Play Better Guitar Solos By Avoiding Common Mistakes Of Boring Solos

Your guitar solos start becoming creative and inspiring when you avoid the mistakes most guitarists make while soloing.

This happens when:

1. You do the things explained in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhZIJqP7z48

2. You correct the following mistakes guitar players make that make their guitar solos sound boring:

 

Mistake #1. Focusing On Which Notes Are Being Used Instead Of Improving How The Notes Are Played

It’s a (common) mistake to believe that playing great guitar solos is all about memorizing a bunch of licks, using licks from solos, memorizing new scales or focusing on technique all the time.

These things mostly focus on what notes to play, but great guitar solos require understanding how to play notes.

This general concept is called phrasing.

When you improve your guitar phrasing, your solos sound more like music instead of just random licks thrown together, scale patterns or robotic exercises.

Get started improving your phrasing by improvising a short phrase over a backing track.

Try to think of 25 different ways you can play the phrase without changing the original pitch of the notes (such as using vibrato, bends, legato, etc.).

 

Mistake #2. Vibrato Isn't Used Much Or Ever

Vibrato technique is critical for giving your guitar playing the sound of a human voice.

Mastering this technique is part of becoming a much more musically expressive guitar player.

Here are some tips to improve your vibrato and use it to express yourself while soloing:

• Make sure your vibrato is in-tune by always bending up to the exact pitch you want to match and releasing the bend back to the pitch of the original note. Don't release it in between the two.
• Keep your vibrato in control by practicing with a metronome. Bend the string up on beat one and release it on beat two.

  Continue this pattern to make sure your vibrato is consistent and not fast sometimes, slow other times.

• While soloing, focus on using different kinds of vibrato such as wide/fast or narrow/slow. Some vibrato feels more intense (such as wide/fast) – use it during the climax of your guitar solo.

 

Mistake #3. Not Trying To Create Specific Emotions During Solos

Many guitarists just play solos by using the correct scale to match the key of the chords they are playing over.

You make your guitar solos truly expressive by learning the specific emotions that notes create while played over specific chords.

For instance: the root of an A minor chord (A) feels relaxed, but playing a minor 3rd (C) over it creates a tense feeling of loneliness or desperation.

Avoiding the three mistakes in this article put you on the path to playing killer solos of your own, but it’s just the beginning.

Want to discover more ways to make your guitar solos sound awesome?

Check out this article on how to play better guitar solos and get tips to help you play solos more creatively.