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Old 2004-08-24, 02:51
northerndragon
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creating technical solo's / riffs

ive been getting really frustrated with my guitar style as of late, its good and listenable and all but its not technical at all in my opinion.

I was wondering if anyone could give me tips on creating technical riffs and solos, please dont leave anything out. thanks
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Old 2004-08-24, 04:26
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it depends on your definition of technical, if you want something just muck around with your guitar and play something slow untill you have it sounding good then speed up
the way i make riffs these days is i plug pretty much random numbers into guitar-pro and then play it, and make adjustments untill it sounds cool (and is playable)
if you want the to be specifically good though, you need to look at the scales thread and get the scales, then you choose notes from that scale relative to the tone of the songs first note (generally).

for a better response i am fairly sure this is discussed elsewhere
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Old 2004-08-24, 05:06
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If it sounds good then thats all that matter. Dont think that something needs to be technical to be good.
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Old 2004-08-24, 05:56
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BLS
If it sounds good then thats all that matter. Dont think that something needs to be technical to be good.


exactly. If you look at most really great "songs" by bands they are usually pretty simple. Its just they got the "combo" right if you want to call it that. Best advice I can give you is try not to think of the way you'd normally play...but then again i'm not real technical so how would i know. Go hit random notes on the fretboard but not like 1 after the other (all 4ths or something shit) but speeding up slow down all that kind of good shit. palm mute + stuff shit i don't know.
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Old 2004-08-24, 06:02
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Don't rush into it, let it come to you. Play what you feel.
 
Old 2004-08-24, 06:27
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You can't just say, "okay, I want to write something TECHNICAL today." I've tried it and it doesn't work. You have to be in a groove, let it come to you. If find it's better if you just fuck around and jam by yourself for a couple of hours. Play stuff you've written before, or play stuff done by other bands. Eventually something will come to you. Also, if you are worried about all your shit sounding like very simple thrash, throw some off speed shit in there. It works very well, especially when you adjust speeds mid-riff or mid-figure. Try it.
 
Old 2004-08-24, 15:03
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Letting it just come naturally is the best thing you can do...but other than that, you can do certain little things. Instead of play just a normal triplet like E|-000-000-|, try playing something like E|-321-100-|. In a trem. pick riff with just a few different, notes all being played something like 8 times, change the number of times played a bit and used a lot of notes on different strings.
Hope this helps
 
Old 2004-08-24, 19:14
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Experiment with unused phrasing and notes, play on the off beat, try and write something that you normally wouldn't play.
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Old 2004-08-24, 20:32
TheDreadfulHoroscope
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ive tried improvising guitar solos by hitting random notes and its usually absolute shit
 
Old 2004-08-24, 20:52
Deathmaster213
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I always come up with tunes in my head. Whenever I'm walking the dog, or sitting on the bus, it's like I'm playing guitar in my head, and I try to remember stuff and then work out what was in my head. Of course I never work out exactly what it was, I'm not that good, but it inspires me, and inspiration is the key.

Just think tho, how many super technical riffs do you ever remember? Catchy tunes are usually very simple, and they stick in your head, make you remember a band...

How many local unsigned death metal bands have you seen where you were impressed by their finger work, but by the end of the night, you couldn't remember a single riff?

A good example is Cannibal Corpse. Watch their fingers, the technical riffs are amazing, but they usually just fade into obscurity. Hum a riff from Hammer Smashed Face. I bet I know which one will spring to mind first! It should be a case of Hook Vs technicality. Sure if you have a good hook, and when it's played it's quite technical, fair enough.

One annoying thing though, when you hear a killer riff and it sounds simple, but on closer inspection of a tab it's one technical mofo...
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Old 2004-08-24, 21:06
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On the lighter side...you can play anything that involves palm-muting more than 2 chords or trem picking and you'll make most people who don't play or play really lame shit think your the greatest player they have ever known
 
Old 2004-08-25, 17:56
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if u want to create a good solo first u've got to have a pretty good backing rythm, just listen to how that goes and then fit ure solo over it. a good example being on death's symbolic album, listen to the perennial quest solo and the backing. Also check out some cool scales like hungarian, harmonic minor and byzantine, and maybe work out some arpeggio's for them and chuck them in. anyways good luck
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Old 2004-08-26, 03:00
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play with the feel, as i've said elsewhere also...theres no rule that stuf has to be technical to sound good...there are bands like inflames who make simple shit sound good & then there are bands like death who do the same with technical stuff.
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Old 2004-08-26, 03:08
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Sometimes i sit and practice scales and modes, and then move around differently in them. Sometimes something will catch your ear and you start to expand on it. Try getting out a book of scales and playing the minor scale over and over in different positions.
 
Old 2004-08-26, 17:30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crap
Sometimes i sit and practice scales and modes, and then move around differently in them. Sometimes something will catch your ear and you start to expand on it. Try getting out a book of scales and playing the minor scale over and over in different positions.


It's also cool to find a scale you like to play and then write a riff where you seperate every few notes in the scale with some pedal tones.
 
Old 2004-08-27, 00:09
TheDreadfulHoroscope
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i try picturing guitar in my head, but i always forget the good riffs, and sometimes i realize that i subcontiously stole 1/2 of the riff from a band
 
Old 2004-08-27, 01:07
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Ahahaha..I do that too Tristan. Just make riffs that are too hard for you to play. But remeber just because a riff is technical dosen't mean its good.
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Old 2004-08-27, 02:26
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I make up tons of weird ass riff in Powertab

of make up shit that sounds cool, but i would never make up while just fucking wround because the fingerings are weird.
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Old 2004-08-27, 05:19
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x2xAtreyux2x
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Wow, and to think I was alone by typing in random numbers. I'd suggest this method since it can allow you to try different things (when fingering, you try to go to familiar patterns) and watch them happen right before you. Use PowerTab or GuitarPro when doing this. Anyways, they all pretty much said it already but look at how many "Technical" guitarists are noticed by the common player, barely any. I'd rather listen to a nice, soulful riff than shredding arpeggios for 5 minutes. Technical stuff can get boring quick and if your trying to impress someone, go sell your gear. Now if you are trying to be technical in a tasteful way (say Cryptopsy or Cephalic Carnage) and aren't just riffing out sweep after sweep, then thats a bit different. I'd suggest just using some theory but mostly your ear. Use complicated rhythmic patterns and melodies as well as construction. I, personally, find good rhythms more impressive than good leads and a mixture of both is ideal. Examine the construction, shifts, scales, drums, etc. of songs you find to be technical. I would highly suggest listening to "Lucid Interval" and "Phobophile" if you haven't already. I find each to be incredible achievements in technical rhythm.

By the way, thanks for the link (in sig) to that kid's suck, I mean, site, BLS. I love this kid. (Go and by the autographed 2 disc CD set )

Last edited by x2xAtreyux2x : 2004-08-27 at 05:31.

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