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Information about Guitar Solo

For the Fred Frith album, see Guitar Solos (album).


The guitar is used in many genres to provide rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment to a voice or other instrument, or to fill in the harmony in a ensemble. The guitar is also used to perform solo parts either unaccompanied or with accompaniment from other instruments.

Unaccompanied guitar music is found in folk and classical music dating as far back as the instrument has existed, and the use of a guitar as a solo voice within an ensemble dates back at least to the Baroque concerto. The guitar is also prominently used as a solo instrument in jazz and blues.

Guitar solos in rock music

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Sweep picking on an electric guitar.
Today the term guitar solo is commonly taken to refer specifically to the rock music genre. Although solo passages for guitar are found in many musical genres, the 'guitar solo' has become characteristic part of rock music. Guitar solos are usually performed with electric guitar with the timbral effect known as distortion. Rock bands sometimes have two guitarists, designated 'lead' and 'rhythm', the 'lead' player taking the solos while the 'rhythm' player accompanies.

Most examples of rock music are based around songs in very traditional forms. The main formal features are therefore verses, choruses, and bridges. The guitar solo is usually the most significant instrumental (that is, non-vocal) section of a mainstream rock song. In other rock-related genres such as pop and dance music, the keyboard synthesizer usually plays this melodic role.

This use of an instrumental interlude to a song is influenced by blues musicians like John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters, who were influential in the development of rhythm and blues (e.g., Bo Diddley), rock and roll (e.g. Chuck Berry) and hence more modern forms of rock music. In most cases, the rock guitar solo is a short instrumental section of the song. In the classic verse-chorus form it quite often falls between the second chorus and third verse. As well, extended guitar solos are sometimes used at the end of songs, such as Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird".

In the progressive rock genre, however, extended instrumental passages or even whole instrumental pieces became commonplace during live performances. In hard rock bands, extended guitar solos are often used even in songs which have a short solo on the recorded version.

The accompaniment to the solo can vary. Probably the most common style is merely a continuation of verse and/or chorus instrumentation performed by the electric bass player, drummer, and any chordal rhythm section instruments (e.g., rhythm guitar, Hammond organ, electric piano, etc.). The solo is given the same backing as if it were a vocal passage. Other songs use a newly arranged section, with rhythm parts written specifically for the solo. More rarely, a guitar solo has no backing at all; this poses a challenge for the guitar player, since they must continue to keep the drive of the music going. Some guitar solos are accompanied by backing vocals. For instance, in the guitar solo at the end of Kate Bush's "Rubberband Girl" one of the backup singers can be heard whispering, "A rubberband girl is she." That is the response to Bush's last chorus line, "I wanna be a rubberband girl." In the guitar solo in Derek and the Dominos' "Layla", Bobby Whitlock can be heard saying, "Whoo, whoo, whoo..." The guitar solo in the outro of Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog" is another example. Robert Plant continues to sing but with Jimmy Page's guitar on top of Plant's voice. Also, in one of the guitar solos in Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Susie Q" the backup singers Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook, and Doug Clifford can be heard chanting, "Who do true two you blue who."

The use of the guitar solo in heavy metal music was especially notable during the 1980s, where guitar solos were common, and a lead guitarist of a band might be as well-known as the singer. During this time the use of techniques such as harmonics became more widely used. Later, guitarists who had developed considerable technical facility began to release albums which consisted only of guitar compositions.

Guitar solos in popular music went out of fashion towards the end of the 1990s, and since then the guitar solo in pop and popular rock music declined in popularity; when present at all, solos tended to be more subdued and understated. As the 2000s progressed, the guitar solo has faded out of mainstream, nevertheless, it maintains its importance in Rock, heavy metal, blues, and jazz music.

Bass guitar solos

Although less common in popular music, some bands also include bass guitar solos in some songs, particularly heavy metal, funk, progressive rock, and fusion-oriented bands. Bass guitar solos are structured and performed in a similar fashion as a guitar solo, often with the musical accompaniment from the verse or chorus sections. While bass guitar solos appear on few studio albums from rock or pop bands, genres such as progressive rock, fusion-influenced rock, and some types of heavy metal are more likely to include bass solos, both in studio albums and in live performances.

Bass solos are performed using a range of different techniques. Bass solos are often performed by using plucking or fingerpicking. In the 1960s, The Who's bassist, John Entwistle, performed a bass solo on the song "My Generation" using a pick; bass players from heavy metal and punk rock styles often perform bass solos with a pick. Jazz fusion bassist Jaco Pastorius (Weather report) used chime like harmonics and rapid plucking techniques in his bass solos.

In the 1970s, funk bassists such as Larry Graham began using slapping and popping techniques for their bass solos, which coupled a percussive thumb-slapping technique of the lower strings with an aggressive finger-snap of the higher strings, often in rhythmic alternation. The slap and pop technique incorporates a large ratio of muted (or 'ghost' tones) to normal notes, to add to the rhythmic effect. Slapping and popping solos were prominent in the 1980s and they are still used by more recent bands.

When playing bass solos, rock bassists sometimes use effects such as distortion or Wah-wah pedals to produce a more pronounced sound. Due to the lower range of the bass, bass guitar solos usually have a much lighter accompaniment than solos for other instruments; in some cases, the bass guitar solo is unaccompanied, or it is accompanied only by the drums.

Some bands and artists who use bass solos include: Bon Jovi,Led Zeppelin,Larry Graham, Cannibal Corpse, Rush, The Who, Motörhead, Iron Maiden,Korn, Megadeth, Dire Straits, Blues Traveler, Red Hot Chili Peppers, 311, Metallica, Muse, Dream Theater, Black Sabbath, Kyuss, Manowar, Queen, Victor Wooten, Rancid, TNT, KISS, Mudvayne, Green Day, Jean Baudin, Sum 41, Primus, Steve Vai, Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Joe Satriani, Dixie Dregs, and Yes.

See also

External links

References

Goetz, Philip, ed., Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 5 (Fifteenth Edition ed.), Chicago (published 1990), pp. 982, ISBN 0-85229-511-1.

Guitar Solos
(1974) Gravity
(1980)

Fred Records chronology

Accidental
(2002)
Fred Frith
(RēR/FRA 01) Guitar Solos
(2002)
Fred Frith
(RēR/FRO 02) Prints
(2002)
Fred Frith
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The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four, seven, eight, ten, and twelve string guitars also exist.
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Rhythm (Greek ῥυθμός = 'flow', or in Modern Greek, 'style') is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events.
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harmony is the use and study of pitch simultaneity, and therefore chords, actual or implied, in music. The study of harmony may often refer to the study of harmonic progressions, the movement from one pitch simultaneity to another, and the structural principles that govern such
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accompaniment is the art of playing along with a soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner as well as the music thus played. An accompaniment figure is a gesture used repeatedly in an accompaniment, such as:

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human voice consists of sound made by a human using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming etc. The vocal folds, in combination with the lips, the tongue, the lower jaw, and the palate, are capable of producing highly intricate arrays of sound.
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A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. In principle anything that, produces sound, and can somehow be controlled by a person playing it, can serve as a musical instrument.
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A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who perform instrumental or vocal music. In each musical style or genre, different norms have developed for the sizes and composition of different ensembles, and for the repertoire of songs or musical works that these ensembles
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In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer (solo is a Spanish word literally meaning alone). In practice this means a number of different things, depending on the type of music and the context.
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Folk music can have a number of different meanings, including:
  • Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous with the term "Traditional music", also often including World Music and Roots music; the term "Traditional music" was given

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Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, Western art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to the 21st century.
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Baroque was a Western cultural epoch, commencing roughly at the turn of the 17th century in Rome, that was exemplified by drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music..
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The term Concerto (plural concertos or concerti) usually refers to a musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra. The concerto, as understood in this modern way, arose in the Baroque period side by side with the concerto grosso,
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Jazz is an original American musical art form that originated around the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in and around New Orleans.

Overview

Jazz has been called "America's only original art form.
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Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes and a repetitive pattern that most often follows a twelve-bar structure. It emerged in African-American communities of the United States from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants,
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Rock music is a form of popular music with a prominent vocal melody accompanied by guitar, drums, and bass. Many styles of rock music also use keyboard instruments such as organ, piano, or synthesizers.
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In music, timbre, or sometimes timber, (from Fr. timbre; IPA /'tæmbəɹ/ as in the first two syllables of tambourine, or /'tɪmbəɹ/, like timber)[1]
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In the world of electric guitar music and guitar amplification, distortion is actively sought, evaluated, and appreciatively discussed in its endless flavours. In many types of music, distortion is applied to guitar and other instruments, particularly within rock music.
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original research or unverifiable claims.
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* Its tone or style may not be appropriate for Wikipedia.
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rhythm guitar. The rhythm guitar is commonly used to provide a rhythmic complement for the lead guitar, although the actual instruments are interchangeable, and the distinction between the two is fluid.
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A song is a relatively short musical composition. Songs contain vocal parts that are performed with the human voice and generally feature words (lyrics), commonly accompanied by other musical instruments (exceptions would be a cappella and scat songs).
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The word tradition comes from the Latin word traditio which means "to hand down" or "to hand over." It is used in a number of ways in the English language:
  1. Beliefs or customs taught by one generation to the next, often orally.

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The term musical form refers to two related concepts:
  • the type of composition (for example, a musical work can have the form of a symphony, a concerto, or other generic type -- see Multi-movement forms below)

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The term musical form refers to two related concepts:
  • the type of composition (for example, a musical work can have the form of a symphony, a concerto, or other generic type -- see Multi-movement forms below)

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A refrain (from the Old French refraindre "to repeat," likely from Vulgar Latin refringere) is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song.
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bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section. The bridge may be the middle-eight in a thirty-two-bar form (the B in AABA), or it may be used more loosely in verse-chorus form, or, in a compound AABA form, used as a contrast to
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An instrumental is, in contrast to a song, a musical composition or recording without lyrics or any other sort of vocal music; all of the music is produced by musical instruments.
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human voice consists of sound made by a human using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming etc. The vocal folds, in combination with the lips, the tongue, the lower jaw, and the palate, are capable of producing highly intricate arrays of sound.
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This article is about the cultural and social sciences term mainstream. For the Hugo-nominated fanzine, see Mainstream (fanzine). For the record label, see Mainstream Records.

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John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an influential American post-war blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter born in Coahoma County near Clarksdale, Mississippi. From a musical family, he was a cousin of Earl Hooker.
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