Easy Soloing

by league (Mar 14, 2008)

For Begginers: You may have noticed that some songs have a different chord progression for a solo than for the rest of the song. This allows the soloist to break free from the chord progression. Also a simple riff is a great rhythm substitution when soloing.(e.g)Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth. I will use power chords to demonstrate how a simple chromatic progression can serve as a base for a pentatonic or minor scale solo or riff.


This is the rhythm riff but the power chords can also be used
A5 A#5 A5 A#5
e----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E---5-5-6-5--8-6----6-6--8-6--9-8----5-5-6-5--8-6----6-6--8-6--9-8-----------------


Now lets look at the solo that goes over this riff

Blues Scale
A5
e--------------------8-5------8-5---------------------------------------------------
B------------------------8-5------8-5-----------------------------------------------
G----------------5---------------------7-5-----------7-5-7--------------------------
D-----7-5--5-7hp---------------------------7--5-6-7---------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E---5-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a really basic solo and probably as simple as it gets. This song could have a chord progression of A A# E for the rest of the song but this backdrop makes the solo sound darker and faster. I know all the exotic minor scales can make a solo sound cool but when pentatonics are played fast, they can rattle your head(this is a good thing).