For a list of songs and their keys click here. To learn how to figure out the key of a song click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.
To make up solos on lead guitar you just use the super simple solo pattern. On this web page you'll discover how to:
A. Solo in the Key of G
First you'll discover how to solo right away using the super simple solo pattern in the key of G, because that's the easiest key to solo in.
B. Solo in any key
Then you'll discover how to solo in any key by moving the super simple solo pattern to different locations on the guitar.
A. Make Up Solos in the Key of G
To make up solos in the key of G just follow three simple steps:
1 CREATE a Back-Up Song in the Key of G!
2 DISCOVER the Super Simple Solo Pattern!
3 MAKE UP a Lead Guitar Solo!
Here's an example:
Make Up Solos in the Key of G
1 CREATE a Back-Up Song in the Key of G!
When you solo on guitar you usually play along with a back-up song, but you don't have to. You'll learn how to solo with or without a back-up song in this example.
Or you can solo over this free guitar jam track in the key of G. Just push play.
Free Guitar Jam Track
In The Key of G
If you don't want to play along to any music that's ok, you'll learn how to alternate between strumming and soloing in step 3. This way you can play individual notes in between the chords and you don't need a back-up song.
Here are chords in the key of G:
Here's a back-up song in the key of G:
2 DISCOVER the Super Simple Solo Pattern!
To make up solos in the key of G use the super simple solo pattern on the right.
Listen to the Pattern
The black dots show you which notes you can play.
The left of the diagram shows you which finger to use for each note. To play the notes along the top of the diagram you just play the string by itself (as an open string without any fingers on it).
At first, play the notes one at a time in the order shown.
So to play the firstnote, just pluck the low Estring by itself. To play the secondnote, place your middlefinger on the 3rdfret of the low Estring and pluck that string.
To play the thirdnote, pluck the Astring by itself. To play the fourthnote, place your indexfinger on the 2ndfret of the Astring and pluck that string.
To play the rest of the notes just follow the diagram. Then play the notes in the reverse order.
Listen to the Pattern in
Reverse Order
Once you get comfortable playing the notes in order, then you can skip around as long as you only play the notes in this pattern.
3 MAKE UP a Solo!
Make up a solo as you play along with the back-up song by playing any notes in the solo pattern.
If you can't record your back-up song, you can alternate between strumming each chord and soloing.
In other words, strum the first chord once or twice, then solo by playing any notes in the solo pattern. Do the same thing for the second, third and fourth chords.
Each time you solo use the same solo pattern. Just alternate between strumming and soloing.
This is actually more advanced and harder than just strumming or just soloing. But you can use it to add a lot more variation to your songs because you're mixing the chords and individual notes together.
This way you can make up a melodies and keep the rhythm going at the same time.
B. Make Up Solos in Any Key
Now it's time to learn how to solo in anykey. To solo in different keys you just move the super simple solo pattern to different locations on the guitar neck. It's easy.
If you want to solo in the key of C you just anchor the super simple solo pattern on the note C.
If you want to solo in the key of D you just anchor the super simple solo pattern on the note D.
If this sounds confusing don't worry, it will become clear in the example below. Here are the three steps to make up solos in any key:
1 CREATE a Back-Up Song in Any Key!
2 ANCHOR the Super Simple Solo Pattern!
3 MAKE UP a Lead Guitar Solo!
Here's an example:
Make Up Solos in the Key of C
1 CREATE a Back-Up Song in Any Key!
Create a back-up song in the key of C. These are the same steps on the Make Up Songs web page.
Or you can solo over this free guitar jam track in the key of C. Just push play.
Free Guitar Jam Track
In The Key of C
Here are chords in the key of C:
Here's a back-up song in the key of C:
2 ANCHOR the Super Simple Solo Pattern!
The super simple solo pattern that you learned in the previous example is actually a movable pattern that you can use to solo in any key.
You just move it up or down the guitar neck to the correct location depending on the key.
Every solo pattern has a root note, R.
Whatever note you anchor note R on, is the key that you're soloing in.
In this example the back-up song is in the key of C.
Make up a solo as you play along with the back-up song by playing any notes in the solo pattern.
Same Pattern, Different Place
Notice that in these two examples you use the samesolo pattern for both keys, you just play it in a different place.
To make this easier to see, the following diagram shows you how I created the solo pattern in the key of G from the first example.
This makes it easy to solo in any key right away because you only need to know one pattern. There are four other solo patterns, but this one is the easiest to play.
You can learn the other four patterns in my free guitar e-book that you can download here.
If you want to know which notes in the pattern you can play simultaneously you can learn using a simple code in Guitar On the Spot - Using the Codeclick here.
Not enough information?
If you want to know more stuff you can download a free guitar e-book and subscribe to my free song making guitar lessons by clicking here.
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