Guitar Soloing - The Secret of a Great Start To Your Solo!

Guitar Soloing - 3 Tips for a Great Start to Your Solo! Get a powerful start to your rock guitar soloing every time with these 3 great tips. A powerful start to your solo will grab the listeners attention and make them pay attention to what you're playing, a weak start to your guitar solo and they might not even listen at all.

Use these 3 tips for your guitar soloing which will make people listen and have more impact every time!

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Guitar Soloing - 3 Tips for a Great Start to Your Solo!

Here's what you learn in this guitar lesson:

00:50 A bad start to your guitar solo can spoil it from the start. Here I demo how lots of players start their solos. It doesn't really grab the listeners attention and make them want to hear the rest.

1:21 When we play a guitar solo we need to 'set it up' and announce to the listener that a solo is coming. If we just stumble into our first lick then we're not doing this. How can we do it?

1:39 Guitar Soloing Tip 1 - 'Dig In'

We need to attack the notes and play them like we mean them! Commit to the notes you're playing and deliver them with confidence and conviction. This alone will make a huge difference to your solos and how they start. Techniques like palm muting, and vibrato as well as decorative touches like sliding into your first note can help make your first phrase much more compelling.

2:24 Guitar Soloing Tip 2 - 'Bending'

Starting your solo with a bend is an easy way to get a better start because bending can be one of the coolest sounds we can make on guitar. I'm soloing over a backing track in the key of A minor and I'm using A blues scale to solo with. Here I show you some common and powerful bending moves from this scale.

4:06 Guitar Soloing Tip 3 - 'Pick Up Into Your Solo'

'Picking up' into your solo is a very powerful soloing tool. Instead of just 'playing' your first note you can 'lead into' it with a simple phrase that sets up or introduces your solo. Hear me demo this soloing tip this several times over the backing track.
Using a 'pick up' is something we hear in all the great players solos. It's a simple device but it really works.

5:45 Remember there are no 'rules' to playing a great solo so don't follow these guidelines rigidly! Just experiment with each one and see how you can use it. You'll quickly hear a difference to the start of your solos if you're not using these devices already.

Want to practice starting your solos over the exact backing track I use in this lesson?

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[bza]

this guy is an awesome player and teacher. good content...minimal nonsense

[nerenahd]

Man, this guy deserves way more subscribers. I would not be naive and say James is the best teacher on YouTube (of course there is no such thing). But I'll say that his channel is the one I learn the most from. Thanks a lot man.

[Mikeshawtoday]

Thanks, James ! I play flute and this is just as helpful for me as well. I can slide into a note as well, and lead-in etc. Thank you!

[ricomajestic]

Great stuff James! Would love to see a video on transition licks between sections of a solo and some ways to end a solo?

[Dcba]

Hotel california solo is just a fantastic example of your 3 tips all in one! A slide, a huge bend, and beginning just before the beat....

[AdamWolfDeville]

Awesome topic ... did a lil practicing but my recording only seemed to record one channel so i have to try again lol prob a good thing, i def have some phrasing issues, was sorta sight reading the scale diagram.. hahah

[Voniceman]

Nice video. Where do you get The backing tracks from 👍

[troyfrost]

James " I bending on my Les paul. I can't get it to ring and sound like your bend. Can you give me a tip of what I might be doing roung please thanks . troyster

[Jaxhaz]

James are all licks bends etc on a count, to fit into a bar

[noelhoekstra]

With all those options, you just cant start wrong.. if you do, stop playing guitar.