g., with bassists such as Mark King from Level 42), and they are still used by more recent bands.

Metallica bassist Cliff Burton used bass solos frequently. His most famous being (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth featured on Metallica's Kill Em All album.

When playing bass solos, rock bassists sometimes use effects such as distortion or Wah-wah pedals to produce a more pronounced sound. Due to the lower range of the bass, bass guitar solos usually have a much lighter accompaniment than solos for other instruments; in some cases, the bass guitar solo is unaccompanied, or it is accompanied only by the drums.

Some bands and artists who use bass solos include Larry Graham, Cannibal Corpse, Rush, The Who, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, 311, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Kyuss, Manowar, Victor Wooten, punk rock band Rancid, TNT,Mudvayne, Green Day, and Primus to name (sort of) a few.