On a scale of 1 to 5, to what extent do you think should guitar solos be used????


1. Never

2. Rarely

3. One short-medium length solo per song

4. Frequently - one really long solo, or several short-medium length solos per song

5. Just give 'em the guitar and let 'er rip!

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4 - Frequently


I would have said 5 a year or so ago, but I've kinda gotten out of the "Shred" a bit.

I think one long solo (45 secs or a bit more) is appropriate.

After all, I am a guitar player first and foremost, and I love guitar solos!!!!!!!

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i would also say frequently. i am a big huge fan of guitar solos dont get me wrong, but i guess i would have to say a few songs are good without solos. i also wouldnt want a whole entire song to be a guitar solo but still a good part of the song to be. i also play the guitar, and i do love guitar solos too!

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nr. 4

It's nice to hear solo's in a song! But not the whole song then it loses the effect. So not over the top, but it can upgrade a song when you put a nice solo in it.

gotta go now!

Later

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The only reason I posted it as five is because I've been on a huge Satriani/Vai kick lately, and well, listen to them and see how they play...

Otherwise I'd probably choose about 4 or so.

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#3 - the soul of the music is not in the solo. And many songs(countless Pantera songs) have been ruined cause of loooong solos.

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give me an option that states:

"if the solo fits the song, throw her in, but don't throw her in just because you want to, throw her in because she feels she needs to be in"

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I would say frequently......but not as frequently as the option. I feel solos should be used when it's needed in the song. Not all songs need solos....if the song has a nice flow and "ring" to it, then it doesn't need a solo....if it seems like it's missing something, then add a little lick, to liven it up. If it works really well, then add maybe another little lick somewhere else......if it's not working, then keep the solo short and simple, but effective.

I think a band which for the most part keeps they're songs in line with solos is Death. Sometimes i think they have just a little too many, but i'd say about 90% of their songs are just right. The solos are their to highten the song, make it livelier, add more emotion to the song.

I agree with RomikQ about pantera too.....i'm not a huge fan of theirs, but when i was forced to listen to cd after cd at a friend's house, i felt that the solos sometimes dragged on too long. Just when you'd think it's over, and you're thinking "wow, that was really cool", there would be a little pause, then the solo would start up again and run for another 30 seconds.

Honestly though, i'd say the band which variates the solos and puts them at just the best spots is Immolation. The solos aren't all about how fast and complicated the solos can become.....just about every solo of theirs is about how well it fits with the background riffs, and how the notes stay with or contradict the riffs heard. (immolation has many "off" sounding notes which liven the music....any immolation fan would know what i'm talking about).

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I think it should be used in the way like Carcass or Firebird had it... Several 10-20 sec solos, and a long 1 minute solo...

Since we have a well experienced solo giutarist in white section, basically, you can always hear Bazsi soloing during the song (alright, expect in the intros, outtros, etc...) ...

I think it hears just cool

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ok, there you go. i added it.

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just let them play noodle over everything, lyrics are wasted time between solo's

I'm guessing your a huge Malmsteen fan, then!!! (probably a big Jason Becker fan too, i.e. BECKER rules)

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Yep, actually I really think it depends on the band I think CoF are great and have no need for solo's where as most power metal does to shut up the singers for a while.

no limit on the number of solos.........as long as they fit into the song

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i say they should appear nly when the time is right, some songs wouldnt work with a solo, some wouldnt work without. but maybe once or twice in a song tops

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every so often i think, i dont think there should be just one instrument drawing the spotlight on a song, music should be more of whole group effort of instruments feeding off each other to create quality sounds. although i agree that a solo can help a song and make it strong sometimes, solos can also be overdone and become generic or monotonous and kill the whole song. I want to listen to metal not just the overbearing sound of guitar solos.

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Isnt it supposed to be soli or solis and not solos, becuase on some forum someone said that you dont say solos if its more than one but shit I dont know. maybe he meant solo since the "i" is next to the "o". All Well! Hail!

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let the mother fuckers take taht guitar and let em rip the shit up but the solo does have to fit the song

What are you talking about dude?

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I don't really care if a song has a solo or not, so I'll say 3. An empty sounding song should have one. Back many years ago when I was first getting into metal with the chunky riffs and the knashing of teeth and the wailing and the flailing of limbs hahaya...I used to think they sounded cheesy because they were too high pitched and had no structure. This had the effect of limiting me to bands like Fear Factory who sometimes sounded good even though they have no solos. However, I quickly grew into solos, and even more so when I got my guitar and started listening to stuff like Obituary, Metallica, Slayer and Death. But now the solo has to sound good and I have to like it, otherwise they can be very annoying (i.e. something you wouldn't play with the volume cranked up), ruining the atmosphere of a good song.

About the "off notes" in Immolation solos - to the first time listener, one would think that the guitarist is dodgy and doesn't know what a scale is, but this is far from right. I love the "wonky" tone (excuse the wanky words), e.g. in some of Obituaries old and also rare stuff. I love noisy random solos as well (Death Rattle anyone? Mind Control?), but I also think alot of stuff off Far Beyond Driven sounds aweful. Tremolo picked solos can also annoy me because they aren't very technical and aren't using "real" speed. However, this is only my opinion. Shred on.

I like a lot of solos, I liek it when everything stops liek the bass and rythem guitar and singer all stop and just the lead guitar comes in with the solo all by itself and really fast, that's badass.

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In my songs, I add like slow solos because sometimes my fast solos tend to be a little noisy and once out of ten times I would mess up because I forget them the next day that i created them

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I know what you mean dude. I'm not really good at making solos and when I make a fast one I dont remember them the next day too. Would you guys have any tips on learning to make up your own solos? Liek hand positioning and shit like that?

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they shouldnt be used to often cos then it makes the bass look bad

learn your scales baby! pentontic should be an easy one to start off with. Keep on practicing it and move it around on the fret board. it goes like this, incase you dont know it:

1st string|5--8
2st string|5--8
3st string|5--7
4st string|5--7
5st string|5--7
6st string|5--8

then you can move it like up to the 3rd fret or something and mix them. I dont know really.

Also it doesnt make the bass look bad, maybe only better caz if you have a shitty lead guitarist who screws up on solos it only makes the bassist and the rythem guitarist look better - it makes them look like they know what they're doing.

Right now I'd say just let 'er rip, I love big long instrumentals like that. But I'm on a total Jason Becker kick right now, that dude is (was) GOD!