Solo Technique

[osiris]

I've only recently learnt to keyboard shred and find My speed and legato technique has improved. yet my actual melodic movement hasn't.

Does anyone have any tips for improving the melodies within solos.

only thing I can think of is maybe getting MIDI files of dream theater or symphony x keyboard solos n learning them. then without realising you pick up things from what you've learnt.

Anyone have any other useful methods to suggest. as I'm bored of just mindlessly shredding away without being able to throw in any catchy melodies.

Thanks guys

[romanticshred]

Shred consists of also arpeggios and you could maybe play a bunch of them and make them sound majestic.

Play scales musically with feeling.

[Ghostlord101]

Maybe try bringing your playing right back to basics, major scales and I-IV-V. Make sure that what your playing is what you hear inside your head and not jsut what your hands automatically play. you might want to try singing aloud the tune in your head to get this idea out and link the two. From then you can build up your playing from a melodic rather than technical point of view so it should develop fairly easily once you've got an ear for tune so you can make things more complicated.

The idea of this is that what you play sounds good to you and is what you want it to be, rather than simply reciting set patterns from your head.

[gylfih]

Blues scales. They always seem to work for me. Also, along with what the other guys have said, moving around the circle of fifths is always fun:biggrin:

[osiris]

Maybe try bringing your playing right back to basics, major scales and I-IV-V. Make sure that what your playing is what you hear inside your head and not jsut what your hands automatically play. you might want to try singing aloud the tune in your head to get this idea out and link the two. From then you can build up your playing from a melodic rather than technical point of view so it should develop fairly easily once you've got an ear for tune so you can make things more complicated.

The idea of this is that what you play sounds good to you and is what you want it to be, rather than simply reciting set patterns from your head.


Thanks a lot Ghostlord, I can see the logic behind that and it seems such an obvious suggestion now you've pointed it out. I'll have a try to that. thanks again.:biggrin:

[derickeys]

Blues scales. They always seem to work for me. Also, along with what the other guys have said, moving around the circle of fifths is always fun:biggrin:


Hi im not that new in playing but i just wanna ask some bits of ideas regarding what you said moving around the circle of fifths. Can you explain further more if you dont mind. Thanks!

[osiris]

Hi im not that new in playing but i just wanna ask some bits of ideas regarding what you said moving around the circle of fifths. Can you explain further more if you dont mind. Thanks!

I'm not 100% sure if this is right. But an educated guess, I would assume going round the circle of fifths would mean starting in Cmaj (0#s) then add an F#, which implies you're now in Gmaj, then add a C# which implies Dmaj and so on. and go round the cycle.

Can anyone back me up on this, or correct me :tongue:
haha

[Grey Loki]

I'm not 100% sure if this is right. But an educated guess, I would assume going round the circle of fifths would mean starting in Cmaj (0#s) then add an F#, which implies you're now in Gmaj, then add a C# which implies Dmaj and so on. and go round the cycle.

Can anyone back me up on this, or correct me :tongue:
haha

Correct! Basically, just running around the circle of fifths in either direction; it's a very easy way to improvise around a progression that sounds good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_fifths

The diagram in the top right is one that most music students ought to be familiar with ;)

[gylfih]

I can't add much to what's been said already, but my understanding is: if you start in Cmaj, you move to the key that is the dominant of the key you are in (i.e. chord V), which in Cmaj is G. Then, up a 5th to D, then A, then E, then B, then F# etc. The only bad thing with this is, if you do this for more than 5 jumps, you won't be able to tell the original key you were in anymore. And if you want to change key properly, throw in an augmented 4th. ( ie, from F to B, or C to F#).

[osiris]

Thanks for clearing that up Grey Loki, I'm pleased my educated guess was correct. Makes a change. haha :smile:

So if i recorded a really basic backing track just doing I IV V in Cmaj. and then did some basic scale based solo in C, then just add an F#, then a C# ontop and so on. thats all there is to going round the cycle of fiths?

thanks in advance.


and thanks everyone else for all the help and suggestions so far. greatly appreciated :biggrin:

[gylfih]

Thanks for clearing that up Grey Loki, I'm pleased my educated guess was correct. Makes a change. haha :smile:

So if i recorded a really basic backing track just doing I IV V in Cmaj. and then did some basic scale based solo in C, then just add an F#, then a C# ontop and so on. thats all there is to going round the cycle of fiths?

thanks in advance.


and thanks everyone else for all the help and suggestions so far. greatly appreciated :biggrin:
No, that's not all there is in it. You just keep going in 5ths for as long as you want. You'll eventually get back to C though (hence the name 'circle' of 5ths). So once you're in D (with F# and C#), you can move to A (with an added G#) etc.

Hope that clears it up a bit.

Edit: sorry, I just realised that you said 'go to G, then D and so on'. So yeah, that's all there is to it. But you have to realise that you're not in C and adding sharps, because you'll still be over a C backing track. It's actually changing key. Imagine what it would be like with a C and C# together. Eurgh.

[osiris]

No, that's not all there is in it. You just keep going in 5ths for as long as you want. You'll eventually get back to C though (hence the name 'circle' of 5ths). So once you're in D (with F# and C#), you can move to A (with an added G#) etc.

Hope that clears it up a bit.

Edit: sorry, I just realised that you said 'go to G, then D and so on'. So yeah, that's all there is to it. But you have to realise that you're not in C and adding sharps, because you'll still be over a C backing track. It's actually changing key. Imagine what it would be like with a C and C# together. Eurgh.


Thanks for that gylfih, so if i wanted to make a backing track to practise it to. (i sound obsessed haha.) but in a sort of symphony x style. with one chord palm muted on guitar, for say 4 or 8 bars. then go to the dominant key. and dominant again n so on and gradually work through it. would that work?

[osiris]

also...

I'm rather baffled by this thing rudess seems to do occasionally in his really big beasty synth lead solos.

he does it 2:33 into this video:-
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1G6RM6Qe7L8

its that sort of repeating three notes while slowly bending up with loadsa delay. or something like that. it sounds beast. but i dont have much of an idea how he does that :eek:

anyone know :frown:

Cheers again guys

[gylfih]

Thanks for that gylfih, so if i wanted to make a backing track to practise it to. (i sound obsessed haha.) but in a sort of symphony x style. with one chord palm muted on guitar, for say 4 or 8 bars. then go to the dominant key. and dominant again n so on and gradually work through it. would that work?
Yeah, that'd work. Or you could have 4/8 bars of progressions (like I-IV-V) in C, then have a modulation bar going I-II-III-IV into the next key in the circle. Does that make sense? You can also move backwards in this. Say if you're in C, you can move back to F (because C is the dominant of F).

[osiris]

Yeah, that'd work. Or you could have 4/8 bars of progressions (like I-IV-V) in C, then have a modulation bar going I-II-III-IV into the next key in the circle. Does that make sense? You can also move backwards in this. Say if you're in C, you can move back to F (because C is the dominant of F).

Ah, i think i get what you mean. Think just for speed of learning if i do a backing track. i'll just do one bar chord rather than a progression. symphony x do it. so why the hell not?! :tongue:

Thanks gylfih

[derickeys]

Hi guys!! Thanks for the circle of fifth solo technique,, it really does educate me alot. :smile:

One more thing,, the circle of fifths im already familiar with, but do you mean if i.e the bass player is in Cmaj for lets say 16 bars.. then you could do the circle of fifths in C and so on as a solo?? Sorry but im really new in prog rock solo and thanks.