Elements
of a Great Guitar Solo
Learn how to create a great guitar solo by looking at not only solo structure, but also essential notes
called target tones.
The blues has been a great catalyst in shaping the sound of rock
music. Great blues guitar solos always contain a few important elements
regardless of whether the solo is short and sweet or long and flashy.
These elements are repetition, function, and form.
Repetition is vital to any musical statement.
Whether it be a Mozart Sonata, a pop hit, or a great guitar solo!
Even if your solo is short, it should use some repetition. Go and
check out some of your favorite solos and listen for repetition,
or take
our runs and ideas lesson!
Function means using notes or rhythms that are
related to the chords or chord structure of the song, or the rhythm
of the song. Target tones are an important part
of function in a guitar solo.
Form means that the solo should have a definite
shape or pattern such as AAB, AB, ABA, ABC, or the like. A, B, and
C refer to unique sections of the solo. Check out our Create
a Solo lesson for more help on form!
Target Tones - the Keys to a great guitar solo
What is a Target Tone
In your solo, you will eventually need to stop to end a phrase,
a lick, a run, or an idea. When you land on that last note and hold
it, it should sound cool with the chord that is being played. This
is where the target tone comes in. The target tone is just a note
that is in the chord or a "chord tone". Let's look at
target tones in a C minor 7th chord:
The Cminor7 contains four notes - C, Eb, G, and Bb. These are all
great target tones to use when playing a solo over Cminor7. In addition
to these, you may also use what are called the "upper-structure
triad" tones. These are the 9th-D, the 11th-F, and the 13th-A.
Although these are not in the actual Cminor7 chord, they are in
the upper-structure of the C minor 7. Therefore, they will work
very well as target tones over the Cminor7.
Finding Target Tones
Once you know how to play each guitar chord that is in the chord
progression, you can find the target tones easily. First, just play
each note of the chord. These are your simple target tones. To find
the upper-structure target tones of a minor 7 chord,
do this:
The 9th - an octave + a whole step above the
root note. (the root note is the note which names the chord, i.e.
C is the root in C minor7).
The 11th - an octave + a whole step above the
third of the chord (In the Cminor7, the third is Eb, a third interval
above the root note).
The 13th - an octave + a whole step above the
fifth of the chord (In the Cminor7, the fifth is G, a fifth interval
above the root note).
As you do more guitar soloing and chord building, you will memorize
these tones of the chord.
Target Tone Work Out
Below is a four-chord progression. The guitar chords are E minor,
G Major, D Major, and C Major. These four chords are all chords
in the key of E minor. Therefore, you can use the E minor scale
to solo over them. I'll show you an E
minor scale in 4 different positions. In each position,
find and play the target tones of each chord.
Although these chords are not 7th, 9th, 11th, or 13th chords, you
can still use those extensions as target tones unless
they are not in the E minor Scale. This is the case with the C#
in the E minor and G Major extensions, and the the C# and G# in
the D Major extensions.
Four Chord Progression (HEAR
IT!)
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Target Tones Audio Example
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Listen to an great example of target tones played over
the four chord progression above.
Click Here
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Chord Tones and Extensions
For E minor scales..
go
to the next page
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