Guitar Solos: A Simple Guide To Phrasing

We've all heard solos that went on far too long and had far too many notes in them. In fact, they were not only meaningless but a complete and utter waste of time! A good solo is like a good conversation; it has to keep you interested and it has to have ebb and flow to it.

Your Solo Needs To Be Like A Good Conversation

Phrasing is a critical element in your guitar solos sounding natural and can be best compared to the nuances of how you would have a conversation. No one talks solidly at the same pitch and the same speed without sounding very odd. Try reading this paragraph yourself and listen to the way you pause and add gaps to convey the meaning of each sentence.

Less Is More

When I meet someone new, I like them to be conversation but not for the conversation to be all about them. If someone starts to talk very extensively without breathing, it's a warning signal for me to get out of there! The best guitar solos and riffs are simple, purposeful and deliberate. Give me 3 well thought through notes with feeling and emotion over a 'machine gun' fire of 200 notes which destroys your ears. Compare someone you care about saying 'I love you' to someone sharing a 2 hour thesis on Binary. Less is definitely more.

Phrasing makes the guitar sound like it's being played by a person and not a computer. Practically, what about a variety of playing styles: hammer ons, slides, bends, vibratos etc?

Leave Breathing Time

Breathing is a very normal part of life that we don't think about very often. If you don't breathe, you will die. And if you don't allow space and breathing time between your phrasing then your guitar solos will be deathly (not in a good way ;))

So why don't you try it? A good exercise is to take only 2 notes and to try and solo on them. By limiting the amount of notes you are playing you can completely practice phrasing.

Enjoy! See also Rapidly Increase Your Guitar Playing Speed in 5 Minutes!